A Medium Happy 37th to Adam Levine, who will be loved.
Starting Five
So that’s how Yale got so many rebounds
1. Makai Miracle
As someone noted, there’s a reason why Yale hasn’t lost an NCAA tournament game since 1962. Give it up for 6’0″ Eli sophomore guard, who was the most dominant player on the court in Providence in Yale’s 79-75 victory. Mason scored 31 points—the highest total of Day 1—and made all 11 of his free throw.
Makai means “toward the sea” in Hawaiian; he is not Hawaiian. His mom is just a little bit of a renegade. Also, the six-footer nabbed six rebounds, and we’ll let Taurean Prince (28 points in a valiant effort) of Baylor explain how that happened:
We began with 23 yesterday, and now we’re down to 19. Yesterday’s pickers and picks:
Me: Miami; Andy Roberts: Kentucky; Jordan B: Kentucky; Jacob: Utah; Brian Richmond: Iowa State; Bret Keyes: Duke; Dan McCann: Iowa State; mgrex03: Miami; Brian Murphy: Virginia; Kody: Baylor; Brian Conway: Virginia; Kent Brown: Indiana; Mark Stackow: Indiana; Jeff Proctor: Arizona; Sean Sullivan: Miami; Lorraine Walters: Arizona; Frank N.: Duke; Jude S.: Purdue; DC: Iowa State; AIR: Iowa State; Kinsey: Indiana; Fez: Indiana. Jimbo Slice: Utah.
So long, Kody, Jeff, Jude and sis. In our head we’re giving you a Talking Dead dearly departed montage. For the 19 of us who remain, our pick are due by 12:15 p.m.
My pick? I’m playing it safe today and taking Oregon.
3. Day One Dandies
There was nothing little about Hagins’ performance
Other notables from the first day of March Madness:
–UALR trailed Purdue 65-52 with 3:33 to play, and you were all ready to write “PURDUE” into the next bracket line, but then the Trojans roared back to force overtime before winning 85-83 in double OT. Josh Hagins (31 points) made two Steph Curry-range jumpers in the final 1:23 to be the hero. UALR has now won two NCAA tournament games in the past 30 years, both times beating a much higher seeded team from Indiana (Notre Dame in ’86). Truth: I went 14-2 in my pool yesterday. Lost one game by picking a 16-seed (FGCU) and this was the other.
He’ll soon be a soldier. Deal with it, ISIS.
—Marshall Plumlee does not want to ship off for boot camp just yet. Duke’s third and final Plumlee scored 23 points, perhaps all off dunks, in yesterday’s win over UNC-Wilmington.
–As Yale was taking down Baylor, coach Tony Bennett of Virginia was collapsing on the sideline due to dehydration, prompting Friend of the Blog (FOB) Greg Auman to note that Yale was Ivy League and Virginia is IV League.
–Arizona played 33 games without ever traveling west of Boulder, Colo. The committee sent them to Providence, Rhode Island, where they got smoked. Coincidence? Can we hear an “internal time clocks” excuse? And will Sean Miller ever watch Broadcast News the same way again?
4. Making a Mockery of Making a Murderer?
Will Strang & Buting stick to their classic hits, or will they try out some of their new material?
Coming to my local palace of performing art, the Beacon Theater, on April 17: the two defense attorneys from the NetFlix hit documentary, Making a Murderer, Jerry Buting and Dean Strang. Also, these two will be “playing” the Beacon just four days after Jerry Seinfeld. What do I think of these two attorneys and their “A Conversation on Justice” making a profit off Steven Avery’s case? I object!
Don’t blame Kenyan distance runner Robert Mbithi for this tumble after running a half marathon in Bath, England, in 1:01. Blame the guy holding the tape on your right who released it before Mbithi could break it. Party foul.
Her eyes they shone like the diamonds/You’d think she was queen of the land/And her hair hung over her shoulders/Tied up with a black velvet band. Ah, she’s a bonnie lass, that one. Gar-jus, she is!
Remote Patrol
March Madness: Day 2
12: 15 p.m CBS, TBS, TNT, truTV
It’s time for Dri-Fit coaches shirts.
