Season: Over

Sorry for the brief absence folks, but the semester is winding down and I’m becoming more and more busy every week.  In addition, my new sleep schedule has officially set in, and by 9:00 every night I can barely keep my eyes open.  I feel like an old man and it literally makes me chuckle. Take yesterday and today for example.  Saturday morning I was up at 3:30 for work, and after my shift I had my pool league tournament.  After that, I came home and I was out cold by 10:00 … on a Saturday night.  Despite today being my day off, I woke up at 7:15 this morning for no rhyme or reason, and I was up for the day.  I looked at the clock and just started laughing.  It’s actually kind of nice as opposed to being up all night and subsequently sleeping into the afternoon. But enough about me, since I’m sure none of you actually care anyway.

Sigh. For my Tar Heels, another season is in the books, and so begins another offseason in which the bulk of their talent will leave prematurely for the NBA draft instead of sticking around a couple more years to develop their game and ensure themselves an extra handful of years making a salary at least in the upper six figures. Wayne Ellington and Ty Lawson will both leave, mark my words. Deon Thompson will probably stick around, and Marcus Ginyard has no business leaving, but I really don’t know what to make of the Hansbrough situation. Mister AP Player of the Year has every right to shoot for the draft, but I truly believe he’ll stick around for his senior season and give another run at a title. But, before I get too sick thinking about that, I better shift gears. For now I will defer those thoughts until fall when I realize it will be the millionth season in a row in which half of the roster isn’t even old enough to buy themselves a beer. Seriously, Marvin Williams and Brandan Wright could have played on this year’s team; tell me they wouldn’t have made a difference.

Let me first say to all Kansas fans, congrats. They played a better all-around game than UNC did. I wish your boys nothing but luck against Memphis, whom I figured to beat UCLA, but picked against them only to perpetuate the path I’ve taken thus far.

Thanks to the rescheduling of my pool tournament and the fact that it lasted all day Saturday, I didn’t get to watch the game until it was about 8 minutes into the first half. When I tuned in, the Heels were down by 18, and I almost shit my pants. I went into immediate panic mode and began texting anyone who would listen, trying to figure out what had gone wrong to that point. It didn’t take long for me to see that the Heels were shooting the ball like a group of blind men. They could have thrown the ball out of a boat and missed water the way things were going.

After I cleaned the poo out of my jeans, I started to calm down once shots started falling for the Heels, but I knew they would have to make a serious run in order to even make the scoreboard look respectable. The shot selection that was being exhibited was laughable and more reminiscent of a junior varsity high school team than a team who had won 36 games in Division I. Just to keep things interesting, UNC made a rather impressive run after halftime, and cut the score to within 8 or 9 points if memory serves me right. Alas, it was all for nothing, as they eventually ran out of gas in the last 4 minutes and the Jayhawks again widened the margin back to double digits. After the game, I re-soiled myself, cried a little bit, and looked through my phone to see if I had Hammen’s number as I really wanted to call him and congratulate him.  But, either I lost his number in the dozen or so phone changes I’ve made in the last few years or he never gave it to me to begin with … that son of a bitch.

In any case, I’m not one to dwell, and I would much rather leave the past in the past.  Now, I look to the future.  And in that future, I have an exciting golf season and a Twins team that is more than likely going to struggle to stay above .500 to look forward to.  In the more near future, the big game is tomorrow, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to break tradition and not give you my pick.

Now, as it stands, I have picked against Memphis three times in a row and gotten burned every time.  They looked absolutely terrible in the first two rounds but have since been increasingly untouchable with each game they play.   Which is why I have to pick …

• (1) Memphis over (1) Kansas.  Way. Too. Athletic.  Don’t get me wrong, Kansas is very, very good, but Memphis is playing on a level no one else can touch right now.  Their big men shut down Kevin Love and limited him to less than half his tournament scoring average while their guards absolutely went off again, accounting for 53 of the team’s 78 points. Chris Douglas-Roberts scored a game-high 28 points, Derrick Rose added 25 and the Tigers shut down the UCLA offense en route to a 15 point victory.  Now, Kansas has a lot of work to do if they want to pull this one off.  Their guards have to have the game of their lives if they are going to be effective against the terrific twosome Memphis boasts, and if Joey Dorsey and the boys lock down like they did on Saturday night, it could be a long frustrating game for half of the arena.  I’m sick of being wrong about the Tigers, so if they screw me over and lose this game, I’m going to swear off picking these games for a good 11 months or so.

For those who care, we are officially within reach of The Masters Tournament.  We’re a mere 90 hours or so away and I can hardly wait.  Seriously, I don’t know which I’m more excited for, The Masters, or The Masters in HD.  Would I be reaching new levels of complete douche baggery if I said that my money is on Tiger?  I don’t care, I’m saying it anyway.

Well it’s getting to be my bedtime, and my brain is ceasing to function, so I better retire before I start writing about crap no one cares about.  Oops, too late.

One love,

10

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Tags: basketball, Final Four, Jayhawks, Kansas, NCAA, North Carolina, Tar Heels

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