Obamaville March 14 - Primaries and March Madness - America's Entertainment

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International Negotiations American Style

For those of you who think we like to mix politics and entertainment, you got it right.  Last night was the pre-opening round of the NCAA tournament when those teams "on the bubble", yet another odd form of media slang, had to play to get into the tournament.

There were two NCAA games and four NIT games and March Madness doesn't even start until tomorrow.  Make no mistake, however, this is really big stuff, much more important than political primaries.

Why even UK Prime Minister David Cameron flew in and he and President Obama took a break from critical world affairs to run down to Dayton, Ohio for the night to see one of the NCAA play-in games.

Play-in games were an underhanded trick by the NCAA to allow more teams into the tournament without adding a huge number of teams, so four teams play each other for the right to play in the NCAA.  In truth it was a way to take advantage of the massive money made from tournament games.

Of course as the last teams to qualify they get the worst seeding so what does that mean to the winner of these games, they play the top seeded teams in the tourney in their next game. So Western Kentucky, after staging the greatest four minute comeback in NCAA tournament history, now has to face the top team in the nation, the mighty Kentucky Wildcats who are the concensus favorite to win the national championship.  The game is in Louisville.

By the way, as our two heads of state watched on Western Kentucky staged the greatest five minute comeback in NCAA history as they came from 16 points down to win 59-58 over Mississippi Valley State.

The next game in Dayton saw even more history made as BYU staged the greatest comeback in the NCAA history by coming from 25 points behind.  Previously, the largest deficit overcome was 22 points in 2001 when Duke fought back to beat Maryland 95-84 in the national semifinals.

Back to our leaders, we all know Obama loves basketball.  In fact it has been good for basketball and good for Obama politically.  But the Brits, well they have a little problem with strange games in the colonies such as basketball and leaders going out for a good time. Check out this fun report of the game by the London Daily Mail.

The London Daily Mail

Don't risk looking like a basket case, Dave

By Melissa Kite

PUBLISHED: 06:17 EST, 14 March 2012 | UPDATED: 09:52 EST, 14 March 2012

British Prime Ministers are good at many things, but high-fiving whilst eating hotdogs has never been one of them.

David Cameron did his best to look like he was enjoying all the slam-dunking action at the basketball, but this really isn’t our thing, is it? I mean, the only thing we Brits have ever put in a basket for cultural or leisure purposes is a piece of chicken.

Barak Obama invited Mr Cameron to watch Western Kentucky University take on Mississippi Valley State in the opening game of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Men's Basketball tournament, known as March Madness, apparently.

At half-time, the pair were interviewed by Clark Kellogg of CBS Sports and Mr Cameron, an Old Etonian more used to cricket, rugby and The Eton Wall game, tried to pretend he was lovin’ it.

The Prime Minister said: “I'm enjoying it. It's fast, it's pretty fast and furious. It's hard to follow sometimes exactly who's done what wrong.”

Which is a bit like British politics, I suppose. One minute you’re a popular leader in an open-necked shirt hugging hoodies, the next minute you’ve got a fractious coalition to lead and just when you should be worrying about your Budget statement and an impending re-shuffle, you have to get on a plane to the United States and eat hot dogs in front of the cameras at a basketball match.

Asked if the President was helping him make sense of it all, Mr Cameron said: “He's giving me some tips. He's going to help me fill out my bracket.”

I don’t know what that means, but I’m guessing it’s not about the pair of them doing a spot of DIY shelf assembly.

It’s always the same when British Prime Ministers meet US Presidents. Remember the banter when Tony Blair hobnobbed with George W Bush at Camp David? There was some gobbledegook talked then about how they used the same toothpaste.

In the effort to be folksy and populist, to mingle British and American culture together to achieve a sort of transatlantic mateyness, something always gets lost in translation.

It makes you long for the days when world leaders simply held talks behind closed doors then gave a short press conference in the Rose Garden. At least we could understand what they were on about.

What about the political primaries?

Oh yeah, I almost forgot.  Santorum was the surprise winner of both Mississippi and Alabama although I don't understand why the media was surprised since the two states are 80% evangelical and Santorum is the pride of the social moral majority issues.

