GOP's WeDon'tCare is DOA ... but my NCAA bracket has new life

^
The House GOP had to cancel Thursday's scheduled Obamacare Repeal/WeDon'tCare Replacement vote ... because they don't have enough votes for it to pass.

Dems won't vote for it because it's a draconian plan that gives billions of dollars in tax cuts to the top 0.5% while throwing the middle class and working poor under the bus. Moderate Republicans (an endangered species, to be sure) also worry about that, though a "softening" of some of the most draconian language appeased many of them.

Meanwhile, the right-wing extremists won't vote for WeDon'tCare because it isn't draconian enough. All those fetuses they don't want aborted? Welcome into the world ... but no health care for you!

Ryan, Trump & Co. managed to come up with a lose-lose proposal, one that every national medical society has panned as a potential disaster.

Among the health-related things Trump promised in the year leading up to his inauguration:

++ "We're going to have insurance for everybody."

++ "Everybody's got to be covered."

++ "We're going to come up with a new plan that's going to be better health care for more people at a lesser cost."

++ "You're going to end up with great health care at a fraction of the price."

And then he backs a plan that does none of that. I guess the only campaign promises this so-called president really cares about are the big, beautiful wall and the Muslim ban.

As John Oliver said: "He asked us, 'What do you have to lose?' And we're finding out every day."

++++++

And speaking of Trumpian lies, here's an amazing interview he gave Time - READ IT - in which he defends his many lies by, well, lying some more.

And yet his sheeple are either so gullible or so afraid of him that they just keep lining up behind him. I've never seen anything like it.

++++++

OK, on to something more fun ...

My NCAA tournament bracket is so broken that I've decided to take a mulligan and tee it up again.

Sweet 16

Michigan over Oregon
Kansas over Purdue
West Virginia over Gonzaga
Arizona over Xavier
Butler over North Carolina
UCLA over Kentucky
South Carolina over Baylor
Florida over Wisconsin

Elite 8

Kansas over Michigan
Butler over UCLA
Arizona over West Virginia
South Carolina over Florida

Final Four

Kansas over Butler
Arizona over South Carolina

National Championship

Kansas over Arizona

Somehow, the Jayhawks have mostly flown under the radar. They are too good for that, and I think Bill Self wins his second title.

Unless, of course, I'm wrong.

If so, I'll admit it. Which I guess means I can't be president of the United States.
^

Bracket? I don't need no stinkin' bracket!

^
Ten years ago, I had the best NCAA hoops bracket of my life.

I correctly predicted 7 of the Elite Eight -- Marquette, Kentucky, Arizona, Kansas, Syracuse, Oklahoma and Texas. I missed only on Michigan State (having picked Florida instead). I then nailed 3 of the Final Four -- Marquette, Syracuse and Texas (erroneously picking Arizona over Kansas in the West title game, which the Jayhawks won by 3).

And here was the cherry on top: Once the Syracuse-Kansas championship game was set, I made this prediction, in print, for everybody to see: "It says here that Carmelo Anthony will shoulder the load one more time. Syracuse, 81, Kansas 77."

Carmelo had 20 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists as Syracuse won 81-78. That's right: I was off by exactly one Kansas point.

I should have walked away from predicting right then and there, just as Roy Williams walked away from Kansas.

It's been downhill since, as my Oscar pick of "Battleship" will attest. I think the only prediction I've gotten right in the last decade was that the Internet would adversely affect the newspaper industry.

I'm going to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of my dream bracket by doing something radical, something unique, something profound.

Something un-American.

I'm not going to fill out a bracket this year.

The reason? I don't feel like it.

Of course, this means having to hear about everybody and his uncle's brackets and not even being able to follow up by saying, "Yeah, but I had Valpo over Michigan State."

My favorites are the dudes (and dudettes) who fill out multiple brackets. The reason for this is what? To be the Mitt Romney of sports prognostication?

What would me filling out a bracket prove, anyway? Either I go with my heart and predict Marquette to win it all ... or I go with my head and pick against Marquette. In the latter case, if I really care about being right, it would mean rooting against the only sports team I love. What sense would that make?

One reason I had a great bracket in 2003 was that I predicted Marquette to reach the Final Four. It wasn't a crazy pick. The Golden Warriors did have Dwyane Wade, two other guys who would go on to play in the NBA (Travis Diener and Steve Novak) and the best big man to play there in a quarter-century (Robert Jackson). Still, it was hard for me to claim it was an objective pick.

That year, Marquette just so happened to play at the same subregional site as Illinois. I was covering the Illini so, as a bonus, I got to watch the first two Marquette tourney games. Holy Cross, the 14th seed, had Marquette beaten until Diener -- not Wade, who was ordinary at best -- went nuts from 3-point range. I didn't cheer from press row. I NEVER cheered from press row during my entire career. But I did bury my head in my hands in frustration at one point. At another juncture, I had to get up from press row and take a short walk into the hallway because I couldn't take the idea of our best team since the Al McGuire Era losing its NCAA opener to Holy Freakin' Cross.

