For those who missed it, here’s a quick video summary of how Notre Dame managed to lose to Michigan in the NIT tonight. Alas, I didn’t get the first two failed timeouts on tape, but I did get the third one, and its dire consequences. To say nothing of the pivotal steal in OT, the missed free throw in the second OT, etc. Honestly, the ending of this game perfectly encapsulated Notre Dame’s season — including the fact that the Irish made some heroic plays on both ends of the floor, which just make the bonehead mistakes that lost them the game all the more painful.

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As I said before, congrats to Michigan on a great win, and in particular on a great shot. Nothing the Irish could do about that, but the game should never have gotten to that point. We led almost the entire game, and let Michigan back into it with bonehead mistakes in both coaching and execution. No lack of heart, as usual — just a lack of results. (More on the game, and Brey’s “dang coaching mistakes,” here.)

And, for one last time this season: Fire Mike Brey.

But see, Billy, the thing is, no you weren’t “making points that were accurate points.” Your argument was completely bogus from the moment it spewed forth from your big mouth. Yeah, the RPI could use some tweaking, but that’s not all you said, not by a longshot. You also argued that obviously deserving teams should have been left out of the tournament; you implied that “quality wins” depend on the name on the opponent’s jersey rather than the actual quality of the team; you insinuated that the selection committee was biased toward mid-majors because of its membership; you exuded an overwhelming sense of major-conference entitlement; and worst of all, you stated flat-out that the committee should evaluate teams based on their conferences’ historical performance in the tournament. Those notions, especially the last one, were utterly wrong then, and they’re utterly wrong now. Their wrongness has nothing to do with the MVC and CAA teams’ success in this year’s tournament. (That success just makes it easier to make fun of you. But your argument is wrong regardless.)

Oh, and let’s not forget, you were also unbelievebly, unprofessionally rude to Craig Littlepage. And, because you were so busy obsessing over your major-conference fetish, sticking up for the poor, aggrieved ACC and Big 12 (the deck is really stacked against those leagues, eh Billy?), you didn’t bother to ask Littlepage the really important questions, like how the heck Air Force got in ahead of Missouri State, how on earth Seton Hall was ahead of Cincinnati in the Big East pecking order, why the seeds were so messed up, why the committee appeared to artifically “cap” conferences even though it swears it doesn’t do that, etc. You deprived us all of the opportunity to get those real questions answered, because you chose to use your alloted airtime to give the committee chairman a misguided lecture instead. You, Billy Packer, are an ass.

P.S. And if you think I’m disrespecting you by calling you an ass, well, “It’s an opinion. … I have a difference of opinion. I have a right to that.” If I say the word “opinion” enough times, I don’t actually have to defend my underlying position! It’s just an opinion! And opinions are incapable of being disrespectful. Right, Billy?

14 years ago, while working for a Christian aid organization in Pakistan helping Afghan refugees, Abdul Rahman converted from Islam to Christianity. Since then he spent most of his life living outside Afghanistan only returning recently to try and regain custody of his children. His parents refused him and denounced him as a convert and now he is on trial for apostasy facing a likely death sentence. Next time maybe we need to proofread that Constitution a little better.

Money quotes:

Presiding judge Ansarullah Mawlazezadah tells ABC News a medical team was checking the defendant, since the team suspects insanity caused Rahman to reject Islam.

And:

The post-Taliban constitution recognizes Islam as Afghanistan’s religion, and decrees that Islam’s Sharia law applies when a case is not covered by specific legislation. The prosecutor says under Sharia law, Abdul Rahman must die.

The judge, however, holds hopes for a solution.

“We will ask him if he has changed his mind about being a Christian,” Mawlazezadah says. “If he has, we will forgive him, because Islam is a religion of tolerance.”

Gosh, its a good thing we went through all that trouble to free them from the extremist religious tyranny of the Taliban.

All four #1 seeds in the men’s tournament survived into the second weekend. Will a #1 seed in the women’s tournament lose in the second round? #9-seed Washington is leading #1 LSU at the half.

I probably will not have time to update the women’s pool until sometime tomorrow. I need to go to bed soon. :)

UPDATE: Umm, okay, that ended up not being close at all. LSU 72, Washington 49, final. I guess the Lady Tigers are a second-half team.

Still awake, but still not updating the pool till tomorrow.

Gary Kirby, who picked Michigan to win the NIT, maintained his lead in the 2nd annual BrendanLoy.com NIT pool Monday as the Wolverines handed Notre Dame its third double-overtime loss of the season. Meanwhile, 29 contestants were eliminated from any chance of winning the pool, with Notre Dame’s loss being the biggest culprit among the evening’s games. Details after the jump.

