The Postmen’s NCAA TE part 3: Friday morning musings

March 16th, 2007 | Posted by PostmanR

Duke lost. Yeah, well, that was pretty much expected. Or at least, VCU was a solid upset to pick. I’m sure many of my cohorts across the blogosphere will be all “OMG DUKE SUCKS HAHAHA!” Guess what? You can’t make the Sweet 16 or better every year. They’ll be back, fools.

And speaking of the Duke-VCU game…how clutch was Eric Maynor? Not only did he knock down the game-winner, but he hit two other shots in the waning minutes of the game to get them into position for the win. We’ll see if the Rams can keep this thing going.

That afternoon was boring. Yeah, it’s been said already, but no upsets or close games yesterday aftenoon at all. Hey, not every game can be a thriller. Don’t get greedy, kids.

Xavier-BYU made up for that boredom. Drew Lavendar pulled his best Eric Maynor for the Musketeers. Great finish in that one. Isn’t it nice when as a No. 9 seed you get to play 89 miles from your school? I’m sure BYU wasn’t too happy about that one.

Idong Ibok hurt his elbow. Eek, this was tough to watch. MJD at the FanHouse has a video of it up, but it’s without the multiple replays CBS decided to keep showing. When a better video surfaces, I may throw it up. Actually, whatever. Here it is:

Remind you of anything?

Oh, and Indiana won. We’ll just leave it at that for now.

Revisiting Hansbrough-gate

March 5th, 2007 | Posted by PostmanE

At the risk of posting yet another video on this already pixel-bloated front page, here’s the somewhat brutal footage of Tyler Hansbrough taking a major facial from Gerald Henderson in the closing minutes of yesterday’s UNC win, courtesy of Loser with Socks.

Besides Billy Packer’s denialist nonsense, what most impressed me about the whole thing is how much Hansbrough would have destroyed three or four Duke players given the chance. I know that seems childish, but that dude is a haus, and he looked about as mad as anyone’s ever seen him.

Anyway, as for the “intentional or not question,” I think it’s pretty clear Henderson didn’t try to do exactly what he did. That’s convoluted; what I mean is that the guy didn’t necessarily intend to clock Psycho T in the nose, but he did try to foul the guy really hard, probably harder than he needed to, and this is what happened. In that case, the ejection is probably fair.

My favorite part of the whole last few minutes, though, was this: Roy Williams and Mike Kryzewski huddled by the sideline, both waiting to hear the referee’s verdict. It seemed clear that Williams was doing all of the talking, and Coach K was just standing there, looking furious, thinking he should say something but not wanting to escalate a shouting match with a guy in a tweed suit. Funny stuff. Anyway, he fired his shot after the game:

“The game was over before that,” he said. “I mean the outcome of the game, let’s put it that way. That’s unfortunate, too, that those people were in the game in that play. Maybe this wouldn’t have happened.”

The rivalry game slogan on ESPN should now read: Duke-UNC - Even more fun when Duke’s losing!

UPDATE: Apparently Hansbrough’s nose is broken. Considering the Carrie-esque fountain of blood, that seems about right.

Bob Knight is really enjoying himself: A look at last night’s college hoops

February 14th, 2007 | Posted by PostmanE

Yahoo! Sports’ resident Bob Knight apologist had a fantastic opportunity to flex some RMK love today: Knight’s Texas Tech squad took a win away from No. 6 Texas A&M at A&M. (In case you didn’t see the highlights, Tech won on a full-court-navigating last second shot from the continually underrated Jarrius Jackson.)

Of course, Knight used his postgame to take a quick shot at the gathered media, who were more likely there to write a coronation of Billy Gillespie’s impressive Aggies.

Bob Knight had a floppy hat on his head and a look of satisfaction on his face, a bit of joy even.

Not so much because his Texas Tech team had finally figured out how to finish, ending a five game losing streak – one of the longest of his long career. But because he had ruined things for a bunch of national media who had descended here to hype up white-hot Texas A&M.

“You came here to write a big story about A&M and we just (expletive) you,” smiled Knight outside the Tech locker room as he prepared to head for the team bus.

Ah, a feeling of joy. Not because his team won, mind you, but because he got to stick it to the national media. Really showed them, Bobby. (I wonder what it’s like to live in such a joyless, angry and yes, brilliant mind.)

A&M’s unlikely loss wasn’t the only one of the night. In a (arguably) eerie coincidence, and perhaps an even bigger upset, No. 25 Virginia Tech knocked off No. 4 North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Apparently, it was “Lose to mediocre technical school” promotional night for UNC and A&M.

The question, as Dan Shanoff poses this morning in his Quickie: What do you make of the top-ranked squads after these losses? What do you make of both Techs getting the tough road wins?

First, Texas Tech. It’s easy to try to apply a win like this to the NCAA tournament, but that discussion might be irrevelant; the Red Raiders are still only 5-6 in the conference and 16-10 overall. If they pull it together and get in the tourney, I’d be deathly afraid to see them as a 10 or 11 seed. That could get ugly for whoever is in their side of the bracket. Or they could flame out again. That was a long way of saying: who knows?

