by Bobby Stompy on April 6 at 2:28AM
BobbyStompy misses the boat for a Final 4 blog post, posts anyway
The stage is set. Memphis will play Kansas for the national title on Monday. Usually, going into the Final 4, I like do a "rooting interest" post, where I discuss who I'm pulling for heading in to the games. The whole thing is based on weird biases, slights, and random affiliations. I ended up getting a little busy today, which killed the timeliness of the post, but even with the Final 4 done, I couldn't resist.
This year, it would have been:
1) UCLA -- Most importantly, my bracket pick. Darren Collison is a lot of fun. Kevin Love isn't hard to get behind. College basketball's most marquee program. Well coached. Funny alumni. Incredible dance team -- wow. And, of course, Lorenzo Mata-Real.
While Mata-Real is more a of a secondary reason, he's a hell of a reason nonetheless. This guy did about any and every gross thing a guy could do while at UCLA. He started in a Final 4 game. He wore a Rip Hamilton mask for a while when he hurt his nose. He took the torch from Josh Boone and Charlie Villaneuva as college basketball's ugliest big man. And -- maybe my favorite -- this year he added the "Real" hyphenation to his last name after being just Lorenzo Mata for the first three years. He really was the best. RIP.
2) Memphis -- John Calipari's blatant disregard for free-throws and real offenses is damn near admirable. His Pete Carroll-esque enthusiasm for the game is contagious. Calipari and Carroll remind me of the kind of coaches that would lead youth teams to 1-2 win seasons but still buy ice cream for the whole team after every game. Somehow, they're both mega-successes. Go figure.
Memphis also has Chicago-boy Derrick Rose. Here at TUP, we love Rose. The freshman came alive in the first four rounds, and after the dismantling of Texas, pretty much proved he is the clear-cut best point guard in the country... I think Dwayne Wade might like him, too.
3) UNC -- UNC gave us Michael Jordan, Duke beatdowns, that pretty shade of blue, and my favorite college basketball victory of all time (when Sean May and the gang took out Illinois in the 2005 championship game, shutting up my 50 insufferable friends at U of I for a lifetime). I'm not sure about his approval rating around the blogosphere, but I really don't mind Tyler Hansbrough at all. Some people don't like him because of his eyes. Really? Kind of weak. I also loved how Roy Williams totally snubbed...
4) Kansas -- Without a doubt my most hated team in the Final 4. I'd say they were my most hated team in the whole field (besides Duke, of course).
I used to not mind Kansas. Like most college powers, I simply enjoyed and respected their general brilliance throughout college basketball's history. But it all changed last year.
Now, I'm not one to get mad at a team forever because they lost one game when I bet on them... except in this one specific situation. When I'm doing my tournament picks, I always-always-always wait for the bracket to come out and base the whole thing on match-ups and such. But last year, I felt so strongly about Kansas, I picked them before the bracket even came out. We all know what happened... UCLA dismantled them in the Elite 8 and Bill Self basically got out-coached by Ben Howland (possible understatement of the year). I really took the loss personally, and ever since, I've found myself adamantly rooting against Kansas and truly enjoying Self's misfortunes Plus, I've got some annoying friends who go to Drake (in Central Iowa) and somehow think that's grounds for rooting for a team based in Kansas.
Other random reasons: Kirk Hinrich and Nick Collison costing me 20 bucks when they lost to Syracuse in national title game / How unforgiving Kansas fans were of Roy Williams for taking his dream job at his alma mater. I understand Williams snubbed Kansas a little bit, and that he can't have it both ways (where both fan bases adore him), but it's like KU fans didn't appreciate his entire tenure at the school. I know he didn't win a title, but he still did a pretty damn good job. The whole "I don't give a shit about North Carolina" quote is totally taken out of context, too. It was spoken in the moment, not the longterm.
But hey, Rock Chalk Jayhawk. We still love Mangino and KU football.
* * *
Obviously, based on the favoritism, this Final 4 was pretty catastrophic. Rooting for UCLA and UNC proved to be rather awful, as both teams lost handily. I don't know how anyone with a casual/netural rooting interest wouldn't be pulling for UNC to have made that incredible-almost comeback against Kansas. How awesome would that have been?
Coming Sunday, my Memphis-Kansas preview, where I ask thought provoking questions and make jokes about Brandon Rush.
