“The winner’s edge is not in a gifted birth, a high IQ, or in talent. The winner’s edge is all in the attitude, not aptitude. Attitude is the criterion for success.” – Denis Waitley
What Day Is It Again?
The clock reads 2:38. I am certain I saw it read the very same thing at least once since I last slept. I have a real love-hate relationship with the opening two days of every tournament. On the one hand, it is arguably the best 48 hours in all of sports, with near non-stop basketball for two straight days. You just can’t beat the excitement. On the other hand, for me it is also a dizzying test of endurance, a battle with fatigue, attention deficit disorder, hunger, insomnia, and writer’s block. Undaunted, I soldier on.
It Felt Crazier Than It Was
I must say that today’s games felt closely contested in all but a few cases. That is why one might be surprised to look at the results and see that there were only three upsets, and one of those isn’t really a true upset, #9 Alabama beating #8 Virginia Tech. The two upsets we did get were doozies. That’s for sure. More on that in a minute. In any case, days like today are most painful to those of you who took more chances in your picks and chose more upsets. Those who played it a bit safer fared better. I will recognize some of those winners and losers in a moment, but first, a few thoughts from the night session.
Today’s Grab Bag
- The Funniest Thing I Saw In A Game Today – If you caught any of the Texas Tech vs Stephen F. Austin game, you might have seen SFA’s Shannon Bogues (no idea if there is any relation to Mugsy) writhing in agony on the sideline as a result of a cramp in his hamstring. Now, before you think me sadistic for laughing at a man’s pain, what was funny was his own reaction when the trainers touched his leg in an effort to work out the cramp. The look on his face was not one of agony but rather the kind of look you would expect to see on a ticklish man being tickled without mercy. It was actually quite comical, and as a ticklish man myself, I can relate.
- Two Words I Never Want To Hear Again – “Basketball IQ” – Contest veterans will know that I have an innate aversion to cliches, especially sports cliches. This one in particular is having the nails-on-a-chalkboard effect on me (which I suppose is also a cliche – oh, the irony). Chris Webber in particular seems to gravitate toward every sports cliche in the handbook. Honestly, I do not mind Webber’s color commentary. Just go easy on the “Basketball IQ” references, please, Chris. OK? OK.
- Channel Surfing Is Good – I have my favorites on my cable box locked in to the four stations that carry March Madness games. That way I can quickly cycle from one to the next. The amount of channel surfing I do seems to be directly proportional to the overall competitiveness of the games. If the games are blowouts, I tend to sit on one game – the most competitive one – and ignore the others. Today I was switching channels a lot, an indicator that most of the games were competitive, and I wanted to make sure I caught the end-game drama. Speaking of close games and end-game drama…
- Houston, We Don’t Have A Problem – Did you know that, before today, the Houston Cougars hadn’t won a tournament game since 1984? That was the end of the Phi Slamma Jamma era that gave us notable future NBA superstars such as Akeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler. The 1984 Houston team lost the championship game to Georgetown. Before today, the program hadn’t even won a tournament game since. Thirty-four years is a long time. Today’s win was anything but easy. In fact, Houston trailed San Diego State toward the end of the game. But with the game tied and time running out, Houston’s Rob Gray, sporting the man bun, hit a driving layup that was so impressive color commentator Steve Lavin dubbed it the “dipsy doo scooperoo.” But wait, there’s more. With one second left on the clock, SDSU completed a Christian Laettneresque three-quarter-court pass to Trey Kell who had an open, albeit difficult and rather long, three-point shot for the win. Alas, Trey Kell is no Christian Laettner, and Houston moves on to the round of 32.
