UConn faces Michigan State and Villanova will go up against UNC in the semifinals of the NCAA tournament. This is a solid crew and any of these four teams could win it all.
As for my brackets, they’re done. If Villanova beats Michigan State in the championship game, I could still win it all based on my current points lead. Even though neither of my choices for the championship made the final 4, and only 1 of my 4 selections (UNC) even advanced to the Final Four, I built a big enough lead in the early rounds to have a shot at outlasting the other 49 contestants. Since the league was made of mostly southern homers, the majority of competitors selected North Carolina, Duke, or Louisville to win it all. Nobody picked Villanova and very few people even picked Michigan State to make the Final Four.
Memphis let me down with a loss to Missouri. Other than that, the rest of my Elite Eight teams in place. Unfortunately, I also picked Memphis to make the Final Four. I’m counting on Pitt to beat Louisville. If Pitt beats Louisville, I’ll win my bracket challenge against about 40 opponents. Even losing one of my Final Four choices, I am still having my best bracket picks so far. I know everyone is just thrilled.
-Yesterday, Marcela and I filed our taxes.
-After dropping about $200 on tax preparation, I believe we will go ahead and purchase Turbo Tax.
-Tax time is stressful, especially when you have not completely prepared everything.
-It’s also stressful when you owe money. We owed.
-I enjoyed reading Ritz’s review of TSP’s Anthems for a Broken World.
-One week and three days from now, Marcela and I will be sailing across the Caribbean, making stops in Cozumel, Grand Caymen, and Ocho Rios Jamaica.
-Dunns River Falls will be one of our excursions.
-We will also do some snorkeling with stingrays in Grand Caymen, and maybe some snorkeling on the reefs in Cozumel.
-The NCAA Tournament is about to start up the round of 16 and then 8, and as of now I am sitting nicely at 40-8 in my picks.
-This is my best start ever, but I know things can change fast.
-D Wade barely missed a 3 at the buzzer that would have won the game for Miami. In the last couple minutes, Miami out scored Indiana 8-0 and ended up losing by 2.
-Jeopardy is fun to watch. This week was their annual Tournament of Champions where first prize is $250,000.
-This was the youngest group of contestants ever on the JTOC.
-Yes, I also watched some Dancing With the Stars this week. I want David Allen Greer to win it all. He’s one of my favorite all time comedians.
-The outage is in full swing. After two weeks, the work schedule is almost 60 hours behind.
-That means a possible extended outage and overtime.
-I am working OT today, and I’m loving it.
-I don’t love missing Sunday morning at Life Pointe Church.
-President Obama seems to be completely lost, and just throwing money at everything that moves while claiming to be for fiscal responsibility. Excuse me? Fiscal responsibility is not paying off large corporations and calling for regulation. Who’s regulating him?
-I think my crock pot is wearing out on me. I made a pot roast with potatoes and carrots that took over an hour longer than normal.
-I’m interested in seeing Slumdog Millionaire, but I haven’t decided whether to wait for the DVD or go see it at the theater.
This has been my best start for bracket picks in an NCAA tourney. I know things can change very quickly, especially if any of your final 4 teams lose in the sweet 16. Here’s a quick rundown so far…
I’m 40-8 in picks so far with 15 of the Sweet 16 teams still in the hunt. All 8 Elite 8 teams are still in the hunt. Wake Forest has been my worst choice; I had them losing in the sweet 16 but they decided to get whooped in the first round. Pittsburgh (my choice for champ) and Louisville (my runner up) mustered just enough to win their games against big underdogs. I am concerned about those picks now. I’m a perfect 12 of 12 in the west, 11 for 12 in both the East and South, but a sorry 6 for 12 in the upset filled midwest.
If I could change some picks, I might swap Pitt for UNC in the championship. UNC just might bring home yet another title this year.
By this time last year, I had multiple posts on the NCAA tournament. The main reason was that the Miami Hurricanes were involved. In any case, this year I am having my best Bracket selection ever. So far I am 37-8 with 15 of 16 Sweet 16 teams in it. Wake Forest busted my Midwest bracket with a first round loss. Missouri, Mich St, and Louisville are all in trouble right now, so my brackets are on the verge of falling apart like a $2.00 watch.
If they find a way to come out with wins, I am sitting pretty. Louisville particularly needs to win considering I have selected them to play Pitt in the championship. Siena is really putting it on them right now.
-The old man known as 2008 has breathed his last breath and the little baby 2009 has been born. Little 2009 is in diapers, yet it is projected to be a monster. We shall see.
-Pet Peeve: It’s “Happy New Year” or “Happy New Year’s Day”, not “Happy New Years”. There is only one New Year at a time.
