I don't even know what to say. Or write.

Crazy end to the Pitt/ Butler game. Crazy. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it. More on this later. 1 thought, both fouls that were called were the correct calls. And bizarre, bone-head plays.

Fact. When James is here, the games are dull and boring. When James is at work, they're all awesome.

I'm sure James will even agree. Case in point: James is at work on Thursday when the 3 of the first 4 games are decided in the last 4 seconds. He comes home from work and Thursday night is boring. Same as last night. When he was here today both games, though close, provide no real drama. Then after eating a few tacos he goes to work, and we're treated to the SDSU double OT win, the Pitt game which looks to be going down to the wire, and Jimmer and the Zags locked up in a shootout.

"It's Peanut Butter And Jimmer Time!" - Heater

Also, first OT game of the tournament! I think Temple's going to pull off the upset here.

Hot Action.

Things are really heating up now. SDSU and Temple are separated by 2, 54- 52, with 2 to play, Butler leads 1# seed Pitt by 8 at the half, and Jimmer and Gonzaga are just underway. Here's hoping for some drama! It's March, it's Madness.

Lesley Visser

Ol' Lesley Visser has been a staple of CBS NCAA tournament coverage and NFL football as a sideline reporter for as long as I can remember. Visser was recently voted #1 Female Sportscaster of all time. During this year's tourney she looks like a hot mess. She's rocking a hairdo that looks like she just got out of bed after a 4 day long bender. She also appears to have

had some plastic surgery. Let's take a look. Lesley in the late 90's:

Here's what she's looking like these days:

On a related note, she was married to Dick Stockton, a legendary CBS sports announcer, for 28 years. Here's a photo of the two of them hooping it up:

Some thoughts.

It's half time of the SDSU/ Temple game, and I gotta admit, I'm really impressed with the play of San Diego St. I've only seen them play once this year, and didn't know a whole lot about them. They're big, they're athletic, and they're skilled. Basically they're really fun to watch. And they have a guy who wears a long sleeve t-shirt under his jersey. I guess he's cold?! Richmond looks to be pulling away from Morehead St, and advancing to the sweet 16 as a 12 seed.

Taco Time!

Dinner time in Pittsburgh, and it's a taco party. You can never go wrong with a taco party. And, as always, I ate too many.

Candy. Allison brings over a giant Easter basket. I think we now have all bases covered when it comes to snacks.

Go Team! Nice Jerseys.

UCLA and Florida are bringing us an exciting up and down game, with Florida up 2, 35-33 at the half. While Florida is winning in the score department, I'm pretty sure UCLA is always winning in the hottest cheerleaders competition. Known for their notoriously scantily clad outfits, they've done it once again with some nice jerseys this year.

Since this is a cheerleader post, it seems like the appropriate time to drop this gem from the Memphis cheer squad. It's a shame they lost last night, because it would have been great to see them celebrate like this again. And how does she not break her neck doing that?

Snacks.

Kentucky heads to the Sweet 16

Solid start to the third day of the tourney, if a bit anticlimactic given the way that game was shaping up. UK's freshman were clutch down the stretch: from the 2-minute mark on, Brandon Knight and Terrance Jones alone went 10 for 12 from the line. That's impressive for anyone in a pressure situation, but even more so for two freshman on their first trip to the tourney.

Maybe even more impressive are these two stats: WVU was held scoreless for the first 7 minutes in the 2nd half, and scored only 2 field goals in the final seven and half minutes.

That means we get no more hook shots from Deniz Kilicli, WVU's own Turkish Tornado/Istan-Bull. Oh well, there's always next year.

Mystery Science Theater

As we've mentioned numerous times, we have a 2 tv, multi-laptop setup, which was ideal for the Thursday/Friday games when multiple games were being played. Due to the fact that only 1 game is currently on, that allows us the opportunity to watch something other than basketball for the first time in days. What are we watching? You guessed it, Bruce Lee's "Way of the Dragon." And since the sound is on for the basketball, the audio-less movie allows for some classic commentary in a Mystery Science Theater style from James, Heater, and Byler. Yes, it's hilarious. But maybe you have to be here to understand. And yes, that's Chuck Norris in the photo.

Fact. Casey Mitchell (WVU) has a really, really bad haircut. Also, a tattoo of a basketball with "Casey" in the middle.

It's time to Cowboy up!

Heater's picks of the day: "I have nothing to say." Well, thanks for the insight, Heater. We'll check back in with you later. Here's a picture of Heater back when he set the standard for cool.

Friendship.

Turns out coach Bob Huggins (WVU) and John Calipari (UK) are good friends. I'm sure they have a great time trading dirty recruiting stories and tips on how to be general skeezballs.

On a related note, we wanted the blog world to know that we are still friends, despite rumors of tension due to lack of blogging. It's all good in Pittsburgh.

