Before we get to the mailbag, well, how about being the only one in your office pool with Arizona as the title winner.
Buh-bye.
We are going to move quickly today, and sadly the 61 people in the contest are on another computer. I will post them some time today, for sure.
Speaking of the brackets, this number is from Darren Rovell, but of the 17.3 million brackets submitted to ESPN exactly 6,306 got all 16 correct Thursday. Madness.
From the "Talks less and less" satellite studio off Third Street, let's do this.
From a few of you
Did you really pick Arizona to win the tournament?
Gang -
Yes, yes we did. And by extension, our bracket is cooked. And that's OK.
Actually it's not, but we have done enough brackets - and won multiple pools - and to do that sometimes you have to roll the dice. This time it came up snake eyes.
And in truth, it made the brackets that picked UK to make a run look a lot stronger now.
So it goes, but we did get a reminder why the magic of the first weekend of this tournament is so grand when Loyola-Chicago's buzzer beater dropped Miami.
Madness indeed.
From Charles
Thoughts on Tubby getting let go?
Charles -
Great question and in truth, this one falls directly into the category of Rule 1 of our coaching philosophy: Don't run a coach unless you are sure you can get someone better.
(Yes, Rule 2 is, The only time you can forget Rule 1 is when you are pretty sure anyone you get will be better. And that one happens some times, too. See: Jones, Lyle.)
Tubby got got because Penny Hardaway was determined to be ready. And Penny Hardaway can bring a slew of recruits with him.
In some ways this has a very similar feel of Georgia running a strong coach in Mark Richt because they believed Kirby's time had come.
Who knows how many other schools were sniffing around Penny right now, and if Memphis believed the time was now - and certainly with his current connections to some of the best high school talent in the country, that seems to be most appropriate - then it had to act.
What if Memphis had sat back and said, OK, we'll give Tubby one more year and say, MTSU came swooping in. Then Penny coaches the Blue Raiders for three years and, if he found success, he would have jumped to a power five gig.
Now Memphis could have a chance to bring the hometown hero back to his alma mater and who knows what could happen.
From Mike
Jay, love your radio show. You guys are awesome.
Did I hear you guys right that baseball is going to start extra innings with a runner on second base? And then you were saying that they could decide an extra game with a game Tic-Tac-Do?
That is unbelievable. Keep up the great work.
Mike -
Thanks for listening and reading and playing along with the silliness.
Yes, we did talk on Press Row on Thursday about minor league baseball enacting the softball wrinkle called the "International Tie-breaker" in which the 10th inning will start with a runner on second base.
It's as much an effort to end lengthy games quickly as it is to speed up the average length of games in terms of time.
The first caveat here is, minor league baseball is not about winning and losing in the eyes of the folks in charge. It's about player development.
To that end, and I think Wells and Paschall offered this on Thursday's show, why not just call it a tie and be done with it. That makes more sense that tricked up rules.
As for the Tic-Tac-Toe, well, that was us being a little silly. That is not an official rule of course.
But if did lead to a discussion of why not let the home team pick any number of ways to try to break the tie. Tug of War. Relay race where the opposing managers pick the contestants. Beer chugging contest. Rock-paper-scissors.
Think of the possibilities. Cue Larry Ward
"Welcome back Lookoust fans, after the pitching change there are two outs, tie game, Lookouts with the winning run 90 feet away.
"Monster moment here and the winner of this game will clinch the first-half title and a spot in the postseason. Here's the 2-2 fouled back.
"What a series it has been, of course, if the Lookouts can't push that winning run across here the wind and the pitch ball three. Foul count. Excellent plate discipline right there.
"So it comes down to this if the Lookouts want to win it. Because we all know Sunday extra-inning games here at AT&T are determined by a wing-eating contest.
"Strike 3, he goes down swinging. Stick around friends, because when we come back, the first-half championship will be decided by which catcher can consume the most drumsticks. Now a word from Vida-Flow."
This week's Rushmores:
Rushmore of lead singers of the 1980s hair bands: Bret Michael, Gene Simmons, Jon Bon Jovi, Steven Tyler
Rushmore of pie: A-D-Pis at Auburn. God bless those young ladies. Apple Pie. "Bye Bye Ms. American Pie." Baseball Hall of Famer Pie Traynor.
Rushmore of words we found funny in elementary school. Uranus is the MJ of the category. Poop. Fartknocker. Platypus.
Rushmore of people with a fruit in their name: Fionna Apple, Halle Berry, Chuck Berry and Darryl Strawberry. Does O.J. Simpson count? No, OK.
From Richard
Come on Jay,....yes he's been injured, yes he'll never return to 2000 to 2008 Tiger, yes there are multiple good players that can win majors.......but but.....in just 4 tournaments back against good fields on great tracks he's finished 23, MC, 12 and now 2nd. He has the highest swing speed on the season, his drives are as long as anyone's, I'll take his short game against anyone short of Mickelson and his putting is coming around (witness the 44 foot putt on 17). This is a man who did not come back just to play. He came back to win. And like he always said, he plays to peak 4 times a year. Let's say he plays til he is 46 like Jack at Augusta. That's 4 years and 16 majors. Or later if his back holds up. I'm not saying he'll break 18 but if he stays healthy, I will not say never. Personally I believe he gets both records 19 and 83. Lots of people counted him out (see Jemele Hill) and look where we are. Are you honestly going to say there's no way??
Richard -
Tiger's return has been amazing. And we're in. We hope he is the bees' knees for the foreseeable future because the game is more fun with him in it.
That said, the numbers simply do not compute.
To pass Jack he would have to collect five majors in the next four years under your Jack age comparison. That's unworldly.
To put that in comparison, that would be as many majors as Phil has won in 26-plus years on Tour.
And it would be against the best field he's ever faced.
It would also portray he is back to the early 2000s Tiger when he won five majors in six starts. And that simply can't be done again.
Do we want it to happen? We'd love it. It would be amazing theater.
But the math does not compute.
Great questions gang.
And sorry, no hate mail this week.