I could see all four 10 seeds (Syracuse, VCU, Pitt and Temple) winning. Also, a pair of good 6-11 games after 9:30 p.m., as the Irish meet Michigan and Texas faces Northern Iowa. First game tips off at 12:15, Cuse and Dayton. Note to coaches: wear an undershirt.
A Medium Happy 52nd to the king of the gene pool, Rob Lowe.
Starting Five
1. Bayern Munich Über Alles
Last year’s UEFA Champions League finalist, Juventus, owned a 2-0 lead on Bayern Munich yesterday in the second half of their second leg of their Round of 16 matches. The first game, in Turin, had ended in a 2-2 draw.
Things looked good for the Italians. They were up 2-0 and their world-class goalkeeper, Gianluigi Buffon, had not conceded a goal in their Serie A play in 900 minutes. Crazy, right?
Then Robert Lewandowski of Bayern scored in the 73rd minute to wake up the fans at Allianz Arena in Munich. Still, it was 2-1 Juve entering stoppage time. But then the world’s premier German player, Thomas Muller (hero of the 2014 World Cup), scored in the 91st minute, necessitating a 30-minute extra time period. The Germans scored twice in that span, beating Juventus 4-2 (and 6-4 in aggregate goals).
I don’t know if if made SportsCenter or if you’ve heard about it, but that’s a pretty remarkable comeback.
2. Medium Happy Knockout Pool!!!
Will Grayson Allen and Duke be tripped up in the tourney’s opening game?
Valuable cash prizes! Fun for the whole family!
Here’s how it’ll work. Each DAY (not round, day) of the tournament you pick ONE team to advance from that day’s play. If that team wins, you survive. Of course, you cannot pick that team more than once.
The winner will receive $50. If we have multiple winners, you may receive a little less.
How to enter. Go down to the Comments and provide your name and team for today!!
Yes, MH will open briefly on Saturday and Sunday so that you can enter your knockout teams on those days. It’s totally transparent, as everyone will see your pick. Also, it costs NOTHING to join.
Enter today, kids!
3. Bring Your Child To Work (Every) Day
Williams’ request was Drake-onian, not draconian
This is Senifeld-ian. Chicago White Sox DH Adam LaRoche brought his son Drake to every game with him last season. Even had an adjoining locker for him. So ChiSox GM Kenny Williams gently sits LaRoche down and patiently explains to him that, no, the Sox do not have a 26-person roster. Drake is welcome to visit, just not EVERY day.
So LaRoche retires, walking away from $13 million this season. Stillwell, angel, be a good boy.
If Bill Veeck were still alive and owned the White Sox, he’d sign Drake LaRoche today without giving it a second thought.
4. Munificent Miler*
Yorks surrendered a shot at a probable national title to help the Huskies win a Distance Medlay Relay (DMR) title.
*This story was suggested to us by Jacob Antsey. Thanks, Jacob!
In late February Izaic Yorks, a senior at the University of Washington, ran a 3:53.89 indoor mile, the fastest indoor mile EVER RUN by a U.S. collegian. So you’re guessing that two weeks later Yorks breezed to victory in the mile at the NCAA Indoor Championships, right?
Wrong. Yorks did not enter.
He is also the anchor leg on the Huskies’ DMR team, and the two races took place too close to one another for him to enter both (yet another flaw in another NCAA system). When U-Dub coach Greg Metcalfs asked Yorks if he wanted to drop the DMR to run the mile, he replied, “No way. I want to do the DMR. That’s what I told these guys I would do. And I’m gonna stick to that word.”
Last weekend I attended the funeral of John Boler, the father of a close friend of mine from college. John was born in the midst of the Depression in Marion, Ohio, the only son in family of six kids. His “bedroom” was a closet adjacent to the bathroom.
Fast forward to a great American business story. Mr. Boler earned vast sums owning and running the types of Midwestern manufacturing companies the likes of which you’d see in Tommy Boy. And then he became the ultimate philanthropist. He endowed the John and Mary Jo Boler College of Business at his alma mater, John Carroll University.
