March 26, 201510 yr http://www.newsnet5.com/news/local-news/cleveland-metro/underground-explosion-reported-in-cleveland Such nice timing.... Wow first the power outage last night because of construction and now an explosion today...this is the worst timing possible for things like this to happen. And I'm sure none of this mismanagement will fall on our city's chief operating officer, Mr "Slick" Darnell Brown. At what point will he be held accountable?
March 27, 201510 yr I noticed that the lights on Superior west of Public Square were out last week when I actually drove downtown. I assumed it was due to Public Square construction. Visitors wouldn't know about that, nor should they care why. They just know downtown looks dark and scary and that's the impression they'll share back home. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
March 27, 201510 yr ^Exactly. Someone should have thought that through and made sure that at least for this week the lights would be back on. The rush for the RNC should not compromise the experience other visitors receive...that would be very short sighted and most likely impact far more visitors that we're trying to showcase our city to.
March 27, 201510 yr I befriended a family member of a U of Kentucky vice president riding the rapid to the games last night. He made some comments about trash dumped along the Red Line route before the W65th street station. I tried to explain how the rapid isn't the most scenic route bc it was built along an existing railroad. But with visitors, perception is everything.
March 27, 201510 yr I noticed that the lights on Superior west of Public Square were out last week when I actually drove downtown. I assumed it was due to Public Square construction. Visitors wouldn't know about that, nor should they care why. They just know downtown looks dark and scary and that's the impression they'll share back home. Even worse, the lights along the entirety of Prospect were still off last night, which is pretty much the worst street to not have street lights working when you have thousands of out of town visitors at an event at the Q.
March 27, 201510 yr If this was a warm-up for the RNC, I would say it received an F minus. THe weather doesn't help at all, but agree with Flee...the rapid tracks need TLC, the red carpet needs rolled out better. You only have so many opportunities to impress. I feel like theDCA and Destination Cleveland got the event here but did not work hard enough to prepare for it. THe Q has done a very nice job
March 30, 201510 yr So, it's Chalk and the Spartans in the Final Four. Three #1's (UK, Duke & Wisky) plus one #7 (Michigan State).
April 5, 201510 yr 38-1. Good year to pick B1G teams over SEC teams in national semi-final games! It's Duke and Wisconsin in the title game.
April 6, 201510 yr Two rematches in a row for Wisconsin: First their rematch against Kentucky of Wisky's 1-point loss in last year's Final Four, and now the title game features a rematch of Wisconsin's worst loss of the season (10 points to Duke). Both teams are peaking at the right time and playing their best ball of the season.
April 6, 201510 yr can you believe mitt romney picked wisconsin-duke? but surely his entire bracket can't be correct, can it? i thought that was almost impossible. edit: looks like everyone is pretty evenly split on this game: http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/tournament/2015/story/_/id/12623103/experts-picks-national-championship-game
April 6, 201510 yr Some of those in that list have the wrong school logo next to their pick. Eamonn Brennan, C.L. Brown, and Dan Dakich all have "National Champion: Wisconsin" next to the Duke logo. Surprise of the day: Dick Vitale picked Duke. *cough cough* I mean, surprise of the day: Dick Vitale picked Duke to win by only 3.
April 6, 201510 yr ^ ha ha i just noticed that -- and stephen a. smith surely thinks st. john's can get back in it lol!
April 7, 201510 yr When Wisconsin was up 9 in the second half it looked like they might win . . . but instead it was Duke. http://espn.go.com/ncb/playbyplay?gameId=400788981
April 8, 201510 yr okafor and company can now carry on the grand dukie tradition of becoming nba busts.
April 8, 201510 yr okafor and company can now carry on the grand dukie tradition of becoming nba busts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQrdjrzRgZg
April 8, 201510 yr lol i was going to say 321 until...! yeah theres always a few outliers. i'll counter you that with a danny ferry and a trajon langdon.
