Monday, March 14, 2011

#3bids4caa, a G:TB Production

It's easy to see now, with hindsight's clarifying wisdom. But back then, when we the G:TB brain trust created the #3bids4caa hashtag, we had no idea of our power and reach. We were just hoping, wishing, dreaming that the CAA - once a Selection Sunday afterthought - could sneak a third team into the March Madness mix for the first time in conference history. We weren't dealing in reality. We just had no idea.

No idea that our words traveled from our keyboards to Those That Make Decisions in Indianapolis. That the power of a simple idea based in obvious logic (not shared, perhaps, by Bilas, Digger, Davis and Vitale) would work like trickle of water, becoming a stream, a flood, a raging river, cutting a great canyon out of formerly impenetrable rock. That suggestion, repeated, amplified, and repeated again has the capacity to work miracles.


We'll spend some time trying to figure out how to use our newly-discovered power wisely. Until then, we're just basking in the odd joy that comes with being so conditioned that your own team won't make the Dance that you live vicariously through conference mates.

Okay, Patriots, Monarchs, and Rams. We got you there. Now make us proud.

45 comments:

TR said...

It would be a lot cooler if you were distributing hash instead of hashtags.

Just saying...

T.J. said...

rob still fails at the use of labels. Hashtags he seems to understand. Labels in a blog post? Nope.

Geoff said...

Coming up next: All three CAA teams lose in the first round. Futile superfans.

Clarence said...

Seth Davis told us that he thinks the Monarchs are headed to the Elite Eight. That's . . . surprising.

TR said...

I found out my company's office pool uses the Fibonacci sequence for scoring points per round and weights points for wins based on seedings, giving you more credit for picking lower seeds to win.

I am very excited (and very confused) about all of this.

rob said...

i'm working up a righteous indignation about big media's continued apoplexy about vcu. you wouldn't like me when i'm righteously indignant.

rob smash!

Danimal said...

so who is fibonacci?

i look forward to reading rob's rant.

did jagoff ever respond to your tweets mark & rob?

rob said...

see the teej ranting righteously here: http://sbn.to/ikiPuO

T.J. said...

Hey everybody!
/Dr. Nick Riviera voice

TR said...

So you decided on beer-chugging photo instead of urination photo, The Teej?

Probably the right move.

zman said...

I saw Hubert Davis et al. and their righteous indignation about various big schools failing to make the tournament, and I marvelled that these four guys get paid lots to talk about, and are so preposterously fired up about, despite admittedly knowing very little about, what is at bottom a children's basketball tournament. If they take this stuff so seriously I'd love to hear their thoughts on the possibility of multple nuclear meltdowns in Japan.

rob said...

the japan thing is so obviously stolen from the plot of godzilla that i can't believe so many people have fallen for it.

Danimal said...

japan...i guess the earthquake wasn't enough. or the tsunami. let's throw in a couple of nuclear meltdowns for good measure. this week they'll probably start airing jersey shore.

Mark said...

Whelliston didn't respond. I think we all would've been more than shocked had he, even if it were in his usual smug, self serving way.

zman said...

I didn't mean to be a stick in the mud with the nuclear disaster comment.

Remember Billy Packer ripping on Mason in 2006? Perhaps shades of history repeating. I'm not sure how Mason got stuck with a #8 in the same bracket as the #1 overall team. I'm not optimistic that they will advance to the Sweet 16. We need a different CAA team for which to prognosticate a deep run. So VCU or ODU?

T.J. said...

I think highly of ODU:
http://sbn.to/f1zbCr

zman said...

Oh right, the mustache factor. I read that article before. It seems like VCU has the easier road to hoe, but for their extra play-in game. Which makes no sense -- if you're good enough to be an 11 seed, why should you have to play an extra game?

rob said...

pour a little out for jeff capel's career at oklahoma. maybe he can apply for the towson job.

Jerry said...

The contrarian take: I wouldn't spend so much effort supporting the community colleges that compete with the Tribe.

T.J. said...

Contrarian-contrarian take: every game a CAA school wins adds money to the CAA coffer.

T.J. said...

