Focused on the future
March 15th, 2007 — Basketball
The Rams from Virginia Commonwealth University, the 11th seed in the West Region, beat the #6 Duke Blue Devils 79-77 in a first round matchup of the 2007 NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament. This is the first time Duke has gone home this early since 1996.
And boy are we happy! So long suckers!
Have I mentioned I hate Duke?
March 11th, 2007 — Basketball
This was supposed to be my pre-NCAA Basketball Tournament hype entry. But it has turned into a bit of a shocker.
With the announcement of the tournament seedings, my alma mater, Syracuse (22-10) has not made it in. I am shocked. We always make the tournament! I can’t even recall the last time we didn’t get into the big dance. I am dumbfounded.
The Big East did send six teams to the tournament—Georgetown, Louisville, Marquette, Notre Dame, Villanova and Pittsburgh—and we will root for one of our regular season rivals to bring the title home for the conference. Even if that happens, it will be bittersweet. Suddenly my anticipation and excitement has diminished considerably.
The ACC sent 7 schools; the Pac 10 and Big 10 also sent 6, while the SEC had 5 and Big 12 sent 4.
Defending NCAA Champion Florida Gators are the #1 seed overall, and the #1 seed in the Midwest Region. The other top seeds are ACC Champion North Carolina in the East; Big Ten Champ Ohio State in the South and Big !2 winner Kansas in the West.
My sentimental underdog favorites will be the Great Danes from the State University of New York at Albany, the 13th seed in the South Region. They face #4 Virginia in the opening round.
The next three weeks will provide arguably the best basketball we’re likely to see at any level of the game. Starting with the play-in game on Tuesday, between Florida A&M and Niagara to decide who faces #1 Kansas, the top 65 teams in the country will be whittled down to a Final Four, before ultimately crowning a national champion on April 2 in Atlanta.
The full tournament bracket can be seen here.
Update: Late Sunday night, the field of teams in the NIT was announced.
March 8th, 2007 — Random Thoughts
Not much to write about these days. Not much going on. I hope to share good news soon.
But I thought I’d at least pass along these tidbits:
This Friday, Barack Obama holds a big fundraiser here in New York at the Grand Hyatt. Tickets were deliberately priced to move and apparently the response has been tremendous. I am still broke however, so I’ll read about it like everyone else.
Then Saturday, March 10, marks the second annual National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day which seeks to raise awareness of the increasing impact of the virus on the lives of women and girls. This year’s theme is “Taking Action to Save Our Lives.”
Wednesday, March 14, former NBA player John Amaechi will be in New York City to promote his new book, Man in the Middle.
A week later, Wednesday March 21, it’s the first annual National Native (American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian) HIV/AIDS Awareness Day to increase awareness of the impact of HIV/AIDS on those communities.
Looking further ahead, the final play written by the late, great August Wilson in his ten play cycle chronicling African American life in the 20th Century, opens on Broadway in May. Radio Golf will be in previews starting in April. Tickets go on sale soon.
Jass Stewart is making another run for Mayor of Brockton, Massachusetts. He was narrowly defeated last time around, despite generating considerable community support.
Finally, ABC News recently revealed what most of us have known for awhile. You can’t always believe what you read on Wikipedia.