Happy Birthday To Me ... And LOTS of Others You Know and Love (or Loathe)

 ^

Normally, I wouldn't write about my own birthday - not even a milestone BD like this one - but let me tell you ... October 13 is the birthday of the stars! 

My most famous (or infamous) "birthday buddies" include ...

Glenn "Doc" Rivers, my Marquette cohort who went on to make a bit of a name for himself in basketball. Not only is the new Sixers coach one of my all-time favorite people in sports, but he also made my favorite basket ever when his heave from just inside half-court beat evil Notre Dame in 1981 (his freshman year, my junior year). Surprisingly, even though Glenn could jump out of the arena, he really sucked at volleyball in Charlie Nader's Team Sports class.

Jerry Rice, the best wide receiver any of us have ever seen.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, whose overrated "America's Team" has won all of 4 playoff games since winning Super Bowl XXX 2 1/2 decades ago. 

Borat alter ego Sacha Baron Cohen: "King of the castle!"

Baseball Hall of Famers Trevor Hoffman and Eddie Mathews, Hall of Fame jockey Pat Day, and future basketball Hall of Famer Paul Pierce.

Billy Bush, he of President Pussy-Grabber's Access Hollywood tape fame.

Journalist Jamal Khashoggi, murdered in 2018 by the Saudi dictator (with the tacit approval of the U.S. president). Shameful.

Olympic skater Nancy Kerrigan: "Why me?" (So unfair. She was a great skater, but she'll be remembered forever as Tonya Harding's victim.)

Tiffany Trump, or, as President Pandemic calls her, "Uh ... Who are you?"

A little bit country, Marie Osmond.

A lot of rock and roll, Paul Simon.

Caleb McGlaughlin -- Lucas of Stranger Things fame.

Kelly Preston, who had a memorable turn as Jerry Maguire's squeeze. (Sadly, she died earlier this year.)

Sammy Hagar, aka The Red Rocker!

The late great Lenny Bruce.

Hero or villain? With Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, it depends upon which side of the aisle one stands. At only 31, AOC has a lot of decades left to be loved and loathed.

But wait! There's more!

Actors Ashanti, Tisha Campbell, Lorraine Day, Melinda Dillon, Nipsey Russell, Kate Walsh, Matt Walsh, Cornel Wilde, Demond Wilson ... athletes/coaches Tim Brewster, Ryan Clark, Norris Cole, Brian Dawkins, George Frazier, Derek Harper, Del Harris, Brian Hoyer, Jermaine O'Neal, Lou Saban, Summer Sanders, Reggie Theus, Rube Waddell, Eddie Yost ... Politics' Ari Fleischer, Margaret Thatcher ... Musician John Ford Coley ... Sportscaster Tom Mees.

WOW!!

And lest I forget, my one-time Chicago sportswriting colleague, golf buddy and all-around great guy Phil Arvia - who loves to remind me that although we have the same birthday, he is WAAAAAAAAY (2 years) younger than I am.

And speaking of people younger than I am ...

That's a pretty large group these days.

Yes, today I turned ...

The Big 6-0!

Take away my aching back, tight hamstrings and bad vision, and I really don't feel that old. I mean, I'm still as immature as ever, and that's kind of a Fountain of Youth, right? I also golf every bit as well as I ever have!

I am the youngest of Rhoda and Jerry Nadel's 4 sons. By FAR the youngest! The baby!! I'll always be able to hold that over the heads of Al, Don and Lee - none of whom is even allowed to sing "When I'm 64" anymore.

I was 13 when I started high school, 17 when I started college and 21 when I entered the workforce in my chosen profession. (Journalism, silly. I only moonlighted as a Chippendale.)

I was a groovy, hip, happenin' dude.

When I was 24, I became the youngest full-time sportswriter in the AP, a distinction I held for about 5 more years. During that time, I was one of a handful of AP scribes dubbed "The Young Turks." (Mysteriously, Howard Ulman, who is 13 years older than I am, also was put in that group. Apparently, bribes work.)

On my 29th birthday, I noticed I was going bald. The Vikings had traded for Herschel Walker the day before and photographers took an overhead shot of the media throng around him. And there my head was: curly hair encircling a surprisingly large patch of skin. Yikes!

I was even young when I was put out to pasture - retired at 48 by the clowns at GateHouse Media, who couldn't afford to keep hundreds of their real employees but amazingly found hundreds of thousands of dollars in bonus money for all their pencil-dick managers. (Not that I'm bitter or anything.)

I was a little worried when I got the heave-ho, but retirement has turned out to be pretty darn sweet. 

I learned how to invest, which led to writing about investing, which led to my freelance gigs at Daily Trade Alert and Seeking Alpha and Dividends and Income. (I especially recommend clicking on that last one and looking at some articles to see  amazingly cute photos of my adorable grand-twins, Logan and Jack.)

I coach basketball, I referee, I umpire, I pretty much do whatever I want (within reason). 

Of course, all that is only possible because of my beautiful bride of 37+ years, Robbie. It's great to have a Sugar Mama, and I strongly recommend every man get one (or more).

And now that I've got Ben's littles toddling around - and, exciting, exciting, exciting! - another cutie any day now from Katie, I'll have no choice but to stay young.

You know, I'm already looking forward to the next 60 years. Heck, by the time I turn 120, COVID-19 might even have disappeared "like a miracle."

As my favorite rocker, Roger Clyne, likes to sing: 

Here's to life! 

Wishing health, happiness, peace and love to all of my family, friends ... and, yes, to my birthday buddies everywhere.

^

Sports-A-Plenty dominate busy December

^
I've enjoyed watching the Panthers put things together after a terrible loss to the terrible Bears dropped Carolina's record to 4-3.