He gave his son’s (and a daughter’s) alma mater, Notre Dame, an eight-figure sum so that they’d name the ice at the school’s new hockey arena the Lefty Smith Ice Rink. His family, along with former coach Ara Parseghian’s family, gave Notre Dame a check for $10 million in order to endow the school’s new Center for Neglected and Rare Diseases.
Matt is in the back, second from right, and his wife, Christine, is in the front, far right.
But here was one of my favorite stories of the weekend about John Boler, who with his wife Mary Jo brought five children into the world, who have since had 13 grandchildren. In 2005, after Mr. Boler needed a life-saving heart procedure from Chicago’s Rush Medical Center, the hospital’s president, Larry Goodman, told him that Rush could really use a $20 million gift to build imaging centers to better diagnose patients.
Mr. Boler later returned and handed Goodman an envelope. Inside it were two lottery tickets. He said, “Here, that might be the key to your $20 million.” After Goodman stammered for a few moments, Mr. Boler pulled out a check for $20 million. the largest gift Rush Medical Center has ever received.
I, too, was often the beneficiary of John Boler’s largesse. John, his son, Matt, and I watched the 2005 USC-Notre Dame “Bush Push” game together in the stands. After the crushing defeat, as the three of us headed back to Chicago, John Boler pulled off the Indiana Toll Road and bought us all hot fudge sundaes. It didn’t relieve all of the pain, but it sure did some of it. I’ll remember the three of us leaning up against the back of the Boler car, eating our sundaes and talking about how much we loathe Pete Carroll, for the rest of my life.
Rest in peace, Mr. Boler. You did it all.
Music 101
I’m a Rover
“I’m a rover/Seldom sober/I’m a rover/O’ high degree/It’s when I’m drinking/I’m always thinking/How to gain my love’s company.” Everybody now! This one is from The Dubliners, an Irish folk group founded—guess where—in 1962. Only the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem gained more fame in this genre. Slainte!
Remote Patrol
March Madness!!!
DUKE-UNC Wilmington
NOON CBS
Texas Tech-Butler
12:30 p.m. truTV
Colorado-UConn
1 p.m. TNT
Iowa State-Iona
1:30 p.m. TBS
Purdue seven-footer A.J. Hammons is the reason a lot of folks have Purdue surviving the opening weekend.
Spring has sprung! That’s just the first four of 16 games on the day. There are 63 games in the NCAA tournament, and 32 of them, or more than half, take place in the first 36-plus hours. Get ready for a bonanza. And it’s St. Patrick’s Day. So long, sobriety.’
Three most intriguing games: Yale-Baylor (2:45, CBS), Wichita State-Arizona (9:20, TNT), Seton Hall-Gonzaga (9:57, truTV). Best chance for a 16-seed to upset a 1: Florida Gulf Coast-North Carolina (7:20, TBS)
A Medium Happy 90th to Jerry Lewis, who was the Jim Carrey of the ’50s and ’60s.
Aaaaaaaaaaand….
A Medium Happy 30th to True Detective’s Alexandra Daddario
Starting Five
Coming this fall to NetFlix: Marcos
Marked Cuban
The early returns from last night in the First Four and the Last GOP Four: Florida Gulf Coast and Florida, Trump Coasts. We wrote a song about our favorite youthful, telegenic senator dropping out of the race.
To be sung to the melody of a certain Phil Collins song:
There’s a pol who cannot find his base,
And now he has to leave the race,
Marco Rubio, oh oh,
He may as well have sealed his fate.
When he failed to win the Sunshine State,
Marco Rubio, oh oh,
Oh, if there’s an election he’ll be there,
He’ll come running from anywhere,
It’s all he needs, he won’t be swayed,
From saying he’s the son of a bartender and maid,
Marco Rubio, just say the words,
Oh, Marco Rubio
2. The Gloves Come On
If you missed “The People Vs. O.J. Simpson”last night, lead prosecutor Marcia Clark attends a birthday party for one of Chris Darden’s friends. Then one of them spouts a theory about how Det. Mark Fuhrman planted the glove at O.J.’s house on Rockingham. What follows is the most brilliant reconstruction and dismantling of a crime theory since Jerry’s “Magic Loogie” scene on Seinfeld.
