SINCE WE LAST SPOKE: 3-27-14
VIVA LAS VEGAS: Maybe I need to make the trek to the desert more often. Seems the Vols respond to my absence remarkably since they are 5-0 combined in my last two trips. That from a team that sported a 16-20 all-time NCAA Tournament record as both the Vols and I were packing for my foray and their latest invitation. Even more amazing is how their path seems to be paved for success when the bright lights and sports books beckon me. In my last visit in 2010 the Vols opened against an 11 seed (San Diego State) and won a closely-contested game. Sound familiar? They then received a break when lightly regarded Ohio University knocked off 3-seed Georgetown making a Sweet-16 appearance much more likely. Sound eerily familiar? That season the Vols then knocked off a 2 seed from the Big-10 that most had slated as an Elite-8 sure thing. Are you detecting a pattern yet? I’m not saying the Vols are going to defeat the Wolverines and have a second chance to play their way into the Final-4 in a five year period but the similarities are difficult to ignore. If the Vols do take another step or two I might have to consider making the
sacrifice of an annual journey to Sin City.
DESERT DETAILS: My buddy Snapper and I enjoyed another extravaganza in Vegas made even better by the Vols success. I have to be one of the few people alive lucky enough to have seen their favorite college basketball team win three NCAA tournament games in a 5-day period in the oasis. The Vols fortune was greater than mine but not by as wide a margin as in years past. I cashed several more basketball tickets than I tore up and even parlayed an hour at the Three Card Poker table into a $120
windfall that included a hand with three 6s. I returned home with almost as much money as I departed Big Orange Country with which is excellent for a guy who generally blows an equal amount of loot in restaurants and snack bars as he does in the casinos.
Some highlights of the trip included:
-THE TRIFECTA- the above mentioned three 6s in a three card poker hand; why-oh-why am I such a nickel and dimer? Stunningly the dealer had dealt herself three 7s no more than six hands earlier.
-SAMS TOWN THROWDOWN- If you’re ever in Vegas and like the sports book take a bus to Sams Town in Henderson. It is a mini-Opry Land-like hotel with a large theatre-style book. The clientele is slightly older than you would find in most books, the seats are excellent, the screens are large and plentiful, the atmosphere is far less smoky and the betting windows are numerous with almost immediate access. If it wasn’t in the middle of nowhere it would probably be a great place to stay.
-JUST MIDDLIN- After playing Wichita St -2- against Kentucky on Saturday the line ballooned to 5 on Sunday. I grabbed the Cats at that time and watched as the spread stayed in –or near- the magic 3 or 4 point lead for the Shockers that I needed to middle the contest. Alas as they often do the hated Wildcats wrecked another great plan.
-LOUNGE LIZARDS- Snapper and I stumbled onto a ballroom-like setting at The California on our last day with big tables, big screens, very little smoking and the smaller crowd that accompanies the large Sunday departure. Our excellent Waitress was a Philipino named Nancy who upon seeing our orange attire said
“Oh, you Tennessee fan? I play them on two team parlay today. They play someone called Mercers that I never hear of. I also play UCLA because they play some school with a man’s name (Stephen F Austin). I never hear of him either”. Now THAT’S the way to hit a parlay.
JUBILATION AND CONGRATULATIONS WITHOUT APOLOGY: I am delighted that Tennessee is on a tournament run that could equal or exceed their best in program history and hope with all my heart that it continues with a victory over Michigan on Friday night. I’m happy for the core-four of Josh Richardson, Jordan McRae, Jarnell Stokes and especially Jeronne Maymon who have fulfilled what both they and the Tennessee fan base thought was their destiny all along. I’m happy for Cuonzo Martin as decent a man as has ever graced the bench, sideline or dugout as Tennessee’s Head Coach. I’m glad to see the passion, effort, sense of urgency and performance that has resulted in an enjoyable and unexpected run to the Sweet-16. I will not however apologize or regret the criticism that I or most of my Tennessee fan brethren directed at Cuonzo or the program because it was absolutely justified. What this team has proven is what all of us were saying for months –no check that years- that underachievement has been a staple of the Martin program. How can a team of this ability be making their first NCAA Tournament appearance of his tenure or for that matter slip in by the narrowest of margins this season? Apologize for what? If anyone has an apology coming it is the Tennessee fan base that graced TBA in large numbers to watch this incredibly talented and experienced team sleep walk through around 25 of their first 30 games. If our loud unrest and dissatisfaction fueled this run then good for us. We’ve been there the whole time and will be there when the current roster and staff are long gone. I’m happy for everyone connected with the success of the current team but I’m not sorry for anything I’ve done or said during the process.