Since then, Cam Newton, Luke Kuechly & Co. have gone 7-1, and they've clinched a playoff spot for the fourth time in the last five years. It's been a nice bounce-back - not only since Week 7, but also from last season's injury-ravaged, 6-10 showing.

The Panthers barely beat the banged-up Bucs yesterday. First, they converted a fourth-down by about an inch to keep their winning drive alive; then, Newton recovered his own fumble and dove into the end zone for the go-ahead TD. 

Panthers QB Cam Newton scores the winning TD in the final seconds to beat the Bucs.
(Charlotte Observer photo)

Had either play not gone the Panthers' way, I'd be lamenting another terrible loss to another terrible team!

My lads will have to play a lot better in the playoffs to reach the Super Bowl again. Given that they've beaten the Patriots, Lions, Vikings, Falcons, Bills and Packers (with Aaron Rodgers) this season, they definitely have it in them.

Off the field, everybody in Charlotte is buzzing about the alleged sexcapades of Panthers owner Jerry Richardson. In the wildest allegation, he reportedly called female employees into his office and asked if he could shave their legs!

He has announced plans to sell the team after the season, and everybody is hoping the Panthers go to somebody who will commit to keeping them in Charlotte - where they have incredible support and have sold out every game for years and years.

As an aside ...

Isn't it crazy that just about every powerful man in the country has had to face consequences for sexual misconduct except for the single most powerful (and single most orange) man?

Meanwhile ...

My Ardrey Kell Lady Knights are No. 1 in the Charlotte metro region, thanks in great part to exciting victories over the No. 2 and No. 5 teams.

Charlotte Observer Sweet 16 Girls Basketball Poll

Rk.	Team (Class)	Rec.	Prvs.
1	Ardrey Kell (4A)	10-1	1
2	Mallard Creek (4A)	10-1	2
3	Hickory Ridge (4A)	7-1	3
4	Gastonia Ashbrook (3A)	8-0	4
5	South Mecklenburg (4A)	10-2	6
6	East Burke (2A)	11-0	7
7	Monroe Parkwood (3A)	12-0	10
8	Providence Day (IND)	9-4	11
9	Rock Hill (5A)	10-2	12
10	North Iredell (3A)	9-2	5
11	North Mecklenburg (4A)	8-2	14
12	Berry (4A)	8-2	15
13	Salisbury (2A)	8-0	NR
14	Morganton Freedom (3A)	6-2	9
15	China Grove Carson (3A)	9-1	NR
16	Maiden (2A)	8-0	NR

I've had a lot of fun and learned a ton so far this season ... and I think the No. 1 lesson has been about how much more I have to learn!

We have had a little time off for December break, but we go back at it Thursday, Dec. 28, when we take part in the Leon Brogden Holiday Tournament in Wilmington, N.C.

Another great test for our talented team.

And In College Hoops ...

My Marquette Golden Warrior Eagles finished the non-conference schedule with a 9-3 record. 

We've had no "bad losses" (important when it comes to NCAA Selection Sunday) and several fine victories - including wins over VCU and LSU in the Maui Invitational, and a resounding 19-point road beat-down of the hated Wisconsin Badgers.

Marquette's Markus Howard, one of the nation's top shooters, drives and scores over Wisconsin star Ethan Happ.
(USA Today photo)

We're fun to watch because few teams in the entire country shoot as well as Marquette does. We have three of the best 3-point gunners anywhere in Sam Hauser, Markus Howard and Andrew Rowsey. 

We're young, pretty small and don't play much defense, however, so the outcome usually comes down to if my heroes are draining 3s.

Marquette opens play in the rugged Big East on Wednesday night with a home game against Xavier, the nation's No. 6 team. Major challenge right out of the gate!

I'm also looking forward to our Jan. 12 date at Butler, the only game I'll be able to attend this season.

And Finally ...

I just sent in my completed Baseball Hall of Fame ballot, and that will be the subject of my next edition of The Baldest Truth later this week.

^

Wow! What A Day!

^
I'm thinking that there will be even better days to come, but it will be pretty hard to top Jan. 24, 2017.

To date, it's my favorite day of 2017 ... BY FAR.

++ This morning, I received word that the captain and point guard of my girls basketball team, Ritika, was medically cleared after having suffered a mild concussion that had kept her out of four games. We had managed to win our first playoff game without her thanks to a tough-minded (albeit a little sloppy) effort by the rest of girls, but Ritika is the best player in our league and she makes everybody better. I was happy for my Eagles that she would be returning and, selfishly, happy for myself. But mostly I was happy for Ritika, because I think she loves basketball more than any player I've coached. Sitting out was driving her nuts!!!!!

++ A few hours later, we played our semifinal game and we were outstanding. Ritika was absolutely amazing - watching her, one never would have believed she had been sidelined. She and her teammates dominated our outclassed opponent in every facet of the game. We were up 18-2 when I called off the press in the second quarter, and we cruised to victory to advance to the conference championship game for the third consecutive season. Thursday, we go for our second straight title.

++ Right after our game, the school's boys team played really well to win their quarterfinal game. I was so caught up in the action that I made a few mistakes running the clock for the game. My girls, many of whom stuck around to watch their classmates, now have something they can make fun of me for. Or maybe I should say they have something ELSE they can make fun of me for!

++ Finally, my Marquette Golden Warrior Eagles stormed from behind to beat defending national champion Villanova - the No. 1 team in the country - in a thrilling finish. Students and others in attendance stormed the court to celebrate the "signature win" for third-year Steve Wojciechowski, which came just three days after a huge road victory over No. 7 Creighton. Tuesday was the first time we had beaten a No. 1-ranked team since Dwayne Wade led the 2003 group into the Final Four with an incredible win over Kentucky. Wow!