Technology!

Our tournament setup currently includes two flat screens, three computers, and 4-5 smartphones. And one newspaper.

Daily Picks

Kentucky over WVU- In a battle of two of the most annoying coaches in college B-ball, Kentucky's youth wins out over WVU.

Florida over UCLA- As said before, Billy Donovan wins tournament games

Morehead St over Richmond- Who doesn't love Morehead?

SDSU over Temple- Still waiting for Wade to give us the inside scoop on the Aztecs.

Pitt over Butler- Can't wait to see the battle down low between Gary McGhee (Predator) and Matt Howard (Ex Mustache).

Gonzaga over BYU- Upset city!?! Jimmer time is over. Though I expect him to go down fighting, expecting him to drop 40.

Kansas St over Wisco- Fear the beard.

UCONN over Cinnci- Kemba and the Huskies look to roll over the Bearcats.

Quick early notes

I'm guessing WVU/Kentucky might be the game of the day. As I read earlier, Huggins is 8-1 against Kentucky in his career. And Kentucky? They struggled to beat the Ivy League Champions. As for the other games, I'm highlighting a Gonzaga win over BYU, and Kansas State over Wisconsin. I'm picking KSU because if I don't, I'm afraid Frank Martin will find me. The picture of Frank below looks scarily similar to Shorty when he realized I hadn't posted anything Thursday evening.

Don't Worry.

Hello Blog world. I'm back, and ready to bring you a full day of quality blogging material. The last two nights I've been at work, which for some reason has killed the blog. It appears as though James has forgotten how to blog. Maybe he'll start today. I think he will. He's sitting right next to me. Don't worry, we're all good, and ready to deliver. Why? Because we love hoops. That, and we'll be eating tacos today. All day long.

Lunch.

Today for lunch Heater made Brats with peppers, onions, and sauerkraut. Delicious.

Young? Old?

Memphis and Arizona are underway in a matchup of two young coaches. Xavier coach Sean Miller is 42, while Memphis coach Josh Pastner is 33. Yup, 33. He was in college when we were in college. Does that make him young, or us old? You decide.

"It's time to curb stomp the Zips" - Heater

A little harsh, but I fully agree. 39-30 Irish at the first tv timeout of the 2nd half.

Fanboys.

Since I'm peppering the blog with Irish related posts, I figured now was the best time to revisit one of my favorite moments from the blog. James created this fantastic image of me and Luke Harangody celebrating an NIT victory. As you can see, we're both quite pumped up.

Go Irish. Beat Zips.

We're fired up.

Fact. Ben Hansbrough (Psycho B) and Tyler Hansbrough (Psycho T) are brothers.

Skylar McBee

One of our best friends from high school, Brad Schrock, has a brother in law that plays basketball for the University of Tennessee. He plays about 12 minutes a game, and is part of a rotation that plays 10-11 guys regularly. He had a shining moment last year against then #1 Kansas, when 4 Vols were suspended due to drugs and guns, hitting a huge 3 late in the game to seal a upset over the Jayhawks.

In November Skylar and the Vols traveled to Pittsburgh to play Pitt. Heater and Lucas got a chance to go to the game with Brad and Skylar's brother Chase. Even though Skylar had to endure "Justin Bieber, Justin Bieber" chants from the Oakland Zoo (the Pitt student section), the Vols upset Pitt and looked like a sure Final Four team that day. And Heater and Lucas got to meet Bruce Pearl. They've had their struggles this year, but have the talent and depth to make a run. But they have to get by Michigan first, as they're down 4 at half.

Our inside info led us to this gem. One of Skylar's teammates, Renaldo Woolridge (Orlando Woolridge's son) is also a rapper on the side. "Swiperboy", as he's known, wrote a song about his team last year. Check it here:

"Those guys look like a bunch of Mennonites" - Lucas Miller

In reference to the white guys on Michigan.

Daily 2 Picks

Shorty- Texas, Tennessee, IRISH, George Mason, Duke, Arizona, Texas A&M, THE Ohio St, UNC, Marquette, Washington, Syracuse, Kansas, Purdue, Illinois, and VCU.

Heater- Texas, Tennessee, Irish, George Mason, Duke, Arizona, Texas A &M, Ohio St, UNC, Marquette, Washington, Syracuse, Kansas, Purdue, UNLV, Georgetown.

Lucas- Texas, Michigan, Irish, George Mason, Duke, Arizona, Texas A &M, Ohio St, UNC, Xavier, Washington, Syracuse, Kansas, Purdue, UNLV, Gtown.

