A Holiday Poem Redux

Long after Christmas,
Santa'd got all his rest.
It takes a few months
To get back to his best.

The toy making over,
And gifts all delivered,
He now had some time
For TV and Twitter.

He remembered he'd predicted
Way back in December
That one group would be
A team to remember.

"I can't quite recall
What I said at the time"
But the elves were there
And quick to remind.

But Santa was ready
For such loss of spirit
“Don’t be so whiny!
I don’t want to hear it!”

“So do not despair
As all will be fine!
It’s not 2008 that counts
But April 2009!”

At that, Santa laughed
And he jiggled like jelly
"I guess I should check them
Out on the telly!"

So then Mrs. Claus
Brought some snacks and a brew,
And Rudolph tuned the tube
To ESPN and ESPN2.

Over the next two weeks
The North Pole embraced March
And followed the Cardinal
On their way to the Arch.

They watched the team focus,
Their intentions precise and clear
As they worked hard together
Like eight tiny reindeer.

As each team was conquered
The elves made a scene
They changed to wearing Cardinal
Instead of red and green.

While Santa was happy
and cheered with each hoop
He offered a caution
To all in the troop.

"It's been a great ride
Of that, I am certain!
But let's not plan to celebrate
Until the final curtain!"

"For this is a team
With much more to do!
They're off to the Midwest
And need to win two!"

With that, the room hushed
And, after some thought,
"Santa's right!", they cheered
"There's more dreams to be caught!"

And then Santa chuckled
And let out a Ho Ho Ho
And packed the sled for St. Louis
While cheering "Go Stanford! GO!"

On to the Sweet 16!

What an interesting tournament so far! Big wins, big upsets, big stories.....it's all there.

Let's Talk Conferences

The PAC-10 is holding strong with all 3 tournament entries still in the hunt. The SEC and ACC? Not so much. These perennial powerhouses are down to just 1 team each. Here is the breakdown--

Big East (4)--Louisville, Pitt, Rutgers, UConn

Big 12 (4)--Baylor, Iowa State, Oklahoma, Texas A&M

PAC-10 (3)--ASU, California, Stanford

Big 10 (3)--Michigan State, Ohio State, Purdue

ACC (1)--Maryland

SEC (1)--Vanderbilt

Interesting that Stanford has played 6 of the teams left in the tourney this year--Baylor, Rutgers, Iowa State, ASU, Cal and Purdue--and beaten 5 of them. Now that's strength of schedule.

Let's Talk Upsets

OK, Ball State--what a story. From the PreGame dance (see it here) to their spirited play against a monumental opponent to their level headed coach, it is just special. Added bonus for Stanford fans--we may not hear the Harvard thing year after year after year.

MSU over Duke--a perfect NCAA set up, bringing the old coach back to face angry fans and players. Still, one would have thought that Duke would be able to overcome the Spartans, but lacked the punch to push through in crunch time, going stone cold at the end. And are MSU coach Suzy Merchant and Sissy Spacek sisters?

Rutgers over Auburn--if I were an Auburn fan, I would be pretty unhappy. Playing on the other team's home court is one thing, but against a team like Rutgers, who has players with Final Four experience, that is quite another. But Auburn could not stop Rutgers, who typically is not a high scoring team, so there you go.

So what about those pre-determined sites? The idea sounds fine--generating interest and ticket sales prior to the seedings. But in practice, it didn't work well. Any casual viewer could see the oceans of empty seats and the Cal-Virginia game at the Galen Center drew less than 1000. It is hard to understand a system that places number 1 seeds at home (UConn, Maryland), on a neutral court (Oklahoma) and in a hornet's nest (Duke).

Let's Talk Brackets

Did you fill one out with your predictions? How's that workin' for you? I do mine on ESPN.com and it is SO wrong that I don't even look at it anymore......

--UConn vs. the PAC-10? That's the Trenton bracket. Cal will be an interesting match up, with their inside strength. They must continue the all around game they showed against Virginia. It should be fun to watch.

--ASU and Texas A & M should also be a good matchup as both teams are built in the scrappy mold. One X factor is how Brianne January's ankle holds up.

