2014 March Madness Thread

[IrishLion]

Lol I did an auction, and ended up with spare cash at the end. I got into a bidding war for Mercer, a team worth $2 max, for the simple sake of rooting against Duke. Best use of $7 to overpay for a team in my life.

 

[gkIrish]

I have Duke losing to Tennessee in Billion Dollar bracket but apparently I had them in the Final Four on IE. woof. However I have Mercer in my NCAA Draft (basically a snake draft with 8 players) along with ND State and Dayton so I locked up a good chunk of real cash with that.

 

[PLACforever]

Duke University Porn Star Belle Knox -- If Duke Wins It All, I'll Give Every Player a ... | Celebrity Videos | TMZ.com


...leading to the most awkward NCAA confiscation/sanctions ever.

I guess this didn't have the appeal she expected.

 

[irishfan]

Funny to see OK State out. Such a weird but dangerous team.

 

[military_irish]

I am currently 23 out of 27. The two biggest losses for me were Duke and Okie St. I am still in the 99.6 percentile for whatever that's worth

 

[IrishLax]

Of course Michigan would get gifted a path to the elite 8. Unreal.

 

[connor_in]

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-the-dagger/there-are-no-longer-any-perfect-brackets-left-in-the-billion-dollar-bracket-challenge-003853949.html

There are no longer any perfect brackets left in the Billion Dollar Bracket Challenge

 

[TheRealLynch51]

Of course Michigan would get gifted a path to the elite 8. Unreal.

I think Wichita St. stands in their way. Would be willing to put vbucks on it if they meet in the tourney.

Edit: Too drunk. Didn't realize they would not meet until the Elite 8.

 

[IrishLax]

I think Wichita St. stands in their way. Would be willing to put vbucks on it if they meet in the tourney.

Not before the elite 8. To get to elite 8 they only have to go through Texas + Tennessee/Mercer.

 

[TheRealLynch51]

Not before the elite 8. To get to elite 8 they only have to go through Texas + Tennessee/Mercer.

I edited my post right after I realized my mistake and you said that. Michigan does have an easy route to the Elite 8.

 

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

Tennessee is not a cakewalk by any means. I've been on their tourney contention bandwagon for a while now. I have a feeling they could end up in Arlington.

 

[irishfan]

Went 26-6 on the first two days. Obviously Duke was a big miss for me as I had them going Elite 8, but I also had New Mexico in Elite 8 which is a killer. My entire Sweet 16 is intact besides those two, so actually feeling decent for once after Round One.

Some pretty awesome games today. Florida-Pitt could be a huge upset if Pitt brings the A game like on Thursday. Nova-UCONN should be great. NDSU could easily knock off San Diego State, etc.

 

[IrishLax]

What's everyone's opinion on the VCU foul call? Most analysts seem to blame the kid for putting himself in the position to get called for a foul (which is legit), but to me it looked like there was minimal to no contact... certainly nothing warranting a foul.

Thoughts?

 

[greyhammer90]

What's everyone's opinion on the VCU foul call? Most analysts seem to blame the kid for putting himself in the position to get called for a foul (which is legit), but to me it looked like there was minimal to no contact... certainly nothing warranting a foul.

Thoughts?

I don't blame the kid for years of muscle memory. Was it smart in the moment? No. But it's what you do 99.9% of the time.

 

[johnnycando]

What's everyone's opinion on the VCU foul call? Most analysts seem to blame the kid for putting himself in the position to get called for a foul (which is legit), but to me it looked like there was minimal to no contact... certainly nothing warranting a foul.

Thoughts?

There was obvious physical contact after the ball left his hands. He fell into the shooter.

As bad as I hate it, it was a terrible decision. Even making the shot, VCU still would have won.

 

[gkIrish]

What's everyone's opinion on the VCU foul call? Most analysts seem to blame the kid for putting himself in the position to get called for a foul (which is legit), but to me it looked like there was minimal to no contact... certainly nothing warranting a foul.

