Advertising, Irony, and The Ri Do

The tournament is back! And not a moment too soon. I don't think I can go another day without seeing the commercial where the power goes out during a Kentucky-Kansas game.

That commercial bothers me.

Why is the Kansas fan watching what appears to be a big game by himself? Of course, as I noodled that one through last Sunday, I realized that I was hanging out in my basement...which is exactly what I had done for the Steelers' huge game against the Ravens on Christmas night......and all 3 of their playoff games.  Talk about the definition of irony.

But seriously, does that Kanas dude have a generator? He must, right?  How else would he have power when nobody else does?  If so, that 's where the analogy to me ends.  Just ask JD.  He knows that not only would I not have a generator, I certainly wouldn't know how to fire it up.  

One good thing about the commercial? Coca-Cola finally admiting what's it best at: being a mixer.  Oh you didn't get that subliminal message?  Really? You're telling me that there's like 30 UK fans hanging out during a night game against Kansas and all they have is a 6-pack of coke?  Please. The only place in Kentucky where there will be Coca Cola this weekend is HERE.  Every other person knocking on that Kansas dude's door had either Bulleit or Beam.

Anyhow, don't forget about the 2nd Chance Pool. Oh, and it has a new name. Playing off the Irish theme of The Shamrock, a pool that's essentially a "do over" will be called The Ri Do.  Entries due tonight by 7.  Works just like The Shamrock, but you only pick one team per region.  20 Shamrockers have already entered.

Best thing? If you're already in Shamrock17, it's included in your fee.  

That, my friends, is worth buying me a splash of Coke & glass of Tennessee's finest the next time you see me.

Enjoy the games.

It's all in the Draw

Updated standings are HERE.

Quite the heart-warming story emerging as Syracuse parlays NCAA sanctions into a low seed that opens a path to the Elite 8.  Quick: name someone, anyone, on the teams that they've beaten.  And use their REAL names!  Answers that don't count:

1. The white kid who transferred from Kentucky
2. The Russian kid whose dad played for the Trailblazers.

Not often a team's "upset" that sparked an Elite 8 run was the win over.....Dayton.

Speaking of "not often", well, it's not often a team wins twice after trailing with fewer than 90 seconds to go & the ball in the hands of the other team's best player. But Notre Dame has! Whoa.  Talk about putting the luck in the luck of the Irish.  

The Elite 8 includes two teams who were not ranked in the top 25 of the final poll. And who got this far by playing a combined 0 games against teams that were ranked in the Top 25 of the final poll. It's almost like the VPA seeded this tournament.

Chili

Boring games last night.

Still plenty of excitement left in the Shamrock though!

I'm not talking about our leader. Paul Pecor could break Gino Riffle's Shamrock record of 27 wins in a single tournament.  Paul, that's exciting for you, but not for anybody else.

But further down the standings, there's plenty of excitement.  As Shamrock entrant and Rebel PA man Joel Kynoch might say, "a veritable plethora" of you still have a shot at the Top 8 and/or sliding into lucky spot #17.

Speaking of people with chances to get into the money, there's no money to get into if the rest of us don't pay. I'm still missing $$ from a veritable plethora of you.  A good way to pay, and to spice up the tournament, would be to find me on Saturday at the 4th Annual Queen City Chili Cookoff.

My brother, and your fellow Shamrocker, is to chili contests what Kentucky/UCLA/Duke are to college basketball.  I'm happy if my chili doesn't burn as I cook it.  And I'm talking Hormel's out of a can.  In a microwave. For my brother, however, a string of third place finishes over his past several contests has him disappointed.  That's what expectations are in his kitchen.  Bronze medals get tossed in the trash. It's championships or bust.

Saturday's event at Nectar's is based on fan voting.  Great opportunity for chili, beer, paying me, and voting for Patrick.

Crazy Endings!

Well, yesterday's endings got progressively crazier.

SF Austin had Notre Dame dead to rights with 1:39 to go.  Up 5, loose ball, just pick it up and either shoot foul shots or take another 30 seconds off the clock.

Instead, the dude with the beard tried to control it with a dribble.

Folks, that's not how they teach it All-Net Camp! Grab it with TWO HANDS! Had he done so, his subsequent misses: one on a long-range 3 with TEN SECONDS left on the shot clock, the other a wild runner with 12 seconds left in the game wouldn't have mattered.

I know this is a basketball blog, but Jimmy Johnson might be luckier than Texas A&M. Kevin Harvick was ahead by about 2 miles with two laps to go in the Auto Club 400.  I think he could've stopped, got out, and pushed the car to the checkers.  But, Kyle Busch blew a tire, then sneakily chose to skip the pits and cause a caution.  Next thing I know, Jimmy Johnson somehow gains 3 spots during the pit stop and wins a race he had - literally - about .000001 chance of winning with 4 miles to go.

