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By Rhett, March 17, 2010 9:15 pm

Down the stretch we come.

It goes by so fast, doesn’t it?

This isn’t some cheezzzy Lord of the Rings movie ending. This is the end to an investment. This is the end to another season that has come full circle.

4/5ths of the tourney trip crew is taking on a drive through Canada, will stay through the night, and pick me up in Toronto about 7AM tomorrow morning. From there, it is back across the boarder, and into Buffalo. We will be checked in to the hotel, have our bags dropped off, and sitting in front of a fine television with a nice pint by the time noon rolls around, which should have us ready to watch BYU lose to gangster florida.

I have a problem with that. Any grown man who calls himself Billy is an odd one. He never wears a suit coat. HAS to be a bit slimy. But I have to root for him, as there’s no way I can stomach a BYU Sweet 16 t-shirt being sold to anybody. Jimmer is hitting the big stage, and you know he’s going to pull out all his super sweet body contortion moves. I just hope the ref’s aren’t blinded by his sheer whiteness.

I’m also looking forward to the Rebels playing tomorrow. Northern Iowa is a tough matchup. They have size, and, anybody who’s watched UNLV play Utah this year, knows Vegas struggles against a big man with any sort of skill. I think they have the athletes to run circles around these farm boys though. Probably be a close game.

A ton of people have had confusing conversations with me over the past couple days. It seems that Las Vegas is some sort of Mecca for the tourney, in and of itself. I’ve never really noticed, because I’m  never here for the tourney. Gambling doesn’t interest me. I barely want to fill out a bracket. These games are the swan song of a season. I don’t think dropping a few dimes on somebody to cover does what these teams do any justice. It’s fun to say you know more than somebody else, but in the end, it is done and settled on the court, not in some sports book with all you can eat stripper chicken wings. I guess I have a disconnect every random Las Vegan.

More to come.

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By Rhett, March 16, 2010 6:47 pm

A couple of years ago, during the long summer of non basketball related activities, I was stumbling around ebay on a Sunday afternoon with not a lot to do. Las Vegas is not a baseball city, it’s really hot, and you often find yourself reading a Sunday away, taking a nap in nice air conditioned splender, or taking a 45 minute drive to the mountains to escape summer’s harsh rays.

It was on one of these afternoons I found a patch. A simple patch. It instantly reminded me of the 80’s. It was yellow and blue or black (I can never tell which). It was a patch that was used to create a CBS sportscaster’s wardrobe item. It was perfect.

I purchased this patch, and a cheap suitcoat on ebay and created the ultimate form of tourney trip clothing. The Tourney Coat.

The Tourney Coat has been revamped with a proper fitting coat, including sleeves that are the correct length. The coat also smells normal, and not like something from some old lady’s basement.

It is ready to go. So am I.

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By Rhett, March 15, 2010 5:03 pm

A year ago, the five member Tourney Trip selection committee chose Buffalo, NY as the site which would play host to our yearly trek to the NCAA tournament. Yesterday, the brackets were released, and our patience was rewarded with actual basketball teams to watch play at this site. Here is who we will see this weekend, battle for the honor to advance to the Sweet Sixteen.

1. Syracuse vs 16. Vermont – Personally, this is a cool game. I have never seen Syracuse, and really enjoy their hoops team. On the other hand, Vermont lives in the hearts of the underdogs, after the Catamounts knocked off the Orangemen in 2005, a very classic upset. Does this mean it will happen this year as well? Hell no. The fabled 16 seed over a 1 seed will probably never happen. However, there are a few things to take note of this year:

1. Syracuse is on a two game losing streak
2. The rock of their front court, Arinze Onuaku, is hurt, and may not play.
3. Sibling rivalry’s never die. Kris Joseph of the ‘Cuse will face off against Maurice Joseph of Vermont. This is the same Marucie Joseph who transfered from Michigan State a few years ago. He’s a senior now. This could be his last game. I will root for him as a former Spartan.