April 8, 201510 yr lol i was going to say 321 until...! yeah theres always a few outliers. i'll counter you that with a danny ferry and a trajon langdon. Now now, Danny has a special place in the hearts of Cavaliers fans "of a certain age" for taking a swing at Mr. Special during a game. But point taken, though in a way that's why Duke's my second favorite NCAA team. They are always more about the team than about stars.
April 8, 201510 yr ^ that was my point, its all about coack k and his teamwork system. unlike say uk's questionable pro recruit model, which is opposite of that. i was really pulling for wisconsin though, because big ten.
April 8, 201510 yr ^ that was my point, its all about coack k and his teamwork system. unlike say uk's questionable pro recruit model, which is opposite of that. i was really pulling for wisconsin though, because big ten. I noticed a lot of that on Facebook. I'm the opposite: I root against all the Big Ten teams except Ohio State. Especially the ones from M******, but all of them really.
April 8, 201510 yr Duke has had its share of busts, but some of that is due to unfortunate circumstance. Bobby Hurley and Jay Williams were both seriously injured in motor vehicle accidents before their careers ever really got started. Grant Hill was an established star and well on his way to perhaps becoming MJ"s successor when injuries ruined his career. Elton Brand has had a solid NBA career, and was an All-Star at one point, but injuries have also derailed him. In addition to the success of Brand and Hill, Duke has produced very good NBA players (or at least players who met expectations) in Kyrie Irving, Luol Deng, Carlos Boozer, Shane Battier, Corey Maggette, Johnny Dawkins, Chris Duhon, Gerald Henderson, the Plumlee brothers, Shelden Williams, Kyle Singler, Josh McRoberts, Dantay Jones, etc. Jabari Parker's sample size is small, but he showed his potential before getting hurt this year. There have certainly been some who have not lived up to expectations, but still had solid careers - Ferry, Christian Laetner, Mike Dunleavy, JJ Reddick, Austin Rivers. All out busts, that I can think of, are pretty much limited to William Avery and Langdon. Point being, this myth of the Duke busts is a little overblown IMO.
April 9, 201510 yr ^ of course. its more of a legend and joke than to be taken seriously. you cant do that well without nba level talent. we'll see how oakfur and some of the rest do after duke.
April 9, 201510 yr I have some doubts about Okafur..... at least in terms of him being a franchise savoir. He could potentially be a Tim Duncan type. But I see him more as an Al Jefferson. IMHO, the guy with the highest ceiling on this Duke squad is Justice Winslow. Okafur is a much safer bet, but some team might get very lucky with Winslow as a lower lottery pick.
April 9, 201510 yr I have some doubts about Okafur..... at least in terms of him being a franchise savoir. He could potentially be a Tim Duncan type. But I see him more as an Al Jefferson. IMHO, the guy with the highest ceiling on this Duke squad is Justice Winslow. Okafur is a much safer bet, but some team might get very lucky with Winslow as a lower lottery pick. Agreed on Winslow, but it is actually spelled "Justise". Really.
February 5, 20169 yr If anyone is doing early research on Louisville for their brackets ... don't bother: http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/14721089/louisville-cardinals-basketball-self-imposes-postseason-ban-2015-16-season
March 19, 20169 yr In the 32 games of the First Round, 13 of the lower-seeded teams won. Yesterday featured the first time a #13 (Hawaii over Cal), #14 (SF Austin over WV) and a #15 (Middle Tennessee State over Michigan State) all won on the same day. But still no #16 win over a #1. #1's are now 128-0 over #16's. And ESPN reports that there are already no perfect brackets remaining from the over 13 million picked at their website.