I'm still flying pretty high from all of the day's excitement, and I'm already looking forward to the rest of what's shaping up as one heck of a week.
^

Finally time for the Finals!

^
The NHL is the most egalitarian league. If you make it to the playoffs, you have a chance. Not a chance only in a cliche kind of way - I mean, every team that makes the playoffs in every sport thinks it has a chance even though the opposite is true - but a legitimate shot at winning the Stanley Cup.

Look at what the L.A. Kings, who finished sixth in the Western Conference during the season, have done to reach the Stanley Cup Final. They fell behind the Sharks 3 games to none but stormed back to win the series, taking Games 5 and 7 on the road. They then met the Ducks, the No. 1 seed, and fell behind 3 games to 2 before winning the last two games. Then came the defending Cup champion Blackhawks. This time, the Kings got the 3-1 series lead and let Chicago back in it before rallying from a late Game 7 deficit to win in OT.

On L.A.'s winning goal, Al Martinez flipped a soft 50-foot shot from the point. The puck appeared to nick somebody's stick in the shot, changing directions slightly. Its trajectory continued upward until it hit the shoulder of Chicago defenseman Nick Leddy. That changed the direction of the puck yet again, and it fluttered past goalie Corey Crawford and into the net. Wow!

When was the last time an NBA team made it to the Finals on a basket that deflected off an opponent's shoulder?

Whereas David Tyree's catch in the 2008 Super Bowl is considered one of the most miraculous (and fortuitous) plays in sports history, goals like Martinez's happen ALL THE TIME in the NHL. Luck is a bigger factor in hockey than in any other sport, as the puck takes wild bounces constantly. Then there's the goaltender factor - a hot goalie can (and has) carried seemingly inferior teams to great heights. There is no real equivalent in other sports.

So with the Kings getting great goaltending from Jonathan Quick - a native of my hometown of Milford, Conn. - and getting even greater bounces at the most crucial moments, they were able to win three Game 7s, all on the road. Amazing.

By comparison, the Rangers had an easy road to the Final, although the Eastern Conference's No. 5 seed did have to overcome a 3-games-to-1 deficit to defeat the heavily favored Penguins in the second round.

So the Final, which starts Wednesday, will pit the clubs that had the league's 9th- and 12th-best records.

Is it a total cop-out to predict that the luckiest team will win?

Yes? Tough, because that's the best I can do!

+++

Meanwhile, it was far easier to predict what happened in the NBA, where the team with the best regular-season record (Spurs) will meet the two-time defending champs (Heat). What else is new?

I can't remember the last time the NBA produced a true surprise at this stage - and that's fine, too. We have the NHL for that. The NBA tends to reward teams for proven, sustained excellence.

I enjoy watching the Heat thanks to the amazing LeBron James. Plus, his second fiddle is Dwyane Wade, arguably the greatest basketball player in Marquette history.

Even with those stars, however, Heat games sometimes are boring because they can be slow-paced defensive battles. LeBron and Wade also tend to go 1-on-1 quite often, which leads to a lot of standing around by their teammates and a lot of 3-pointers jacked at the 24-second-clock buzzer.

The Spurs, on the other hand, are almost always a pleasure to watch. They share the ball beautifully and play sound fundamental basketball. They also are much taller than the Heat, helping to create even more of a contrast of styles.

The teams met in a memorable NBA Finals last year. The Spurs seemingly had the title won in Game 6 but a questionable coaching decision by the usually outstanding Gregg Popovich helped cost his team the game and, eventually the title. (Popovich inexplicably benched Tim Duncan down the stretch, leading to Chris Bosh grabbing key offensive rebounds, including one that set up Ray Allen's tying 3-pointer.)

Now Popovich and the Spurs get a chance at revenge ... and it says here that they'll get it.

The Spurs have homecourt advantage, which is always huge but is even bigger now that the league has returned to a 2-2-1-1-1 format for the Finals. The change (from 2-3-2) means the Spurs will be home not just for Game 7 if necessary but also for the always pivotal fifth game.

Beyond that, I just like the way the Spurs match up with the Heat. Popovich can go big and the Heat really can't answer that. Popovich can, however, match the Heat if both teams want to go small. Kawhi Leonard is an excellent defender who will make LeBron work for everything, and if Manu Ginobili's shot is on, he will cause big problems for the Heat.

And I just talked about two Spurs difference-makers without even mentioning future Hall of Famers Duncan and Tony Parker.

The Heat will need Bosh to justify his $100 million salary and also will need major contributions from several supporting players, most notably Allen, Mario Chalmers and a couple of bigs.

I'm saying Spurs in 6, and they won't even need a basket that deflects off of Udonis Haslem's earlobe to do it.
^

Mortal Lock for NCAA title: Either Kentucky or UConn!

^
Well, I've embarrassed myself enough trying to make tournament picks, so I'll just slink away from basketball prognosticating for now!

Still, I do love the NCAA tournament. I love it when everybody is wrong, even when one of those everybodies is me. It is the one sporting event that never, ever disappoints -- and this year's tourney has been one of the best ever.

Funny that Kentucky and UConn, two of the most successful, big-time, big-name programs of the post-Wooden Era, have become underdog darlings, no?

Obviously, I wish Marquette had been one of the two darlings remaining, but we Warrior Eagle fans got our surprise a few weeks ago when Buzz Williams took less money to take an inferior coaching job, at Virginia Tech. There's way more to this story than we've been told, because that kind of thing simply doesn't happen.