So, yeah. I’ll say right now that I won’t get my hopes up. I’m sure that won’t be the case when this thing tips off on Friday.

8. Gonzaga vs 9. Florida State – I’ve seen both teams play, but fellow trip members have not. Gonzaga is classic little guy who’s now a big guy. Florida State seems kind of gangster. I don’t really know much about their team. I’m sure the dog pound from Washington state will roll through pretty hard and make me root for Florida State.

2. West Virginia vs 15. Morgan State – Thuggins. Groan. I hope he decides to put on a goddam suit at least once. I am thinking we should find the team hotel and yell things at him, or something. Da’Sean Butler is my namesake, and has a pretty sweet basketball skillset. Morgan State only lost a single conference game, and beat Arkansas, at Arkansas. Gotta love when you collect a paycheck to make the trip, then slay the home team. I’m calling for Reggie Holmes to drop 30.

7. Clemson vs 10. Missouri – Somehow, someway, I’ve ended up with a Clemson basketball t-shirt in my travels. Can’t tell you how, or why. Missouri is super gangster, and will be rooted against heavily by this trip committee. I will watch the game because it’s a game, and whoever wins will automatically gain my following, should Thuggins knock off Reggie Holmes and company.

The trip starts on Wednesday at 3PM Eastern. I board a plan to Toronto 11:30 PM Pacific. Bring your drinking hats.

More to come.

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By Rhett, March 13, 2010 10:14 am

While Christmas time gives Tourney time a run for its money, in the end it loses out, as tournament style college basketball is the greatest thing on this planet.

The past several days have been epic.

1. UNLV vs Wyoming – The Rebels wrapped up their regular season taking Wyoming to the woodshed. The Cowboys looked like a sad basketball team, and UNLV didn’t play around with them. Final score was 74-56, and it wasn’t even that close. This wrapped up the regular season for UNLV, and was my 23rd game of the season.

2. After this game, it became apparent that my dream of attending 50 college basketball games in one season would continue to be a dream. Attending classes and turning in required assignments took precedent over the WCC tournament, which was a requirement of mine previously. Such is life. It will be here next year, along with the WAC tournament. Options galore!

3. As Nate mentioned below, our very own Jimmy led his Allen Park Jags to a playoff victory against some team called the Crestwood Chargers. I know nothing about the high school basketball make up of the south eastern Michigan area, but I know that Jimmy is a good coach because his drills are excellent. Jimmy ended up losing another heart breaker to some team from Dearborn, but it doesn’t matter, because he’s still better. Just the way we feel.

4. Having cleared my calendar for the next week for a certain trip to Buffalo, NY, I decided to break down and pick up a few duckets to attend the MWC quarterfinal session last night with my beautiful baby. New Mexico vs San Diego State, and BYU vs UNLV. Quite the lineup of games, teams, and story lines from this season.

As you can see, we bought our tickets at the last second, which resulted in us sitting right behind the San Diego State student section in the upper deck level of the Thomas & Mack. This student section is fucking classic though. Their chants are dead on and organized, they crowd surfed some kid in a giant gecko outfit, and then suggested to the New Mexico contingent (which was at least 10,000 strong arena-wide) to sell their tickets once it was apparent the game was over. It was a fun game to watch, example 1 on why March basketball is the greatest shit ever. 1 seeded New Mexico falls to 4 seed San Diego State 69-72. Game was won behind hot shooting from behind the arc for SDSU (to the tune of 10-16), and Billy White’s 11-14 from the field, 5-5 from the line, 28 point domination of the New Mexico defense.

Game two was an entirely different set of circumstances.

Thanks in part to San Diego State’s knocking off of New Mexico, we were able to grift a new set of seats in the lower bowl, in the middle of New Mexico-ville, for the BYU vs UNLV game. New Mexico fans hate BYU as much as any other normal person in this country should hate them. BYU hadn’t won at UNLV vs UNLV in it’s five previous games. BYU was fresh off a victory over TCU, with brother Fredette racking up the shittiest stat line that ever represented 45 points.

