Today is one of those days when being indoors feels like torture because it’s just so beautiful outside. It’s 73° in South Bend, with low humidity and a pleasant southerly wind. It’s going to get nasty later tonight — we’re under a Tornado Watch — but for now, it’s just gorgeous.

I took a few pictures while walking with Becky this afternoon at lunchtime:

More here.

The Living Room Times NCAA pools have created a new basketball fan! :)

Yeah, so she’s in last place in the women’s pool and second-to-last in the men’s… so what? I got her watching basketball! Woohoo! :)

Wondering why the American flag in front of the law school is at half-staff? Here’s why:

Gov. Mitch Daniels is asking that flags in Indiana be flown at half-staff until dusk Friday to honor the four Indiana National Guard soldiers who were killed in Afghanistan Saturday.

The men were members of Combined Joint Task Force Phoenix, 76th Infantry Brigade. They died when their vehicle hit a landmine about 50 kilometers south of Kabul, Afghanistan.

Here’s an excellent Q&A on the facts in the Terri Shiavo case.

While there is some debate about whether or not Terri is truly in a persistant vegetative state, it seems to me that neurologists must have some reliable way of evaluating her responsiveness without the use of MRIs, PETs or CAT scans.

At any rate, Terri is expected to die either today or tomorrow from dehydration.

May God give all those involved in this case peace with its final outcome.

I know we have some rather fierce partisans here and that some of you may feel it is not time for DeLay to resign - just yet. However, there is beginning to be a preponderance of evidence that it is time for him to go. For example the New York Times department of fancy graphics brought us this chart outlining some of the shenanigans associated with DeLay. In addition, this article touches on some of the investigations surrounding DeLay. There is also this article, which outlines DeLay’s top 12 transgressions. This does not even get into the extensive Op-ed column inches that have been spent on this subject. Getting rid of DeLay should not be a matter of partisan politics, it is a matter of getting rid of a man who is bad for politics.

Now, Brendan will take us back to Basketball.

Today is the 152nd anniversary of Vincent Van Gogh’s birth. (This explains the Google logo.)

It is widely suspected that Van Gogh, like my beloved Becky, had bipolar disorder. Unfortunately, unlike Becky, Van Gogh didn’t have Lithium or other useful drugs, and he ultimately killed himself. Thank goodness for modern medicine!

While we’re on the topic of mental health… I had an interesting experience of my own yesterday.

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“I’m so tired, my thoughts are floating in and out of different languages.” –Dmytro

Between the men’s and women’s NCAA Tournaments and the NIT, today is the first day without postseason basketball since Selection Sunday, two-and-a-half weeks ago!!

Whatever will I do?!? [I dunno… Study? Go to class? -ed.]

Some of us may agree and some may vehemently disagree with Patrick’s political beliefs, but surely we can all find common ground in the shared opinion that his 7-month-old niece is sooo cute!

There will be a faculty panel discussion of the Terri Schiavo case in the law school courtroom today at 4:00 PM. (Hat tip: Patrick.) Professor Kaveny will be the moderator, and professors Robinson, Fennis, A. J. Bellia and Rick Garnett will speak on issues ranging from Catholic morals to constitutional law.

Then, tonight at 10:00 PM at Legends, the “Theology on Tap” lecture series will present philosophy professor David Solomon, speaking on “The End of Life: Mercy Killings & Medical Ethics.” Doors open at 9:30 p.m.

On a related but extremely irreverent note, some of you will find this blog grossly offensive, some will find it extremely funny, and some, I daresay, will find it both simultaneously. (Becky perhaps summed it up best: “Dude, these people are so strange. But yeah — they’re going to hell.”) WARNING: Don’t click the link if you’re not prepared to be offended by what you find on the other side!

Tom K., a.k.a. Scientizzle, clinched victory in the first-ever BrendanLoy.com NIT pool as South Carolina defeated Maryland in the semifinals Tuesday night, 75-67.

Scientizzle, who asked that his last name not be used for privacy reasons, is a 2003 USC graduate who is now a Ph.D. student at Oregon Health & Science University, has 311 points. Mike Quinn, a 2001 Illinois State grad, is second with 309 points, but has no hope of passing Scientizzle now that his predicted champion, Maryland, has been eliminated.

Scientizzle is the first USC student or alum to win a pool administered by Brendan Loy. However, his victory does not break Troy’s drought in Living Room Times pools, as the NIT pool is a “just for fun” contest sponsored by BrendanLoy.com, not an official Times pool. (Counting this year’s women’s pool, which no longer has any Trojan contenders, USC contestants are now 0-for-10 in Living Room Times pools since Loy first began inviting his fellow Trojans to join his pools in 2000, his freshman year at ‘SC. Andrew Long has a chance to break that drought in the men’s pool this year.)

