Announcing The Top 65 Teams

Is the NCAA tournament selection committee on crack?

• Does Memphis really deserve to be a No. 1 seed? Sure they Conference USA, but even I could have done it. The only meaningful wins they have are against Gonzaga and UCLA. They lost to Duke and Texas.
• Talk about a lack of parity in the No. 3 seeds. In what world would Iowa and Gonzaga be named in the same breathe? As far as I am concerned, Gonzaga (and I strongly dislike like them) got the shaft, and Iowa got lucky. Here's to hoping Xavier can upset Gonzaga. I have liked Xavier for years; they have a cool name.
• How did the Missouri Valley (Wichita St, Bradley, Southern Ill, Northern Iowa) conference get the same number of teams in as the ACC (Duke, Chapel Hill, Boston College, NC State)? Together the Missouri Valley entrants played a total of four ranked teams and beat two of them (Iowa and Bucknell). It was too hard to count the ranked wins out for the ACC.
• Does Syracuse really deserve their No. 5 seed? They had an excellent run in the tournament, but how much of that was luck over substance? I have a strong dislike for the Orangemen (as I am sure I have mentioned repeatedly). Their fans are particularly annoying. The only reason they won a national championship in 2003 was that they were able to play most of their games in Albany and Boston.

Points of note...

• An all Big Ten match up in the first round? Indiana takes on San Diego St. Perhaps Steve Fischer has found the new Fab Five. But I think not.
• Semi-finals in the 2nd round? Michigan State could face a rematch with No. 3 seed Chapel Hill in Dayton, if the seeding goes as planned.
• Michigan State has beat the following teams this season: No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Iowa, No. 4 Illinois, No. 4 Boston College, No. 7 Wichita State, No. 8 Arizona, No. 9 Wisconsin
• Isn't it just mean to have a play in game? It seems downright rude, especially since no one watches that game.

How Rude...

This comment by Bruce Weber at ESPN.com really burned me up.

"We beat them four times in a row, we beat them on Senior Day, how would you feel? We embarrassed them last week on their court. They had all the motivation. Of all the teams I didn't want to come back and play a week later... and they're a good team."

What an arrogant little prat.

According to my sister, ever since Michigan State beat Wisconsin four times in the same season, State has been unable to dominate the series the way they used too. Here's to hoping something similar will apply here, and Illinois will no longer be that infernal pain in the arse.

On The Meaning of Happiness...

Happiness means never having to say you're sorry. (Okay, so it's really supposed to be *love* and not happiness, but whatever.)

What happiness really means tonight, March 10th, is that Michigan State beat Illinois. Dee Brown had, count them, 1-2-3-4-5 points tonight. Dee, I laugh at you. And I am certainly entitled to. After all those 3-pointers you made a few months ago, to be reduced to two baskets has got to suck!

Happiness also means watching Villanova, UConn, Georgetown, and the other Big East behemoths fall. Now, if God is watching, maybe the ACC will be taken down a notch or two, and Michigan State can be guaranteed something a little bit better than ESPN's predicted 7. (Although I believe ESPN is grossly biased against State.)

Tomorrow happiness will mean, watching Alford lose. It's a bit unlikely, but a girl has got to dream. True happiness also means that the networks will decide to actually decide to air the Big Ten tournament here. It is arguably the best conference in the country, especially in light of the Big East meltdowns. But in this case I hold out no hope, as we will likely be treated to Boneheim trying to get his boys a win over Pitt. I haven't liked them since the days of Carmelo (the candy boy kid).

You Call That Journalism

No wonder people are getting their news from blogs these days. Since when did a story titled "$241,000 stripclub tab finally settled" deserve to be on the frontpage of CNN.com? Meanwhile there is no mention of Enron (one of the largest corporate bankruptcies ever) on the front page, despite the fact that their former Chief Financial Officer testified against both the former CEO and the former Chairman of the Board today. That is just sad!

