Let’s handle our business:
› Rushmore of sports Patricks – Ewing, Mahomes, Roy and Dan Patrick, who actually may be far left of the all-time most popular ESPN peeps. That’s more than enough. Plus, Danica is not all that to me.
› Rushmore of sports Bobbys – Orr, Bowden, Jones and Boucher narrowly over Ricky Bobby from the NASCAR documentary “Talladega Nights.”
› Rushmore of Glen/Glenn – “Glengarry Glen Ross,” John Glenn, Glen Campbell, and I’m sorry I enjoy the works of Scott Glenn more than the works of Glenn Close. So there you go.
› Rushmore of “Queen” – The band of course, Cleopatra, queen bee and the Bogart classic “African Queen,” which is way better than the Billy Ocean debacle “Caribbean Queen,” and even John Michael Montgomery’s redneck classic, “Queen of my Double Wide Trailer.”
Wow, what a Thursday for the local players in the first round of the Valspar as Stephan Jaeger and Keith Mitchell are among a group of four at 4 under to lead after 18 holes.
To a shorter mailbag because we have to get ready for the Friday of the Dance.
Bonus Rushmore question: Rushmore of songs with “Dance” in the title? Go.
From a bevy of you
Thoughts on March Madness, Day 1?
Gang
Where do we start?
We’ll start with the 100% accurate prediction that MocsColts has already crafted multiple insults about Missouri losing to Drake and Georgia getting waxed by Gonzaga.
Then we will move to a strange realization about this year’s tournament.
There are the outcomes I am cheering for.
There are the outcomes I am betting on.
And then there are the outcomes in my bracket in the TFP office pool.
And those three do not always overlap.
For example – I wanted Georgia to win, bet on Georgia to win and had them in my bracket. That was a thorough L, but at least it was consistent.
But for Missouri, I wanted the Tigers to win, decided last minute to sit that one out in betting circles and picked Drake on my sheet.
The reasoning for the difference is simple. The 5-at-10 crew entered multiple sheets, and we had a bunch of folks riding MU.
So we varied our brackets. Drastically.
Like in my office pool sheet, I have Auburn failing to get to San Antonio. Yes, it pained me, but everyone else – other than my daughter, who has Florida winning it all – has Auburn winning it.
Which got me wondering if a) I’m in the minority of picking against my team in a bracket in an effort to mitigate the suffering if AU does fall short of the Final Four, and b) I should feel guilty about hedging rather than playing my gut?
Thoughts?
From PD
Man, this tournament is great. I love it.
Do you have particular winners and losers from today and for (Friday)?
PD
As for my Day 1 basketball reactions: Will Wade can coach ball. That is all, and LSU will continue to rue the day they ran him. He would have built a monster in Red Stick, and I think the Wolfpack will be right behind Duke inside of two years in the ACC standings.
McNeese State is a fun story. (Hey, the ACC wet the bed too.)
Yes, the above losses for Missouri and Georgia will have MC dancing in the streets, but we need to tip the visor to Arkansas, which delivered the mercy killing on the worst Kansas hoops season since Larry Brown left it in shambles in the early 1990s.
St. John’s is better than I expected. Michigan got hosed with a 5 seed.
As for today:
> Duke cruises. I am staying on the Florida ATM regardless of the almost 30-point spread. (May want to explore a first-half ride on that one.)
> I’m on Mississippi State minus-1 against Baylor, Alabama over whatever the total is because it’s Alabama, CSU with an upset in the eyes of the seeds but not in the eyes of Vegas over Memphis, SEC losses for Vandy and Ole Miss and Oklahoma plus the points against UConn.
Discuss.
From Chas
For Friday’s bag, Jay, do you think our VOA dollars were money well spent? And do you agree with Musk that the VOA journalists are “radical left crazy people”?
Martina Navratilova says VOA was important in her journey to freedom.
Chas
The VOA cuts are unfortunate in that suits and layoffs suck, especially for the folks directly impacted by them.
To be honest, I’m not as familiar with VOA or Radio Free Europe. Do they play new country, because Luke Bryan stinks?
Do I think Elon has too much of the Donald’s ear? Yep.
But do I think that all of us – at one point or another – have called for and clamored for more efficiency, focus and accountability in federal agencies and operations? Uh, yep.
I truly hate the impacts that appear headed for our national parks, which are important to me and my family. But our current paths of over-borrow and then over-over spend surely aren’t working.
And let’s be clear, Martina’s backhand and serve-and-volley game were the biggest keys to her freedom.
Great back-and-forth this week, gang.
From Brad
Asking the question we all want to know:
If you stepped in the box against the Lil’ Miss 5-at-10, is she striking you out?
Asking for a million 5@10 regulars.
Brad
Oh, I wish we had a million regulars.
But here’s the real skinny of your question.
The only way I have a chance is if she makes a mistake, especially with her offseason stuff and speeds my bat up.
She’s throwing in the low 60s right now, and translated through the distance of comparisons, that’s a low-90s MLB fastball from the relative distance of the pitching rubbers. (Softball is 45 feet from home plate; MLB’s mound is 60-feet, 6-inches from the plate.)
If she were content to ride the lightning and not get too tricky, it would be like the old Bugs Bunny pitching cartoon. “1-2-3 strikes, you’re out.”
Have a great weekend, friends, and enjoy the Madness. And thanks for what each of you brings to this little island of the interwebs.