Field of 64 Is Set, and A Message to David Cameron

President Obama brings British PM David Cameron to his first NCAA Tournament, and I just want to say, on behalf of all Americans, that we are deeply sorry you had to watch that terrible friggin' game between Mississippi Valley and Western Kentucky. Sure, the boys in red answered back from a 16-point deficit to play Kentucky tomorrow, but how it ended up was horrendous to watch: turnover after turnover, and a breakdown of MV's game plan is what propelled them to win. Prime Minister: don't let one shitty game prejudge what the NCAA Tournament is all about.

And for anyone who cares, here's the President's Bracket:



Having said that, the Field of 64 is set:

Thursday:
#16 Western Kentucky will play #1 Kentucky in the South Bracket and #14 BYU will face #3 Marquette.

Friday:
#16 Vermont goes up against #1 North Carolina and #13 South Florida does battle vs. #5 Temple.

Mississippi and Alabama Primary Threads

All the Cheese Grits, Biscuits and thoughts on the festivities go here.

Santorum wins Alabama. Why is Newt still in again? Has small lead in Mississippi. Oh yeah Williard might finish in third in both races. Oh and right now BYU getting rolled by BYU. Not a good night to be Morman.

Santorum wins Mississippi. Yehaw!

2 third place finishes for Willard.

Why are Gingrich and Paul still in this thing?

Remember during the 2008 election when Drudge would post something and trolls like 2008 would pee themselves? Drudge is still red meat for the retarded. 

BYU salvaged some mormon pride Willard lost.  Coming back from 25 down to win 78-72.

Mitt won Hawaii. Aloha!

NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament And Some Announcements.

Before I write about the tournament A few announcements.

We had yet another post on the 4 year old Lee Stoneking thread. This one stating that it sounded as if we had an axe to grind. Which is a funny accusation coming from somebody posting on a 4 year old thread.

I noticed we had a new follower so I'd like to welcome our latest follower Meg Dolan! Now this blog has... get this 4 followers! This is her photography blog give it a visit.

I will not be able to do any live tournament blogging during Wednesday, Thursday or Friday. I know those are usually the most exciting days with upsets and whatnot. However I am going in to what I like to call hiding for 3 days. Just checking in to a nuthouse for those 3 days (actually a hotel just wanted to see if you were reading) I need to have a few days of quiet and alone time and with the basketball on that nobody in this house enjoys it just seemed like a good time to do it. The original plan was to check into Ameristar Casino but I scraped that because while the rooms would be cheaper I can't afford to lose what I could very well lose at a casino in 3 days. You tell yourself you won't go down to the Casino anymore and 20 minutes later guess where you are? I know, I've done it.

Now on to the Tournament.

Warning do NOT take my advise on these picks! I don't you shouldn't either. These picks are for entertainment purposes only.Although a few years back I won the Newshounds off-topic basketball pool beating out Keg. Not sure she has forgiven me yet.

South

Sweet 16 Picks
Kentucky
Wichita State
Baylor
Duke

Elite 8 Picks
Kentucky
Duke

Final 4 Pick
Kentucky

West
Sweet 16 Picks
Michigan State
Louisville
Murray State
Missouri

Elite 8 Picks
Michigan State
Missouri

Final 4 Pick
Missouri

Kentucky Beats Missouri to advance to the championship game

East
Sweet 16 picks
Syracuse
Wisconsin
Florida State
Ohio State

Elite 8 Picks
Syracuse
Florida State

Final 4 Pick
Syracuse


MidWest

Sweet 16 Picks
North Carolina
Temple
San Diego State
Kansas

Elite 8 Picks
North Carolina
Kansas

Final 4
North Carolina

North Carolina beats Syracuse to advance to Championship game.

Championship Game
Kentucky over North Carolina.

Winner
Kentucky

Edit by Jonathan: Since the Count won't be in to cover the games, I shall in his absence.

Game Change The Thread

I did not watch it. Hopefully Jonathan can give us a review. The 10-12 minutes I saw I didn't think it made her look that bad.