One more note from Day 1

Despite perfect weather in the 60s yesterday, the basketball-obsessed crew in our house didn't make it outside much. With the new staggered start times, basketball continues uninterrupted for 12 straight hours, keeping us from feeling bad enough to leave the house during the usual hour-long evening news break. Other than two meat-grilling sessions yesterday, apparently Heater and Lucas made it outside exactly once. What for, you ask? To enjoy a beer from the safety of our porch, with a laptop beside them streaming the current game action. Well played boys, well played. There's a Miller High Life commercial in there somewhere.

Day 2

After three consecutive days of working into the evening, I'm hoping for a 12pm quitting time today to help facilitate a 12-hour gorge-fest of college hoops. The Oakland/Texas, Nova/George Mason, VCU/Georgetown, and Arizona/Memphis games should be interesting, but if the first day of the tourney teaches me anything on an annual basis, it's that I know nothing about college basketball.

My upset special for the day is Oakland over Texas. They've played a tough non-conference schedule and have wins over Tennessee and lost by one to Michigan State. Maybe not the best resume, but they've got a potent inside-out combo in Keith Benson and Reggie Hamilton that can score points: they've gone over 100 five times this year. And Rick Barnes? In 12 NCAA appearances, his team has exited in the 1st or 2nd round 7 times. Then again, he also has 12 straight appearances...but maybe I'm just hoping for an interesting game and potential upset by a team that shares my high school mascot: the Grizzly. This guy is serious. Serious about basketball.

A disappointing finish

After all the excitement of the afternoon session (or so I'm told--I was working all afternoon), the evening session was a big disappointment. That early momentum rarely carries into the afternoon, but this was ridiculous. I got home in record time after work, only to be treated to six hours of blow-out basketball. The average margin of victory says it all: 14.5 points. If it weren't for UCLA's brutal free-throw shooting down the stretch, none of the games would've been worth watching in the last few minutes.

Speaking of the UCLA/Michigan State game, there was some hideous shoe selection by a few players in that game. Whatever happened to the good old days, when teams like the Fab Five debuted shoes like these. I still remember the first time they wore those. I didn't even know shoes that cool existed. And yes, I would still buy those if they went on sale tomorrow at Foot Locker. Most of us that grew playing sports are probably bigger shoe nerds than we let on--I know I am. The highlight of my sporting career was (sadly) often getting the season's new shoes. I usually had to supplement the restricted amount my parents would throw down in order to get the cooler, more expensive shoes, but it was worth it.

WOW.

3 out of the first 4 games decided in the last 4 seconds. Now that is a hell of a start. And we've loved every second of it. Unfortunately I have to sign off for the night. Work calls, and I'll be dealing with drunk fools out celebrating St. Patrick's Day for the next 10 hours. And it's nice out. And there are hoops on. Ugh. But don't worry, I'll be back tomorrow. Go Irish.

Have no fear. JAMES will be getting home from work shortly, and will pick up the slack for the rest of the night. Hopefully the games will be as good tonight as the afternoon session has been. Go James.

Fact. The first day of the tournament is always the first nice Spring day of the year.

I'm pretty sure that the first day of the tournament the last 5 years have also coincided with the first nice day of the Spring. And it's happened again. Today in Pittsburgh it's 61 and sunny out. And we've been inside watching the hoops.

Morehead State!!!

Morehead State pulls off the first shocker of the tourney, coming out victorious in Battle of Kentucky. Demonte Harpers' 3 with just seconds left gives Morehead the lead, and then Louisville runs a horrible play to get off the last shot, which is blocked (or fouled??) by Kenneth Faried. Speaking of Kentucky, they're up just 1 on on Princeton at half, while PSU and TEmple are also separated by 58-57 with 3 to go. What a start to the first day of the tournament!

Fact. Gary McGhee is the Predator

Though intimidating, the Predator has shown weakness to perimeter defense (see Kemba Walker's ankle breaker last week) and 50% free throw shooting.

"50% from the line isn't bad for an alien!" -Heater

"Any time you have a battle of in-state teams, you can throw out the records, because pride is on the line" - Heater

Battle: Kentucky and Battle: Pennsylvania are both very tight games down the stretch. Heater sums up why.

Dislocated Shoulders

Jeff Brooks of Penn State looks to have dislocated his shoulder while making a great block. Sounds like he's re-aggravated a pre-existing shoulder injury, and appears to be in a lot of pain. I've never felt that pain, but I know somebody who has. Scooter. One time in college, during "Swimming" class, several of us headed to the hot tub to relax while Scooter decided to do one last dive off of the diving board. Scoot nailed what was surely a perfect dive, but when he surfaced he was screaming in pain. Turns out he had re-dislocated his shoulder diving into the water, and was painfully treading water with one arm. He looked like a wounded animal flapping and splashing around. It was hilarious. Luckily we were there to save him.

This is how we do it

4 games. 2 42' flat screens, 2 "laptizzles"*. 1 high five.

* Lucas Miller

Matt Howard!!!!

