College Basketball

[Lady Whistleup]

Oral Roberts/Arkansas is a great game.

Edited March 28, 2021 by Lady Whistleup

[AimingforYoko]

The only reason the Pac-12 isn't going undefeated in the Sweet 16 round is that Oregon and USC are playing each other. What a performance.

At least Michigan is repping for the Big 10.

[Lady Whistleup]

UCLA and Bama was also a great game. 

It always hurts my heart to see players crying during March Madness. It makes me remember how young they are.

[twoods]

And how much pressure they have to win these games. My heart can’t handle those poor guys devastated every year.

I hate UCLA but go PAC12! I can see the same SEC bias in commentating like football when the UCLA player gets hacked at the end of regulation when he made his bucket while the guy admitting “oh there was a bit of a grab”, and then making a big deal right before the bucket when he thought the UCLA player had a charge before he passed the ball (newsflash, he didn’t).  Glad that the PAC12 are sticking it to everyone else. 

Edited March 29, 2021 by twoods

[Phebemarie]

10 hours ago, twoods said:

And how much pressure they have to win these games. My heart can’t handle those poor guys devastated every year.

I hate UCLA but go PAC12! I can see the same SEC bias in commentating like football when the UCLA player gets hacked at the end of regulation when he made his bucket while the guy admitting “oh there was a bit of a grab”, and then making a big deal right before the bucket when he thought the UCLA player had a charge before he passed the ball (newsflash, he didn’t).  Glad that the PAC12 are sticking it to everyone else. 

This is why I sync up OSU legend, Mike Parker, with the broadcast.  His enthusiasm makes a Beaver win that much better.

I don't know if OSU will win today against Houston, but they have been a lot of fun to watch.  

 

https://www.nbcsports.com/northwest/oregon-state-beavers/beavers-broadcaster-mike-parker-assaulted-downtown-indy-prior

Edited March 29, 2021 by Phebemarie

[Crashcourse]

17 hours ago, Lady Whistleup said:

UCLA and Bama was also a great game. 

It always hurts my heart to see players crying during March Madness. It makes me remember how young they are.

And the cameras love showing those players with the towels over their heads.  They have to sit on the bench but you know they just want to walk away.   

[Phebemarie]

The camera also zooms in so viewers can get a close up of the tears welling in their eyes.  

[mojoween]

They get it from everywhere.  I mean piccolo girl must be married with a family by now but she will forever be Villanova’s crying piccolo player.

[Carey]

That's messed up, IMO.  I used to rip on players crying over a game.  I think I've lessened my stance on that (not so much for football when it's a meaningless Bowl game).  I think in several cases, it means the end of doing something they love to do.  In Garza's case last week, it was meaningful; everything with Iowa, and the fact that it was over, with him being the star.  For some other players, unlike Garza, they're done forever.  They were good enough for their program, but it ends at that point.  No professional hoops.

It's messed up because people don't need to see it.  Let them be.  It was totally not cool when they filmed Central Florida's locker room two years ago.  I guess you gotta do it on the court, but that was a previously taped segment.

 

I have all the favorites winning again.  I think most of the underdogs will keep it close; USC will try to keep it close, but will be unable to do so

[mojoween]

We didn’t even see the official collapse on the sideline in this Zag/USC game but seeing him prone on the floor was terrifying enough.  I hope he’s ok.

Update - he was wheeled off on a stretcher and looked rather pissed off about it.

Edited March 30, 2021 by mojoween

[emma675]

They showed a replay and the official went down pretty hard. He just fell back and his head bounced off the hardwood, he didn't even throw his arms back to try and catch himself. Hopefully he'll be okay.

[xaxat]

I don't really have a problem with reaction shots players on losing teams, but I really didn't like it when they would make the stars of those losing teams attend a press conference after the game. (Not sure if they do that any more.)

The editor for One Shining Moment is really going to have their work cut out for them. No bands, no cheeleaders , socially distanced crowds wearing masks. . .

[Lady Whistleup]

Wow I feel old. I remember when Juwan Howard was part of the Fab Five. Now he's the head coach. 

[twoods]

I was wondering why the coach looked familiar! 

Congrats to UCLA. Now they get a ticket to get their butts kicked by Gonzaga (that team is playing on another level) but so proud of those guys for getting this far when nobody believed in them. Yay for PAC12!

[mojoween]

It cracks me up how UCLA, because of their season, their losing streak on the way into the tourney and where they started the tourney from are a scrappy underdog.  

There is no blood bluer than UCLA but they have morphed, for this year anyways, into David going against Goliath.

[AimingforYoko]

5 hours ago, mojoween said:

It cracks me up how UCLA, because of their season, their losing streak on the way into the tourney and where they started the tourney from are a scrappy underdog.  

There is no blood bluer than UCLA but they have morphed, for this year anyways, into David going against Goliath.

Yeah, if you said 20 years ago that UCLA over Gonzaga would be one of the NCAA tournaments biggest upsets, they'd have made you pee in a cup.

[xaxat]

The NCAA appealed a case that could define the future of "amateurism" to the Supreme Court and it didn't go well.

Final decision will come this summer. (The phrase "transfer portal" is now part to the Supreme Court record.)

[Lady Whistleup]

I agree with Kavanaugh. The players of Division I schools that are making their schools so much money deserve a stipend or at least opportunities for endorsements. 

[AimingforYoko]

They estimate that Paige Bueckers is out $400k because of NCAA rules.

Speaking of the second best basketball player Minnesota has ever produced: Paige Bueckers is first frosh to win AP Player of the Year.

[mojoween]

The Roy Williams retirement news is surprising, no?  Is there going to be some other news following shortly thereafter?

[Carey]

41 minutes ago, mojoween said:

The Roy Williams retirement news is surprising, no?  Is there going to be some other news following shortly thereafter?

It's surprising due to the fact that it's a reality, but the act of him retiring in general isn't a surprise

[AimingforYoko]

Some will say that the academic scandal at Chapel Hill is a blot on his record, but most will just write it off as the price of doing business in bigtime college athletics. Nobody is just one thing. Hell, St. John Wooden turned a blind eye to Sam Gilbert doing "favors" for his top recruits.

He was a great coach and a flawed human being. As are we all.

[mojoween]

Well, you haven’t seen my coaching skills yet to know whether I am great.

[mojoween]

Roy Williams is selfish.  First he takes the shine off SU with his Kansas announcement.  Now he announces his retirement two days before the Final Four.

I get that there is no good time because the schools can’t lose out on their coach recruiting time, so Roy couldn’t have waited until like the week after the championship, but still.  (Not his fault per se) but ESPN’s marquee morning radio show started by talking about Roy and is now on their third segment talking about Roy, and have not mentioned the Final Four once.

[xaxat]

Looks like CBS was absolutely terrified that a player from one of the teams was going to kneel during the national anthem. There were no shots of the players during the anthem.

ETA OK, that's funny. The men's court has the word "equality" painted on it. I assume they didn't hear about the women's "weight room".

Edited April 3, 2021 by xaxat

[Lady Whistleup]

The Arizona womens' basketball coach is intense. Reminds me of Pat Summit.

[mojoween]

WHY is Miley Cyrus invading all of my sporting events?  And singing a Queen song?  Was CBS too cheap for Adam Fucking Lambert?

Oh.  This appears to be some sort of between-games concert while they sterilize, I presume.  I didn’t pay for this, but I want my money back anyways.

Edited April 3, 2021 by mojoween

[xaxat]

So Miley Cyrus is the lead singer for a cover band. And she got this gig.

[AimingforYoko]

10 minutes ago, mojoween said:

WHY is Miley Cyrus invading all of my sporting events?

What, you wanted Drake?

5 minutes ago, xaxat said:

So Miley Cyrus is the lead singer for a cover band. And she got this gig.

As the great philosopher Skip from Bull Durham said, "Beats workin' at Sears."

[Carey]

1 hour ago, mojoween said:

WHY is Miley Cyrus invading all of my sporting events?

Can't comment on the other sports, but no way I'm ranking Houston's performance over Miley's performance!

[mojoween]

Someone check the officials bank accounts.  Something fishy is going on.

[mojoween]

My loathing for Gonzaga is starting to reach Tom Brady proportions.  It’s not healthy.

Austin Rivers was nicknamed “ARPF” (Austin Rivers Punchable Face) by Mark Titus lo those many years ago and I am going to rename it DTPF because that kid and his mustache are obnoxious.

Edited April 4, 2021 by mojoween

[Lady Whistleup]

This game is really great though. One of the best games in this tournament.

Holy shit that was one heartbreaking loss for UCLA. 

Edited April 4, 2021 by Lady Whistleup

[mojoween]

Well that sucked.

[AimingforYoko]

Damn. And the Minnesota kid comes through. I like Gonzaga's chances now. Every great team needs a test and UCLA gave them all they could handle.

[emma675]

Holy cow. I thought for sure it was going into double overtime. What a crazy shot.

[emmawoodhouse]

I got the final my brackets predicted. 

Go Baylor. 

[AimingforYoko]

1 minute ago, emmawoodhouse said:

I got the final my brackets predicted. 

Go Baylor. 

Yeah, all those upsets and we still wind up with the two best teams.

[Lady Whistleup]

On a shallow note, Johnny Juzang is a cutie.

[Jane Tuesday]

Somebody has been having fun with Jalen Suggs's entry on Wikipedia...

 

[Carey]

43 minutes ago, emmawoodhouse said:

I got the final my brackets predicted. 

Go Baylor. 

I got my final brackets predicted too!

Go Gonzaga!

[Carey]

1 hour ago, mojoween said:

My loathing for Gonzaga is starting to reach Tom Brady proportions.  It’s not healthy.