March 21, 20169 yr Well this was a fun weekend: * Texas A&M's comeback against Northern Iowa was one for the record books, though A&M was rated the stronger team coming in. They still shouldn't have been able to mount that comeback (12 points down with 44 seconds to go). Of course, Northern Iowa won its previous game with an equally improbable ending (half-court buzzer-beater against Texas). * Wisconsin upends Xavier with a shot that might have been the shot of the tournament if it hadn't been for UNI's half-court buzzer-beater. Of course, Xavier could have avoided being exposed to that shot at all if it had just hit free throws. * And, like Columbo said, Middle Tennessee State knocked off Michigan State. A rough March for the Big Ten even though we got three teams into the Sweet Sixteen. I'll feel a bit better about the Big Ten this year if those three teams can net a couple of wins between them (Indiana taking out North Carolina or Maryland taking out Kansas would erase a lot of the talk about the overrated state of the conference, though Wisconsin over Notre Dame is probably our best shot at the Elite Eight as a conference, and realistically, we're likely 0-3 in the Sweet Sixteen). On the flip side, it could be worse; we could be the Pac-12.
March 28, 20169 yr Despite all the early round upsets, all four of the #1 seeds reached the Elite Eight. But only one #1 advanced into the Final Four: - #1 North Carolina got past #6 Notre Dame - #2 Villanova advanced over #1 Kansas - #2 Oklahoma advanced over #1 Oregon - And #10 Syracuse upset #1 Virginia As the one remaining underdog, Syracuse must be feeling great. But especially because "everyone" thought Syracuse shouldn't have even been selected for the tournament in the first place: - Doug Gottlieb ripped Syracuse on the CBS Selection Show: http://www.syracuse.com/axeman/index.ssf/2016/03/cbs_analyst_doug_gottlieb_rips_syracuse_ncaa_selection_picks_dayton_to_beat_oran.html - Then "everyone" said Syracuse would lose in the First Round, Second Round, Sweet 16, etc: http://www.syracuse.com/axeman/index.ssf/2016/03/syracuse_basketball_sweet_16.html
March 28, 20169 yr Michigan State's got to be kicking itself since it was probably had the clearest path to an F4 and title as it was in the easiest bracket, highlighted by the fact that Syracuse their bracket's Final 4 rep: a team that many (present company included) felt shouldn't have even made the Round of 64 but now is the 1st double-digit seed ever to make the Final 4. Let's hope nobody in East Lansing or Ann Arbor is uttering the dreaded Tom "FIzzo" slur heard early in Tom's career, because it would be idiotic since he's still one of the elite coaches in the country. This was just a very weird NCAA Tournament, from the selections to the Final 4 qualifiers, with only 1 No. 1 making the cut.
March 28, 20169 yr Villanova-Kansas and Oklahoma-Oregon were "upsets" but both Villanova and Oklahoma had been top-four teams at least once this year, IIRC. The rankings are fluid and capricious. Villanova and Oklahoma have the talent to play with anyone, and they showed up. Virginia just collapsed. That was a serious coaching error on UVA's part after Syracuse began the full court press, because UVA had the guards to handle it (Brogdon was one of the best in the country this year) but didn't do what they should have done after beating it (slow the game down to the pace they've played all year). They would go for the quick strike on the other end, which is usually the right move but not for UVA, because it accelerated the game and, whether they made or missed, often allowed Syracuse to come barreling back the other way. In other words, it allowed for a much greater quantity of possessions--for both teams, true, but Syracuse was the one who needed them more because they were down 15, and Syracuse was the side much more comfortable playing at high speed, too.
March 28, 20169 yr Michigan State's got to be kicking itself since it was probably had the clearest path to an F4 and title as it was in the easiest bracket, highlighted by the fact that Syracuse their bracket's Final 4 rep: a team that many (present company included) felt shouldn't have even made the Round of 64 but now is the 1st double-digit seed ever to make the Final 4. Let's hope nobody in East Lansing or Ann Arbor is uttering the dreaded Tom "FIzzo" slur heard early in Tom's career, because it would be idiotic since he's still one of the elite coaches in the country. This was just a very weird NCAA Tournament, from the selections to the Final 4 qualifiers, with only 1 No. 1 making the cut. Not the first double-digit seed to make the Final Four. LSU was an 11-seed in 1986, and VCU went from the play-in game in Dayton a few years ago (as one of "two" 11 seeds) all the way to the Final Four. I think George Mason may have been a double-digit seed when it made the FF as well.