The stage is set. Memphis will play Kansas for the national title on Monday. Usually, going into the Final 4, I like do a "rooting interest" post, where I discuss who I'm pulling for heading in to the games. The whole thing is based on weird biases, slights, and random affiliations. I ended up getting a little busy today, which killed the timeliness of the post, but even with the Final 4 done, I couldn't resist.
This year, it would have been:
1) UCLA -- Most importantly, my bracket pick. Darren Collison is a lot of fun. Kevin Love isn't hard to get behind. College basketball's most marquee program. Well coached. Funny alumni. Incredible dance team -- wow. And, of course, Lorenzo Mata-Real.
While Mata-Real is more a of a secondary reason, he's a hell of a reason nonetheless. This guy did about any and every gross thing a guy could do while at UCLA. He started in a Final 4 game. He wore a Rip Hamilton mask for a while when he hurt his nose. He took the torch from Josh Boone and Charlie Villaneuva as college basketball's ugliest big man. And -- maybe my favorite -- this year he added the "Real" hyphenation to his last name after being just Lorenzo Mata for the first three years. He really was the best. RIP.
2) Memphis -- John Calipari's blatant disregard for free-throws and real offenses is damn near admirable. His Pete Carroll-esque enthusiasm for the game is contagious. Calipari and Carroll remind me of the kind of coaches that would lead youth teams to 1-2 win seasons but still buy ice cream for the whole team after every game. Somehow, they're both mega-successes. Go figure.
Memphis also has Chicago-boy Derrick Rose. Here at TUP, we love Rose. The freshman came alive in the first four rounds, and after the dismantling of Texas, pretty much proved he is the clear-cut best point guard in the country... I think Dwayne Wade might like him, too.
3) UNC -- UNC gave us Michael Jordan, Duke beatdowns, that pretty shade of blue, and my favorite college basketball victory of all time (when Sean May and the gang took out Illinois in the 2005 championship game, shutting up my 50 insufferable friends at U of I for a lifetime). I'm not sure about his approval rating around the blogosphere, but I really don't mind Tyler Hansbrough at all. Some people don't like him because of his eyes. Really? Kind of weak. I also loved how Roy Williams totally snubbed...
4) Kansas -- Without a doubt my most hated team in the Final 4. I'd say they were my most hated team in the whole field (besides Duke, of course).
I used to not mind Kansas. Like most college powers, I simply enjoyed and respected their general brilliance throughout college basketball's history. But it all changed last year.
Now, I'm not one to get mad at a team forever because they lost one game when I bet on them... except in this one specific situation. When I'm doing my tournament picks, I always-always-always wait for the bracket to come out and base the whole thing on match-ups and such. But last year, I felt so strongly about Kansas, I picked them before the bracket even came out. We all know what happened... UCLA dismantled them in the Elite 8 and Bill Self basically got out-coached by Ben Howland (possible understatement of the year). I really took the loss personally, and ever since, I've found myself adamantly rooting against Kansas and truly enjoying Self's misfortunes Plus, I've got some annoying friends who go to Drake (in Central Iowa) and somehow think that's grounds for rooting for a team based in Kansas.
Other random reasons: Kirk Hinrich and Nick Collison costing me 20 bucks when they lost to Syracuse in national title game / How unforgiving Kansas fans were of Roy Williams for taking his dream job at his alma mater. I understand Williams snubbed Kansas a little bit, and that he can't have it both ways (where both fan bases adore him), but it's like KU fans didn't appreciate his entire tenure at the school. I know he didn't win a title, but he still did a pretty damn good job. The whole "I don't give a shit about North Carolina" quote is totally taken out of context, too. It was spoken in the moment, not the longterm.
But hey, Rock Chalk Jayhawk. We still love Mangino and KU football.
* * *
Obviously, based on the favoritism, this Final 4 was pretty catastrophic. Rooting for UCLA and UNC proved to be rather awful, as both teams lost handily. I don't know how anyone with a casual/netural rooting interest wouldn't be pulling for UNC to have made that incredible-almost comeback against Kansas. How awesome would that have been?
Coming Sunday, my Memphis-Kansas preview, where I ask thought provoking questions and make jokes about Brandon Rush.
|
I'm pretty sure he played with a blue tooth in his ear yesterday. Frankly, I'm surprised he doesn't use Nextel.