But of course, it won’t matter. Because even when you present the evidence that clearly to people, take them step by step through why something is completely illogical, they’ll still vote not with their heads but with their hearts and souls. Which is why The People Vs. O.J. is the perfect TV movie for the current elections season.
Also worth noting: Maybe if Darden hooks up with Marcia at the end of that night, he isn’t so eager to prove his manhood in court the following week and he doesn’t defy Clark’s orders about introducing the glove into evidence. Darden got played by the defense.
3. No B.S. From B.S.
Simmons put Mike and Mike through the—wait for it—Ringer yesterday.
As the relationship between Bill Simmons and ESPN began to get frosty (Sept., 2014-May, 2015), Simmons made a comment on The Herd (then an ESPN show) about how LeBron James did not look as formidable in Cleveland four games into his return there. “Anyone who thinks LeBron looks the same is fooling themselves,” Simmons said. “He doesn’t have the same impulsiveness. He looks 20 pounds lighter physically. Just his general force-of-natureness capacity — whatever you want to say — it’s not there.
The following day on Mike & Mike, ESPN’s morning, Isn’t-everything-wonderful? TV/radio simulcast, Mike Golic played the clip of Simmons talking to Cowherd and opined, ““I think it’s one of the most ridiculous statements I’ve heard four games into a season in my life in any sport. That’s what I’ll say about Bill Simmons. So, you know, he grabbed a headline, which is something I know he loves — and that’s one of the most ridiculous lines I’ve ever heard in any sport in my life. Four games into a season. I don’t even … that’s ridiculous.”
And with that—sorry, Chris Darden—the gloves were off. Yesterday morning, Louisville coach Rick Pitino (he has a lot of free time this week) was an M&M guest (how come they’ve never secured this product as a sponsor of the show?!?) and the pair conducted what Simmons considered to be a soft interview (so he still listens or watches them).
And so Simmons inveighed upon them, a rant of Twitter, by suggesting questions they might’ve asked: “Hey Rick, your program used hookers to recruit teenagers and you’re saying you’re not accountable – so, um, who’s winning the tournament?”
“Hey Rick – you presided over an escort scandal that got your school banned from the tournament and you didn’t quit. Who are your sleepers?”
“Hey Rick, you’ve had two damaging scandals at Louisville and you refuse to step down – what’s it like to coach against your son?”
“Hey Rick – most schools give their recruits free dinners, your school gave them free orgasms. What do you think of the one-and-done rule?”
The sports world is a more intriguing and entertaining world when Bill Simmons is pissed off (same goes for Steve Rushin, by the way).
4. Mateen Angst
Cleaves is the winner of this year’s Greg Anthony Memorial Award over at CBS Sports
You’re Ernie, Johnson, Greg Gumbel, Clark Kellogg, Seth Davis, Doug Gottlieb, Wally Szczerbiak, and whoever else CBS/Turner was supposed to mic up in its studio for the NCAA tournament. So how do you handle, on-air, the absence of someone who was supposed to be joining you, who also happens to be a former Final Four Most Outstanding Player: Mateen Cleaves?
Yesterday authorities in Wayne County, Mich., charged Cleaves, who led the Spartans to the national championship in 2000, with “with unlawful imprisonment, assault with intent to commit criminal sexual penetration, second-degree criminal sexual conduct and two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct.”
Is that bad? It’s not good. If convicted, Cleaves could face up to 15 years in prison.
Hufnagel has admitted soliciting the reporter for sex and sending threatening texts. Will any man ever learn anything, ever?
Meanwhile, because rarely does anyone covering college hoops pay any attention to what transpires west of the Rockies, Cal, a 5 seed, just fired an assistant basketball coach—Yann Hufnagel—for sexual harassment of a female reporter covering the team. Moreover, it appears head coach Cuonzo Martin knew about the situation for two months before the athletic department alerted university officials.
