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{mosimage}The
first two days of the NCAA Tournament are truly some of my favorite
days of the year. Not only are there 48 hours of endless hardwood
excitement but, the tourny also marks the end of winter too.

Lately,
I’ve got a kick watching Bob Knight work as an analyst for ESPN. After
all, it was Knight who claimed sports reporters are one rung above the
prostitution profession. Although, I’m guessing he feels differently
about that statement now.

Then again, that’s typical
"Knight speak" coming directly from the sports world’s biggest
hypocrite. And, just to make myself clear, I’m not a fan of Bob Knight
the coach or Bob Knight the low-life – Knight’s label not mine – basketball analyst for ESPN.

Of course, Knight’s
statistical track record as a coach is tremendous. However, I don’t
respect a man who bullies his peers and preaches a do as I say and not as I do message.

Now that’s leadership

Also, it’s beyond me how a leader of young men can act like a complete jackass
for three decades and not only get away with such garbage behavior but,
be loved for it too. Oh, I see, win 800 games and you’re golden, got it.

And, make sure not to
mistake Knight as a great leader either. In fact, if you want to know
whether a good coach can become a great leader just compare his
behavior to Knight’s.

Understand that if a
particular coach has choked less than three players or failed to
embarrass the university on several levels he or she cannot become a
great coach.

Anyway, I hope Knight soon
lands another coaching job in college basketball. At least he’ll then
revert back to an irrelevant jerk opposed to an old windbag on my
television set.

"Hey, stop picking on me."

As far as the tourney, I’m taking North Carolina over Memphis in the championship game. Although, I wouldn’t put money on it.

Besides, not many folks
correctly pick the last two teams anyway. That’s why I focus each year
on trying to correctly pick 40 games.

I’ve recorded my NCAA picks
since 2001 and have only correctly picked the last two teams once
(2005: North Carolina vs. Illinois). Funny enough, I incorrectly picked
Illinois to defeat North Carolina in the championship game!

Speaking of which, in the
same time span (2001-2007) I’ve only picked the correct champion twice.
In 2001 I was spot-on with Maryland and followed it up in 2002 by
selecting Duke.

Conversely, since 2002 I’ve
swung and missed with Kentucky (2003), Pittsburgh (2004), Illinois
(2005), UConn (2006) and Ohio State (2007) all as my picks for
champions.

On the other hand, I have reached my goal of picking 40 wins four times in seven years. Not too bad.

Here’s a more detailed look at my overall NCAA Tourney record since 2001.

2007 – (47-17) .734

2001 – (42-21) .666

2004 – (41-23) .640

2005 – (40-23) .630

2003 – (39-24) .619

2002 – (39-25) .609

2006 – (38-26) .593 *Thanks George Mason

Overall: (286-159) .642

As you can see, last year’s
picks will be tough for me to top. Nonetheless, let’s take a look at my
2008 selections. Forty plus wins here I come!

• EAST

2^nd Round: N. Carolina, Indiana, Notre Dame, Winthrop, Oklahoma, Louisville, Butler, Tennessee

Sweet 16: N. Carolina, Notre Dame, Louisville, Tennessee

Elite 8: N. Carolina, Tennessee

Final Four: N. Carolina

• MIDWEST

2^nd Round: Kansas, UNLV, Clemson, Vandy, USC, Wisconsin, Gonzaga, Georgetown

Sweet 16: Kansas, Vandy, USC, Georgetown

Elite 8: Kansas, Georgetown

Final Four: Georgetown

• SOUTH

2^nd Round: Memphis, Oregon, Michigan St, Pittsburgh, Marquette, Stanford, Miami, Texas

Sweet 16: Memphis, Pittsburgh, Stanford, Texas

Elite 8: Memphis, Stanford

Final Four: Memphis

• WEST

2^nd Round: UCLA, Texas A&M, W. Kentucky, U Conn, Purdue, Xavier, W. Virginia, Duke

Sweet 16: UCLA, U Conn, Xavier, Duke

Elite 8: UCLA, Xavier

Final Four: UCLA

• Overall Final Four

N. Carolina defeats Georgetown

Memphis wins against UCLA

• Championship April 7^th in San Antonio

North Carolina edges Memphis

• Let’s hope two tourney teams give us another classic game
  like last year’s drama between Ohio State and Xavier. The OSU overtime
  victory was incredible considering how close the Buckeyes came to
  losing.

Link Party

• Let’s not burn this bridge.

• This week I accidentally clicked the MLS button on the Yahoo sports page.

Coincidentally, all the individual soccer game stories shared the exact same headline… Soccer game turns into huge fan brawl!

• What’s the most hilarious book I’ve ever read? Answer: Steven Colbert’s I am American (and so can you). Highly recommended, indeed.

Purchase the hardback copy, it’s a keeper