Guess who's back, back again?
So: it's been a minute.
To recap: if you're getting this email, it's because you were a subscriber to my old newsletter on Substack. I quit writing that newsletter because, frankly, I didn't want to continue using a platform that-at the time-was giving more-or-less free rein to transphobes.
Since then, Substack has both grown explosively and also turned into literally a Nazi bar. It sucks, because the Substack content management system (CMS) is frankly one of the nicest ones I've ever used (and I've been doing this since roughly 2000, so I've seen a few systems).
Anyway, I decided to dust this newsletter off and give it a spin because I felt like writing again. We'll see where it goes.
It's the first week of spring, so it's as good as time as any to relaunch this sucker. If you think someone will enjoy reading this, feel free to have them sign up.
Also: it's probably the greatest sports week of the year, at least if you like college basketball. NIT started earlier this week, the men's NCAA tournament started today, the women's NCAA tourney starts tomorrow (their First Four is tonight), and both the College Basketball Invitational and the CollegeInsider Tournament are happening (though it's debatable whether those tournaments are worth following).
Without further ado, here's my Day 1 NCAA Tournament takes. I'll cover all the games.
Michigan State 69, Mississippi State 51: This is not a good Michigan State team. I mean, Michigan State hasn't been "great" for a minute, but this year's Spartans team was simply mediocre, at best. Enough that I picked the Bulldogs to beat them in every bracket I filled out. Didn't matter; they roasted Mississippi State, and if they play that way against North Carolina, they should make the Sweet 16--again.
Texas 56, Colorado State 44: The 7-10 and 8-9 games are essentially "pick 'em" games for me. Texas played solid ball in the Big 12, and Colorado State did the same in the Mountain West. But they boat-raced Virginia in their First Four matchup, which swayed me to pick them against the Longhorns. The final score deceives; this was a blowout all the way through. Texas led 27-11 at the half. They could make some noise.
Dayton 63, Nevada 60: I picked Dayton to win this game, but for about 30 minutes, they played awful basketball. Then the Flyers went on one of the most dominant runs to close a game out I can remember: they outscored Nevada 24-4 to win. Which, good for them, considering the Covid-19 pandemic robbed them of a likely Final Four run.
Oregon 87, South Carolina 73: Yet another blowout. I picked Oregon to win this game, and the Ducks came through big-time. This was one of those games where both teams were seeded wrongly; the Gamecocks weren't good enough to be a 6th seed, and the Ducks were better than their 11th seed.
Duquesne 71, BYU 67: On the one hand, this was a genuinely cool upset. The Dukes hadn't made the tournament since 1977, hadn't won a tournament game in 55 years! Keith Dambrot coached LeBron in high school, and left Akron to coach Duquesne because his dad played there! Also...don't look up how Dambrot wound up leaving his coaching job at Central Michigan. It's the literal definition of a milkshake duck.
Illinois 85, Morehead State 69: This Illini team is good. Unfortunately, their leading player, Terrence Shannon, Jr., was charged with rape (Athletic link). The university suspended him immediately, then he sued to get reinstated, which is why he's playing for Illinois. He claims he's getting set up, but I just can't let that ride. Despite what a lot (too many!) of really rancid men insist, women/femme individuals don't make up rape accusations in any significant number that matters. In any event, the Illini won this game going away, and will play Duquesne on Saturday.
Creighton 77, Akron 60: I thought this was the likeliest 3-14 upset, and I was wrong. Creighton is good, like Final Four good. They showed it.
Gonzaga 86, McNeese State 65: Will Wade is probably the current heir to the Jerry Tarkanian sketch-lord throne, which has long stood vacant. Two things you need to know: Wade wins games, and he's also shady as hell. It's why he got fired at LSU. It's also why McNeese State hired him, and he turned a 7-23 program into a 30-3 terror. I picked them not just to beat the Bulldogs, who aren't their usual dominant self this season, but to make the Elite Eight. Shows what I know: Gonzaga blew them out of the water. I'll be interested to see if Wade sticks around, or if he goes to Louisville, which would be amazing (and not in a good way).
Iowa State 82, South Dakota State 65: This game was a blowout the whole way through, the way you expect most 2-15 games to go.
Tennessee 83, St. Peter's 49: Speaking of which, I know tons of folks who picked the Peacocks to win, based off their astonishing run a couple of years ago. I don't blame you. But this St. Peter's team is not as good as that one, and this game showed it, sadly. Tennessee was up 46-17 at one point.
Oakland 80, Kentucky 76: Now this was an upset. Not gonna lie: I picked the Golden Grizzlies in a few of my brackets. Kentucky was simply uncomfortable all game long, and the one guy you didn't want to get hot for Oakland (Jack Gohlke) was.
Arizona 85, Long Beach State 65: Man, I wanted the Dan Monson joyride to continue. It didn't. To recap: the Beach effectively fired Monson (who was the guy who got the Gonzaga juggernaut going back in 1999) before the conference tournament. They won the tournament to make it to The Dance. And now...the dance is over. Someone should hire Monson, who's a genuinely good coach who still wants to do the job.
North Carolina 90, Wagner 62: Wagner never seriously threatened the Tar Heels in this one, who now face Michigan State on Saturday.
NC State 80, Texas Tech 67: Speaking of joyrides...the Wolfpack are on one. They won five games in five days to win their first ACC crown since 1987, and first NCAA bid since 2015. They'll be sticking around to play Oakland on Saturday, and see if it continues.
Washington State 66, Drake 61: I picked Drake in all my brackets, but for long stretches of the game, this was a blowout. Then it got spicy late, and Drake made me look less silly. Not that it matters, because Wazzu plays Iowa State next, and the Cyclones should win that game easily.
And now we come to our final game of the night. First, I want you to focus on a freeze frame.
The score, at that moment, with about 15 seconds or so to go, is Kansas 90, Samford 89. The Bulldogs trailed for most of the game, by considerable margins at times. But they dug deep, and got the Jayhawks lead down to one point.
That, you'll notice, is a clean block. Not just a clean block: a clean block off a frantic chase down by Samford's A.J. Staton-McCray.
The officials-Lamar Simpson, Tony Padilla, and Wil Howard-called it a foul, instead. Nicolas Timberlake nailed both free throws, and Kansas won, 93-89.
Samford got robbed. Look, officiating is incredibly hard. I generally give them the benefit of the doubt. But Padilla, Simpson, and Howard blew that call; and they blew it at a point in the game where Samford would've gotten the ball back and potentially won the game.
With the greatest respect: that's a tourney-ender. Those three officials shouldn't officiate another game in the tournament. It sucks, because instead of talking about an all-time play in an all-time comeback...we're talking about how the officials blew a call.
Ok, talk tomorrow.