Sunday Morning Random Thoughts
A few thoughts, as I let the coffee work its magic on my brain.
Your old pal Tommy is on vacation this week. It had been one where we'd had designs on heading up to Washington, DC, to take in a few sights. Real life and baby trout had their say (her family's business raises trout, and the eggs require constant care for a week and a half to two weeks, and during that time, she can't be spared). It's just one of the fun parts of being a grownup, I suppose, especially when the both of us work non-traditional schedules.
No worries, though. Supposed to be a beautiful week. And? The NCAA basketball tournament starts this week, today being Selection Sunday.
The first two days of the tournament are my favorite sports days of the year. Lots of games running at the same time that all matter. A bit of chaos put into the ultimate organization of a bracket.
It's a sad truth. My sister and brother-in-law finished their divorce a couple years ago, now (I think). I spent a good amount of time mad at him on her behalf, and I suppose I still do. This is one of the times I miss having him around in the family, though. Few of my friends follow college basketball, even to the limited extent that I do. If he could get the day off for one of the tourney days, we'd always plant someplace with multiple teevees and watch.
Couch Potato Dreams, y'all!
Still. It was nice to have a companion, there. I'll still get together with a couple of fellers I work with, so this isn't meant to be a woe is me screed. Still, I do miss that particular camaraderie between him and me.
Now, he said, changing the subject somewhat, with basketball, I don't have the time to follow multiple teams over the course of the season. I followed Tennessee, when I could. They looked strong early on, but lost their way in February. I, like most people, was endlessly impressed with Josh Richardson. It pleases me to hear that his NBA draft stock is high. I feel like he deserved better for his last year in Knoxville than what they got. Still, they did better than what I'd expected. And it should tell you something that finishing 10th in a 14-team league is still better than expected. Made me interested enough to see what Donnie Tyndall can do with his own recruits, and own system completely in place.
I found myself rooting for Auburn yesterday against Kentucky. Part of it was a bit of nostalgia for those Bruce Pearl-led Tennessee teams. Pearl's Auburn had won three games in the SEC tournament, coming in as a 13-seed. They played against Kentucky. Truth be told, if you fashioned a team out of diarrhea, I'd root for Diarrhea against Kentucky.
It wasn't a contest, though, between those team. Led to me flipping over to Wisconsin and Purdue. Wisconsin, as luck has it, is one of the few teams outside of the SEC that I have managed to catch over the season. They looked good. And in my limited experience, they look to be one of the only teams that would match up well against Kentucky. (There are others, I'm sure....it's going to be a shit show when I fill out my bracket this year....)
More sports? More sports.
It was our anniversary last night. And because she's the best girlfriend in the world, Shyam wanted to hit a hockey game up in Knoxville last night.
After spending most of the season at or near the top of the standings, Knoxville has struggled at the same time that Pensacola, Mississippi and Columbus have hit their strides. Knoxville's fallen to fifth, though with last night's win over Louisiana, they did secure a spot in the playoffs. There's still a lot of hockey left to play. 3 points separate second and fifth place. There's a lot of shaking out left to do there.
Consistency, at this level, is difficult. For various reasons (retirement, moving to another league, suspension, injury, whathaveyou) the Ice Bears were without Frankie Drolet, Brett Valliquette, Peter Neal, Berkley Scott and David Segal. Each was a vital part of the early season's successes. New faces (including Lou Educate, who just pronounces his name incorrectly, frankly) are on the ice. The new lines haven't gelled. The Ice Bears sucked on the power play last night. Stringing two passes together was difficult. Watching was difficult, considering out well the team played early in the season....
Your old pal Tommy is on vacation this week. It had been one where we'd had designs on heading up to Washington, DC, to take in a few sights. Real life and baby trout had their say (her family's business raises trout, and the eggs require constant care for a week and a half to two weeks, and during that time, she can't be spared). It's just one of the fun parts of being a grownup, I suppose, especially when the both of us work non-traditional schedules.
No worries, though. Supposed to be a beautiful week. And? The NCAA basketball tournament starts this week, today being Selection Sunday.
The first two days of the tournament are my favorite sports days of the year. Lots of games running at the same time that all matter. A bit of chaos put into the ultimate organization of a bracket.
It's a sad truth. My sister and brother-in-law finished their divorce a couple years ago, now (I think). I spent a good amount of time mad at him on her behalf, and I suppose I still do. This is one of the times I miss having him around in the family, though. Few of my friends follow college basketball, even to the limited extent that I do. If he could get the day off for one of the tourney days, we'd always plant someplace with multiple teevees and watch.
Couch Potato Dreams, y'all!
Still. It was nice to have a companion, there. I'll still get together with a couple of fellers I work with, so this isn't meant to be a woe is me screed. Still, I do miss that particular camaraderie between him and me.
Now, he said, changing the subject somewhat, with basketball, I don't have the time to follow multiple teams over the course of the season. I followed Tennessee, when I could. They looked strong early on, but lost their way in February. I, like most people, was endlessly impressed with Josh Richardson. It pleases me to hear that his NBA draft stock is high. I feel like he deserved better for his last year in Knoxville than what they got. Still, they did better than what I'd expected. And it should tell you something that finishing 10th in a 14-team league is still better than expected. Made me interested enough to see what Donnie Tyndall can do with his own recruits, and own system completely in place.
I found myself rooting for Auburn yesterday against Kentucky. Part of it was a bit of nostalgia for those Bruce Pearl-led Tennessee teams. Pearl's Auburn had won three games in the SEC tournament, coming in as a 13-seed. They played against Kentucky. Truth be told, if you fashioned a team out of diarrhea, I'd root for Diarrhea against Kentucky.
It wasn't a contest, though, between those team. Led to me flipping over to Wisconsin and Purdue. Wisconsin, as luck has it, is one of the few teams outside of the SEC that I have managed to catch over the season. They looked good. And in my limited experience, they look to be one of the only teams that would match up well against Kentucky. (There are others, I'm sure....it's going to be a shit show when I fill out my bracket this year....)
More sports? More sports.
It was our anniversary last night. And because she's the best girlfriend in the world, Shyam wanted to hit a hockey game up in Knoxville last night.
After spending most of the season at or near the top of the standings, Knoxville has struggled at the same time that Pensacola, Mississippi and Columbus have hit their strides. Knoxville's fallen to fifth, though with last night's win over Louisiana, they did secure a spot in the playoffs. There's still a lot of hockey left to play. 3 points separate second and fifth place. There's a lot of shaking out left to do there.
Consistency, at this level, is difficult. For various reasons (retirement, moving to another league, suspension, injury, whathaveyou) the Ice Bears were without Frankie Drolet, Brett Valliquette, Peter Neal, Berkley Scott and David Segal. Each was a vital part of the early season's successes. New faces (including Lou Educate, who just pronounces his name incorrectly, frankly) are on the ice. The new lines haven't gelled. The Ice Bears sucked on the power play last night. Stringing two passes together was difficult. Watching was difficult, considering out well the team played early in the season....
posted by Tommy at
10:06
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