There is nothing like a little vacation this time of year. I’m not alone…it’s spring break for many and it always seems to fall on the NCAA’s premier event, the so-called “Big Dance.”
It’s one of the things I look forward to seeing on vacay. Grab some sun, a ton of R & R and then see packs of people, men and women and kids too, flock to screens or hunch over their phones and tablets to get updates ultimately to give their hoop two-cents to anyone who’ll listen.
I’ve been here a week and no team shook up the flocks like the bracket-busting bunch from East Lansing. Goodness. When Michigan State met its ouster, groans could be heard from one end of the Island to the other. Since I was one of the few to not drink the Green Kool-Aid, I just had to laugh.
Granted, there were plenty of upsets and other losses that did bracket damage but the Spartans did it best. Man, did they ever. Here, where everyone is sporting team colors and logos and doing so with unusual vitality, moments after that loss I didn’t see green. I would have bet a majority of the brackets filled out had MSU in the Final 4 or even winning it all.
And that’s precisely why this is the best time of year for sports.
In particular, it’s been an amazing season for college basketball and it’s not over! Here is the Sweet-16 and then that Final 4. I’ve been on the record long ago and remain, through thick or thin, with North Carolina. For me, it’s going to be brutal that while the Tar Heels tangle with Indiana. I’ll be on a plane winging my way home. There are some great games ahead and certainly, Kansas has to be considered the favorite to get the Championship.
However it settles in early April, one thing is for sure. Fans will remember the champion and they’ll remember Michigan State. These days, that’s just how it works. In other words, if you do my bracket like THAT, I’ll never forget.
Who’s the best EVER?!
On this trip west, it’s become increasingly evident that SimonsSays and his team are visitors at this posh hideaway. There are scant San Antonio Spurs fans but the place is overrun with Warriors fans. They truly own the joint.
It’s a bit much I tell ya. All you hear is Steph this, Klay that. It’s in your grill with those blue and yellow hats and T’s and speedos (I know and it’s true….) and Golden State stamped all over the place. It was easier for me to be a Wolves fan IN San Francisco during the Super Bowl than a vacationing Wolves fan thousands of miles away.
That’s why I was hoping for my version of a basketball miracle the other night when the Warriors rolled into Target Center. I was asking for a lot and I know it. I could only catch updates from my phone and was glued to it. I wanted a Wolves win over the Warriors and Crunch kicking ’em back to their charter home.
We didn’t get the win but with our Wolves team, patience continues to be the key and the Wolves played the NBA Champions solidly. I truly believe that we see outstanding growth from this youthful core. These Wolves back down to no one can beat the best of the best on any given night while still needing to work on major issues. Consistency. Closing games. You call it like you want but I’m saying all good and we’re on the path.
So, as we’re seeing history right before our eyes with the play of this Golden State team, what caught my ear and attention the other day near the pool, was the loud back and forth of two pompous Warriors fans. You’ve been in situations like this before. Those two going on and ON, making sure everyone hears them and just the blah-blah-blah about the great NBA Champions. They wouldn’t stop yakking.
Truth be told, I’ll give it to ’em. Golden State is VERY good! But to compare the Warriors to Phil Jackson’s six-time World Champion Bulls or even the Wilt/West Los Angeles Lakers (way back in the day), just doesn’t work.
The season win record is at stake and my only issue with the comparisons to past record holders is this: The game is different now compared to the Bulls run and far different from the days of Chamberlain.
The Warriors might just claim the best overall record but their path to it has been filled with fewer potholes than Michael’s Bulls encountered and certainly much easier than the Lakers of 1969. I think in the Bulls days, they had more competition on a nightly basis. In the Lakers case, where do I start? Travel, the overall game…so much is different from then to now.
I do believe the Warriors will get past Chicago’s 72-win mark. The Warriors are at 64-7 right now and they are nearly unbeatable at home. This season, Golden State is 33-0 in Oakland and its remaining schedule is dotted with all those home games. Add to it a winning streak of 51 straight at Oracle Arena and you see why that is a bit of an easy bet. But go easy on the best team of all time. We have some talkin’ to do about that.
You talking about our KAT?:
While those two Warrior fans were going on and on, they overlooked the guy in the Wolves T-shirt just behind them. But they did have a short but interesting bit on Karl-Anthony Towns.
Our KAT is going to be the NBA’s Rookie of the Year and his star is very bright. Oh, don’t take it from me, take it from the Warrior fans.
They will remain nameless but they are Blue Nike hat (BNH) and Yellow Warriors brim (YWB). BNH turns to his buddy and says, “you know, “we” clubbed the Timberwolves last night. But that Kentucky kid is good….what’s his name….?!” YWB turns to him with the emphatic answer and more, “Dude, you know who that is….that’s Towns. He’s serious!” BNH perks up, “You got that right. Dang, instead of Durant, let’s add him to our team next season and he can help the second unit. Durant’s going to have a tough time even starting with us and Towns would too…but he’s younger”.
I kid you not. Reliving that bit has caused my systems to shut down. But I lived through it. That’s all I can say about that.
Wolves @ Fingertips!
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Got something to say?!
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SimonsSays on TV/PODcast:
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