A bigger surprise was how that liberal from Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, managed to split the vote with Preacher Santorum and Professor Gingrich.  Since Mitt also won primaries in Hawaii and Guam he actually finished third in the two southern states (just barely) yet still walked away with more delegates to the GOP convention.

So I guess the lesson this week is losing can still be winning in politics in America.

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March Madness Begins as Top 25 fall like Dominos

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It was the Mad Hatters Tea Party from Alice in Wonderland where all is not what it seems this last week of the college basketball season before the beginning of March Madness this Thursday.

As the top 25 college teams finished their regular season and headed into the conference tournaments, the last warm up before March madness, there were high hopes for a successful post season launch.

Of course the field was filled with the usual characters that have dominated college basketball for the past 500 years as you can see from the standings, with most top ten teams old hands in March Madness.  Here was the top 25:

Top 25

1.Kentucky

2.Syracuse
3.Kansas
4.North Carolina
5.Missouri
6.Duke
7.Ohio St.
8.Michigan St.
9.Marquette
10.Michigan
11.Murray St.
12.Baylor
13.Georgetown
14.Wisconsin
15.Indiana
16.Wichita St.
17.Florida St.
18.San Diego St.
19.Creighton
20.UNLV
21.Temple
22.Florida
23.Notre Dame
24.Gonzaga
25.Iowa St.

Before the long week was over and the NCAA field was set on Sunday night absolute carnage raged as 21 of the top 25 teams lost.  That may very well be a new record in NCAA history with 84% of the top 25 teams losing the last week of the season.

The biggest upset of all went to Vanderbilt from Nashville as they upset #1 Kentucky in the SEC finals.  But 9 of the top 10 lost, only Missouri survived.  The four who did not lose in the top 25, in red, still lost 19 games between them during the season.

In terms of which are the smartest teams, The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport, at the University of Central Florida, calculated the six-year graduation results for athletes who entered school during the 2003 and 2004 school years. The analysis does not count players who left college early to play professional basketball.

Only the following teams have graduated 100 percent of their basketball team members, Belmont, Brigham Young, Notre Dame and Villanova.  Vanderbilt awarded degrees to 93 percent of its players.  This was as of last year so maybe we will get to see how smart the teams are this year.

Ironically, Vanderbilt, the upset winner over Kentucky, is known more for the mind than the muscle as they won just their first SEC conference tourney title in 61 years.  Yes, Truman was president the last time they won.

The first round opponent for Vandy is the other egg head team of the tourney, Harvard, who has not played in the tournament since 1946, a 66 year absence.  It was in keeping with the other first-time achievements this season for the Crimson, who cracked the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time, and clinched their first outright Ivy League title since 1946.

This could be the most balanced and/or upset prone field in years as Kentucky, who appeared to be a notch above the rest all season, seemed to run out of gas in the SEC tourney.

Stay tuned to more from Wonderland.

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Kentucky Wildcats 25-1 and Still Number One!

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College Basketball Week 15: Kentucky Stays Runaway No. 1 In AP Top 25

Is this the year Kentucky finally wins the National Champioship again? After taking three diffeent teams to the final four will Coach John Calipari finally get his national championship and ticket to the Hall of Fame? The master of coaching the kiddie corp, Kentucky is of course dominated by freshmen, is dominating the polls and opponents as the last few games are played before March Madness begins.

What is it about the Kentucky basketball mystique?

Kentucky basketball history is a glorious thing. And, new coach John Calipari is leading the Cats back to college basketball heaven.

Widely considered to be the best men’s basketball program in the Southeastern Conference, the University of Kentucky Wildcats are in fact also ranked among the elite programs across the nation. Among all NCAA men’s basketball programs, Kentucky ranks #1 all-time with 1,948 career victories (the University of North Carolina is second, with 1,914 career victories). With an all-time record of 1948-608, Kentucky is also #1 all-time in winning percentage, at .762.