Jonathan's review...

Director Jay Roach isn't a stranger to political controversy: his last movie for HBO, Recount, had critics yelling that the fictionalized account of the 2000 debacle of Florida painted the Democrats as the loveable underdogs and the Republicans as the bullies At least with Recount, what worked best was the all-star cast and how razor sharp the satire was. His latest movie, Game Change, is setting off another round of "Liberal Hollywood bias!" by commentators, Sarah Palin included. Do yourself a favor: watch the movie first, then form judgements later. Unlike Roach's last outing, there's little to laugh at. He plays this straightly dramatic, there are moments where the lines of dialogue feel forced and cliché, and the film skips over too much; this could have been a  riveting 7-8 part miniseries on the entirety of the race, instead of a 2-hour facts-based, by the numbers drama on one aspect of it.

Yet, for all it's faults, Game Change is still a compelling film, and one that hinges on the strength of Julianne Moore's phenomenal performance as then-Governor Sarah Palin, plucked out from nowhere to become a rising star of the right, at the expense of the presidential hopes of the McCain campaign. Like the real-life VP hopeful, the movie focuses mostly on her, and she doesn't let anyone - be it McCain's top strategist Steve Schmidt (a fine Woody Harrelson) and senior advisor Nicole Wallace (the terrific Sarah Paulson) or her own brain-trust - forget it. The moment she goes on the campaign circuit, her inner-diva, as her jaw-dropping ignorance of world and domestic events, becomes a liability that even John McCain (Ed Harris) can't contain. Moore has played strong women on the verge of a breakdown before (see: Magnolia, The Kids Are Alright) but here she's at her best, lacing the fire and surprising vulnerability she shows as her character takes hit after hit from the media.

*** out of **** stars

Big Ten Mens Basketball Tournament Day 1.

I will be live blogging the tournament this weekend at least day 1. Seeing as how my team in all likely hood will not be playing after that it remains to be seen whether or not I shall live blog after that point. Anywho here are is your schedule for the festivities.

Iowa Beat Illinois in the 8-9 game 64-61 and right now Indiana is ahead of Penn State 43-34.

It took Indiana a half but they are now pulling away from Penn State 53-34. Penn State on the verge of getting Sanduskied.

Indiana 24 wins on the year and one of those loses was to Nebraska. Go figure.

The next two games are on ESPN that's nice. Indiana 66-51 4:31 left. YAWN!

Indiana wins 75-58. Next game 4:30 Central.

Minnesota Vs Northwestern. Shit crowd. Northwestern has to win to get in to the NCAA tournament.

Minnesota 12-5. Northwestern looks really tight.  I am secretly praying the Contessa burns dinner and we have to go out to eat.

Northwestern is heating up. The threes are starting to drop. This could be a fun game.

Sounds as if 2 Big Ten coaches  will be gone after this tournament. Bruce Weber at Illinois, Doc Sadler at Nebraska.

And the Contessa burned the food. :) Says I think it's edible. Hardly a ringing endorsement. For once Judge Judy was good for something.

It's Halftime Northwestern 36 Minnesota 31 and I am off to walk around the corner and pick up some grub.

I am back with a pork tenderloin sandwich for me and Chinese for The Contessa.  Thank goodness for the food court 2 blocks away that sells everything. Minnesota 43 Northwestern 40.

Doc sadler walking to the field house looks lost in thought. ESPN gives him the dreaded nice guy tag.

Minnesota and Northwestern 61-61 going into overtime. Northwestern got a good look at a runner at the buzzer but it didn't fall. Big game. Northwestern needs to win to get in to the tournament.

Big turnover. Northwestern's NCAA Tournament now in real peril. 71-68 Minnesota.

Northwestern missing 2 huge free-throws. As ESPN said they are shooting themselves in the foot. Those two freethrows probably cost Northwestern the NCAA tournament.

Nebraska-Purdue next.
  
