Sports Night

 Duke lost; very sad, of course, but they really had no business winning that game.  I don't they played all that poorly, but...there was a lack of finishing on sooo many plays; really, guys?  A big game, first TV game at home, and this?  Plus, that last play... that was what you drew up?  I realize the half-court is low-percentage, but the three-quarter heave is less so.

Since I am fully employed again, I decided to go to the Kent State-JMU game last night -- two good mid-majors, JMU was coming off the upset of Sparty, and I do like college basketball.  I had never heard of the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge, but... anyways, that was a fun and crazy game!  Never been to a game at the MAC Center -- it's nice, not quite as nice as YSU, but nice enough.  Hard to believe it has been 21 years since the Elite Eight team... anyways, KSU is good, but JMU was taller (maybe not thicker) and as we say, you can't teach height.  It did play a role in the game, which was.... crazy.  Two crazy endings!!  The end of regulation was pretty much the picket fence play, with a modification to send the guard around the crowd; you have to defend the high post and that lets a guy creep around.  Quite effective!  The end of first regulation, equally crazy -- KSU had NO business making that three and a defensive stop!  Sadly, the height issue cropped up in 2OT, and that was that.

One thing -- the MAC Center is cashless, which I didn't expect.  I mean, I know kids nowadays have debit cards and no one under 40 uses a check register, but...it does slow up customer service lines, waiting for the readers to go through.  It's not a bad drive -- not as far as YSU, but it's not all highway; you have to cut through Stow and then Kent, and it's like going down Pleasant Valley.  Odd.  Getting through Kent wasn't too bad, actually. 

Funny; they made a comment on tonight's game about how these early marquee matchups are good for the game.  That is true, but wouldn't a game like JMU-KSU also be good for the game?  Two equal teams, two crazy OT comebacks, lots of offensive firepower... I find it hard to believe that ESPN couldn't find a way -- like March Madness -- to get games like this on the bigger screens, even if only for a few minutes, rather than some craptastic beatdown.

Study: Liberal US priests facing ‘progressive’ extinction (pillarcatholic.com)
How terrible...actually Catholic priests.  Who knew?

Is it me, or is the Big Ten setting up UM for a way to avoid serious craop from the NCAA.  I don't know, I can't see Harbuagh avoiding any sort of "failure of institutional control" penalty; of course, he is prolly going back to the NFL ASAP, so... who cares?  Maybe they are trying to keep the players from skipping a big bowl game -- which is a duty of the conference -- but the more I read about this the more I think you have to hammer them, just because of the egregious nature of everything (and the brazenness of it).