The University of Kentucky’s basketball program came into existence in 1910, when E. R. Sweetland signed on as UK’s Director of Athletics and its first basketball coach. And while UK tasted its first championship of any kind in 1921, when it upset Tulane, Mercer, Mississippi A & M, and Georgia to win the first Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association basketball championship, it wasn’t until the hiring of Adolph Rupp, regarded by many as one of the greatest collegiate basketball coaches of all time, [see Top All-Time SEC Basketball Coach] that UK was elevated to a national level of prominence.

The University of Kentucky has won 7 National Championships in Men’s Basketball. The first four, in 1948, 1949, 1951, and 1958, came under the coaching of Rupp. The remaining championships came in 1978, 1996, and most recently, in 1998. That team, coached by Tubby Smith, earned he nickname the “Comeback Cats”, due primarily to their penchant for falling into deep deficits early in games only to rally late, including overcoming double-digit 2nd half deficits in comeback victories in each of the final 3 games of the 1998 NCAA Tournament.

The 1996 Championship team, coached by Rick Pitino, is widely considered to be among the greatest Men’s Basketball teams of all time. See Best All-Time SEC Basketball Team.

That team, which became the first team in 40 years to complete SEC conference play undefeated, went 34-2 en route to its victory over Syracuse in the NCAA Championship game. Kentucky's 1996 basketball team, rated as the best of all time by statistical guru Jeff Sagarin, featured nine future NBA players.

Many former Wildcats have gone on to find success in the NBA. In fact, from 1949-2006, UK ranks sixth nationally with 34 players selected in the first round of the NBA Draft. Among the former UK stars that went on to NBA success are players such as Dan Issel, Jamal Mashburn, Cliff Hagan, Pat Riley, Rex Chapman, and Frank Ramsey.

How big is Kentucky basketball?

By Ron Higgins on February 13, 2012 11:20 AM

So if you're John Calipari and your No. 1 nationally ranked Kentucky team doesn't have a game on Wednesday, what do you do?

You hold a practice, plan to open it to the public and maybe televise it.

"There are a lot of people, fans and students, who never get a chance to see us play," said Calipari during today's SEC teleconference. "They never get a chance to feel that experience."

So Calipari is in the process of trying to figure out where he wants to practice, depending how many people show up.

"If we get 4,000 to 8,000 fans, we'll probably do it in Memorial Coliseum," Calipari said. "If it's 20,000 fans, then Rupp Arena."

What about using Commonwealth Stadium?

"I woke up this morning and it was a little frosty," Calipari said with a laugh.

Kentucky is still unbeaten in league play and doesn't play until Saturday when the Wildcats are home against Ole Miss. Calipari said he's not thinking about winning the league regular season championship with a perfect 18-0 record.

"We're not talking in those terms," Calipari said. "It might happen, it might not happen. I'm just worried about improving and I see that we are. But we have a lot of hard games left. It's not about running the table. It's about putting ourselves in the best possible position at the end of the year.

"I thought our team last year was the best in the country at the end of the year. But that team lost six games on the road in the SEC. It helped us get where we were at the end of the year."

The Basketbowl - Michigan State versus Kentucky
The Basketbowl, between Michigan State and Kentucky, was the most attended basketball game in history. It occurred on December 13, 2003 at Ford Field in Detroit, setting an attendance record of 78,129. The previous record of 75,000 was held by the Harlem Globetrotters during their exhibition game at Berlin, Germany's Olympic Stadium.

Kentucky won the game 79–74. The NCAA was impressed with the massive size of the crowd that they decided in 2008 to expand the seating capacity for the Men's Division I Basketball Championship to a minimum of 70,000 starting with the 2009 Final Four, which would be held in that stadium.

Keep in mind, folks, this was a regular season game.

UK Cheerleaders are National Champions as well

The University of Kentucky climbed back atop the cheerleading world’s pyramid on January 15, 2012, at the Universal Cheerleading Association’s (UCA) College Cheerleading National Championships. Kentucky, competing in the UCA’s Coed IA division beat out 19 other squads from across the nation to win its record 19th national title. Last year’s Division IA champion, Alabama, finished second. The University of Central Florida, the only other squad to topple Kentucky in the past 10 years, finished third.

Thoughts about UK Basketball

"I just thought it was the Kentucky fans coming in." - Coach Billy Gillispie in Atlanta after a tornado slams into the Georgia Dome.