Buzz gave us five excellent seasons (and one not-so-excellent season) and was an improvement on his predecessor, Tom Crean. And now I'm hoping our new guy, ex-Dookie Steve Wojciechowski, is an improvement over Buzz.

Awww ... who am I kidding. I'm just hoping I don't have to spell Wojciechowski too often! Let's go with "Wojo" from now on, OK?

+++

Finally, appropos of nothing, I received a bit of an honor a few days ago when a highly respected Seeking Alpha writer named me one of the 25 best authors on the financial Web site.

I'm not gonna lie: It's always nice to have folks say nice things about you!
^

U.S. hockey win over Russia was great fun ... but not miraculous

^
No matter how many flashbacks NBC showed or how many references its announcers made, yesterday's thoroughly enjoyable U.S.-Russia hockey game had pretty much zero relationship to the 1980 Miracle on Ice.

Thirty-four years ago, the U.S. team was made up of a bunch of kids either in college or fresh out of college. The Soviet Union team was comprised of mature, well-compensated (by Russian standards) professionals who had dominated international play for years. When Herb Brooks' squad prevailed, it was on the very short list of greatest upsets in sports history.

Today's U.S. team is made up of multimillionare superstar professionals. One could argue quite convincingly that the U.S. roster has more talent top to bottom than the Russian team does. Beating Russia, even on the road, was hardly an upset, let alone a miracle.

Having said that ...

The U.S. and Russia pros staged one of the most exciting sporting events I've seen in quite some time. The game featured drama, outstanding individual performances, controversy and just enough political intrigue to make for an extremely entertaining three hours. I only wish NBC had shown Putin and his minions after T.J. Oshie's fourth and final shootout goal -- as the network earlier had shown Putin celebrating Russian scores.

The game even had a nice little twist for me: The victorious U.S. goalie, Jonathan Quick -- who was accused of cheating by some Russians -- was born in my hometown, Milford, Conn.

So that makes five pretty nice contributions to society for our sleepy little burg:

Bic pens, Schick razors, Subway sandwiches, Jon Quick and Mike Nadel.

OK, maybe four.

+++

That game was only the first part of an extremely enjoyable sports doubleheader for yours truly.

A few hours later, Robbie and I met a dozen or so fellow Carolina Marquetters at a sports bar to watch our alma mater's hoops team defeat Xavier. It was "National Marquette Day," and our Golden Warrior Eagles played one of their best games of the season.

Our lads had such a poor nonconference season that we're still looking at almost must-win situations for the rest of the season if there is to be a ninth straight NCAA tournament invitation.

But hey, every winning streak has to start somewhere. Marquette now has three wins in a row, and an upset of Creighton this coming Wednesday will go a long way toward determining how good this season still can be.

+++

One reason hockey is among my favorite Olympic sports is this: You score the most goals, you win the game. It's not a matter of some judge deciding whether or not you had a proper landing on your pretzel 270 or triple toe loop.

Although I enjoy watching figure skating, I freely admit I'm no expert. Still, I'm trying to figure out how Japan's Yuzuru Hanyu won the men's competition the other day after he stumbled and fell more often than I did during a typical Marquette weekend bender. I'm sorry, but it felt like the fix was in.

Any competition in which the champion is decided by judging rather than head-to-head competition is inferior and hard to be taken seriously.

+++

For the tens of folks who might be wondering about how the girls basketball team I coach did in the playoffs, well, we're still waiting to play.

Mother Nature dumped 8 inches of snow on Charlotte this past week, effectively shutting down the city and postponing our quarterfinal game until this coming Tuesday.

We face a team that has beaten us by only 4 and 6 points this season, so I certainly think we can advance if we play well. But the weather delay was costly, as one of our top players will be out of town all this week.

Darn weather. I moved to N.C. to get away from snow. I sure as hell didn't move here for its enlightened political scene!
^

Special LeBron isn't Michael ... at least not yet

^
LeBron, what a stud. Clearly the best player of the post-Jordan era ... and, frankly, it isn't very close.

The ill-informed people who claim he's not a winner ... what do they say now? Two straight titles, three straight NBA Finals, four Finals overall (counting the one with an otherwise awful Cleveland team). Yeah, what a loser. If the haters would bother looking up LeBron's amazing stats for Game 7s and other elimination games throughout his career, they'd have a tough time being haters.

The man is special, and I found myself rooting for him because I like special. I've been watching sports pretty darn closely for more decades than I care to admit, and I still get a kick out of special because special doesn't come along very often.

And now, as the leader of a repeat world champion, LeBron haters have only two things left to rag him about: He was jerk for doing "The Decision," and he isn't Michael Jordan.

The first was silliness that has zero relevance today. And the second, well, that just puts him at the head of a very long line. There's no shame in being second to Jordan, and James still has five or 10 or however many years left to play catch up.

For me, it's pretty simple: I just like watching the dude play ball.

(Oh, and that Wade guy from Marquette ain't chopped liver, either!)
^

Today's High Five: Harper's face-plant, Arnie's return, NBA doings, softball drama

^
5. Hey Bryce, they call it a "warning track" for a reason!

I can't get enough of the video of young Nationals stud Bryce Harper running face-first into the right-field scoreboard at Dodger Stadium. After the play, he looked like he had encountered the Texas Chainsaw Massacre man.

Still, Harper vows to "play like that the rest of my career."

That's admirable ... but if he doesn't start paying attention to the warning track, the rest of his career might be about an hour long.

4. Iced tea/lemonade pitchman Arnie Palmer and his grandson Sam Saunders are going to be playing partners Saturday in the pro-am of a Web.com tour event in South Carolina.

That's pretty cool. Palmer is 83 years old.

