My alma mater, Miami, actually gets to do a little dancin' at March Madness this year. First time since the days of Wally World, ten years ago. And we are not coached by Abe Vigoda, as someone implied, although he may have better health than Charlie Coles. Typical Miami game last night. If they can keep the score in the 40's and 50's, they have a shot of winning. If the score heads north of 60, it's trouble. North of 70, they're done.

Am I the only one who thought the refs blew the timing at the end of the game? OK, 6.6 seconds left, and Akron guy misses a foul shot. Miami rebounds, but the clock does not start right away, later the refs say .6 seconds went missing and I agree with that. Miami pushes the ball up court and sinks a three at the buzzer to win the game, at least everyone thinks so. Clearly, the clock does not start on time, so the refs ADD .6 seconds to give Akron one more chance. Now, hold the phone. If the clock did not start for .6 seconds at the START of the possession, why are we adding .6 seconds at the END of the possession? In other words, Miami did not take 7.2 seconds to hit that shot. Even with the clock error, it was still done within the prescribed 6.6 seconds.

I thought it very simple. As long as the Miami guy shot the ball with more than .6 seconds on the replay, which he did, the game should have been over, as the game ended as the ball went through the nets. I don't understand how they added more time and I think there would have been a major controversy if Akron had won with that extra time. Now follow me. 6.6 seconds on clock, clock does not start right away, everyone agrees on .6 seconds. When the Miami guy launches the shot, there are maybe 1.2 or 1.4 seconds left, when it should have read .6 or .8, using the .6 seconds explanation. So, that means there was actually less time than what the clock showed, and it would have gotten to 0.0 quicker, not later, with a correct clock. Someone tell me why they added more time, outside of causing me to invent expletives? Again. I still don't get it.

I like the fact Miami got placed in the Midwest Region...at Spokane, WA. Huh? We get to face the Ducks of Oregon. Reference Paragraph 1. We're done.

Meal of Links

Let's all get on the bandwagon early with one show that is about to become a regular on my schedule. "The Riches" debuts Monday on F/X at 10:00. You might as well start watching now, instead of me imploring you to save shows I like from cancellation. BTW, I probably had three programs cancelled on me this year. "Kidnapped", "Knights of Prosperity" and "The Class".

Things I've tried lately:

Diet Pepsi Jazz. The Caramel Cream variety. I've decided this shit ain't very good, and it's really fizzy. Why do all the Diet Jazz products seemingly need vanilla ice cream in them to make them taste better? On second thought, what made me think liquid caramel soda would be good? Hot butter caramel smoothies, yes. Fizzy soda with the slightest hint of melted Kraft caramel taste, yuck.

Pringles Select. I don't know who comes up with this stuff, but the idea of high-grade Pringles is kinda funny. But these were unbelievably good. I got the Szechaun Barbecue variety. Good spice, good crunch, and they come in a bag. But head for the mouthwash immediately.

Trader Joe's Soy and Flaxseed Oil Spicy Tortilla Chips. OK, this is even more of a WTF? than the Pringles. I'm not sure if Barry Bonds likes these or if we use the Cream or the Clear for dipping, but these babies were pretty good and I did not really care if they were healthy or not. With TJ's fresh salsa, I vote yes.

How Walt Disney changed everything. BTW, Orlando is one of the Top 25 Most Dangerous Places to Live.

Exercise Yard

I kind of liked this tribute to goal celebrations in soccer. I wish there was a better film of Robbie Fowler snorting the touch line, but there are some gems in here. The music (especially the last goal with "Psycho Killer") that was chosen for each goal made me laugh, too.



Joey Barton of Man City getting knighted by Corradi (who also does a mean "Street Fighter" celebration, BTW) always makes me laugh.



Visitor

None, it's Selection Sunday.