South Carolina beat Louisville in the second NIT semifinal Tuesday, 78-63, setting up an NIT championship game against Michigan that will also decide the 2nd annual BrendanLoy.com NIT pool.

Brad Miller, a law student at Capital University in Columbus, OH, picked South Carolina to win the tournament, and will win the pool if the Gamecocks prevail. Gary Kirby (a.k.a. “gahrie”), a member of the USC Class of 1987, picked Michigan, and will win the pool if the Wolverines win.

Complete standings here and after the jump.

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The UConn women have just been hit by two consecutive horrible calls — a “foul” on a completely clean block, followed by a “foul” where three defenders had a Duke player legitimately trapped without making contact. The points Duke has scored as a result of these bogus, phantom fouls have allowed the Blue Devils to take a three-point lead with 7:34 to go.

Is this karmic retribution for the illegitimate, referee-decided “win” by the UConn men over Washington in the Sweet Sixteen? If so, it’s not really fair… it’s not Geno Auriemma’s fault that Jim Calhoun likes to bully the refs!! C’mon, basketball gods, don’t punish the women for the men’s undeserved success! Two wrongs don’t make a right! :)

With apologies to Vicki: GO HUSKIES! BEAT THE DEVILS!

UPDATE: And now, with the score tied and Duke on offense, UConn’s defense forces a jump ball with 3 seconds left… but instead the refs give Duke the timeout… even though two UConn players had their hands on the ball when she called it. ARGH!

UPDATE 2: And now DUKE COMMITTED A BACKCOURT VIOLATION WITH 1.9 SECONDS LEFT, AND IT WASN’T CALLED!!! Duke missed the shot, so the game goes to overtime… but UConn should have had a chance for a final shot with 1.9 to go (if not 3 seconds; see above). That’s FOUR BAD CALLS that have gone Duke’s way in the final minutes, including TWO in the final THREE SECONDS!!!!

Honestly, how hard is it to call a BACKCOURT VIOLATION?? I mean, that’s not even debatable! Pay attention, refs!!! What game are you watching?!?

The state of Connecticut officially feels your pain, Washington fans…

UPDATE 3: Game over; Duke wins in OT. Duke goes to the Final Four.

I’m not going to blame this loss on the refs… it wasn’t as clear-cut as the Washington game… but it’s a shame the refereeing was so crappy down the stretch in regulation, because we’ll really never know who would have won if not for the officiating errors.

Ultimately, though, UConn had its chances to win the game, but came up short. Duke was the better team today. The Huskies might have been able to pull off a miracle, though, except that their clutchiest clutch player, Barbara Turner, went down with cramps at the end, and was unable to play on UConn’s final offensive possession.

This “Irish Bruin” crap is driving me NUTS!

Michigan’s 66-43 win over Old Dominion eliminated Andrew Long from the BrendanLoy.com NIT pool and gave Gary “gahrie” Kirby a chance to clinch the pool tonight if Louisville beats South Carolina.

The only remaining contestant with a chance to beat Kirby is Brad Miller, but Miller’s only hope is for the Gamecocks to win the championship. Thus, if they lose tonight, Kirby clinches the pool. He would be the second straight Trojan to win the NIT pool, following Tom Keck’s victory last year.

With 1:46 left in the first half, South Carolina leads by 7.

North Carolina’s 75-63 win over Tennessee — denying Pat Summitt’s Vols a fifth straight trip to the Final Four — means Jay Johnson, Kim Stone and A.J. St. John are mathematically eliminated from the Living Room Times women’s NCAA pool, and Rick Boeckler is “safe” for the day.

Now, the UConn-Duke game — amazingly, the first-ever NCAA Tournament matchup between the Huskies and Blue Devils on the women’s side — will determine who else gets eliminated tonight. If UConn wins, Victoria Lopez will be eliminated, ending any chance for a Trojan to win a Times pool championship this year. If Duke wins, Lisa Velte, Conor Sullivan and Scott Loomer will be eliminated. Detailed scenario info here. Duke leads by 5 at halftime.

Bad news for Andrew Long, Jay Johnson, Kim Stone and A.J. St. John: UNC leads Tennessee by 12 at halftime in the women’s Elite Eight, and Michigan leads ODU by 9 at halftime in the men’s NIT semifinals. If these results hold up, Long will be eliminated from the BrendanLoy.com NIT pool, and Johnson, Stone and St. John will be eliminated from the Living Room Times women’s NCAA pool.

UPDATE: Both scores held up, so the above-mentioned contestants are eliminated.

Mike Tran is now officially a pseudo-celebrity, and I’m a Sports Illustrated writer. Well, SI On Campus online, anyway.

My friend and fellow USC grad Arash Markazi (who really is an SI writer) was sufficiently impressed by Mike’s bracket that he e-mailed me yesterday and asked if I could write an article about it for SIOC’s “Walk-On” column. Naturally, I was all too happy to oblige. (So, Mike, how does it feel to rise to fame on the shoulders of two Trojans? :)

Excerpt:

If you’re looking for advice on filling out your NCAA Tournament bracket next year, you might want to talk to Mike Tran.

