A little too much madness...

Well, that was an interesting first-round game for Duke.  Down by double-digits at the half to a 16-seed (one I thought was not a 16-seed, but...)?  Mind you, that game stayed out of reach for Duke for several minutes into the second half -- poor shot selection, poor ball control, you name it.  To be sure, the defense tightened in the second half, and while the Saints made some shots when it counted...at the end of the day, talent won out, but barely.  I cannot imagine what TCU is thinking.  I was thinking that all of the money spent on this roster, I expected...more.  

To be sure, the games got a little better.  I had High Point over Wisconsin -- that was exciting, and while BYU was a hit, I was quite pleased with VCU -- I went out for dinner (it has been a long week) and they were down.  I arrived home to see them tie UNC, take them to OT, and win.  Very sad!  I mean, most games are going the way people expect (Saint Louis was underseeded as well, I think)...it seems like Illinois has too much height for Penn.  

High Point coach calls out major teams after March Madness upset over Wisconsin | Fox News
Mostly true?  I mean, most times the Power conference teams will win, but if they never play a good mid-major, you never find out.  Again, until the Selection Committee fixes this, this problem will continue.

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That ‘Oldest Site in the Americas’ Claim Just Took a Massive Hit
Interesting.  This has always fascinated me -- the idea that the Clovis people were the oldest/first seems off, given the timeline, but then the idea that this site is twice as old also seems odd.  I can see why people defend it -- you want to really hammer in the nail of the Clovis casket -- but then you need other sites.  Yes, I am aware of the Solutrean hypotheses, and the fact that most of the sites are underwater, but...

Nolte: Why Cesar Chavez Suddenly Became Politically Inconvenient to the Left
Submitted without comment!

3News investigates: North Royalton moves to fire officer who filed whistleblower complaint against top police brass
Didn't Nort Royalton not-so-long ago have an officer who made fake DUI arrests (i.e., arresting innocent people)?  And now this?   Again, if only we were a state run by Republicans and could go and investigate these things if they wanted....

Linx

The Miami game tonight was...impressive?  Interesting?  Fairly or not, for a lot of people, this was their first test against a "real" team, and they...handled it?  Certainly, the 3-point accuracy was the key.  That said, I thought they played defense quite well, minimized errors, and... good ball movement?  It seemed like they were able to break the zone just enough to force SMU to play man, and they then shot well enough to negate that.  Will it work again?  Prolly not, but for one night, it was...glorious.

Senate Republicans worry they’re losing ground in the midterms - POLITICO
Well, yes... they should be.  To be sure, POTUS should have thought of this as well, and while there is still time to turn things around....sooner is better than later.

Cesar Chavez, a Civil Rights Icon, Is Accused of Abusing Girls for Years - The New York Times
‘Hard to absorb’: Chavez allegations stun Newsom, top Democrats - POLITICO
Is it me, or is the timing of this most curious?  Why now?  It appears this was an open secret for quite a while -- such as when he was alive and could be confronted about this.  Is he guilty?  Probably, but... how do we give him a chance to defend the allegations?  (Especially as these are Democrats who would give any other criminal 100 chances!)  On the right of course they are saying that there are other reasons for the timing, and while I do not necessarily agree, I do not necessarily disagree....

Got an Idea About Who Robbed the Gardner Museum? Get in Line. - The New York Times
Interesting.  Of course, the main issue is...where are the paintings?  Most people suspect -- sadly -- that these things are no more -- which would be an incredible tragedy.  The fact that everyone seems to have bought the farm...

John Bengtson, Modern-Day Silent-Film Sleuth, Dies at 68 - The New York Times
Interesting read.  As the article notes, you are going back in time when you watch a silent film, and that is one of the reasons I really like them.  This is pretty cool, actually, that people go around and look for these things -- the industry was not quite where it was now, and people did just start shooting if they liked a spot, and not necessarily on a sound stage...

Explosions

Well, that was interesting -- everyone was asking me if I heard or saw the meteor, and I was like not only did I hear it, I felt it; Chateau Mattie definitely rattled a bit.  I was on a call and didn't look out the window, but it was... unsettling?  I realize this is somewhat normal -- the Earth is battered by meteors every ay, and the atmosphere was doing its job in catching them, but... I had a distinct sympathy for the dinosaurs on further pondering.

