PSoTD

I love the tournament, I really do. It is my favorite televised sporting event of the year. But I do wonder if the event has a problem.

Because for me, it is anticlimactic.

The first weekend is pure basketball pleasure. Sixty-four teams, 48 games, a fair amount of upsets, a bunch of buzzer beaters, a few overtimes... the joy of watching experts eating their words, and know-nothings leading their company tournament pool... it is a feverish period. If there's a week where our nation goes basketball-crazy, it's that first four days of the NCAA tournament. It is as close as the sport of basketball gets to the fever of football's Super Bowl in the U.S.

But... the second weekend is no slouch, either. Still 16 teams, 12 games, still a few Cinderellas with the promise of the big surprise... still the question of whether the top seeds really are for real, or just this year's facade about to have holes poked into it... Sure, it's a bit of a letdown, but not much, and not surprising, because the first weekend was SO MUCH BASKETBALL PLEASURE.

But here we are, the final weekend. Two games Saturday, and a game that means something on Monday. No real underdogs. No incredibly interesting side stories. Just the best of the best, and only three games of it. It's been built up, and before the final jump ball is tossed, I already feel some letdown. Every year. Why is that? Is that what other folks feel, too?

If so, I'm not sure what can be done about it.

Guess who it is? (Hint: It's not Yao Ming)

Somehow, the passing of Bowie Kuhn passed under my radar. May the ballfields be green where he goes...

Stanford did not deserve an at-large bid. Told you.

On a sidenote: I'm not saying this is my dream job, but sitting in a nice bar, drinking beer, watching every NCAA Tournament basketball game going on and writing about it sure seems like a good way to earn money.

I've been wondering that perhaps the NCAA tournament does their brackets wrong. There should be two brackets:

1 for Conference or Conference Tourney Champs
1 for "At-Large" Teams

Within those two brackets, teams are seeded. The Championship game pits the victor of both sides. Any "play-in" games would only include "at large" teams. Or the "at large" can have an unbalanced number of entrants.

Talk Left has weighed in. Hey, I'm not afraid. Here's my prediction of the Final Four:

Florida, Kansas, Ohio State and Texas.

And here's my underdog pick to make the Elite Eight: Wright State

And now... about Jay Bilas, who I find rather discouraging to read this year. He seems to have a bias.

The cases of Drexel and Appalachian State I feel badly for Drexel, because the Dragons are a good team and they played their guts out all year long. However, I also feel badly for Appalachian State, which played equally as hard and well this season.

The truth is, it is reasonable to leave those two teams out because you do not believe them to be among the 34 best at-large teams. The committee's charge is to select the 34 best teams after the automatic qualifiers are in, not the 34 "most deserving" teams, or the 34 teams that make us feel good about ourselves, or the 34 teams that provide the best story lines.

The bottom line is that this shows a big-conference bias. We don't know if Drexel or Appalachian State are among the best 34, because they don't get to play Duke and Syracuse and Alabama during the regular season. We can "believe" what we want, but that's the point of the tournament, to find out. Last year the mid-size conferences did spectacular in the tournament, and what was their reward? Less at-large bids this year than the past 4 or 5 years.

And I'm sorry, this is bullshit about the committee selecting the best 34 rather than than the best 34 story lines. That is part of some of these matchups. Immediately after the pairings were made. Former coach versus his old team? Former assistant coach versus his old mentor? C'mon. That's the freakin' point of some of these matchups.

It's been over 20 years since I've played the game in college, but it is a fun game. I did not know there was organized Central Pennsylvania Ultimate Frisbee - I wish they had a 40+ league. It can be a very active game, especially when playing against young whippersnappers.

It also seems to very popular on the Internet - I'm surprised how many ultimate leagues and clubs have web sites.

The NFL has an interesting program for athletes preparing to leave the game on their own terms:

Reading defenses can be a lucrative skill, but it’s not transferable to making a living after football. Tales of pro athletes mismanaging their fortunes are not uncommon.

To address that problem, the N.F.L. Players Association has arranged for current and former members to enroll in business courses at some of the nation’s top graduate schools of business, at Harvard, Northwestern, Stanford and Penn.

The 116 students this year include Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints, Brian Griese of the Chicago Bears, Shawn Springs of the Washington Redskins and Brian Westbrook of the Philadelphia Eagles.

Good idea.

Source: RB Thomas Jones conditionally traded to Jets

Well, if this turns out to happen I'll be sad. Thomas Jones was great for the Bears, and I don't really think upgrading a 2nd round pick is a good enough reason to trade him. I know, salary cap, blah blah blah, but Thomas Jones seemed to me to be a great team player, the kind of guy the Bears need. Of course, if Cedric Benson had trade value, perhaps he'd be the one going, but he has to be considered more potential liability because of his injury history.

The Jets have made a great deal.

New Orleans needs the love. Shut up, T-Mac.

Lovie Smith held all the best cards in this poker game. Nice try playing, but this Bears fan is glad he took the pot.