Column, Michael A. Lough: The latest "best time of the year" is done, and the Tournament was good; Loughdmouthings: Tech's Hall, Colorado, pleas, Aaron Rodgers, more
By Michael A. Lough
The Sports Report
centralgasports@gmail.com
Folks on the air will say that seven times a year that this is the best day/weekend/week of the year. Pay attention. They will.
For some of us, weâll actually have a No. 1, 2, 3 and stick with it allll the time. Yeah, really. Doesnât change simply based on the season.
And the NCAA tournaments are my No. 1, followed by the College World Series. If youâve been to Omaha for the CWS, especially in the Rosenblatt Era, you know.
Last weekend was also the most depressing weekend of the year, because what follows? Absurd and redundant overanalysis of early-season baseball, preceded by the most overcovered, overhyped, oversentimentalized, fog-inducing event on the planet, over near the South Carolina border.
The superb weekend of Final Four games put to the side for a little bit the not-yet-legit concerns about the lack of a Cinderella.
Itâs been a topic for a few weeks, worth noting but not diving deep into.
Yet.
One year is not a trend. Tis a very simple and logical thought, thus itâs absent amid the teeveecompoops and assorted media hacks.
No, Iâm not enthralled with the Final Fours being nothing but 1s and 2s, though angering the bellyachers about the committee â doesnât matter what committee, knuckleheads gonna whine â not getting it right is enjoyable.
But the Sweet 16 on the menâs side being so top heavy sure did detract from the need to be near a TV all weekend. The average seed for the second weekend? Third (3.4).
Thank you, greedy pigs in charge of conferences, the TV mongerers, and those who have to sue because they didnât get their way.
The lone double-digit seed was Arkansas, hardly an underdog program. We couldâve pulled for sixth-seed BYU had the Cougars still been in the Whatever West/Western Conference they were in for so long until the GPS â Greedy Pigs Syndrome - pushed them into the Big 12.
Talk about perceptions, though. Last yearâs average Sweet 16 seed was the same, but that group included San Diego State, Iowa State, N.C. State, Gonzaga, and Creighton, not recent powerhouses or footballish names but teams you could pull for.
This yearâs Sweet 16 lacked that, in a big way, which detracts from the interest in that weekend a bit.
It was worse on the womenâs side this year, with an average seed of 2.7 in the Sweet 16, and now three 1s and a 2 in the Final Four.
Last year, the average Sweet 16 seed was 3.
The womenâs tournament has been much more top heavy the last decade or two than the men.
Tis not a positive, either way.
On the other hand, UConn and South Carolina do it right, and Geno and Dawn are just phenomenal as coaches, and as fairly normal people who shoot straight. Exceptional exceptions.
The menâs side? Well, that was certainly an interesting collection of coaches with interesting, um, backgrounds, from, well, never mind.
And then thereâs Jon Scheyer, who continues to not age or look remotely stressed while showing one can coach a powerhouse and not be a jerk or loon or punk.
The basketball of the teams left was actually pretty good basketball, not the best of the one-on-one matchups or overcoaching. Defense, teamwork, passing, depth. Good stuff.
Hereâs hoping the surprises, though, return in 48 weeks.
Loughdmouthings
The announcement that Danny Hall is retiring as Georgia Techâs baseball coach was a bummer.
Have dealt with Hall a number of times, mostly during Techâs visits to Mercer but also during some NCAA regionals, and heâs just one of those normal people who happens to be a very good coach.
He didnât get snippy, immature, paranoid, grumpy, manipulative, or crappy to people. You know, the anti-Bob Knight/Kim Mulkey/Saban/Belichick, etc. A smart person who understood the process, from building a program to dealing with people. Yeah, lotta folks in his position need help in dealing with people.
Hereâs hoping for a run to Omaha this season. âŠ
There are several âbest days of the sports year.â
One is Selection Sunday, so we stop hearing about the absolute and pure idiocy that is âbracketology.â Please, people, do better and ignore it. Smart people, substantive people ignore the completely and totally irrelevant, ignore verbal clickbait.
Another is the end of the NFL Draft, when we stop hearing about the hearing about the absolute and pure idiocy that is âmock draft.â
I canât fathom how people allowed to vote, drive, and reproduce put anything into whatâs nothing. Then again, I canât fathom how people allowed to vote, drive, and reproduce, uh, never mind.
Constant conversations about nothing are baffling. Please, people, do better and ignore it. Smart people, substantive people ignore the completely and totally irrelevant, ignore verbal clickbait. âŠ
Dear high school athletics directors: Itâs long past time â but never too late â to scold your spring sports coaches for ignoring promoting their kids and teams â at your school - by posting scores on social media, MaxPreps, or Gamechangers.
Dear parents of spring sports athletes: Ask your athletics directors and spring sports coaches about that. âŠ
Thereâs no football being played right now, but still, a reminder: AMERICA HAS A CRAPPY-TACKLING EPIDEMIC. All levels. Itâs worth about two touchdowns a game, made or saved. âŠ
Catching up: In the past two seasons, yes, Colorado improved.
In the past two seasons, Colorado failed to beat a ranked team.
The Buffs were 0-2 as a double-digit favorite in 2023.
The only âupsetsâ the Buffs have pulled off? Being a 13-point underdog and hammering UCF by 27 in 2024. Nice, indeed, but thatâs it. Um, it was UCF.
A legit upset is not being a three-point underdog and winning. Thatâs not a âwowâ win, for anybody. In 2024, the Buffs went 2-2 as an underdog,
Sure, the Buffs had a few âhmmmâ wins in 2024, but not against any âwowâ opponents. Again.
Calm down, people. Seriously. âŠ
Random Unrelated Thought: There are very, very few professions where somebody takes an awkward selfie of themselves in a bathroom to post on social media before going out to work. But those going in front of cameras sure love bathroom-before-talking selfies. âŠ
Dear GHSA: Please, in everything involving a list of classes, move Class A/Division I above/before Division II.
And please, please, please, with the power ratings postings, take out all of the private schools that go into theprivate-school playoffs from their respective classifications and post a separate private-school listing, because, well, thatâs the whole point. âŠ
It is nice, though, that the Colorado coach will let those feeble NFL folks do their jobs and no longer extort attention to his two draftable players.
Those who draft others will be fiiiiiine. âŠ
When whomever is the next to make the mistake of signing Aaron Rodgers, take note, and then bet against that team this fall.
Itâs staggering to think the Steelers have lowered standards and raised levels of desperation so much to be the new favorite. âŠ
As great as Julio Jones was, anybody else kinda have a "hmm, aren't we a little short here?" feeling?