UNC is UNC; no worries there. Roy Williams might need to step in and coach close games more tightly, but they’ll be fine. Still a Final Four team, I think.

Same with A&M. No worries. Still a sweet 16 team, as long as they’re shooting well.

Virginia Tech is perhaps the most interesting of the four, yeah? I mean, this team has wins at Duke (which, I suppose, don’t mean as much this year) and two over UNC, including last night’s in Chapel Hill. Talk about being afraid of a team in the tournament. Every game I see Va. Tech play, they look more and more appealing as that lower-seed Elite Eight team that always emerges. If you don’t have the horses to match up, stay away from those ultra-athletic Hokies. They will jump you into submission. Don’t believe me? Ask Greg Paulus.

One more college hoops note: I’ve just bought John Feinstein’s Last Dance: Behind the Scenes at the Final Four. Needless to say, I’m excited, and will report back with a full, ahem, report, sometime in the near future. (See my review of Blind Side to see what you’ll be breathlessly awaiting.)

College athletics taketh away, and college athletics giveth

February 7th, 2007 | Posted by PostmanE

So I celebrated signing day by completely decrying the collegiate recruitment process and the particularly murky aspects of those players’ careers once they arrive at their campus of choice. It might be a bit ironic then - or at least contradictory - that I’ll settle under the warm glow of the HDTV tonight for a night full of collegiate athletics at their finest. Hey, I never said I didn’t like college hoops, I just don’t like the way they’re made. If I was into giving simple concepts presumptuous capitalized titles (or if I was Bill Simmons), I might call it the Sausage Theory.

Anyway, one game obviously jumps up at the viewer tonight: North Carolina at Duke, traditionally the most overhyped of all sports contests. By now it’s an old complaint, but the number of camera angles - nay, channels - dedicated to a regular season college basketball contest is truly something to behold. Even national championships don’t get the subsidiary treatment. And a camera trained on the fans - really? As someone who’s been inside Cameron Indoor Stadium, the last thing you really ought to focus on is the incredibly nerdy, cranky Crazies, especially when there is quality basketball being played on the floor in front of you. (Quick story: when Indiana played at Cameron for the Big Ten/ACC earlier in the season, every time the Hoosiers would set up their mini benches on the Duke floor, three female Crazies would give themselves absolute coronaries screaming “GET OFF OUR FLOOR!!! DISRESPECTFUL!!! THAT’S SO DISRESPECTFUL!!! GET OFF OUR FLOOR!!!” Finally someone on media row told them that it was something IU did every game, and that it was probably not meant as disrespect. Blue-faced [from the shout-induced asphyxiation, not the face paint], the Harpies just glared at the poor guy. Crazy, indeed.)

But alas, as in most other years, at least one of these teams is very good and the other is slightly above average, making the game worthwhile viewing even for impartial college basketball fans. And as cynical as I might be - it wouldn’t surprise me if the NCAA arranged this scheduling so everyone could immediately forget how icky signing day is - it’s hard to thumb your nose at college basketball’s aesthetic finest. That what it’s all about, after all; the sheer joy of the game might not completely trump my qualms with the NCAA, but it certainly helps the balance.

For the record, that photo was taken immediately after Roy Williams was asked if he thought a “Crazies Cam” was the least bit necessary. “OH GOD NO!! NO!!!!”

Get back…get back…get back from the first three rows

November 7th, 2006 | Posted by PostmanE

Sorry, Cameron Crazies. The fire marshal is here to … wait for it … extinguish your little spirit-fest:

Duke’s opponents may have finally found something that will make the “Cameron Crazies” sit down — the Durham fire code. Duke’s student fan section, which has been allowed to stand on floor space behind press row for decades, is being forced to retreat to the bleachers in Cameron Indoor Stadium in the interests of fire safety. Durham’s fire-code regulations, according to the school, forbid the Crazies — or anyone else — from occupying the floor space.

Boy, that’s a shame. You mean they won’t be able to do that little limp-wristed motion - not there’s anything wrong with that - when an opposing player is trying to inbound the ball? You know, the one that just must be oh so intimidating?

Right. Yeah. Intimidating.

Anyway, we haven’t even made it to the money quote yet. From - who else? - Coach K:

“Where were [the fire marshals] for the last 50 years?” he told the Durham Herald Sun. “It’s like, ‘Did we do something wrong? And if that is the case, then how might we be able to solve it without hurting the students?’ They’re on the team, too. They should be as close to the court as possible.”

They’re on the team too? Really? That’s a novel idea.

Anyway, jokes aside, this is a bit sad, if only because it has the potential to zap a little bit of that, um, craziness that makes Cameron Indoor a special place. Dick Vitale sheds a tear today.

But in case you’re still wondering where the fire marshals are … they got invited to Satan’s totally awesome Halloween party! Duh! Satan’s trickery knows no bounds …