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At the Intersection of Sports and Culture

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Harvard Wins One For The NESCAC

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Harvard’s win over New Mexico in the second round of the NCAA tournament was good news for all of us hoping to see the New England Small Conference Athletic Conference make the leap to DI athletics. The Ivy League, just like the NESCAC, does not award athletic scholarships, which certainly didn’t look like it mattered Thursday evening as the Crimson’s speed around the perimeter created a lot of open three point shots exposing the sluggish Lobo defense, eventually busting a whole bunch of NCAA brackets.

The NESCAC is at the top of DIII athletics with schools like Williams, Bowdoin, and Trinity competing at some of the highest levels of collegiate competition regardless of level. ‘Cac schools do not award athletic scholarships relying instead on massive endowments to award need based scholarships to offset the exorbitant costs of higher education helping to create and promote socio-economic diversity.  Generally  NESCAC schools are smaller than the Ivies but the infrastructure exists within some of these rural New England institutions to increase the size of the student body and properly support DI athletic programs.

The questions for the NESCAC is why should they make the move to DI? The answer is simple: exposure and revenue. The NESCAC brand is already strong with over achieving high schoolers looking for an alternative to the Ivy and Patriot Leagues and adding DI athletics would not dilute the applicant pool but rather serve to increase the national profile of schools that are still relying heavily on the Northeast to fill their dormitories. More bodies in beds means more tuition money. Plus former NESCAC athletes like myself would love the move which will lead to an increase in school pride and a rise in annual giving.

Plus with Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany threatening a move to DIII should Ed O’Bannon’s lawsuit against the NCAA go through there could all of a sudden be a massive void in top tier collegiate athletics which could be filled by the likes of Wesleyan, Amherst, and Tufts. I say the NESCAC should call Delany’s bluff and 10 years from now I want to be talking about the Bates College Bobcats pushing Butler in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Ok, maybe not Bates but you get my point. – JL

view from Harvard gymnasium courtesy of @SchwartzHub

March Madness Hall Pass

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Back when I was in high school I always took great pride in never missing a day of class. My desire to go to school was one part academic integrity and two parts not wanting to miss practice after school. The only day  when I would ask my folks to phone it in for me was day 1 of the NCAA tournament.

The internet has made it infinitely easier to follow the action from your cubicle but that doesn’t mean that there will not be an inordinate amount of professionals calling in sick on either Thursday or Friday. To make things easier for those of you who haven’t saved up those sick days here’s a quick list of the one game per time slot with missing work for.

Thursday

12:40pm (6) Butler vs (11) Bucknell – Nothing gives Northeastern elitists more satisfaction than making a case for the Patriot and Ivy League. I’d love to be able to empathize with the academically entitle sect but sadly the NESCAC failed to receive a bid yet again. In any case, Bucknell has a good player in center Mike Muscala and Butler has created a national following on account of back to back Final Four appearances. This game would have been much more interesting if C.J. McCollum were healthy and Lehigh were representing the Patriot instead of the Bison.

4:10pm (1) Gonzaga vs (16) Southern – This will be the first chance for casual college basketball fans to watch the Zags and star center Kelly Olynyk who looks like Conan the Barbarian but plays like a Gasol.

7:15pm (4) Michigan vs (13) North Dakota St – Nate “the Great” Wolters vs Trey Burke will be one of the best individual matchups in round 2 even though the Wolverines will look to lockdown the Jackrabbit star with either Tim Hardaway Jr or Glenn Robinson III. It may not be bear vs shark but who wins in the animal octagon between a jackrabbit and wolverine? My money’s on the jackrabbit. Too fast. Too nimble. Will wear down the ferocious wolverine.

9:45pm (5) VCU vs (12) Akron – If you haven’t watched VCU’s defense reek #havoc with opposing offenses please make sure you do so with a fully functioning AED nearby because Shaka’s squad will produce an irregular heartbeat.