"Really, UCLA's a great place as well, but they don't have the kind of environment they have here. The fans here have a passion." - Dick Vitale on Kentucky fans, December 23, 1999.

"He's got the puppies set off the bus." - Bill Raftery talking about Tayshaun Prince hitting his fifth straight three-point shot from U.

"Apparently the University of Kentucky basketball dynasty is to continue forever." - Philadelphia Inquirer, December 23 1954.

"Turner ... Burner .... and one" - Jim Nantz

"Kentucky has found the secret of basketball, that it's five guys playing together." - former University North Carolina coach Frank McGuire

"I see no reason to end the basketball season in February just so some of these schools can start spring football practice early... Someday they are going to wake up and realize that basketball is here to stay." - Adolph Rupp on his Southeastern Conference brethren in 1934.

"I'd just as soon freeze to death." - Actress Ashley Judd relating a story of being offered a University North Carolina - Chapel Hill jacket on a chilly movie set. - Lexington Herald Leader, August 15, 1996.

"It's not wise to come to Kentucky and try to run them off their court. Not too many teams have ever done that." - Mississippi State Coach Babe McCarthy in 1962.

"When you see Kentucky's fans, you just wonder. You think how wonderful it would be to go to their school. You wish you could trade places for a day, just so you could experience that feeling." - UCLA player Kris Johnson

"In the next four or five years, Kentucky will be at its best. It has taken a lot of hard labor, but down the road we will be at our best." - Rick Pitino in 1995

"They had it before you, they had it during you, they'll have it when you're gone"...." - Al McGuire on Kentucky Basketball Tradition

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The Month in Review - March - Will it Ever End?

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What a month in America. The lion roared from start to finish of March. More weather setting all kinds of historic records. Congress setting a record of it's own by passing the health care bill. The economy still rumbling along like a sleeping giant. The NCAA March madness lived up to its billing. Toyota still groping for answers. And politics, well politics might well fit the same March Madness description given to NCAA basketball.





Today Obama announced he has adopted the often belittled "Drill baby drill" policy of Sarah Palin as the only way to get us to energy independence. Anyone who says Obama has a hidden left agenda may have to reconsider. Perhaps he is the only one who can bring America together in this time of political strife as both the left and right, the liberals and conservatives, don't like what he is doing.



Yesterday NASA announced a task force of the country's top space and aeronautical experts had been assembled to analyze if Toyota's recall problems are really caused by problems in electronics, electromagnetic interference or software integrity. Faithful readers of The Coltons Point Times may remember we raised the issue of electromagnetic interference as a problem of Toyota and other auto companies last February 11, 2010. At the time Toyota and federal officials discounted our call for an investigation and we are pleased to see they have taken notice.

The historic health care bill, well it passed with a lot of reservations but as we said, the reservations can be fixed if the president and our political parties act responsibly. It remains to be seen if that can happen.



March Madness lived up to its nomenclature with only one household team, Duke, remaining in the Final Four of the men while Butler stands in the way of another national championship. All other teams normally in the hunt are gone from North Carolina to Arizona, Kansas to Kentucky.



In the women's NCAA the only question is can anyone stop the Connecticut avalanche in which the women have averaged beating NCAA opponents by 50 points while rolling to their 76th straight victory.

The saber rattling between Israel and Iran continues to grow. European nations continue to struggle to get through their own economic woes. Banks get richer while Congress considers legislation to stop them and the economy continues to sputter.



On Easter Sunday America's favorite pastime begins anew when the World Champion Yankees take on bitter rival the Boston Red Sox in the opening game of the major league season. At least we will have a season of distraction to help us forget politics. Anything that helps us turn down the volume on politics will be good.



It is only appropriate that the month ends during Holy Week so we can begin anew in trying to build our country.

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March Madness Dominates America - Obamacare and NCAA Championships

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This year we are treated to two types of March Madness as the NCAA Basketball championships, the annual rite of passage to spring in America, gets underway. Things are a little different this year and not just because Obama has intruded on the publicity surrounding March Madness basketball style.