Also...it's just hilariously fun to see the reaction to any mid-major getting multiple bids. ESPN is a joke.

rob said...

more directly, every caa win in the tourney adds $ to w&m's coffers.

Jerry said...

How much are we talking? Hiring a good defensive coordinator or new panties for the Tribe gymnasts?

Jerry said...

And is it coffer or coffers?

rob said...

panties for a new defensive coordinator

Clarence said...

New panties for the Tribal Dancers, now there's a substantial expense.

Danimal said...

just when i was beginning to become a huge wnba and fan this happens - who wants my pondexter jersey?

http://tinyurl.com/4zxadq5

Danimal said...

or fan and. dyslexia my up today acting

TR said...

Speaking of large women in tight clothing, Zman had a classic line when we were drinking in the new Meadowlands last season. On a whim, we went into the Captain Morgan's bar because they had a bunch of Morgan cheerleaders and a dude who looked just like Captain Morgan. The cheerleaders, like the ladies of the 'Burg, were good from far, but far from good. He said something the to extent of "You can see the cottage cheese on their thighs through their spandex. That's as tight as their bodies can look, and you can still see cottage cheese."

At this bar, if you ordered a Morgan drink, you got to take a picture with the pirate or the cheerleaders. The girls were so bad that we decided the pirate would've been better. It brought us back to Williamsburg.

Jerry said...

http://www.projo.com/news/content/NCAA_COLLEGES_MONEY_03-15-10_28HNTUS_v33.3c1cb8a.html

According to these guys, each game was worth $222k last year. The funds are paid out according to a 6 year rolling average and the conferences are encouraged to split the proceeds equally among all members.

zman said...

I think I said "You know you're looking at fat girls when you can see cottage cheese through their spandex pants." I think we got whiskey instead of Capt. Morgan expressly to avoid the awkward interaction where we decline photos with the cheerleaders.

Danimal said...

i too ran into that bunch somewhere last year - i think vegas. of all the pirates i've met in my life i've never met one who was very picky.

T.J. said...

If I didn't know any better, I would think Jerry was trying to be a stick in the mud just to be a dick.

But Jerry isn't a dick per se...so whatcha trying to get at sir? Your math brain usually has a conclusion at heart.

T.J. said...

Actually, Jerry, do you have a problem with a third CAA school being added to the tournamanet?

I'm willing to bet you haven't watched enough NCAA basketball this year to allow yourself an actual opinion. EPL, another story.

So.....where you coming from on this one, chief?

Jerry said...

My last comment was purely informational -- no editorial commentary, just curiosity about the finances.

I just really dislike VC"U" and the Norfolk Community Center, especially since the latter is going to start steamrolling us in football in a few years. I do like the George Mason Economics Department though.

Jerry said...

Oh, I have absolutely no opinion on whether any of these teams deserve to be in the tournament. You guys have laid out reasonable support for their bids and I don't disagree at all. Even Charles and Kenny have better college basketball knowledge than I do right now. All I know about is Rutgers.

T.J. said...

ODU football will be the bigger problem for Tribe in three years.

rob said...

the caa doesn't distribute the $ equally - they have a formula based on a number of factors that i don't claim to understand.

Dave said...

i've got to fill out my brackets.

which caa team is most likely to win the whole thing?

Jerry said...

Yeah, I remember hearing that GMU "built something" with their Final Four winnings. This vague recollection may or may not be true.

rob said...

it's funny, jerry. i really don't like vcu or mason and am indifferent towards odu. and now i'm rooting for them like they're my children. i try not to analyze myself too deeply.

Clarence said...

Teej, Jerry's brain has a heart? Where'd you take anatomy, George Mason?

I'm biased because I live here, but ODU has improved itself substantially in recent years. Some still consider it the W&M offshoot it once was, and it'll never compare with the College in many ways, but it's not the slouch it once was.

Greg said...

Know who also had a brain for a heart?


George Washington. That's who.

This youtube explains.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7iVsdRbhnc

TR said...

Pour some out (or take a hit) for Owsley Stanley.

Clarence said...

Beware the Ides of March, people. Beware!!


And also St. Ides -- that shit is not good for you, either.