March Madness

What a day... First, the Vols played a very scrappy game & are going to the sweet sixteen for the first time since 2000! I can't help but love this team & I'm going to really miss Dane Bradshaw next year. He has been the heart of this team since Bruce Pearl became the head coach.

Then the Lady Vols play their first round game. After shaking off the rust from not playing for 2 weeks, they dominated the 2nd half of the game. I was starting to feel a bit sorry for the other team.

Here's what I'm really proud of... the State of Tennessee produces some really good basketball (teams & players). In the NCAA this year, there are 4 men's teams (UT, Vandy, Memphis, & Belmont) & 5 women's teams (UT, Vandy, MTSU, Belmont, & UTC). So far, everyone but the 2 Belmont teams & UTC are still in it.

As for the MTSU team, I must admit I have a soft spot for them. You have a head coach who's already a legend in high school basketball in this state. But it was a hiring that many people questioned. The media types around here really wondered if he could coach & recruit at a high level. So far so good. And now the national media's starting to notice. Here's a piece I found this afternoon. What I loved most about it, the writer actually compared their game yesterday to hockey. Describing how Gonzaga looked against MTSU...

"The Bulldogs looked like a team trying to kill an opponent's power play for most of the night. At times, simply throwing the ball into the frontcourt might have made more sense. After all, there's no icing in basketball."

Happy March Madness! Do like I'm doing the next few weeks & enjoy some basketball!

I Didn't Believe My Eyes

I was watching the Tennessee vs. Florida game on ESPN & all of the sudden Lady Vols coach Pat Summitt and her assistant coaches come out dressed as cheerleaders. She started out by singing Rocky Top & let's just say, it's a good thing she gets paid the big bucks to coach... she's not a singer. Then she & the assistants did a pyramid stunt & help the cheerleaders out with the usual UT cheers. The crowd absolutely went crazy.

So why did she pull such a crazy stunt? Well, it's this crazy thing called school spirit & it seems to be at an all time high on the UT campus since the hiring of UT men's basketball coach Bruce Pearl. About a month ago, Coach Pearl showed up when the Lady Vols played #1 ranked Duke. And to show his school spirit, he & some of his assistants & players came out in orange body paint. It was a absolute hit among UT fans (& I should know because I was there)! So it was only fitting that coach Summitt return the favor.

Update: I finally found something on the web about Coach Summitt's stunt.