Today is the 15th anniversary of Christian Laettner’s famous shot lifting Duke over Kentucky in the greatest game in college-basketball history.

Duke sucks, and Christian Laettner can bite me. But that was a great shot (and a great pass). The above link contains a video clip.

That reminds me… Shannon’s baby-daddy, P.J., is a lifelong Duke fan. So when they were visiting us over spring break, and we were playing Scattergories, and I had to come up with a “villain” that starts with the letter “L,” naturally I wrote down “Laettner.” After considerable debate, and subjecting it to the Google test, my answer was grudgingly accepted as legit. Hehe.

Tonight’s new episode of South Park, “The Snuke,” is a must-watch for 24 fans. It’ll air again at midnight EST, then tomorrow at 10:00 PM, Friday morning at midnight, Saturday morning at 12:30 AM, Sunday night at 11:30 PM, and Monday morning at 2:30 AM, on Comedy Central.

Tonight, for the first time since the Monday after Selection Sunday, there is no college basketball on TV. (There are the WNIT semifinals, but those aren’t televised.) So, what’s a procrastinating law student to do? No games to watch, no pools to update… am I going to be forced to actually do schoolwork this evening?

Thankfully, no, it hasn’t come to that yet. ;) I’ve got a full slate of TV-watching to do tonight, starting at 8:00 PM with the return from a one-week hiatus of the other nuclear-holocaust-related show (aside from 24) that I watch religiously, CBS’s Jericho. It’s an uneven and sometimes maddening series, but the last episode (two weeks ago) was the best since the pilot, IMHO, so I’m excited for tonight’s episode. This being Jericho, I’m sure I’ll be disappointed, and yet there will be enough intrigue and mystery to keep me coming back next week. That’s the joy and frustration of this show.

At 9:00, of course, we find out who got voted off American Idol on Fox. My pick is Chris Sligh, but man, wouldn’t it be nice if it were Sanjaya? … Nothing much is on at 9:30, but then at 10:00, the new episode of South Park on Comedy Central sounds like a can’t-miss, based on the episode description at TVguide.com: “Hillary Clinton makes a campaign stop in South Park. Meanwhile, Cartman believes he’s uncovered a terrorist plot.” I don’t see how that can possibly not be awesome. :)

P.S. On the other hand… the McDonald’s High School All-American Game, featuring Trojan-to-be O.J. Mayo, is at 8:00 PM on ESPN.

UPDATE: I only watched a few minutes of the game, but apparently Mayo didn’t play very well, and missed a wide-open 3 that would have won the game. Oh, well, whatever, he’ll still be awesome next season.

On a happier note, as I noted above, South Park was indeed hilarious. And Jericho actually churned out its second consecutive genuinely good episode! Amazing! Oh yeah, and Chris Sligh got voted off American Idol, which is what I predicted. So did Jay, so we remain tied for first place in the Idol pool.

Notre Dame Law School custodian Thomas J. Miller, missing since November, has been found dead in Michigan, his body pulled from the St. Joseph River just north of the state line yesterday. “Officials didn’t find any signs of foul play, and don’t know how he got in the river,” according to WSBT. (Hat tip: Sergio.) The South Bend Tribune reports that Miller’s body was “caught up in tree limbs near the river bank.” WNDU adds: “Obviously this is not the news the Miller family wanted to hear, but it does bring some closure to all of the questions they’ve had since he went missing. Miller’s mother says her son was being treated for depression and had been through some ups and downs in the last year.” A watch found on Mr. Miller’s wrist stopped working on November 9, two days after he was reported missing. Miller was 48, and is survived by his parents, two sisters and a brother.

An awful tragedy. May he rest in peace.

[PLEASE NOTE: This post was previously attached to the post about NDLS’s ranking, but I’ve separated the two — and moved prior comments around accordingly — in order to facilitate a clearer, more focused discussion.]

Well, it seems the Observer has belatedly discovered that there’s some guy named Bill Kelley who a) used to teach at Notre Dame Law School, b) is now the deputy White House counsel, and c) was involved in the controversial firing of eight U.S. Attorneys. Here’s the article, which ran on the front page of today’s paper, above the fold. Excerpts after the jump.

(NDLS students who don’t care about the U.S. Attorney controversy, but enjoy kvetching about Kelley’s mid-semester departure in 2005, may want to read on, as there are some quotes from Dean O’Hara about that.)

(more…)

Well, I’m trying to beat Brendan to the punch on his own blog on something Potter-related…

Here’s the American cover art for the seventh and final installment of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows:

You can watch the countdown till release date over on Brendan’s left sidebar. Cheers.

UPDATE BY BRENDAN: Thanks, Jay. Here’s a more panoramic version of the cover art, in which you can see Voldemort apparently sneaking up on Harry:

(Hat tip: Mark West.)

Here’s the British version of the cover.

And if anyone wants a more precise countdown, here you go:

That counts down to the release in Eastern Daylight Time (GMT-5), since that’s the time zone I’ll be in. As explained here, the first release anywhere will be six hours earlier, at midnight (er, 12:01 AM) British Summer Time (GMT+1):

On 1 February 2007, it was officially announced that Book 7 will be released in English-speaking countries around the world at 00:01 British Summer Time on 21 July 2007. In the U.S., however, the book will be released at 00:01 local time.

After the jump, a random 24-related thought, followed by some spoileriffic humor. Well, it’s spoileriffic if you haven’t seen Monday night’s episode. My initial “random thought” isn’t spoileriffic unless you’re several episodes behind.

