UK Countdown to Coronation - Can Kentucky Wildcats make History?

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America's only Real Reality Show

With the announcement of the NCAA March Madness brackets today America will once again enter the era of peace brought about when college hoops overwhelm political procrastination and all the other nonsense that dominates the nightly news.

Finally, television will be filled with real reality TV, not the manufactured BS fed to us by idiotic television producers, writers, studios, and sponsors.  What you see is what really happened from the tears to the cheers, the Cinderella stories to the last second upsets.  You will see power and prayers compete for dominance as 67 teams set out to derail the mighty Kentucky Wildcats.

UK, America's most dominant and legendary basketball citadel will again make a run for the national championship and along the way will be shattering NCAA records every step.  In fact, this is one year when Kentucky, who many people love to hate, may just win over a few million fans to the legacy of Lexington hoops.

UK secret weapon, Ashley Judd

I am a devoted Wildcat fan, but the Arizona variety not Kentucky.  You see, I played basketball for the University of Arizona of the PAC 12 back when UCLA, our main opponent, was winning national championships every year.  It was not until much later we discovered boosters were paying some of the UCLA players a salary, illegal of course, during that incredible John Wooden run.

For those of you too young to appreciate history, Wooden, the Wizard of Westwood, won ten national championships in 12 years including seven in a row, feats that will never happen again.  Between 1964 and 1975, UCLA won the ten national basketball championships and won again in 1995 for a total of eleven.  Kentucky has won eight.  However, UK wins spanned from 1948 until 2012, and most likely number 11 will come in 2015, spanning 67 years.  Overall Kentucky has the most wins of all schools in history with 2,208.

There are three teams in the top five nicknamed the Wildcats, Kentucky, Arizona, and Villanova.  If Kentucky and Arizona keep winning, they will meet in the final four semi-finals.  All three of these Wildcats could be in the final four, something that has never happened before.  Of course the University of Arizona would have to beat number one seeded Wisconsin to get to the final four.

UK Coach Calipari

 The road to the championship begins Tuesday, St. Patrick's Day, March 17, and ends the day after Easter, April 6, at Indianapolis.  The last team to have a perfect record and win the championship was Indiana in 1976 when they finished 32-0.  UK is already undefeated and 34-0 with six games to win to be champion.  If they do win, it will shatter the 32 game unbeaten- record for the year and UK would be 40-0.

Stay tuned for some of the top games in the early rounds.

Did I mention the only national championship won by Arizona was in 1997 and they beat, guess who, Kentucky.  Arizona prevented UK from winning three in a row.

Goooooo Cats or Kats.

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CPT TWIT - March Madness - Action behind the Action

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Forget the floor and look at the sideline for the NCAA March Madness action you may have missed.

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The Scoopala on the Hoopala - March Madness is Here!!!

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At long last the college basketball season is over and the conference tournaments have left more questions than answers so it must be time for March Madness when men become boys watching the boys become men playing.

Thank God for sports in America and the Super Bowl, Rose Bowl, Orange Bowl, March Madness, World Series and every other athletic showcase that separates the best from the rest.

If we had to live only with the news, politics and current events the suicide rate would be ten times higher in America, the gambling industry would be dead, and guys would have so much more time to spend with their girls the divorce rate would probably double.

Think of the economic impact from sports.  Billions spent in pools, billions more spent on booze, and for the first time we will know the economic impact when potheads try to keep up with the high speed boys in shorts.  We can actually measure the economic impact in Colorado (where it is legal) and also poll the fans to see how many even realize the University of Colorado is in the tournament.

"Hey man, what the hell is a Buffalo doing running up and down the court?  I thought we were watching B-ball not National Geographic."

This will also be the first time in history we have a billion dollar pool thanks to The Sage of Omaha Warren Buffett and speaking of Omaha the Creighton Blue Jays are also in the tourney along with player of the year candidate Doug McDermott.

The last two national champions, Kentucky intra-state rivals the Louisville Cardinals and the University of Kentucky Wildcats are in the same bracket and will have to play in the third round, long before the championship game.

One of the #1 seeds, the University of Arizona, is my alma mater where I played on the Wildcats team long ago and should have a good shot at winning it all but the field is well balanced and any number of teams could win.

From now until April 7 we can forget about the world and join our families and friends in one of the greatest reality shows in the world, the NCAA Basketball championships.  These kids have spent their entire lives working for this moment.

Most world and national championships like the Super Bowl, World Series, World Cup and even the Olympics give the players multiple chances to win since they can always qualify the next year but once your college career is over there will never be another chance to win in your lifetime.

Of course the cheerleaders add glamour and energy to the proceedings and it is their only moment in the national spotlight as well.  Come to think of it there should be a contest for the best cheerleading squad as well.

