Curry-ed Hoyas

So I was so enthralled with the array of skills that Stephen Curry displayed this weekend that I could not even be shocked by the Detroit Tigers paying Miguel Cabrera a reported $153M extension.  After all, that is only about $500K per pound — not bad.

Curry lit up the Zags for 30 in the SECOND half, and then did the almost same to the Hoyas, by leading his team back from a 17 point SECOND HALF deficit to win by 4.  He hit some LOOOONG range bombs and showed nice moves around the basket.  This was also against the best defensive team in the nation.  And from a guy who no one wanted two years ago.  Can someone explain this to me?

UNC, NC State, Duke, Wake Forest — all did not need him?  And supposedly he wanted to go to Va Tech, where his dad, Sharpshooter Dell Curry went, but Va Tech did not offer a scholarship.  Gee Coach Seth Greenberg, I have a dead eye shooter and steady ballplayer who might benefit your 19-13 NIT bound program; is that something that you might be interested in?  No?  You prefer the NIT?  OK.  Lucky for 1700 enrollment and Sweet 16-bound Davidson.

Now this time of year is the most fun and the most difficult for me.  Why?  The games are super exciting — Tennessee-Butler; WKU-Drake; San Diego-UConn — but I am also reminded of how poor my team is, and how it never wins a game it shouldn’t, whereas, teams like UCLA always win the ones they should.  I call this ENVY!  Seriously, I was certain that UCLA would beat Texas A&M even as the time dwindled down.

Love was unbelievable with blocks (despite no vertical) and turnaround J’s, and Collison’s runners were remarkable.  Continuing with the pain, add-in the Brook Lopez (the one without the Sideshow Bob hair) leaner with 1.3s remaining to give Stanford the victory over Marquette, and it was a lost weekend for me with the exception of the Duke loss.

I am forced to revisit 1996 — when my team had UNC on the ropes, up 10 with 10 minutes to go, then promptly collapsed.  Admittedly, we had Shawn Marks and (NFL All Pro) Tony Gonzalez while they had Antawn Jamison and Vince Carter, but still…..

So I am forced to ponder between watching my men’s team in the second round of the NIT (Not in Tournament) versus last year’s runner up — Ohio State, or watch our women’s team, ranked around the Top Ten, in the second round of the women’s tourney.  I am so despondent that I am actually considering women’s hoop, which, sorry to say, I find atrocious. 

Ok, for my female readers who stumbled upon this, I apologize for what appears to be overt sexism, but that is not the case.  It is just that the women’s game does not have the athleticism of the men’s game, which is not the case in all women’s sports.  Soccer and Volleyball are much more palatable.  And no, I don’t think I am better than the women…..Anyway, who am I kidding, I don’t have female readers, back to the post.

[Update, Cal was eliminated from NIT and NCAAW -- great ]

The state of affairs led me to, and this is true, go online this morning and buy a West Virginia t-shirt.  I need to have something to wear from a school that is good in Basketball (Sweet 16) and Football (plays in New Year’s Day games) and that is Blue and Gold.  I may post a photo when I get it.

On to bracketology.  As promised, I had my two year old son and his friend Mac select a bracket based on pictures of the logos.  This had some good aspects and some not so good, so we may refine for next year.  But we did learn:

- “Happy” animals win over ferocious or non-animals.  That is why we have the University of Maryland Baltimore County RETRIEVERS in the Elite 8.  That is also why we called the Siena upset over Vandy.  It also is why they chose Belmont’s Bruins to upset Duke, and would have been correct if not for Gerald Henderson.

- Other notable selections.  Xavier into the Sweet Sixteen.  Called the San Diego upset over Uconn.  But they have no one left in the South, as they were big fans of Miami and Oral Roberts — two diametrically opposed schools when it comes to religion.

Nevertheless, these 2 two-year-olds have 7 of 16 teams still alive — which is just short of Dick Vitale (who has 9) and famed Bracketologist Joe Lunardi (10)

The Final Four — UCLA, Kansas, Louisville (instead of #1 UNC), and Miami (instead of #1 Memphis).

My son picks Kansas over UCLA

His friend Mac picks the Happy Bear (UCLA) over the Jayhawks.

We will see how they do!