didionville

it’s waaayyyy too late for didion to be posting, so i thought i might sub in and toot my own horn … of course, that begs the question of WHEN i have EVER been hesitant to toot said horn …

anyway … after the first four of eight sweet-16 games … i am doing EXTREMELY well … in fact, for at least 18 hours, i am ranked no. 1 in the pool clan catlett (and g-pa jer) entered … d-man is ranked third …

g-pa jer, unfortunately, is falling fast, and steven … well, let’s just say he isn’t ranked LAST …

of course, d-man and i have a critical win tomorrow that HAS to happen, or else we are in deep sh*t … i won’t name that critical win at this time … just know that it needs to happen, or else …

well done west virginia! west virginia (7 seed) just lost to xavier in a VERY TOUGH game. mommy should’ve trusted her gut in her bracket (as she has repeatedly whined about). she has xavier in the elite eight, but she never expected a wvu/xavier match-up to be so hard won.

so congratulations west virginia! valient effort. excellent play. way to go all the way around. and next year, mommy is going to stay right behind you!

the tourney has been totally nutty. period. not a whole lot else to say, except where we stand going into the sweet 16 …

g-pa jer … 10 of 16 intact … (overall wins to date: 35 of 48 (73%))

me … 10 of 16 intact … (overall wins to date: 32 of 48 (67%))

mommy … 11* of 16 intact … (overall wins to date: 32 of 48 (67%))

daddy … 10 of 16 intact … (overall wins to date: 28 of 48 (58%))

*mommy would have 12 of 16 IF she hadn’t listened to g-pa jer and daddy about west virginia and duke … grrrrrr …

also, mommy’s elite eight is completely intact going into the sweet 16. g-pa jer, daddy, and i each have 6 of 8. all of us have complete final fours, etc., so there is a faint hope at least one of us can salvage some dignity outta the craziness of this year’s tourney.

so we all played it safe yesterday with only one upset that MOMMY talked everyone into … and what happens?!?!?! almost EVERY GAME goes the other way … oh, and that second upset that only g-pa jer picked … it happened. western kentucky beat drake in overtime. mommy is very irritated by that game … and by most of the other 15 yesterday.

here’s how we look …

grandpa jer: 25 of 32 (78%)

me: 22 of 32 (69%)

mommy: 21 of 32 (66%)

daddy: 19 of 32 (59%)

luckily, with the exception of drake and clemson (?!?!) , mommy’s and my sweet 16s are intact. g-pa jer has lost clemson, usc, and uconn. daddy has lost vandy, usc, and uconn.

now if the second round can just go our way, please!

more later, but hopefully not more of yesterday’s disasters (disasters for us, that is! bully for all the teams that delivered when so many — like us — doubted!!!)

after the second eight games last night …

grandpa jer: 15 of 16 (94%)

me: 13 of 16 (81%)

mommy: 13 of 16 (81%)

daddy: 11 of 16 (69%)

we all ate it on usc. g-pa jer and daddy are in trouble with them in later rounds … they have usc going to the sweet 16. g-pa jer also is on shaky ground with duke, having them getting knocked off in the elite eight. mommy, daddy, and i have duke going to the sweet 16. mommy’s concerned because she let g-pa jer and daddy talk her out of following west virginia. she hates having to root for duke anyway, and if last night’s game against belmont is any indication of things to come, she probably should’ve stuck with her gut. the four of us have one upset today: st. mary’s over miami. she still thinks this isn’t going to be a problem. (g-pa jer has a second upset: western kentucky over drake … hmmmmm …)

after this afternoon’s first seven games, here’s where we stand …

grandpa jer: 7 of 7 (100%)

me: 6 of 7 (86%)

mommy: 6 of 7 (86%)

daddy: 5 of 7 (71%)

more later …

UPDATE … they didn’t televise the 8th game (kentucky vs. stanford) … stanford won, and we all picked them … so g-pa jer is still 8 of 8 (100%) … mommy and i are 7 of 8 (81%) … daddy is 6 of 8 (75%) …

The bracket has been announced. I think we have hit upon the winning strategy this year. We will print the bracket out, feed Didion some peas and let him blow them out across the paper. The winners should be clearly marked in green.

