At this point Harrogate's brackets are in tatters. While it is true that his Final Game is still intact (North Carolina over Memphis), the rest of it is pretty embarassingly wrong. Now, this makes three years in a row that Harrogate's picks have functioned as a kiss of death for the teams he favored. But this year, it went down a bit differently than in the previous two.
Take Drake, for example. Harrogate sure did. In fact, without ever having seem Drake play, he took them to the Sweet Sixteen based on Internet chatter and on a "feeling" he had that they would make noise. He knew he was taking a risk with Drake, that they might well lose in the opening game against Western Kentucky. And that certainly, a likely 2nd Round matchup with the always dangerous Conneticut Huskies also posed problems. But what Harrogate did not expect, could not have expected, was that Western Kentucky would beat a very game Drake team at the end of Overtime by virtue of a highly contested buzzer beater from behind the three-point arc. Sigh. Congratulations, Hilltoppers. Not only did you knock out Drake, but then you reaped the happy consequences of Connecicut getting bounced in the first round by San Diego, for God's sake!!!! Now WKU is in the Sweet Sixteen, living the Dream. Had Drake survived the opening round, they would have played San Diego, and then Harrogate's brackets might have.....So many ifs and might-haves.
There were the Dookies losing in the second round to West Virginia, despite the fact that Harrogate had them in the Final Four. There was Vanderbilt losing in the very first game against Siena (!!!!!!!!), even though Harrogate had the Commodores going to the Elite Eight. There were the Baylor Bears getting absolutely smoked by Purdue in the first round, even though Harrogate had them in the Sweet Sixteen. Oh, "my friends," the list goeth on. Let us not forget Stanford's overtime buzzer-beater to knock out Marquette, who (you guessed it!) Harrogate had moving on. Yes indeedy. Harrogate also had Georgetown in the Final Four, only to see them get knocked off on Easter Sunday by one of the most heroic teams Harrogate has seen play in years, Davidson.
But, the Davidson happening reinforced Harrogate's love for Marcch Madness. Even as he was watching the last vestiges of his point-making capacity go up in smoke, Verily, Harrogate was smiling. Nothing in sport is so wondrous as this sudden-death specacle of a Tournament waged by fresh-faced youths in the prime of their enthusiasm, and Stephen Curry exemplifies it.
For Yea. Curry, Davidson's star and very arguably the most exciting player in the nation, lives to play another weekend. Many big-time programs had a shot at Curry two years ago, and passed on him. Harrogate's beloved Tar Heels (still alive baby!!!!), for instance, could have had him. Duke could have had him. N.C. State could have had him. But these teams thought he was too small. At Harrogate's moment of writing, though, Curry doesn't look so small anymore!!!!! During this his sophomore year, he has already scored an incredible 70 points in the first two games of the Tournament, including a monstrous 25-point second-half yesterday against the vaunted Hoyas. But, Davidson is far from just Curry. Feeding off their star, the rest of the starting five plays with a confident swagger, they just don't imagine they're gonna lose. This coming weekend, Davidson draws another very tough opponent in the Wisconsin Badgers, to whom they will be favored to lose. But we shall see.....
And. Oh yeah. did Harrogate mention yet that the Tar Heels are still playing?
Until next time.
Toodles.
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