Butler - Pitt

By now the entire world seems to have heard about the mess at the end of the Butler-Pitt game. The referees got it right: a couple of awful fouls in the final 1.7 seconds of an incredible game changed everything, as Butler won the game, lost it, and won it again. To my mind, this was the strangest finish to an NCAA Tournament game since Indiana beat Duke in 2002.

Frustration

My experience so far with the 2011 NCAA Tournament has been poor, to say the least. CBS has the same streaming video availability it had last year, except that this year it seems largely unavailable. Just now, with 4:33 remaining in the Louisville-Morehead State game, the video abruptly stopped and was replaced by:

This has been happening all day. Nice. Thanks. Much appreciated.

Aw, damn

The Knicks won't be consulting with renowned front office guru and noted feminism activist Isiah Thomas, after all. Florida International, keep enjoying the ride.

That sound you hear? A collective sigh of relief from around 8 million people.

Stupidity knows no bounds

Yes, the Knicks will be paying Isiah Thomas as a consultant, even as he continues to coach FIU. Which, to be fair, has not been the kind of abject disaster as his earlier Knicks and CBA train wrecks.

Why, though? Do the Dolans really think they need further consultation on how to suck the life out of a franchise? Is this some kind of grand, public piece of performance art, an ode to the masochism of the idle rich? Does Isiah have dirt on the Knicks organization and this seems to be the best way to pay for his silence? Is this a ploy to force Mike D'Antoni to resign and forgo a massive buyout?

It's like paying an abusive ex lover to hang around the house and offer romance advice. Nothing about this idea makes sense. Nothing at all.

Except one thing: it's the Knicks.

Smart thinking

I don't often agree with much that Mike Krzyzewski says, but he has this right. If the NCAA Tournament must go to 96 teams, they should let in both regular season and conference tournament champions. Love it. Great idea, and it would make an Ivy League tournament worthwhile, too, instead of being a sellout.

Way to go, Coach K. Keep at it. But don't win the title this year, ok? Thanks.

Same old Nets

The Bulls returned the Nets to reality last night, pounding them into the court. The outright record may have been staved off, but there is work to do to avoid a tie, with NJ at 9-64 with nine games to go.

Chances of winning 9 games exactly: 31%
Chances of winning 10 or more games: 69%

Also, in NCAA news, with Kentucky's loss my bracket is now officially tapped out at 49 points, setting a lifetime record for my worst ever performance. I am not thrilled.

Remember...

You can't spell National Invitational Tournament without UNC.

Maryland 92, North Carolina 71

Ok, so I can't rail about how grossly overrated the Tarheels are any more. But this still feels very, very good. Marquee non-conference victory be damned - the Terps are playing much better ball now than at the start of the season.

UNC still sinking

The Tar Heels, drubbed at home by Virginia today, have now lost five of seven, a run that started with the amazing setback against Charleston. This is getting ugly. Does this bode ill for Florida's football program? The way I see it, Tim Tebow is the Tyler Hansbrough of football. Lose the cult figure to a pro career that probably won't be nearly as stellar, and watch the system fall apart...

Finally we see it

Lebron James - posterized.

Maryland 88, North Carolina 85

GO TERPS.

What sport was that?

The headline reads: Penn State knocks off No. 18 Illinois, 38-33.

That's odd, football being played in February...

No. That's a men's basketball score. Some salient stats: the leading scorer had 11 points. Illinois shot no free throws. The score was 0-0 after four minutes. The teams combined to shoot 29% from the field.

Ugly. Very, very ugly.

Observation

Basketball jerseys with high necks look really stupid.

Scattered updates

Spent a little time in the freezing cold of Bay Ridge today, photographing one of those bizarrely snug ballfields which are such a feature of Brooklyn. This one, the home of the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Baseball and Soccer League, was created out of nothing by Al Christman a couple of decades ago. It sits where two freeways and busy Third Avenue all collide.

In other news:

#4 Duke 73, Michigan 81. That's Michigan's second win over a #4 team this season. Are they a real team at last? It's been a long wait through various transgressions, penalties, and disastrous seasons mixed in with the occasional NIT run.

The Age has run yet another puff piece about the bright prospects at Carlton. I'd prefer fewer puff pieces and more wins, to be honest. Especially after the 2005 and 2007 versions of same.

I have spent altogether too much time in the last few days looking at Russian hockey jerseys. My, but there are some beautiful designs around. Having ordered a 1972 USSR jersey - that was a great team indeed - I am now torn between a modern day Russia one, or maybe a Red Army one, or perhaps moving west for a Czech jersey with Dominik Hasek's name and number on. This is far too difficult.

The CBS coverage of the SEC Championship Game is so far over the top, I am tempted to stop watching. Ugh. I hope the Big 12 version (and, incidentally, the Silver Ball game) has more dignity to it a couple of hours from now.

Losing streaks snapped

Wagner 69, Columbia 84

Michigan 70, Maryland 75

Now that is a great night of hoops.

Ok, fine

I'll shut up about Maryland now.

Unranked? Big deal

Maryland 80, #5 Michigan State 62

The worst thing that could have happened, happened.

- Tom Izzo

Mmm. I don't know, Tom. You could always lose to Northwestern in the Big 10.

Lions of the court

Columbia 65, Fordham 62

A rousing rendition of the Columbia fight song, Roar Lion Roar, is in order.

What would Tyler Hansbrough do?

Rest and recuperate, is my guess.

Oh, and my colleague Andrew, who needs to post here much more often, has spotted a site for buying the most beautiful posters of old college football programs. Oh my. They even have a poster for the greatest game of football ever played.

Sports roundup

I'm on vacation out west, and more on that in a few days, but here are some thoughts on current events:

The 5-1 Orioles, without Eric Bedard but with a lights-out bullpen, own the best record in the American League. This cannot last, but I'm loving every second. The much ballyhooed Detroit lineup, meanwhile, is beginning to look like the epic 119 loss 2003 team all over again. Is there a Vegas line on which of these teams will finish with a better record?

Remember Memphis' narrow escape in the second round when they shot free throws like Shaquille O'Neal after wrist surgery? It's all come back to haunt them now. The strange thing is that no one will now remember a couple of awful Kansas moments in the final minute of regulation either - a layup blocked before it even started, and giving up an easy offensive rebound after yet another missed Memphis foul shot. Kudos to the Jayhawks though, on winning one of the best NCAA finals in memory.

Thanks to Steve Root for this: Williams and Amherst will be returning to Pittsfield, where it all began, to celebrate the birth of college baseball. Unfortunately they will not on this occasion be playing Massachusetts rules. If they do this again next year for the 150th anniversary, I will be there.

The more said about the current scandal in Formula One, the better. Wow.