-The Miami Heat beat the Cleveland Cavs to make it two wins over the two best teams in each conference (Lakers were the other) over the last couple of weeks. They have already surpassed last year’s win total. That’s two Miami sports franchises turning it around from dismal records last season.
-With my work day starting as early as it does, I knew I had to go to sleep early. I tried, but every time I started to drift to sleep, someone shot a fire cracker and Max barked.
-Last night was going to be my first night in my memory in which I missed seeing in the New Year. Due to my little buddy Max, I ended up going to sleep at 12:30 AM. I did get to kiss Marcela at midnight, though.
-I finally beat Marcela in bowling on the Wii. She nearly came back to beat me, but she came up 5 pins short after I built a huge lead.
-Marcela stayed up until about 11:30 cooking her “chilis rellenos”. I ate the first one, it was most excellent!
-My sis-in-law is going camping this weekend. So I broke out my tent and some camping gear. It’s been about 3 years since I used it. While doing an inventory of the tent parts, Vivi discovered a gecko egg with a baby gecko inside. By “discovered” I mean she accidentally crushed it. NASTY!
-Go Dolphins! I am still in shock that they have made the playoffs and won 11 games.
-Marcela’s new camera I gave her for Christmas has been great. Yesterday we went to the Everglades and she took some wonderful pictures. I will be sure to load them on flckr and post the link. In the mean time, check out my twitter account to see some of the pics I have uploaded.
In honor of the closing of the Olympic experience in Beijing, this week’s Top 5 will include the 5 greatest US Olympic moments in the history of the Summer games.
Honorable Mention:
1992 Dream Team 1992 Barcelona, Spain – The greatest compilation of talent in the history of basketball was on showcase for the world in the Summer games of 1992. The domination was unmatched in Olympic history, and may never be matched again by any sport or in any discipline. The roster: Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, Clyde Drexler, Patrick Ewing, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Christian Laettner, Karl Malone, Chris Mullin, Scottie Pippen, David Robinson, and John Stockton.
5. Michael Johnson 1996 Atlanta, GA, USA – Johnson was one of the most dominant sprinters in Olympic history. His running style, according to many experts, was reminiscent of the great Jesse Owens. When he showed up for the 200 meter sprint, he was wearing gold Nike’s. It was electrifying. His record of 19.32 in the 200 meter stood until the Bolt broke that this by .02.
4. Bob Beamon 1968 Mexico City, Mexico – With words it’s difficult to overhype Beamon’s accomplishments in the 1968 games in Mexico City. Having failed to even qualify a jump, his third attempt would either make or break his Olympic event. What happened next inspired a book, “The Perfect Jump”. Because of approach problems, he slowed down his approach so he could make a jump that would not disqualify him. He hit the board on the nose and when he landed, history was made. His long jump record held for 23 years. The jump was so long, the official measuring device was not long enough to measure it. After the event, when the distance was announced, Beamon collapsed with his face in his hand, and had to be helped off the field.
3b. Mark Spitz 1972 Munich Germiny – It was 1972 in Munich and the mustache was very popular. Spitz dominated the field winning 7 gold medals in swimming only competing in 7 events. With preliminary races included, Spitz raced 13 races in that fortnight. More amazingly, he set 7 world records.
3a. Michael Phelps 2008 Beijing China – He did what nobody thought was possible. In 8 swimming events, he won 8 gold medals. Fell a fraction short of 8 world records, winning 7. He also needed a little help from Jason Lezak in the 4×100 in one of the most unlikely come-from-behind victories in Olympic history. He also won his 200 M Butterfly by .01 seconds, about the length of a fingernail. Phelps, by medals, is now the greatest Olympian in history, and he is not done. At 23, he is in his prime and has stated he will compete in London 2012.
2. Carl Lewis 1984 Los Angeles, CA and 1996 Atlanta, GA, USA – When people think about Lewis, many times it is the 1984 Olympics that set him apart. Arguably, this was one of the greatest moments in Olympic history, having doubled in the 100 and 200 meter sprints. But it wasn’t 1984 which stands out to me. For me, it was the 1996 Atlanta games in which an aging Lewis who almost did not qualify for the team was not even in medal position after the first two jumps nailed his third jump to win gold. It was an electric moment and it seemed that absolutely nobody expected it to happen.
