NCAA Tournaments – Tuesday through Thursday

So far, both UConn teams are still in it. Along the way there have been so many upsets. The most recent notable upsets occurred last night. DUKE and MEMPHIS both bit the dust. In a previous posting I said if Memphis lost I would throw in the towel and consider my brackets ka-poo-ie! So...ka-poo-ie it is.

So, now what happens?
I’m not sure UConn can go all the way. If they do, the Final Four will/could look like a Big East face-off. It could be Louisville, UConn, Pitt and Syracuse or Villanova. Hey, people! This is why we play the games. It doesn’t matter what it looks like on paper.

Of all these teams, Louisville is the one I'd least like to see make the Championship game. It's my personal dislike for Rick Patino. He single handedly almost destroyed the Boston Celtics. He obviously is successful at the college level...just keep him away from the Celtics.

Last night’s music/poetry event
The Ninth Annual Women Composers Festival presented an evening of chamber music performances combined with the poetry of the Riverwood Poetry Series. I have never participated in anything like this before, and it was such an honor to be part of it. The performances—musical and poetic—were outstanding. Let’s give Minta White and Heather House a big round of applause for their vision and hard work. Hopefully we will have more of this type of entertainment.

I’m finally gonna get hitched!
Don’t go getting all excited here. I’m headed off to Liberty Honda in Hartford this afternoon to have the bike rack hitch installed on my Honda Fit Sport. While the service department is installing the hitch, the parts department will be assembling the rack. The two will be united and I’ll finally be able to get my bike to the shop for spring maintenance. Nice weather is coming and I’m itching to hit the road. I’ll have pictures of course.

NCAA Tournaments – Sunday & Monday

Tennessee lost?!
I was so stunned by the Lady Vols loss to Ball State that I was sent to my bed in a swoon and could not bear to write about the games. And if you believe that, you don’t know me. I was so elated I was out celebrating! When I went to bed Sunday night I was sure I would wake up the next morning to find Tennessee had moved on to the next game. Imagine my shock-turned-celebration when I saw the score. I really feel sorry for the players. I can just imagine the brutal tongue lashing those kids must have received. I don’t know that they did…but, based on what we have seen from Pat Summitt in the past, I can only imagine.

As for the rest of the tournament games, the results of the Men’s games sent me reeling. However, the four teams I picked to go into the Final Four are still in the hunt.

For the Women’s games, I really got clobbered! I told you I’m not a familiar with the women’s teams because of lack of TV exposure. My Final Four picks are still intact, so we’ll just move on.

Weather
It has been so cold and windy the last few days. OK. It’s March and March is traditionally windy. It has also been dry. Last year it was wet. I will be watching the first two weeks in September to see what the weather is like along the Erie Canal. If it’s dry, I will not be happy. Not after bike riding in Sept. 2008 in rain every other day. That was brutal.

Speaking of bike riding
When I bought my Honda Fit it was very obvious my old bike rack could not be used. Too much glass and the spoiler makes it difficult to use the old rack. “Not prudent” and “disastrous” are terms that come to mind. So I bought a new bike rack…a Thule hitch-type rack. (Actually I did not buy it...my kids got together and made it an early Mother's day present. How great are they!). The Thule does not come with the “hitch” part. That had to be ordered separately from another company. That should be delivered today. Once I get it, I’ll call Liberty Honda and arrange for it to be installed.

Once that is done, I can get my bike to the shop for spring maintenance. After riding in so much rain last September, I didn’t have a chance to get my bike into the shop because of my mother’s health issues. I’m thinking the worse (all the cables are rusted out and everything else is rusty, too) and hoping for the best (it won't be costly to fix).

I’ll just be glad when it’s all done and I can ride.

NCAA Tournaments - Saturday

This is where it gets complicated. We have both Men’s and Women’s to report on as of Saturday.

In the Men’s Second Round (Saturday) I had only one miss. I had picked Washington to beat Purdue. Everything else went well. After Friday, this was such a relief.

This is why we play the games
What you have to love in this tournament is how the underdogs are either whipping the favorites or giving them a huge run for their money. Cleveland never should have beat Wake Forest, and Arizona whipping Utah was never a possibility…my opinion of course. ☺ ☺

In the Women’s first round, Saturday, I had two misses: I picked Texas to beat Miss. St., and Xavier to beat Gonzaga. That’s pretty good since I know less about the women’s teams.

Why do I not know the women’s teams?
Simple. They don’t get as much TV exposure so I don’t get to watch them as much. I’m very familiar with Duke, Tennessee, North Carolina, Stanford and the Big East teams, but the rest are strangers. I have to pick them by chance…that means I will get some of them correct.

NCAA Men’s First Round - Friday

What in heaven’s name was going on in the Midwest Regional on Friday? I had five wrong picks! In the East I had one wrong. Not a good day.

Some of the teams I have picked to win are not teams I particularly like (it’s personal or, sometimes, personnel), but I have to pick them because they have a proven record. Do you know how hard it is for me to cheer for them to win? Normally I would be cheering for the opponent and it’s hard breaking myself from that.

I can’t stand Memphis, for example, but I had to cheer them on. Oh! Life can be so cruel. ☺

And the Women’s Tournament started today. This must be heaven. All basketball all the time.