But even those odds looked good compared to Texas A&M's one-in-eleventy-billion chance to come back from 12 down with 40 seconds to play.  I don't write well enough to comment on how Northern Iowa must feel about those final 30 seconds of regulation.  Or even the final 17 seconds.  It's hard to imagine a team losing an NCAA Division 1 tournament game as a result (in part) of two failed attempts to throw the ball off an opponent's legs in the final 30 seconds.

And, finally, Paul Pecor already has 338 points.   That would've been good enough for third place in last year's Shamrock, and we're only to the Sweet 16.

Coaches, Moms, and Hot Dogs

My mom loves hot dogs and M&Ms.

What's that got to do with The Shamrock?  Let me tell you.

One of the my favorite parts of coaching was the friendships I made with other coaches. And, within those friendships, I always appreciated how well opposing coaches treated my mom. Especially when her devotion to the Rebels made Johnny Most & Tommy Heinsohn seem impartial about the Celtics in comparison.

There was the time she showed up at my Super Bowl party.  Paul Pecor introduced himself.  She frowned and muttered "i know who are you" as she walked away.

During a game at Essex, I noticed my brother hop up and, with a look of panic on his face, sprint towards the Hornets bench.  Not much makes Patrick panic.  I looked down and there was my mom, on the bench, giving Jeff Goodrich an earful.

Yet, how did things turn out?  Whenever we played Rice or Essex over the final few seasons that I coached, Paul and Jeff would have hot dogs and M&Ms delivered to my mom in the stands.

I know we're only halfway thru the first round.  But, mom, if THIS keeps up, let's just say it's a good thing your new condo is so close to both McGillicudy's and the Hornets Nest Pub.

Enjoy Day 2, especially all you Shamrock fans who are at the 20th Annual Keg Day celebration!

The Picks in Pictures

1 seed

Kansas	39
North Carolina	12
Virginia	7
Oregon	1

2 seed

Villanova	6
Xavier	1
Michigan State	43
Okahoma	9

3 seed

Miami	16
West Virginia	20
Utah	3
Texas A&M	20

4 seed

Cal	5
Kentucky	39
Iowa State	8
Duke	7

5 seed

Maryland	13
Indiana	7
Purdue	21
Baylor	18

6 seed

Arizona	14
Notre Dame	17
Seton Hall	18
Texas	10

7 seed

Iowa	20
Wisconsin	28
Dayton	5
Oregon State	6

8 seed

Colorado	9
USC	7
Texas Tech	9
St. Joe's	34

9 seed

UCONN	17
Providence	17
Butler	13
Cincinnati	12

10 seed

Temple	13
Pitt	20
Syracuse	10
VCU	16

11 seed

Winner Vanderbilt/Wichita State	14
Winner Michigan/Tulsa	8
Gonzaga	24
Northern Iowa	13

12 seed

South Dakota State	18
Chattanooga	14
Arkansas Little Rock	8
Yale	19

13 seed

Hawaii	25
Stoney Brook	5
Iona	21
UNC Wilmington	8

14 seed

Buffalo	9
SF Austin	19
Fresno State	25
Green Bay	6

15 seed

UNC Asheville	10
Weber State	37
Middle Tennessee	6
Cal State Bakersfield	6

16 seed

21:37:27

I bet there was a night when Larry Bird didn't come out for warm-ups. It was pre-social media, so nobody knew what was up.  An uneasy anticipation permeating the Garden.....is Larry sick? Injured?  I spent this month's rent and he's not even fucking playing!?!?

I bet the opposing players felt it.  Curious at first, but not getting their hopes up.  Then, 8 minutes left to tip-ff...6 minutes...2.  He's not here! He's not playing!  We've got a shot!!!!

Then the roar.....as #33 jogged to the court.

He probably casually drained a single warm-up shot, an imperceptible nod to KC signalling "i'm ready."  The moment sapping the opposing team's will, with Bird's toughest task choosing whether to emasculate Isaiah or to play left handed, for the hell of it, and drop 47.

Well folks, something similar happened tonight.  And it happened here. 

Entries were rolling in. Sure, a lot of them. But you felt good. And why wouldn't you?  After all, there was no sign of him.

Still, the tournament doesn't start until the day after tomorrow.  So you didn't get your hopes up.   But...still...you let it creep into your head....."he's not here.  I've got a shot!"

The time-stamp says 21:37:27. Did you feel a wrinkle in the force? I bet you did.  Because that's when Stan submitted his entry.

Stan who?

How about Stan Williams?  Winner of the inaugural Shamrock, the Bird in this Garden.  Now you know how those hapless Pistons felt.

He's here folks.  And, like Bird's old running mate Bill Walton, our chances just went up in smoke.