I passed on the first set of games in favor of playing some basketball with the usual lunchtime crowd, but made it home in time to see Bucknell finish up winning against Arkansas, and Northwestern State hit a wild three at the buzzer to beat Iowa. What state is that? That’d be Louisiana. Now you know, and knowing is half the battle.
Let’s get back to it…
5:21: OK, one final note: The Burger King commerical with the giant chicken rodeo is the oddest thing I’ve seen in weeks. They’re really cornered the market on hallucinatory spots about junk food, for whatever that’s worth. I’m sure they’re very proud. Also, on drugs.
5:16: Nantz and Packer are now blathering about trivia, and games hat took place fifty years ago. This one’s over. Vilanova lets the shot clock run out, up 15 with 12 seconds to play. And Memphis just went final with their victory over Oral Roberts, which means an end to live-blogging for today. We’re going to get the UConn-Albany game tonight, every agonizing minute of it, so I doubt there’ll be much to say this evening.
5:05: New from CBS: the second terminator and the Allstate guy Fight! Global! Terror! I don’t really think I could take that show seriously…
5:00: ‘Nova by 11, WVU wins by 18, Memphis up 15. Things are winding down nationwide.
4:54: Nantz and Packer are discussing how much Monmouth’s uniforms look like Villanova’s from their 1985 miracle championship team. Other than, you know, haveing about eight times as much fabric in the shorts. I’m not sure what the point of that was. Monmouth trails by 7 with six and a half minutes, on a three right after Packer wrote them off. Monmouth ball after another stupid Villanova play.
4:52: The smug Asian guy in the Cingular commercials needs to be smacked upside the head. That is all.
4:48: And now, we switch to Villanova-Monmouth, as the Hawks have cut the lead to 9, with 8:16 remaining. CBS is sort of desperate to find smething interesting to air at the moment– none of the games still going on are particularly close, and the higher seeds lead them all.
4:42: There are two guys dressed as leprechauns behind the Northern Iowa bench. I don’t think that really means anything, I just wanted to point that out. And Georgetown wins by five. They get to face Ohio State who beat Davidson, sorry, Dave) on Sunday. Oral Roberts is within single digits, so we’re getting that game next.
4:39: After a wild scramble, the Hoyas get a breakaway for a dunk, to take a six point lead in the final minute. It’s all over but the foul shooting, unless Northern Iowa can drill some threes. Like the one they just hit…
4:34: Roy Hibbert whacks a Northern Iowa player with an elbow– shades of the Hoyas of old. Then he fouls out on a dopey touch foul. Northern Iowa shooting free throws, down five with just about a minute to play.
4:32: Georgetown up six, all the other games are in double digits. And Northern Iowa’s star player nails a three…
4:24:Spectacular blocked shot by Northern Iowa. Unfortunately, it went right into the hands of a Georgetown player, who passed it back to another guy, who stuck a jumper. Hoyas lead by six.
4:14: CBS is flacking an episode of “Cold Case” featuring Zeljko Ivanec as a serial killer.I keep seeing it, and saying “Dude, State’s Attorney Ed Danvers is notscary…” Georgetown is now leading by two, with about nine minutes left.
4:08:I bitch about CBS a lot, but they’ve actually been better this year about showing games, and not just endless ads. Just now, they reverted to form, giving us a three-minute commercial break, followed by a promise to send us to another game… after another three-minute commercial break.
4:05: Memphis unleashed a barrage of threes, and heads into the half with a 12-point lead. Georgetown and Northern Iowa are tied in the second half, and the WVU Pittsnogles are up by a dozen at the half.
3:55: The color guy is touting the refereeing of Jim Burr. Trivia note: Jim Burr was a frat brother of my father’s, back in the 60’s. The game itself is frenetic and sloppy, and now Memphis takes a five-point lead.
3:51: Finally, we switch games, to Dallas, where Oral Roberts is up three! Weirdly, the little scoreboard at the top of the screen has awarded Georgetown four points while still claiming that the game is at the half. I guess computers are hard to use…
3:47 WVU is pulling away, but Oral Roberts is within one. Go Pittsnogle! And now, Oral Roberts takes the lead. I really need to make up my mind about them… ‘Nove is now up 10.
3:43: Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Oral Roberts U. has pulled within four of Memphis. I’m sort of torn on this– on the one hand, I’d love to see a #16 seed beat a #1 seed (and displace Syracuse’s loss to Richmond as the most historic upset ever), but on the other hand, it’s Oral Roberts. I just can’t root for a vanity university.
3:38: Woo! Another turnover! More TO’s(17) than points (16)…
3:36: 7:36 to go in the first half, and the game has featured as many turnovers as points. Kill me now.
3:31: Villanova continues to shoot themselves in the foot, taking crazy long shots, forcing stupid passes, and playing lackadasical defense. And now it’s 10-6. Meanwhile, Georgetown has gone to the half down four, and both West Virginia and Memphis lead by seven.
3:25: Almost nine minutes in, and Monmouth just scored thier first field goal. Unfortunately, Vilanova only leads 10-4. I really wish they would wake up and get a bigger lead, because this game is being called by Jim Nantz and Billy Packer, the most annoying tandem CBS has to offer.
3:20: At the moment, we’re getting Villanova-Monmouth. Allan Ray has both eyes in place today, but they don’t really appear to be taking the Hawks seriously, leading only 4-1. In other action, Georgetown trails Northern Iowa by 7, West Virginia leads Southern Illinois by one, and Memphis is containing Oral Roberts’s 900 foot Jesus, leading 9-4
As it turned out, the UConn-Albany game was a crowd-pleaser. I just hope the tactic of suiting up some Husky look alikes for 3/4 of the game, and then bringing on the real team in the last 10 minutes doesn’t get repeated anytime soon.