Mike is a classmate of mine at Notre Dame Law School and a 2004 graduate of UCLA. He’s also apparently a gifted bracketologist. In a year when most people — pundits and alleged experts included — watched helplessly as their brackets were devastated by a string of ridiculous upsets, Mike correctly predicted 13 of the Sweet 16, seven of the Elite Eight, and three of the Final Four. His national champion and runner-up are still alive. Amazing.

No, he didn’t pick George Mason. In fact, those pesky Patriots are responsible for three of the five games he’s gotten wrong since the first round. But Mike had the right idea: he predicted that UConn would lose in a major Elite Eight upset. The only problem? He had the Huskies falling to Michigan State, the first of George Mason’s four upset victims.

If Mike had simply switched Michigan State and George Mason, he’d have the best bracket in America — and I’d be convinced he owns Marty McFly’s sports almanac.

Even without going back to the future, though, Mike made some mighty impressive picks.

I was trying to write in the SIOC style, there, throwing out a random pop-culture reference. :) I really should give a hat tip to Biff, though. Anyway, read the whole thing. It’s two pages long; here’s page 2.

UPDATE: And of course now, any and all new readers who come to my site from the article about Tran get to see my blog in all its “Irish Bruin” glory. Bah!

P.S. I just noticed, they cut one of my favorite lines! After “Besides, he adds, ‘I’d gladly pay money to see UCLA win the championship,’” it was supposed to say, “I’m pretty sure that would be an NCAA violation, but regardless, a UCLA win would give Mike the largest margin of victory in the 10-year history of my pools.” They deleted everything before “a UCLA win.” I guess NCAA violations are no laughing matter. Heh.

It’s Sexual Assault Awareness Week at Notre Dame, and a new group called Men Against Violence has formed “to encourage men to take a proactive stance against sexual violence,” which I think is really awesome. I’ve spoken out at several USC “Take Back The Night” rallies about the need for just that sort of effort. On a more sobering note, however, a SMC student alleges that she was sexually assaulted over the weekend, possibly at Zahm Hall.

In a related story, although nothing has been proven yet, it appears that the Duke University lacrosse team may be in dire need of proactive action against sexual violence… like perhaps jail time. Here’s an interview with the alleged victim. And here is Duke’s official statement on the matter.

Ben Malcolmson, a Daily Trojan sports reporter who has covered the USC football team for three years, made it onto the team as a walk-on. Cool! He tried out, just so he could write an article about the experience. He had no intention of actually making the team. Here’s his article about it. Excerpt:

But as many times as I have told the story - a silly undersized newspaper writer tries out for the football team without any objective of making it and then he actually makes the team - I still could not fathom what was going on. People across the country idolize USC football, and here I am now a player on that team.

It didn’t fully hit me until about a week after, and even then, the magnitude of it was overwhelming enough that I still had some disbelief inside of me.

I’m on the USC football team? This can’t be real.

I’ll forget about it and then all of a sudden, it hits me again - I’m on the USC football team.

This can’t be real.

Heh. Is it sacrilege to throw out a “Rudy” reference when we’re talking about USC? Yes, yes it is — and I’m going to do it anyway. BENNY! BENNY! :)

(Hat tip: Deadspin.)

The AP article about tomorrow’s total solar eclipse — which will be visible in parts of Eurasia and Africa — contains an egregious factual mistake that could have been avoided if the reporter, Kwasi Kpodo, had done rudimentary research, or if the AP’s fact-checkers had been a bit more careful:

Night will turn to day in the eclipse’s route and a corona will glow around the edges of the moon as it comes between the earth and the sun. But the corona’s light can burn eyes.

First of all, Mr. Kpodo obviously meant “day will turn to night,” not “night will turn to day.” Heh. (Hat tip: B. Minich.) But looking beyond that embarrassing slip-up, I’m more concerned about the “corona’s light can burn eyes” thing. That is simply NOT TRUE, and the error is significant.

It is the light from the Sun’s photosphere, not from the corona, that can burn people’s eyes. This is a crucial difference. It is indeed unsafe to look at the Sun during an annular or partial eclipse — and that includes the partial portion of a total eclipse, even mere moments before totality — but during totality, when the solar disc is completely obscured and only the corona is visible, it is safe to look directly at the Sun. Indeed, it is highly advisable to do so, if you want a decent view. During totality, you won’t be able to see much of anything through your solar filter. I quote NASA:

Certainly the most spectacular and awe inspiring phase of the eclipse is totality. For a few brief minutes or seconds, the Sun’s pearly white corona, red prominences and chromosphere are visible. The great challenge is to obtain a set of photographs which captures some aspect of these fleeting phenomena. The most important point to remember is that during the total phase, all solar filters must be removed! The corona has a surface brightness a million times fainter than the photosphere, so photographs of the corona are made without a filter. Furthermore, it is completely safe to view the totally eclipsed Sun directly with the naked eye. No filters are needed and they will only hinder your view.