No one in the NIT pool picked either of the finalists, South Carolina or St. Joe’s, to win the tournament. Thus, the current standings are effectively the final standings; Thursday’s title game will not affect anyone’s point total.

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Tennessee held off Rutgers and kept the suspense alive in the eighth annual Living Room Times women’s pool, preventing Todd Stigliano from clinching victory early. Chris Pearsall and Paul Zak still have a shot at winning the pool heading into the tournament’s final weekend, though Stigliano remains the favorite.

Stigliano, a 2003 Providence College grad, nearly clinched a pool championship on the strength of a Big East team’s second-half comeback for the second time in five years. But unlike 2001, when Ruth Riley and Notre Dame rallied from 12 points down in the national championship game to defeat Purdue and vault Stigliano past Mike Wiser in the fourth annual Times women’s pool, Cappie Pondexter and Rutgers couldn’t quite finish the job against Tennessee in the Philadelphia regional final, rallying to within two points with 1:08 to go, but falling apart after that and losing by ten, 59-49.

Tennessee’s win also derailed Stigliano’s chance at breaking the all-time record for the biggest point total in the ten-year history of Living Room Times pools. The record is 421; his maximum possible total now is 413, down from 428.

Stigliano still leads by 17 points, however, and he remains the statistical favorite, winning in 6 of the 8 remaining scenarios. But he has to keep rooting against the Lady Vols.

Chris Pearsall, a Notre Dame 1L who also went to ND for undergrad, will win the pool if Tennessee beats LSU in the national championship game. Paul Zak, a Florida grad and cousin of Becky Zak, will win if Tennessee beats Baylor for the championship.

If Tennessee fails to win its seventh NCAA title, Stigliano will win the eighth annual Times women’s pool for his second pool championship.

Stigliano is a member of the Newington High School Class of 1999, whose members have won or shared the championship in 13 of the 16 pools, men’s and women’s, in Living Room Times history.

Full standings here and after the jump.

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Rutgers was down by 8 with about three minutes left, but the Scarlet Knights are on a 6-0 run and have pulled within two points of Tennessee with 1:08 to go. Todd Stigliano could be three points and 68 seconds away from another pool championship!

UPDATE: Rutgers made a couple of dumb plays down the stretch, and now it’s Tennessee by 8 with 12.4 seconds to go. Looks like the Lady Vols will go to the Final Four, and Chris Pearsall and Paul Zak will stay alive in the Living Room Times women’s pool.

UPDATE 2: Tennessee wins, 59-49. Pool update momentarily.

Both the Living Room Times women’s pool and the BrendanLoy.com NIT pool could be one game away from crowning a champion, with Todd Stigliano and Tom K. on the verge of clinching tonight.

Stigliano increased his lead in the women’s pool to 17 points when Michigan State defeated Stanford in the evening’s first Elite Eight game; a Rutgers upset of Tennessee in the nightcap would assure him of his second women’s pool victory in five years. (Tennessee leads at halftime, 30-24.) (UPDATE: Six minutes into the second half, Rutgers has taken a 33-31 lead!)

Michigan State’s victory mathematically eliminated Matt Thomsen, Arash Markazi, Andrew Long and Danny Pilz from any chance of winning the pool. That leaves Stigliano, Chris Pearsall and Paul Zak as the only ones with a shot, and both Pearsall and Zak need Tennessee to win the national championship. (Pearsall wins if the Lady Vols beat LSU in the title game; Zak wins if they beat Baylor.)

Pearsall is a Notre Dame 1L who also went to ND for undergrad, Zak is a graduate of the University of Florida and a cousin of Becky Zak, and Stigliano is a member of the long-dominant Newington High School Class of 1999 and a 2003 graduate of Providence College who won the fourth annual Living Room Times women’s pool in 2001.

Women’s pool standings here and after the jump.

Meanwhile, K. (a.k.a. “Scientizzle“) would clinch the NIT pool if South Carolina defeats Maryland in tonight’s second semifinal game. So far, so good for the 2003 USC alum: the Gamecocks lead the Terps, 33-24 with three minutes left in the first half.

It would be somewhat ironic if K. clinches tonight, considering his predicted NIT champion, Memphis, lost in the evening’s first semifinal. But the Maryland-South Carolina game is the only one that actually matters to the NIT pool outcome, because the lone contestant with a chance to pass K. on the leaderboard is Illinois State grad Mike Quinn — and that’s only possible if Maryland wins the championship.

Latest NIT pool standings here and after the jump (below the women’s pool standings).

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