Yesterday was a long day spent at Quicken Loans Arena watching some NCAA tournament games. March Madness blessed us with four games yesterday and I'll get to them in a moment. First off, we were not so blessed with start times this weekend. With only a scheduled 25-minute break between games on Friday, we were greeted during the late game with the announcement of another late start for Game 2, 7:40 on Sunday. That did not please the Syracuse gathering one iota. First time I ever heard booing for a start time.

But, here's what went down as far as logistics yesterday. Every lot east of East 9th Street did not increase prices. All were listed at $10. I'm sure lots closest to the Q were higher, but that was extremely fair for those who stayed all day. I was in an unattended lot at Bolivar and 9th.

















Part of the angst earlier in the week was the timing between games. Allegedly, the arena was going to be cleaned out because you had to leave the arena as the four games are divided into two sessions. Trust me, they did NOT clean the entire arena between games, as my cups and the peanut shells from the woman next to me remained from our early session. I'm sure the bathrooms got a quick onceover, but nothing in the seating area indicated between-game cleaning.

Yes, they cleared the Q between sessions, but there was no line to get back in. There were people lining up outside, but that appeared to be Xavier people who were not in the place during the afternoon. I walked out a couple minutes before 7, stood around the entrance for a bit, followed some people in, and was back in my seat by 7:15. They didn't tip off until 7:45. To help speed up things, I found it extremely unusual that tickets were not wanded in, as they were in the afternoon, but only stubs were ripped off. Taking two steps to one. Gee, no fraud could take place during that hasty procedure, eh?

But my brother and Paul were able to eat at Tower City, so there was time for a sitdown between games. Maybe not at any 4th Street eateries, but if you went elsewhere, it was doable. And if you left the Buckeye rout early, it could be done easily.

There were no highlights from other games and no in-house replays, but our row was right in front of some clubs where we could peek at some TVs. Only scores from other games were announced and displayed prominently on the scoreboard.

















Oh, and Gus Johnson (in the blue shirt) was there. Ha ha!

I won't bore you with much of the game action but here's the recap of the Cleveland games.

George Mason-Villanova

I have a blind spot when it comes to George Mason. I was big on them getting to the Sweet 16 about a month ago. Then when they drew Villanova and then, perhaps, Ohio State, I wasn't sure about the second game. But I was definitely for Mason against Villanova.

















The first thing you notice about Mason is their band, or should I say, bandleader. Paul called him Cab Calloway, but he goes by Doc Nix. That's a Yale grad in that big yellow suit with cane. Oh yeah, there are also two violins in the pep band.

















This was a really ugly game and the Villanova mascot could not save them. Mason was only down by 6 at the half for reasons unexplained. Villanova only scored 22 points in the second half but intentionally slowed down their offense way too much. When they were quick, they scored. Extremely baffling.

Ohio State-University of Texas at San Antonio

















Really, what can you say about this mismatch. UTSA has a neat name, the Roadrunners. But as soon as their coach got a technical foul early in the second half, he stayed seated. His team must have looked at him and said "If he ain't tryin', why should I?" Game over.

Had to endure lots of "O-H" followed by "I-O" during this game. There was one thing that stood out. There are cheers for many of Ohio Sate players, but you know who gets the biggest cheers? Why, it's Jon Diebler. They just lo-o-o-ove the white man. Watch Sunday, it's uncanny.

















Even at the end of the game, they couldn't contain themselves.

Marquette-Xavier


























Marquette's first half was the best display of basketball on Friday. Good shooting, terrific defense, especially on defense and a loud fan base. Xavier had a ton of fans there, but early foul trouble nicked two starters and they sort of hung around, but Marquette was never really in danger of losing this one.

Syracuse-Indiana State




















The crowd really wanted to cheer for Indiana State. And, for a late game, their fans were boisterous. ISU somehow cut the Syracuse lead to 6 at the half. Then, at the start of the second half, Indiana State, for two minutes, had all of us in the palm of their hand. Then they crapped the bed.

Syracuse in a romp. We finally left when the ISU coach called a timeout with 2 minutes to go. It was about 12:35 a.m. Still observing Lent, I finally had a corned beef sammie when I got home.

Meal of Links

Now they are rating Full Moons. Tonight's Full Moon is a Supermoon. The largest in 18 years. Or is it just amore?

If you hated Google then, what about now? Google revisited.

Simon Cowell loves "Friday" by Rebecca Black. And also hires L.A. Reid for X Factor.

The Foo Fighters are back on tour. Perhaps, in your garage. Would I have to clean it?

We are currently lobbing missiles at Libya. Talk about Madness. Aren't we joining teh losing side of a Civil War? Again. Where's Biden?

Exercise Yard






















My Dad and I took in today's NIT game at the Bart between Cleveland State and College of Charleston. Weird to see Bobby Cremins on the sideline for Charleston, given his past coaching exploits. It was also the last game for Norris Cole at CSU, before he seemingly heads off to the NBA. It will be hard to replace him. Great leader, great teammate, great person, great player.

The season kind of ended with a big thud today. As CSU shot an unbelievable 4% on 3-pointers. That's 1-for-25, if you need it. That's where the problem lied today.

They held Charleston's star guard, Andrew Goudelock, to 13 points in 39 minutes. Decent bench production today. Only 6 turnovers. 40 points in the paint. 81% from the line and they outrebounded CoC. They just couldn't hit a jumper.

The season is over. CSU loses, 64-56.

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