March 28, 20169 yr Villanova-Kansas and Oklahoma-Oregon were "upsets" but both Villanova and Oklahoma had been top-four teams at least once this year, IIRC. The rankings are fluid and capricious. Villanova and Oklahoma have the talent to play with anyone, and they showed up. Virginia just collapsed. That was a serious coaching error on UVA's part after Syracuse began the full court press, because UVA had the guards to handle it (Brogdon was one of the best in the country this year) but didn't do what they should have done after beating it (slow the game down to the pace they've played all year). They would go for the quick strike on the other end, which is usually the right move but not for UVA, because it accelerated the game and, whether they made or missed, often allowed Syracuse to come barreling back the other way. In other words, it allowed for a much greater quantity of possessions--for both teams, true, but Syracuse was the one who needed them more because they were down 15, and Syracuse was the side much more comfortable playing at high speed, too. Villanova and Oklahoma were both ranked No. 1 at various points this season. Villanova spent several weeks at number 1. You are right--both were definitely high-quality and it's not that great of an upset to see them beat Oregon and Kansas.
March 28, 20169 yr 4 double digit seeds have made the Final 4. LSU (1986), George Mason (2006) and VCU (2011). Sparty should have been a #1 over Oregon. Their loss was this biggest in tournament history IMHO. Syracuse does not even make the tournament from the ACC if Louisville doesn't self-impose a post-season ban. EDIT: Boeheim made a genius move to put on the press and the Richardson kid went off. If UVa gets ahead in games they are tough. To illustrate: Virginia had been 68-0 under coach Tony Bennett when the Cavs had a double-digit halftime lead.
April 5, 20169 yr Really just an unbelievable game last night. The only bad thing was that one team had to lose. I'd rate it the fifth best National Championship game: 1. 2013 2. 1980 3. 1986 4. 1983 5. 2016 ;)
April 5, 20169 yr Oh, you Louisville fans you... :drunk: "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
March 6, 20178 yr Northwestern had a close loss against B1G regular season champs Purdue yesterday to finish 21-10 (10-8). NW might get another win or two in the B1G tournament this week. But its likely this last-second play last week that will get Northwestern into the NCAA Tournament for the first time ever! The "Duke of the Midwest" pulled off this Dukesque full court pass and shot against Michigan for their 21st win and to preserve a winning conference record:
March 6, 20178 yr ^To me that was one of the most amazing things in NCAA Basketball that Northwestern had never made an NCAA Tournament. Being a big time Iowa Hawkeye fan, I watched a lot of Iowa teams lose to Northwestern and their old style of play for many years was very strange. They played a weird 1-3-1 zone and a strange offense, but never got success. I think the coaches name was Carmody. Bring in Bill Collins, with a more modern offense and more modern players and he is seeing quick success, I think this is his third season. You would think an Ivy League type school would have had more success in the B1G throughout the years, but sounds like they are finally pouring money into the program. I hope for the sake of Northwestern they keep Bill Collins around for a long time to come but, even if not, hopefully they can keep hiring a "non-gimmick" offense and continue to recruit decent to have some sustained success.
March 9, 20178 yr Another team got into their first-ever NCAA Tournament this week: Northern Kentucky University However, this first-ever berth doesn't break a drought anywhere near as long as Northwestern. The Northern Kentucky Norse men's basketball program has only been in the NCAA Division I since 2012–13. But NKU did do a solid for the tourney. They won their conference final over a University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee team that finished with an 11-24 record! If UW-M had won that conference final, they would've had the most losses ever for a team making the NCAA Tournament.
March 11, 20178 yr Oh, you Louisville fans you... :drunk: Just now seeing this. Very perceptive of you. ?
March 11, 20178 yr This is going to be a very difficult year to pick a winning bracket. All major teams have holes And about 20 times have the talent to win it all, but they all lack consistency. Furthermore, a ton of top 25 teams have the goods to put a big game together and knock out a top 10 team.
