A Very Sweet Sixteen
Message to the whiners: Who cares if there is no Cinderella? In fact
I’ll take it a step further. It’s a good thing there’s no Cinderella! It means the best teams are still playing. Sure
Cleveland St. and Western Kentucky were fun stories
but they’re just not the same quality as the teams we have left. Instead
we have a selection of truly outstanding matchups: Midwest #1 Louisville vs. #12 Arizona: Don’t let the seeding fool you. I was dead wrong about Arizona. They are for real. Perhaps it’s my west coast bias that made me discount them. The Wildcats beat both Kansas and Gonzaga this year as well as UCLA. They also have two NBA players (Wise and Hill) and four players who hit 38% or more of their 3-point shots. I ignored my own rules when I originally discounted them. Absent that late 4-game losing streak
they were probably worthy of a 6 seed. And as for Louisville? They’re very
very good. This should be an interesting game
but the Cardinals will be too much. #3 Kansas vs. #2 Michigan St.: What’s not to like about this matchup of traditional powers? Top coaches. Great talent on both sides. But I think this is clearly MSU’s game to lose. They beat the Jayhawks by 13 at home in January. Kansas also has out of conference losses to Syracuse
UMass and Arizona. It’ll be closer than it was in January
but the Spartans will move on. West #1 UConn vs. #5 Purdue: The Boilermakers are the only other party-crasher in the Sweet Sixteen. I’m still not a believer in Purdue. The lost 7 conference games in a Big 10 wrought with mediocrity. A bunch of good teams
but maybe only one great one (Michigan St.). UConn has silenced those that questioned their #1 seed by soundly thumping their first two opponents. I expect more of the same in the most lopsided game of the round. #3 Missouri vs. #2 Memphis: You want a fun game to watch? This ought to be it. Missouri loves to press the tempo and extend the defense. It’s what got them a lead over Marquette that was too much to overcome. After Memphis’ slight scare in the first round
they played very well against Maryland. The Tigers have enough to give the Tigers a scare here
but the Tigers will end up winning. (I like Memphis in a close one.) East #1 Pittsburgh vs. #4 Xavier: I’m not sure why
but my pick to win it all (Pittsburgh) has made the first two rounds very interesting. Xavier
on the other hand
had little trouble getting here
and they’re probably better than most people give them credit for (wins over Memphis
Missouri and LSU this year). However
it’s the Musketeers’ bad losses down the stretch (Duquesne
Dayton
Charlotte
Richmond) that make me believe they won’t have enough for the Panthers. #3 Villanova vs. #2 Duke: Another fabulous matchup. If you’re a college basketball fan
you’re excited about this matchup. These are two very good teams with solid NCAA histories. This has all the makings of being the closest game in the round
and I think Nova will have too much for a Duke team that lacks athleticism (apart from Henderson). South #1 UNC vs. #4 Gonzaga: It’s everyone’s favorite little guy from the Pacific Northwest against the most talented team in college basketball. The Tarheels future in this tourney comes down to the health of Ty Lawson’s toe. I don’t think the Zags will be able to exploit this potential weakness
so expect UNC to move on. #3 Syracuse vs. #2 Oklahoma: It’s clearly my favorite game of the round
but that’s because I’m an Orange fan. However
I think even a casual basketball fan will find this game interesting. It’s a matchup of the tourney’s best remaining guard (SU’s Johnny Flynn) vs. the best remaining big man (OU’s Blake Griffin). If Syracuse can neutralize Griffin and hold their own on the boards
they should have the firepower to eke out a win. At least that’s what I’m hoping!