• 45 points. 10-23 from the field (including 2-10 from 3), and 23-24 from the FT line. Yes, that is not a joke. This really happened.

Needless to say, I was a bit worried. Fredette was coming into the UNLV game believing he was the prophet Joseph Smith himself.

Now I’m not a bigot or a hater or anything. I know plenty of people who practice the Mormon faith and are perfectly nice normal people. The fast majority are well represented by the parity you’ve probably seen on South Park a few years back. Super nice. Super perfect. Blonde haired, blue eyed giver outters. They all have really cool jackets and want to go home and make brownies or help you build a bookshelf.

I’ll build my own.

BYU and UNLV came out shooting hot, to the tune of each squad trading 3 pointers. After it was 9-9, this dogfight settled out into the dogfight it was meant to be. UNLV’s press after made baskets gave BYU fits in the first half, leading to a few run outs. BYU’s patented fast break offense was a blur off of missed UNLV shots, and the game stayed sort of close, the Rebels up by 7 at the half behind a sweet looking jumper from Chase Stanback.

The second half saw the prophet casting a light on Jimmer Fredette, and him contorting his gangliy body into the bodies of his foes, and getting to the line with the righteous accomplishment only a BYU fan could be proud of. He also hit some sick deep jumpers. What’s ironic about this guy is that when a questionable call goes the other way, he freaks out, cries, pouts, and stomps all over the floor. He was also called for traveling twice in the second half, which almost made his head explode. Tre’Von Willis gutted out a twisted ankle in the final minutes, made a crazy glasser shot, and the FT’s a leader is expected to make to seal up the victory, regardless of what super natural forces may have been conspiring against the sinners of Southern Nevada. BYU 66, UNLV 70.

—–

So here I am. I’m going to bail on headed to the MWC title game this afternoon in favor of watching several other games from across the country. I’ve attended 25 college basketball games thus far, with the best yet to come.

5. Western won a game in its conference tournament, and should have probably faced Eastern after that. Thanks to #pixelvision, I was able to watch both teams, including Carlos Medlock’s spirited effort against Akron. EMU fell short, as did WMU against Akron yesterday. WMU will not be dancing this year, and the David Kool era is over in Kalamazoo.

6. Michigan State lost yesterday to Tubbs. Sam called this 100%. Not sure how I feel about Sparty headed into the Tourney. In Izzo I trust though. I don’t know what era is about to end for MSU over the next couple of weeks though. This team / season has been so confusing. I have this feeling that the team is being held together by a thread.

The only way to find out is to play the games.

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By Nate, March 8, 2010 6:45 pm

Coach Jimmy and his boys pulled out Allen Park’s first district playoffs win in seven years with a double overtime thriller over the mighty Crestwood Chargers. This means that our own Coach Jimmy now has a better post-season record than Bo Ryan.

UPDATE #1: Well, Coach Jimmy and his crew rolled into the District Semi’s – Dios mio, man – and faced Dearborn High.  Now, some of our faithful readers might not know that Coach Jimmy’s troops lost on a last second 3/4 length shot to Dearborn during the regular season, but it happened and this game was a fitting sequel to that tilt.

The game was back and forth but the Jags opened up an 11 point lead late in the 3rd quarter.  But Dearborn came back – fueled by some questionable calls – the Jags had a chance at the end of regulation but had to settle for an even score.  The teams went back and forth in the first OT and after an extra four minutes the Jags went to double overtime for the second time in as many games.  The score was tied with 2 tics left in the second OT and wouldn’t you know those pesky Dearborn kids got a last second miracle to win with no time left.  It was heartbreaking.  But Coach Jimmy kept his guys’ heads up and has a lot to be proud of – they fought hard and started to build the foundation for future success.

It goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway, the “Tourney Trip APHS Boys Hoops Booster Club” is proud of our own Coach Jimmy.

UPDATE #2: EMU dropped a tough double OT game of their own in the MAC Quarterfinals about an hour ago.  It was a tough one and it looked like the Eagles had a win in the waning seconds of the first OT but Akron pulled a shot out of it’s rearend and EMU ran out of gas in the second OT.  The game ended ugly and Charles Ramsey was ejected but he went down in grand meltdown style and really had some pretty legitimate beefs with an officiating crew that lost control of the game.  Oh well, maybe the Eagles at 17-15 are CBI bound?  Hey, a guy can dream can’t he?

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By Nate, March 8, 2010 1:26 pm

Just a quick note of acknowledgement to MSU and the back-to-back Big Ten Championship that was secured last night. It has been an interesting season in East Lansing. Some high-points and some low-points that all seemed to come in bunches. MSU finished the regular season on a high-point and sent Raymar Morgan, Isaiah Dahlman and Jon Crandall out winners and BT Champs. Raymar played the way you hope a senior does in his last game – it was special, and part of what makes MSU Hoops special – Coach Izzo got a little teary eyed as the Seniors kissed the S and the trophy celebration ensued.

The Big Ten Tourney is next and MSU is jockeying for seeding in the top four lines. A good showing could mean a solid 3 seed and depending on what happens elsewhere a BTT Title could lead to another 2 seed (MSU is 10-1 as a 2 seed in the Tourney). I cannot wait for Thursday to get here – in the meantime I guess I’ll just have to get my fill of all the other Conference Tournaments and Championship games.

Now – a quick word why this was just a short note: In a few moments I will be heading to Historic Fordson High School in Dearborn to watch our own Coach Jimmy engage his battle tested Allen Park Jaguars in his first High School Playoff game as HC of the hometown Jags. Sam is meeting me there and we will rep the “Tourney Trip APHS Boys Hoops Booster Club” in Coach Jimmy’s first District game. It’s March – even for Jimmy – Go Jags!

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By Rhett, March 7, 2010 2:58 pm

Here we sit, a week from selection Sunday. A week from knowing who we draw in Buffalo, NY. While it is mostly about the games, there are a few perks for doing this trip. One of them is seeing a few of the great cities of this country. Buffalo has a ton to offer five randoms who love watching hoops, drinking the special, and making fun of chud’s. Here’s what we have in store:

5. Niagara Falls – While not located in Buffalo, NY, Buffalo is the closest major city to Niagara Falls. I’m not sure if we will get the chance to see this. I believe a few guys of the trip have already seen Niagara Falls, but I have not. Even if we do a drive by on the way into town, it’d be pretty neat.

4. Rick James – Yes, everybody’s favorite David Chapelle parody, Rick James, was born in Buffalo, NY. Some other no talent ass clowns were as well, including the Goo Goo Dolls (wtf?), and 4790324,84032 Maniacs. This is actually a pretty crappy #4 out of a top five. I wanted to put that Theodore Roosevelt was sworn in as president after William McKinley was shot, but that’s kind of messed up too. We’ll skip number 4 with the advisory that Buffalo is a working class city, and is not very showy, which means all of the TMZ celebrity bullshit that would make up a random Top Five list doesn’t really make it’s way into town. That’s a good thing for five beer drinking will be weary travelers like ourselves.

3. SPORTZ – Buffalo, NY is home to the NFL’s Buffalo Bills, the NHL’s Buffalo Sabers, and to Division 1 Canisius. I once tried to play Canisius in a Playstation 2 basketball dynasty when we lived in the stink house. It was too hard to figure out how to shoot, and the dynasty was quickly scrapped. The Griffin on the home floor is really large, and equally as sweet.

