That didn't last very long...

The relatively upset free Day One of Round 1 (my record: 15-1), was overturned by a number of upsets in Day Two (9-7). But, compared to most years I'm relatively satisfied to be sitting at 24-8. UConn was the only team out of those 8 that I had advancing into the Sweet Sixteen (and getting eliminated right after that). There are 6 people tied for first at 25-7, and 10 other people have the same record I do. At this point, there's no reason to celebrate. I'm just glad this "new" system seems to be working so far.

The more I think I know...

Two new discoveries this week:
1) The Wednesday before Holy Thursday is called "Spy" Wednesday.
2) My "new" NCAA system was a tightly contested BYU loss away from a perfect day one. First time I think that's ever happened for me.

And in the file of, you can't judge a book by its cover, I entered a church for the first time, after years of driving past it. Its interior was nothing close to what I was expecting based on the exterior. When I get a chance to take some pictures, I may throw them up here to help you visual what I'm talking about.

...and March Madness

Today is also the beginning of a different sort of Madness in March. One that is particularly amplified this year due to the calendar.

Yep, for the next 4 days, some or many of us will be involved in washing a stranger's hands and feet, eating unleavened bread and lamb, visiting other churches before midnight, performing the Stations of the Cross, welcoming new members into the church, and finding out that there are a heck of a lot of people that show up on Easter Sunday versus your average Sunday mass.

I know a lot has been made about declining attendance, but truth be told I think most people still feel a connection with their faith. I don't think I've ever been to a church that hasn't been full of people on Christmas and Easter (my church in particular has to overflow into 2 separate locations). I just think that there is a disconnect, people feel very compelled to be at mass on Christmas and Easter, but much less so on a weekly or daily basis. I'm not sure if there is a way to gradually alter the mindset on this.

Bonus thought:
A lot of people have remarked that Lent this year has felt particularly shorter. What may be the case is that a lot of people have already forgotten how early Ash Wednesday was, and normally how you may be rebelling against any Lenten promises in mid-April, rather than late March.

March Madness...

Optimist: Anything can happen in the Big Dance!
Realist: An upset or two may happen, but in the end most high seeds will advance.

Every year I join friends in filling out those Tournament Bracket challenges, trying to make "intelligent" guesses on who will advance, based on what I know of the team, its players, its coaches, how much I've seen them beyond short SportsCenter clips and much like everyone else...I fail miserably.

This year, I found an old article that broke down all the potential matchups by record and decided to base my decisions on that. Amusingly it felt much like a game of Sudoku, where your previous choices impacted the later ones. I decided to make a change to one of my brackets once I found out that a particular Final Four seed versus seed matchup...had never happened.

I'll let you know how it goes.

They're not booing, they're just saying "Buuuuuuuuuuuuullls!"

One of Larry's 9 "missed" shots

Wow. This was not what I was expecting when I walked into the UC with my younger cousin an hour before tip off. The Wizards were not only missing Gil Arenas, a career 22 ppg gunner who came close to averaging 30 ppg in 05-06. Not only were they missing Caron Butler a 21 ppg emerging portion of their deadly trio (along with Jamison). The Wizards had just struggled to put up 70 points in a 69-94 loss to Houston. Piece of cake, right?

It certainly played out the way I thought it would in the first half. Bulls ahead 52-34. Nothing to worry about, right?

While Washington reels off 9 straight points (4-5 shooting), the Bulls rack up 3 turnovers and miss 3 shots (one of them blocked), with a timeout in between as well. The offense doesn't seem in rhythm, and the guards don't seem to be in sync, so who should get substituted? One of the guards? Not on this watch! Nocioni and Gooden come in for Noah and Thomas (who never returns).

The Bulls finally score their first point of the quarter with 8:57 to go, but Washington continues push ahead. Their defense and rebounding, non-existent as they rack up 4 more turnovers (one on a questionable offensive foul call) and more missed shots.

Another time out at the 5:03 mark, and my 10 year old cousin asks me? Have they only scored one point this quarter? I look up at the in-stadium stat line, and there it is:

22 to effin' 1.

This time, the timeout seems to take some effect but the Bulls still end the quarter down 3. The fourth quarter begins, and a Hughes turnover leads to a quick Hinrich foul. Duhon is immediately dusted off and thrown into the game.

An energetic UC crowd starts shouting "Duuuuuuuuuu!" for Chris Duhon.

A optimistic UC crowd starts shouting "Buuuuuuuullllllllls!" to motivate the squad.

The disillusioned UC crowd, once sold on a group of hard working players from winning college programs, rained a heavy chorus of displeasure on the poster child of this "new" Bulls era. As you already know, the Bulls lost the game. If the optimist in me was hopeful that the Bulls could salvage some improvement for the remainder of this season, the optimist is me is now convinced that this game will be proof that there will be major changes ahead for the Bulls in the offseason. But that's a discussion for another post.

I have to say though this dunk by Noce was pretty sick: