OK, we were going to move very quickly this week. We’re on the road, and the photo above is from the Mrs. 5-at-10 from Sunday watching 35-to-50-foot waves on the North Shore.
Great times.
So, from the extremely awesome and the awesomely extreme satellite office here in the land of Aloha, let’s do this.
Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, bends over after missing a birdie putt on the 13th green during the third round of The Players Championship golf tournament Saturday, March 16, 2019, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)Weekend winners (Non-College Hoops)
5-at-10 clan. Spending spring break in Hawaii does not stink. We spent Sunday climbing a mountain to watch the sun rise from a pill box military facility from 1943, watching in awe as the North Shore was everything it was pledged to be, and body surfing in the Pacific.
American drinkers. Does any society embrace another culture’s holiday for the sake of kicking back cocktails? Sunday was St. Patty’s Day. Cinco de Mayo is around the corner. Does anyone know when we’re gong to embrace the random version of a Federal holiday of Sri Lanka? Cause I am all in and ready to kick back their (are the Sri Lankans, Sri Lanki or Sri Lankarians?) favorite libation.
Rory McIlroy. Dude is golfing his ball and now has top six finishes, including a win at The Players, in his last seven tournaments.
This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Bradley Cooper, left, and Lady Gaga in a scene from “A Star is Born.” The cast was nominated for a SAG Award for best ensemble. The SAG Awards will be held Jan. 27 and broadcast live by TNT and TBS. This year’s show will honor Alan Alda with the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award. (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)Weekend loser
A Star is Born. Man, what a bummer that one is. It may be too soon for spoilers, but dang the ending was a DOWN-er. Yes the music is first class but if that was an Oscar contender, well, the Oscar field needs to get better. And I am a Bradley Cooper fan.
LeBron and the Lakers. It’s time to shut it down and admit year 1 of James in La-La Land has been an abject failure. The same record – after a loss to the hapless Knicks on Sunday – through 71 games as last year without LeBron is a staggering disaster. (Side note: Hey, Stunt man, I did not watch a moment of it, and I still am completely content taking an NBA break for a slew of reasons. But the score across the ticker during the small fraction of the Auburn-UT game I saw was enough to let me know that the LeBronkers are a strong WL contender.
Miami Dolphins fans. When the answer to your franchise quarterback question is Ryan Fitzpatrick, it’s fair to wonder how seriously your franchise is concerned about winning. Hey, Happy St. Patty’s Day, right?
Tournament chances to win and chances to spin
OK, you know the drill. The annual “Last one in, First 1 out” contest here at the 5-at-10 is officially live.
Rules are simple: Send me your best guesses at which 1 seed with be the first eliminated and which double-digit seed will be the last among those seeded worse than No. 9 to still be dancing. (Correct 1 seeds are worth 1 point; correct double-digit seeds are worth 1.1.)
Put your picks in the comments or feel free to email me at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com. Deal? Deal.
Now, as for that bracket, well, dang man, I think the committee feels the need to be controversial for the chatter.
Here are five takeaways from Selection Sunday that are simply jaw-dropping realizations of the modern game, even in the best year of college hoops in a quarter century.
> College tournaments simply do not matter. Michigan State won’t tournament, Villanova won its tournament, and Auburn won its tournament and those teams got almost the exact bid they were going to get before the conference draws. Seriously, if the tournaments are too late to matter, then move them up. Never mind the teams that got bounced in upsets in conference brackets that did not fall a lick. Yes, I am looking directly at you Gonzaga. OVER-rated, Clap-clap, clap-clap-clap.
> Committee is so consistently inconsistent that it is downright funny. Someone please explain how the ACC can be the best conference ever – or at least the only one to ever get three 1 seeds – and a 22-win NC State is not in the draw.
> Call me a homer all you want, but Auburn got completely hosed. A 5 with a second-date with 4-seeded Kansas, in the midwest after winning the SEC and taking an eight-game winning streak into the tournament. And the Tigers got a 1:30 Thursday tip off in Salt Lake? Hey, I know Bruce Pearl’s postgame SEC title game speech seemed disingenuous to say the least, but dang that was a kick to the crotch from the committee. LSU, Purdue and Texas Tech each lost in its conference opener and each got a better seed than Auburn.
> All the small school whining. Gang, we have said this forever: Every team in college basketball is in the tournament because every league as a conference tournament, and if you win that you are in.
> Contest tip: Gang, pay attention to the first four in Dayton. Did you know that since 2011, at least one of the 11 seeds to win in Dayton for each of the last eight years, and four of those got beyond the first weekend? You’re welcome
This and that
– The AAF picks from Thursday went 2-2 because, of course they did. Not sure if we have correctly picked a Spurrier game all year to be honest.
– Hoops hypothetical has hyper-success. We finished the college basketball picks season on a heater, going 5-2 before leaving for Hawaii That 5-2 showing made us 61-38-2 (61.6 percent) against the spread this season. Entertaining times
– Rough weekend for our Baylor bashers, Keith Mitchell and Luke List, who each posted midd-70s Saturday and Sunday to fall from the top 10 at the midway point at The Players to middle of the pack.
Today’s question
OK, here’s a different one.
The 5-at-10 clan was in the Atlanta airport at 9 a.m. for a 10:55 direct flight to Hawaii. Delta oversold the flight and, if you were willing to take a flight with multiple connections – connections that would change what, including the drive from Chatt-town from a 15-hour travel experience to a 30-hour travel experience – Delta would pay you $800.
Would you take that? Would you take that if you were traveling with a family that had two kids under 12?
Discuss.
Today is March 18, let’s review. On this day 60 years ago, President Eisenhower signed a law to admit Hawaii to the union.
Rushmore of best places to vacation in these United States of America. Go.