Really bad week for the cons. First Rush, then the President's Video flop, now Craig Robinson has his Oregon State team going to the semi-finals of the Pac 12 Tournament after his team upsets Washington 86-84.

Nebraska wearing 1950 throw back uniforms. Make your own jokes.

10-8 Nebraska first commercial break. Nice start. Great looking jerseys.

Nebraska looks more like Nebraska in that stretch 15-12 Purdue. Love these uniforms. 


 

And its a 10-0 run for Purdue 20-12 Purdue. 

Nebraska makes it first shot it 8 minutes 25-15 Purdue.  

Is there some law that Nebraska can only shoot 3 ptrs?

26-17 Purdue 4 minutes left Nebraska looks like Nebraska.  


Nebraska offense looking better but a lack of defense And frankly poor officiating have kept the lead at 8. 39-31 Purdue at half. 

Purdue killing us from 3. of course we're also killing ourselves from 3. 49-40 Purdue. nope 51-40 Purdue.  

Nebraska really not playing that poorly. Spencer really playing well. 51-43 Purdue.  

When we score we don't get stops, when we don't score we get stops. We never Score and get stops at the same time.

This on the verge of getting ugly now. 65-48 Purdue.

67-48 Purdue 7:53 left in the Doc Sadler era I am afraid.  

74-55 with 3:54 left in the game. I am kinda tuning out at this point.

Doc Sadler is a really good guy. I wish it would have worked out. But sadly It hasn't.

Purdue 79 Nebraska 61 Final. 

Super Tuesday Thread!

Just like Mardi Gras WE'RE GOING TO SEE BOOBS

All updates, thoughts, jokes, whatever go here...

Late Edit by Jonathan (3:51 PT): the three big primaries up for grabs tonight breaks down like this: In Georgia, Newt Gingrich leads by a huge margin and looks to easily carry his home state. The polls in Ohio and Tennessee suggest that both key races look to be tight. In Ohio, Romney leads by just over 1 percent, 33%-32% according to Real Clear Politics. The same website outlines Tennessee as another tight race, but one that Santorum barely leads, 32% to 29%.

Edit by Jonathan (4:10 PT): CNN and NBC project that Gingrich wins Georgia; no surprises there. Voting in Virgina, Ohio and Vermont closes in less than 20 minutes.

Edit by Jonathan (4:18 PT): NBC projects that Romney will win in Virginia. Ohio is up next.

Edit By The Count (6:31 CT) Romney wins Vermont.

Edit by Jonathan (4:35 PT): Ohio is too close to call. This will be a long one, methinks.

Edit by Jonathan (5:16 PT): Romney wins in MA; again, no surprises there. Tennessee is too early to call.

Edit by  Jonathan (5:38 PT): NBC and CNN project that Santorum wins Tennessee, his first win of the night.

Edit by Jonathan (5:56 PT): Santorum wins Oklahoma. Nothing yet on the night's biggest prize: Ohio.

Edit by Jonathan (6:57 PT): I don't know what weed Newt Gingrich is smoking, but I need to find his dealer, cause that is some powerful shit! Gingrich has to know that he has no shot of winning the nomination, but his gigantic ego won't allow him to bow out. If Gingrich was smart, he'd end his campaign and really stick it to both the Republican establishment and Mitt Romney and pledge his delegates to Santorum. Speaking of, in Ohio, it's still too close to call, but he's leading by 16,000 votes. David Frum said it best over Twitter tonight: "If Romney loses Ohio, CNN decision desk should call the election for Obama right then."


Edit by Jonathan (7:17 PT): CNN projects North Dakota will go for Santorum. and he's going strong in Ohio. He holds on and wins there, and this year's convention in Tampa will turn into one ugly clusterfuck.

Edit From The Count: Correction Jonathan it is actually North Dakota Santorum won.


Edit by Jonathan: Thanks for the correction.


Edit by Jonathan (8:45 PT): Romney now holds a razor-thin lead in Ohio, with 91% of the vote coming in. Don't expect a call tonight.

Edit by Jonathan (9:34 PT): It's over! NBC calls the race in Ohio for Mitt Romney.

