Final Four & Other Stuff

Well, UK didn't make the Final Four and UL didn't sniff it. Who could have predicted it? Well, I kind of did. And said watch out for Northern Iowa to boot. Of course if I knew what the Hell I was talking about, I would have won the big pool and not just Jon's where everyone except me picked Kansas or UK. Helps to pick two of the Final Four teams even if your eventual champion pick blows it. UL losing wasn't a surprise to me. They did what they do. Came out unprepared. Flat. Looked like crap. I wish Pitino would take the St. John's job. Then we could hire the Butler coach.

UK losing wasn't that big of a surprise either although I thought UK had a better chance of winning it all than UL did of beating Duke. And just what I said before is what did them in. Inexperience and cold shooting. But I didn't mention poor coaching. West Virginia got hot in the first half from the three point line which was unexpected. But why didn't UK press the whole game? WVU had one ball handler and he wasn't that great of a dribbler. Even when he was out with foul trouble, UK didn't press for several minutes. And I almost forgot, UK really lost because of a conspiracy by the NCAA, the selection committee, a referee on the take and the Illuminati. I read that on the Cats' Pause message board.

I see that Jay Leno is getting the Tonight Show back in the ratings. But who knows if that will last. I just never really got the whole Leno/Conan issue. On a side note, I will call him Conan because I don't want to use extra apostrophes. I didn't really watch either of them. Both were amusing in their own way, but I didn't think it was enough to watch either of them if something else was on. The only late night show I miss was G.L.O.W. with it's awesome plots and insightful dialogue. But I did not understand all the people who were so pissed off that NBC was bringing Leno back over Conan. Really. Why do I get the feeling that those people didn't really watch the Tonight Show? That they just had a feeling that they liked Conan better? Oh right. Because NBC brought Leno back because the ratings were in the toilet. If you really like Conan better, maybe you should watch.

Shitbox. Ha ha.

Anyway, sounds like UK could be losing just about all of their team. Who could have thought that. Besides me, and even I didn't think Dodson and Orton might go too. Which means on the plus side for UK fans, Calipari won't be getting an NBA job soon. After all, if you can't beat West Virginia with an NBA roster. How are you going to beat NBA teams with one?

Sounded like a bad story to begin with. A Thai monk was arrested for selling tiger skins. Then came the good news. It was only dog and cow skins made up to look like tiger skins to fool the stupid. Well, not so good for the dogs and cows, I guess. But at least they had hamburgers first.

Why didn't I think of this? Explaining away my criminal (alleged) behavior because I was stabbed by a teenage girl while trying to entice her into a threesome. Although in hindsight, she could have just said no.

Suppose that before the NCAA tournament started, we were told only one #1 seed would make the Final Four? I'm guessing that if we were polled on which that would be, Duke would have been last. Yet, there they are. And no, I'm not buying the belief they had a much easier road than anyone else. I could look at anyone's region and find reasons to make that claim. Yes, Duke's region had what looks like the weakest two seed, but Villanova was a #2 seed in the Big East tournament which was ahead of WVU (the #2 seed in UK's bracket). But when you get to the Elite Eight, you're facing a team that is either very good or very hot. And UK's region had two mid-majors (New Mexico was the weakest 3 seed ever) and a Big 10 team incapable of winning on the road in the 3-5 ranges. And I could make similar claims about the other regions.

Then there is the fat woman. Now, I don't usually make fat slurs because........well, I'm fat. But some woman is just trying to be ridiculed. She wants to be the fattest woman in the world. After seeing her picture, I'm amazed she isn't already. But she's got a boyfriend who is all for it because he's a "belly man". Not sure if she has a belly or is just a corpulent mass. Now, I'm all for people doing whatever whackjob thing they want to do. But I cannot believe she makes money by getting guys to pay to watch her eat.

What's the problem with government? Well, a lot of things. But here's one. Too many A-holes. Some jerkwad in California wants to do away with the scourge of America - free parking. Why do I get the feeling that the California legislature has their own parking garage?

Of course, maybe the problem is that jerkoff doesn't have a parking garage builder in his district. That seems to be the case of Illinois (Land Of Obama soon to replace Land of Lincoln on license plates) where some asshat legislator is trying to claim a tire burning plant is clean energy. As someone who has set fire to a variety of things, burning tires aren't clean. Apparently, pollution is okay if you're trying to get votes.

What a strange story. A bunch of companies are saying that the new health care reform act that will spend a trillion or more dollars to cover maybe half the uninsured people will cost them money? How is that possible? Shouldn't this bill lead to magic and unicorns? Gee, you pass a bill that adds to a company's bottom line. That must lead to good things. I'm sure these companies will rush right out and hire more employees to help get the economy back on its feet. Get a clue people. When you raise the cost of doing business, people find a way to do it cheaper. So, don't act surprised when the company continues having the business done in cheaper countries.

Oh, and drop the prescription drug coverage for retirees and let them go on the Medicare drug plan. Which is why there was a subsidy to companies. To keep them from doing just that when the prescription drug plan for Medicare was implemented. Now they will and the government will be on the hook for all the costs instead of just part of it. Of course that amount wasn't part of the original cost estimate for the health care plan. Which means that the already BS assumptions are even further off.

But what the Hell. Why not trade jobs for socialized medicine? It's working so well for England where they can't even diagnose pregnancy. Because it's so similar to Irritable Bowel Syndrome or the rampaging shits. But at least no concerns about drowning since they sometimes decide you don't need water.

I don't really understand the level of animosity that people here have for Duke. That game was 18 years ago. Get over it. Although I guess the Duke hatred is national which I can't figure out. I'm pretty indifferent to Duke for the most part. The only UL-Duke game I remember is UL winning the 1986 championship. So, maybe I don't have that history of heartbreak others do. But why do so many hate Duke? Because their fans are a bunch of blue blood rich kids? A lot of them are, but I doubt if they have as many as Cornell which was a fan fave (outside of Kentucky) in the tournament. Is it because their fans are arrogant? Well, they may be but I can find (another) closer fanbase that seems pretty arrogant to me. Duke's can't be any worse. Is it because they win? They have for a long time, but Michigan State has been to six Final Fours in the past twelve years. Why doesn't anyone hate them? And so many hate Coach K (as always, I do not want to spell his name). That seems almost un-American to me. Sure he has some less than desirable coaching qualities (sideline demeanor, win at all costs attitude) but are they that much different from any successful coach? Personally, I find a lot to admire about him. A West Point grad who served his Army hitch and then returned become head coach there. And is still very involved with the academy. He also took over one of the most thankless jobs out there - coaching the US Olympic basketball team. That is the worst job in the world since NBA players started being used. If you don't win the gold medal, you're a failure. I used to think Larry Brown was one of the best coaches out there. After watching his dysfunctional mess in the 2004 games, I wouldn't hire him to coach a junior high team. But when you win like Coach K did in 2008, it's only because you had Kobe Bryant and Lebron James. Seems his services to his country should be enough to keep him from being evil incarnate in people's eyes, but I guess not.