Sunday, April 4, 2010

The Big Dance: The Final Four


As I stated in my previous blog, my bracket was next to last in the pool. :p After the Final Four match-ups tonight, any second chance I might have had ended with the loss by West Virginia. As I had hoped, Butler is going to the Championship Game. I will most likely pull for them since they are, undoubtedly, the underdog. Did I mention that Underdog was one of my ALL time favorite cartoons as a kid? So there isn't any discrepancy with my pulling for the underdog team, and as I stated earlier, it's most likely due to the fact that we gals just love Cinderella stories!

I don't know that I will be able to watch or tune in to the Championship game on Tuesday. Needless to say, I'm disappointed that my bracket was such an epic failure! Don’t judge me too harshly. Remember that I’ve only attended ONE basketball game in my life! On the flipside of that disappointment, I can attest to the fact that I learned a lot about basketball that I never knew before. Things some of you sports authority types take for granted:

• what a shot clock is and why it’s used
• what second chance points are
• what constitutes a 2 pt fg and a 3 pt fg
• what the ‘key’ is
• what the ‘paint’ is
• what rebound percentages are
• what a ‘foul-out’ is
• that there are 2 periods in a game

Those are the legit things that I learned about college basketball as I watched and listened, with the help of Jimmy and his expertise, throughout the last three weeks. :)

Then there are the random conclusions that I have come to as a result of my observation of, and participation in a college basketball bracket pool and the ensuing NCAA Tournament:

• March Madness is contagious

• college basketball is as predictable as a woman’s moods

• predicting one team to win it all is an egregious error

• all college basketball coaches must be on high-blood pressure and hyper-tension meds (if they weren’t they wouldn’t survive without their heads exploding...jmo, but I think I saw a few who had their heads duct taped to prevent such from happening)

• No matter what their ranking, each team is to be commended for enduring such a grueling tournament schedule. I wonder what would happen if we were to apply the same standards to college football. Ponder that thought.

And finally, the one thing that I absolutely do not understand, and have YET to find the answer to:

• why are they called “seeds?” Personally, I think the moniker is ridiculous, but that’s just me.

As Jimmy would say, “There you have it!” I’m looking forward to next year! :) There's no guarantee that, even with my new-found knowledge, I’ll be able to pick a better bracket. One can only hope!

Laterz,
 ~Starla