Edit  By The Count (11:45 CT) CNN and FNN also calling it for Ohio. All we have left is Alaska.

Edit From The Count (2:28 CT) Romney wins Alaska.

YOU ARE ALL SLUTS!

I apologize for you making me call you a slut!

Ann Romney "I Don't Consider Myself Wealthy Because My Friends And Family Suck"

Ann Romney, wife of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, said Monday she doesn't consider herself wealthy - because despite her family's significant financial resources, money "can be here today and gone tomorrow."
"How I measure riches is by the friends I have and the loved ones I have and the people I care about in my life - and that is where my values are," Ann Romney told Fox News' Neil Cavuto Monday.
Romney, who suffers from Multiple Sclerosis (M.S.) and is a breast cancer survivor, said her struggle with M.S. had given her "an ability for compassion for others that are suffering" and that when she meets people suffering from cancer or M.S., "I feel like I just want to throw my arms open and just say, 'welcome to my family.'"
"You know, we can be poor in spirit," Romney said. "I don't even consider myself as wealthy, which is an interesting thing. It can be here today and gone tomorrow." ...

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57391083-503544/ann-romney-i-dont-even-consider-myself-wealthy/


So If I read this correctly Ann is pretty much saying her friends and family suck.

.BAH! BAH! BAH! Goes The Sheep

Kristin Cole commented 12 hours ago ·

Talk about reverse fallacy deception. All you liberals know how to do is use that race card. You assume anyone that does not agree with obama is a racist. It doesn’t matter that he is trying bring America down to his socialist level, that he wants to open our borders and control our lives with his socialist health plan. Doesn’t it even matter that our grandchildren’s great-grandchildren will still be paying for obama’s limitless debt ceiling? He is constantly apologizing for America and makes darn sure the Muslims are mighty comfortable. He is anti-Christian and doesn’t have an ounce of patriotism in his soul. He has no loyalty to our country… Why can’t the liberals take their blinders off and see him for the liar he is? Liberals are supposed to be progressives, but all they want is the government to take care of them the rest of their lives. That is not progress folks.

The View From My Ass. My Home State, My Father, My Breibart, My God!!

March is here! And it came in like a...Well it came in closer to lamb than to a lion I'll put it that way. Still the wind kept it from being as nice as a 52 degree sunshiny day can be. And tomorrow it's suppose to rain and maybe drop a flake. SO MAYBE we won't wake up on March 29th to 15 inches of snow. But then again by Tuesday it's suppose to be 62 so maybe we will. Either way this has been an unbelievably mild winter in these parts. Maybe the mildest I can ever remember.

Today...well yesterday now, my state turned 145 years old. I was born in Nebraska, lived all of my life sans 4 years in Nebraska, I suspect I'll die in Nebraska and I know i'll be buried in Nebraska. In fact i think the plot's already there though I'll have to ask about that to be sure. And though i don't agree with the states politics much I love living in Nebraska. Still I never fail to marvel at the constant identity crises this state continues to create for itself and fight at the same time. Nebraskans hate and I mean HATE being labeled hicks yet they've made Larry The Cable Guy The State Symbol. The Largest newspaper in the state, which serves a metropolitan area of 900,000 people gives large spaces in the news and sports sections to a joke teller whose work is about on par with Peggy Hill's musings column in the Arlan Bystander but hey he used to be a joke writer for Jay Leno and he lives in Omaha. His jokes are painfully not funny and it just makes the paper look poor. It's the kind of crap you would expect to find in the York News-Times and not a paper that boasts having "the second-highest percentage of people within a home circulation area compared with other major metropolitan newspapers in the United States" But it's not out a character with either Omaha or Nebraska. This state, and this city in particular loves to hire people whose abilities barely qualify them to do political forums on Monroe Louisiana public access and give them 65 different jobs in the media.

