Five years ago today, at this very hour, I blogged the fateful words: “This is a test.”

Okay, maybe the words themselves weren’t so fateful. But that was my first-ever blog post, and it’s hard to believe it’s been half a decade. Yet here we are, on my fifth blogaversary.

Excessive amounts of navel-gazing — and a nifty colorful chart! — after the jump.

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Although this was the worst NCAA Tournament in years, last night’s annual post-title-game highlight reel, “One Shining Moment,” was actually the best in some time, IMHO.

(I swear I didn’t make it freeze on that particular frame. But I like it. Hehe.)

After several years of cluttering the song with stupid digital distractions like making the basketball glimmer and using waaay too much slow motion, while neglecting obvious necessities like showing us the most memorable moments of the tournament (last year’s “One Shining Moment” didn’t actually show Northwestern State’s winning shot!!), this year CBS went “back to basics,” giving us a pretty straightforward collection of video highlights. In particular, the back-to-back-to-back airing of the tournament’s three most memorable shots (by VCU’s Eric Maynor, Ohio State’s Ron Lewis and Georgetown’s Jeff Green), with the original play-by-play calls, was excellent — that’s what “One Shining Moment” should be all about. Well, that, and shots of cheerleaders’ butts.

(I actually specifically remember watching them do that dance in St. Louis. Heh.)

The shot of tragically deceased UNC mascot Jason Ray was a nice touch, too. I still could do without the surplus of slow-mo closeups of players’ faces in nondescript situations, and I miss the way “One Shining Moment” used to have a predictable story arc (generally speaking, back in the ’90s versions of the song, the first verse would show early-round upsets and dramatics, the second verse would focus on the tourney’s second weekend, the bridge would transition between the second weekend and the Final Four, and the final verse would highlight the Final Four and title game); everything is more jumbled together now, like Georgetown’s Coach Thompsons hugging at the end of the Elite Eight… barely 30 seconds into the song. But those are quibbles. Overall, I commend CBS for doing a much better job than they have in the last several years, especially given that the source material was less compelling than usual.

Now if only they would get rid of Billy Packer. (Hat tip: Patrick.)

P.S. You can download each and every “One Shining Moment” video going back to 1987, including this year’s, from the iTunes Store.

P.P.S. And yes — I’ll say it so you don’t have to — I am the biggest dork in the universe.

P.P.P.S. Stop staring at the cheerleaders’ asses, you pervs! ;)

P.P.P.P.S. One more gripe with the video: where’s Winthrop? I don’t think they made it in there at all!

Heh.

P.S. Also: Karl Rove proves that white men can’t dance.

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.

With apologies to Eric Maynor, Ron Lewis and Jeff Green, the two most incredible basketball moments in the month of March haven’t come from the NCAA Tournament. One of them was the ending of the Division II championship game on Saturday. The other occurred last night in Auburn Hills, in an NBA game between the Nuggets and Pistons, courtesy of Detroit’s Rasheed Wallace. Here’s how SportsCenter summed things up:

A 60-foot, game-tying buzzer-beater. Wow. Just wow. That’s the sort of shot that makes the highlight reels when it comes at the halftime buzzer. But at the end of regulation, to send a game to overtime? Says AOL Fanhouse: “That … just … doesn’t … happen. Ever.”

Oh yeah, and the Pistons clinched a spot in the playoffs with the win.

I apologize for the lack of updates on the Iran-U.K. crisis. Over the weekend, there was a definite hardening of the British tone, as indicated by what the Telegraph reported yesterday: “Tony Blair warned Iran last night that it has only a few days to find a diplomatic solution to the escalating crisis over the 15 missing British sailors and Marines.”

Of course, this raises the question, only a few days… or what? Blair didn’t say, and that has The Times of London upset:

[The soldiers’] kidnapping is an outrage. In earlier times it would have been an immediate casus belli. It would fully justify the use of force to obtain their release. There is, however, an even greater outrage compounding this insult to international law: the pusillanimous timidity of British officials and politicians, who have failed disgracefully to confront Iran with the ultimatum this flagrant aggression demands.

Frankly, I’m not sure if Blair’s words were even as obliquely confrontational as the Telegraph suggested (”only a few days to find a diplomatic solution”). This CNN video includes his actual statement, so you can judge for yourself:

Meanwhile, an article in The Australian quotes a White House spokeswoman referring to the incident as a “hostage-taking” and saying the Bush Administration shares Britain’s “concern and outrage.” (Hat tip: Right Wing News, via Melissa Clouthier.)

The good news (potentially, at least) is that Iran’s tone appeared to soften on Monday:

Iran said Monday it was questioning 15 British sailors and marines to determine if their alleged entry into Iranian waters was “intentional or unintentional” before deciding what to do with them—the first sign it could be seeking a way out of the standoff. …

The Iranian emphasis Monday on the detainees’ intent was a noticeable pullback from the certainty expressed Saturday by Iran’s military chief, Gen. Ali Reza Afshar. Afshar said then that the 15 confessed to “aggression into the Islamic Republic of Iran’s waters.”