Dead Again
(Posters Warning : CJ told me th
is blog now has a more diverse focus. I still plan to stick to gambling in some sense. Because I am a problem gambler
this still leaves an immense range of topics about which I can
and will
post. I just felt like writing again.) I saw a wookie bounce off the hoods of three cars. He streaked past me
with clumped hair flapping and woozy knees wobbling
presumably running FROM something that only he could see. With wookies there’s an equal probability that he’s running from : A) The Law. B) His Past. C) His Imagination D) Soap. He’d just run down our aisle when he darted between cars
bouncing off one
into another fender
then off a hood. I thought he got away. I later heard he was slammed down by three cops. For those of you playing at home
that’s “A”. Now
generally I like to get all settled in before wookie watching
but since this is the first Dead tour in years I was prepared for anything. My wife
brother and I got to Greensboro at least 3.5 hours before showtime. Presumably enough time to either drink a dozen beers or wait once in the porta-potty line. The good news is that most of the salesmen were pretty savvy. That’s unusual for a wook. The two most active undercover cops were a big burly guy in a yellow shirt that said “Dead” and another guy
also burly
but at least 6 foot 6 with a crew cut and a blue ‘do rag. I saw douche-rag guy hit up one pipe vendor near our car. Pipe vendor was holding his glass in a black case and strolling down our lane when douche grabs a random pipe and whips out a wad of cash. My car was blasting tunes at the time and I couldn’t hear everything said but I saw douche-rag point several times to the “bowl” portion of this young wooks glass. Wook
again
was savvy. The only part of the conversation I actually heard was wook telling cop
“These are for tobacco man. I could hook you up with THAT if you want.” Cop grabbed his money back from the wook
put the glass back
and stormed away without a word. That’s the gamble that is the Dead lot these days. I remember back in the day
we’d see more of everything than you can imagine ( I mean wow
really
everything) and the cops did nothing. It used to kinda freak me out the way cops would just ignore all the obvious
illegal activity at a GRATEFUL DEAD show. Maybe Jerry was responsible for greasing the locals
but the cops ain’t cool these days and they haven’t been for quite some time. Granted
like the wookies themselves
some people deserve what they get. One kid
a girl who I’d say was about 17
came by our car holding a ticket in her hand. She showed it to me….busted for drinking in the lot. Now
here’s where she got super-extra-mega-dumb. Her girlfriend was in the process of getting busted by yellowshirt guy (who again
could have just worn the uniform for all the subtlety he brought to undercover work) and our kid goes up to give her friend a hug. During the bust. While holding an open beer. Sigh. These are tomorrow’s leaders. So once inside we take totally excellent floor seats just to by the soundboard (Philside) and I continue the now standing bet I have with Pauly. We each pick 3 songs for 1st set opener. 3 more for second set. 3 more for encore. I took $20 off him when Phish opened with Fluffhead at Hampton. We pushed all three for the dead. Here’s the setlist for those who care : Set 1 Music Never Stopped Jack Straw> Estimated Prophet > He’s Gone > Touch of Gray I Need a Miracle > Truckin’> Miracle Set 2 Shakedown Street All Aong The Watchtower Caution Jam Drums Space Cosmic Charlie New Potato Caboose Help on the Way > Slipknot! > Franklin’s Tower Donor Rap Encore: Samson and Delilah Some notes : I love Music Never Stopped but am unable to NOT hear Donna scream OHHHH YEAH at crucial parts of the song. I’m not sure what that means. I’ve never actually SEEN Donna but that’s what years of bootleg cassettes will do for a man. My brother and I really
really
really
really
really
wanted to see Estimated
Prophet simply because we like screaming AH NA NA NA NA along with Bobby Weir. We’re amused by simple things. He’s Gone was written long before Jerry died but when you’re touring without him you do know the audience assumes it’s ABOUT him now….right? Miracle was the highlight of the first set. I got stuck in the beer line during Touch of Grey and missed part. In fact
I missed so much that I missed Truckin’. I was so oblivious to it that I PICKED Truckin’ as one of my 3 second set openers with Pauly. It was a dumb bet. I enjoy the song Shakedown Street very much. I also Enjoy All Along the Watchtower and Warren Haynes really shredded it up on this one. Caution was awesome and this is the best thing about having Warren play with the band. He can actually sing the blues. Not the douchey Bobby Red Rooster blues but the good ol’ Pigpen brand. If you get to see the Dead this year
hope that they play this song. During Cosmic Charlie my wife said
“you know the DEAD never played this but all the after-bands (Phil
Ratdog
the Dead) play it all the time. I wonder why.” Then they played New Potato Caboose. Wow. I don’t even own a bootleg version of this soon. I couldn’t remember the name until it was half-over. I do remember that “touching makes the flesh cry out loud.” That counts for something. The band started the Help>Slip>Frank at 11:30. That’s 4 hours in. My brother and I assumed all day
it being Easter and all
that we’d see either Promised Land (my guess) or Greatest Story Ever Told (his). Samson and Delilah is what we got. C’est la vie. This is the kind of crap I blog about now. It did contain some gambling. That counts.
