boomboomsroom

The madness that was March Madness didn’t disappoint due to the calendar turning the page to April.  We have a few nuggets for you to chew on prior to tonight’s final.

1.  Saturday, in The Final Four matchups, upset minded and upstart Texas Tech stymied a darn good Michigan State team.  Meanwhile, Virginia squeezed by upstart and upset minded Auburn.  The field of 64 narrowed to 2, and tonight it’s down to the one who gets the scissors to cut down the twine.
2. Virginia is a slight 1 and 1/2 point favorite if you like a wager.  Or, you could place $100 to win $110 on Texas Tech on the money line while Virginia costs you $130 to win $100.  Hmm.  What to do?  What to do?
3. One bettor has a YUGE (thanks Donald) “what to do?” themselves.  He or she put $1500 on Texas Tech to win it all back in November.  The fat odds then were 200-1.  The potential payday is 300k.   Here is the story.  And, here is the dilemma.  If you have come this far, do you let it ride?  It’s 300k or nothing.  Or, do you hedge the bet?  Maybe you bet 100k on Virgina on the money line tonight.  If you don’t have 100k in loose change stuck in the sofa cushions, you could always borrow it from friends and pay them back plus a bit of the haul.  That would insure a 100k payday at a minimum if Virginia wins, or a 200k payday if Texas Tech wins.  Common sense says that you have to hedge.  Of course, common sense says that $1500 on Texas Tech in November wasn’t using a lot of common sense either.
4. Common sense also says that Virginia beat Auburn 63-62 in the last second fair and square.  Conspiracy theorists disagree and at least one Auburn fan disagrees.   His feelings poured out right after the game and right at the refs.  You can see the short clip here. But turn down, way down, the volume if you are at work.
5. If you think that the refs collectively followed some mysterious guidance from the NCAA to get the “blue bloods” into the finals as some have mentioned, we have a question or three for you.  Was the whole game tilted that way, or just the no call double dribble against Virginia and the three-point attempt Auburn foul call?  Why did the NCAA “allow” Texas Tech into the grand finale?  Why not fix that game too?  And, lastly, do you believe that one of the three shots that Lee Harvey Oswald took really came from a sharp shooter behind the grassy knoll?
6. Speaking of sharpshooters, how about that Guy?  Kyle Guy that is.  Kyle was fouled (per the maybe crooked, maybe biased refs) and very calmly sank three straight free throws, the last of which was taken after a timeout aimed at icing him.  He iced the game for Virginia instead.  Ten years from now you can ask, “Do you remember when that guy hit those three last second free throws to win that game over Auburn?”  Then you can ask what was that guy’s name?  Don’t be that guy.
7. Is there any hypocrisy in Auburn yelling about cheating?  Watching Bruce Pearl bounce up and down the sidelines after the foul call in disbelief about the refs ruling was just a tad of karma.  Bruce has been accused a time or three of cheating, too, we seem to recall.  One of his Auburn assistants plead guilty in the NCAA/FBI investigation while another was just suspended on March 13th.  He will remain sidelined (not on the sidelines) while the probe into his alleged involvement in a bribery while at Penn U. is investigated.  His acts at Penn might put him in the pen too.  He needs a good defense attorney.
8. Speaking of good defense, The Red Raiders of Texas Tech play some.  Don’t take our word for it, ask Michigan State.  Or, ask any other team that they have faced in this tournament.  The over/under line for tonight is 118.5.  It’s the lowest point total for a final in 20 years.  Who says defense doesn’t win championships?
9. Dick Vitale picks Virginia to win it all in a close, low scoring defensive struggle.  Shocker.  Him taking the blue blood team, taking the chalk, and predicting low scoring isn’t exactly groundbreaking.  Dick was once, and for a long time, a breath of fresh air in the gym.  Now, his rhetoric is tired.
10. We’ll take Texas Tech and over 118.5.  If you haven’t heard, we like to zig when others zag.

Enjoy the final.  You’ll be watching it.  So will Bruce Pearl.  Isn’t karma a beeotch?