TERRY MOSHER
I’m back to the Boneyard today to let off some mental steam. My thoughts get swirling about so much I have to have some outlet, and this is one way to release them.
Is it just me and my age, or is the NCAA Basketball Tournament filled with some bad basketball? There has to be a better way to eliminate some of the bad teams before they get this far and make me roll my eyes.
As you well know, match-ups in basketball are the most important thing. A bad team with the right match-up can give a better team fits if the better team is having a bad day, but it seems to me even then some of the teams in the March Madness field this year are so bad even that hasn’t helped them.
I understand there are automatic berths for teams that win their conference tournament, but it is ridiculous to have teams like Lafayette and Robert Morris in it. The Washington Huskies, who were as bad as I have seen a Lorenzo Romar team be, would have beaten Lafayette and Morris. There has to be a better way to judge the strength of teams and eliminate them even if they win their conference tournament.
Maybe the NCAA should consider a Tier II March Madness bracket for such teams. Do it like soccer does. If you finish in the top 10 percent of a Tier II bracket, then you move up to the real March Madness. Conversely, if you finish in the bottom ten of March Madness, you move down.
To do this, the NCAA would have to consider a consolation bracket. If you lose, you still are in the tournament. The winner of the consolation bracket would get a chance to face the winner of the top bracket, but would have to win twice to claim the championship.
Then the teams that are bounced with two defeats in two games would be moved down to the Tier II March Madness the following season, provided they win their conference tournament.
I would also like to see strength of schedule be the dominant factor in whether a team is worthy of the top Tier or Tier II. That should force major power teams to quit facing the Sisters of the Poor as part of their non-league schedule.
Ah, let’s face it, what I feel makes no difference to the billionaire NCAA. The NCAA is not going to budge from a huge money-maker. I’m spitting into the wind. But at least I feel better.
I feel the same way about politics in this country – I’m spitting into the wind to suggest things have to change. The Supremes’ decision in Citizens United has caused the majority to lose its voice in shaping our government. Don’t be fooled that your vote will make a difference. Because, chances are, your vote will be decided on what you see on TV or read in the papers, and that is where the billionaires in this country will be spending their money to influence your vote, thanks to Citizens United, which allows for unlimited spending on political campaigns.
Our country is quickly going from a true democratic one to a plutocracy one controlled by the wealthy who are buying your vote and buying the people who you will wind up voting for.
We poor and middle class people are being manipulated and lied to by power behind the throne. The wealthy wizards of oz are pulling all the strings and we are dancing to their moves.
It all makes me sick. The good thing is that I’ve gotten old and have limited time left on Earth to be part of all this. One of the reasons I believe Elizabeth Warren won’t run for president is she fears the Clinton Machine, and probably fears for her life if she dares to commit to run.
I don’t believe in conspiracy theories, this is the real thing. The wealthy are going to run this country come hell or high water. And that should scare you because you will be just a servant, a worker for the elite, and no more.
Just as Warren is afraid to run, I believe Robert Kennedy knew he was in extreme danger when he decided to run for president in 1968. His death was predictable.
For the same reason, I believe Edward Kennedy took himself out of a run for president. He knew he would not live to see the White House.
If I’m right, and I think I am, it’s a terrible shame, even a crime that we cannot fight back and get elected somebody like Warren who has our back and would do what is right for not only us, but our country.
But the power in this country is no longer in the ballot box, but in the ability of the wealthy few to influence the votes before they land in the ballot box. Their men will get elected and will do as they want them to do, and that does not fare well for us.
If I’m so smart, who will be elected as our next president? Good question. It won’t be Hillary. She will put up a good fight and will roll over some people who get in her way, but her powerful and wealthy friends have an uphill battle because our country has shifted dramatically to the right, and she is definitely way to the left.
The power this time around will come from the right billionaires (Koch brothers in particular) and the right and their madness will roar into the White House, most likely with Jeb Bush. Jeb, though, must shed some of his right-center feelings and ideas to fully convince the far right.
But if not Jeb, then Walker from Wisconsin. If Walker has the far right wealth behind him, we could be in big trouble in this country. He’s a smooth-talking nut case.
I hope I’m wrong on all this political stuff. I really do. Otherwise, start preparing for war, and not just in the Middle East, but here at home. At some point in our future history if this continues this way, we, the middle class and the poor, will rise up against the wealthy power and another civil war could break out. Thank God, I will be watching from afar because I won’t be alive to see it from Earth.
One final thought from the Boneyard: Who can beat Kentucky?
Man, I don’t know. I thought Cincinnati gave it the old college try the other day against the Wildcats. The Bearcats played as well as they could, but in the end it was not nearly enough.
I think you have to push the Wildcats full court and run with them. You can’t play half-court with them. They are too tall, too long, too athletic and too much a bully. You have to play hard and fast against them and keep them off balanced.
Ok, but who has the tools to do that?
That is the 100 billion dollar question. Maybe North Carolina on a good day, but the Tar Heels would have to get pass Wisconsin and probably Duke to get there. It’s possible that North Carolina State could give them a good effort. Maybe even Gonzaga, but the Zags will likely run into Arizona before they get there.
I really don’t know. But I do know one thing, I have got to the point where I can’t stand the Kentucky fans. I’m a person who always goes with the underdog. When I was much younger I played my best in that role. When opponent fans would get on me, I turned up my game and found another gear. So I hate the front-running Kentucky Fans. Somebody needs to shut them up.
The question, again, is who could that be? Is there any team still left in March Madness that can do it?
I know who I would love see do it. That would be Michigan State. I love the coaching of Tom Izzo. He doesn’t have the most talented team, but he’s getting the most out of it.
So I’m going with Michigan State.
Don’t bet the house on it, though.
Be well pal.
Be careful out there.
Have a great day.
You are loved.