There are two sides to every story. In both situations there may be some context that needs to be considered. Still, it’s a bad look for Sparty and for Cal, and we’ll see how CBS/Turner deal with both.
5. Don’t Mess With the Bojan
Bogdanovic matched Croatian-born Drazen Petrovic for the most points ever scored by a foreign-born Net.
The only thing that can save New York City professional hoops, apparently, is Eastern Europeans. The Knicks’ Kristaps Porzingis (14 ppg, 7.2 rpg), alias “Three Six Latvia,” will likely be the runner-up for NBA Rookie of the Year. Meanwhile in Brooklyn, the Nets’ Bojan Bogdanovic scored 44 points last night in a win against (okay, here’s the mitigating part of the news) the Sixers. The 6’8″ second-year player from Yugoslavia was only averaging 10.5 points per game entering last night’s contest. Maybe Philly (9 wins) really is that bad.
Chesapeake Baywatch (CHK)
I bombard folks on Twitter with stock tips/items far too much, so I’ll save it for here. Yesterday CHK dropped 10%, from $4.45 to $3.95. This morning it is up more than 10%, from $3.95 to $4.46 per share. It’s so easy! It’s so (bleeping’) easy!
Music 101
The Unicorn Song
One of the better singalongs you’ll hear if you happen into an Irish pub tomorrow. Worth noting: There is St. Patrick’s Day in Chicago, Boston, New York and Philadelphia, and there is St. Patrick’s Day everywhere else (thanks for the suggestion, Yonk!)
Remote Patrol
The Americans
10 p.m. FX
A show about a plot to destroy America from within? Haven’t I been watching the GOP debates for the past seven months?
It’s the season premiere of a show that a lot of folks consider to be the best drama on TV (I’ve never seen it). So it’s basically the star of Felicity and a British actor named Matthew Rhys as a husband-and-wife Russian spy team posing as Americans? And in real life they have now become a couple and are expecting a baby, which is not part of the plot? I think.
“….It’s the Oval Office/Oh my God, I can’t believe I’m there/It’s so much more intimidating/Than if it was square…” Lin-Manuel Miranda and the cast of Hamilton visited the White House yesterday because, let’s face it, they’re probably not going to be invited back when President Trump is residing there.
Pretty impressive freestyle here. I think Miranda did more work in two minutes than Congress has done all year.
2. Has Ben
Ben (left, I think) and Not JoJo
The Beatles had JoJo and Lauretta (“Get Back.”). Ben Higgins had JoJo and Lauren. And chose the latter. That’s really all I know. I didn’t watch.
3. Mad Men Across The Water*
Somewhere—and some time—between Donald Draper and Tony Soprano, you have Richie Finestra
“I just bought a bumper pool table—I can’t afford to lose this job.”
Is there anything more 1973 to say than that? I didn’t want to hastily anoint Vinylas a great show, but each week it keeps growing on me more. What I love the best is that it drops in so many nuggets about both the era and New York City without being clunky about it. Examples:
–In the opening episode, the receptionist notes that the bad hard rock playing in the lobby is the band Slade. A few moments later I hear “Cum On Feel the Noize” and am wondering, Isn’t that a 1983 Quiet Riot tune? Well, it turns out that Quiet Riot covered Slade’s 1973 version.
–In the third episode, an A&R guy asks Alice Cooper (the best real-life character portrayal yet on the show) about his manager, “Shemp.” “It’s Shep,” corrects Alice, a nod to legendary manager Shep Gordon (“Supermensch”).
–Also in the third episode, an A&R guy suggests keeping Terry Jacks. Richie Finestra, our Tony Soprano-meets-Don Draper boss, asks, “WHO!?! Exactly!” Jacks famously wrote and recorded one of the most love-hated pop songs of the decade, “Seasons In The Sun.”
Formerly Doogie Howser’s best friend, Max Casella is virtually unrecognizable as A&R man Jules Silver.
Each week the show grows more confident. And there are references to the Mets (who went to the World Series in ’73 with an ancient Willie Mays) and the Mike Douglas Show; the record company is located in the Brill Building. The producers here care about authenticity, and as a kid who grew up in the tri-state area at that time, I love it.
