March Madness

      Every year the sports world looks forward to third week in March.  A phenomena that grips the attention of those who hardly watch a half of college basketball the entire season.  It seems like everyone you run into asks about your bracket.  Every season you tell yourself this your year.  The perfect bracket created by the bracket master, one bracket to dominate them all.  It only takes until two o'clock Thursday afternoon for that mindset to change.  Rarely can one go from hero to zero in such a small time.  March Madness is exactly that, madness.
     This year's March action has not disappointed, either.  A first round riddled with upsets as usual.  The biggest being the defeat of the Michigan State Spartans, a two seed, by fifteen seed Middle Tennessee State.  A fifteen seed has won their opening round game only times in the long history of the NCAA Tournament.  The Spartans were a favorite pick by many experts, in fact, I had them in my championship.  After two days my bracket found itself in the trash.  Not many predicted the Ivy League champs Yale to defeat a five seed Baylor Bears.  A game Yale dominated.
     The first round is not where the Madness stopped, however.  Northern Iowa was fresh off of a half court buzzer beater upset over Texas and looked poised to continue that trend over Texas A&M.  The Aggies from College Station thought different.  Down twelve with 44 seconds left in the game, the Aggies pulled off one of the craziest comebacks in sports history.  Or maybe it was of the biggest chokes in sports history.  I tend to lean towards the latter, but that's just college basketball in March.
     Even the elite eight saw its fair share of upsets.  Ten seed Syracuse, who many think is lucky for even getting invited to the Tourney this year, managed to topple the one seeded Virginia Cavaliers and make it to the Final Four.  On the other side of the bracket both two seeds, Oklahoma and Villanova, outlasted their respective one seeds to punch their tickets to the Final Four.  In fact, only one one seed made it the Final Four, the North Carolina Tar Heels.  The school that has the most Final Four appearances with 19.  This weekend in Houston promises to be an action packed weekend.  Admittedly, I hope to see the Sooners cutting the nets down on Monday night.  Maybe Syracuse can be the first ever ten seed could pull it off.  Or maybe the dynasty will continue with the Tarheels.  We'll just have to tune in to see.  It's going to be Madness.

We're Sorry Scott

     As I sat on my couch late Saturday night, I once again found myself shaking my head in frustration and confusion.  Only thirty minutes ago I was hopeful that this night, this game, would be different.  As the night would show, however, those hopes would not come true.  So there I was, stuck in the same emotions that have become ever so common throughout the past month.  The fourth quarter blues were in full effect.
    With a risky move last may, the Oklahoma City Thunder hired long time University of Florida coach Billy Donovan to replace the recently fired Scott Brooks.  Brooks had just finished his worst full season as the head guy for the Thunder.  A season riddled with injury to his top players. A season where his point guard cemented his name among the greatest to ever play the position.  A season where his team of battered athletes missed the playoffs by a lone game.  A season that would be his last.  The man that brought our city's first ever professional team from the depths of last place to three conference championship series in four years, was let go.  At the time the majority of the fans seemed to be pleased with the decision.  Admittedly, I was in that group.  But, oh, how long ago that was.
    Since February the Thunder have blown 12 fourth quarter leads, the most in the NBA.  Something that doesn't seem right when this was supposed to be the deepest, most talented roster the Thunder have ever had.  So what's wrong with this team?  An inexperience college coach that seems to be drowning in quick sand.  Billy Donovan took the keys to a Ferrari, and it seems like the only thing he's done is run that Ferrari into the ditch.  Somehow he's lead a preseason title contender into a team that has no hope among its fan base, one of the most loyal in the NBA.  Changed the feeling that superstar Kevin Durant would return from optimistic to almost no hope.  Taken a roster with two all-star starters, the only team in the NBA to achieve that, to a dismal 3rd in the West and struggling to keep that.  All things that this city is not used to.  All reasons for outrage.  But where is that outrage, where are the callings for Billy's job?  Last season it seemed so easy to do it to the man that brought greatness to our organization.  Why does it seem so hard now?
    I honestly believe it seems so hard because we were wrong.  We don't want to be wrong again.  It's easy to want more when you're so close to the top, but we got greedy.  Instead of attacking the man that lead us when he struggled, maybe we should have supported him.  Instead of sending him packing from everything he's built, maybe we should have given another shot with a healthy roster. Instead being forced into a risky, unproven hire, maybe we should have stuck to what got us here. So on behalf of this great city, on behalf of our great fan base, and on behalf of my friends, I say sorry Scott.  I also say thank you Scott, for giving us six years of greatness.  For putting this city on the map.  For giving us taste of winning it all.  It was certainly better than getting beat every night in the fourth quarter.