Perfectly Willing to Embarrass Myself

Don't squint -- to read it, click on it. My picks are embarrassingly conservative this year, but I just don't see as many upsets as there have been in past years.

The NBA Draft -- it's Yawn-tastic

I can't believe I was tracking the NBA draft throughout the first round last night. Admittedly, it was a background window on my computer, but I still checked it frequently, reading an analysts's take on each pick. Why did I follow such an event? I didn't particularly care about any of these young men, some of whom I watched in the NCAA tournament, most of whom I had never heard of before reading the articles about them on espn.com. I kept wondering why some players were taken later than projected, and if by fluke any would fall to the Celtics, one of the two teams (along with the Wizards, who lacked a first-round pick) that I pull for. I was actually delighted when a player that was supposed to go in the top 10, but whom I'd never heard of before Monday, fell into the Celtics' lap at #18.

Perhaps it's because of the analysis and the analysts. Many of these "experts" have little idea on the likely success of individuals, but still they gush about some picks and ridicule others. I can't believe that no one has put together a montage of analysts gushing/ridiculing themselves into idiocy on past picks. Replay draft night clips of pundits praising Kwame Brown and Darko Milicic, along with dozens of other busts. I have no idea who they criticized that turned out to be gold, but they've got to be out there. Call them draft night bloopers. General Managers and coaches get fired over these players not panning out -- I'm sure they'd love to see someone else join them in the doghouse, if only for the length of a show.

Probably the silliest element of the evening is that I tracked the draft of a sport that I watch perhaps three times per year (though I do play fantasy NBA). Truly I am a sports junkie.

NCAA Tourney Update

For one brief moment, I was on top of the NCAA Tournament world. Sure I'd only gotten 23 out of 32 first round picks right, but all sixteen of my Sweet 16 picks had won. And on Saturday, the first 6 of those 16 had won their next game, including Wisconsin-Milwaukee (at 12, the lowest seed to advance) and Texas Tech (a 6 seed). #7 was tough, but Kentucky pulled through. #8 was Wake Forest dropping the double overtime game to West Virginia. Since I had Wake losing the next round that wasn't such a big deal, but then, in the first game of Sunday, my runner-up pick, Connecticut, was sent packing by N.C. State. Just like that, and fantasies I entertained of being the top entry in the ESPN pool (where until the Wake loss I was in the top 5000 picks out of 3 million) were erased.

Tourney time is great, and it didn't take long for me to get re-energized about the tournament. Anything can happen, and it's amazing when it does. Even Kathy was watching the end of the Syracuse-Vermont game with me. Not sure how much I'll watch when I'm in Mexico, but I'm sure I'll be following it.

The NCAA Tournament

The NCAA tournament gets underway tomorrow, and I'm somewhat surprised at how little I care. I hardly watched any college basketball this season, and while I intend to watch some of the tourney, I'm not particularly empassioned at the thought of it. On three different occasions, Dad and I have gone to the games at one of the first weekend sites. We didn't go far -- each time the games were either in DC or in Tampa. No plans this year -- none of the games are near either of us.

I find that I still enjoy games when I have them on, but I rarely have the games on. Why do I deny myself the pleasure of watching the games?

Despite my ignorance, I still have thoughts on how the games will shape up (though I didn't enter any pool except the free one on espn.com):
2nd Round (these picks'll make it obvious who I pick in Round 1):
Illinois over Texas
Wisconsin-Milwaukee over Boston College
Arizona over UAB
Oklahoma State over Southern Illinois
Washington over Pacific
Georgia Tech over Louisville
Texas Tech over Gonzaga
Wake Forest over West Virginia
UNC over Minnesota
Florida over New Mexico
Wisconsin over Kansas
Connecticut over Charlotte
Duke over Mississippi State
Michigan State over Syracuse
Utah over Oklahoma
Kentucky over Iowa

Final 4 (making obvious my picks in the Sweet 16):
Illinois over Oklahoma State
Texas Tech over Georgia Tech
Connecticut over UNC
Duke over Kentucky

Finals:
Illinois over Connecticut

Naturally, this'll be the year I'd win almost any pool (except the espn one with several hundred thousand entries).

The New Blue Devils

Making the cross-sport college-pro comparison...

Duke is a dynasty -- they've been at or near the top of college basketball, with the exception of one year, for as long as Mike Krzyzewski has been their coach. How have they done it?

Coach K has recruited numerous All-Americans, which puts him in select company in the college basketball world -- fewer than 25 teams are able to lure All-Americans with any consistency. That being said, however, very few of the Duke players have ever done anything great in the NBA (had not injuries derailed much of his career, Grant Hill could be considered in the great category, but he might be the only one) -- many of his top players have been relative flops (Danny Ferry, anyone?). In other words, they're good players, but they're not the elite, and Duke has been successful even though they've lacked the top talent in the game. Duke wins because of the coach and his system, because the players believe in the coach and his system, and because the players sublimate their egos (at least, as much as college-aged BMOCs can do so) for the good of the team.

This seems to be the blueprint that the New England Patriots are following, and why they may someday be a dynasty.