Something New

Are you bored of the iPod yet? I certainly am. When I first purchased my iPod way back when, it was new, it was cool, it was trendy, and it was exclusive. Now everyone and their mother (and possibly even their father) have one. Taking the T, all you see are the white ear buds. I am definitely on the market for a new portable music player. But I refuse to pay the requisite $300 for another iPod that everyone already has. I want something new and special and am more than willing to pay for it. So why don't the consumer electronic companies make something. Perhaps it could be circular instead of rectangular, pastel instead of white, have a bigger screen with buttons on the side instead of the scroll bar. But no! Everyone just copies the iPod. (See Samsung's new iPod clone.)

March Madness Is Here Again

There are things to be happy about...
Duke losing to Chapel Hill is definitely one. Although I must confess to being rather torn about it. Duke irritates me. JJ Redick irritates me. Coach K irritates me. But Roy Williams irritates me even more. Can you even manage the level of irritation I am talking about? I mean, who does he think he is to diss Big Ten hoops? On the whole, I guess I am pleased to see Duke get another loss, although in all likelihood, they still have a lock on the No. 1 Seed. And as far as UNC goes, the win is symbolic more than anything... What the heck is a TarHeel anyway? Please clarify.

Then there are things to be unhappy about...
Princeton posting one of its worst seasons ever - (1) the lowest point total ever in history and (2) being 3 games behind Penn. Hopefully, they will regroup in the off-season and make this Tiger proud!
State is tied with Michigan in the Big Ten. How did this happen? Sure we played a harder schedule. Sure Trannon was out. Sure everyone likes to pick on Paul Davis and Ager doesn't always bring his game. But come on! Michigan has been nothing since the demise of the Fab Five, and I'd like it to stay that way. This state is not big enough for two schools to both be good at basketball (or football for that matter, where we have kindly ceded to the Wolverines).

In Search of Strong Men?

No, this post is not about the pursuit of hot men or body builders. Rather it is my follow on to a class discussion today.

My classmates proposed that democracy is not always the right system for countries emerging from the throes of the "-isms" (communism, totalitarianism, imperialism). Rather for these countries to manage their development and change, it is beneficial to have a "strong man" in place who does not have to worry about polls and re-election. They can force their country to make the necessary, and often unpopular, sacrifices for success. This argument while it has merits is, in my opinion, utter bullshit. Why?

• The world is littered with dictators who assumed power in a vacuum and have proceeded to oppress and pillage their people. The most egregious examples being Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe and Congo's Laurent Kabila. These men have not helped modernize or develop their countries, rather they have looted their countries' bank accounts. One could potentially make the argument that the people of Congo and Zimbabwe would be better off under the Belgians and English, despite their numerous and significant shortcomings, than either of these "strong men".
• Absolute power corrupts absolutely... Ironically, both Mugabe and Kabila fought to end colonialism and over time, adopting the worst (without any of the best) of their colonizers' characteristics, have developed their own methods of supression
• Once one has consolidated power, there is in no case that I can think of any turning back. Name of dictator who has willingly given way to democracy. The "strong man" concept lends itself to a autocrat who can only be overthrown by coup or military junta, both of which are usually bloody. If you can think of a case where there was a bloodless transition from a "strong man" to democracy. I would love to hear it!

On a side note, I believe democracies are stable institutions. To my recollection, no two democracies have ever waged war against each other. Although progress in a democracy may be slower initially as multiple stakeholders must be satisfied, it is the only model for long-run success. It is the only model that can alleviate corruption and create the transparency required for citizens to invest in their and their country's future.

And It Just Gets Better

Stupid me. Duke lost to Florida State not Florida. Wow. Now that has got to hurt!

Happy Days Are Here Again? Maybe...

I was pretty upset this weekend. Michigan State came from behind at Bloomington to pull ahead of Indiana. But the refs had to go and foul Paul Davis out. And the house of cards that is Michigan State basketball fell apart. In fact, State's basketball team is beginning to remind me an awful lot of State's football team. They start strong, and choke down the stretch. For the past few years all that has kept the Green and White faithful going is the basketball program. That cannot fall apart on us now!

But on a brighter note today, Duke went down. This game has been a long time coming. And although Billy Donovan's resemblance to a used car salesman does disturb me, I got to hand it to him for making the House of K come crashing down.

Well, there is still hope with Trannon back for the Big Ten tournament, we could see some *March Magic*. Here's to hoping.