My buddy, then-Southtown columnist Phil Arvia, later told mutual friends that "Nadel was going crazy" -- suggesting I was ranting and raving on press row. Truth is, I was going crazy, but only inside, and very quietly. Damn you, Arvia ... I'll accept your apology any time.

The Missouri game was a wild OT affair, with the Golden Warriors outscoring the Tigers 21-12 in the extra session to finish with a preposterous 101 points. Again, it wasn't Wade who stole the show. Novak, then  the team's freshman sixth man, introduced himself to the nation by hitting approximately a gazillion 3-pointers.  I was really into that game but, again, not outwardly.

Anyway, I digress. Even though this Marquette team isn't nearly as talented as that one was, if I was picking a bracket I'd have to say my lads would win the national title.

Or I'd have to fill out a second bracket with Louisville, my actual pick, doing so.

So why bother?

I've been called many things over the years, but Mitt Jr. has never been one of them.
^

Reason No. 864 why NCAA hoops tourney is so much better than BCS B.S.

^

When the NCAA basketball tournament has one of those wacky years filled with incredible upsets and capped by surprise teams in the Final Four, that's one example of why the hoops tourney is so much more exciting and satisfying than football's BCS.

Fairly often, though, the team that was the best in November, December, January and February also excels in March and early April. When that happens, it's even better proof.

So it was with Kentucky, certainly the best team in college hoops all season and a most deserving national champion after Monday's gritty win over game but overmatched Kansas.

"OK," the half-dozen or so BCS proponents might ask, "does it really matter how the best team gets to be the best? After all, few would deny that Alabama was a worthy national football champion."

Well, I might deny it, but that's besides the point.

Kentucky played a nonconference schedule featuring games against some of the nation's best teams. The Wildcats then dominated their conference, wrapping up the NCAA tourney's overall No. 1 seed. Finally, they went 6-0 in the tournament, with victories over one fine team after another, beating opponents of different styles, sizes and strengths.

That, my friends, is how you win a national championship.

You truly earn it.

^

Once "killed" by Weber, Self back for more

^

One of my favorite memories of Bruce Weber's first season as Illinois coach was when he tried to get his players' attention by telling them "Bill Self is dead" and staging a mock funeral for the guy who had recruited the players to Champaign.

Weber meant it was a new era, but his crassness caught guff from many media mopes and wasn't easily accepted by the players.

Still, led by Deron Williams, Self's recruits eventually bought into Weber's system. The following season, the Illini were in the national championship game and Weber was celebrated as a fine game coach.

Things steadily went downhill after that title loss to North Carolina, though, and Weber finally was fired a few weeks ago. Meanwhile, Self won the 2008 title with Kansas.

Saturday, the same day Self was leading Kansas back to another championship game, Weber was introduced as the new coach at Kansas State. Enthusiasm for Weber's hire was, shall we say, less than full throttle.

I got to know Weber fairly well and consider him a good man. However, his brutal honesty, screechy voice and decided uncoolness are sure to turn off K-State players the same way those traits turned off Illini players.

Of course, compared to in-your-face screamer Frank Martin, Weber probably will be received well in the near term by the players.

At the very least, he probably won't need to stage Martin's mock funeral.

___

Speaking of the national title game ...

I simply can't imagine Kansas beating Kentucky, which is superior at every position and has more depth.

I'm calling it Wildcats 72, Jayhawks 59, with freakish Anthony Davis getting most-outstanding-player honors.

Yeah, I'm really going out on the limb there.

___

It was great that CBS and the other networks involved employed the remarkable Marv Albert (with the extremely knowledgeable Steve Kerr) during the tournament. I wish Albert had been allowed to do the Final Four, too.

Jim Nantz is a solid pro, and Kerr is back along with superb Clark Kellogg. But Marv is simply the best basketball announcer ever to walk the earth.

As for Kellogg, he did an outstanding job calling games involving both his alma mater (Ohio State) and his son (who plays for Ohio). His restraint was admirable.

Plus, he occasionally invents a word, such as when he called a less-heralded Kentucky player "undersung."

Gotta love that.

^

Today's High 5: Weekend Recap Edition

^

5. Kentucky, Kansas, Louisville, Ohio State reach the Final Four.

So nice to see these downtrodden programs finally succeed on the national stage. Everybody loves an underdog.

4. Family members, black leaders, athletes, entertainers and millions of regular folks seek justice in the killing of Trayvon Martin.

Come on, people ... lighten up. Had vigilante shooter George Zimmerman been black and had the innocent, unarmed victim been white, I'm sure Zimmerman still would be free today to calmly explain his actions as self-defense. Right? Right?

3. James Cameron takes his personal submarine to the Mariana Trench, traveling 35,756 feet below sea level in a plunge of historic proportions.