Friday

12:40pm (5) Wisconsin vs (12) Ole Miss – Rebels star shooting guard Marshall Henderson plays with an inflated sense of self and irrational confidence which is fine with the Badgers who are happy to slow the game down and force Ole Miss to chuck up plenty of bad shots. Plus, you never know when Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan will give another inspring halftime interview.

4:10pm (1) Indiana vs LIU-Brooklyn – I’m calling the play-in game for LIU and look forward to the super talented Hoosiers overlooking their round 2 opponents for the next matchup against either NC St or Temple. Plus, you never know when Indiana guard Victor Oladipo will do something spectacular.

7:20pm (8) UNC vs (9) Villanova – Two marquee programs playing for the right to face top seed Kansas in round 3.

9:45pm (7) Notre Dame vs (10) Iowa State – The Fighting Hoibergs are one of my surprise teams to perhaps sneak into the round of 16. Even though this game will be played late at night hopefully the Fighting Irish will refrain from wearing those awful fluorescent green uniforms. Adrian Dantley cannot be pleased.

view from University of Dayton Arena courtesy of @UDArena

Instant Bracketification

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Before the majority of you slackers and middling upper management types start wasting your companies valuable toner Monday morning printing out enough brackets to fill an 18 foot Florida sinkhole, allow me to offer an abridged breakdown that’ll surely help cover the cost of your various March Madness pools.

Midwest (Indianapolis)

Big East tournament champs (1) Louisville are hotter than coach Rick Pitino’s all white Colonel Sanders suit but leader scorer Russ Smith is a chucker of Costanza proportions and with their team assist to turnover ration nearly 1:1 the Cardinals won’t be able to rely on that frenetic full court press like they did against Syracuse Saturday night. (4) Saint Louis is turning into everyone’s sexy mid major pick but face a tough road with a potential matchup against underrated (5) Oklahoma St in round 3. Slow and steady usually wins the race and so do yourself a favor and ride with Mr. Consistent Tom Izzo and his (3) Michigan St. Spartans to make it to Atlanta.

West (Los Angeles)

(1) Gonzaga becomes the first mid major ever to be awarded with a #1 seed and they are a deserving pack of Zags having defeated the like of St. Mary’s, Oklahoma and Kansas St. during an impressive 31-2 regular season. But the WCC isn’t very good and Gonzaga did lose their two most difficult matchups of the season to Illinois and Butler so unfortunately the under-heralded center Kelly Olynyk won’t make it past the round of 16. (3) New Mexico has the momentum after winning an intense WAC tourney final over UNLV but the Big Ten was the best conference in college basketball this season which makes (2) Ohio State the favorites out West.

South (Arlington, Texas)

I don’t know why they continue to schedule these regional finals in domes other than it prepares players for shooting in the vacant space of half filled football stadiums. Not to mention what an inconvenience it must be coaches to sit on a stool for 40 minutes on account of the raised court. Most of the miserable SOBs are probably already dealing with nasty cases of hemorrhoids on account of watching endless hours of game film holed up in the quiet concrete underbellies of their home arena.   (5) VCU and their #havoc defense should scare the shot out of (1) Kansas in the round of 16 but Shaka’s luck is going to run out when the Rams go down to Otto Porter Jr. and the (2) Georgetown Hoyas. Porter and Indiana’s Victor Oladipo were the two best players I saw play this season so it’ll be nice to see the G’town star receive the dap he deserves when he carries his team to the final four.

East (Washington)

The aforementioned Oladipo and his (1) Indiana Hoosiers are perhaps the most talented team in college basketball which in this the year of no great teams means they’ll lose in the third round to either (8) NC State or (9) Temple. (2) Miami looks real good after winning the ACC but I’ve got a feeling that the tournaments biggest surprise will be (5) UNLV cutting down the Verizon Center nets.

