My hopes of winning an NCAA March Madness pool died awfully quickly. Granted, I hadn't spent a lot of time analyzing this year's field, but I thought I had found two hidden gems. USC being an Elite Eight team from the sixth seed and Arizona getting to the Sweet Sixteen from their 10th seed.
Wrong.
In USC's case, they came a-cropper when Kansas State's Michael Beasley got an award-winning supporting turn from Bill Walker. Still, had the Trojans' OJ Mayo gotten similar help from Taj Gibson, USC might still be on the path I predicted. Instead, Gibson's fumble-fingered approach to rebounds might have irrevocably altered his NBA destiny and Mayo might have to put his pro plans on hold. At least according to Rick Majerus. The upside of being wrong is the chance to catch the sublime Beasley in at least another college game. He's good. REAL good.
Now, I have a guilty party for the Arizona loss to favoured West Virginia. And it isn't Mountaineer star Joe Alexander or any of his mates. No, being a Toronto Raptor fan, I can finger the Wildcat coach. Bad ol' Kevin O'Neill returns to bedevil me. Yeah, I take it personally.
Obviously, Arizona has a wealth of talent. Just as obviously, the Wildcats are a bunch of very confused ballplayers. It's been blamed on the on-off-on again coaching status of Lute Olsen, set to replace O'Neill, well, now, after ceding the position to him at the start of the season to take a one-year leave of absence. That IS confusing and these are young men. But men they are.
O'Neill's need to micro-manage made him a horrible NBA coach. He's a good assistant coach, where he aids and abets, but doesn't command. Given the reins, he shows his "I'm in control" persona. I appreciate that he might be a good bloke away from the court and is well-liked and respected by his peers. Some have touted him for Coach of the Year, for pulling Arizona to a 24th-straight NCAA tournament. But that is bollocks, to quote an English copper or two. His Wildcats threw the bit. He's responsible.
Those two games were the only blemishes on my otherwise perfect report card from today. I DID get the Texas A&M putdown of Brigham Young and wasn't seduced by Baylor in their attempt to upend Purdue. I do have three upset specials today (Friday) in St. Joe's, South Alabama and Davidson. But the multi-round hit from USC and 'Zona falling early spells finito to my winning chances.
Good luck to the other eight zillion contestants out there.
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