The Horror ...

Not again. Anything but this. I would've been happier had ANYONE but Florida won the NCAA basketball title. But for Ohio State to lose to them, AGAIN -- when does it stop?

Thankfully, both Florida's football and basketball teams are going to lose a ton of players to the NFL and NBA. Neither team has any chance of making a big postseason splash next year, and if Oden decides to rejoin the Buckeyes for one more go-'round, then a 39-0 national championship season for Ohio State isn't out of the question.

One thing can be said for the basketball team, however -- they played against a superior talent and didn't give up. The football team spent seven weeks sizing their rings and ordering championship gear that was surely to be hand-delivered to them once they stepped foot on the field. To be so much alike in terms of (horrid) outcome, the two national championship games this year were polar opposites. These "baby Bucks" weren't even supposed to be in the Final Four, but they ended up representing our school and our city very well. I guess 35-4 isn't such a bad year after all.

Ohio State vs. Florida, National Championship Game, Part 2

Here we go again ...

Monday night, April 2, Ohio State and Florida will battle for the 2nd time in 12 weeks for a major collegiate national championship. I won't speak again of what happened in January, but I hope for the sake of all that is good in this world that OSU can exact some measure of sporting revenge against its newest rival.

Prediction

Ohio State: 76
Florida: 65

Jealousy

I get a little bit jealous every time I go into my local comics store. Admittedly, I have a rather extensive collection of comics dating back into the 1980s, but over the last year I've branched out to sample some other odds and ends, and all this has made me want more. I have a subscription to 10 monthly comic books and a few bi-monthlies through the store (10% discount with 10 monthlies = swell!), so each week I have 3-4 issues waiting for me when I walk in the shop.

Other guys, however, have stacks of 10, 20, and sometimes even 30 books, and they spend their time browsing the racks for more. Before you go getting all worried, I cannot fathom spending $35, $65, or $100 PER WEEK on comics -- all hobbies have their limit, and mine stops way before that. But it does make me exceedingly greedy when I see these guys walking around with a stack of comics that could keep a small army in supply for a few days; oh, the fun I could have spending an entire day reading nothing but cartoon captions!

I can see my set-up now -- a sun chair out in my freshly mowed backyard, a radio broadcasting the afternoon major league baseball game, and a cooler full of Cokes, waters, and Gatorade. I could construct a comics stand out of cardboard and our leftover TV box, and Sula would bring me a cheeseburger and some fries from Wendy's at my beckon call. Then, after I get sunburned (usually about 15 minutes in the early summer), I could come inside to a new episode of Gilmore Girls or Grey's Anatomy and fall asleep on the couch, my lymphatics bursting with chylous (digestive) fluid reflecting my extraordinarily fatty meal and my brain buzzing with the post-Coke caffeine rush. Then I would make a token attempt to study, decide its not worth the effort, and then drive to Whetstone Park and throw the Aerobie with Sula until dusk.

What a day ...

Three More Bite the Dust

Endocrine, reproductive, and gastrointestinal path tests all found their way into Thomas' "Passing Score" examination collection today. Hip, hip ... oh, wait ... there's still more to be done? Good grief.

Final Four!

OHIO STATE ADVANCES TO THE FINAL FOUR!!!!

Ohio State -- 92
Memphis -- 76

Joey "The Mouth" Dorsey, he of recent fame by calling OSU freshman phenom Greg Oden "a lot overrated," had a huge contribution in the Tigers' blowout loss by chipping in with 0 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 personal fouls. Oden, playing David to Dorsey's self-proclaimed Goliath, scored 17 points, grabbed 9 rebounds, and participated in cutting down the nets in San Antonio after winning the South Regional final.

Ohio State punched the first ticket to the Final Four and will play the winner of tomorrow's North Carolina vs. Georgetown matchup in the East Regional final.

[p.s. -- my other national title game pick, UCLA, beat West #1 seed Kansas tonight to earn its place in the Final Four ... shoulda put some money on this bracket!]

TN Trip

This last trip down to TN to visit the family was an interesting one. Grandparents feeling better, 80-degree weather in March, and spending almost an entire Buckeyes basketball game without really knowing what was going on is a bit strange for me. We finally saw Buzz's TTU dormroom and met her beautiful black-and-white shorthaired feline, Blossom. Thursday afternoon at Rock Island was a blast. Friday night's fire was too. Too bad it all had to end so soon.

Updating the Tourney Picks

Poor Sula. In a previous post I wrote a few comments about some pretty outlandish tourney picks she made (Wisconsin in the title game, Holy Cross in the Elite Eight), and both came back to bite her in the butt. Not that it really matters ... one of my Final Four picks, Texas, got ousted last night by Southern California, and my national champion -- Ohio State (who else?!?) -- needed a last-second desperation 3-pointer to squeak by giant-killer Xavier. Play like that against a better opponent and OSU will be watching the Final Four from the couch.

After the first weekend, when everyone's brackets are already busted, "getting it right" doesn't really concern me anymore. Sula and I have watched most of the games on sportsline.com's MMOD viewer, including Holy Cross' valiant effort that fell short, and we've had a pretty darn good time doing it. I think I want to keep it that way.

Next up: Ohio State vs. Tennessee in the Sweet Sixteen, 9 pm on Thursday. Divided loyalties? Not a chance -- scarlet and gray all the way!