March Madness is one of Picasner's favorite sporting events. What's not to like? The enthusiasm of the fans, the uncertainty of the outcomes, the cinderella teams, the cheerleaders, the fleeting heroes that emerge, the disheveled & raucous coaches and the games themselves.
There hasn't been any surprising upsets so far this year and, if you believe the seedings, there won't be any, but it's still exciting. Some of Picasner's highlights so far:
***Has any #1 seed been more unpredictable than Pittsburgh? You never know if you're going to get the Big East powerhouse or the opportunistic just-squeak-by team.
***It's funny how you can change from becoming a well-respected, under-the-radar coach to a media target. It's looks as though the press has been waiting for years to jump on Jim Calhoun of Connecticut. In spite of current allegations, Picasner believes that Calhoun is one of the more upstanding individuals in the game, and certainly not the Jerry Tarkanian of the East. It may have helped; his team is playing great.
***Best game of the tournament will probably be on tonight. Syracuse-Oklahoma. Depending on which columnist you read, SU will either eke out a close decision or Oklahoma, led by Super- ...I mean Blake Griffin... will devastate the SU zone for an easy Sooner victory. The BEST analysis comes from our old favorite, Bob Matthews, who says "If Oklahoma can hit their three-point shots, they'll make it tough for Syracuse." Ya' think, Bob? How about this: if Oklahoma scores more points than Syracuse, they'll probably win. Probably.
***Picasner has thought all along that Memphis was over-rated. I don't think the Missouri win was any kind of an upset, in fact, I'm surprised that Memphis lasted this long (Apologies to our President. I hope his decisions on the economy are better).
***We get closer and closer to an all-Big East final four.
***Okay, maybe Picasner is old-school, but... Four out of every five great plays occur because the refs allow some form of traveling. It's used to be a step-and-a-half was allowed. I could understand two steps sneaking in occasionally but three and four steps happen all the time. When is the last time anyone saw 'carrying' called. If you're dribbling and your hand goes underneath the basketball, we should be hearing a whistle. Instead, we hear announcers raving over "a great move." Oh well, I guess I'm just an old fuddy-duddy.
***GO SYRACUSE***
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