More later.

Last night, we all watched UCLA play USC in the semifinals of the Pac 10 tournament. We were going to go bed after the first half, but we decided to stick it through and were rewarded with an exciting game. (Though, Didion did excuse himself at the half.)

Unlike the last week’s pre-conference-tournament games, UCLA did not need extreme luck and help from the officials to win. The teamwork was much better; Kevin Love was lights out for about five minutes during the key opening minutes of the 2nd half, and UCLA played effective and deliberate defense. There were examples of the poor play that matched what we saw last week. (For instance, Collison’s 2nd-half “play,” running the shot clock down while standing around, then driving into the lane, leaving his feet with no place to go and dumping the ball to Love for a desperation 25 footer.) Thankfully, such poor judgment was rare. UCLA built a solid lead thanks to Love’s outburst at the start of the 2nd half, but then USC’s OJ Mayo — scoreless during the first 12 minutes of the 2nd half — put on a run to match Kevin Love’s. The game got a little too close for our comfort. In the end, Mayo missed a game-tying shot and we could relatively relax.

We were not only impressed with Kevin Love’s play, but also with his statesmanship. As usual, he did a great job in the post-game interview. He was gracious and diplomatic and complimentary towards USC, especially when talking about fellow freshman phenom OJ Mayo. He also praised his teammates (avoiding — refreshingly — the ubiquitous props to Jesus). His father, Stan Love, a former NBA player, obviously prepared him well for being in the public eye. Interestingly, Stan Love is the brother of the Beach Boys’ Mike Love and cousin of the Wilsons, explaining (according to Leslie) where Kevin’s good looks come from.

Seven hours from now, UCLA meets Stanford in the conference championship game. UCLA was able to make the adjustments necessary to summarily beat Cal on Thursday. Have they made the appropriate adjustments and do they have the lessons from their last meeting with Stanford in focus? We certainly hope so.

…..rich and funny probably doesn’t hurt either.

Billy Crystal signed a one-day contract with the Yankees. He has been working out with the team and taking batting practice, but today was his big day. He was the DH and led off the game for the Yankees. Ultimately, he struck out, but he managed to get to a full count and even made solid contact with the second pitch. The pitcher was looking pretty nervous when the count got to 3-1. A moral victory in my book, and even more impressive considering he is 35 years older than the pitcher and hasn’t played organized baseball since high school.

So now Didion has two paths to playing for the Yankees.

Didion and I were watching the Yankees last night* and Joe Girardi took part in a long interview. He was interesting, engaging, entertaining. Most of all, he really inspired hope, confidence and excitement about the upcoming season. It sure reminded us of another product of Illinois — Barack Obama. Could Joe Girardi be the Barack of baseball? Young, fresh, inspirational and ready to lead us out of a long drought. Notably, the Yankees’ last World Series title was in 2000, the same year as W’s “election.”

Calling Joe Girardi the Barack Obama of baseball might be unfair to Joe Torre. (Comparing Joe Torre to W is certainly unfair and isn’t what I want to do.) Joe T. was an unquestionably great manager, but his time with the Yankees had passed. I cannot even remotely be as complimentary about the man Barack hopes to replace. Barack replacing W is like leaving the Dark Ages and going straight to the Age of Enlightenment. The Yankees’ transition is a quite a bit more moderate, but welcome nonetheless.

And we got a hint of how Joe Girardi will perform under pressure. He kept his cool during today’s skirmish, just like Barack would do if the red phone rang at 3AM.

Here’s to looking forward to two upcoming, great late-fall events — the election of Barack and the Yankees’ 27th World Championship.

*It was the encore presentation. Being a true fan, Didion had, of course, watched it live during the day, but was nice enough to watch it again with me later.