So here is some of the scoopala...

Watch Doug McDermott of Creighton, the smoothest shooter in the nation, continue to set records.

Will the only unbeaten team in America, Wichita State, survive?  They have to get past Kentucky, St. Louis and Louisville in the first three rounds.

Can #1 Florida keep it up after escaping a loss to Kentucky in the last second of their last game?

What conference will win the most games?  What conferences may not exist next year?

Will there be a Cinderella team this year (San Diego State?)?

Which teams will self-destruct in the closing minutes when a player forgets the team and seeks individual glory?

What better way to end the Winter of our discontent than letting your globes get glued to the radiation generator screen and cheering for the underdogs.  Move over Putin, we got better things to worry about.

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Last Night in Tucson Barack Obama Grew Up - from Politician to President

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In an event titled "Together we thrive - Tucson and America", the University of Arizona brought together 26,000 students and people of Tucson to celebrate the lives and memories of the fallen, the injured, the heroes and the hopes for a better world.

America was long overdue in learning the true story of the people of Arizona and while this event shined a little light on the rich cultural history and diversity of the state, we have a long ways to go to understand fully the riches we have gained from the cultural diversity and ancient history of this sacred state.

Over 14,000 people jammed into the University of Arizona basketball stadium and another 12,000 were out in the cold in the football stadium to help the people of Tucson overcome this tragedy. The program prepared by the University and students showed a side of America not often seen in the national news.

From the opening Blessing Way ceremony by a Yaqui Indian, a person half Mexican and half Indian who attended the University and now teaches at the University, we were exposed to the mystery, magic and mysticism of the ancient ways.

Those who understand the Native American culture could appreciate what was said and done. From calling on the Creator, God, to Mother Earth, the Holy Mother Mary, the parallels between the ancient Indian cultures to Christianity should have been obvious. Unfortunately, too many Americans still believe the old stereotype that Indians were pagans when the truth is far different.

But the students of the University know different. When I attended that University I had classmates, fraternity brothers and best friends who were Native Americans and Hispanic, long before the days of racial tolerance and cultural diversity.

My Navajo brothers took me to the high desert of Northern Arizona to introduce me to the most mysterious and sacred Indian nation on Earth, the Hopi nation, where the People of Peace and Children of God have spent thousands of years seeking to live in harmony with all peoples. Critics who question whether it was appropriate for a Native American to perform the Blessing Way ceremony should try to understand the incredible message in such ceremonies rather than question the appropriateness of the message.

As for the ceremony itself, Native Americans have long celebrated the life of those lost rather than the death of those lost and it is this belief that was represented by the pep rally type atmosphere that was most apparent in Tucson. In truth, our Native Americans seem to better understand the world of God, the soul and the spirits of Heaven than the Christians who condemned them as pagans over the centuries.

It was unnerving to many eastern commentators to hear the cheers and joy expressed by the crowd at the mention of the victims and families but these victims killed and wounded were their classmates, former students at the University, and friends and family of students. There were 26,000 people sharing the grief and lifting the hopes of those victims of this terrible tragedy.

President Obama grew up last night when he stepped to the podium. At first taken aback by this unusual memorial reaction by the crowd, his message was what needed to be heard and was cheered by the crowd. As he warmed to the audience, they warmed to him and he became the spiritual leader of the people not the partisan politician of the past two years.

No longer the pit bull of the Democratic party, he was the healer of a nation joining the students in one of the most emotionally uplifting moments in modern times. His reception was not an endorsement of his too liberal platform, but a demonstration that there are times and places for politics, and this was not one of them. That is the mark of a leader.

When Obama talked about the hopes and dreams of Christina Taylor Greene for the first time he addressed the nation as a father and parent, not a politician. It demonstrated a humility not often seen in our political president.

"The hopes of the nation are here tonight," Obama said to a tearful Tucson crowd, and "we join you in your grief." Who could fail to be moved when he called on us to live up to the expectations of Christina Taylor Green, the 9-year-old who was born on Sept. 11, 2001, and died Saturday in Tucson?

Obama gave the perfect address to a nation whose grief needed to transcend to a celebration of the lives of the fallen and the University of Arizona gave him the opportunity to help with the transition. I was proud of my University, the students, and the people of Tucson for showing us that grief in and of itself may help the living but by celebrating their lives truly honors the victims.

Let us hope we all take note of the long needed change. I have included a video thanks to C-Span of the entire ceremony so those of you who missed it can see for yourself how grief needs to be handled to bring resolution. C-Span does not interrupt the ceremony for senseless cable news commentary. Please double click on the video for full size.  It is well worth taking time to watch.

May God Bless Tucson and God Bless America for helping us through this difficult time.



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