Ohio State limped off the floor last night as a Kentucky freshman drained a tough shot at the buzzer to eliminate the number one seed, and worse, destroy what was a decent NCAA bracket that I had going. Winning six games is a difficult feat, especially when games come down to 18 year old kids making or failing to make plays under pressure situations.
I had Ohio State winning the whole thing, but it wasn't to be. I had Pittsburgh in the championship game, but they failed to take advantage of a bad play at mid court, then returned the favor with less than a second left.
My bracket now looks like my old high school English papers. Full of words crossed out and needing much correction.
Looking back at the beginning of it all, I should have read the obvious signs, I should have followed my instincts. Instead of looking at conferences, match ups, and zone defenses, I should have followed my gut.
First of all, my favorite show on television is WB's Wildcats, or is it HellCats? Whatever, it was a sign. Targeted towards the average thirteen year old, this YA cheerleader high school drama should have been an obvious sign to pick the Arizona Wildcats and the Kentucky Wildcats to make the Elite Eight. And the Tar Heels. How did I miss that? Tar Heel rhymes with car wheel, which I use to drive my kids to gymnastics to do cart wheels. We all should have had UConn in our bracket. I like Brian's Song, Hoosiers, Miracle, and The Natural. But the most inspirational sports movie of all time has to be The Waterboy. "UConn do it." The words are all so clear. Butler is an easy choice in retrospect. Who doesn't wish they had a Butler? Of course, by that logic Morehead State should have been a bracket favorite as well. Kansas is probably on everyone's bracket. I had them being upset in the Final Four, but again, I failed to read the signs. Kansas, Toto, The Wizard of Oz, follow the yellow brick road, the road to the Final Four, it is all right there. Even Dorothy had to get by flying monkeys and wicked witches. Kansas has gotten this far facing the likes of Boston University, Illinois, Richmond, and soon to be VCU.
For the life of me, I can't figure out the sign I missed that should have told me to pencil in VCU in my Elite Eight? Was it my love for the HBO show Entourage and Vincent Chase? My infatuation with Victoria C-cret? Whatever it was, that was a tough one.
Fortunately for me, the failure of Ohio State, Pittsburgh, Duke, and others, does not eliminate my prospects for the rest of the tournament because I did follow my instincts in one particular way.
My heart told me to fill out 27 other brackets in 11 different office pools.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
Bracket Blabber
I know. You probably don't care about how I chose my bracket winners, assuming I flipped a coin, watched Dick Vitale, or threw darts with a blindfold on. But after I insisted you enter the office pool for job growth, and provided you with the picks, I failed to give much detail.
And since you are spending the entire week reading meaningless blogs and fan polls trying to fill out brackets and validate your choices, and as long as you aren't working much today, let's break down my picks.
First of all, while the 9 seed may take out the 8 seed, and a few large upsets may occur, the reality of this tournament is that I don't see any team worse than a 3 seed moving on too far. Kansas State has ability as a number 5 seed, but they are a mess. K-State has 10 losses, did nothing in the big 12 tourney, and would have to get through a good Utah State team, a smart Wisconsin team, and a mature Pitt. Washington could make some noise as a 7 seed as their point guard Isaiah Thomas is one of the best in the country. But they are not consistent enough to win more than three in a row. Wisconsin executes well as a 4 seed, but winning six games is tough when the score is always 52-50 at the end of a game.
The 4 seeds with the best shot are Kentucky and Louisville. I'm not high on Texas. They have all the talent in the world, but haven't been playing great as of late. Kentucky's only weakness is their youth. Knight and Jones are the best Freshman duo in the country. Lamb is a great shooter if healthy. And the coach knows what he's doing. Louisville is a good pick. Great athletes, good depth, but they rely on the perimeter shot a little too much for six games. And they would have to get by Kansas.