Party Like It’s 1994
When I met the woman who would later become my wife
I was just 19 years old. I had a long
long ponytail. I delivered pizza. In 1994 I was thin
carefree
and spent more time planning my next road trip than with silly “conventional” distractions like rent
gas
and cable TV. I saw the Grateful Dead at Soldier Field that year. I saw Phish in Cincinnati and Louisville. I crashed a Phish show on my 20th birthday way up in Bethlehem
PA. I ended that year with the same wife-to-be and two of my closest friends
by spending New Year’s Eve in Amsterdam. Those were heady days my friends and
now
if it’s possible to have a mid-life crisis at 34
welcome to it’s heart. Maybe it starts with Phish. Could be Bonnaroo. It may be that having my brother living so much closer has a mutual bad influence. We’ve already caught the start of the Dead tour (as posted below) and now here’s a rundown of the summer to be : May 31 Phish@Fenway Boston
MA My friend “Uncle Ted” scored the tickets up in the rightfield grandstand. My brother and I are flying up that morning. We get in at 11:30. We leave Boston at 5:00AM Monday. It’s a whilwind
what Timmy calls a “Rockstar Vacation”. We’re just going to RAWK! Should make for a pretty interesting return flight in any event. June 9 Phish@Asheville Civic Center Asheville
NC Hard tickets to score but I paid the scalpers. This will bring about some scorn in the -Head community. I absolutely do not care. Otis
Pauly
and my wife will be there too. Should be silly since it’s the smallest venue on the Phish tour this year. This is an old-school venue. I plan to act in a very stupid manner. As soon as the show ends my wife and I will hop in the fully-loaded car and head to Charlotte for a few hours sleep before hooking up with my brother
his wife
and “Uncle Ted”. We’ll be getting an RV. June 10 Phish@Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville
TN We’ll take that RV 4 hours down I-40 to Knoxville and hook up with a half-dozen more friends. We’ve got 12 seats for this one. Hopefully the Joker and TD will be there. Some other friends
both new and old will be using some of the 12 tickets my brother and I scored (all at face value) through various means. My seats are fantastic
. Lower level
Pageside. After the show we’ll load up the RV and hit a hotel just 6 miles away. This will be the last clean bathroom for days. June 11-14 Bonnaroo Manchester
TN This is my fourth Bonnaroo. B and I went in 2002
2004 and 2007. My brother and his wife will be with us for the third time. Uncle Ted
Matt
and Julie-Steakdoses are back for a second time. It’s awesome for a long list of reasons but my favorite are : Phish is playing both Friday and Sunday nights. Plus
The Beastie Boys. David Byrne Bruce Sprinsteen and the E Street Band Snoopy Dog etc. etc
etc
I can’t wait. August 15 Phish@Merriweather Post Pavillion Columbia
MD I threw this in for good measure. I scored 4 tickets on the Fishman side in the lottery. My wife
my brother
sister-in-accodance-with-law
and I will have fun. You know
because its the Phishes. Now here are my concerns
I’m not 19. I’m older
fatter
and more pampered. I do have actual responsibilities. And kids. I played in a decent frolf tournament Sunday and played well. Today my back and legs have been extremely sore. That makes sense. I competed for a full 11 hours. You know
competed. At standing
walking slowly
and throwning a frisbee. Yikes. If that hurts now
I’m more than a little worried about the stamina required for a summer of ’94. We’ll see how it goes.