Bracket Buster...and the state of the game
Ok...so the NCAA tournament is all but dead to me (not really, I'm just disgruntled). Kentucky battled and battled but just couldn't get it done. Not much more I can say about that. Joe Crawford played his heart it, but to no avail. Props to Marquette for showing up and doing what they had to do and getting the victory. This, however, is where the props end.
As many of you know, Xavier ended up winning after trailing for much of the game. But the intriguing thing here is the box scores. Could someone please explain to me how Xavier went to the free throw line 33 times and Georgia only 5? Yes, that is correct...33 attempts to 5.
Even if you take away 10 of the attempts from the Georgia fouls which occurred late in the game, you're left with a 23 to 5 margin (I'm quite the math genius, no?). This just seems like a rather large margin to me. Looks like I ate my words from my last blog entry, but I'll take the embarrassment and leave it posted.
Moving on, how about that Duke v Belmont game. Now before I go on my rant regarding this game, I'd like to note that Belmont did indeed give this game away in the end, but the refs helped. With around 20 seconds left, Alex Renfroe of Belmont drove the lane with 6 seconds left on the shot clock. Three members of the Duke Blue Devils decided to turn this lane into a gauntlet, hacking and slapping Renfroe the entire way. Apparently all 3 refs were hungry (sarcasm?) and decided swallow their whistles as no foul was called. Classic Duke.
My next question then is why put a 15 seed in the tournament if you aren't going to give them a fair shake? One of my friends is the biggest Duke fan you'd ever meet and after the play he wiped his brow and said "Wow! Did we get away with one there". If he only knew how often he "got away with one", he have a doctorate.
Anyways, Belmont ended up letting Gerald Henderson drive the length of the court and lay the ball in with 13 seconds to go. Belmont countered this layup with a missed shot, offensive rebound, timeout and inbounds pass to DeMarcus Nelson. The problem is, DeMarcus Nelson plays for DUKE, NOT BELMONT! All I can do is shake me head to what could have been.
In the end, my point of view is obviously biased, which is why I tried to bring in the numbers and an outside perspective (my friend who should have the doctorate). It just seems more and more like the calls in professional and college sports are dependent upon an outside and ulterior motive. I'm all for letting the players decide the outcome, but a foul is a foul and a penalty is a penalty. If one occurs, call it or don't, but stay consistent throughout the entire game and for both teams.
My final four lives on...at least for now. Get 'em next year Cats!