- History Maker Award – Today’s winner would rather not accept the award. If you paid any attention to the Conference Watch report, you might have noticed that the Pac-12 is 0-1. What you may not have realized is that the Pac-12 had only one team in the field of 64, Arizona. The only other two representatives from Bill Walton’s “conference of champions” were UCLA and Arizona State, both of whom lost in the First Four. So what’s so historic about that? I am glad you asked. ESPN’s John Gasaway tells us: “With Arizona’s loss to Buffalo, the Pac-12 has officially made history. (Not the good kind.) Per ESPN Stats and Info, no major conference has failed to send a team to the round of 32 since the formation of the Big 12 in 1996-97. The 2018 Pac-12 is the first of its kind.” Who’s the Truck Stop League now, Bill? And speaking of Arizona…
- The Running Of The Bulls – The Buffalo Bulls pulled off the biggest upset of the day, clobbering the Arizona Wildcats by 21 points. I doubt the University of Arizona Men’s Basketball team will be planning any field trips to Pamplona any time soon. If there’s one rule of thumb for March Madness that this game exemplified to a tee, it is that the key to success in the NCAA Tournament is guard play. Arizona is a team stacked with bigs – really, really big bigs. Deandre Ayton is a giant of a man whom Jay Bilas compared to Wilt Chamberlain. He will absolutely be a lottery pick in the next NBA draft. But every time I looked up at the TV, there was one of Arizona’s big men holding the ball waist high, and then there was a Buffalo guard taking it away from him. Curiously, Arizona only had nine turnovers in this game. It felt more like 90. They simply were outplayed by Buffalo’s three-guard lineup, who together scored 67 of their 89 points. Keep an eye on this Buffalo team. They could go further than you think.
- Kevin Harlan Is the GOAT – The man just has a knack for saying the right thing at the right time. I don’t remember how many years ago it was, but one year there were actually games being played on Easter Sunday. The game Kevin was calling featured a particularly impressive comeback, after which he exclaimed, “Back from the dead on Easter Sunday!” Classic. Today’s Harlanism comes from the Alabama vs Virginia Tech game. At some point in the game, Alabama’s feature player, Collin Sexton, took a shot to the chops which apparently loosened a tooth. I did not hear exactly what he said, but evidently Sexton actually commented on the tooth after the game, alluding to an impending trip to the dentist. After noting that Alabama’s next opponent is Villanova, Harlan quipped, “Nova on Saturday. Novocaine on Sunday!”
- My Bonnies Drowned In The Ocean – Or perhaps they were eaten by gators, Florida Gators, that is. One of the popular upset picks of the tournament didn’t pan out for me and many others as the Bonnies of St. Bonaventure were thumped by the Gators. It was this game, in fact, that prevented our top two contestants from remaining perfect. And with that thought, we will move on to today’s awards. But first…
- I Told You They Should Have Picked A Better Mascot – The wolves are 1-3 so far in the tournament. Enough said. And speaking of mascots…
- Bisons Isn’t Wrong, And I Can Prove It – An alert reader sent me this explanation of why the Lipscomb Bisons are perfectly justified in their choice of moniker. Read on if you are interested. https://herosports.com/news/lipscomb-bisons-name-plural-bison-ahah
Day One Awards
- The Mary Poppins Practically Perfect award goes to our two contest leaders, Isen Schafer and Stacy Schulte, who each went 15-1 today, losing only the aforementioned Florida-St Bonaventure game. Honorable mention goes to Jenni Garten who was also 15-1 but lost the Alabama game, thus missing out on the one upset bonus point and putting her in solo 3rd.
- The Persistence Pays Off award goes to Ellen “Maybe I’ll Win This Year” Kozisek, currently in a tie for fourth and only one point off the lead. So far, so good Ellen. Maybe you WILL win this year.
- The Take Me Back To 2012 award goes to Kasiah Hand, who as his alias suggests, did very well in the contest in 2012. So far in 2018, not so much. Hang in there, Kasiah. There’s nowhere to go but up from last place.
- The The Larger The Crowd, The Smaller The IQ award goes to the 113 minions, a group which include yours truly, who foolishly picked Arizona to go to the Final Four. Our brackets are officially busted.
- The I Told You So award goes to the eight contestants (names withheld to protect the guilty) who picked Oklahoma to advance to the Final Four. Everyone knows Oklahoma should not have even been in the field.
And with that, I am absolutely, positively, officially out of gas. Time for the Wizard to recharge his batteries for another full day of hoops.
Until Then,
The Wizard of Whiteland