Lots of NIT action today, in addition to the First Four games, and all I can say is... it was glorious?  The games were mainly good and quite competitive -- South Alabama and Davidson had leads against power conference teams for quite a bit, while Liberty -- despite coughing up a 15-point lead, held on to win against JMU.  Yale lost another heartbreaker -- two in a row!  I realize few are watching, but in some ways... they should.

‘They hold the cards now’: Trump allies fear Iran is slipping beyond the president’s control - POLITICO
This could be me, but... shouldn't someone have thought of this before we started?  Or, more carefully, if someone did, shouldn't we have had a plan to address what happens if Plan A doesn't work?  It seems they thought the regime would collapse like the French army, and now that they have not... there is no Plan B.  On the one hand it is very POTUS, on the other, given his first-term aversion to wars and focus on affordability... odd.

How the Housing Market Split in Two - by Jess Remington

I got a kick from the part at the end how states are rushing to pass tax exemptions for seniors even though they are the most likely to be able to pay for them.  This isn't exactly news, as politicians do this all the time -- old people vote, young people do not, and the party that robs Peter to pay Paul will always have the support of Paul...

A Last, Long, Cold Breath...

Finally got ALL my picks in --Both Tourneys, both NIT, and even that ridiculous College Basketball Crown...my friend group is a little obsessive about this, as am I, I guess, but it is that time of year.  Dare I say the Duke matchup - assuming they beat Siena -- has all the trappings of a trap game?  I mean, I think they have more than enough talent to beat either tOSU or TCU (insert Little Sisters of the Poor joke), but I have dread about the whole thing (as I so often do).  

It was interesting; yesterday it was so nice, and today...well, you could see and feel it get progressively worse (everything progressively is worse, to be sure); the wind picked up, the warmth ebbed, and about 6PM the snow came.  Not a lot, of course, and you could see the wind snapping it around, but it was still a reminder that it is not quite spring...  I can't wait for all of the people who usually talk about global warming to bring up this winter.

Trump Just Pardoned Ticketmaster When No One Was Looking
Quite right, though one wonders if the Dems would have agreed with the same thing... one rather thinks so.

Summon your Notre Dame hate for the schools turning down the NIT
This is also exactly correct.  To be sure, a team without a coach I can see, but they have assistants, of course.  And, if a team is that beat up, fine, I sort of see it, though again, the loss of a player or two... I guess the sad part is that we all that all involved -- coaches, players, etc., -- are already shopping the portal, and instead of trying to have a nice season, enjoying a chance to have a chance to play again...well, now it is off to the mercenary season, and I guess yet again I am the relict who prefers the old system.

Court records reveal Cleveland police’s lax traffic enforcement
This could be me, but while the lack of police is a concern, isn't the issue that they cannot go after the people who are causing these issues.  Eventually someone is going to get killed and the blood should be on the hands of the people who are handcuffing our cops.  Of course, they won't see it that way....

‘War on Poverty’ Has Trapped Poor Americans
Now, now, the point of this was not necessarily to help people; it was to create a legion of people who will always vote for Democrats, no matter what, and in this case it has succeeded beyond the board...

March Madness

Yesterday was a glorious day in a lot of ways -- got the taxes done, and I am getting a larger refund than expected, mostly due to President Awesome, which I will take -- save some, pay down the HELOC, maybe some more on the mortgage, and a couple of restaurant visits if and when it arrives.  Rah.  A spot of productive work (catching up on stuff), some house cleaning (not enough, still doing some tonight), and some hoops watching.  Crazy endings -- the MAC, the WAC -- and I was sad to note that the WAC is going away.  Yes, conferences come and go, but the WAC has been around a while (the Pac-12 says hold my beer) and it is still sort of sad (I sound like the relict I am now!)...  today it continued with the Ivy;  my sister called it the retread game, as former Blue Devil TJ Power and former IA coach Fran McCafferty beat Yale.  But it was...well, quite the game.

And now Brackets!  Duke and UCONN are the #1s overall (I watched both shows), and I think it is fair to say Duke has a tough draw, and with their health issues.  I mean, they have the talent to win it all, but...I suspect it will be a close run thing.  Did Miami get screwed?  A bit.  On the one hand, the play-in game is an insult, but they didn't play anyone (though they tried), and a loss to UMass in the MAC tourney didn't help.  tOSU was an 8 seed (potentially playing Duke), which implies they are ~30, and thus... less of a bubble team than anyone thought?  Maybe that Purdue win and a decent run in the Big Ten tourney helped?