March 13, 20178 yr TOURNEY TIME: VERSION 2017 #1 seeds: VILLANOVA (East); KANSAS (Midwest); NORTH CAROLINA (South); GONZAGA (West) Ohio Teams: CINCINNATI (#6-south); DAYTON (#7-south); XAVIER (#11-west); KENT STATE (#14-south) Nearby notables: KENTUCKY (#2-south); LOUISVILLE (#2-midwest); WEST VIRGINIA (#4-west); NOTRE DAME (#5-west); NORTHERN KENTUCKY (#15-south) Big Ten Teams: PURDUE (#4-midwest); MINNESOTA (#5-south); MARYLAND (#6-west) MICHIGAN (#7-midwest); WISCONSIN (#8-east); NORTHWESTERN (#8-west); MICHIGAN STATE (#9-midwest)
March 20, 20178 yr Well, I'll admit that I definitely didn't expect three Big Ten teams in the Sweet Sixteen this year. Either the conference was underrated all year (but really, with the losses a lot of our teams suffered, there was good reason for that), or as a conference we peaked at the right time. I'll even give Michigan [just this once] credit for coming back from a harrowing experience to reel off what has to be the most impressive postseason, under the circumstances, of any team in the country, even if they lose to Oregon on Thursday. Also, the middling performance of the Big Ten in the regular season really hampered us in terms of tournament seeding, because three Big Ten teams had to face #1 seeds this past weekend. Even knocking off one of them (Wisconsin over Villanova, and remember that Wisconsin has reached the Final Four as an 8-seed before) was impressive. Michigan State and Northwestern were both heavy underdogs against Kansas and Gonzaga, respectively. We did have a couple of flameouts ourselves, of course, with Minnesota losing to Middle Tennessee State and Maryland losing to Xavier (but then Xavier also annihilated 3-seed Florida State, 91-66, so Maryland's loss doesn't look so bad in retrospect--Xavier seems to have peaked at the right time, too).
March 20, 20178 yr I think the Big Ten was slightly underrated...the Big 10 programs have the toughness to win games in the tournament because they dont just rely on talent...they run alot of schemes. The ACC was wildly overrated. 9 teams in the tournament and 1 advances to sweet 16, and i suspect Carolina will go down soon as well. As seen against Arkansas, they are not a championship team. The PAC-12 is as good as advertised. At least its top teams. The rest of the conference sucked, but UCLA, Arizona and Oregon are all high quality. If Boucher didnt get injured, the Ducks would certainly have a fair shot. Got to see Lonzo Ball for the first time last night...his on the court demeanor reminds me of Lebron, really relaxed and has INCREDIBLE vision. looks for the pass first and finds spots to put the ball that few can. I think he has a very bright future as an NBA player. If only his dad would keep his mouth shut...
March 20, 20178 yr The Tarholes received a gift from the referees and then Duke loses. M******* makes it. With Kent gone and Ohio State not making it I'm glad I didn't do a bracket because I can refrain from paying further attention.
March 20, 20178 yr ^^I watched Lonzo Ball for the first time last night. That guy is amazing. I love his on the court style and demeanor in interviews, nothing like what you would think with his dad being the way he is. Holy cow is he fast, that's what really took me by surprise, he was on a whole other level than anyone else. I think UCLA has a real shot to take it all the way with him in there, he is that good. Also Alford's son Bryce and their 7 footer, they got real good shooting. They impressed me more than any other team, they made an athletic Cincinnati team look highly unathletic. That said, Mick needs to recruit at least one dead eye shooter every year...
March 27, 20178 yr Final Four Time: Three New Teams* and One Blue Blood - Semi #1: #7 South Carolina vs. #1 Gonzaga - Battle of two newbies to the Final Four, although Gonzaga's been knocking on the door for many times in recent years. SC kind of came out of nowhere. - Semi #2: # Oregon vs. #1 North Carolina - Battle of former champs*, although the one championship that Oregon can claim was from the tournament's first year of 1939, and this is their first final four appearance since. UNC, on the other hand, is a regular final four appearer and has five national championships (most recent in 2009).
Create an account or sign in to comment