An open letter to Sherron Collins (who is egotistical enough to google himself and therefore might read this):

I'M GLAD THIS IS YOUR LAST HOME GAME.

You are a ball hog. You are not a team player. For every good play you make, you make three boneheaded-ones. I am tired of seeing you, every single time we have the ball at the end of the half, hang on to it at the top of the key, dribbling until there's four or five seconds left, then drive to the hoop in a misguided attempt at doing some kind of amazing lay-up which always, always fails, because you are a stupid, short person. You don't make enough assists. You're not that good a three-point shooter. You fall down too much. I don't like the way you go on and on about being the winningest KU player like that statistic had anything to do with your play personally, and not just that you were lucky enough to play with some other great players. Hint: he may not have technically won more games than you, but don't talk shit like that when Danny Manning is sitting on the bench behind you.

In short, you suck.

Try not to fall down on your way out.

ETA: Okay. You made a couple good plays there that helped shift the momentum our way, and helped us surge forward to a 15-20 point lead the last half of the second half, and then when you were subbed out for your standing ovation since it's Senior Night, you got all verklempt and hugged everyone and your little head only came up to the other guys' collarbones, and okay. You did all right, kid.

I am leaving the above, though, in remembrance of how eternally frustrating you were to watch sometimes. Srsly, sometimes it is okay to pass the basketball.

There are many different ways to keep track of extended periods of time. The most common is the calendar year, which lasts from January 1 to December 31. Another is one's personal year between birthdays, commonly referred to as one's age. An important way to keep track of time for children and young adults is the school year, which is roughly synonymous with the TV year.

The most important way to keep track of time in this household? The college basketball year. From early November until, if we're lucky, early April, one or two times a week the heavens open and bestow upon us a Kansas Jayhawk men's basketball game. This basketball year looks to be a very promising one; we're the consensus number one team in the nation, we picked up one of last year's top high school recruits, and two of the players from our 2008 Championship team, who definitely could have gone into the NBA this year, decided to stay one more year. We had a lot of new players last year who were a little green, who have now had a year to settle in, gain some experience, and get used to playing as a team. It's a good start.

Sports, and in my case college basketball, can be a lot like religion. The only thing missing is that for the most part, sports don't answer any of life's burning questions like: Why are we here? How was this world created? What happens after death? But other than that, there are a lot of similarities. The team you root for depends a lot on where you're from and how your parents raised you. One of my earliest memories is jumping up and down with my mom and dad when KU won the National Championship in 1988. Things might change when you go away to college, and are introduced to new teams, maybe even different conferences, but it's hard to completely sever your ties with the team you grew up with.

There's an incredible sense of community. Even just watching the game alone in your home, you're connected with all of the other people watching the game. You know that you're cheering when they're cheering, groaning when they groan, screaming at the refs when they scream. Of course, you can always go to a sports bar or one of those restaurants with lots of shit hanging on the walls, or, if you're lucky, to the holy of holies itself, the actual game. In KU's case, Allen Fieldhouse. I've only been a few times, but I'm pretty sure the deep sense of awe and respect that suffused my spirit as I walked inside, found my seat, and then watched a game with 15,000 other fans, was not that much different from how people feel when they go to church.

Just like religion, you feel like your team is obviously and objectively the best. Everyone else who roots for other teams is deluded in some way. If they'd only sit down with you and listen, you could explain to them why KU is the best team. First of all, our first coach invented the game itself; he's like a prophet, bringing down a ball and a peach basket from heaven. And if someone disses your team? They're not just insulting the school, they're insulting you and everything you stand for.

Of course, like many religions, there are moments of clarity where you think, this is kind of strange. Why am I getting so much joy out of watching some strange boys play a game? But joy there is nonetheless, and that's what keeps bringing you back. There may be bad times, off seasons, blown second round games and overtime losses, but you know that deep down, the game will always be there for you, when you need it most.

Yay! We made it to the Sweet Sixteen!

The good thing about Kansas really having to fight out a win today is that all my tension and stress got directed into basketball, and I haven't been in a state all day awaiting the BSG finale. I'm trying to decide if I want to rewatch Daybreak I or if I want to watch an old S1 episode in preparation. These things are important.

No matter what happens tonight, it's been a hell of a ride.

BAAAAAASKETBALL. That's pretty much been my day, although it was a bit marred by the fact that CBS decided to show the entirety of the UNC game in our region, which, like, (a) we all hate North Carolina, and (b) it's not fun watching a blow-out unless you are the one blowing out. We play tomorrow morning, and we should advance with little difficulty, but you never know.

Yay for Maryland! I ended up following that game by watching the score at the top, because of the aforementioned blergh. If I had been at home, I would have watched online, but we were at my Gamps, having taken him his outdoor lounge chair he got for Christmas but which never made it over to his house, being as how it's been winter. Today was about 60, very breezy, but with just the right amount of humidity. Sunny. Gorgeous. My grandpa and I sat outside just basking for about half an hour.