For Trump to Win the War on Fraud, States Must Be Held Accountable | National Review
110% correct, but try getting it through Congress on a good day.  No one, of course, want to pull their pig from the trough.  I think this is what the average GOP voter hates about their party; for all the talk of doing GOP things, like cutting spending or getting rid of federal programs, we never do... even DOGE was sort of a mushup, and we need these sorts of reforms.  Oi.

Trump as Alexander the Great: A Theory That Explains Iran (And Everything Else) - NOTUS — News of the United States
Maybe, but I suspect not.  Hell, does anyone think Trump reads Hegel?  

Bathroom is done, rah.  I didn't get through the backlog of J! episodes -- at least not fully -- but tomorrow is another day.  I am averaging over 41 since the JIT, which is not too bad, albeit not all that good...

Fatigue Duty

So, my plan to start spring cleaning tonight has been delayed.  It has been a long week, I am tired, and I instead have been going through emails and links and watching first the MAC Semifinals (UA-KSU was quite good, especially when KSU came back) and now Duke.  I am feeling something of a second wind coming on, so I am tempted to do sone bathroom cleaning or something else -- more now, less later.  I am looking forward to opening the windows, as I could not have done so today.  It was windy all day, and much of the evening.  I will wake up and see what the carnage was in the yard (if any, and hopefully not to the house).

I was worried about power here, but I should have been worried elsewhere.  Due to work being busy, I didn't leave until 5, and thus altered plans to hit Holy Name.  A power line was down at Jones and Harvard, so... no fish fry.  Dinner was a bag of Doritos and an apple stolen from the OC, and then it was off to Stations (at least we had power at the Shrine).  I guess this is not bad -- losing weight is good -- but I was looking forward to dining out of the House.  Tomorrow, in theory, is another day.  Indeed, it is Pi Day, so I should probably buy one.  I do have a busy AM, so... I can slot in a grocery trip before.  Rah.  I want to do it all early, as there are a number of mid-major finals tomorrow, and there is something to be said -- as I so often say -- about the finality of the one-bid league.

 House Republicans’ meager majority faces big problems ahead of the midterms - POLITICO
Yes, this is a problem... the war in Iran, oil prices, food prices, etc., is not helping.  One hopes POTUS is correct that this will be sooner rather than later, but...I am not seeing that yet.

Newsom railed against Medicaid work requirements — until he didn't - POLITICO
This could be me, but shouldn't Republicans calling him out on this?  I don't think there is anyone who doesn't think of himself as a say and do anything type, but it does not absolve us of the responsibility of challenging him about this...

Live Nation reaches settlement with DOJ in antitrust fight - POLITICO
This could be me, but this is not nearly enough; there needs to be a breakup and a force majeure situation to break up the empire.  Yes it would be hard, but if the government cannot break up a monopoly...

Family Ties

Down goes Miami!  Dare I say that was...fast?  I mean, I think they should still be in, but...they were up by ten in that game, UMass isn't very good, and to lose to a low seed... well, they are back on the bubble.  Mind you, I don't think they should be -- they should be in -- but the committee looks for ways to screw teams.   Funny, because I was talking to some people that I thought a lot of #1 seeds were knocked out of the tourney this year, and then I read this:

College basketball No. 1 seeds keep losing in conference tournaments

I should say it would be a full NIT, but if teams drop out...well, it just might be, not in the way they wanted.  Then this broke:

College Basketball Invitational won't be held in 2026
I mean, I guess I see it, but I would think playing more, trying to win a trophy, etc., would mean more than shopping in the portal.  Of course, I am a relict dinosaur, so...  at least Duke, for now, avoided the L, but it was a close-run thing...

Sources: Tennessee Tech finalizing deal to hire Tobin Anderson as coach - ESPN
Interesting; I thought Iona fired him too quickly, and I think it is good he is back; hard to believe a guy who won as he did gets kicked to the curb so quickly...

My Aunt from Columbus came up to stay with my sister, so I went out tonight to meet them all at Parma Tavern.  It was fun -- haven't seen her in a while -- and good to catch up.  I have not been out in a while -- I need to do a restaurant visit -- and it was nice.  My sister and brother-in-law are regulars there, which I found amusing, as my sister is retired and is on a fixed income, but their weekly night out -- it moves around -- is important, and I get that.  Once I get the house fixed a bit more, I think I will be a little more liberal with the purse strings...heck, hearing the furnace come on... well, it is March, and in my mind still winter, but...