* This is the most wonderful time of the year. If you disagree, you are entitled to your opinion, but you are factually wrong.
* Back in the day, 19 wins and a .500 record in the SEC would almost be enough to get you into the Big Dance, but times have changed, and Vandy’s not going to pull any Cinderella shit this year. That said, to get that record with no seniors and getting major minutes from a lot of frosh is not a bad outcome. That said, I think this is the first year of blogging that I haven’t had a MEMORIAL MAGIC SIGHTING #n post anytime during the season, and I don’t think the ‘Dores really had a signature victory this season – the closest thing would be the road win at LSU and keeping the home victory streak against Kentucky. Make no mistake, it was a down year for the ‘Dores – but if this is a down year, the program is already at a higher level than it was when Kevin Stallings took over ten years ago.
* Think of what the Vanderbilt Class of ’09 has seen: a football win over UT at Knovxille, a run to the Sweet Sixteen and two home wins over the #1 team in the country,the baseball team spending almost an entire regular season ranked #1 in the nation, having both men’s and women’s basketball and baseball AND FOOTBALL all ranked in the top 25 in the same calendar year, ESPN College Gameday on campus, a WINNING SEASON in football, complete with a BOWL GAME WIN, a world of VU hand signs and charging out of the tunnel and “Who Ya Wit?” and one Thursday night win after another and “CONQUER! AND! PREVAIL!” and don’t look now, but Vanderbilt has finally established a baseline that you can be a top-25 school academically and athletically at the same time. Look out, Duke and Northwesten and Cal and Stanford and Virginia…the ‘Dores are on the way.
* Why is it that people who are wrong, over and over, who have absolutely nothing useful to contribute and do nothing more useful than they neighbor’s dog that won’t shut up – why does anyone take these people seriously? Why do people even acknowledge that this horseshit belongs in our discourse? I mean, to pull out the Slashdot line, you don’t blame a dog for doing what’s in its nature and humping your leg, but when he doesn’t stop, after a while, you cut his balls off.
* Every time I see Digger Phelps now, I just laugh my ass off thinking of him dancing with the Cal cheerleaders in a timeout. Don’t believe me? See for yourself:
* I am sorry to see the American version of Life On Mars go. Sure, it’s not a patch on the original, but for some reason I have always had an odd attraction to New York City in the early 1970s, after the age of the Dodgers and Guys and Dolls and the largest-city-in-the-world days but before the blackout and the Bronx Zoo and “Ford to City: Drop Dead.” Basically that last transitional moment hanging over the precipice. And I think they’ve captured a lot of that, with Harvey Keitel as a much more understated Gene Hunt and Michael Imperioli almost stealing the whole damn show with a FAR more complex and interesting Ray Carling than has ever been offered in the UK shows. I think once you just accept that it’s never going to hold a candle to the original and look at it on its own, they did a fine job and deserve the opportunity to wrap up their story in a neat little package (and it looks like they will at least get that much).
* Can’t wait for the tournament. Gus Johnson could do commentary on a turtle trying to screw a doorknob and make it sound like the Miracle On Ice. He has officially become this generation’s guarantee to peg the needle on the Fun-O-Meter.
* My Buddy Vince Sez nothing. I blame him for buying a 40 of Miller for my birthday (and paying a college student to get it for him, in keeping with the high-school theme, only to go back in himself and demand a brown paper bag for it) and getting me all banged up. Besides, he should be focusing on beating “Looks like Heaven’s easier to get into than” Arizona State today.
Finis.