Meanwhile, oil prices spiked because of “fears that tensions over [the kidnapping] and Tehran’s nuclear programme could escalate into a wider confrontation.”

Pajamas Media has a continually updated roundup post.

P.S. Admiral Sir Alan West explains the rules of engagement for British soldiers in the situation they were confronted with:

The rules are very much de-escalatory, because we don’t want wars starting. … So we try to downplay things. Rather than roaring into action and sinking everything in sight we try to step back and that, of course, is why our chaps were effectively able to be captured and taken away.

If we find this is going to be a standard practice we need to think very carefully about what rules of engagement we want and how we operate. One can’t allow as a standard practice nations to capture a nation’s servicemen. That is clearly wrong.

Fellow GBS fans, you may commence being jealous: “At a recent concert by Great Big Sea, Alan Doyle swiped the camera of a woman in the front row, filming her and some of his bandmates before returning the camera for the end of the song.” Here’s the video.

UPDATE: Here’s a post by the GBS fans whose camera it was. Link via Anna the Piper.

Notwithstanding my bitching, the Division I NCAA Tournament has certainly had its share of “shining moments”… but nothing, nothing like this, from the Division II national championship game between mighty Winona State, they of the record 57-game winning streak, and underdog Barton College, the “little team that could”:

Unbelievable.

In other Division II news, your women’s national champion is… Southern Connecticut State! Woohoo!

Fun facts about Ohio State coach Thad Matta:

Heh. (Hat tip: Brian Newbold.)

tOSU-UT is the last of tonight’s four games, and one of the three in which I’ll be rooting for my bracket. The others of that ilk are Pitt over UCLA and — most importantly, with apologies to Jay — Texas A&M over Memphis. I’ll be rooting against my bracket, though, in the SIU-Kansas game. Go Salukis!

Since it’s apparently American Idol Day here on BrendanLoy.com, here’s the 60 Minutes interview with Simon Cowell:

As an aside, I found it very interesting how heavily CBS was promoting that segment throughout the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament — and I can’t help but wonder whether it pissed off the producers of CBS shows, like Jericho, that compete directly with Idol. Granted, the most successful show on TV doesn’t exactly need free advertising from CBS. But still, given the uphill battle that Idol’s competitors already face when counterprogramming that timeslot, CBS’s heavy promotion of a segment glorifying a Fox show had to feel like something of a slap in the face, don’t you think?

I’m a bit slow in blogging about this, as it’s been in heavy blogospheric discussion for a while, and now its time on Drudge’s front page has come and gone… but I’ve been a bit distracted by basketball, as you may have noticed. :) Anyway, a very interesting anti-Hillary, pro-Obama ad has taken the Internet by storm in recent weeks. It’s supposedly unofficial, but it’s become a “viral” hit. And considering it combines politics and Apple geekiness, it’s obviously must-see TV for this blog. Enjoy:

FYI from David K.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the original ad, it’s called “1984″, and was aired during Super Bowl XVIII on January 22, 1984. The end tag of the actual ad announces that two days later Apple Computer would be introducing the Macintosh. Based on concepts from George Orwell’s novel 1984, the ad was filmed in London by famed director Ridley Scott, who had recently finished filming Blade Runner. It was aired nationally only that one time, and is often credited with starting the trend of event advertising that has now become a staple of the Super Bowl.

This happened last week on American Idol, but I missed it until seeing the clip on Idolblog just now:

Heh.

Three way tie that is, the first in Jeopardy history.

A rematch between the three “winners” will be aired tonight was aired on Monday, for those interested.

UPDATE
According to Alex Trebek on Monday’s episode, during the commercial break before final Jeopardy an audience member had asked him if there had ever been a three way tie, to which the answer was no. Hearing this the lead player at the time, Scott, who with just a $1 more on his wager could have made sure he was victorious decided to bet just enough such that if the other two both doubled their current score it would be a three way tie. He will be part of Jeopardy history but alas failed to hold off his competition a second time as James, the middle contestant, was the only one with the correct question of “Who is Alan Shepard?” in Monday’s final Jeopardy.

To ease the pain of Notre Dame’s loss — or at least distract from it — here’s another cute baby video clip:

If you missed the previous video (and photo), go here.

Here’s a video clip of yesterday’s signature “shining moment,” Virginia Commonwealth’s win over Duke. You can download it to your hard drive as a Flash (.flv) file here.

Given the way Winthrop is absolutely pounding Notre Dame right now, the #11-seeded Eagles may soon be competing for #11 VCU for “this year’s George Mason” status.

UPDATE: Notre Dame is on a 22-3 run, and a 20-point Winthrop lead has dwindled to 57-56 with five minutes left. GO IRISH!