What's not cool: Arnie would still beat me by about a dozen strokes. Maybe two dozen on one of my bad days.

3. Even great athletes run out of gas eventually.

The Bulls have nothing left in their tanks. Nothing. They have competed valiantly against the Heat, but without Derrick Rose, Luol Deng and Kirk Hinrich, they are thinner than Calista Flockhart on an all-celery diet.

Jimmy Butler, my guy from Marquette, has played so many minutes in these playoffs that it's easy to forget that, going into this season, the Bulls weren't counting on him to be more than a mop-up player. He has played all 48 minutes in four of the last six games (and played 46 minutes in one of the others).

Nate Robinson, the gnat-sized ballhog who was signed to be the third-string point guard, is averaging 37 minutes a game.

The Bulls are so desperate that there was even a Rip Hamilton sighting in the last game. It was nice of him to show up in uniform on his 62nd birthday.

Too bad. As great as Miami is, a hard-working, well-coached Bulls team that included Rose, Deng and Hinrich would have had a real chance to win the series.

2. Speaking of ex-Marquetters ... whither Steve Novak?

The Knicks, who have shot atrociously all series in falling behind the Pacers 3-1, were 36% overall and 29% from 3-point range in Tuesday's loss.

Novak is one of the best pure shooters in basketball history and was the recipient of a huge contract from the Knicks last offseason.

Tuesday, he played one minute. He took one 3-pointer. He swished it. He sat back down.

Whatever.

1. Here come the Sons of Pitches!

After losing four of our first five games, with each defeat due to a late-game meltdown, my old-dude softball team has used late-game heroics to win two straight.

Tuesday night, we scored three in the last inning to take a lead and held on for a 12-10 victory.

Playing second base, I tried my darnedest to give the game away in the bottom of the last. For one thing, I failed to cover second base on a comebacker to our pitcher/coach Pat, so we recorded no outs on what probably should have been a game-ending double play. Our great shortstop, Tom, had been spectacular all night and I thought he was going to take the throw, but he was playing deep and in the hole; even though we uncharacteristically didn't communicate on the play, it was totally my screw-up. Also in the inning, I stumbled around like a drunken congressman chasing a pop-up slightly over the infield dirt. I somehow ended up with my back to the infield and the ball hit me on the shoulder.

Thankfully, my teammates picked me up big-time, as Pat snared a line drive and doubled off a runner on a fine, instinctive play by our first baseman Bob. Amazingly, it was our fifth double play of the game -- in slow-pitch softball, a team can go weeks without turning a single one -- and a stunning end to a satisfying victory.

With only two regular-season games left and the playoffs just around the corner, we're finding our stride at just the right time. There isn't a team in the league with fewer than two losses; nor is there a team with fewer than two wins. Pete Rozelle would love this parity.

It really will be a wide-open race for the championship and I can honestly say I haven't seen any team the Sons of Pitches can't beat ... especially if our second baseman remembers to remove his bald head from his rectum when the ump shouts "Play ball!"
^

Perfect end to spectacular college hoops season

^
How fitting.

An incredibly entertaining title game capped a fantastic Final Four which capped a sensational NCAA tournament which capped a ridiculously competitive, enormously fun season.

Yes, I'd have been happier if Marquette was the team cutting down the nets at the end, but otherwise, I can't imagine enjoying a season more than I enjoyed this one.

From that five-week stretch in December and January in which five consecutive No. 1 teams were defeated to the monumental upsets in the first couple of tournament rounds to the emotionally draining championship game, really, who could have asked for anything more?

How about that first-half stretch Monday night in which Spike Albrecht -- an unknown Michigan freshman who came in averaging 1.8 points -- scored 17 in about 17 seconds (OK, I'm exaggerating) to give the Wolverines a 12-point lead ... only to be upstaged by Luke Hancock, who came off of Louisville's bench to score 14 straight points and totally swing momentum to his team?

"Amazing" is one of the most overused words in the English language these days, but that truly was amazing.

Were I building a college roster, I'd steal Rick Pitino's blueprint and build one just like Louisville's. A shot-blocking center who worked hard to become a fine all-around big man. Two cheetah-quick guards who can get into the lane at will and produce in the clutch. A tough, talented power forward. Several nice role players, including Hancock, who can get into the kind of 3-point zone that can carry a team.

A lot was made of the gruesome injury suffered by Kevin Ware serving as a rallying cry for Louisville. Maybe, but I say to heck with that. If I'm Pitino, I'd have much rather had Ware's services as the first guard off the bench. And yet the Cardinals overcame the absence of a very important player to prevail in two knock-down, drag-out Final Four games. Kudos to them for a championship well-deserved.

Year after year after year, the NCAA tournament is the one sporting showcase that never, ever disappoints. The Final Four always was one of my favorite things to cover, and this year's edition reminded me why.

At one point near the end of the first half Monday, just after Hancock's flurry had singlehandedly rallied Louisville, Peyton Siva threw an alley-oop pass that Montrezl Harrell slammed home for a one-point Cardinals lead.

The "l" in Montrezl is silent, but I wasn't.

Sitting alone in our family room -- my poor wife has to work in the morning and couldn't stay up to watch a game that didn't end until about midnight -- I leapt out of my La-Z-Boy and hollered, "Wow!"

Think about how many times you've watched a sporting event alone in a room and think about how many times something has happened that actually made you get up and cheer. I've been in that situation thousands of times. And this might have been the third or fourth time I've reacted that way.

That's how good that moment was.

How fitting.
^

Three great days following Marquette (plus, a not-so-great one)

^
For Roberta and me, being spontaneous usually means deciding at the last minute to go grab wings and a couple of beers somewhere.