Final Four (Atlanta)

Ohio State over Michigan State, Georgetown over UNLV

Championship Game

Ohio State over Georgetown

view from the United Center courtesy of @SamRenaut

Predicting The Final Four Using Current NBA Players

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I miss Carmelo Travieso. And Lou Roe. Marcus Camby too. But mostly I miss the days when you got to know the individual players on a college basketball team. Today, in the era of one and done, it is much harder to develop a familiarity with most top 25 college basketball programs. And for fans like myself, who either didn’t go to a BCS school or aren’t from a tradition rich state, following college basketball has become an increasingly difficult proposition. For every Ashley Judd and dialysis patient out there going crazy about their ‘Cats, there are an equal number of people like me who will watch these games Saturday night because that’s what sports fans do and it would down right unpatriotic to not watch the Final Four.

As far as predictions go, I thought it would be best to determine the winner of March Madness by putting the 4 remaining teams through a little hypothetical game involving current NBA players from each school.

Kentucky vs Louisville – 6:09 PM

Kentucky

Starting Five – Rajon Rondo, John Wall, Brandon Knight, Tayshaun Prince, DeMarcus Cousins

Bench – Eric Bledsoe, Jodie Meeks, Patrick Patterson, Chuck Hayes, Nazr Mohammed, Josh Harrellson

Louisville

Starting Five – Francisco Garcia, Jerry Smith, Terrence Williams, Earl Clark, Samardo Samuels

Bench  – Derrick Caracter*, Preston Knowles*

I had no idea how few recent NBA players Louisville has produced. Where have you gone “Never Nervous” Pervis Ellison? The Bluegrass State turns its lonely eyes to you. You know the Louisville pros are in trouble when their starting shooting guard Jerry Smith made it onto the squad only because he recently signed a 10 day contract with the lowly New Jersey Nets. To steal a line from Rick Pitino’s pregame speech before Saturday’s semifinal in New Orleans, “Clifford Rozier isn’t walking through that door.”.

As for this roster of Kentucky pros, put them together on a single team and they certainly would be able to beat the Washington Wizards. Take it to the bank Stan Van Gundy!

Kentucky 110 Louisville 75

*currently playing in the D-League

Ohio State vs Kansas – 8:49 PM

Ohio State

Starting Five: Mike Conley, Daequan Cook, Evan Turner, Kosta Koufos, Byron Mullens

Bench: Michael Redd, Greg Oden

Kansas

Starting Five: Mario Chalmers, Kirk Hinrich, Paul Pierce, Markieff Morris, Nick Collison

Bench: Drew Gooden, Xavier Henry, Brandon Rush, Marcus Morris, Darrell Arthur, Cole Aldrich

Kansas is kind of like the opposite of Louisville in the sense that I had no idea just how many Jayhawks players were in the NBA today. And the list goes on. (Josh Selby anyone?) What has always been amazing to me is how Bill Self, and Roy Williams before him, is able to recruit 5 star high school players to choose Lawrence, Kansas as the place where they want to spend their college year(s). But who am I to pass judgement on anyone else’s choice in college towns as Waterville, ME continues to have some of the highest rates per capita for both prostitution and fast food.

I’d like Ohio State’s chances that much more if Greg Oden weren’t busy recovering from his 3rd microfracture surgery. If either Jim Jackson or Lawrence Funderburke were still in the league then it would be an entirely different story.

Kansas 90 Ohio State 85

Championship Game: Kentucky 94 Kansas 90

view from the Superdome courtesy of @schuetteKSR

 

Mascot Madness: Predicting The Final Four

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Like most bloggers who are fresh out of new ideas or gimmicks, I have resorted to a method employed by many novice bracketologists, including my wife, where I pick the winners of the upcoming Sweet 16 games based solely on the mascots. I will do my best to avoid any and all references to the honey badger or my favorite sports movie of all time.