1. Jesse Owens 1936 Berlin, Germany. No comments needed.
Every year in late June through the end of August, sports fans, with the exception of die hard baseball fans, experience what could be described as a sports “Dead Zone”. With the end of NCAA Basketball in March and the NBA finals in June, NFL is still months away, and college football doesn’t start until September. OUCH! So we will just sit around and watch reruns on ESPN Classic, Sunshine and FSN dreaming of endzones and pigskins. Baseball is fine for playoffs, but the regular season is Boring, with a capital B. Tennis and golf are OK, but nothing to get your blood pumping every day. We need longer football seasons. No! We need two football seasons. 🙂 The crazy thing is how long the NHL season runs, yet I don’t even watch.
Mr. Webmaster, Pastor Trav, “The Major“, blog readers, wordpress staff, internet surfers, Life Pointe Attenders and Members, distinguished blogroll members, subscribers and guests, tonight the state of the blog is exceptionally strong!
Over the past several months since this blogs inception, the traffic steadily grew from just a handful of views a day, to record traffic in the last week of April through the early portion of May. Traffic was primarily based on hits from Pastor Trav’s site due to the baptism controversy, a post about the NBA playoffs that got the attention of a sports page, a top 5 list that made the menus page in Miami, a top 5 post that generated repeat views and comments about overused phrases, and due to a top 5 entry that got some fans of Melanie Sofka a little upset. As those hot topics died down, my traffic dropped off considerably. There have been criticism that posts about sports or amusement parks are not what people want to read, but this blogger will not compromise his core values! We will press on in the face of lighter than average traffic to bring you information that you need! I am here for you!
As the NBA playoffs reached the finals, traffic returned. There were numerous hits returned from search engines from people looking for statistics on teams coming from 3-1 deficits, and the history of the NBA finals. There were also numerous hits on a thread “The Irony of Green and Red” which pointed out that Phil Jackson made it to the finals for the first time with a team that he has developed while the Celtics won the championship with a team of stars developed everywhere but Boston.
The most traffic from internet search engines have come from these terms in this order: #1 Citizen Cane/Kane; #2 Beetlejuice Shrunken Head and all variations of that search (from Marcela’s LPC Talk Soup Post on 3/30/08 referencing Jesse’s intro video), #3 Polaner Allfruit; #4 the NBA (and variations); and #5 Deep Thoughts/Jack Handey.
The last two weeks, the search engines are driving the traffic on this page. I expect traffic to spike over the weekend as people all over the nation are interested in the results of the baptism at Biscayne. The NBA traffic should die down, and there may be another lull. But as this blog continues to bring quality information to the masses, it is the expectation of this writer that the traffic will reach the level of consistency and record numbers that it was experiencing in April and May.
We will continue to bring the Top 5 on Saturdays, the Talk Soup (with occasional guest writers) on Sundays, all kinds of thoughts on Thursday, and choice sarcastic humor on Wednesday. There may be a discontinuation of the Jack Handey Deep Thoughts to be replaced by my choice of quotes (may or may not be original). Stay tuned!
Thank you for reading and contributing to The Citizen Cane. Until the next entry, good night and God bless!
It’s raining, it’s pouring! I love it when it rains at work. It cools down the power block considerably.
The 08 Miami Hurricanes Baseball squad has to go down in our history as a big disappointment. I am a big fan, but I have to admit with this much talent we should have gone further. The two teams who beat us were not supposed to go as far as they did. The Canes had the most talent, the most high draft choices, most wins, and fewest losses in the country.
I wouldn’t mind heading back up there, but we need 5 people on the boat to make it really cheap.
I found myself rooting for a team in the finals that I don’t like (the Celtics) because they were playing a team that I like even less (I hate the Lakers).
Why are there so many Super Hero movies out these days? Spiderman, Batman, Superman, X Men, The Hulk, Ironman, and the list goes on and on! Is it because people need something to believe in but they are avoiding God?
The doldrums of the sports world are officially here. The NBA finals are the last ray of sunshine before the reality of the bleak sports winter sets in. Sometimes we have the CWS to look to, but the Canes screwed that one up. There will be nothing exciting going on until the college football season kicks off.
I will be working this weekend, so I won’t be at church. That is one of the bummers of working where I do. Working night shift allows me to be at church every week, but working days lets me spend the whole Sunday that I am at church fully awake.
Blog traffic has been up bigtime over the past week. I am going to post my State of the Blog Address shortly.
I believe it is going to level off and die back again now that the NBA finals are finished. You won’t believe how many hits my post about Red Auerbach vs Phil Jackson brought in.
It’s cool to see how many people from LPC are joining the Blogosphere. Especially Billy-barue.
Last night was my first night at Paul’s life group. We had a great time talking about loving God and loving each other. Joey facilitated and did a great job, although we didn’t quite have enough time to finish. The meatballs were good too.
Marcela said she will be presenting the Talk Soup this weekend. I am looking forward to that.
The Citizen Cane 