NCAA Pool Update -- Elite Eight
The Elite 8 teams of the 2011 NCAA Tournament are Florida, Butler, Connecticut, Arizona, Kansas, VCU, North Carolina, and Kentucky. The Final Four will be determined in games today and tomorrow.
In our Ricochet tournament, the president is still winning. Steady Freddy. Low-drama Obama. Lucky Baracky. However you want to say it, he's atop the leaderboard. There are a few possibilities for defeat, but I think our best shots are Ultra Vires, Mike LaRoche, and Dave Carter. Go get 'em, fellas.
Member Kennedy Smith has been providing excellent updates the past two days, here and here. He seems to have a better grasp on the permutations for taking down POTUS.
There's something about the Kentucky-North Carolina game that will bring back some great memories.
I've often said that Kentucky is my favorite state. North Carolina is my second favorite. No politics involved in my feelings here, simply memories and the landscape. I left the Northeast for the first time when I went to college in North Carolina. Seeing and experiencing "the South" -- and all that means -- for the first time as a 17-year-old who'd been a sheltered, deeply-entrenched northern Catholic-school girl was life-altering. I also went on a number of camping trips there, the first of my life. Sleeping outside in a tent in the mountains near Asheville was a memory never to be forgotten.
When I first saw the rolling blue hills of Kentucky when I was a senior -- they really were blue! -- trimmed by white fences and peppered with horses, well, it was love at first sight. And then I went to a basketball game at the University of Kentucky when Rick Pitino was coach. Oh my.
Life was simple then. My world was tiny, and small experiences -- hoops games, climbing a mountain -- seemed big. It wasn't about babies, or the Middle East, or tight finances. I love my life, but the North Carolina-Kentucky game will be one for the ages, if only for me.
Awesome graphic by, of course, EJHill.
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May '10
Re: NCAA Pool Update -- Elite Eight
The S family have always been UConn fans (Mr. S is an alum). We love the women's team best, but the men have been a wonderful surprise this year. Can they do it? Why not! Go Huskies!!!!!
May '10
Re: NCAA Pool Update -- Elite Eight
Speaking of permutations, you, yes you Ursula, could still win this thing and dazzle your friends with a 100% cotton tee. If UNC wins.
There's also some guy named "Matthew Hennessey" who stands to take the tee if Connecticut wins. Creeping nepotism and insider dealing at Ricochet. But at least it's more honest than Peter's feeble attempt to pretend he's not the Logo, when they have the exact same bracket.
As noted, the only way the Prez keeps the lead after this round is if Kentucky, UNC and Florida all go down this weekend. He's eluded our traps before, but this time for sure.
Re: NCAA Pool Update -- Elite Eight
Ursula, I travel through Kentucky frequently, and it is still as beautiful as ever. The people are good as gold, and the landscape is so very serene. But I suspect the highways have deteriorated since you were there last. There are enough severe potholes in some areas that if the state to decided to resurface the road using legos it would be an improvement. It's possible to get from one end of I-64 to the other with either your teeth or your vocabulary intact,...but not both. And that's about all I know about basketball.
Edited on Mar 26, 2011 at 7:09amJan '11
Re: NCAA Pool Update -- Elite Eight
As a Kentuckian, I'll defend our roads and vocabulary as being better than Dave alludes, but I like the tounge-in-cheek. We are a simple people, in the best sense of that word. Our lives are slower, God, Family, and Place still mean something to us even if we struggle to keep them in this post-modern world. But as I often say re: basketball: Kentuckian by birth, Cats fan by the Grace of God!
Sep '10
Re: NCAA Pool Update -- Elite Eight
So, as a native of NC, I'm interested in knowing where you went to school, Duke, Carolina...?
I was always an NC State fan myself. David Thompson in '74 and Coach Jimmy V. in '83. Go Pack!
May '10
Re: NCAA Pool Update -- Elite Eight
The permutations and combinations for this weekend are up. I misspoke above regarding the fate of the President. Click to find out how!
Re: NCAA Pool Update -- Elite Eight
Standfast: So, as a native of NC, I'm interested in knowing where you went to school, Duke, Carolina...?
I was always an NC State fan myself. David Thompson in '74 and Coach Jimmy V. in '83. Go Pack! · Mar 26 at 10:48am
Hi Standfast! Where do you live? I went to Davidson, outside Charlotte, but have traveled extensively all over the state. Love the place. I have a soft spot for NC State myself, entirely based on Jimmy V. Prob. would have to choose Carolina over Duke, but I'm not as rabid about it as most of my friends from the South!
Jul '10
Re: NCAA Pool Update -- Elite Eight
My love for All thangs Texas got the better of Me.
Obama selects all the "favorites" to the end, but he can't/won't pick America, the favorite in any any endeavor, to win anything, anywhere, at anytime. Hmmmm.....
Nov '10
Re: NCAA Pool Update -- Elite Eight
Despite my shock and dismay at the demise of Coach K and his Devils, it's not all bad to have the Cats and Tar Heels in the Eight. Plus, as PJS mentions, U Conn, with its impressive bball traditions- how many schools have won both male and female championships in a single year?- is certainly an admirable program.
Edited on Mar 26, 2011 at 9:39pmMay '10
Re: NCAA Pool Update -- Elite Eight
Elizabeth Dunn: Despite my shock and dismay at the demise of Coach K and his Devils, it's not all bad to have the Cats and Tar Heels in the Eight. Plus, as PJS mentions, U Conn, with its impressive bball traditions- how many schools have won both male and female championships in a single year?- is certainly an admirable program. · Mar 26 at 9:37pm
Edited on Mar 26 at 09:39 pm
Only UConn, in 2004, with Diana Taurasi and Emeka Okefor. What a season that was! :)
How busted is the President's bracket? I am clueless when it comes to "bracketology."
Edited on Mar 27, 2011 at 1:55pm