HART TO HEART: As impressive and enjoyable as Cuonzo’s team’s current run has been Dave Hart needs to be at his objective and unemotional best when it comes time to talk contract. Coach Martin has without question earned the right –if he desires to do so- to lead his fourth team as Tennessee’s head coach. He has not however earned the keys to the kingdom. Without demeaning what has been an inspiring effort to the precipice of the Elite 8 the run has been enhanced by a lightened path through a combination of an opening round opportunity against a team in a tailspin; the committee’s ineptitude in seeding an average U-Mass team 6th; Mercer’s satisfaction after a stunning victory over Duke and an injury to a key player. Throughout the late season surge the Vols have gotten little or nothing from any player expected to return next season with the exception of Richardson and the bench populated with Martin recruits does not exactly engender dreams of a repeated run through the bracket. It has been a wonderful three weeks but that doesn’t –and shouldn’t- supersede the 2 ¾ years of mostly disappointment that proceeded it. Give Cuonzo the congratulations and monetary reward that this late season metamorphoses warrants. Just don’t forget that it is the outlier and not the norm for his tenure.
HISTORIC ENCOURAGEMENT: Still having trouble believing that a team that at times looked down-right pedestrian, disinterested and destined for an NCAA Tournament snub can make an unprecedented (for the Vols) run to a Final-4 appearance –and dare I say it- National Championship? Go ahead admit it; you can’t be any more skeptical than I. Driving home today however a thought hit me that I must share. Would Tennessee cutting down the nets in North Texas (can we just call it Dallas already?) be any more unlikely than NC State in 1983 in Albuquerque or Villanova two years later in Lexington? That may seem like eons ago but what’s 30 years to long-suffering Vol fans? The similarities between the current Tennessee squad and the 83 Wolfpack and 85 Wildcats are striking. NC State probably needed to win the ACC Tournament that season to secure their invitation to the Big Dance. They were 17-10 in the regular season and 8-6 in ACC play and beat a Phi-Slamma-Jamma, Houston team that is far better than any foe the Vols must vanquish to reach the pinnacle. Villanova sweated out an invitation in 1985 as well. They finished the regular season at 18-9 (9-7 in Big East) and lost in the Big East Tournament semis by 15 points to St Johns. All they followed that up with was a six game run through the tournament culminating in one of the greatest upsets in the history of sports beating conference rival and double-digit favorite Georgetown. Would a victory over Kentucky this weekend and Florida the next be any more unlikely than that? It’s been done; it can be done again so I say WHY NOT US?
HOW’S YOUR BRACKET? Shockingly mine isn’t as bloody as past year’s efforts. I hit 25 of the first 32 which is a pretty typical 1st round (I still say the
First Four are outside the bracket) performance for me. I followed that with 11 of the Sweet 16 missing on Ohio St, Kansas, Creighton, Wichita St and Duke. I have seven of my Elite-8 picks still in play (Fla, Mich St, Iowa St, Ariz, Wisc, Louis, & Mich) and all four that I picked to make the trek to North Texas and the
House that Jerry Built Instead of a Team; Florida, Iowa St, Arizona and Michigan. I have the Gators and Wolverines to play for it all with Billy Donovan’s boys cutting down the nets on April 7th. I fully expect my bracket to be demolished this weekend and hope with all my heart the Vols bring the biggest wrecking ball to the dance.
IN A PERFECT WORLD: College football would find a way to have a post season befitting of the greatest regular season of them all.