--Duke and Tennessee's losses changed the look of the Berkeley bracket dramatically as many probably had these 2 penciled in for a Sweet 16 match-up.

--ACC vs SEC so those 2 conferences will be down to only 1 in the Elite Eight. Vanderbilt has been flying a little under the radar, but has some quality wins.

--Baylor had better shift into another gear after two close shaves if they want to beat Louisville.

--Courtney Paris' bank account is still in tact. Perhaps in Oklahoma City she can put out a tip jar?

--The team nobody want to play? Rutgers.

Let's Talk Stanford

--Remember that December road trip? Where are Duke and Tennessee now? Home. Where is Stanford? Very much alive and well.

--We knew Nneka was good, but holy cow! She just flies to the ball--never have really seen anything like it.

--When will the national media understand that Stanford is a team in every sense of the word. When there is foul trouble, it is just another opportunity for someone else to shine. Not that we like foul trouble, but those were PAC 10 officials, after all.

--I can recall horror when watching past Bigs dribble the ball up court. Now, when I see Kayla Peterson, I just think "point guard!"

--How hard can it be to check the teams you are covering before the broadcast? How hard can it be to say Onwude? Where's Mary Murphy when you need her (covering Cal in LA)?

--I bet other fans just don't get our coaching staff. There they sit, talking calmly, making adjustments, planning. Other coaches appear to have their hair on fire from the opening buzzer. I like the approach of Tara and Company!

--Fun to see ESPN talk about Stanford's nationwide recruiting. I wish they would have had one of our Cardinal Nation t-shirts to use!

Big weekend coming up.........hope that everyone is in Berkeley and screaming real loud! Let's show everyone what the Cardinal Nation is all about.

Bracket Musings and Other Stuff

Some thoughts about pairings and the Selection Show--

--Could Carolyn Peck really not know what Stanford's point guard situation is? Could she have maybe watched one half of a Pac-10 tournament game?

--That wacky NCAA committee! Since they have grown tired of putting Stanford and Oklahoma in the same brackets to rehash the Susan King incident, now they give us:
---Duke going to East Lansing so Coach P. can take the rath of her former fans
---Stanford potentially playing former staff member Beth Burns on her home court, potentially playing Amy Tucker's alma mater (Ohio State) and/or potentially meeting Tennessee in a rematch of last year's championship game

--why are ASU and Cal in the same bracket? And could it be any harder for them? ASU will play Georgia in Duluth. Cal will play in LA, but could meet a very seasoned Marist team in the second round. And then, in the end, there is UConn. I read somewhere that this bracket may be like driving in Thelma and Louise's car if you are not the Huskies. The visual works!

--Stanford finally got into some of ESPN's commercials, though Tara's appearance is a subliminal message compared with the time given Pat and Geno .

--who is Trey Wingo and why won't he go away?

--no one from Stanford will ever promise to pay back their scholarship at current tuition prices.

--first round games that I am eager to see are:
Villanova vs. Utah--'Nova s-l-o-w-s everthing down, so this should be interesting
Louisville vs. Liberty--how will the Cardinals bounce back from the drubbing they took in the Big East tourney from UConn
Notre Dame vs. Minnesota--2 teams going in opposite directions
South Dakota St vs. TCU--are the JackRabbits for real?
Rutgers vs. VCU--The Scarlet Knights have been sputtering but get to play at home

--can't complain about the Final Four picks of Kara and Carolyn, now can we? Hope they're right!

--Since I can't get to San Diego, I am ready to assume the full couch potato position for this weekend! How 'bout you? Is there any better time of the year?

--As our Team starts on the March to the Arch, here's wishing:
--Jayne keeps getting double teamed while Nneka is standing alone under the basket waiting for her usual assists. Then they give up the double team and we know what happens then.
--Jeannette and Kayla keep up their steady and heady play.
--Sarah keeps inspiring "B-O-O-O-O-T-H-E"s.
--Ros keeps hitting those 3's.
--Jillian keeps being Jill the Thrill.
--Lindy keeps making those hustle plays and rainbow shots.
--Mel and Michelle keep contributing valuable minutes .
--Ashley gets in the books.
--Grace and Morgan are worn out from celebrating 3's.
--JJ keeps smiling.

GO STANFORD!!