Blog # 60

My Beloved 103 Bloggees (Welcome Graham):

 

 

 

They're back.....last year's national runner-up, the Butler Bulldogs, won the Horizon League Conference Tournament again defeating Wisconsin-Milwaukee 59 -44 http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recap?gid=201103080654 . After the Feb 3rd loss to lowly Youngstown State, their third defeat in a rown, many, including me, thought this team was still feeling the blues over losing Gordon Hayward and were destined to the NIT.  Well, they haven't lost since, winning 9 straight and could be an interesting pick for our brackets. The Bulldogs are playing just the way you want going into the Big Paso Doble (for all you Dancing with the Stars aficionados).

 

They still have a lot of experience, including Tuesday's leading scorers, Matt Howard and Shelvin Mack,  who had 18 and 14 points respectively.  Andrew Smith, a 6' 11 center, has made a recent impact with his inside presence. By the way, last year's starting point guard, Birmingham's Ronald Nored, has lost his starting point guard slot and was empty on all 5 of his shots in the conference championship final.    NEXT

 

 

 

It was probably too much pressure on him. The last couple of blogs have lauded the brilliant performances of North Texas's Tristan Thompson in the Sun Belt Conference tournament. Well, during the finals, he did score 15 points, but was just 4 for 12 from the field (although 2 for 4 deep) as the Mean Green lost to Arkansas-Little Rock on a three-pointer with 1.5 seconds from Solomon Bozeman. The hero of the night, finished with 20 points on 6 for 12 shooting.

 

North Texas was up by 7 with less than two minutes left but couldn't hang on. What a gut-wrenching loss for the Mean Green but a memorable win for UALR.  Watch the winning shot.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfBD_g8Mzyw  NEXT

 

 

 

In a battle between bloggee Barbara's Princeton at bloggees Eli's and Irby's Penn, the Tigers prevailed in a 70 - 58 victory resulting in a tie for first place in the Ivy League regular season which determines the NCAA bid because there is no conference tourney  http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recap?gid=201103080460 . Princeton will play Tommy Amaker's Harvard on Saturday at a neutral site, Yale University....where I saw Led Zeppelin and a "Whole Lotta Love" play in 1970 http://www.ledzeppelin.com/venue/yale-bowl .

 

Back to Tuesday night's game. Princeton played two distinctly different halves. The first one received "boos" from this blog for scoring less than a point a minute, 19 points. But they regrouped and prevented the Quakers from being spoilers, by scoring 51 points for the win. Princeton coach Sydney Johnson was the 1997 Ivy League Player of the Year and led the Tigers to two NCAA tournaments. He is hoping that he will be leading them there as a head coach after this Saturday.  NEXT

 

 

 

To football...."Complete....to Alvarez". Gator fans from 1969 - 1971 heard legendary play-by-play man, Otis Boggs, say those three words 172 times during the career of Florida great Carlos Alvarez (with most of the throws coming from quarterback John Reaves).  He is Florida’s all-time leading receiver, having compiled 2,563 yards during his career. He still holds records in passes caught in a single game (15 vs. Miami, 1969) and most 100-yard games in a season (8).

On Tuesday, Alvarez was named to appear on the College Football Hall of Fame ballot. What a terrific wide receiver...hoping he gets in!  http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/sports_college_uf/2011/03/former-gators-wr-carlos-alvarez-named-to-college-football-hall-of-fame-ballot.html Thanks to bloggee Harold for the tip earlier today.  THAT'S IT

 

 

 

Enjoy........the power conference tourneys are getting in full gear....bubble teams are hoping for no upsets in other conference tournaments,

 

 

 

Barry