MiamiHuskerFan

Finally, the waiting is over. Selection Sunday has arrived.

I'm looking at the empty bracket, the 65 teams staring back me, and envisioning the potential. The possible upsets.
The bubbles that were burst. Ole Miss gets left out?? Va Tech gets left in the cold?
George Mason a 12 seed. Butler getting the shaft at the 7 seed. Arizona a #10 seed

Anything is possible. History has provided oodles of buzzer beaters and upsets over the years.
I was thinking of some games that maybe get lost in the suffle. It's easy to remember Christian Laettner's
turnaround jumper. Or Bryce Drew and Valpo's last second win over Ole Miss.
Those highlights have been shown and re-shown over and over again.

Here are some games that deserve to be revisted: I didn't include any games from the 70s. I wanted to stay in
the "modern era" and consider great games from 1985 - current, '85 being the first year that the field expanded to 64


#14 Weber State beats #3 UNC (1999)
No one outside of Ogden, UT, had heard of Harold Arceneaux until the Wildcats ran ruffshot over
Brendan Haywood and the Heels.

#12 Creighton beats #5 Florida 2OT (2002)
Two of basketball's best coaches squared off and it was Kyle Korver, Terell Taylor, and Tyler McKinney
who came away with the hard fought win

#5 Florida survives #12 Butler (2000)
Mike Miller nails the last second bucket and the Gators escape with a win.

#10 Providence comes up short against #4 Arizona (1997)
The Friars had an amazing run through the '97 tourney, easily taking care of Marquette in Rd1, #2 seed Duke
in Rd 2, and then cinderella #14 Tenn-Chattanooga (The Noogs!!) before Arizona in the Elite 8
God Shammgod was amazing, but it was Austin Croshere that got the tournament MVP award
And Zona goes on to win the championship with Miles Simon, Mike Bibby, Jason Terry and co.

#1 Georgetown 50, #16 Princton 49.......#1 Oklahoma 72, #16 E.Tenn State 71 (1989)
The closest any 16 seed team has come to pulling the ultimate upset



Well, there are plenty more. Eastern Mich [#9] beating Duke [#8] in 1996. UAB upsetting Kentucy in Rd 2 (2004)
Princton over defending champ UCLA in '96. Gonzaga's coming out party in 1999, as a #10 seed, beating
#7 Minnestoa, #2 Stanford, and #6 Florida before running out of steam against UConn

Good times. I can't wait for Thursday and Friday!!

We as a society are drowning in reality programs. I find it hard to whade through the muck and find something
decent to grab hold of. Yet, I think I found a gem in Ninja Warrior on G4TV.

I don't watch Amer Idol. Never have...not a SINGLE episode (I'm proud to say)
Or Dancing with the stars. Or Amazing Race. Name it and there is a good chance I have NOT seen it

I will watch Deal or No Deal, though, on occasion.

Anyway, back to Ninja Warrior...if you are not familar with the premise, 100 competitors manuver through an
obsticle course that tests their strength and endurance. They have to race against the clock and through 4
stages. The final stage is a 15 - 20 meter rope climb, with a 30 minute time limit (Stage 1 was a
90 second time limit. I don't remember what the guys' time limit is/was...)

It's amazing watching these ladies compete.
It's hilarious to watch them fall and be eliminated. But what is great is not HOW they get eliminated, its that the obsticle
course is unforgiving...it doesn't matter if you are a gymnist or a homemaker. Any of the women can complete
and win.

One chick, Ayako Miyake, is a freak! She's like 5 foot nothing and weights less than the end of a pencil.
She has won the last 3 Kunoichi competitions, earning her the nickname "Queen of Kunoichi"

The show is worth checking out.



That's all for this entry! Tune in next time when we will talk All things March Madness; Opening Round games
and The Field of 64 (I refuse to count that stupid play-in game, since the winner of the play in becomes a 16 seed and
we all know what happens to 16 seeds...) also, some of my favorite/most memorable Tourney games!