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Funny thing happened Friday and Bracketology [UPDATED]
Published 9:10pm Tuesday, March 15, 2011 Updated 9:12pm Tuesday, March 15, 2011Crazy. That is all I have to say about my Friday evening. No…it wasn’t a crazy college filled party type night, but one that many Fergus Fall Otter girls’ basketball fans may have experienced on their way home from last Friday’s amazing Section 8AAA championship game. With the weather reporting 1-2 inches..(whatever with that one) most fans made their way to St. John’s University to watch the Otters take on the Alexandria Cardinals. And I was no exception.
Following the girls this season was very exciting and fun. Head Coach Josh Mohagen was a fellow 2004 Fergus Falls graduate and my time at the Daily Journal as a stringer I had the pleasure of following our boys’ state basketball team all the way to the cities. I went down their for work but mostly to root on my fellow Otter lead his team to the state tourney. It didn’t end that way, Alex won 46-40, but it was a great game nonetheless.
Anyway, my friend Chris Petersen and I made our way back to the lovely town of FF when the weather became impossible to navigate through. We pulled off at the Ashby exit to catch a breather and to figure out our next move. We sat for a while and made a decision that we would try to convoy our way on the interstate back to Fergus. 20 miles and 2 hours later, we were both safely home thanks to a few semis that decided to forge the storm. I have heard stories of people sleeping on off ramps and having just as much trouble as we did, so I hope everyone was safe in their travels Friday.
We have finally made it to that time of year, again. The time when people tell you that they have been following North Carolina-Ashville all season long and they smell upset or you see someone start yelling “Dukies” when they did not go or have any affiliation with the college. Yep, March Madness 2011 begins in full Thursday.
Some of you might like to point out that it already started. No, play-in games are just that…play-ins. The tournament hasn’t started, it just gives eight teams a chance to win four spots to be beat by a number one seed. To bad the Gophers didn’t make the tournament this year, but they didn’t even get invited to the other tournament (N.I.T. stands for the Not Important Tournament).
I usually do one or two brackets a year, but I admit that college basketball is to hard to follow all season for me and I can’t tell you if Memphis looked good enough this season to shake up the tourney or if Wisconsin has what it takes to make the Final Four. My picks for the final four in one bracket has Ohio St., Duke, Kansas and Notre Dame. Yep, Notre Dame. A story of gut feeling goes with this pick because the year that Syracuse won the National Championship I had been picking them to win it for like three years prior. I changed my mind that year and have regretted it ever since.
Speaking of Coach Mohagen, Josh used to be the master of bracketology in high school. I remember my senior year, Josh won the pool with over 100 or so brackets in. Very impressive O’ Wise one.
NFL is locked out. I guess when I told people that I firmly believe that there probably won’t be football this season, they should have listened. Can’t understand either sides big complaints. Owners should get 1 billion off the top, maybe even 1.5. Players shouldn’t complain about an 18 game season (you get paid to play football) or a rookie salary cap (to me that means more money for veteran players, I don’t know why the players don’t seem to see that?). The Owners do need to expect to give a higher compensation for players if they move to an extra two games and maybe cut down on fines for hits because that seems to cause financial worry for top defensive players.
If anything, I hope some deal gets done because it only hurts the fans and when your sport is on top of the heap you should try to keep it there (learn a lesson from Major League Baseball). Well, considering the league is on strike I think that the Packers should go join their fellow state employs on the picket lines. They might get funny looks considering most of them make 20 times what a Wisconsin teacher makes, but it would be nice to see Aaron Rodgers holding a sign and his belt demanding fair compensation.
That’s it for now. Hope your brackets are smart and your CBA is strong.
