Monthly Archives: March 2018

NCAA TOURNEY: DON’T LOOK BACK IN ANGER

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by John Walters

A look back at the weekend that was…

UMBC

–U Must Be Cinderella? U Make Brackets Cry? Unlikely Mutts Beat Cavs? Or how about “Wonderdogs?” “Historic Pupset?” So what if Stringer Bell’s alma mater lost in the second round of the tourney? The 16-seed Retrievers already won March Madness.

“Professer, would that be the first upset of a 1-seed by a 16-seed in 136 tries?”

P.S. We wanted to screengrab Seth Davis’ infamous “Sharpie” tweet but he blocked us five years ago. We’re doing fine, thanks or asking.

 

Flipping The Script

This was not Custer’s last stand, as it turns out

Underdogs UMBC, Loyola and Marshall all won their first-round games and all have old-school script lettering on the front of their jerseys.

Is Loyola the first “Nun and Done” team? Sister Jean is 98.

PURDUDES

 

Why, oh why/Lemon fire brigade am I….

You Stunned

An all-timer of a shot by this tourney cameraman. Give that dude a raise.

For the second time in tournament history, Houston missed free throws that would’ve secured victory in the final seconds and then were beaten by a prayer shot that will live in tournament immortality. Earlier, the TNT/TBS cameras lingered a little longer than usual as the announcers discussed Elvin Hayes (foreground). Wonder why…

 

In the same month that Jordan Peele wins an Oscar (Best Original Screenplay), Jordan Poole wins a 2nd-round game (Best Original Shot Off A Screen Play).

It’s bad enough that Michigan sunk a prayer three to beat Houston. Then the Wolverines’ Mo Wagner had to go and make us like them?!?

 

 

Cincinnati, WRIP

Modified Surrender Cobra

The Bearcats, a 2-seed, blew a 22-point second-half lead to Nevada and lost. Later, 1-seed Xavier squandered a 14-point second-half lead and lost to Florida State. I have no idea why Chris Mack’s defense fouled with 8 seconds left on the shot clock (and about :20 to play) while only down one point. I wonder if Mack has any idea, either.

All in all, six of the 12 teams seeded 1st, 2nd or 3rd in their regions lost. Two of four 1-seeds lost. There are four ACC teams left in the tourney (25%), and none of them played in the ACC Championship Game less than two weeks ago.

Looking ahead, we like Duke, Gonzaga, Kentucky and Villanova to advance to San Antonio. But what do we know: we picked Arizona to win it all.

IT’S ALL HAPPENING!

by John Walters | 1 Comment

by John Walters

Tweet du Jour

Don’t sugarcoat it, John.

And here’s a retired four-star general…

 

Starting Five

Sports. Life.

Dead Pool

Of the 12 schools seeded 3 or better, half are gone after the first two rounds of March Madness…two of them, Queen City schools Cincinnati and Xavier, squandered 22- and 14-point second-half leads on Sunday…Number one overall Virginia became the first top seed in 136 to lose to a 16-seed, U Must Be Cinderella (Stringer Bell’s old school in The Wire)…Loyola and Michigan won on last-second prayers on Saturday, one of which was answered by a 98 year-old nun…Right now we’d take a Final Four of Kentucky, Gonzaga, Duke and Villanova, but what do we know?

 

Also, our last three pool entrants were knocked out on the same day, yesterday. Nobody wins this year.

2. McCabe and Mr. Mueller

Attorney General Jeff Sessions demonstrates that while he may be a recuser, he’s no excuser, firing FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe less than 48 hours before his retirement (full pension) kicks in, a day that also happened to be McCabe’s 50th birthday. Then Trump’s lawyer, John Dowd, tweets that he is “praying” for Rod Rosenstein to fire Robert Mueller.

 

Meanwhile the president is suing a porn star for $20 million for not swallowing…word of their liaisons back in 2006 and 2007.

3. Erin Go Ba Ha Ha

On St. Patrick’s Day, SNL gets the ire of some Irish up with their skit, “Kiss Me, I’m Irish.” We laughed, but then being offended is…relative.

4. The Life Aquatic

Meet Faith Pescatore, 61 whom The Wall Street Journal profiled this weekend. She’s someone who used to attend her daughter’s swim meet and then began competing herself and now does so nationally. We’d be able to share more if we subscribed to the WSJ, but we did do some digging and learned that Ms. Pescatore won a $19 million suit against Pan Am back in 1995 after her husband died in the infamous Lockerbie terrorist plane bombing.

5. All Whites*

 

*No, this is not another entry about Trump’s voting base….

A recent rugby match in Yorkshire, England, got a little intense. Related: March is windy.

 

Music 101

You Still Believe In Me

The second track off The Beach Boys’ immortal and ethereal 1966 album, Pet Sounds. The opening track “Wouldn’t It Be Nice?” is a minor departure from their “Fun, Fun, Fun” era, but this is the song where Brian Wilson informs his audience that he’s about to get weird. Instruments include a clarinet, harpsichord, timpani drum and bicycle horn.

Remote Patrol

Bonnie and Clyde

8 p.m. TCM

Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were both gunned down before their 25th birthdays, but they left behind a legacy of robbery, kidnapping and even murder. Immortalized by Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty, their 1967 film was nominated for 10 Academy Awards (in all the major categories), but only won for Best Supporting Actress and Cinematography.

Upon its release, many critics—including Newsweek‘s–panned it as being too violent or for glorifying violence, but Roger Ebert gave it four stars out of four. It’s not always easy to watch, but it is certainly captivating. Also starring Gene Hackman and Gene Wilder. The Genes.

