He Came. He Scored. He Lost. He Cried.

Gotta be quick today. I'm heading off to the long-time-coming press conference announcing the retirement of Curtis Enis and I hear that the security lines at correctional institutions can be quite long and difficult to get through...

Gonezaga-UCLA

Look, I just wanted Barty Crouch Jr. to turn him into a ferret. I never asked for Adam Morrison to turn into a blubbering mess at center court. Truth be told, watching Morrison after Gonezaga's heartbreaking loss to UCLA last night, I really did not know what to feel. Everyone knows that I am hardly a fan of Morrison's, but a small part of me really felt for him. After all, he does play the game with a tremendous passion and has an unquenchable desire to win. I respect that and hate to see anyone reduced to tears.

That said, it will suprise no-one that I am delighted that UCLA was able to pull off one of the greatest comebacks in NCAA tournament history. For those of you too busy trying to figure out who Madam Rosmerta, Minerva McGonagall and Stan Shunpike are to have caught the game, UCLA failed to connect on a field goal for the first 9 minutes of the game, fell behind by 17 points, and generally looked clueless. Offense, defense, during timeouts...it didn't matter. The UCLA players looked as if playing a Sweet 16 game was just about the last thing that they were interested in doing.

Perhaps their minds were preoccupied. Perhaps they had some hot-and-heavy plans after the game. After all, I hear that there is a smokin' hot UCLA coed named Victoria that fancies basketball players.

Anyway, the Bruins were able to score the final 11 points of the game, leaving Morrison sprawled at center court, his head in his hands, unable to face the reality that the Zags had just pissed away one of the biggest moments in the school's basketball history. And I felt bad. Okay, not so bad that I didn't allow myself at least one chucke at Morrison's expense, but bad nonetheless.

Wait a minute, I just had a thought. Is it possible that someone had waited until last in the second half of the game to inform Morrison that Jerry Azumah had retired and he was overcome with anguish? Is it possible that Gonezaga, and Morrison in particular, failed to score in the final 3:26 of the game because word had finally leaked out? Did UCLA point guard Jordan Farmar quietly walk over to Morrison after he sank two free throws with 3:26 remaining (to give Gonezaga a 9-point lead) to deliver the bad news?

Ahhh...an explanation for UCLA's horrid start, as well.

Duke-LSU

I suppose we have to consider that Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski was unable to keep the news of Azumah's retirement from J.J. Redick as well. What else could explain the normally reliable Redick's 3-18 performance from the floor?

Okay, I've officially beaten the Jerry Azumah retirement bit to its bitter death, left it in the middle of the road and run over it with a steamroller, parade of camels and the USC marching band.

Most troubling in Duke's loss to LSU was the Blue Devils overall lack of intensity and passion, especially in the last two minutes of the game (how in the world do you give up back-to-back offensive rebounds on missed free throws in the last minute?). To my eyes, freshmen Josh McRoberts and Greg Paulus were the only two Blue Devils who looked like they gave a damn (save for Sean Dockery's impressive header over the scorer's table). Senior Shelden Williams had a nice overall game statistically, but his demeanor on the court reminded me of the attitude of Fred McGriff in 2001 after he had been traded to the Cubs. Look, if you can't play with passion, don't bother showing up.

So, why did so many NCAA Pool bracket sheets spontaneously combust thanks to Duke's loss? Do we blame the defeat on Redick's imitation of Chris Dudley? Do we blame Williams and his lack of passion? Nope, I think fault lies in the hands of Coach K.

Now, hold on to your seats, ladies and gentlemen. Yes, I am going to attempt to be the first person in history to criticize the coaching of one Mike Krzyzewski. I am going to be the first to question whether he is the master that everyone perceives him to be. And I am not just doing this for shock value...

Let's start with a couple of truisms. Duke gets the top talent in the nation. Further, Duke has had immeasurable success and is the A-1 standard program in the NCAA today. I'm not here to argue that.

