I had designs on working yesterday. I even had designs of working on both DivingIn2Memphis and The Press, getting a little writing in for a site I do some freelance work for and maybe even cooking some dinner. Of course for the last twenty years, I haven’t accomplished one thing of note during the first round of the NCAA tournament. Ever. Why did I think this year would be different? Well, because I apparently love to tease myself with the unthinkable. I thought, wrongly, that I’d watch a few of the early games, get out and do some work (people need The Press, right?) and get back for the start of the one game I really cared about- the VCU-Duke match up. Seeing as I have VCU going to the Sweet Sixteen, this would be my 2007 NCAA tourney swan song. Lesson learned, people, lesson learned. If I ever make the comment that I’m doing anything other than watching the tourney in its’ first few rounds to you, you have the right to beat my shins with a tire iron. On to the Random Musings from Thursday.

After watching all of four minutes of the Louisville-Stanford game, I was hollering for the Stanford bus driver to warm that puppy up. I don’t remember a team coming into the tournament and stinking up the joint like that. Ever. Not only that, the fact that one of the Lopez girls (either Brook or Robin, I can’t remember) cracked the top 10 in various draft boards before the tourney has me stumped. So does the fact that a 12-loss team from a crappy major conference got into the Dance in the first place. Easy in, easy out, Cardinal.

On a Tigers note, how can Texas A&M beat Louisville in what is basically a home game. I just don’t see it happening. Louisville looked to be on a mission.

Thankfully, we were only shown a couple of look-ins in what had to be the most boring close game so far in BC-Texas Tech. Has Bobby Knight lost his magical touch? I say yes.

Of course, I wrote “watch out for Maryland, people will underestimate them and they will be a force in the first weekend.” With that, let’s introduce the sleeper of the century… Mr. Stephen Curry. Ice water doesn’t describe what this kid has in his veins. I could see him playing horse with his pops, the legendary shooter Dell Curry, and just learning how to shoot. On a random note, how do you not recruit Dell’s kid? It’s like not recruiting Tony Gwynn’s kid. These things are hereditary, right? Shooting and hitting have to be. Again, Davidson gets the kid and we are left to wonder how good this kid would be in the ACC or on Memphis.

Oral Roberts (or Mouthy Bob as my brother dubbed them last year) looked like they could take Washington State. Until after halftime, that is. After all of that hype in the first half, the Bob came out flatter than the three day old Dr. Brown’s Black Cherry I left in the fridge. WSU still won’t win on Saturday. Mark it down on your calculators.

It’s time for the Penn Quakers to make some noise. Basically, I’m rooting for anyone to beat Texas A&M in the first two rounds so the Tigers don’t have to face A&M in a home game in the Sweet Sixteen. Come On Penn! And then Acie Law decides to take over midway through the first half. I then realized this guy isn’t letting his team lose to a nobody like the Quakers. Well, maybe until the second half. Who iz siz Ibby Jabaar? Keep going Ibby (all of the sudden I felt some connection with Jabaar as his nickname and mine sound eerily familiar although spelled miles apart.) Penn 39- A&M 37! And then the wheels came falling off. Nice work, guys. Take the lead and then promptly go into a coma. Again, thanks.

As the Old Dominion- Butler game tips, I have a conundrum. In The Press, I made a point of telling people not to underestimate Butler, that they were really good at the start of the season and they were probably a little fatigued coming down the stretch (my rationale) and then promptly picked ODU in the eighty something brackets I filled out. Go figure. The game was good until they switched to another game and ODU promptly lost my swagger, which was obviously keeping them in the game. Damn CBS.

There was absolutely no need to show the Georgetown drubbing of Belmont. Thank you CBS. My NCAA runner-up is just beating the crap out of Belmont after an early run by Belmont. (I just wanted to see how many times I could reference Belmont in two sentences. Thanks for playing along.)

Which leads to Vanderbilt and The Press partial cover boy Derrick Byars. Not much outside of Tiger and North Texas hoops has kept me from following one of my favorite developments of the season- the true coming out of Mr. Byars, who will be a stud in the NBA and people don’t even know it yet. He’s going to be great- he’s got range, handle, moxie, hops and anything else you want to throw in there. And Vandy gets off the bus lawn chair on the sun hot. I mean smoking hot. They’re throwing up three’s and not even waiting for the rebound, just running down to the other side of the court. George Washington looks beyond stunned. They’re just pissed that they caught this team. This lead to Hunter asking if GW could get to ten points in the first half (they did.) and me retorting with “Do you think the GW players have ever played an organized game of basketball together?” Sure doesn’t look like it. And with that, another blowout.