KNOCKOUT POOL! Day 4

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by John Walters

The Jean Genie!

The 98 year-old nun and her Loyola Ramblers knock out Kayleigh and defending KO pool champ Sean. That leaves just three of us: Brian R., who took Villanova on Saturday, An Inconvenient Ruth (Texas Tech), and the author (Kentucky), who wouldn’t mind writing a $100 check to himself (it comes out of the MH campaign fund).

 

Our pick for Sunday: Michigan State.

 

 

KNOCKOUT POOL, DAY 3

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by John Walters

 

U Must B Cinderella*

A moment we’ll never forget

*The judges will also accept “Wonderdogs” and “Golden: Retrievers”

Inconvenient Ruth: Took Xavier. Still alive.

Brian R.: Michigan State. Survives and advances.

Sean: Cincy. Yes!

Kayleigh Morse: Nevada. Barely!

JDubs: Xavier. Survives.

 

Picks for Saturday need to be in before first game. We’re going with Kentucky.

IT’S ALL HAPPENING!

by John Walters | 5 Comments

by John Walters

Tweet du Jour

 

Ha! Bernie Madoff. Charles Keating. Donald Trump. Vladimir Putin. Martin Shkreli. Etc, etc.

From The National Review piece Kudlow penned…

Why shouldn’t the president surround himself with successful people? Wealthy folks have no need to steal or engage in corruption. Their business success demonstrates that they know how to achieve goals and convince skeptics that good deals can be made to the benefit of both sides. Isn’t this just what America needs?

How does someone get this far in life with this little understanding of human nature? Or is he just the latest duplicitous “public servant” out here conning the public?

Starting Five

Contact Bridge

A pedestrian bridge on the campus of Florida International University in Miami collapses and at least six and as many as 10 people perish. The bridge only opened on Saturday.

A 950-ton span over busy Tamiami Trail was installed just five days ago. The bridge collapsed while vehicles were stopped at a red light. They never had a chance.

2. Buffalo Bullish

Bulls coach Nate Oats is the real deal

It wasn’t just that Arizona, armed with the likely No. 1 or No. 2 pick in the upcoming NBA draft, DeAndre Ayton, lost. It’s that the Cats got absolutely declawed by Buffalo, who used outstanding guard play/shooting and a brilliant collapsing defense to rout No. 4 Arizona, 89-69.

The Bulls and that 98 year-old nun were the story of Day 1 of March Madness. Also, the Pac-12 is already out. All three Pac-12 schools were eliminated by upstate New York schools because if you’ve been in upstate New York in mid-March, the hell you wanna be home.

Pac-12 still alive and well in the NIT, though.

3. You’re Ired!

The next contestant to be booted from The Apprentice: West Wing looks to be National Security Adviser H.R. Pufnstuf McMaster, who will likely evacuate a few days after Rex Tillerson and a few days before Chief of Staff John Kelly (who succeeded Reince Priebus). McMaster, a USMA grad who also has a PhD in military history, succeeded Michael Flynn. You may recall that, but who can keep track any more?

 

We’ll see. What did Donald mean by “all the best people” when he said it at the advent of his presidency, anyway?

Rollins Band lead singer

DID YOU KNOW? The “H.R.” stands for “Henry Rollins,” but he’s no relation to the musclebound punk rocker of the same name.

4. Military Crashes

Former Navy linebacker Caleb King (2008-2011) was one of two Navy fliers who perished two days ago when an F-18 crashed near Pensacola. King and the pilot, Brice Johnson, both ejected but neither survived.

And in western Iraq, seven Army personnel died when a Black Hawk-like helicopter crashed.

5. The Bachelor: Weinstein

Arie: A lot like Harvey

Arie Luyendyk, Jr., and Harvey Weinstein both spend most of their time in Scottsdale, Arizona, or at least both have called it home the past five months. Both treat women as disposable objects. Both say things to lure them to locations under false pretenses. One is a monster; the other is a TV star.

We mean, they’re not exactly the same, but they’re more alike than most fans of The Bachelor would care to admit. The Bachelor: Weinstein” would be a fantastic show, somewhere along the lines of “MILF Island.”

Knockout Pool Results (Day 1)

Remember, you must submit a new school each day—not each round. Today we are taking Xavier:

Jacob A.: Arizona (BXYHT…thanks for playing)

Inconvenient Ruth: Gonzaga

MH Staff: Michigan

Sean: Gonzaga

Brian R: Duke

Kayleigh: Texas Tech

Brian C.: Arizona (BXHT!)

Reserves

Frozen Assets

Gold Rush

A plane taking off in Siberia and carrying more than 9 tons of silver and gold had its cargo door slide open and at least 3 tons of the precious metals fell out for as far as 16 miles from the takeoff point. And there’s the opening scene of your next James Bond/Jason Bourne (hey, they’re both J.B.’s….coincidence?) film.

Music 101

Shine On You Crazy Diamond

If you’ve got 13-plus minutes to devote to Pink Floyd‘s 1975 devotion to their founder and lead singer, Syd Barrett, who was briefly hospitalized for mental illness before leaving the band for good before they really hit it big. Barrett, who is credited with naming the band, died in 2006. The song’s title is a reference to him and a quasi-acronym for S.Y.D.)

Remote Patrol

NCAA Tournament, First Round

Noon ish CBS/TNT/TBS/TRU

Huggy Bear, the Robert Mitchum of college coaching

Yesterday had most of the player stars:  Trae Young, Marvin Bagley, DeAndre Ayton, Jalen Brunson, Grayson Allen, even Mike Daum. Today is more about the coaches.