Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Basketball ya gotta love it...


I did not grow up with basketball. We played ball hockey, baseball and football. We constantly played sports but there were no courts when we were kids and it was not really part of my upbringing. My Dad has no favorite team and would rather watch curling. ( I was shocked to drive by a grade school in a poor area of Longbeach California and at least see forty courts set up in the schoolyard) Our school yard ---well.....
I did play for the school team in grade nine where I was a fat (ok stout) guard who had more fouls than points. But that was really just a sideline between other sports.
Some where along the way I started watching US college basketball and it hooked me. I loved Christian Laetner's 1.7 second left shot against Kentucky. I love that there are no perfect teams and many many good teams. That it will depend on the day and the game as to who wins. That even stout guards with sweet shots can make a big splash . That Duke and their lack of size can win if they play tough and sink threes but can lose.
The championship tournament for US college BBall starts tonight with the play in game. 65 teams start and its a one loss elimination tournament. You have to win 6 straight games to be the national champion. Of the 750 or so players in the tournament less than 40 will get drafted by the NBA. It will be four weeks of entertainment. (ok for Blessed it might not last that long) With the rest of the boys at work we pick the winners of the tournament. Last year I went for all underdogs and got slaughtered (I think across the US I was in the 9th percentile of 4 million players) but the year before I pulled a rabbit out the hat and ended up in the 91st percentile.
Yes you can all pick your winners ((((http://games.espn.go.com/tcmen/frontpage))))
It makes you want to go out and shoot a few hoops.. Come on... lets play some basketball. March madness and the tournament grows on you.

4 Comments:

At 8:00 AM, Blogger Beth said...

Have been reading some of your posts - a fellow hockey enthusiast!

(thanks for visiting my blog)

 
At 10:53 AM, Blogger Reasonable Female said...

Basketball sucks. And I owe that sentiment to a very ignorant phsy ed teacher by the name of Mr. Weisner in Meath Park, Sask back in the late 70's.

This man made pretty near all physical activity so unpleasant for anyone who wasn't *stellar* that I can't even watch my kids play without revisting his nasty comments about my lack of coordination and inability to participate. MEH.

There should be a phsyc test for teachers.

*grumpy moment interrupting a very pleasant feeling to find your new posts* sorry about that.

tRu

 
At 8:32 PM, Blogger daisyduke said...

Let's hear it for the Michigan State Spartans, sportsfans...
GO GREEN!!!!!!!!!!!!

 
At 9:04 PM, Blogger hockeyman said...

I have to admit that I was down visting my parents in the US this weekend and my mother told me that the women she goes to church with had prayed for Michigan state and west Virginia to win so she had too. Of course I had west Va losing to Duke and mich state losing to Pitt...

The rest is history...

 

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