THANK GOD OKLAHOMA LOST TODAY, TOO.

No, I am doing nothing today other than making icons and watching basketball, thanks.

Jesus Christ, we lost to Baylor in the first round, what the fuck. We're going to get a four seed. I don't believe this.

KU, KU, what hast thou dunst?

At the beginning of the season, pretty much everyone - ESPN, Sports Illustrated, AP, the coaches' poll - put Kansas at fourth or fifth in the Big 12 Conference, and pretty much gave up on the idea of us doing anything at all in the NCAA Tournament. And honestly, our play at the beginning of the season didn't really belay that prediction.

But as of tonight, we are the champions of the Big 12 regular season; if we can win the Big 12 Tournament next weekend, we'll pretty much be set for a 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, which is more than I ever could have hoped for. (Of course, if we had beat Texas Tech on Wednesday we might have scraped up a 1 seed, but them's the breaks.)

In other news, I typed up 30+ pages today, and the weather was frakking perfect. 60s, around 50% humidity, light breeze. We're getting thunderstorms tonight, so my life is pretty much made right now. I'm waiting for the BSG torrent to finish up because I have an epic icon to make, and maybe watch some Big Love. Good times.

Kansas is back in the top ten, and all is right with the world. We lost every single starter from the National Championship team, and there was a very strong understanding that this year would be a rebuilding year. We didn't have high expectations. But now we're on top of the Big 12, looking at a high seed for the tournament, and the hopes, they are a-creeping back in.

We mauled Missouri yesterday, and here are a few pictures; one from the game itself (that's John Brown, with the Championship trophy instead of the Bible), and one a t-shirt that was made up for the game. For reference, see, teams like K-State and Texas? They're rivals. Missouri? Is our enemy. We HATE Missouri. Every year, the KU students make up new and exciting shirts to mock and deride Mizzou (since we're no longer allowed to wear the "Muck Fizzou" t-shirts at the games), and this might be one of my favorites.

Last night, Kansas played Missouri on Big Monday. It was kind of a big deal. They've really improved this year, making the rivalry mean something more (it's less fun if you just clobber them all the time). We needed to win to stay tied with Oklahoma on top of the Big 12. We're ranked #16 and #19 respectively, so a win helps overall RPI a lot. We held them to only 16 points in the first half, and had a 14 point lead going into halftime. Everyone was feeling pretty good.

Then, we started the second half, and Laura and I had to go find booze.

Even though we managed to scrape back up a double digit lead after a Missouri run brought them to within three, KU ended up squandering the lead, missing free throws, committing stupid fouls, and MU won the game at the buzzer.

This gif is the best way to sum up my feelings.



I don't know whom I'm directing it towards, Kansas or Missouri. Both, probably. Some times when your teams loses, you're just sad. You mope, and maybe even cry a little if it was a big enough game (like when we lost to Syracuse in the 2003 Championship). But sometimes, you get really angry. Like, if I saw Sherron Collins today? I'd be like, "YOU STUPID PAB, QUIT GOING END TO END, THERE ARE FOUR OTHER GUYS ON THE TEAM WITH YOU, THREE FRAKKING CARRIES, WHAT THE HELL GOD."

The greatest shot in the history of the universe:

If anyone could do me a big favor - we're gathering all the KC and Lawrence area newpapers today, so if you happen to grab a paper in your neck of the woods, if you could save any articles or the sports page or whatever for me, that would be awesome.

I still kind of can't believe it.

Battlestar comes back tonight! I'm so excited! I'm so excited! (I'm so...scared!)

But now the nervousness is setting in about tomorrow's game. If we don't win, I'll be sad, but if UNC clobbers us, THEN I'll be really upset. I just want it to be a good, solid game. Close. (Of course, if WE clobber THEM, that's fine.) When we won on Sunday to get into the Final Four, Sarah burst into tears, so if we lose? I don't even want to know.

I swear, I had other things to talk about, but right now those two are kind of buzzing my brain into oblivion. I'm working very, very hard to concentrate while I teach today, but TV! TV is exciting! Last night's CSI was new, which was great, and it was actually a pretty good episode. Bonnie Bedelia was fantastic; I wonder if they're going to bring her on as a recurring character. (I am full aware this only makes sense to Catherine.)

It's the most wonderful time of the year! We watched basketball pretty much all day yesterday, will do the same today, and then we get second round action this weekend, and it's just so fantastic. I love the tournament. I'm trying not to jinx us, but I feel pretty confident we can make it to the Final Four this year.

I'm also trying to rewatch all of Battlestar before S4 begins April 4. I'm not too confident in my ability to do so, especially now that I'm going to be a long-term sub for a teacher who has gone on maternity leave (yay money!). I may have to skip to just the highlights, which is still a fair number of episodes.