I do have a life outside of basketball
This past Thursday night the gathering at Wintonbury Branch Library in Bloomfield had a great audience packed with poets and poetry lovers alike. We are usually finished around a little past 9 p.m. This time we didn’t finish until after 10 p.m. If you like poetry, consider coming out to Wintonbury Library on April 16th. This will be the last meeting of the season.

On the last Saturday of the month you will find poetry at The Buttonwood Tree in Middletown, and on the April 30th and May 28th consider coming to Wood Memorial Library in South Windsor all sponsored by the Riverwood Poetry Series.

I don’t remember if I mentioned before that I’m working on my first chap book—Beyond the Mists, poetry from my spiritual, magical and dark sides. I will self publish and it will probably be out by midsummer.

NCAA Men’s First Round

Yesterday’s games provided some drama. From Coach Calhoun not being on the floor because he was in the hospital, to Memphis almost destroying everyone’s brackets it proved to be quiet exciting.

The two biggest surprises has to be the close call Memphis had with Cal State Northridge. Apparently no one told CSN they were supposed to be afraid, very afraid of Memphis.

Then, how in the world did Clemson manage to lose to Michigan by THREE POINTS?

Two of the teams I had picked to win yesterday, Clemson and Illinois, lost. That doesn’t mess up my brackets because I have not picked them to go very far anyway. So I adjust my brackets slightly. These are my brackets and I’ll do them my way (that’s for those who are howling that I’m cheating). I have no money riding on the outcome so it doesn’t matter. ☺

Where it starts to matter is if Memphis doesn’t knock off UConn in the Elite Eight. I will be ecstatic if UConn can get past Memphis, but I still don’t think that will happen. That, indeed, would foul up my brackets and I would have to throw in the towel.

I don’t even want to think about the day after the champions (Men’s and Women’s) are crowned. It’s such a letdown. The NBA just doesn’t have the excitement that college Bball has. And it will take a while to allow the slow pace of baseball to take over.

Bracketology

Photo
Safe passage through a swampy area at Stebbins Wildlife Preserve in Longmeadow, MA.

This is how I see it.
I have filled out my brackets in both the men’s and women’s NCAA championship tournament.

Men’s: Memphis will knock UConn out in the Elite 8. The Final 4 combatants will be…Memphis, Louisville, Syracuse and Duke. Memphis and Syracuse will battle it out for the championship with Memphis taking the prize. Too bad President Obama didn’t see my brackets before he published his.

I didn’t expect it to work out this way. I do not like Coach Calipari going back to his days at UMass. After Marcus Camby bailed to avoid his scandalous conduct, Calipari bailed right after him. Calipari knew all the while what Camby was up to, but turned a blind eye. (all my opinion only) Just because I don’t like the man personally, doesn’t mean I have to ignore the fact that he has a very good team.

Women’s: I see Tennessee getting knocked off in the Elite 8 by Duke. No love lost there. Going into the Final 4 I have UConn, Stanford, Maryland and Oklahoma. The Championship game will be between UConn and Oklahoma and, of course, UConn will take the trophy.

You may have guessed I don’t care for Tennessee. This is a classic case of a team truly mirroring their coach. Coach Summitt may be a good coach, I just don’t care for the way she coaches. My feelings go back to the days when Lobo, Rissotti, and Wolters were playing. Summitt came across as so mean and miserable I could not like her personally. I felt sorry for her team. Still do.

As you can see, basketball, for me, goes beyond the game…it deals in personalities, too. I love Geno; don’t really care for Calhoun.

Tough Being Sick

Photo
These pictures come from one of my most favorite places, the Scantic River Linear Park in Enfield.
The picture on the left I call “animal mushroom.” It looks like a long flat animal, maybe one that slithers (?) and it has a long tail. Maybe it’s aquatic.
The one on the right is one of the many rapids on the river. They must be getting ready for the spring run of the rapids pretty soon. Can you imagine being in a canoe or kayak on/in this cold, rapidly flowing water? Wet suits (maybe it’s dry suits) and helmets are required if I remember correctly.

Finally human
Today is the first day I have felt human since the onset of this cold. It has been a week (right on schedule?). This is the first morning I woke up without a sore throat. Up until now, late morning, I have not taken any medication at all. I do think, however, I need to keep up the decongestant syrup…I can’t take any chances on my lungs.

I did go to the doctor on Monday. My concern was I had strep throat. The good news is I did not.

I cannot remember the last time I was sick, so I really don’t know how to BE sick. There is no yardstick to tell me the sore back and ab muscles are normal for all the coughing and sneezing I’ve been doing. So I probably worry more than if I caught frequent colds.

This has been a nasty one for sure and from what I understand, I’m not alone in my suffering.

Nadia
Has this woman had her 15 minutes of fame yet?
Have you wondered what special plans God has for these eight babies? I wonder what their special mission is. Could it be to tell us to stop playing God?

Riverwood Poetry Festival
We have our own website now and things are coming together. The festival will be June 24 through 28. There are multiple venues and the poetry heard this year promises to be as varied and as excellent as it was last year at our Beat Poetry Festival. Keep visiting the site often to catch up on the latest plans for poets and venues. This is going to be so awesome!