The three seeds are Syracuse, UConn, Purdue, and BYU. BYU is still pretty good, but with no inside game it will be tough. BYU likes a game in the 80's. In tournament time, defense and pace tends to slow teams way down and out of their comfort zone. UConn has depth, and the best closer in the game with Kemba Walker, but their nine losses show they are beatable. Purdue is really good. I just question the overall talent of the big ten this year and believe Purdue has the most difficult bracket to advance having to beat a healthy Georgetown, really good Notre Dame club, then Kansas just to win the region. Syracuse has a decent shot. But Xavier in Cleveland, a tall North Carolina squad, and Ohio State in the regional finals is a lot.
Truthfully, I like the three seeds more than the two seeds. North Carolina could lose to a hot Washington, even in Charlotte. But their biggest weaknesses are that Marshall and Barnes are really young, while Henson and Zeller are really soft. Great rebounding team, great talent. But they can't beat Ohio State. San Diego State plays great defense and has talent at every position. They simply haven't had to play anyone this year, especially with the world watching. Florida was seeded too high in the first place. But I don't see much of a challenge until they play Pittsburgh in the elite eight. Notre Dame has no weaknesses. They execute, have senior leadership, can really shoot and play defense, but have to get by Texas A&M, Purdue, and Kansas. Three teams that do the same, except with arguably more talent.
That leaves me with Ohio State, Duke, Kansas, and Pitt. While it is pretty lame to pick all four number one seeds making the final four, they all have the experience and inside/outside game necessary to go deep into the tournament. Ohio State beats Duke because Duke relies on too many deep shots from Curry, Singler, and others. Pittsburgh beats out Kansas by neutralizing the Morris twins with size and toughness, while frustrating the Kansas back court.
In the end, the Buckeyes win it. Ohio State has long distance shooting, an inside game, senior leadership, coaching, and have proven that they can win when the other team tries to slow the game down, or run you out of the building.
And since you are spending the entire week reading meaningless blogs and fan polls trying to fill out brackets and validate your choices, and as long as you aren't working much today, let's break down my picks.
First of all, while the 9 seed may take out the 8 seed, and a few large upsets may occur, the reality of this tournament is that I don't see any team worse than a 3 seed moving on too far. Kansas State has ability as a number 5 seed, but they are a mess. K-State has 10 losses, did nothing in the big 12 tourney, and would have to get through a good Utah State team, a smart Wisconsin team, and a mature Pitt. Washington could make some noise as a 7 seed as their point guard Isaiah Thomas is one of the best in the country. But they are not consistent enough to win more than three in a row. Wisconsin executes well as a 4 seed, but winning six games is tough when the score is always 52-50 at the end of a game.
The 4 seeds with the best shot are Kentucky and Louisville. I'm not high on Texas. They have all the talent in the world, but haven't been playing great as of late. Kentucky's only weakness is their youth. Knight and Jones are the best Freshman duo in the country. Lamb is a great shooter if healthy. And the coach knows what he's doing. Louisville is a good pick. Great athletes, good depth, but they rely on the perimeter shot a little too much for six games. And they would have to get by Kansas.
The three seeds are Syracuse, UConn, Purdue, and BYU. BYU is still pretty good, but with no inside game it will be tough. BYU likes a game in the 80's. In tournament time, defense and pace tends to slow teams way down and out of their comfort zone. UConn has depth, and the best closer in the game with Kemba Walker, but their nine losses show they are beatable. Purdue is really good. I just question the overall talent of the big ten this year and believe Purdue has the most difficult bracket to advance having to beat a healthy Georgetown, really good Notre Dame club, then Kansas just to win the region. Syracuse has a decent shot. But Xavier in Cleveland, a tall North Carolina squad, and Ohio State in the regional finals is a lot.
Truthfully, I like the three seeds more than the two seeds. North Carolina could lose to a hot Washington, even in Charlotte. But their biggest weaknesses are that Marshall and Barnes are really young, while Henson and Zeller are really soft. Great rebounding team, great talent. But they can't beat Ohio State. San Diego State plays great defense and has talent at every position. They simply haven't had to play anyone this year, especially with the world watching. Florida was seeded too high in the first place. But I don't see much of a challenge until they play Pittsburgh in the elite eight. Notre Dame has no weaknesses. They execute, have senior leadership, can really shoot and play defense, but have to get by Texas A&M, Purdue, and Kansas. Three teams that do the same, except with arguably more talent.