Thoughts?

A) It wasn't a foul
B) I wasn't watching the game closely at the time (and no audio) so I don't know the entire context of the play but I don't understand why Smart didn't tell his players to just stop moving. Let SFA run up the court against no defense whatsoever and have a party. There was no reason for a VCU player to have even been on that side of the court. I understand that never happens in reality, but it should.

 

[johnnycando]

Explain to me, how it wasn't a foul?

Lmao.

 

[A Pac]

The kid took a dive. I can't stand when players do that. I know there was contact, but it in no way effected the shot and was minimal. I know it's taught but it doesn't mean it's right. As a high school ref, you had better move the kid a good amount for me to call that. Sack up.

 

[johnnycando]

The kid took a dive. I can't stand when players do that. I know there was contact, but it in no way effected the shot and was minimal. I know it's taught but it doesn't mean it's right. As a high school ref, you had better move the kid a good amount for me to call that. Sack up.

The shot taker was in the air.

The foul call protects players off their feet, not just shot trajectory.

Which is why it's a foul every time.

 

[A Pac]

The shot taker was in the air.

The foul call protects players off their feet, not just shot trajectory.

Which is why it's a foul every time.

I get that, but a lot of kids (including the one last night) purposely throw their legs out there and try to draw contact. It's obvious that it's not the normal shooting motion. Although had I no bet $10 billion on VCU I probably would not be making this argument.

 

[johnnycando]

I agree with attempting contact, but it's like soccer.

Theatrics draws attention.

In real time, as a ref, it's hard to see it.

More importantly, is how this young man used no intelligence in his decision making.

Quite upsetting to see.

That loss sucks but I had them no further than losing next round.

 

[A Pac]

I agree with attempting contact, but it's like soccer.

Theatrics draws attention.

In real time, as a ref, it's hard to see it.

More importantly, is how this young man used no intelligence in his decision making.

Quite upsetting to see.

That loss sucks but I had them no further than losing next round.

I agree that the kid who made the foul made an awful decision. You have to know not to get that close when you're up 4. Dumb.

 

[Irish8248]

Because its necessary..

Goooooooo Daaaaayton Flyyyyyers

 

[johnnycando]

Because its necessary..

Goooooooo Daaaaayton Flyyyyyers

Agreed.




gooooooooooooo hooooooooooommmmmme.



Spoilers.

 

[IrishSteelhead]

Just saw there's one perfect bracket after 2 days on Yahoo, and everyone in the billion dollar challenge is already done.

 

[greyhammer90]

Just saw there's one perfect bracket after 2 days on Yahoo, and everyone in the billion dollar challenge is already done.

That's when the yahoo guy starts praying he got one wrong lol

 

[IrishSteelhead]

Yahoo guy tweeted Buffett begging for "something" if it withstands the fire of the first weekend.

 

[johnnycando]

Yahoo guy tweeted Buffett begging for "something" if it withstands the fire of the first weekend.

Which mean....?

 

[IrishSteelhead]

Means nothing. He will have a loss before today ends I'm sure.

 

[IrishLax]

Explain to me, how it wasn't a foul?

Lmao.

Here's my take on it... I reffed basketball for 8 years. I'm really not sure if it was a foul or not. If any contact with a shooter while they're in the air was automatically a foul, teams would foul out by halftime. There literally dozens of times during a game where there is SIGNIFICANT contact on a shooting attempt and no call is made. Think of your average drive to the hoop or post play where someone finishes physically through some contact.

He he didn't him on the arm, and it didn't look like he undercut him and impeded his ability to land. I could not tell if there was significant body contact after the shot that I would deem a push, block, etc. ... to me, it really looks like his momentum carries him directly past the shooter, there is maybe a little bit of incidental contact (maybe not though), and then the player flops in a different direction. It also looked like the ref may have been making the famous "anticipation" foul call, but that's also unclear.