2. Food – Food, and specifically, buffalo wings. Wings were created in this city. As far as we can tell, they were originated at The Anchor Bar, in Buffalo. Their website talks a lot about it, and I guess that it’s pretty important. All I care is they have like 10 Tv’s and a dozen of their special creation so we can watch basketball. Trip traveling organization has us arriving in town on Thursday, hopefully sometime in the early afternoon. We may be tracking this place down sooner or later. Note should be made that Buffalo has a lot riding on its shoulders as a city after the letdown of Philly, and its gross bunmeat sandwich. The website has a bunch of dumb motor cycles and signs on it, so I’m not going to get my hopes up too far.

1. THE TOURNAMENT – Fucking Duh. 1st and 2nd rounds, Friday and Sunday. I’m flying across the country. We’re going through another country. Buffalo, NY will house us for 5 days. Decent odds on seeing a few teams we follow. BYU is off the list due to the Friday / Sunday configuration. It’s the first weekend of the tournament, and we’ll be on the town with a handfull of duckets, and stars in our eyes. The Tourney Coat is being cleaned, the Colonel’s suit will be pressed and bagged.

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By Rhett, February 28, 2010 8:06 pm

Tomorrow, when you’re starting your work week, trying to get into the flow of things, you’re bound to be distracted by something. It will creep into every office meeting, cubicle farm, inprompt0 tailgate meeting on your job-sites. It is destined to enthrall every casual male sports fan for the next month, ending in Indianapolis with the crowning of a champion, or the awarding of $500 to some random who always picks North Carolina. Google searches for “bracket” will go up thousands of percents. Everybody is going to discuss how they ducked out of work for an hour to watch a first round game. Somebody will be “cool” because he picked 5 upsets in the first round.

March Madness is a term for the masses. It’s goal is to create a froth of Johnny Come-lately for three weeks in March. Everybody will fill out three brackets, half of them will be trashed after the first weekend, and some soccer mom will win a random pool of loot for something she knows nothing about.

I question the term “Madness” because, to me, it is a symphony. There is nothing mad about it.

64 teams lace them up in perfect harmony. 64 goes to 32 goes to 16 goes to 8 goes to 4 goes to 2 goes to 1. Each team receives a seed, based on their seasons work. Then, each team plays the game. If you want to advance, you win. If you want to win, you have to play better than the other team. Doesn’t mean you ARE better than another team. Just means you have to show up on that day in order to advance. Survival of the willingest.

Simply slating a random team on a bracket line demeans the effort that has been put forth by 300+ teams over the last 4+ months. It means more than what people will make of it. Bus rides and late nights, and hotels and buffets and practices, those damn practices. Sprained ankles and concussions and hamstring tweaks and bone bruses. Some guy is going to pick Richmond to hit up the sweet sixteen this year in his bracket and feel pretty good about it, not knowing what the Spiders have put into this season to make him look real smart, or real stupid. How about the fact that it’s real? A real town, and a team that affected a real conference of basketball teams. They loaded up the bus and hit the road. They defended their home gym. Taped up ankles and suicides. All so you can pick them to beat Oklahoma State. Every team is real, every player, every coach, every university or college. Every small college town, or city block, or small state. The miles traveled are real. The sweat spent is real too.

I learned this the hard way. I’ve entered my fair share of brackets. I won a good portion of them. You live and you learn. I no longer feel the need to express my love for this game in the form of a bracket. I actually kept the last bracket I ever filled out, folded it up, and put it into the program of the second tournament I ever went to, in Milwaukee. This is an evolution, for you, and for me.

So when a random wrong comes up to you this year with a stack of blank brackets, and asks you for twenty bucks to enter, politely pass. Maybe even offer to buy him lunch with said twenty bucks. He’s lost, and he probably needs it.

Enjoy it for what it is. It’s better than a computer print out and a highlighter. It’s not mad. It’s not crazy. It’s not insane. It’s a symphony of 347 basketball teams. Nobody ever notices the guy who plays the triangle, but that doesn’t mean he’s not important.