Last week, it meant driving to Washington, D.C. to watch our beloved Marquette Golden Warriors play in the NCAA tournament. We've been MU fans our entire adult lives and had never done anything like that.

It was about time.

We made the 7-hour drive from Charlotte and checked into our hotel, the Renaissance downtown. As a Marriott Platinum guest, I usually get upgraded to a better room if one is available. This time, we got upgraded into a suite on the 11th floor with a huge living room, a kitchenette, an incredible bathroom, two large flatscreen HDTVs, plush bathrobes and a veranda overlooking the city.

Pretty sweet, huh? This incredible room was a sign that it was going to be a very good night!

After a pregame nosh in the club-level lounge, we hiked to the Verizon Center. The following picture was taken about 20 minutes before Thursday's opening tip.

Miami was favored by 5, so I knew my lads would have to play superbly to win. And they delivered  probably their best all-around game of the season. Marquette got up early and never let up. We led by 20-some points until Miami scored a few meaningless garbage-time hoops. Jamil Wilson, Vander Blue, Davante Gardner, Chris Otule, Trent Lockett, Junior Cadougan, coach Buzz Williams ... all of them were too much for Miami to handle.

WE ARE ... MARQUETTE!!

After the wonderful triumph, we stuck around to watch Syracuse destroy Indiana in the second game of the evening. This result meant that Marquette had gone farther in the tournament than the coach who had abandoned us, Tom Crean, as well as hated archrivals Notre Dame and Wisconsin, each of whom had suffered humiliating first-round losses. We also went deeper into the tournament than anyone else from the new Big East (which is breaking off from the football schools starting this summer).

Then it came time to buy tickets for Saturday's regional final. We hung out near the exit hoping to find an Indiana fan who wanted to unload his tickets. Unfortunately, about a dozen scalpers were out there looking for the same thing. They were pros and were very aggressive. We had just about given up hope of buying the tickets there when an Indiana fan who had bypassed the scalpers heard Roberta say: "Marquette fans looking for two tickets we can use, not resell!" The guy says, "Oh, I like Marquette. I have two." He let us have the upper-deck tickets for $60 apiece, 40 bucks below face value. A great capper for a perfect night!

We spent most of Friday with my nephew Russ and niece Fran in the suburbs, including a lovely walk through Alexandria. Here we are at the waterfront there.

That night, we stayed with my cousin Steve and his wife Peggy in Silver Spring, Maryland. Whenever I go on the road like this, I try to catch up with relatives and friends I don't get to see very often.

The next afternoon, we headed back into Washington by subway, went to the Marquette pregame reception to act totally like goofy fans and then walked about 2 miles to the arena. It was a beautiful afternoon, and we ran into another Marquette couple along the way. They had made an even more last-minute decision than we had, taking the bus that morning from New York.

Then came the game. I won't go into that much here except to say that neither team could make a shot until Syracuse broke open a tight, low-scoring game midway through the second half. Blue started Marquette's scoring with a 3-pointer and Gardner ended the night with another trey. Between those two makes, MU missed 21 of 22 shots from behind the arc. My daughter Katie's high school team used to shoot better. But hey, these things happen. Syracuse totally deserved to win.

We left the arena and were in no mood to go to any of the surrounding bars, which were flooded with Syracuse fans. We had heard of a place frequented by the local Marquette alumni chapter and after almost getting lost, another Marquette couple on their way to the establishment guided us. We enjoyed drinks and a sandwich with our new best friends, Amy and Mitch, talking about our favorite moments from a season that was significantly better than I had expected it would be.

Marquette was picked to finish seventh in the preseason coach's poll. I thought we'd be fortunate to go 9-9 in the conference and sneak into the NCAAs. Instead, Buzz's Boyzz went 14-4 to grab a share of the league title. After a near-miraculous opening victory over vastly underrated Davidson and a great comeback win over Butler to make the Sweet 16, we took care of business against Miami. It was a great ride.

We drove home Sunday, unpacked our things and went to our dogsitter to pick up Simmie, who was thrilled to see her humans again. Then, after much carrying on, our exhausted girl did what she does best: curl up into a tight ball and chill!

So that was our fun, by-the-seat-of-our-pants weekend.

Was it worth it?

Well, we got to see an impressive victory that put Marquette in the Elite Eight for the first time in a decade, got to see Indiana lose, got to see several people we love, got to stay in an awesome hotel suite, got to visit a cool city, got to commune with fellow Marquetters and got to spend lots of quality time together.

Was it worth it? Damn right it was!

^

Marquette -- and Nadels -- Sweet 16 bound!

^
1. Last weekend was among the most thrilling 3-day stretches I have enjoyed/endured in my 35 years as a Marquette fan.

The win over Davidson in the NCAA opener was -- in the understatement of the year -- fortunate. There obviously was skill in the way Vander Blue and Jamil Wilson suddenly started draining 3-pointers and then in Blue's game-winning drive, but Marquette received so many breaks along the way we officially gave up any right to complain about not getting breaks the rest of the tournament.

Two nights later, Marquette and Butler went at it in a spectacular college basketball game, the kind of sporting event that makes this time of year my absolute favorite. My lads again got a lucky bounce or three but mostly they imposed their will in the second half and thoroughly deserved the victory. Again, Blue was the star.

So it's back to the Sweet 16 for the third straight year. Among the schools that can't make that claim: Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina, Indiana, UCLA, Wisconsin, Illinois, Syracuse, Michigan State, Arizona, UConn and Louisville.

In other words, it's a pretty special accomplishment.

