It’s March Madness time, and I have two items to share on this the first day of the 2009 NCAA tournament. First is my bracket. My final four is Memphis, Louisville, Pittsburg, and North Carolina. And I’m picking Louisville to win the whole shebang.
Second is a YouTube of what is perhaps the greatest clutch play in NCAA Tournament history (even though I’m not a Duke fan). Laettner’s performance in this game was off-the-charts. He was 10 for 10 from the field, and scored this last minute game-winning shot. Though it is not remembered with fondness here in Kentucky, this was a game for the ages.
14 Comments
John Holmberg
(1) Really Denny? No big upsets? That’s all “1” seeds and one #2. Seems kind of “ho hum” to me 😉 I have UNC winning the whole thing. Hansbrough wants it too bad and they’re about to kick it up a notch.
(2)The Laettner shot was indeed one of the greats. However, I think Kansas from last year deserves some credit. They were all but beat, and the 3-pointer that one guy hit to tie it up and send it to OT was amazing. I haven’t seen enough people give Kansas props for that performance, but maybe they will in due time.
(3)I’d like to know who Darius is rooting for. Chances are the team is terrible and the conference is worse (judging by his prior remarks about college football teams/conferences). Darius, the SEC may not be the best in basketball, but in football I question your sanity if you say that! Just trying to get a rise out of you Darius 😉 You may think I’m going to hell because I’m not a Calvinist and I’m not politically conservative, but we can still have some fun 🙂
Go Tennessee Volunteers baby!!!
Geoff Baggett
Pretty close.
I’ve picked Memphis, Louisville, Duke, and Carolina. And Memphis to win it all.
Just hopin’ they don’t choke … again.
Darius T
John, I have wanted to say that you have seemed to become a lot more civil in your discussion, which I want to commend you for.
As for March Madnezz… my hometown Gophers already destroyed Louisville this year, and I can’t imagine a team that lost to the Gophs (badly) on a neutral site would stand a chance of winning it all. The team I’m rooting for to win it all: OU, of course. And they have a decent shot, that Griffin kid is amazing, and he has a much better supporting cast than Beasley had last year at K-State. That said, my main bracket has UConn winning it all.
Darius T
My final 4 are Wake, Pitt, OU, and UConn.
Ryan McBride
Denny has all but one, 1-4 seeds in the sweet 16, haha
D.J. Williams
I’ve just posted my picks over at the ol’ blog.
http://sola5guy.blogspot.com/2009/03/let-madness-begin.html
Denny Burk
Yes, I confess. It doesn’t look like a very daring bracket. But I would remind you all that I did a similar thing last year (I picked #1 seeds for the final four), and I got the final four right. So don’t throw your stones too quickly.
John Holmberg
Darius,
Thanks. I believe there is a clash at first because there has been no interaction previously and we don’t know why people believe what they believe, but over time these things fade away. You come to expect certain people to say certain things, agree with certain people, etc. You also have already had many dialogues about particular topics and find it unnecessary to rehash them again.
On here, I’ve come to expect that about 80% of the posts will be about complementarianism/egalitarianism, Calvinism, and conservative politics. Most of us “regulars” know what each other believes about these topics, so it is fruitless to continue arguing and getting mad at each other. What is important is finding common ground where we can agree and disagree civilly, and actually listening to the others comments to try and learn from it. It has been a process for me, to be sure, but I am learning. I think the nature of the posts here naturally breed a “war zone” mentality (just look at how many polar opposites we have here!), but the wise always mature and try to move forward in a Christ-like manner.
Matt Privett
Memphis, Louisville, Duke, and Carolina… with Carolina taking it all. It’s worth noting that the video should never had happened, if the referees had had the guts to throw Laettner out after he stomped on that Kentucky player.
Darius T
Laettner was one of the biggest punks ever in college basketball. He was a main reason why I hate Duke basketball.
Denny Burk
Matt and Darius,
I can’t disagree with you on that one. The stomping incident was beyond the pail. Still, that was one heckavu game!
Denny
James Riker
Hmm…I have Carolina winning over Duke in the final (I pretty much do this every year.) But most of my picks favor NC teams. Wake Forest beats Louisville I say.
Dave Schrock
By the way, Laettner was 10 of 10 from the free throw line. Best single game performance in NCAA history. Just ask Bruce Roberts.
Darius T
Ugh, Wake Forest losing just allowed Louisville a free pass to the final four.