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The Daily Dose/April 3, 2010
By Gaylon Kent
The Writer's Shack
Notes from around the Human Experience...
OUR BULLDOGS: We're not ready to grant them official Writer's Shack Fave status yet, but we sure do like our Butler Bulldogs in today's NCAA national semifinal against evil Michigan State.
This isn't because of their great lineup or outstanding coach or deep bench - though everyone associated with the Butler basketball team is doing double their usual amount of charity work this week - but merely because they're the underdog, a relatively small school that is making its first Final Four appearance.
FunFact: The panzer division known as our Butler Bulldogs have not lost since December 22 when they lost 72-65 at Alabama-Birmingham. They have won 24 straight, are 32-4 and went 18-0 in something called the Horizon League.
Running The Numbers: Butler wasn't all that impressive against ranked teams in the regular season, losing to Minnesota, Clemson and Georgetown, though they did beat Ohio State.
Dry, Technical Matter: Butler plays football in the Pioneer League, a I-AA that does not offer football scholarships.
Please Pass The Dry, Technical Matter: Butler University was founded in 1855 by attorney and abolitionist newspaper publisher Ovid Butler. It's original name was North Western Christian University. It became Butler University in 1877.
The Dark Side: Michigan State is coached by Tom Izzo, who isn't as sleazy as West Virginia's Bob Huggins, but 'hustler' is the one of the first things that comes to mind when one is obliged to look at Mr. Izzo's picture.
Props: The fact he looks like he would be selling used cars if he hadn't caught on coaching basketball notwithstanding, Izzo has done very well at Michigan State, winning the national championship in 2000 and losing in the title game last year and Izzo is coaching in his sixth national semifinal today.
Our Blue Devils: We're not ready to grant them official Writer's Shack Fave status yet, but we sure do like our Duke Blue Devils in today's NCAA national semifinal game against evil West Virginia.
One, Duke has been really good for a long time under head coach Mike Krzyzewski, who has won three national championships and is coaching in his eleventh national semifinal today.
Two - and anyone who remembers why we picked the New Orleans Saints to win the Super Bowl will know this is key with us - we've actually been to Cameron Indoor Stadium, where the Blue Devils play their home games! We didn't see game, we just stopped in and said howdy and watched what appeared to be a high school summer camp for a bit, but still.
Fly In The Ointment: After the most recent college football season the Blue Devils were ranked first in our Bottom Ten Team of the Decade poll, based on, among other things, having losing streaks of 23 and 22 games in the Double Aughts and only mustering two one-game losing streaks.
Historical Perspective: Duke University was founded in 1837 as - and we are not making this up - Brown's Schoolhouse, It was known as Trinity University in 1924 when the Duke family gave it a lot of money and it changed its name.
COME ONE, COME ALL: Today's games are being played in the midst of numerous reports the NCAA is ready to increase the number of teams that qualify for the tournament from 65 to 96 teams.
That would mean four 24-team regions, with the top eight seeds in each region, 32 teams total, receiving first-round byes. Since the NCAA would play a 96-team tournament in the same amount of time it plays the current 65-team tournament, teams would be playing on the Tuesday and Wednesday between what is now the second and third rounds.
Don't Get Your Official Writer's Shack Policy Right Here: We don't know what to think. One, we really don't care all that much, and two, the NCAA does a really good job of putting on championship tournaments and we are willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and we still remember Dad ranting about how this country was going straight to hell on the A train when the NCAA expanded to 64 teams in the mid-80's and that's worked out all right.
One More Thing: Besides, 96 is still well less than one-third the number of teams that play Division I basketball.
GIDDY UP: The first successful run of the Pony Express leaves St. Joseph, Missouri on this date in 1860.
It would reach San Francisco on April 14. The route was ridden non-stop, with horses being changed at stables located every 10 miles on the trail, and riders riding for 100 miles or so.
Bottom Line: Though the Pony Express showed the viability of transporting mail by horse, the company did not get the government contract it hoped for and ceased operating in October, 1861, not coincidently the same time the transcontinental telegraph connected the west and east coasts of the United States.
Brother Can You Spare A Search Warrant: After being ratted out by his brother, Ted Kaczynski, also known as the Unabomber, is arrested at his Montana cabin on this date in 1996. From 1978-95, Kaczynski mailed 16 bombs, killing three and injuring 23.
Kaczynski is serving a life sentence at a supermax prison in Colorado.
Thought For The Day: She'd often observed that people generally lived up to whatever expectations they had of themselves. - Emily Brightwell, The Inspector and Mrs. Jeffries
Answer To The Last Trivia Question: The first Waffle House opened in September, 1955 in Avondale Estates, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta.
Today's Stumper: Which is older, Hinkle Fieldhouse, where Butler University plays basketball, or Cameron Indoor Stadium, where Duke University plays basketball? - Answer next time!
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