…So that I could play that little piece that they play when they’re about to go to a commercial break during the Masters. I personally prefer the CBS Sports College Basketball theme song, but I’m not really up for learning about four different instruments.
Big week in sports so far, and I haven’t posted very many entries to talk about all the events that have taken place. Why? Honestly, because all the events bundled into one post looks a lot longer and therefore a lot more professional. Also, I feel that people like to play the percentages game when deciding whether or not to read something. For example, if the piece of writing is long, people may say “I can probably skim this and find something that I think is interesting”. But if the piece of writing looks a lot like an article in People Magazine, they are probably more inclined to say “I’ll look at the pictures….Oh, there are no pictures? Well then this isn’t really worth my time”. I learned this from Mark Titus, who feels it is necessary to write a book every time he posts a new entry. Also, yes, to answer the question you’re probably asking yourself right now, I am promoting his blog in hopes that maybe he’ll read mine and send some of his readers my way. Did you read that Mark? Something like that is what Axe would’ve preferred you write.
Speaking of college basketball players, how about the National Championship? I know it’s been a few days, but that game was probably one of the better ones that I have ever seen. I heard a lot of people complaining that the tournament wasn’t as interesting once the big boys like Kansas and Kentucky went down, but as far as I’m concerned, these people were still bitter about losing five dollars in bracket pools. The national championship came down to the last shot, which is fitting considering the way the entire tournament played out. Butler making it to the championship game was not a fluke, either. It really comes down to two things: Butler was a terrific team all year, and was overlooked largely because of the conference they play in. When was the last time that a preseason Top 10 team was considered an underdog if they reached the National Championship? Never, as far as I know. Secondly, no team was that much better than any other team this season. In past years, we’ve had the North Carolina’s and Florida’s who have seemingly dominated from November until April. Coming into this year’s tournament however, there were probably eight to ten teams who had a legitimate shot of cutting down the nets in Indianapolis.
With everything else going on in sports this week, Major League Baseball beginning play has kind of taken a back seat in importance. Those who did pay attention to Opening Day however, likely saw one of the better plays that will be made all season. Add in a budding star hitting a home run in his first at-bat, and it looks like this season will be full of action. At least to some, apparently. Umpire Joe West thinks it’s “pathetic and embarrasing” that the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox games take so long. Most baseball insiders are shrugging this off as a comment made by a loudmouth (basically, West is the T.O. of umpiring), but he does bring up a valid point. Causal fans often use the “baseball is so boring to watch on TV” excuse as to why they are not avid fans of the game. It’s not hard to stay interested in a three hour game if you’re at the stadium, but it’s a whole different matter if you’re watching the game on TV. West may not just be blowing hot air here.
Finally, the Masters. Even if you’re not a golf fan, you’ve undoubtedly heard about the tournament in Augusta, or more specifically, how Tiger is doing. After a strong first and second round, Tiger looks like he is in contention for the win at this point. This is probably the best thing that the PGA could have asked for. Casual fans were drawn in because of the Tiger saga, and now that he’s doing well, they’ll probably tune in to the final two days as well to see if he can win. Eat your own words, Billy Payne, because contrary to what you say, if Tiger wins this weekend, he hasn’t disappointed me at all. To us, Tiger Woods is a golfer. Mickey Mantle wasn’t exactly a role model, and neither is Kobe Bryant. Hell, even Tiki Barber just left his wife for some hot intern. The point in naming all those athletes is that even though they have had their darker moments on display for the public, we still love them because of their contributions to their respective sport. Besides, Mr. Payne, who are you to talk? You don’t even let women join your country club.
Notice to the left of the writing I have replaced the NCAA Tournament tracker with a Masters leaderboard. That way you can spend your whole afternoon on the blog!
– K. Becks