P.S. As you may have noticed, I’ve finally given 24 its own blog category.

(more…)

More apparent British hardening and Iranian softening of their respective lines on the kidnapped-soldier kerfuffle:

Britain said it was freezing talks on all other issues with Iran until it freed 15 Royal Navy crew members seized last week, and the British military released what it said was proof its boats were within Iraqi territorial waters when they were seized.

Iran’s foreign minister said meanwhile a female British sailor held captive by Iran may be released later Wednesday or on Thursday, a Turkish TV station reported.

“The woman soldier is free either today or tomorrow,” CNN-Turk television quoted Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki as saying on the sidelines of an Arab summit meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

On the other hand, Drudge now has a siren for the headline: “Iran TV to air footage of captured Britons.” Will they be paraded around blindfolded and subjected to a mock execution this time? And then there’s this:

Russian military intelligence services are reporting a flurry of activity by U.S. Armed Forces near Iran’s borders, a high-ranking security source said Tuesday.

“The latest military intelligence data point to heightened U.S. military preparations for both an air and ground operation against Iran,” the official said, adding that the Pentagon has probably not yet made a final decision as to when an attack will be launched.

Dunno how much to make of that (a commenter points out that the Russian media has a reputation for reporting bizarre “news” stories, like UFO crashes), but certainly, these are perilous times.

More from the first article after the jump.

(more…)

Seriously!

On the bright side, Gina was actually really good.

Not as freaky-deaky as last week’s sexy performance, but much better vocally. Even Simon was impressed!

UPDATE: Haley’s friends need to shut up!

UPDATE 2: Okay, time to cast your votes, American Idol pool contestants. Who’s going home this week? Leave ‘em in comments. (Current standings here.)

[Bumped to top. -ed.]

P.S. Here’s a good, funny wrap-up of last night’s show.

P.P.S. Even Matt Drudge is making fun of Sanjaya now. Heh.

Remember back in 1996, when the men’s Final Four was #4-seed Syracuse vs. #5-seed Mississippi State in one semifinal, and #1-seed Kentucky vs. #1-seed UMass in the other? It caused all sorts of harumphing about how the Kentucky-UMass game was the “real” championship game, how the NCAA should “re-seed the Final Four,” etc. And then Syracuse proceeded to put a hell of a scare into Kentucky before Petino’s Wildcats did indeed cut down the nets.

Well, this year’s women’s bracket is somewhat similar to that. In the one semifinal, you have #3-seed LSU vs. #4-seed Rutgers. In the other, #1-seed North Carolina takes on #1-seed Tennessee. No doubt, many pundits will declare Tar Heels vs. Lady Vols to be the “real” championship game, and certainly its winner will be the heavy title-game favorite. But don’t sleep on C. Vivian Stringer’s Scarlet Knights, nor on the Pokey-less Tigers under interim head coach Bob “Ken Starr” Starkey — who is, after all, the only undefeated head coach in Division I basketball at the moment, with a 4-0 career record. :)

Another interesting note about the women’s bracket: on Selection Monday, there was a lot of talk about how brutal the Dayton Region was, with defending champion Maryland the #2 seed, Oklahoma the #3, Ohio State the #4, and a highly-regarded Middle Tennessee State team the #5. But as it turns out, #1-seed Tennessee had a pretty freakin’ smooth ride to the Final Four. They played a #16 seed, a #8, a #13 and a #7 en route to Cleveland (the #13 seed, Marist, upset Ohio State and MTSU, while the #7, Ole Miss, took care of Maryland and OU), and barely broke a sweat in the process, winning every game by at least 14 points (with an average margin of 27). Maybe karma is rewarding Pat Summitt for that awesome cheerleader stunt.

For the second straight year, Gary Kirby heads into the NIT championship game with a chance to win the BrendanLoy.com NIT Pool — if only the finalist from the state of South Carolina will lose this time.

Last year, Kirby (a.k.a. “gahrie”), a member of the University of Southern California Class of 1987, went from odds-on favorite to runner-up because South Carolina won the title. This year, he needs West Virginia to beat Clemson on Thursday in order to win the pool; if Clemson wins, he’ll finish second again.

If the Palmetto State again reigns supreme, Colleen Duggan will win the pool. Duggan knows a thing or two about basketball: she was a four-year Division I varsity player at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut, and is now an assistant coach at Trinity College in Hartford. Before all that, she was a student and basketball player at Newington High School from 1997-1999, then transferred to St. Paul Catholic High School, where she won a state championship — and was named Most Valuable Player of the title game — in 2001, her senior year.

Here are the complete standings if West Virginia wins and the complete standings if Clemson wins. Complete current standings can be found here and after the jump.

Yesterday’s results eliminated Cam Thomas, a Michigan senior who found the NIT pool via Mgoblog’s link, and Dana O’Shea, a TCU grad and a resident of Oldsmar, FL who was referred to the pool by a friend.

(more…)

It seems 2007 is the year of wide-open Living Room Times pools.

Two days after the 12th annual men’s pool set the record for most contestants still alive heading into the Final Four with six, the 10th annual women’s pool tied that record last night.

Tom Greca, designer of this year’s pool logo, was the only contestant mathematically eliminated when #1 seeds North Carolina and Tennessee won their regional finals. Still alive: Josh Krause (currently in the lead), Rick Boeckler (currently 4th), Scott Fort (T-5th), Jennifer Elam (T-7th), Daniel Port (T-20th) and Brian Dupuis (T-20th).

Complete standings and scenarios after the jump.

(more…)