Category Archives: Basketball

Fruits of my labor

Posted on April 8, 2013 | Leave a comment

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This NCAA Final is stressful to watch! To keep from biting my nails, I created this cherry pop art print. (The cherries are on my pj’s.) Inspiration comes in the darnedest places.

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Posted in Art, Basketball, Design, Foods, Humor, Life, March Madness, Sports

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This probably comes as no great surprise…

Posted on April 6, 2013 | Leave a comment

Who am I cheering for on this, the opening day of the Men’s NCAA Final Four?

Simply read the signs.

hand signals

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Take those birds in hand, Wichita State!

Go Cinderella go!

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Posted in Basketball, Humor, March Madness, Sports

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The devil went down to Indy…

Posted on March 31, 2013 | 1 Comment

In the battle of evil vs. evil….

how are you supposed to choose sides?

DUKE-VS-LOIUSVILLE-PREVIEW-THUMBIs the evil closest to home the obvious choice?

Yes, Louisville hails from my home state, but they are Kentucky’s bitter rival — one that we know all too well.

That’s what makes a Louisville win particularly repugnant.  We’ll never hear the end of it — from the local media and from ‘friends’ who wear Cardinal red.

So then — is the evil from a dread rival the obvious choice?

I’ve hated Duke as long as I can remember.  Christian Laettner’s last-second shot is like nails on a chalkboard, and yet every March, Kentucky fans are forced to re-live it again and again.

An NCAA tourney where Duke loses is a good tourney…but do I want them to lose to Louisville en route to a Cards championship?

Not necessarily.

I gotta say — the two teams imploding at game’s end is about the only outcome that works for me.

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Posted in Basketball, Commentary, Humor, Life, March Madness, Sports, Television, TV

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Muy loco

Posted on March 24, 2013 | Leave a comment

March Madness –

It’s not just for basketball anymore!

During a break in today’s Ohio State/Iowa State match-up, I switched over to the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational Golf tournament.  Tiger Woods and Rickie Fowler are in the final pairing, and I wanted to see if they were on the course.

Not just then.

Spain’s Sergio Garcia was the focus of attention because his ball was up in a tree.  And so was he.

sergiointreeSergio wasn’t gonna take a drop.

Nope, he climbed up into the tree and decided to hit the ball from right there.

To get it into the fairway, he had to hit a back-handed shot.  And believe it or not, he did just that…and then climbed on down.

Gotta love the craziness in all sports this time of year!

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Posted in Basketball, Humor, Life, March Madness, Sports, Television, TV

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Throw ‘em a bone

Posted on March 23, 2013 | Leave a comment

Ruh Roh…

The Wichita State Shockers certainly lived up to their name – huh, Gonzaga?

I know it stings every time I look at my wreck of a bracket.

Poor puppy.

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Posted in Basketball, Dogs, Humor, March Madness, Sports

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Something to chew on

Posted on March 22, 2013 | Leave a comment

The Egg is late today. I’ve been watching a lot of basketball. I’ve seen some amazing plays, a couple of bracket-busting upsets, and…

Mouthpieces

mouthpieceNot in players’ mouths, mind you — hanging out of ‘em.

At every whistle.  At every time out.  At every pause in the action.

Players seem compelled to display their bite plates to the spectators in attendance.

Funny — I wear one at night and have never felt a similar compulsion.

noel mouthpieceBut perhaps I should take a style note from these college basketball stars (and NBA stars of tomorrow).

It certainly works for our man Noel.

(Feel better, Nerlens.)

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Posted in Basketball, Comedy, Commentary, Entertainment, Humor, Life, March Madness, Sports

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A promise

Posted on March 20, 2013 | Leave a comment

 

THERE WILL BE BLOOD

 

 

 

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Posted in Basketball, College, March Madness, Sports

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Blowing bubbles and picking fights

Posted on March 16, 2013 | Leave a comment

Have you ever heard of Jeff Goodman?

Me either…until about 15 minutes ago.

march madnessDuring March Madness — the ‘most wonderful time of the year’ — I look forward to all the new names and faces and stories of teams going above-and-beyond what even they thought they could do on the road to the Final Four.

It’s the spirit of college sports.

Sure, we start with a Number 1 seed for the tournament, and Number 1 seeds for each of the regions.   But the games that truly inspire us — that have made this championship the tradition it is today — are those David-and-Goliath victories.

The Cinderella teams.  The lower-seed overachievers.  The bubble teams who prove they belong.

Which brings me back to Jeff Goodman, a CBS sportswriter based in Boston who seems to have forgotten all that.  If it is that difficult for you to watch, Mr. Goodman, simply look the other way.

The rest of us enjoy the view.

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Posted in Sports, Life, Commentary, March Madness, Basketball

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The rest of the story

Posted on March 9, 2013 | Leave a comment

I was in the mood for basketball this morning, but the UK-Florida game wasn’t slated to start on CBS until noon ET.

Then I discovered Prayer for a Perfect Season.

prayer for a perfect seasonThe notes said the HBO documentary follows the St. Patrick’s High School basketball team in their quest for the 2010-2011 national championship.  St. Patrick’s is located in nearby Elizabeth, New Jersey, so I gave it a look.

Imagine my surprise when the star of the St. Patrick’s Celtics team was none other than –

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist

I should say Michael Gilchrist, because he went by that moniker as a high school senior. It wasn’t until he began his collegiate career at the University of Kentucky that he added the ‘Kidd’ in memory of his uncle, who died during the filming.

michael kidd-gilchristOn the day he signed his UK national letter of intent, in fact.

The documentary cameras capture Gilchrist, his St. Pat’s teammates and their families in moments both high and low.

And while I may have watched Michael Kidd-Gilchrist in his NCAA Championship season at Kentucky last year, I feel like I know him a lot better today.

And appreciate him even more.

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Posted in Basketball, Commentary, Life, March Madness, Movies, Sports

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Temperature check

Posted on October 12, 2012 | Leave a comment

If you were a bartender, would you use your real name with customers? Or would you maybe use a ‘cool’ nickname like…

Skywalker

I met a bartender this very evening who made that choice…in a hotel bar in Chicago.

He wasn’t 13 years old, which seems more appropriate to me for such a nickname (and perception of what is cool).

No, he was a 13-year old who grew up to be a middle-aged man who thinks a Stars Wars character nickname is still cool at his age.

Which is…interesting.

Of course, he might have named himself after former University of Kentucky basketball great Kenny “Sky” Walker…but I doubt it.

Now, that would be cool.

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Posted in Basketball, Commentary, Humor, Life, Movies, Travel

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