The curse has extended into tragic new areas. Yesterday was delightfully uneventful. No trouble getting to the airport, getting to Newark, getting to the hotel, getting to New York City and getting back to the hotel. It was so good, in fact, that someone traveling with me — he’ll remain nameless, but it rhymes with Mustin Mackson — commented that “This is going as good as it possibly could.”

“(Insert expletive).”

I walked to an adjacent hotel for dinner last night and, I kid you not, when I walked back to my hotel there was an ambulance outside … and those were the only lights. Apparently someone was working on the wiring at the hotel –at 10 p.m., mind you — and electrocuted himself. The power was out and had been for about 40 minutes. There are probably about 50 hotels in the airport area and I’m in the one where a guy working late electrocutes himself and knocks the power out. Amazing!

As I came up on the hotel I saw the Charleston Gazette’s Dave Hickman and the Dominion Post’s Justin Jackson wearing looks of disbelief. We sat outside for about a half-hour and had a few good laughs.

“The wake up calls ought to be interesting.”

“Has anybody told us what’s going on?”
“No, they’re keeping us in the dark.”

“Well, I’m going to head up the stairs…where the hell are the stairs?”

“I like how all these people drive up to the hotel, then immediately leave.”
“Imagine if they went inside. ‘Do you have any rooms?’ ‘Yes, but we have no power.'”

I went inside to see if they could put me up in another room at a partnering hotel across the parking lot and as I was waiting in line someone asked the person behind the desk if the man taken away by ambulance was all right.

“He’s fine. He was conscious and talking when he left, but he’s in sho–.”

Oh, I’m the bad guy? 

I was told the power could be all night and decided to switch rooms. The power promptly came back on. You can’t make this stuff up.

Anyhow, a few thoughts before the I-guarantee-you-it’ll-be-great Syracuse-Villanova game at noon.

> Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim tried to downplay it, but Villanova’s Jay Wright embraced the idea that this is, in fact, an elimination game and the loser cannot get into the NCAA Tournament. Greatest will wins!

“Both or us are in a great position, but I wouldn’t really want it any other way. I think that’s another positive in our league. You always have a chance to right yourself by playing great teams. You don’t have to hope someone else wins or hope someone else loses. You have to do something and you always have a shot to do that. This is a great example. If we’re going to be a NCAA-caliber team, we have to beat a NCAA-caliber team, which is what Syracuse is. If we do win, we deserve to be in. If we don’t win, we don’t deserve to be in.” 

> Funniest thing I heard last night is something I’ll have to confirm, but it seems that Bob Huggins calmly entered the Grand Hyatt for the postseason banquet … and immediately crossed paths with Nancy Zimpher.

> Darris Nichols is withholding the truth.  

> Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese is not happy with Seton Hall and Rutgers. 

> WVU already won. So says my credential. The schedule for tomorrow has four games. The first is noon between the 8/9 winner and the No. 1 seed. The 2 p.m. game is against the No. 5 seed and the No. 4 seed. Whoops.

> Looking for a center? Frank Ben-Eze is back on the market. This raises two questions: 1) What was he doing going to Harvard? 2) Will WVU reconvene the pursuit we witnessed at the Summer Jam Fest in Morgantown last July?

> WVU has 15-to-1 odds to win the Big East Tournament. 

> Far be it from me to criticize Tranghese, be he did refer to WVU as the University of West Virginia four times Tuesday night. 

> Yes, yes, Notre Dame Coach Mike Brey wants 20 conference games in the regular season and, in a way, he makes a good point because you might see more Big East teams in the NCAA Tournament. Or you could witness an extension of what we’re seeing now, which is idiotic talking heads saying in one breath the Big East is ridiculously competitive, then criticizing the league in the next breath by devaluing conference wins because there are more game. Louisville’s Rick Pitino made a point few people seem to be considering when they try to think about how difficult the Big East is.

“I’ve said this many times and it’s not a negative comment when I say this, but it’s a much more difficult league from a preparation standpoint to get to know a team. Any time you get a league with 16 teams, the players never get to know one another and never get to know the teams really well from a scouting standpoint. There are so many Saturday-Monday games and it’s such a large league that it’s very difficult to get familiar.”

> Connecticut’s Hasheen Thabeet is a pretty neat story and it’s 50-50, according to Coach Jim Calhoun, as to whether Thabeet goes pro or stays in school. The enormous Tanzanian is a pretty endearing personality and was overwhelmed by the trophy he received Tuesday for winning the Big East Defensive Player of the Year Award. At one point, I caught him staring at it for what had to be a few minutes. Calhoun caught it as well.

Calhoun: Do you have any trophies that big?
Thabeet: I’ve never seen any trophy that big.