Sidelines
Madness is driving me crazy
WE have reached the time of year when I become paranoid and bitter.
Tournament time, when the student-athletes of the world collude in a conspiracy to screw up my bracket.
Witness:
Creighton. Choking dogs. I had them beating Duke.
NC State. Vermin.
Weber State? Cinderella this.
And then there is Oregon. So much for the Elite Eight. Their best player had the worst game of his life, including a ridiculously hard, unnecessary, inane, no-choice-but-to-blow-the-whistle foul in the final seconds that provided the winning (losing) free throws.
I screamed.
Last week, his brilliance in the Pac-10 tournament convinced me to pick the Ducks to beat Kentucky.
Last year I went with Rick Majerus, and he got me. This time I went against Majerus, and he got me.
Is this what it's like to be a problem gambler?
How do you do it?
If I were like this more than one week a year ...
I see in my online bracket challenge for millions of dollars I am currently tied for 50,199th place.
Luckily, this year my bracket is truly for entertainment purposes only.
Other people's.
>> The only surprise is that it wasn't the maniac who "interviewed" Hawaii AD Herman Frazier in the wake of the infamous UH-UC riot.
In a move that probably stuns very few UH football fans, the radio color analyst for the University of Cincinnati was ejected in the Bearcats' NCAA Tournament opening loss Thursday.
Gonfunit, I had him going to the second round.
It wasn't his fault, though. Outside forces were against him.
"We had a good talk," the Cincinnati Post quotes our old friend, UC athletic director Bob Goin. "We'll see what comes of it. I might not do anything."
Again, not a shock.
>> It just didn't fit into Thursday's column, but there were some great, touching tributes to Al Minn on the Aulea Swim Club Web site.
But of course, this was my favorite:
My second practice with Mr. Minn, he had me go take off my watch (didn't know we couldn't wear them) and then after I did that, he got on me for being late to warm up, which was because I had to take off my watch. He was nice after that, so maybe he was just testing me or something.
>> So the house doesn't always win in Vegas.
At halftime of Hawaii's NIT opener, I predicted the Rainbows would come out of the locker room in Xavier mode. And they almost did.
But UNLV would have none of it.
When Phil Martin and Mark Campbell foul out and Hawaii still wins that says something.
>> A pleasant rediscovery in reading Dave Reardon's story about Darrick Branch on Sunday. For some reason I'd almost started to believe the current prevailing attitude that the history of UH football began in 1997.
>> Illinois. Missouri. Oklahoma. Florida.
Kalani Simpson can be reached at ksimpson@starbulletin.com