I think I’ve won a bracket pool once. I’ve been in the money a few times and I’ve chased the money — even the winning money — other times. But I think just one win. And there were maybe 10 people in the pool. It was also the year George Mason did its thing and I actually had the Patriots winning a few games. Not four, but certainly enough to make a difference.
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Bill Clinton watched West Virginia’s semifinal game against Notre Dame and, quite surprisingly, his presence that Friday resonated secondarily among politicians named Bill.
Slick Willie Stewart grabbed the headlines when earlier in the day it was discovered he’d popped up in Parkersburg and spoken lowly of the future of the Big East.
“That’s the disheartening thing, because when you break up a Big East contingent like we had …We had a lot of fun, a lot of rivals. I hate to see it end.”
You can imagine the buzz in MSG that day with the gathered media, Big East officials and ADs and administrators from the remaining teams in attendance. That WVU and Notre Dame happened to be prominently involved in the semifinals and the topic of conference realignment was just serendipity.
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The gravity-defying headband-wearing, pregame huddling, backpack-toting, Irish jigging fan favorite is going crazy on Twitter. I mean, drain-your-battery crazy.
Man my phone bout 2 die…WTF I been tweetin that much! Lol
And it’s a wonderful thing. Follow along to learn why Mr. Flowers loves West Virginia fans.
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Stop me if you’ve heard this one. A WVU team has a pretty historic season and makes a big-time run in the Big East Tournament. It’s pretty confident where it’ll be seeded in the NCAA Tournament, yet it gathers to watch the selection show.
And it leaves upset.
Mike Carey’s women’s team was ready to be a No. 3 seed — the Mountaineers will play No. 14 seed Lamar Sunday — but wasn’t ready to be made to play on an opponent’s home court. Again. The second-round game could be against No. 6 seed Texas on the Longhorns’ floor.
In 2004 the Mountaineers were a No. 11 seed and lost at No. 6 seed Ohio State in the first round. Two years ago WVU was a No. 5 seed and played at No. 12 seed New Mexico, but ended up winning.
“I’m a little disappointed in the Big East, too,” Carey said. “I thought they’d fight for us a little bit more and not let this happen. We asked them to really help us and not let this happen again and it did. But it is what it is and we have to be ready to go play again.”
Your Monday afternoon front-page CNN.com screenshot.
The excitable Gus and partner in enthusiasm Len Elmore will handle the Buffalo games.
Well, WVU does. Since that day, the Mountaineers are 6-0 and have embraced a couple qualities that had been escaping them to that point of the season.
“People expect a lot of us in our state and we need to go out there and not only play for ourselves, but we need to play for our state and all its been through and for how they back us,” point guard Joe Mazzulla said. “We’re five, six hours away, but we have, by far, the best crowd at the Big East tournament.”
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Already this morning I’m seeing and hearing WVU get criticized and/or ripped for reaction to its positioning in the NCAA Tournament. Seems a little misplaced to me.
WVU was given a No. 2 seed in the East Region Sunday night and I don’t think that came as a surprise to the Mountaineers. They wanted a No. 1 seed and they talked up the possibility, but when you talk about something so much and on such a big stage, people start to listen. As Big East champs, they had a pretty big audience to speak to, so they put their goals out there for others to digest. Or accept.
Crazy-as-a-fox Seton Hall Coach Bobby Gonzalez nailed it this week. With the loss to Notre Dame, it was assumed the Pirates were out of the NCAA Tournament, but Gonzo gave a half-dozen reasons why that was bogus before relenting and revealing one reason his team was in trouble.
“I think we should be on the board. I think all this talk about the bubble has burst and now we’re out and we’re done and we lost and that’s it and it’s over, I don’t think people know what they’re talking about. I don’t think they have a clue. I think they listen to what everybody else says and they repeat what they hear.”
So it’s a twist the other way, but publically the Mountaineers wanted to talk about the No. 1 seed and even seem confident they’d get one in hopes others might, too. Privately, it was a little different and most figured they’d be left out in favor of Duke, provided the Blue Devils won the ACC Tournament.
Turns out the Mountaineerw were left out, though in favor of Syracuse, which was jumped by Duke, a decision I still can’t grasp. And I’m not alone. CBS’s Greg Anthony last night pointed out Syracuse had the edge in four meaningful measures and asked the selection committee chairman “how you could possibly see (Duke) being a better No. 1 seed than Syracuse?”
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So that just happened. Long night for me with a long day to follow. I promise I’ll get around to addressing and elaborating on West Virginia’s first Big East Tournament championship from the vantage point I was provided this week and, come to think of it, this season. I just need to get home and get some time and reliable WiFi first.
Listen, I don’t want to knock MSG’s Internet, but I’m pretty sure the wireless router I saw was the same one Willis Reed limped by.
Anyhow, obviosly a momumental moment for WVU and, for once, the team got everything from everyone. Mazzulla and Ebanks were great, WELLS played maybe the game of his life, Butler was Butler and even bench guys like Thoroughman, Mitchell and Flowers did all they were asked.
In the meantine, please to share your Saturday night highlights. Pictures, stories, how you celebrated, what this means to you, so on and so forth. Very briefly, I can tell you I saw a lot of tears inside the Garden and all over town. That and about 13 million WVU fans, give or take just a little. Bob Huggins also led a packed bar in an emotional rendition of Country Roads. That’s all for now. Congratulations to you, WVU fan, for reaping the rewards of sticking with his sometimes tormenting, sometimes terrific team.
The question had to be asked and it was … because I honestly don’t believe anyone who watched last night’s game expected something to happen that was dramatically different than what happened.
So, Bob Huggins, up 10 late, didn’t you expect it to get tight?
“I’m starting to have a lot of confidence in our guys screwing up enough to let them back in the game,” WVU Coach Bob Huggins said.
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