East Region (Boston – Thu/Sat)

(1) Syracuse Orangemen vs (4) Wisconsin Badgers: Bucky the Badger embodies many of the same qualities as the great people of Wisconsin: friendly, down to earth, and looks much much slimmer in vertical stripes. But the Syracuse Orangeman is refreshing citrus personified. I see that big bobbleheaded mascot and just want to squeeze it for some fresh natural goodness. Speaking of fresh natural goodness, I’m on a bit of a grapefruit kick right now and every time I cut up a section with my specially designed grapefruit spoon I always think about the Seinfeld episode where George can’t stop winking. Mr. Weatherbee. Advantage: Orangemen

(2) Ohio State Buckeyes vs (6) Cincinnati Bearcats: What is a buckeye exactly? I remember travelling through Columbus once and stopping by a local sweet shop where they served these wonderfully delicious peanut butter filled chocolate confections called buckeyes. Up until that point I always figured that by judging from the decals on Ohio State helmets the buckeye was some sort of homage to medicinal marijuana. Either way, Bearcats are known connoisseurs of home made fudge and cannabis. Advantage: Buckeyes

Elite 8: Buckeyes over Orangemen

West Region (Phoenix – Thu/Sat)

(1) Michigan State Spartans vs (4) Louisville Cardinals: I never understood the whole 300 thing. For a while there it seemed like we were raising an entire generation of young people who looked up to King Leonidas more than even their own parents. Don’t kids understand that those abs aren’t real and that defending Thermopylae is not an acceptable form of physical fitness? Advantage: Spartans

(3) Marquette Golden Eagles vs (7) Florida Gators: Here’s what I don’t understand about college sports, how come some schools like Marquette and St. John’s switch to a much more politically correct mascot while a school like North Dakota is working to keep the Fighting Sioux?  To be honest, I like Golden Eagles much much more than Golden Warriors even though I’m not even sure there is such a thing as a golden eagle. Advantage: Gators

Elite 8: Spartans over Gators

South Region (Atlanta – Fri/Sun)

(3) Baylor Bears vs (10) Xavier Musketeers: A couple months back, 60 Minutes aired a segment on these Texas wildlife preserves/high priced hunting retreats stocked with all sorts of endangered species from Africa. Apparently there are these super rich Teddy Roosevelt types who spend hundreds of thousands of dollars just to have the opportunity to hunt and kill a nearly extinct scimitar horned oryx. Frankly, if I had that kind of cash lying around I think I would pay somebody else to catch my dinner while I waited around the weber grill with a cold can of Dale’s Pale Ale in my hand.  Advantage: Musketeers

(1) Kentucky Wildcats vs (4) Indiana Hoosiers: True story, my brother in law’s middle name is “Hoosier”. For a while there I thought it was because my in laws were enormous John Mellancamp fans but as it turns out my father in law stopped listening to his music shortly after dropping the “Cougar”. I wish more parents named their kids after state nicknames. I have lived most of my life in New Hampshire and Connecticut so a “Nutmeg” or “Granite” Lord could be two distinct possibilities for any future offspring. I should probably run this by my wife first. Advantage: Hoosiers

Elite 8: Hoosiers over Musketeers

Midwest Region (St. Louis – Fri/Sun)

(1) North Carolina Tar Heels vs (13) Ohio Bobcats: Please allow me to be the 521st blogger this week to mention how awesome and authentic Clark Kellogg’s reaction was upon hearing the news that his son Nick’s Ohio team was headed to the Sweet 16. Pretty genuine moment right there, one that all parents can only hope to experience. (No pressure son!!!!) Unfortunately for the Bobcats, Tar Heels is a really an amazing mascot, even though most people don’t know what a tar heel is or what exactly it has to do with a ram. Advantage: Tar Heels

(1) Kansas Jayhawks vs (11) North Carolina State Wolfpack: With all due respect to the diehard fans of the Hangover franchise, this one was over at Rock Chalk. Although when watching the KU student body sing the Alma Mater one can’t help but feel that to be a Jayhawk is to be a member of a very exclusive cult that holds large gatherings in Fogg Allen Fieldhouse where they worship the spirit of Wilt Chamberlain. Advantage: Jayhawks

Elite 8: Tar Heels over Jayhawks

view from the TDBankNorth Garden courtesy of @KarlGAnderson