Wikipedia also provides an excellent summary:

Contrary to popular belief, it is safe to observe the total phase of a total solar eclipse directly with the unaided eye, binoculars or a telescope, when the Sun’s photosphere is completely covered by the Moon; indeed, this is a very spectacular and beautiful sight, and it is too dim to be seen through filters. The Sun’s faint corona will be visible, and even the chromosphere, solar prominences, and possibly even a solar flare may be seen. However, it is important to stop directly viewing the Sun promptly at the end of totality. The exact time and duration of totality for the location from which the eclipse is being observed should be determined from a reliable source (local astronomers, etc.). Note that it is never safe to look at an annular or partial eclipse directly, because the Sun’s disk is never completely covered during this type of eclipse.

Had the AP reporter double-checked his facts with anyone having the slightest amount of expertise in solar eclipses — or, for that matter, with Google — this error could have been avoided. (I found the above info by googling solar eclipse corona safe viewing.) Instead, the AP is materially contributing the counterfactual “popular belief” that the Wikipedia article mentions. Basically, America’s premier wire service is spreading urban legends. Not exactly a journalistic triumph, that.

P.S. I e-mailed the AP, so hopefully they’ll issue a correction.

Its been awhile since I have done one of these but there just happened to be a number of interesting religious related stories this week:

First stop: Afghanistan, where the government showed some sanity and dismissed the case against Ahmed Rahman, the man on trial and facing a possible death sentence for the heinous crime of converting to Christianity. Mr. Rahman had recently been moved to a more secure prison for his own safety after threats by other inmates were made against him. If released he could face the same as Muslim Clerics in the country werecalling for him to be killed if he is released. Reports are that he is seeking asylum in another country, preferably one where he won’t face death for, you know, holding a different belief and not harming anyone while doing so.

Moving on to our next stop: India, where local Muslim clerics have told a couple they must stop living together as they are now officially divorced because the man apparently uttered the word for divorce three times in his sleep, a valid form of divorce under Sharia law. The couple have refused to comply as they do not believe this is binding and scholars appear to agree, arguing that being asleep is similar enough to being drunk and incapable of behaving rationally which under the same law means the divorce is invalid.

Staying in Asia our next stop is: Israel, where an Orthodox Rabbi has started telling parents that they should maim/disfigure their childrends dolls and stuffed animals so not to run afoul of the prohibition of possession of idols.

Moving along, our next stop: the Telecom world where enterprising companies are filling a market niche for religious cell phone users offering barebones phones without all the extra features like cameras and such that are considered material distractions to some, or offering religious ringtones, or even models with built in reminders for prayer times for Muslim users.

And finishing our trip right here in the good old US of A where hypocritical liberals, those champions of respect and diversity continue displaying their double standard when it comes to Christianity. This week marks the release of the “Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster” a book devoted to the “teachings” of a mystical pasta being created as an asinine joke in last years fight over Evolution and Intelligent design.

Okay, watching CNN in the law lounge, people are, like, throwing flaming objects around, and clashing with police and stuff, in France. Craziness.

I guess Mark Few is staying at Gonzaga. (Knock on wood.) Oklahoma’s Kelvin Sampson has apparently accepted the head coaching job at Indiana, according to ESPN. (Hat tip: Chris.)

Tonight’s NCAA women’s tournament regional finals are about as high-profile as anyone could ask for — #1 North Carolina vs. #2 Tennessee (7pm, ESPN) and #1 Duke vs. #2 UConn (9pm, ESPN) — and they have major implications for the 9th annual Living Room Times women’s NCAA pool. (Details here.)

But unlike the women’s pool, the 2nd annual BrendanLoy.com NIT pool could actually be decided tonight, depending on how the two semifinals — #1 Michigan vs. #5 Old Dominion (7pm, ESPN2) and #1 Louisville vs. #3 South Carolina (9pm, ESPN2) — turn out.

Gary Kirby (a.k.a. “gahrie”), Brad Miller and Andrew Long are still alive to win. Miller will win the pool if South Carolina wins the championship. Long needs Louisville to beat Old Dominion in the title game. Kirby, the current leader, would win in all other scenarios (if Old Dominion or Michigan wins the title, or Louisville beats Michigan in the title game).

That means, if Michigan and Louisville win tonight, Kirby will clinch the pool. Miller needs South Carolina to beat Louisville. Long needs both Louisville and Old Dominion to win.

Kirby and Long are both USC grads, from the Classes of 1987 and 2002, respectively. Although no Trojan has ever won a Living Room Times pool, a win by either Kirby or Long would increase USC’s record in BrendanLoy.com NIT pools to 2-0. Tom Keck (a.k.a. “Scientizzle”) won last year.

Kirby now lives in San Bernadino, CA. Long lives in Long Beach, CA. Brad Miller is a law student at Capital University in Columbus, OH.

Current standings here and after the jump.

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First, two teams in the Sweet 16. Now, a student living at Wal-Mart. The Missouri Valley Conference can’t get enough of the spotlight!