That leaves me with Ohio State, Duke, Kansas, and Pitt. While it is pretty lame to pick all four number one seeds making the final four, they all have the experience and inside/outside game necessary to go deep into the tournament. Ohio State beats Duke because Duke relies on too many deep shots from Curry, Singler, and others. Pittsburgh beats out Kansas by neutralizing the Morris twins with size and toughness, while frustrating the Kansas back court.
In the end, the Buckeyes win it. Ohio State has long distance shooting, an inside game, senior leadership, coaching, and have proven that they can win when the other team tries to slow the game down, or run you out of the building.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
NCAA Brackets and my winning picks
The East bracket. UTSA and Clemson will win the play in games. Then the first round winners will include Ohio State, George Mason, West Virginia, Syracuse, Washington, and North Carolina.
In the second round, Ohio State, Kentucky, Syracuse, and North Carolina will move on. I am tempted to pick Washington over NC, but the game is in Charlotte.
The third round winners are Ohio State and Syracuse. North Carolina is simply too young. Ohio State wins the East region.
In the West. Duke, Tennessee, Arizona, Texas, Cincinnati, UConn, Temple, and San Diego State win first round games. Look out for Oakland over Texas, but Texas should prevail. In round two, Duke, Texas, UConn, and San Diego State move on.
In round three, Duke and San Diego State move on. San Diego State is really, really good. UConn will be really, really tired by then.
Duke beats San Diego State...only because they have been there before. But I would not be shocked by a San Diego State upset.
Southwest region. VCU wins the play in game. Kansas, UNLV, Vandy, Louisville, Georgetown, Purdue, Texas A&M, and Notre Dame win first round games. In round two, Kansas, Louisville, Purdue, and Notre Dame move on.
In round three, Kansas and Purdue move on, with Kansas winning the region.
The Southeast region has UALR winning the play in game, followed by Pitt, Old Dominion, Utah State in an upset over Kansas State, Wisconsin, Gonzaga in an upset over St. John's, BYU, Michigan State, and Florida winning first round games. Pittsburgh, Wisconsin, Gonzaga, and Florida advance to the next round as BYU bows out.
Pittsburgh and Florida advance with Pittsburgh winning the region.
Final Four. Ohio State is too much for Duke. Pittsburgh guards are too much for Kansas. In the end, Ohio State is the National Champion.
Now go fill out your brackets.
In the second round, Ohio State, Kentucky, Syracuse, and North Carolina will move on. I am tempted to pick Washington over NC, but the game is in Charlotte.
The third round winners are Ohio State and Syracuse. North Carolina is simply too young. Ohio State wins the East region.
In the West. Duke, Tennessee, Arizona, Texas, Cincinnati, UConn, Temple, and San Diego State win first round games. Look out for Oakland over Texas, but Texas should prevail. In round two, Duke, Texas, UConn, and San Diego State move on.
In round three, Duke and San Diego State move on. San Diego State is really, really good. UConn will be really, really tired by then.
Duke beats San Diego State...only because they have been there before. But I would not be shocked by a San Diego State upset.
Southwest region. VCU wins the play in game. Kansas, UNLV, Vandy, Louisville, Georgetown, Purdue, Texas A&M, and Notre Dame win first round games. In round two, Kansas, Louisville, Purdue, and Notre Dame move on.
In round three, Kansas and Purdue move on, with Kansas winning the region.
The Southeast region has UALR winning the play in game, followed by Pitt, Old Dominion, Utah State in an upset over Kansas State, Wisconsin, Gonzaga in an upset over St. John's, BYU, Michigan State, and Florida winning first round games. Pittsburgh, Wisconsin, Gonzaga, and Florida advance to the next round as BYU bows out.
