Nobody 761

Sunday, March 22, 2009
Nobody # 761

Nobody Asked Me But:

(Let's hope that the President is better at selecting bailout winners than basketball winners.)

CNN QUESTION LAST TUESDAY

Do you agree with Fed Chairman Bernanke's prediction that the economy will begin to recover next year?

Yes – 68% (Including my vote)
No – 32%

Follow-up question:

If it does, do you agree that Obama will be primed for reelection in 2012?
Yes – Unanimous minus 1
No – Rush Limbaugh

How would all of you answer the first question?<<<

I am not sure but I think it was Saint Augustine who first said – “Moderation in all things – except tacos.”<<<

LATEST FROM THE MORAL MINORITY:

We demand a small government that– bans abortion, impedes gay rights, prohibits stem cell research, outlaws using marijuana for medical purposes, cracks down immoral entertainment.<<<

I didn’t say it first, but I like it: Chavez Latrine – where the Dodgers will go into if Manny gets hurt.<<<

Did you know: that the fastest-growing religious choice is “None,” up from 8 percent to 15 percent?<<<

CHANEY WARNS AGAIN

CNN.com -- Cheney repeats warning about new administration's terror policy: Says Obama’s refusal to use terror threatens the country.

Cheney (and I am paraphrasing a little here): “Freedom is for sissies.”

I mean does this guy love his country or what? Come on! Let’s have a shout-out for the Big Dick!<<<

Mr. President. You are correct. Public education is in crisis and desperately in need of reform. And your heart is in the right place in your desire to make kids and learning the priority. But if you think that testing should be at the center of these reforms, you are wrong. Go back to your Yeats.

“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”
William Butler Yeats

Give me students who graduate with their love of learning intact, and I will take my chances with their test scores every time.<<<

How old am I? Old enough to remember when local television news was all about news and nothing about shilling for entertainment shows on the parent network.<<<

I received a letter from the University of Arizona this past week. It referred to me as a former student athlete. I am not sure whether they were referring to my prowess in boxing where for my class exam I failed to land even one punch on my opponent or my beginning swimming where I repeatedly swam 61 yards before sinking. Or perhaps they found out that I was the penny-pitching and ping pong champion of the Presbyterian Student Center.<<<

For all of you who are keeping count: I added a new Starbucks last Wednesday. New ones don’t come too fast lately, but this one is number 350.

UP ARROW – George Bush for these two quotes:

“There are plenty of critics in the arena. He deserves my silence."

"I love my country a lot more than I love politics. I think it is essential that he be helped in office."

Do you believe a computer can predict the winner of the NCAA tournament?

Yes – 16%
No – 84%

When asked the follow-up question – Do you believe Jim Turner can predict the winner of the NCAA Tournament the NO response jumped to 99.9%.

So here I am – ready to prove them wrong. These are being written on Thursday morning, March 19. How do you know I am telling the truth? Simple. Check out my first round misses.

MIDWEST
Round 1 - Louisville, Siena, Arizona, Wake Forest, West Virginia, Kansas, Boston College, Michigan State
Round 2 – Louisville, Wake Forest, West Virginia, Michigan State
Sweet 16 – Wake Forest, West Virginia
Elite 8 – Wake Forest over West Virginia

WEST
Round 1 - UCON, BYU, Purdue, Washington, Utah State, Missouri, Maryland, Memphis
Round 2 – UCON, Washington, Missouri, Memphis
Sweet 16 – UCON, Missouri
Elite 8 – UCON over Missouri

EAST
Round 1 – Pitt, Oklahoma State, Florida State, Xavier, UCLA, Villanova, Minnesota, Duke
Round 2 – Pitt, Florida State, UCLA, Duke.
Sweet 16 – Pitt, UCLA
Elite 8 – Pitt Over UCLA

SOUTH
Round 1 – North Carolina, Butler, W. Kentucky, Gonzaga, Arizona State, Syracuse, Clemson, Oklahoma
Round 2 – North Carolina, Gonzaga, Syracuse, Oklahoma.
Sweet 16 – North Carolina, Oklahoma
Elite 8 – North Carolina over Oklahoma

FINAL FOUR

Wake Forest over UCON, Pitt over North Carolina

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP – Pitt over Wake Forest

FRIDAY MORNING THOUGHTS:

I went 12-4 Thursday which ranked me number 32,617 in the NY Times Bracket challenge. But it was better than Obama’s 11-5.

Worst basketball but best wrestling– Morgan State’s Ameer Ali flipping Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin over his back. He was ejected from the game, as he should have been, and later received an invitation from the World Wrestling Association to join its ranks. And what’s with all the Griffin hate? Earlier this season $SC’s Leonard Washington deliberately punched him in the crotch.

SATURDAY MORNING THOUGHTS

I moved up after Friday – missed more but moved up. I was 11-5, which makes me 23-9 for the first round. That ranks me number 13,168.

Over-seeded
Illinois
Utah

Under-seeded
Nobody

There have been only two significant upsets so far – Wisconsin beating Florida State on double overtime and, of course, Cleveland State’s shocker over Wake Forest.

Luckiest draw – Arizona, which probably shouldn’t be in the T, now has only to beat Cleveland State to get to the Sweet Sixteen.

Cinderfella – Russ Pennell. A good guy wins.

SUNDAY MORNING THOUGHTS

I was 6-2 yesterday, and I am 29-11 to this point. I fell 4,630 places to number 17,798. One of the 2 losses, of course, was UCLA, which brings me to:

BIG DOWN ARROW: UCLA – Like most people, when my teams lose, I don’t like it. But as long as they give their best effort I will applaud them and love them. This year’s Bruin basketball team did not do it. They are nice young men who seem to have little passion. Their attitude can be summed up as "no big deal, it's just a game."

Confession time - Even though they are PAC-10, I shed no tears for the Huskies. To me they are a bad combination of cockiness and thuggery.

The teams I least hope win it all: UNC, UCON, Memphis, Louisville.

The team I least want to EVER win another game: $SC.

Over-reaction of the week

"Somebody said that we're not in President Obama's Final Four, and as much as I respect what he's doing, really, the economy is something that he should focus on, probably more than the brackets." Coach K.<<<

Or rather, it was until I read this by a feedback poster:

“All the executives and their families (of AIG) should be executed with piano wire — my greatest hope.”