Monday, April 02, 2018

National Championship Open Thread

I head off this morning to Minneapolis, where the forecast for the next few days is snow and cold. It's fucking April. I'll be watching tonight's National Championship game from a hotel bar. A good hotel bar, with Surly on offer, but a hotel bar nonetheless. I trust that the good people of Gheorghe will have better accommodations.


I'm very torn with respect to rooting interest this evening. Villanova is so well-coached, and so entertaining, and Jay Wright seems like a really good dude. Our friends from Hofstra consider the guy a prince, even though he left there 15 years ago. On the other hand, now that Bo Ryan has retired (and been found out to be kinnnnd of a scumbag), John Beilein is my favorite college hoops coach, non-Tony Shaver division. (Yesterday, Beilein was asked who would play him and Jay Wright in a movie about the game, to which he responded, "At the end of the game, he’ll still look like George Clooney and I will look like Columbo".) Moe Wagner is a nice mix of skill and borderline insanity.

All I need, I guess, is entertaining hoops. And some tasty waves and a cool buzz.

19 comments:

zman said...

Ladies is peeps too.

If we end up with ND and Nova as national champions I might need to move.

zman said...

But I can't stand Michigan. It's a quandary.

Whitney said...

My young nephew lives in Wayne, PA, a mile and a half from Villanova's campus. He's also an Eagles fan, despite being the son of a Redskins fan and a Cowboys fan (who hails from northern NJ).

Last year he become a rabid young fan of both the Eagles and Villanova hoops. So now, at age 6, his favorite football team just won the Super Bowl and his favorite college basketball team has a solid chance to deliver a national championship tonight. (He was too young to appreciate the 2016 title.)

Too much, too soon.

I myself root for a baseball team that won the World Series in dramatic fashion when I was 16 and a football team that notched three Super Bowl wins between my 12th and 22nd birthdays. In the 25 years since then... bupkis.

I'll root for the Wildcats tonight for a number of reasons, including F Michigan and that Shlara loves Jay Wright. Also because it will make my nephew happy. But there's a part of me that thinks he's being set up for a long, slow, painful fall like his uncle's.

zman said...

Only with respect to sports I hope.

Whitney said...

Right. Nobody should expect a plummet like my actual life.

Shlara said...

My sister was a Villanova cheerleader
I’m for Nova.

Oh, and Jay Wright is hawt.
Go Cats!

Danimal said...

Hello Friends.

rob said...

spellman is a frosh? that’s scary.

Mark said...

Donte is balling. His combination of size, shooting and off the dribble ability makes for a tough cover.

rob said...

he had a similar first half against alabama. he’s really versatile and really good.

zman said...

I miss my Toto. I have no idea how you savages live with these plebeian crappers.

Mark said...

He’ll be a star for Villanova next year.

TR said...

My entire family is mesmerized by Tracy Wolfsohn’s mole.

rob said...

he’s like grayson allen, only less punchable.

Whitney said...

A punching bag is less punchable than Grayson Allen.

Shlara said...

V for Villanova
V for victory

Whitney said...

Fame... fortune... fillanofa

rob said...

shohei!

Whitney said...

Phew. Glad we got off the April 3 schneid.