Handicapping the IMBC, There May Be Hope Yet from XG/MGE, And My Pre-Final Four Thoughts
Quick-hitters:
- Actual conversation between myself and my mother, over the weekend:
Her: When are you going to go to [place] to visit [unnamed individual]?
Me: Not sure.
Her: Let’s go there next year.
(Note #1: Read this.
Note #2: I don’t recall inviting my mom to come with me! Besides, who the heck travels with their mother???)
Me: Sure, you can go. By the way, [unnamed individual] told me to tell you to bring your frying pan if you’re going to stay with him.
Her: *SMACK*
- New TV, or new laptop? New laptop, or new TV?
That is the question. I probably “need” a new TV more than a new laptop, but I wouldn’t mind a new laptop with a much better processor than the Pentium Dual-Crap that’s sitting in my laptop right now.
Maybe I should just steal my sister’s new Vostro.
- In an UngsungBlog first, Amy requested an Ung-hex on someone (typos corrected):
even if you don’t participate you should make a fantasy, bracket thingy for the IMBC‘ers. place that ung-hex early!
Hmmm…I don’t think I’ve ever Ung-hexed an entire group, save one. I should check the IMBC rules to see if acts of paranormal intervention are not allowed.
In any case, here goes:
I would imagine that Hank has to be favored to win again this year. If not Hank, I’ll predict that someone that participated last year—Amy excepted—will win this year. After that, I’ll pick “the field”—any one of the newbie participants—and Amy has to be the long shot to win.
(Happy, Amy?
And Hank, please don’t hurt me if you go 120 days straight, only to lose because of a bad internet connection :P)
- As the title states, there may be hope yet with regards to my XGBox/MGE rebate fiasco. A few days ago, I mentioned that an individual from a forum I frequent got this response from XG/MGE:
Both of the checks have gotten printed. We will get them mailed by next week. Thanks for waiting.
Well, this individual reported to me today that he received his checks! Does this mean XGBox actually intends on cutting checks to people that they owe? Or do they only plan on paying a select few at a time?
I’m still betting that XG/MGE will send me my checks after 9/1/08, if they ever get around to doing so.
- Quickly, here are my Elite Eight thoughts:
1) If I were allowed to re-do my Bracket, I’d use a Magic Marker to write UNC as the champs. They look almost unbeatable, and if Tyler Hansborough is going to sink outside jumpers like that, then other teams don’t stand a chance.
Don’t bother asking if this is another attempted Ung-hex.
2) Memphis looked absolutely dominant against Texas; I’d like to see how they are going to handle one Kevin Love, however. Still, I suppose we can all stop the “Memphis is overrated b/c of their weak conference” talk now.
Hey Knicks’ fans! How would Derrick Rose look in your uniform?
3) No thanks to an unnamed individual (no, not the same one mentioned earlier), I missed the entire first half of the Davidson-Kansas game. Watching the second half of the game, I knew I missed a gem. Curry took some really poor shots down the stretch, but I was really surprised that he didn’t take the final shot. If you’re going to pass the ball for a game winning trey, why not attempt to drive and kick? Kudos to Kansas’ D, though, and I’m sure they can’t wait to face former Kansas coach, Roy Williams.
And finally,
4) what the heck took so long for the Bruins to finally play a complete NCAA tourney game??? You had a feeling that Xavier was in trouble as soon as Westbrook made the game-opening steal and dunk. More importantly, Luc Richard finally played a solid game. I still have my concerns about Josh Shipp, Collison or Westbrook possibly disappearing, the total lack of a bench—James Keefe can’t possibly have another double-double in him, can he?—and Kevin Love falling in love with the three.
By the way, for those that think that this Final Four won’t be that exciting because all #1 seeds advanced, I wholeheartedly disagree. I get it that people watch the NCAA tourney for the unexpected; they love teams like Davidson or George Mason of a couple years back. We want to see #1s get toppled, and we want to see double-digit seeds live dream seasons, because the alternative is expected, and almost boring. If all the favorites advance, that would be comparable to the NBA playoffs, where the best-of-seven format makes having the better team more likely to advance in the tournament.
However, isn’t the fact that this is the first time ever that all #1s made it to the Final Four unexpected in its own way? When filling out your bracket, how many times do you hear “Never pick all #1s; that has never happened before!”?
(Tangent: My sister, who still creamed me in the UngsungBlog Bracket Challenge, chose to listen to me, and crossed Kansas out of the Final Four. Whoops.)
Besides, wouldn’t a Final Four full of #1 seeds mean that we fans will be treated to three titanic match ups between NCAA basketball powerhouses? Don’t you want a huge dose of star power in the biggest games of the year? As great as a Davidson v Memphis/UCLA championship match might sound, don’t you think a UNC-UCLA championship match wouldn’t be a huge draw?
Then again, if four mid-majors were in the Final Four, I’d still watch it.