Pittsburgh and Florida advance with Pittsburgh winning the region.
Final Four. Ohio State is too much for Duke. Pittsburgh guards are too much for Kansas. In the end, Ohio State is the National Champion.
Now go fill out your brackets.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
The Big Dance mistakes
Maybe you don't care. On Sunday night the top 68 teams will be chosen for the NCAA basketball championships. ESPN will analyse every bracket, every match up, and America will sharpen its pencils in an effort to complete their picks for the millions of office pools due the next day.
You can choose not to participate. That's fine. But please understand that this will exclude you from the club. Every manager, sales person, CEO, and VP are spending countless hours getting together, networking, building relationships, and comparing brackets...while you wonder while no one is asking you to attend high level power lunches.
This is not just a bunch of basketball games. As an employee, you would not say no to a round of golf with the Board of Directors despite hating golf. You would not turn down a lunch meeting with the COO at an upscale steakhouse despite being a vegetarian. And you should not turn down the opportunity to show everyone in the office that you are more than just project demos and sales projections.
But be careful. An office worker can be invited to join the office pool as a symbol of inclusion, or as a simple strategy of adding your twenty dollars to the pool with little risk to them.
In every office there is a sports junkie like me, comparing statistics. And someone like you, circling winners because in a real fight, a Bear would beat a Horned Frog.
But fear not. On Monday, I will give you my picks and you can copy them, making you the star of the fifth floor cubicles. But just in case you plan to go solo. Here are the four biggest mistakes come bracket time.
Choosing a team because you attended the school. I know. You want to support your team. You don't want to jinx them by picking against them. And it's not like you picked them to win it all. You simply felt that your school was good enough to upset a team in the first round, and get lucky in the second round. Stop it. This is about winning...duh, winning. Besides, either way you win. If your college loses, your bracket is still good. If your bracket loses, at least your college is still in it.
History. Basketball is rich with tradition. Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Kansas. Those schools are good. But so is Notre Dame, San Diego State, Pittsburgh, and Oakland. This is a year in which names like Georgetown, Louisville, Kentucky, UCLA, Arizona, Michigan State, and even North Carolina, are going home early.
Conferences. Every basketball fan follows a specific team and often feels that their team's conference is either the toughest, or under rated. ESPN will tell you that the Big East is easily the toughest conference in America. You have been following the Big Ten, Big 12, or Pac 10 all year and would take Wisconsin over Washington in a heartbeat. In the dance, it's not about conferences, it's about match ups. Senior leadership, point guards, post players. Butler made the finals last year.
Upsets. Congrats. Last year you picked a small liberal arts school in a first round upset and were the talk of the office for a day. Unfortunately, your other dark horse picks knocked you out early. Pools are won in the later rounds. You win with twelve out of sixteen left on the board, not with rolling the dice on BYU and Jimmer to win it all.
So this year, because of the play in games starting on Tuesday, you need to have your picks in on Monday! Just go to my blog, look for my picks, take complete credit, and include yourself in the least productive weeks of the year.
You can choose not to participate. That's fine. But please understand that this will exclude you from the club. Every manager, sales person, CEO, and VP are spending countless hours getting together, networking, building relationships, and comparing brackets...while you wonder while no one is asking you to attend high level power lunches.
This is not just a bunch of basketball games. As an employee, you would not say no to a round of golf with the Board of Directors despite hating golf. You would not turn down a lunch meeting with the COO at an upscale steakhouse despite being a vegetarian. And you should not turn down the opportunity to show everyone in the office that you are more than just project demos and sales projections.
But be careful. An office worker can be invited to join the office pool as a symbol of inclusion, or as a simple strategy of adding your twenty dollars to the pool with little risk to them.
In every office there is a sports junkie like me, comparing statistics. And someone like you, circling winners because in a real fight, a Bear would beat a Horned Frog.
But fear not. On Monday, I will give you my picks and you can copy them, making you the star of the fifth floor cubicles. But just in case you plan to go solo. Here are the four biggest mistakes come bracket time.
