Casey just posted a bunch of new awesome pictures of his octopus. For example:

I have a hard time understanding what anyone could possibly find objectionable about this statement:

I’m going to do what most independents and a lot of Democrats and Republicans in America do, which is to take a look at all the candidates and then in the end, regardless of party, decide who I think will be best for the future of our country.

But I guess some people think party should come before country. I believe there’s a word for such people: unpatriotic.

“I heard it was sort of intellectual snobbery tomfoolery boobishness.” –Becky, referring to the movie Babel

Attention fellow 3Ls eager to take full advantage of their last semester in the rich cultural wasteland uh, center that is South Bend… Brooke has a list of various upcoming events. It also includes events in Chicago, Indianapolis and Milwaukee.

A couple of events that didn’t make Brooke’s list, but that Becky and I will be going to: Mozart and Salieri, today at DPAC; and Cape Breton Island fiddler Natalie MacMaster, also at DPAC, on March 8.

Becky says enough with “bipartisanship” — what’s needed in Washington is simple respect.

Saturday was a good day for all of my favorite teams, as Gonzaga beat San Francisco, Notre Dame beat Villanova and USC beat Cal — the latter despite blowing a 17-point lead, and despite some confusion on ESPN.com’s part:

76-76, final? Heh. Somebody was asleep at the switch there.

But perhaps the biggest win for a Brendan Loy-preferred team was Central Connecticut State’s overtime victory over Sacred Heart. The Blue Devils rallied from an 18-point deficit — 53-34 early in the second half — to win 103-96 in OT.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: you don’t hear me talk about Central Connecticut State too often. But this isn’t some sort of bandwagon thing. CCSU is the closest thing I have to a “hometown school,” as it’s literally one town over from Newington, in New Britain, and a large percentage of my high-school graduating class went there. The reason I rarely blog about them is simply that there usually isn’t much point in following the Blue Devils during the regular season, since the Northeast Conference is a perpetual one-bid conference, so really, the only thing that matters is the conference tournament. But this win was big, because CCSU and Sacred Heart had been tied for first place; now, the Blue Devils move into sole possession of the conference lead. If they can stay there, they’ll have the #1 seed, which means home-court advantage throughout the conference tournament. And even if they lose in the conference tourney, they’d be NIT-bound as regular-season NEC champs.

Anyway, at this point, the Blue Devils probably have a better chance of reaching the Big Dance than that other team from Connecticut, which lost its fourth straight yesterday. So, on the men’s side of March Madness, my Connecticut pride (which I can’t hide) may be entirely tied up in the fate of good ol’ Central Connecticut State. (The other possibilities are Fairfield, Hartford, Quinnipiac and Yale, but none of them are looking too strong this year.)

Of course, if they do go dancing, CCSU will face mighty long odds: Joe Lunardi had the NEC champion seeded #15 in his most recent projection. But hey, Central was a #15 seed in 2000, and they almost beat Iowa State in the first round (presaging the Cyclones’ loss to #15-seed Hampton one year later). So anything is possible. Thus I say: Goooo Blue Devils!! (Beeeeat Blue Devils? How awesome would that be… if Duke gets a #2 seed, Central gets a #15, and the Blue Devils from New Britain pull the upset… heh.)

Kyle McAlarney will seek re-admission to Notre Dame after serving his suspension for marijuana use. He plans to take classes this semester at a college near his hometown, then potentially take summer classes at Notre Dame. The latter prospect contradicts previous reports that his suspension covered the summer session as well as the spring semester; I’m not sure if this is a change in his penalty, or if the previous reporting was inaccurate. Anyway, regardless of that, he’s apparently coming back, which I think is good news for everyone involved.

On a tangentially related note, I learned today from Chris that Notre Dame President Father John Jenkins’s brother-in-law is Rick Steves, who serves on the advisory board for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. (See also here.) So that’s interesting. Heh.

I don’t think I’ve mentioned this on the blog before, but the reason ESPN BracketBusters is on my countdown sidebar is because Becky and I have tickets to what will be one of the biggest marquee games of the whole event: #11-ranked Butler hosting a big-name non-conference mid-major opponent to be named later. Not only that, but we have really good seats, in Row A of Section 2 at Butler’s historic Hinkle Fieldhouse. (Seating chart here.)

(more…)

Here’s a map showing the “risk of 8 inches or more of snowfall” falling tonight and tomorrow from the latest lake-effect event. South Bend is in the southern portion of the “high risk” area. And the radar shows that right now, we’re in the bullseye. (A glance out the window also shows that.) This one may be for real, folks. Up to a foot is possible in some spots.

UPDATE: I’ve gotten LoyCam up and running for the occasion; it’s pointing out the window toward the snowy yard. You can see for yourself here. It updates every 20 seconds or so (though you have to hit reload).

66-63. w00t! Now let's get some road wins…

Wildcats 25, Irish 21 at the half. First team to 50 wins?

Villanova leads 15-14 with 7:20 left in the first half. High-scoring game! In other news, Central Connecticut State beat Sacred Heart in overtime to take sole possession of the Northeast Conference
lead. Woohoo! Go Blue Devils! :)

Toby Keith: antiwar activist?

(Hat tip: Sully.)

Yeah, well, Mr. Keith’s feline namesake continues to believe that taking out Saddam was worth the price.

From NewScientist.com:

Paris-based satellite company Eutelsat is investigating “unidentified interference” with its satellite broadcast services that temporarily knocked out several television and radio stations. The company declined to say whether it thought the interference was accidental or deliberate.

The problem began Tuesday afternoon, blocking several European, Middle East and northeast African radio and television stations, as well as Agence France-Presse’s news service. All transferred their satellite transmissions to another frequency to resume operations. …

“It’s really puzzling to me,” she told New Scientist. “If it was accidental, why would they be so secretive about saying what the source was and if it’s deliberate, you’ve got to wonder why – it just seems to me to be an odd target, unless someone’s ticked off at the French,” she says.

(Hat tip: InstaPundit.)

4:00 PM: Men’s basketball, Notre Dame vs. Villanova. The Irish try to recover from a disheartening road loss to St. John’s on Tuesday and avenge a 15-point clunker at ‘Nova ten days ago. With a three-game road trip to follow, this game is crucial for ND.

7:05 PM: Men’s ice hockey, Notre Dame vs. Miami of Ohio. It’s a battle of Top 10 college-hockey teams, with a conference title potentially on the line. The Irish won game 1 of the doubleheader Friday; a win Saturday would complete the sweep.

Elsewhere Saturday in college basketball: at noon, the Battle of Michiana, Michigan at Indiana. At 1pm, it’s ACC vs. Pac-10 as North Carolina visits Arizona in what Ken Pomeroy predicts will be the “most entertaining game of the weekend.” At 2pm, it’s a battle for first place in the NEC: Sacred Heart at Central Connecticut State. At 6pm, USC visits Cal; both teams will be looking to bounce back from Thursday losses (USC to Stanford, Cal to UCLA). At 8pm EST, San Francisco visits Gonzaga. At 8:05 pm, a huge Missouri Valley battle: Bradley at Missouri State. And at 10pm, a big Pac-10 game: Oregon at Wazzu, as the Ducks hope to avoid an Evergreen State sweep after losing to Washington on Thursday, just the Huskies’ second Pac-10 win of the season.

P.S. After the wins by Washington and Stanford over Oregon and USC on Thursday, Yoni Cohen says of the Pac-10, “a persuasive case can (again) be made that the league deserves eight bids.”