The Titanic director admits that the tremendous water pressure exerted on the sub "is in the back of your mind." No doubt. The Associated Press said the pressure was "the equivalent of having three SUVs sitting on your toe." Mitt Romney's summer-home valet certainly can attest to the discomfort of that situation.

2. Tiger Woods wins a tournament at long last.

Thank goodness. Now he'll be able to pay the rent.

1. Dick Cheney gets a new heart.

Insert your own punchline here.

^

Loyalty: Dead end for Weber & other coaches

^

If college basketball success is measured by national championships, Illinois hasn't had a successful coach in the modern era. If, however, success is measured by Final Four appearances, Bruce Weber and Lou Henson have been the only successful coaches in the last six decades.

What else -- besides first names that, in good times, elicited "oooooo" sounds from fans -- do Henson and Weber have in common?

Ugly endings.

Despite a thrilling ride to the Final Four in '89, two other appearances in the tournament's second weekend and a dozen NCAA bids overall, Henson was run out of Urbana-Champaign by a pitchfork-and-torch-wielding mob that deemed him inadequate in his last few seasons.

Weber took the Illini to the 2005 NCAA title game and led them to six tourney bids in his first eight years. But Season No. 9 has been horrific and new AD Mike Thomas is ready to clean house -- much to the delight of a salivating, angry fanbase.

Contrast the departure of Henson and imminent departure of Weber to those of the two other Illinois coaches of the last 35 years: Lon Kruger and Bill Self.

Kruger hung around for only four years, leading the Illini to the second round of the NCAA tourney in three of those seasons, before bolting for the NBA's Atlanta Hawks.

Self stayed in Urbana-Champaign for just three seasons -- taking the Illini to the Elite Eight, Sweet Sixteen and second round -- before leaving for the college hoops nirvana of Lawrence, Kansas.

Self, who had said he envisioned a long career at Illinois, was ripped for being disloyal after he left. To this day, even though he recruited the outstanding players who helped Weber reach the '05 title game, S-E-L-F is a four-letter word in Illini Land.

Kruger was neither as popular nor quite as successful as Self, but he, too, was blasted for turning his back on the program.

Which brings us to the subject of loyalty.

Illinois fans are ticked off that Kruger and, especially, Self were disloyal. These same fans have had absolutely no problem being disloyal to Henson and Weber. Nor would those fans have worried about being disloyal to Kruger and Self had either of those men encountered a rough stretch.

I'm not saying this only happens in Urbana-Champaign. It happens everywhere, including my alma mater. I know Marquette fans whose blood still boils at the mere mention of Tom Crean, who left for Indiana four years ago. (My blood doesn't boil. I appreciated Crean for rebuilding the program but never thought he was a great coach, and I prefer his replacement, Buzz Williams.)

Point is: Fans are loyal only to the extent that their coach wins. Period.

Is that fair? Come on ... what is fair? It simply is.

Obviously, if Weber really could have had the Oklahoma job last year as had been rumored, he should have taken it.

To hell with loyalty.

It's far better to do what Self and Kruger did and beat the pitchforks and torches out of town, because loyalty is never a two-way street.

Jereme Richmond: both victim and perpetrator

^
Jereme Richmond committed to playing basketball at Illinois when he was an eighth-grader. As he chased the hype surrounding him the next five-plus years, he stumbled far more often than he soared.

He switched high schools, argued with coaches and brawled with teammates. After arriving in Champaign, he rarely demonstrated what all the fuss was about in the first place.

And now he's gone after one unimpressive college season -- a season that ended in his suspension. What a waste.

We tell our outstanding, young athletes so often how great they are that they can't help but believe they are bigger than any team or institution. We coddle them and let them break rules and then wonder why they aren't team players.

Meanwhile, the system uses them, garnering significant gains in money and status at their expense.

Sure, some of these kids come out OK despite it all. But far too many end up like Jereme Richmond.

He is declaring for the NBA draft. There might not even be an NBA season next year. And even if there is, it's very possible Richmond either will be drafted in the second round or not at all, meaning no guaranteed contract.

His game isn't NBA ready. Neither is his skinny frame. His maturity level? He might as well still be in eighth grade.

His parting shot was made via -- you guessed it -- Twitter:

"Thanks to my haters and motivators. If I so happen to fail, I want my doubters to know that my failure is greater than your biggest success."

Whatever that means.

And so, Bruce Weber's one stud recruit ended up harming, not helping, the Illinois program. The buzzards are circling Weber more than ever, and it's hard to blame them. Since guiding Bill Self's players to the '05 NCAA title game, he has done little to show he has what it takes to be a major-college coach.

Weber did Richmond no favors by offering a scholarship to a kid barely in his teens -- a kid who, by all accounts, already had serious ego issues. Then again, if Weber hadn't, other coaches would have.

It's the system. It feeds on itself. And along the way, it eats unprepared youngsters for breakfast.

^