Well That Certainly Sucked

At least somebody enjoyed their evening.

So, Saturday night probably could have been a bit better. Just try to forget those things I said about this being the perfect Final Four; perhaps there is no such thing. The national semifinal has become as big a perpetual disappointment as the US Ryder Cup Team and the US Davis Cup Team combined.

Recently we've seen teams dominated, we've seen them out of rhythm, and we've seen them clank shots from all over the gym. So what in the name of James Naismith is wrong? In previous years it could be argued that the Final Four was held back by one or two teams that just couldn't compete at that high a level. This year there's no excuse. We had four fantastic teams and zero entertaining games. So who's at fault?

1. The refs

I was traveling all day yesterday so I didn't get to see a lot of the reaction to the game but I imagine this was touched on (at the very least). They were simply awful. It's not that they favored any team in particular; instead they spread out the horrible calls (and non-calls) so that everyone could suffer. Both Hibbert and Oden were significantly hampered and it destroyed the potential for a competitive and hard-fought game. How can we enjoy a battle of the big men when the refs are blowing the whistle every time somebody pops out with a screen or a hedge? Frankly I thought Oden should have picked up two additional fouls in the second half. That insane horizontal dunk attempt sure looked like a charge to me. From the one replay I've seen it looked like the defender had established position before the seven footer pulled off his Clark Kent disguise. The most important play of the game might have been a very late no-call that could have shifted the balance of the game. Oden seemed to clearly hook Hibbert's right arm when they were going up for a rebound. Instead of picking up the huge foul Oden got the rebound and Ohio State padded their lead.

Don't even get me started on what the other crew did to Afflalo. Yeah, Brewer was playing dominating defense as always but it was the whistles that truly handcuffed the first team All American. I know the charge/block call can be subjective but it seems like they screwed it up more than half the time.

2. The NCAA

How many billions of TV dollars will it take to get these fuckers to bypass the extra revenue of a dome? Domes ruin basketball, it's just that simple. The site lines suck and that means lots of missed jump shots. The cavernous nature of the buildings screw up the TV broadcast and the atmosphere at the game. The camera angles are all skewed and the lack of noise just kills all the passion. That's just not college basketball. Hell, it isn't even NBA basketball! I hope it's all worth it to sell another 15,000 seats you bloodsucking pieces of shit.

Hopefully tonight's finale will salvage the event (it wouldn't be the first time). Regardless, the Final Four remains an unfortunately anticlimactic ending to an otherwise glorious event.

Now I've got to go get myself ready for some serious Seder action. Big ups to CBS for starting the game at 9:21 pm EST. I had no idea Sumner Redstone was Jewish, I guess that's why he changed his name from Rothstein.

Go Gators!

P.S. If by some miracle (I'm looking in your direction Elijah!) I get out of this Seder with time to spare I'll offer up some thoughts on tonight's contest.