KU draws another easy road to the final Four

Kansas may have won the NCAA Tournament in 2008 but since then they have been incredibly lucky in that they have managed to only team that was a under a #9 seed over the past four years. Seriously!

2009 - As a #3 seed they played a #14, #11, and a #2
2010 - As a #1 seed they played a #16,  and a #9
2011 - As a #1 seed they played a #16, #9, #12, and a #11
2012 - As a #2 seed they have played a #15, a #10, and are currently playing a #11

Amazing

Royally Bad

There aren't many things as bad as the Kansas City Royals have been in the last two decades. 

Everytime I try to weigh how bad the team has been, I start to compare them to other monumentally bad things.  Like that time we were on that trip to the park with the neighbor lady and her kids, and my brother decided to use a run-off pond spillway as a water slide into a sewer (he was at least 14 years old).  Or when George Lucas had a slew of candidates and decided to choose Hayden Christianson to play Anakin Skywalker.  Or that time Tempest Bledsoe thought she would make a great talk show host and some TV executive agreed. Tempest who? (see the least popular child on the Cosby Show).

As often as I weigh bad ideas against it, nothing ever seems to compare to this...

Spring Training 2004 saw the Royals trying to improve on their only winning season in a decade, and it's obvious (now) the front office felt like they had some momentum with the Benito Santiago and oft-injured Juan Gonzalez signings.  Both veterans would fail to meet expectations (just like a Chris Gaines album I remember). 

So I guess it was simply par for the course when management decided to detract a weak defensive team from practicing fundamentals by allowing the country superstar to take BP and play left field in several intrasquad and exhibition games.  Granted it was for charity, but was this really a good decision for a team trying to shake off years of comical baseball?

What's worse is Garth actually had some mild success against Royals pitching (embarassing?).

In retrospect, Brooks previously attended spring training with the San Diego Padres in 1998 and the New York Mets in 2000, and the Padres and Mets each made it to and lost in the World Series in those respective years. 

The Royals, on the other hand, finished 2004 (a year in which many experts picked them to win their division) in fifth place in the AL Central with an abysmal 58-104 record, and 2003 MOY Tony Pena would resign after losing the faith of his players.

Friends in low places, huh?  I think I'm starting to get it.

Thanks a lot Garth.

2008 American League Championship Series - Game 7

I waited my entire life to see a game like this.  Critics will say this game meant nothing because the Phillies went on to win a short World Series (with a convicted PED user earning two of the victories), but baseball fans understand what a catalyst this game was for the future of a team that spent a decade in the doldrums only to compete with baseball's elite.  It's no coincidence that this Rays club, with many everyday players from 2008, would go on to win another AL East title in 2010 and lock-in a well-deserved WC berth in 2011.  Well done fellas.

I didn't create this montage, but there's no doubt in my mind it was made for me.

RIP Dad

December 1989 UNLV - Arkansas game highlights

Nolan Richardson called his defense '40 Minutes of Hell'.  Tark called it '40 Minutes of Layups'.  Heres the 1989-90 regular season game between UNLV and Arkansas. Both teams would go on to make the Final Four that year.  Duke would take out Arkansas and UNLV would win the National Championship.

Providence defeats Georgetown - 1987 Elite Eight

More fun from 1987. Heres Jim Nantz and James Brown when Providence, coached by Rick Pitino, defeated Big East rival Georgetown to make the Final Four. They would go one to play another Big East rival, Syracuse in the national seminfinal

Kentucky vs Duke - 1998 - NCAA Tournament South Region Finals

No, this isn't "The Shot".  This is the 1998 Regional Final that featured eventual National Champion Kentucky vs Duke.  This was the freshman Duke squad that would only lose one regular season game in 1999, considered by many to be the best team ever.

1987 "One Shining Moment"

I'm not a huge fan of 'One Shining Moment' but a lot of people seem to like it.  Here is the earliest one I could find.

1987 Road to the Final Four

I love watching old news.  This is The Road to the Final Four show that preceded Selection Sunday. It features scores and highlights of conference tournaments, a feature on the selection process works, and on DePauls coach. Seriously, when was the last time you thought about DePaul.

1992 NCAA Tournament - KU v UTEP

It never pains me to watch Kansas waste talent.  I think, though, if you have to start somewhere to get a feel for how well they do it, you should start with the Kansas vs UTEP (University of Texas El Paso) second-round NCAA tournament matchup in 1992.


This was certainly not the first time these two programs had met in the NCAA tournament.  As a matter of fact, it was a win against Kansas that sent UTEP (previously Texas Western) to the 1966 NCAA tournament championship game where they historically defeated Adolf Rupp's juggernaut Kentucky Wildcats and superstar Pat Riley.  That Miners team was documented in the 2006 Disney pic "Glory Road" (not a bad a pic if you like Josh Lucas).


Most KU fans have long forgotten the stunningly poor display of wasted talent in 1992, but here I am to refresh their selective memories.

For the super nerds...here's the box score.  For the rest of us, enjoy the show (ps - I miss Adonis Jordan's haircut).

ETSU vs Oklahoma - 1989 NCAA Tournament Game

We love the 1989 tournament.  Not only was it an incredible year in college basketball, but the tournament was so evenly distributed that every game had the potential to be great. Also, there was no team from Lawrence Kansas in the tournament.

This is the first round game of the Southeast Region featuring #1 seed Oklahoma vs #16 seed East Tenn St. Dont be fooled by the seeds, this was a great game.  Oklahoma, who had lost in the 1988 National Championship game, was coming off its Big 8 Tournament championship game defeat and I dont think they ever really recovered from that loss.

1989 Final Four: Duke vs Seton Hall - First Half, and Second Half

The 1989 National Semifinal game between Seton Hall and Duke.