Roberta and I have decided to celebrate the achievement by making the 6-hour drive to Washington to watch Marquette take on Miami in the Sweet 16. Just bought our tickets and booked our hotel. It was a spontaneous decision, the kind I rarely make, but what the heck? Maybe with us cheering them on from the nosebleed section of the Verizon Center, the Golden Warriors will advance on to the Elite Eight and the Final Four.

Whatever happens, it's been an amazing ride.

2. One of the linebackers the Bears signed to replace the departed Brian Urlacher was James Anderson, formerly of the Panthers. At this stage of their careers, Anderson is a better player. Also, less likely to get hurt. And less likely to say something idiotic.

3. Tiger Woods still has to win a major to prove he's TIGER WOODS! again, but he looks as good now as he did the last time he was great, 2008.

4. It's strange to be totally isolated from baseball. Spring training used to be one of my favorite assignments, especially after I became a columnist and could call my own shots. I doubt I could name 10 players on either the Cubs or White Sox now.

5. Marquette has authored just one of several crazy stories so far in the NCAAs. Top teams such as Indiana, Duke, Kansas, Ohio State and Miami have struggled to win ... but at least they did win. The same can't be said for Georgetown, New Mexico and St. Louis, each among the darlings of the supposed experts who try to forecast Final Four teams. Gonzaga, as usual, was proven a fraud from a weak conference. Oregon and Arizona have given the supposedly pathetic Pac-12 as many Sweet 16 representatives as the SEC and Big 12 combined. Either LaSalle or Wichita State will make the Elite Eight. Wow.

And Florida Gulf Coast ... are you kidding me? Have you seen this team play? Entertaining, athletic, fast-paced, high-flying and, most importantly at this time of year, victorious.

Here's a squad that has lost to Maine, Mercer, East Tennessee State, Stetson and Lipscomb -- twice! --  yet it absolutely destroyed Georgetown and handily beat San Diego State to be one of the 16 teams still standing. Ridiculous.

Can the Eagles beat Florida? Logic would say not a chance. But since when has logic meant anything in the NCAA tournament, especially this year?
^

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.
^

Winning championships is fun!!!

^

From Vander Blue's fingertips to the Big East championship!

Everybody loves a trophy

Celebrate!

^

To win a share of the Big East title in the final year of the conference as we have known it ... well, it's beyond cool.

It's especially amazing given that this was supposed to be a rebuilding year.

Onward and upward!

WE ARE ... MARQUETTE!!!

^

Trying to make sense of the crazy bouncing ball

^
I've been watching college basketball for a long, long time and there probably is no sport I enjoy more.

I'm pretty sure I've never seen a season quite as crazy as this one, with the No. 1 team losing pretty much every week, upsets upon upsets, crazy shots to win games (or send them into overtime), multiple OTs, etc.

Saturday's Louisville-ND game certainly was as wild as any I've ever seen. Guys who had done nothing all game long for ND all of a sudden started scoring in the most tense situations and Rick Pitino's boys found a way to lose a game they had won about a dozen times.

I used to gripe if Marquette won a game that was "too close for comfort." Given everything that's happened this season, though, I'll take any win over any opponent.

I've heard several theories to why this has happened -- early departures to the NBA, poor fundamentals, defenders being allowed to mug offensive players, the 3-pointer, etc. -- but none is exactly a new revelation. Every single one of those factors existed last season and two years ago and the season before that.

The only thing I can think of is that, for whatever reason, there are no dominant, superstar-filled teams. So anybody literally can win or lose any game.

Again, why that happened this year is anybody's guess. I'm just going to sit back and enjoy the ride.

---

I have a new personal finance article on Seeking Alpha. I get paid per pageclick, so support your favorite charity and click away:

http://seekingalpha.com/article/1170501-ignoring-52-week-highs-reinvesting-dividends-and-other-lessons-learned

^

Marquette, Big East, swept up in "Conferences Gone Wild"

^
Having my alma mater in the nation's best basketball conference has been a blast.

When you win a Big East game, you know you've earned a victory. When you lose one, especially on the road, you usually can accept that you've fallen to a quality opponent. Come the NCAA tournament, you know your team has been tested in battle.

When I attended Marquette eons ago, we were an independent. Then we bounced around from the Midwestern Collegiate Conference to the Great Midwest to Conference USA ... before finally, gloriously, landing in the Big East in 2005.

Notre Dame, our old rival, was there waiting for us. New rivalries would be forged against the likes of Louisville, Syracuse, West Virginia and Pitt.

Oh well ...

Notre Dame is leaving, taking all of its sports except football to the ACC. Syracuse, Pitt and Louisville also are ACC bound. West Virginia already is in the Big 12. And the carnage is nowhere near complete, as UConn and Cincinnati are desperate to join top football conferences -- something the Big East never was.

No, the Big East was born as a basketball league in 1979, with charter members Georgetown, Syracuse, St. John's, Providence, Boston College, UConn and Seton Hall. Villanova joined a year later and Pitt came along in 1982 -- the same year the conference actually rejected Penn State's application for membership.

The conference came into power as Georgetown, Syracuse and St. John's fielded superior teams and ESPN became a media force.

There would be more expansion as football money grew, with Rutgers, Miami, Virginia Tech and West Virginia coming in. By the middle of last decade, however, a tug-of-war between football schools and basketball-only schools resulted in a big shakeup.

Out went Virginia Tech, Boston College and Miami. In came Louisville, South Florida, Cincinnati, DePaul and Marquette. About half the conference members fielded football teams and half didn't. Notre Dame, meanwhile, famously remains independent in football.

Football never really took root in the conference, and the fact that the basketball has been consistently sublime carried the day only so long. Football money just became to great to ignore, and Big East schools got swept up in the ongoing farce I call Conferences Gone Wild.

