10. Wisconsin Badgers
- Tokyo Story
Yasujiro Ozu’s 1955 classic tells the story of an elderly couple traveling from a small village in Northern Japan to the more modern, hustling and bustling scene of Tokyo to visit their children and grandchildren. While there, they feel alienated and unwelcome, as they discover that their children are now grown up and have families of their own. Neither side ever expresses their frustration or angst, but the film captures the daily life of a typical family growing old. Their frustrations and fears are summed up with Setsuko Hara muttering the words: “isn’t life disappointing?”
Life has been disappointing for Wisconsin Badgers basketball. Years of top three finishes in the Big10, conference tournament titles, top 10 finishes, and top seeds in the tournament have not translated to success in March. If I were a Badgers fan, I would be breaking multiple items with a Belmont draw.
9. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
“What we have here, is failure to communicate.”
- Cool Hand Luke
I’m not sure if the success of Notre Dame this year has been successfully communicated to most people. Even this past week, when many thought they could jump to a one seed, they seemed undervalued and disrespected. If the Big East is the best conference of all time, and ND finished 2nd, beating the #1 team, Pitt, on the road, and also scored non conference wins over Wisconsin, Gonzaga, and UGA, you would think that they would get more credit and publicity than they do. They have a favorable second round game, but Purdue looms in the sweet sixteen.
8. Purdue Boilermakers
“Oh we got both kinds, country and Western.”
- The Blues Brothers
I always, always, always try to look past the superstars of a team, and give credit to the supporting cast. Purdue does have a nice supporting cast, but anyway you slice it, Purdue is a lot like Bob's Country Bunker. They're a two trick pony (I mean this in the best possible sense). Moore and Johnson are capable of not only keeping them in business, but thriving as well. Let's remember this though. Bob's Country Bunker was good to the Blues Brothers. After warming up, the the Brothers were able to find a groove, rock out a nice set, and earn $200, which was -$100 because they drank $300 worth of beer. So the fact that Purdue only has two main scoring threats, does not mean that they can't compete for a national title.
Two things about this scene. A) how much do you think beer cost at BCB in 1980? Had to be no more than $1 a beer, right? There are 10 members of the band: (Jake, Elwood, Blue Lou, Mr. Fabulous, Matt Guitar Murphy, Donald Duck Dunn, Murph, Willie "too big" Hall, Tom 'Bones' Malone, and Steve 'the colonel' cropper.) Thats 30 beers each. Even if the beers are $1.50/piece, thats 20 each. Plus, you figure that Murph could probably only drink 3-4 before hes passed out, so that increases everyone elses average intake. Thats what happens when you figure the beers were "like, ya know, complementary for the band."
b) How fucking late were the Good Ole Boys? They showed up at like 2 A.M. Did they really expect that people would still be there? Don't tell me that the winnebago doesnt have good top end speed, because we see this later on when it drives off the pier. Therefore, they shoulda know well ahead that they would be late and phoned Bob.
7. Kentucky Wildcats
“So you’re a freshmen right? Tell me, hows this year’s crop of freshman chicks looking?”
“Wood youre gonna end up in jail someday, I can tell you that.”
“That’s what I love about these high school girls, man. I get older, they stay the same age.”
- Dazed and Confused
The last 4 years at Memphis and Kentucky, Calipari relied heavily on freshmen to give his teams deep tournament runs. We know the names; Wall, Rose, Bledsoe, Cousins. This year its Jones and Knight. He loves those freshmen, man. Just as Wooderson is the sleaziest character in Dazed and Confused, Calipari is one of the sleaziest coaches in NCAA. And just like Don says to Wooderson, right before this quote “Wood, you’re gonna end up in jail some day,”……uh, yeah, that’s probably applicable to Calipari too.
6. Pittsburgh Panthers
- Public Enemy
See an article I wrote a few days ago about Pittsburgh’s toughness. They are perceived to be a blue collar, bring your lunch-pail, street fight team. They’re not. They’re much more of a finesse, good offense, average defensive team. They lost to Connecticut in the Big East tournament because they got killed on the boards.
5. San Diego State Aztecs
“Don’t fucking condensend [sic] me man, I’ll fucking kill you man.”
- True Romance
The only good exchange in the entire film comes from future mafia boss Tony Soprano, and future everything else Brad Pitt (who knew!).
San Diego State is a team that should not be “condensended” down to. They have two losses all year, both to BYU. They beat Gonzaga, St. Mary’s, Wichita State, Cal, BYU, New Mexico twice, and UNLV three times! They have incredibly athletic big men. They have a coach who has won the national championship before. True, they have never won a tournament game, but that should be taken care of quickly when they play Northern Colorado. After that, the team will continue to gain confidence, and make a big march towards the final four.
4. Texas Longhorns
- Bridge on the River Kwai
Rick Barnes has been around the block. For all the success, especially early season success, his teams have generally fallen flat. For all the talent he has had (Durant, Aldridge, Ford, etc.), and all the times the team looked like a legitimate national title contender, Barnes has made one final four in twelve years as Texas coach.
3. Kansas Jayhawks
- A Few Good Men
Kansas, who gets everyone’s best shot, every night. So close wins over Arizona, UCLA, Memphis, USC, Michigan should not be thought of as bad games for them, but as wins. Avenging their loss to Texas this past weekend was big for the Jayhawks, as they have now beaten every team they faced this year. Their loss to Kansas State only two weeks after they had beaten them by 24 should be thought of as the same thing; that was Kansas State’s best shot, and I’m pretty certain no one would have won in Manhattan that night.
2. Duke Blue Devils
- A Bronx Tale
Let me start off by saying that a) I hate this movie, and b) I don’t know if this quote is even good, but something about it popped into my head when I thought about Duke, and so I put it. It seems as though people are down on Duke, questioning whether they deserve a number one seed (very similar to last year, where they were considered the worst #1 seed). It seems as though Mike Krzyzewski is Sonny in this situation, giving people every chance to leave in a calm, civilized fashion. When they don’t, and when they disrespect Sonny, they don’t have the chance to leave, and proceed to get the shit kicked out of themselves. Well see what Duke does to the other teams in the tourney.
1. Ohio State Buckeyes
“Whoever you are, I often depended on the kindness of strangers”
- A Streetcar Named Desire
To Thad Matta. Make no mistake about it, the contributions of the veteran crew of Buford, Lighty, Diebler, and Lauderdale are huge. Ohio State would not be in the position they are in without the senior leadership of their team. That being said, they wouldn’t be in the position theyre in without the talents of Jared Sullinger, Kraft, and Thomas. Also, Matta’s track record speaks for itself. We know the names of Oden, Conley, Mullens, Koufos, and Turner, all who left after their Fresh year except Turner, who left after Sophomore year. Will there be a mass exodus in Columbus this year? Sullinger gone? The seniors are graduating. Either way, Matta will recruit some new strangers to rely on, and to wreak havoc on the Big10 and nation.
good read man. koop approves. update during tourney for sure.
ReplyDelete