The crazy thing about that is that the Gonzaga Era started before Tom Brady was even drafted.  The Bulldogs have a very, very, very long way to go to reach TB12 accomplishments.  If all goes well, they can match the Seahawks championship accomplishments, though they would have bragging rights that TB12 missed out on 13 years ago.

 

Speaking of Seattle, before this weekend, I sorta thought that Baylor could emulate them in that we could see the best two teams (2013's were Denver and Seattle).  Gonzaga, a team that's destined to win, ends up losing by 50 points.

 

Baylor could win (a close game).  It would be something if Baylor ends up blowing them out to where the best stars are typically shut out for 40 minutes of game time.  If that happens, it would be the best example of the best team looking like a team slated to draft the first overall pick (and yes, I know there's no collegiate draft).

 

Not sure Monday will top UCLA/Gonzaga.  If it's a good game with a final score separated by 4-5 points, then that's good for me.  It doesn't need to top UCLA/Gonzaga to be a great game.  No one got crowned in the penultimate game; Monday's game will crown a school for the first time ever

[mojoween]

On the men’s side.  Baylor won a NCAA championship in 2017 or 2019, I think.

I’m just so tired of Gonzaga.  It feels real icky rooting for any Baylor men’s team but here I am.

Edited April 4, 2021 by mojoween

[twoods]

I’m confused about all the Gonzaga hate. They’ve never won a championship have they? It’s not like it’s Villanova, Duke or UNC. 

Edited April 4, 2021 by twoods

[DrSpaceman73]

8 hours ago, mojoween said:

My loathing for Gonzaga is starting to reach Tom Brady proportions.  It’s not healthy.

Austin Rivers was nicknamed “ARPF” (Austin Rivers Punchable Face) by Mark Titus lo those many years ago and I am going to rename it DTPF because that kid and his mustache are obnoxious.

Why do you hate gonzaga?

Many Indiana fans cheering against them because of the perfect season but me as an Indiana alum just view that as sad.  It's not like the 76 hoosiers are the ONLY undefeated team like the dolphins and pining for a team from 45 years ago rather than something more recent is kind of pathetic as fans. 

[DrSpaceman73]

7 hours ago, mojoween said:

On the men’s side.  Baylor won a NCAA championship in 2017 or 2019, I think.

I’m just so tired of Gonzaga.  It feels real icky rooting for any Baylor men’s team but here I am.

And you don't like baylor either?   Why exactly?  

I dont really care about if a women's team won recently in terms of rooting for the men's game. 

[mojoween]

The Baylor sports program has a recent disgusting past full of cover ups of sexual assault.  It was football, to be fair, but still.  Gross.

I tend to be contrary, and the slobbering over Gonzaga is too much.  I don’t care if they’re good, but as soon as the media tells me I *have* to root for a team I immediately don’t.  I mean, I rooted for them over Virginia, was it?  And now I don’t like them.  It happens; such is the nature of sports fandom.

[Lady Whistleup]

I find it really weird when people hate amateur athletes. They're not getting paid millions to ball. They're not getting paid anything. The vast majority of them will never see any professional minutes. They work very hard and tbh are being exploited by the NCAA. And most of them are kids really -- 18, 19. 

[Jeddah]

41 minutes ago, Lady Whistleup said:

I find it really weird when people hate amateur athletes. They're not getting paid millions to ball. They're not getting paid anything. The vast majority of them will never see any professional minutes. They work very hard and tbh are being exploited by the NCAA. And most of them are kids really -- 18, 19. 

Why would it be different than hating professional athletes? At the end of the day, I don’t know these people personally. But there are certainly traits and actions about people that I hate. Because they’re not getting paid, we’re supposed to just overlook anything they do or say? Why?

I hate Duke. I don’t know any of their players. Maybe they’re all great guys in their everyday lives. I don’t know. But I’m not going to say, oh, they’re just college kids, and give them a pass when their program has a history of things like stomping on people, tripping people, breaking their rival’s nose, or just performing Oscar-worthy flops. 

[Lady Whistleup]

3 minutes ago, Jeddah said:

Why would it be different than hating professional athletes? At the end of the day, I don’t know these people personally. But there are certainly traits and actions about people that I hate. Because they’re not getting paid, we’re supposed to just overlook anything they do or say? Why?

I hate Duke. I don’t know any of their players. Maybe they’re all great guys in their everyday lives. I don’t know. But I’m not going to say, oh, they’re just college kids, and give them a pass when their program has a history of things like stomping on people, tripping people, breaking their rival’s nose, or just performing Oscar-worthy flops. 

You can hate Duke if you're a UNC fan or whatever. But to hate the individual players -- why? Like what's there to hate about, say, Zion Williamson? Just curious. He's a very kind, generous and humble young man.

There is a huge difference between amateurs and professional athletes. Professional athletes are getting paid millions to play ball. Amateur college athletes are getting paid nothing. To me, hating and harassing an NCAA athlete is a bit like heckling a kid at a high school varsity game. Why? They're just kids.