Up to the Belmont for a French Dip and some Potato Skins. Always the right choice. And the first half of the Duke-VCU game. At that point, I was VCU’s biggest fan that didn’t A) attend school there or B) had been a fan there before 6pm CDT. I am talking trash to anyone who wants Duke to win, which is no one. So, yes, I’m talking trash to no one. Good times.

At first, I was pulling my hair out looking at VCU control the game and Duke control the scoreboard. Things were so out of whack; VCU had ten more shots than Duke and were still down by eight. Of course when Duke shoots 80% these things will happen. But not all game.

Pellot-Rosa. Anderson. Maynor. Walker. Famini. I love these guys. They won’t back down to Duke who is obviously trying to intimidate. Paulus is chippy, so is McRoberts and the Rams refuse to budge. It’s a two-point game at the half. The second half will become some of the greatest hoops I’ve seen on this level in a long time and not just for the finish. The entire half was unbelievable. I love March. It has my four favorite things- my birthday, the tournament, St Patty’s Day and Spring Training.

And then the second half starts and Duke’s trying to pull away. And they are pulling away. And then it’s getting real chippy, with Paulus really solidifying himself as a true Duke point guard. All the way down to the ‘me despising him’ part. Bring on Hurley and Wojo for a group beating.

And then the shot of Laettner. Every Grizzlies fan just threw up and went in for counseling. I went for two shots of Hemlock. Seemed appropriate.

Uh-oh. Blood.

More Blood. (I love this game.)

EVEN MORE BLOOD! (VCU will NOT back down!)

I’m writing like Geoff Calkins.

Who writes juuuuuust like Mike Lupica.

And then Maynor, like the coolest of customers, gets the ball after Duke has somehow tied the game with ten seconds left and just casually waves everyone back down to the other end of the court. I loved it. He just knew what he was going to do and then did it, right in Duke’s eye. Game over and I’m feeling like a genius. Loved VCU all year, with they’re Memphis-styled game and they did what we couldn’t. As my brother Justin says “Good on ya.” Good on ya, VCU. Go get Pitt in the second round. In an unrelated note, Bill Simmons at ESPN.com made the comment that Aaron Gray might be able to exceed Shawn Bradley’s unofficial NBA record of getting dunked on. In my opinion, it might happen in the first two years of the Gray Years. Yikes!

I’ve only lost one game in my brackets (ODU) but we’ve got a couple that aren’t going the right way. Ohio State, Michigan State and UCLA look fine. In fact, if you bet against Tom Izzo in the first round you need to have your head examined. Daily.

I made the comment that Indiana should not be favored over any team in the tournament, picked Gonzaga, and then looked like a dunce. Them’s the breaks.

I’m still trying to figure out how BYU blew that game to Xavier. I just don’t know. Did BYU take all of their players off the court with ten minutes to go inn the second half and then bring them back on at the under 8 minute time-out? Seriously, did this happen? (Just dropped two in a row on opening night. Aargh!)

I really liked Wright State going into the Pitt game and almost picked the upset. Luckily, my brain overrode my idiocy. Pitt in a blowout. Of course.

This is what I wrote before the E. Kentucky-UNC tilt-“ Boy, Eastern Kentucky has a chance. It’s not like Winston-Salem is close to Chapel Hill. This could end up being a fifty point game.” And then it started and I thought it could get to fifty in the first half. As they cut away to the BYU-Xavier and Ind-Zags games, I kept looking at the screen in disbelief. How in the name of Roseanne Barr did Eastern Kentucky get that close at the half? I think it’s a mistake. Nope, no mistake. And Eastern even got it to four until UNC released the hounds and blew them away. Thankfully, I have UNC losing in the Sweet Sixteen to Kevin Durant and his High School Buddies.

And that ended my day of NCAA tournament basketball. But, as I sit here and write, I know tomorrow will be much of the same. Lather. Apply. Rinse. Repeat.

And the last note, I hate playing Johnny Jones. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. There, I got it out of my system. Go Tigers. Make an example of someone and shut everyone up.