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A day after the Notre Dame women’s basketball season ended with a whimper against football rival Boston College in the NCAA Tournament, the Notre Dame men are taking on another football rival, Michigan, in the NIT — and so far, things are going considerably better for Chris Quinn’s squad than they did for Megan Duffy’s (albeit on a much smaller, less important stage). The Irish lead, 56-48, on Michigan’s home floor with 10:40 to go. The winner gets either Miami or Creighton in the quarterfinals Wednesday. (If Notre Dame wins, it’ll be a road game for the Irish — either in Florida or Nebraska.)

UPDATE: In case anyone doubted that Mike Brey still desperately needs to be fired… with a 4-point lead, about 4:30 to go, and 10 on the shot clock, Brey called timeout to draw up a play. But when play resumed after the timeout, Chris Quinn clearly had no idea that the shot clock was running low. As a result, he ended up dribbling the possession away on the perimeter, then realizing his error at the last moment and putting up a 35-foot heave with 1 second on the shot clock. This is off a timeout. As John L. Smith might say, “That’s a dang coaching mistake!”

UPDATE 2: This is really lame. Neither team deserves to win this game. They’re both playing like crapola. I guess that’s why they’re in the NIT…

UPDATE 3: And then Notre Dame called another timeout, yet still managed to turn the ball over immediately afterward… and then just now, with 2:27 to go in a one-point game on the road, they just called their last timeout… apparently Brey didn’t mention to his players that they might want to save that one. Brilliant!

UPDATE 4: Well, now both teams have magically learned to shoot again, so it’s getting a bit more exciting… Irish by 3 with 55.8 seconds to go. Hmm, what are the Vegas odds on them blowing it and losing on a buzzer-beater?

UPDATE 5: Notre Dame turns it over as Michigan forces a jump ball. Why? Because they were out of timeouts, so Quinn, standing in front of his bench and trapped by two Michigan players, was helpless to save the possession. Way to waste those timeouts, Brey! Now Michigan, down by 1, has the ball, and the opportunity to end Notre Dame’s season in fittingly heartbreaking fashion.

UPDATE 6: Wow! Michigan hits a 3 to take a two-point lead, but then — a change in the script!! — Quinn hits a layup with 5 seconds left to tie it, Michigan misses the buzzer-beater, and we’re going to overtime! A fantastic, NCAA Tournament-like ending to regulation. Now what? Go Irish!

UPDATE 7: Double overtime!

UPDATE 8: Okay, so it was only a slight change in the script. Notre Dame loses on a ridiculous buzzer-beating three-pointer in double-overtime.

All credit to Michigan for winning it in OT. What a shot!! But if our coach wasn’t so freakin’ incompetent, the game would never have been in overtime in the first place, for the reasons discussed above. But then, that’s the story of our season. A highly appropriate ending.

FIRE MIKE BREY.

AccuWeather is predicting a busy hurricane season for 2006, and is sounding the alarm about the possibility of a major hurricane hitting the Northeast, noting that such an event is “overdue.” Of course, in and of itself, that’s a virtually meaningless statement; Mother Nature is under no obligation to follow the law of averages, as Florida knows all too well. But AccuWeather’s meteorologists “likened current weather cycles and water temperatures to those in the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s, particularly the pattern that led to the 1938 hurricane that struck Providence, R.I., and killed 600 people,” according to the AP. I’m not sure exactly what that means; generally speaking, trying to predict where hurricanes are likely to strike in a given season (or series of seasons, i.e. “the next five years,” as the AP article states) is a total waste of energy. But, hey, people in the Northeast (especially New York City) do need to take this threat more seriously, and prepare for it more vigorously, so if this helps, then good. (Hat tip: Colin Pedicini.)

UPDATE: Here is the actual press release from AccuWeather. Excerpt:

The northeast U.S. coast could be the target of a major hurricane, perhaps as early as this season, according to research announced today by the AccuWeather.com Hurricane Center. In terms of number of storms, the 2006 hurricane season will again be more active than normal, but less active than last summer’s historic storm season.

“The Northeast is staring down the barrel of a gun,” said Joe Bastardi, Chief Forecaster of the AccuWeather.com Hurricane Center. “The Northeast coast is long overdue for a powerful hurricane, and with the weather patterns and hydrology we’re seeing in the oceans, the likelihood of a major hurricane making landfall in the Northeast is not a question of if but when.”