Case in point. Travis Justice. Sportscaster, talks show host on radio, host of late night groovy movie, high school mascot, announcer for Creighton and finally political commentator. And guess what? Travis sucked at EVERYTHING he did. OK maybe did OK hosting late night groovy movie theater but that was it. Today the only job he's got is calling (very poorly) Creighton games. The New Travis Justice is Mike'l (yes that's how his name is spelled) Severe. Severe was a reporter on the morning news, wearing heavy coats on 75 degree mornings, a moderator on a political show where he played a Black Alan Colmes, a sports radio talk show host, a color analyst for Nighthawks games (he never played football) and get this a food critic for the Omaha World Herald. That's right somebody who's "expertize" talking about a sport he never played is the food critic for the largest newspaper in the state. I've never read his work as a food critic though maybe he's finally found a job he's good at. Let's see what the people are saying...

"So this is the new OWH format.  100 monkeys with 100 typewriters.  I guess eventually we will get a decent review.  Not that it even matters.  The Herald has decided that restaurants in Omaha are a joke and don't need any coverage.  This GARBAGE of unqualified jerk offs writing in some meaningless column that the paper can't even fake to care about is intolerably insulting.  STOP READING THE PAPER.  STOP BUYING IT.  STOP ADVERTISING IN IT.  It is obvious to everyone with a brain that the The World Herald is insufferably ill equipped to find writers let alone editors that any more interested in the subject than the readers become disinterested in reading it.  Ugh. What a waste."

Guess not. But welcome to Omaha, Nebraska where we have no clue what is we want to be we just so long as make sure that we suck at being it.

As I write this it is currently 35 degrees outside which is about as cold as it's going to get. A far cry from March 1st 2007. My Father's wish was to have Lara's theme played at his funeral a request my Mother always balked at because "you'll die in the spring and the snow reference will make no sense" Well on the day of his visitation was on a Wednesday and we were suppose to get a Blizzard. It never came. The weathermen said the snow missed us and we dodged a bullet. On Friday morning his funeral the snow came in and it snowed, and snowed and snowed and snowed. He damn well made sure Lara's theme was going to fit. I remember the nearly indescribable feeling I had at his passing, like I was wondering through a dream that I had no control over, everything around me just being a haze. That feeling I guess is what is keeping me from being too vitriolic about the Death of Andrew Breitbart.

I have nothing good to say about the man at all but the feeling a family must have to lose their Husband, Father, friend, suddenly at that young of an age must be awful. I know how I felt losing a Father 25 years older and having seen him cease to be the person he was. When I lost my Father he was in a state where he wasn't living any more. I had begun to pray for a quick and speedy end. I didn't want to see my Father linger any longer in the form he was in. The last thing I said to him was "Thank You" To this day I have not fully come to terms with no longer wanting my Father to linger in what was his present earthly state. I still feel a quilt for praying for a merciful end to my Fathers life. As hard as it was I had 3 months to ready myself and come to terms with the passing of My Father Andrew Breitbart's children and wife never got that time and that is truly a tragedy. Nothing else about his death, to me at least qualifies or even comes close.

I close with this for my Father...




KTF
Count Istvan
Stephen

Andrew Breitbart - 1969-2012

The old saying goes, "If you don't have anything good to say about a person, then don't say anything at all." Yet there are a handful of times where a person's death isn't all that sad (Names like the Reverend Jerry Falwell, Jesse Helms, and Osama Bin Laden immediately come to mind). Andrew Breitbart, in my mind, is an exception to this rule. While I do offer my condolences to the parents, wife, and four children he left behind and I will not say he deserved to die from natural causes, i'm not going to shed any tears over his death. Breitbart was an asshole masquerading as a journalist; a jerkoff who twisted the facts to fit his viewpoints and ruined a few careers wile doing it. From Shirley Sherrod to spitting on Ted Kennedy's corpse on Twitter, the man was an unpleasant, mean-spirited creep.

Edit From The Count: It speaks volumes that the first reaction to his death was yeah right another publicity stunt. This man has destroyed lives with his lies. As I said elsewhere. 2 deaths in the last 2 days, both small people. One in stature only, the other in every way imaginable.