I'm also not here to argue that Coach K is a bad coach, or even a mediocre one. He is an outstanding coach, but the last couple of years have shown chinks in his armor.

Just as I am not going to argue that Coach K has had success beyond one's wildest dreams, I doubt as though you want to argue that LSU's John Brady coached circles around him last night. Where were the Blue Devil adjustments? When LSU's to big men, Big Baby Davis and Tyrus Thomas went out with three fouls, why didn't Duke continually force the ball into the post? Why weren't unique plays and sets run to get Redick open shots. Brady had devised an outstanding scheme and Coach K had absolutely no answers, other than to run the same stuff that clearly wasn't working.

But here is the bigger question...why is it that Duke has established an undeniable trend of losing in the first game of a tournament weekend? Let me explain. As all NCAA tournament fans know, a team can potentially play in two games during a weekend and, all other things being equal, the first game is generally the one that is more-often won by the better-coached team. After all, the coaches have plenty of time to prepare, study their opponent and develop a game-plan. Yet, in the past couple of years, Duke has always lost the first game of the weekend.

Look, pure talent will get you through a couple of rounds. I am as impressed with anyone over the nine straight Sweet 16s that Duke has made. But, the facts are the facts.

2006: Lost to LSU in Sweet Sixteen (first game of the weekend)
2005: Lost to Michigan State in Sweet Sixteen (first game of the weekend)
2004: Lost to UConn in Final Four (first game of the weekend)
2003: Lost to The Team-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named in Sweet Sixteen (first game of the weekend)
2002: Lost to Indiana in Sweet 16 (first game of the weekend)

(Yes, the Blue Devils did win the title in 2001).

So, what's my point? That fearing the coaching acumen of Mike Krzyzewski is one activity that I cannot endorse. Oh yeah, that and Jessica Alba is hot. So even, if you think my first argument is ridiculous, at lease I've left you with something that we can all agree on.

West Virginia-Texas

Well, the Random Thoughts Curse has completed its work. The Mountaineers' Kevin Pittsnogle made a big shot but Texas' Kenton Paulino made an even bigger shot. I'm genuinely sorry to see West Virginia's season come to an end. And to think, they now have to go back and live in West Virginia.

I'm running out of steam here...

Memphis - Bradley

Memphis won.

Tonight's Games

The moment you have all been waiting for. You've suffered through "sympathy" for Adam Morrison, more Jerry Azumah references than you can handle, and a likely-nonsensical critical "analysis" of Coach K (there really was not much analyzing going on). Here is my look into my crystal ball to tell you what will happen tonight (last night, I missed on Duke, predicted a 72-70 Texas win -- the final was 74-71 -- , a 81-67 win for Memphis -- the final was 80-64--, and was a tad off on the UCLA-Gonezaga game, but got the result right).

(Oh, come on Professor Trelawny...this one is a layup)

George Mason - Wichita State

Florida State 72, Maryland 65.

Billy, I told you to get he hell away from my computer!

Oh, I don't know. Let's just hope that nobody gets Tony Skinned in the nuts, especially Gunston. I can guarantee you one thing, though, a mid-major team that Billy P-acc-ker hates is going to win. Wichita State 69, Gunston 65

Villanova-Boston College

This is going to be a great game. I'm not sure how 'Nova is going to contend with Craig Smith in the post, but Boston College does not have the guards to match up with the Wildcats. Overall, Villanova has more athletes and Doug Flutie does not have any more eligibility. Villanova 83, Boston College 80

UConn-Washington

I've been referring to UConn as the 2006 NCAA Champions for weeks. I'm not going to stop now. UConn 89, Washington 79

Florida-Georgetown

This should be a terrific game, as well. Two athletic teams, although Florida will look to run, while Georgetown will try and play a half-court game. Erin Andrews went to Florida. That's good enough for me. Florida 70, Georgetown 65

* Yes, I did misspell Gonezaga intentionally throughout this e-mail. In the words of Hawk Harrelson..."They Gone!"