Matt Howard provides the tournament's first buzzer beater in only its 2nd game! A great followup by the always crafty Howard. Heater thinks that Howard looks like Andy Samberg.

The Mustache.

Butler and ODU are slugging it out in a hard fought matchup. And as always, Butler big man Matt Howard is in foul trouble. He couldn't stay out of foul trouble during last years tournament run, and it looks like he can't today. At least last year he had a dirty mustache. But I'm not one to judge, as I once rocked a 'stache for the month of November.

Pepper

West Virginia's run at the end of the 1st half continues thru the beginning of the 2nd half, as they try to pull away from a Clemson team that is surely feeling the fatigue. Every time I've watched WVU this year and I've seen Dalton Pepper play, I can't help but think about my favorite character, Harlan Pepper, from the mockumentary "Best in Show". Here Harlan Pepper talks to us about nuts.

GRILLZ.

A great start

WVU and Clemson are all tied up at half time, 40-40, and ODU/Butler are separated by 2 with 2 minutes to play. I really feel like Clemson is kind of getting dicked around, given the fact that they had to play late Tuesday night in the play-in game, in Dayton, Ohio, and then turn around and fly to Tampa to play the opening game of the tournament. You'd think the scheduling genius' at the NCAA would have thought things out and had them play in the evening, but no. It's March. And it's Madness. And WVU coach Bob Huggins always wears a windbreaker with dress pants on the sideline. Normal? No.

Daily Picks

Keeping up with the last 2 years, we'll be bringing you our daily picks. And joining us will be Jason "Ain't got shit to do" Heater and Lucas "Master of the Flame" Miller. Here are mine:

Clemson over WVU- Suck it Huggins.

ODU over Butler- Last years Cinderellas dance is short this year.

Louisville over Morehead St.- Pitino wins "Battle: Kentucky"

Penn St over Temple- Taylor Battle leads PSU in "Battle: Pennsylvania"

Kentucky over Princeton- Princeton can't channel the power of Pete Carill

Pitt over UNC -Asheville- Panthers "Roooooaaaaar"

Richmond over Vanderbilt- Spiders- "Get rid of " Vandy

San Diego St over N Colorado- Maybe Wade can tell us how awesome the Aztecs are.

Florida over UCSB- Billy Donovan wins tournament games.

BYU over Wofford- It's Jimmer time!

UCONN over Bucknell- It's Kemba time??!!

Belmont over Wisconsin- Wisco scored 33 points in their last game. 33. In 40 minutes.

Michigan St over UCLA- Spartans look to make a run despite a disgusting regular season.

Gonzaga over St. Johns- I've loved the Zags ever since Axel Dench.

Mizzou over Cincinnati- Bearcats can't handle Mizzou's 40 minutes of hell. Love the press.

Kansas St over Utah St- Fear the Beard.

James: WVU, ODU, Louisville, UK, Pitt, SDSU, Florida, BYU, UCONN, Wisconsin, UCLA, ST. Johns, Cincinnati, Utah St.

Heater: WVU, ODU, Louisville, UK, Pitt, SDSU, Florida, BYU, UCONN, Wisconsin, Michigan St, St Johns, Mizzou, Utah St.

Lucas: Clemson, ODU, Louisville, UK, Pitt, SDSU, Florida, BYU, UCONN, Belmont, UCLA, Gonzaga, Mizzou, Utah St.

The ball is tipped....

It's almost here. Tip time for WVU/ Clemson is less than 20 minutes away. 4 days of madness is about to begin. And last minute preparations are being taken care of. 2nd TV is hooked up, living room is re-arranged, grill is being fired up. Yes, that's right, we're grilling. Hoop time is here!!! Basketball!

Daily picks coming soon.

Aaaaaaand..... WE'RE BACK!!

That's right. It's March, which means it's time for Four Days of Madness to return. And we're back, and better than ever. After a year of Pennsyltucky separating us, James and I are now together again, ready to give you up-to-date game analysis, insight, and breakdown. And don't worry, there will be pictures of what we're eating and drinking. And probably Salma Hayek's boobs. And as the field this year has expanded to 68 teams, we're also looking to expand. How so? This year, we look to actually blog through the whole tournament. Disappointingly, we have failed the last 2 years to blog past the 2nd weekend of the tournament. This year, we aim to make it the whole way through.

Tonight begins the first of two nights of play in games. Game 1 features UNC-Asheville vs Arkansas-Little Rock. The winner of this game quickly turns into "David", as they then have to play "Goliath", 1# seeded Pittsburgh Panthers (and home of this years blog) on Thursday.

Speaking of Goliath, watching UNC- Asheville makes me wish that Kenny George was still around. Why? Because the dude was a giant! 7'8 and 360 pounds! And really, really slow. But hey, he could dunk without jumping, which is something I will never, ever, be able to do.