Hooping It Up

 Lots of interesting stuff in the college hoops...first, an impressive post-game fight between Incarnate Word and Texas A&M Commerce.  I mean, these guys got on ESPN!  More seriously, while on the one hand, they will get some punishment... I guess I rather like the idea of people caring so much that they want to start fighting.  And, in the words of my second-favorite Democrat (Stokely Carmichael)...nothing gathers a crowd from so far and so fast like a burning police car.  Or, a big fight.

Next, I was bemused by the comments from Rick Pitino about his team.  In the old days, of course, his comments might have had some merit, but... nine of the guys on the roster were players he brought in, so... I guess it is sort of like Coach Prime at Colorado, or, continuing the theme of hoops... Memphis.  Good start, now a miracle to make the Tournament.  I find it fascinating that -- especially Pitino -- shouldn't be able to see that a team that beats the Little Sisters of the Poor will struggle in the conference part of the schedule.  Then, there is poor Dennis Gates...

I also couldn't help but note that UVa won 49-47 and then lost by 33 or so by VaTech... I don't know, I am glad Tony Bennett won that championship a few years ago, because... This could be me, but... his style might have worked a decade ago, before the transfer portal, or even, if you, will, before the cable era, but now...at one point it could have worked -- if everyone in the fast-moving, high-velocity ACC does one thing, and you do another (like Boeheim and his zone), it can work, for a while, but it can't be the only gimmick in the toolbox.  But it does seem to me that his stuff works sometimes -- teams can get lucky or face a team on a bad night -- but I am not sure how much longer this works.

In the meantime, I hung with a friend of mine who bought a house in Avon Lake a while back, and now that I am working out there... it was nice, but it was interesting, watching me interact with my friend, his wife, his kids, and the yappy dogs.  We all had a good time -- no one complains about homemade Taco Tuesday -- but I was not exactly depressed to come home to my quiet residence.