And in the way that Mad Men told the story of the Sixties from a home base of New York City, Vinyl has an opportunity to do the same thing with the early to mid-Seventies. Some of the similarities are too convenient—the bored Metro North housewife who is a former model who smokes—but others are welcome: Bobby Cannavale, who has been working his way up the ladder to this gig for nearly two decades, is a worthy leading man. He’s more Tony Soprano than he is Don Draper, but has elements of both.
*The judges hope you appreciate that
4. Win at Home or Go Home
Please vote for me and my giant flipper appendages….
And why is it “Super Tuesday 3?” When did they stop using Roman numerals?
5. New Haven is No Haven
A message from last Wednesday’s chalk-in
Yale bits, as the Bulldogs prepare for a first round game on Thursday a few miles up I-95 in Providence as its student body is on the first week of a two-week spring break:
–Our old friend Moose wrote a bright and insightful comment yesterday that in case you missed, I’ll reprint here. I think that she explains what should be taking place at Yale and other campuses succinctly and correctly:
1. The Yale disciniplary board should only be dealing with complaints that are not covered under the criminal code, i.e. cheating, plagerism, etc. They are not a criminal investigative force or a legal procedure body.
2. As soon as Yale, or any other educational body, is made aware of a CRIMINAL complaint, their first call should be to the legal/police authorities in their jurisdiction. Yale then is out of it and it trusts and stands behind the innocent until proven guilty mandate that is at the cornerstone of our justice system.
3. Once the proper authorities have investigated the case, brought or not brought official charges, or a conviction is achieved, then Yale can write into its code of conduct that if a student is convicted of a felony, they will be expelled.
It’s not that complicated. If this kind of thing happened in a corporation or in the “real” world, would any of us support the board of governors or the neighbourhood watch committee deciding our fate? Anyone’s fate?
–Today’s The Big Lead piece was promoted by saying that nobody knows anything about Yale except for its expelled basketball captain. Not true. Let me help you, guys:
—Brandon Sherrod, whose muscular 6’6″ physique will leap out at you (it’s Kansas or Michigan State-level), set an NCAA record earlier this winter by making 30 shots in a row. In his final weekend of the Ivy League season, Sherrod slacked off by making only 13 of 14 shots in his final two games. Sherrod missed all of last season….while on a world-wide tour with the Whiffenpoofs.
Sherrod is a stud
–Makai Mason. Don’t let the exotic first name fool you. He’s a tough-as-nails, six-foot-nothing Massachusetts kid who never misses an open shot. Never. He isn’t a three-point threat, but he’s a far, far better point guard than you think he is from looking at him. Tied for the team lead in scoring.
—Justin Sears. Senior forward who led the team in rebounds and blocked shots, and tied as the leading scorer. Probably Jack Montague’s biggest supporter. When I saw him, he had a desultory performance. His numbers are legit, but I fear he”ll be eaten up by Baylor’s bigs.
—Anthony Dallier. Kirk Hinrich type. Does NOT miss from beyond the arc. Glue guy.
—Khaliq Ghani. The team’s aloof J.R. Smith type. Could disappear for a half, could light you up for 10 points in three minutes. Team leader in tats/foot.
Music 101
The Wild Rover
“And it’s ‘No, Nay, Never!’ (clap clap clap clap) No, nay, never no more/Well, I’ve played the wild rover/No never, no more.” The Clancy brothers and Tommy Makem paired up for oodles of Irish folk songs and more than two dozen albums in the 1950s and ’60s. All except the lead singer here, Tom Clancy, have passed away. And no, Tom has not moved into writing international espionage thrillers.
Remote Patrol
First Four: Vanderbilt vs Wichita State
9:10 p.m. truTV
Baker and VanVleet, coming and going in the NCAAs…
Could this really be the final ride for Ron Baker and Fred VanVleet? And is Cleanthony Early still in the NBA? The 2013 Final Four Cinderellas are back for another shot with their two acclaimed seniors and they must attend this dance-in in Dayton in order to be advance to the first round.