AccuWeather.com Hurricane Center research meteorologists have identified weather cycles that indicate which U.S. coastal areas are most susceptible to landfalls. “If you examine past weather cycles that have occurred in the Atlantic, you will see patterns of storms,” added Ken Reeves, Expert Senior Meteorologist and Director of Forecasting Operations at AccuWeather.com. “Determination of where we are in the cycle has enabled AccuWeather.com meteorologists to accurately predict hurricane activity in Florida in 2004 and along the Gulf Coast last year. There are indications that the Northeast will experience a hurricane larger and more powerful than anything that region has seen in a long time.”

If that’s true, I think it represents a major breakthrough in long-range hurricane forecasting. But here I am somewhat out of my depth, so I’ll defer to the actual meteorologists, rather than those who just play meteorologists on the internet (i.e., me). :)

P.S. Also:

Additionally, AccuWeather.com believes that the upper Texas coast is likely to be the target of higher than normal hurricane and tropical storm activity over the next 10 years. “Hurricane Rita was a warning shot,” says AccuWeather.com’s Bastardi… “The Texas coast is in for a long period of tropical activity, particularly the region from Corpus Christi to Sabine Pass at the Louisiana border.”

{But how does Art feel about this? / There, I Said it. / Apologies to Groucho, and to Roth. :}

We’re all very glad that Brendan no longer feels naked but a whole lot of Venezuelans sure did on Sunday.

CARACAS, Venezuela (March 20) - More than 1,500 Venezuelans shed their clothes on a main city avenue Sunday to pose for American photographer Spencer Tunick, forming a human mosaic in front of a national symbol: a statue of independence hero Simon Bolivar.

As Tunick shouted commands through a megaphone, nude people of every shape, size and skin tone gathered on the avenue and stairs in front of the statue just before dawn.

…For the volunteers, being part of Tunick’s art meant letting go of inhibitions and enduring a two-hour series of sometimes uncomfortable positions on the pavement.

…Occasional cheers and movements in the enthusiastic crowd made shooting tough at times, Tunick said.

“It was difficult to work because the people were so exuberant, so it took a little bit longer, but I got what I wanted,” he said after the session.

You may (or indeed, may Not :) want to Study the whole thing. There are Slideshows & a Video accompanying. :>

There is also, of course, the always-informative AOL Poll. :} When last I Looked the returns stood at:

“What do you think of Spencer Tunick’s art?

Total Votes: 83,867

Mike’s Brother Matt can check me on this but that looks to me like 23,483 potential new Models, right There. :)

You’ve already seen my reaction to #14-seed Northwestern State’s buzzer-beater against Iowa. Now, watch a bunch of Iowa fans’ reactions. Heh.

ArmchairGM offers the “Top Ten Things to Do Now That Your Bracket is Busted.” Number 2 is my favorite, for obvious reasons.

P.S. Then there are those who insist that their bracket does not define them. That will be a bit of an issue for me, actually, at least until the virtually inevitable moment when I am mathematically eliminated: do I root for Memphis over Bradley? Texas over West Virginia? Florida over Georgetown? I don’t want to, but my bracket demands it.

Ken Pomeroy makes a good point:

It’s kind of funny how people are saying the committee looks good now. They made epic mistakes, but it just so happened that Nantz and Packer, by being ignorant of the basketball landscape, chose to call the most attention to the things for which the committee had a reasonable defense.

He adds, “It would be sweet justice for CBS to send Billy Packer to DC to have to call the Wichita State/George Mason game. One of those teams will be playing for a Final Four bid next Sunday. But we all know Packer will be in Atlanta to call the potential Duke/Texas showdown.”

Duke/Texas? Whatever. If I were an announcer, I’d want to be in Oakland, to call the battle of the two best teams on the West Coast: UCLA vs. Gonzaga. And I’m not just saying that because I’m a Zags fan! Honestly, is there a more compelling matchup, storyline-wise, in the Sweet 16?

Incidentally, the NCAA might want to consider renaming the Sweet 16 the “Washington Invitational,” considering there are two teams from the state of Washington and two teams from Washington, D.C. … and no other state (or, uh, district) with multiple teams!

Well, that’s settled: I won’t be bowling this Thursday. I’ll be at home, in front of my TV, cheering for the Zags. Here’s the Sweet 16 schedule:

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Northeastern Australia was hit Sunday by its strongest cyclone (that’s what they call hurricanes down under) in more than three decades, a category five storm named Larry.

After an awful 17-for-32 first round and an only marginally better 10-for-16 second round, you’d think that I’d be mathematically eliminated from winning my pool. I’m in 185th place out of 218! But because I picked LSU to reach the Final Four and Gonzaga to win the championship, I’m still alive — barely. I’m the third-lowest-ranked contestant who could still hypothetically win.

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