Monday, April 02, 2007

FSI Running Diary No. 3: NCAA hoops title game

Your're now looking live at a blog from the living room of my one bedroom apartment in Fond du Lac where tonight I will watch the NCAA championship game and share my thoughts with the fellow Fondy Sports Insider readers, whether they like it or not.

In case you aren't sure how a running diary usually works, the premise is simple. As the night develops, I time stamp and witty and/or sarcastic comments that pop into my head for all to enjoy. If you want to read some old ones, check here and here.

If you came to this blog in search of Brewers updates, just scroll down a bit. I'll have more on the Crew later tonight, but for the next few hours, my focus is squarely on Ohio State, Florida and the brown spots on Billy Packer's scalp.

You'll find that most of my jokes are lifted directly from Bill Simmons or www.deadspin.com. I don't care. It's funny. I'll be sure to give credit for those jokes where credit is due.

Enjoy the game, and the running diary.

8:01 p.m.: We're already off to a bad start. The intro for the pregame featured the band and cheerleaders from both Florida and Ohio State talking trash about one another. This was the best CBS could do? Isn't it someone's job to develop something that makes everyone foam at the mouth? I think an "Our Country" commerical would fire up the troops more than that garbage.

8:09 p.m.: CBS is showing Bill Donvan's pregame speech. Good stuff. I think Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart just added another $300,000 to the lure-Donovan-away-from-Florida contract offer.

8:11 p.m.: Why does Clark Kellog look like he's being electrocuted when he talks?

8:13 p.m.: I wonder if anyone has told Billy Packer that Bill Donovan is pronounced Billy Don-o-van, not Billy Don-u-vun.

8:18 p.m.: Who let Jim Nantz on the PA? The man is thirsty for power. It's bad enough he's done the Super Bowl this year. He has to take away this gig from superb PA announcer Gene Honda, who, by the way, does White Sox and DePaul games.

8:22 p.m.: Billy Packer just said the first possession for each team is important because we'll be able to tell what defense each team is playing. Apparently Packer is unaware that each team can change up defenses as it goes along.

8:26: Billy Packer still thinks its Don-u-vun.

8:41 p.m.: I think I accidentaly dozed off for a few minutes. Not because the game is boring, but moreso because Jim Nantz has such a soothing voice. That, and I was up early this morning to head down to Miller Park. It's rare for me to be up during the morning, much less early, which makes that feat rather impressive.

8:45 p.m.: I love it when Jim Nantz makes a comment and mentions Billy by name, but Billy doesn't respond either because he's deliberately trying to ignore him, or because Billy Packer is talking himself, only Nantz is holding down his cough button and Packer doesn't know it.

8:47 p.m.: Greg Oden is starting to assert himself. It's good to see 34-year-olds play with the passion of teenagers.

8:50 p.m.: I think the most important player for Ohio State is Mike Conley Jr. They look completely out of sync without him on the floor. You take Oden away, and they are all right. You take Conley away, and they lose their identity. All right, that's the last of the actual basketball observations. Back to wondering if the Terwilliger that plays for Ohio State is of any relation to Sideshow Bob.

8:57 p.m.: I really enjoyed this interaction. JIM: Tonight, Dave's bringing his 'A' game to the Late Show, with... stupid human tricks! BILLY: Well Jim, we're not seeing stupid human tricks right now, what we're seeing is Dun-u-vun is trying to get Richards in a situation (blah, blah blah). They're not the best in the business for nothing, folks.

9:09 p.m.: Florida leads Ohio State, 40-29, at halftime and appears on its way to defending its national title. I think the Brewer kid from Florida is a little underrated... in fact, he's kind of like Noah in the fact that he's a terrific college player that has no real future in the NBA. Still, I like watching him play. Ohio State has to be concerned that it is down by 11 even though Oden played most of the first half. The reason? Conley. They are a much different team when he's not in there. I'm just going to repeat myself, because if you do it often, you'll sound like you know what you are talking about.

9:23 p.m.: Oh, Dick Enberg. I think 50 years in broadcasting was one too many.

9:27 p.m.: I'm making buffalo chicken tenders and forgot when I put them in the oven. This should be interesting.

9:44 p.m.: I'm trying to find things to blog about from this game, but it's so vanilla, I don't know where to begin. I think part of the problem is the producer is passed out on the floor. Where are the shots of the dance team? The parents? I want to see Tito Horford wearing a basketball jersey with nothing underneath it. I want to see Yannick Noah looking like Jar Jar Binks. Where's Mike Conley? They are just showing... the game. What a concept.

9:47 p.m.: BILLY PACKER: Nice comeback here by Ohio State. They are really showing they are solid. (Good commentary. The lead is down from 11 to 7. Not exactly miraculous stuff here).

9:53 p.m.: Our first comment from either announcer that we aren't seeing a normal game from Mike Conley. Ya think? Greg Oden can't win this game by himself. He's having a monster game and OSU is down by 10. Conley is trying to take over, but Florida isn't letting him.

10:02 p.m.: Did you know Florida's Lee Humphrey is the all-time leading 3-point shooter in the NCAA tournament? Because I don't think I've heard either announcer mention it. That's something they should talk about more often, like every time he shoots the ball.

10:13 p.m.: It's pretty obvious that Florida isn't going to let Ohio State make this a game. And that's a shame. On paper, this was one of the most exciting Final Fours in years. However, it's been kind of a dud. Two of the games (including this one) weren't exactly blowouts, but the eventual winning team was in control the whole way. And, in today's game, Billy Packer didn't say anything too idiotic. There's still time.

10:16 p.m.: Spongebob Nopants. Genius.

10:18 p.m.: Well, here's something that will keep me entertained. What corny phrase will Jim Nantz say when the game's over? I like, "Well Billy, Billy's boys have done it again!" Of course, it could also be: "Gator Done? Gator Did!" or "The sun shines on the sunshine state again!" Either way, there will be puns and exclamation points galore.

10:20 p.m.: Apparently Billy Packer thinks Ohio State is tired. It's about all he's said in the last 30 minutes. This used to be his calling card back in the day. He used to say the team that was most tired was the team grabbing its shorts at the free throw line. He used that one from 1991-98. But now he just calls it whenever he wants. He's all grown up.

10:29 p.m.: JIM NANTZ: "Florida takes its place in history. Back to back, and unforgettable!" I guess there was an exclamation point there, but not much else. Sigh.

10:32 p.m.: Disappointing game all around. The issue was never really in doubt, Greg Oden played well, but was far from dominant. The best player on the court was Corey Brewer. Lee Humphrey hit some big shots. But that was it. The announcers were dull, even by Jim Nantz and Billy Packer standards. Someone gave Tito Horford an undershirt. Yannick Noah actually looked somewhat normal.

Oh well, you know what they say when things don't go your way in the title game?

There's always next year.

1 comment:

Chris B. said...

All I saw of the game was Enberg's thing about hands during halftime, and I kept punching the replay button to figure out where it rhymed. You're right about 50 years. If people who can recognize you by the sound of your voice assume you will be reciting a cornball poem, you're done. Even his Al Maguire piece on Saturday was lame.

The upside to turning on the TV just in time for Enberg was that he was followed by a Florida kid spinning the ball on his finger as the team came down the tunnel to warm up for the second half. Their body language sent a pretty clear message. (It was "Hey, Chris, anything good waiting on the DVR?")