Trying to fill its many holes, the Big East has been signing up the likes of Boise State, San Diego State, SMU, Houston, Memphis, Temple, Navy and Central Florida. Just this week, Tulane and East Carolina were added. Some of those schools will be football-only members; some will compete in all sports. There already is talk that Boise State and San Diego State want to quit on the Big East before they even start playing conference games.

What a mess.

When everything shakes out in a year or two, the Big East will be an awful football conference with no chance of being in the national championship picture.

Sadly, it also will be only mediocre in basketball.

The only real hope for my beloved alma mater is that we team up with the Georgetowns, Villanovas and St. John'ses to form a good basketball-only league. Maybe it will have to merge with the Atlantic 10, which has bulked up with the likes of Xavier and Butler in recent years. Maybe it will have to steal a school like Creighton from the Missouri Valley.

In today's landscape, TV money doesn't follow basketball the same way it follows football, but a basketball superconference like that would be hard to ignore.

Whatever happens, I'm going to enjoy the last year or two of being in a great basketball conference. It's been a hell of a fun ride.

Sigh.
^

Notre Dame isn't great but it's good enough to play for pretend title

^
Nobody has ever accused me of being a Notre Dame homer. In fact, I'd never hide the fact that, as a Marquette guy, I'd just as soon the Irish lose every basketball game they play. And, unlike some of my fellow Warriors, I didn't root for ND football just because that was the big Catholic school.

Having said all that, I'll say this: Notre Dame, as much as any team can, "deserves" to play in the mythical national championship game.

Notre Dame plays a national schedule, which is more than Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Oregon, Kansas State, Ohio State and any other team can say.

Are there cupcakes on the ND schedule? Sure. Name a school that doesn't play a bunch of those. Did ND have to squeak out victories over a few mediocre teams? Sure. Name a team that didn't have some close calls against inferior opposition.

Notre Dame played road games against Michigan State, Oklahoma and USC as well as home games against Michigan and Stanford. All were ranked in somebody's top 10 at some point this season. Each team fell to the Irish.

Notre Dame isn't one of the great teams of all time. Nor is it even one of the great teams of recent vintage. I'm guessing that the Irish will be underdogs against either Alabama or Georgia in the pretend title game. But for the first time in years, Touchdown Jesus didn't have to cover his eyes when the home team was playing.

The Irish did everything they had to do to be ranked No. 1 in the ridiculous, convoluted, unsatisfying system college football uses to crown its make-believe champion.

The sport is better when Notre Dame matters. It will be even better if the Irish are playing for a real championship in a few years after the BCS goes bye-bye.
^

Today's High 5: From pigskin to politics

^
5. On the 40th anniversary season of the undefeated Dolphins, it's cork-popping time again for Larry Csonka, Bob Griese, Don Shula, Nick Buoniconti & Co.: The last unbeaten team, Atlanta, fell to the Saints.

I was pretty sure the Falcons weren't about to go 19-0 when they needed about 10 lucky plays to beat "my" Carolina Panthers a few weeks back.

4. Time again for the annual debate about which college football teams get to play for the mythical national championship.

Wake me when the BCS is over.

3. Haven't posted lately because I've been doing other stuff, some of which I actually get paid for.

2. The college-basketball-on-an-aircraft-carrier experiment already has run its course.

There were supposed to be three such games over the weekend. Marquette vs. Ohio State had to be canceled because the court was too slippery. Georgetown and Florida managed to play a half before condensation on the court prematurely ended the game. And the Syracuse-San Diego State game that was postponed by rain Friday finally was played Sunday despite a broken shot clock, messed-up scoreboards, a defective court and windy conditions that barely made the game resemble basketball.

In all three cases, athletes, coaches and fans traveled a long way only to be disappointed.

I get it. We want to honor veterans and we want to create cool, interesting experiences.

There are ways to do that without putting athletes at danger and making a mockery of the game.

If the NCAA really wants to help those who have served our country, hold these games in large indoor facilities and donate all proceeds to veterans' causes.

1. I just can't get enough of Fox News these days.

It was my main source of Election Night coverage, and I have thoroughly enjoyed watching the Fair & Balanced Network since then. It's funnier than Saturday Night Live ... and its stars are better actors.

As if listening to Dick Morris explaining why he was slightly off on his prediction of a Mitt Romney landslide wasn't enough entertainment, there's been: Karl Rove blaming the Obama campaign for suppressing the vote; Rick Santorum saying the GOP's failing was not being extreme enough on social issues; Sean Hannity suddenly deciding Latino-friendly immigration reform would be a good thing; and various bloviators saying Barack Obama retained the presidency due to SuperStorm Sandy, the liberal media's Benghazi coverup, the one Black Panther who stood outside one polling place, broken voting machines, etc., etc., etc.

You know, maybe if the Republicans had put up a candidate who could carry the state where he was governor, the state where his dad was a popular governor, the state where he has his newest mansion and the state his running mate calls home, the election wouldn't have come down to conspiracies.

It's been quite an election season. I miss the fun GOP primaries. I miss crazy Michele "Vaccines Make Retards" Bachmann, Herman "9-9-9" Cain, Rick "Oops" Perry, Rick "What A Snob!" Santorum, Newt "Moon Colony" Gingrich and the rest of the gang.

Mitt Romney? I already don't miss him. 

The Best Liar Money Could Buy was a terrible candidate and he would have been a terrible president.

To this day, I can see why sane people would have voted against the very flawed Obama ... but I cannot for the life of me see why anybody not named Romney would have been excited to vote for Mitt, a man who believes in nothing and everything all at the same time.
^