That in itself is enough to upset the millions of basketball loving Americans as how many overtimes does the president get before he stops trying to dominate the headlines? He started his health reform game over a year ago and now we are to believe it will finally be over. It almost sounds too good to be true that Congress could actually get off health care and start worrying about the economy.



Of course the Obama, Pelosi and Reid team seem hell bent toward leaving the Constitution a shambles before they give up the battle with all their manipulation of Senate and House rules but then Obama, as a constitutional lawyer, knows exactly what he is doing.

Now over 2,700 pages are required to explain what the government will do for the Obama plan and that is only the beginning as there will be thousands, maybe tens of thousands of pages of federal regulations needed to make it possible. So let's say Obama will have to generate 25,000 pages of law and regulations, maybe more, to change our health care.



What is behind the health care bill that even the Congress has not seen although it will be voted on this week? We know there are union protections, Obama has already generated billions of dollars in savings for the bosses. We also know he intends to insure 30 million more people and stop insurance companies for pre-existing condition service denials.

Of course what we don't know is what Pelosi and Reid and Obama have promised those Democrats whose arms they are twisting. The dreaded Nebraska, Louisiana and Florida bribes given for the Senate and House votes may seem like child's play before this week is over. What is the value to Obama for those last few votes?



Does this bill address the primary concerns of health care? It seems Congress is not going to be too hard on those health insurance and service providers when they have poured tens of millions of dollars into the Democrats campaign funds. Do you think these companies are stupid enough to pay off the congressmen if they are going to be punished? There is no more chance of this happening than Obama will punish and prosecute the Wall Street executives who nearly brought the world economy down.

Wall Street continues with their swaps, derivatives and Repo 105 games making billions more at the expense of the consumer and even the federal regulatory controls proposed by Obama and the Democrat majority will not stop them nor the illegal actions by the rating companies who falsely valued the stocks in the first place. Money bought Wall Street protection and money will buy the health industry protection because the president and congress are addicted to the campaign slush funds from the bad guys.



Now Obama has talked about how, well with the help of a Republican proposal, he will fight fraud and corruption in health care. Doesn't it seem odd that he just decided to attack it after talking health care for a year? But what is he doing to fight artificially high prices for drugs, unnecessary treatment, or even the huge costs of malpractice insurance? Your guess is as good as mine but remember the banks, drug companies and trial lawyers who bring those malpractice suits are among his biggest contributors.

I think there are more unanswered questions than answers and if we are betting 16% of our GNP on more government control, regulation and take overs fixing things we have a very short memory about the ability of government to run businesses. Did we forget that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were government run programs and both required, and still require, billions of dollars to bail them out of the mess they made of the housing and mortgage markets?



Am Trak has not been such a sterling example of government success nor has the Postal Service. Even Obama himself says Medicare is a disaster. Social Security is on the brink of bankruptcy. The CDC and health department have generated massive losses with stupid vaccination scares and hysteria. Fact is it is hard to find anything the government has done that worked like expected and nothing the government has done cost what was expected.

I may have a simple view of things but as least I'm not trying to hide my motives and actions in a fog and hope the voters forget it in time. I don't see how 30 million more people can be insured at no cost. I don't see where the doctors and nurses are going to come from to treat 30 million more people when there is already a shortage of hospitals, doctors and nurses. I don't see how drug costs are going to go down.



I don't understand why we have to have health insurance that doesn't work. Why do we have to pay for what we don't need in the first place? Government has no more business requiring health insurance than it has spending billions of dollars in foreign aid to countries and organizations that are not our friends. Stop throwing away international aid and use that money to fund health care.



As for the other March Madness, the one we expected, let us hope it provides a great diversion from the ongoing efforts in our nation's capitol to steal America for the special interests. I think it is time Obama foul out of his game and go to the bench. As for Congress, they should be thrown off the court for throwing the game they were sent to play.



Go Kansas, Kentucky, Duke and Syracuse, beat those scoundrels like Obama, Pelosi and Reid off the television airways so we can finally get a breath of fresh air. By the way, wouldn't a ban of congress result in a great reduction of hot gas emission from our country? Maybe Gore should work on that if he really wants to clean up the environment.

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