NCAA Tourney underway

You guys should have seen me today... I had to work until about 6 pm (european time) which meant I was 40 minutes late for the Xavier vs Georgia tipoff. Damn! On top of that my mom calls me and tells me I have to get a pack of water bottles. I bought them at the supermarket and then I was running with that 6 bottle pack under my arm all the way to my house. Of course it was nasty cold and it was raining. What a great start to the NCAA Tournament 2008!

But hell, who cares? The games had already began and I was looking forward to the Michigan State/Temple matchup. I'm rooting for the Spartans and they should atleast make it out of the first round. First box score 30:17 Spartans! Yes! I had already jumped off my bed again. The next hour or so I followed the Spartans game closely and enjoyed them running away with it early in the second half. Just like most of favored teams the Spartans really didn't have that much trouble leading throughout basically the entire contest. Just like Kansas, Pittsburgh, Stanford and Purdue. Xavier was in a dogfight with the Georgia Bulldogs who continued their frenetic bid for keeping their season alive. Too bad these guys ran out of gas in the second half but they put up a great fight.
Just like Joe Crawford and Ramel Bradley from the Kentucky Wildcats. Both senior, they went up against a tough Marquette team and basically took the depleted Wildcats team on their back. Crawford was incredible with 35 points but it shouldn't be enough as the Golden Eagles survived 74:66. But this is what March Madness is all about - seniors stepping up, teams fighting against the odds and their inevitable destiny. I tip my hat to Crawford, Bradley and their teammates!
I can't tip it though for Kent State. Well yes, maybe I can. I had money on UNLV (who crushed Kent by 13) and on Marquette. So thank you Kent State for putting up the lowest total in a first half in NCAA history. It sure was worth the money for me, paired with a foul call three seconds before the buzzer in the Marquette game. Sometimes you need a little luck.

Hopefully we'll also be a bit luckier and the action picks up a bit. The weekend already waits for us with some great matchups. Michigan State vs Pitt is an example. And right about now, in a couple of minutes, this Mayo guy and the Beasley kid going up against each other, that should be pretty entertaining too...