Choosing a team because you attended the school. I know. You want to support your team. You don't want to jinx them by picking against them. And it's not like you picked them to win it all. You simply felt that your school was good enough to upset a team in the first round, and get lucky in the second round. Stop it. This is about winning...duh, winning. Besides, either way you win. If your college loses, your bracket is still good. If your bracket loses, at least your college is still in it.
History. Basketball is rich with tradition. Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Kansas. Those schools are good. But so is Notre Dame, San Diego State, Pittsburgh, and Oakland. This is a year in which names like Georgetown, Louisville, Kentucky, UCLA, Arizona, Michigan State, and even North Carolina, are going home early.
Conferences. Every basketball fan follows a specific team and often feels that their team's conference is either the toughest, or under rated. ESPN will tell you that the Big East is easily the toughest conference in America. You have been following the Big Ten, Big 12, or Pac 10 all year and would take Wisconsin over Washington in a heartbeat. In the dance, it's not about conferences, it's about match ups. Senior leadership, point guards, post players. Butler made the finals last year.
Upsets. Congrats. Last year you picked a small liberal arts school in a first round upset and were the talk of the office for a day. Unfortunately, your other dark horse picks knocked you out early. Pools are won in the later rounds. You win with twelve out of sixteen left on the board, not with rolling the dice on BYU and Jimmer to win it all.
So this year, because of the play in games starting on Tuesday, you need to have your picks in on Monday! Just go to my blog, look for my picks, take complete credit, and include yourself in the least productive weeks of the year.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Miami's Vice
I'm not a fan of the Miami Heat. Talking about multiple championships before their first practice. Dancing on stage like they're Justin Biebers. Pat Riley and his slicked back hair. Chris Bosh and his twittering. LeBron and his one hour specials.
Supposedly some Heat players broke down in tears after a last second loss to the Bulls the other day. Generally, the world loves to see elite athletes cry as it shows how much they care for the game. But not with a quarter of the season still to go. No one has sympathy for the Heat, their three millionaire all-stars, their South Beach lifestyles, or their continuous last second failures. It's like Paris Hilton losing her watch after a night at the clubs. We often call it Karma.
But they are good. Really good. I have to admit that Wade and LeBron are probably two of the top three players in the league. And Bosh is a 20 and 10 guy every night. LeBron is 6'8, powerful, and gets triple doubles on bad nights. Wade can get any shot he wants, any time he wants it. Both guys demand double teams, leaving Bosh one on one for low post turn arounds, and twelve foot jumpers.
But explain to me this. I get that all of your money was spent on those three, but is that the best a team can do for the rest of the players?
Haslem getting injured was huge, but Erick Dampier, Juwan Howard, Mike Miller, Zydranus Ilgauskas, Eddie House, and Carlos Arroyo? Hey Miami, 1999 called, they want their players back.
And now the Heat pick up Mike Bibby just before the deadline? Now the average age of the Miami heat is around 63 years old.
Couldn't LeBron, Wade, and Bosh just restructure their contracts, or find some loose bills between their couch pillows and sign someone that could help them? If Bibby turned down six million dollars for next year to play for the Heat, isn't there ten more guys hoping for a ring....and beachfront property...that would do the same? I just don't get it. Every team has four talented guys who sit the bench. Every team has disgruntled players, and salary dumps. They couldn't have figured out a way to get someone better than Joel Anthony?
If the Heat fail to win the championship this year it won't be because LeBron and Wade can't figure out who should take the game winning shot. It'll be because the ball is going to end up in Erick Dampier's hands as he's standing out by the three point line, because the team ran out of options.
Supposedly some Heat players broke down in tears after a last second loss to the Bulls the other day. Generally, the world loves to see elite athletes cry as it shows how much they care for the game. But not with a quarter of the season still to go. No one has sympathy for the Heat, their three millionaire all-stars, their South Beach lifestyles, or their continuous last second failures. It's like Paris Hilton losing her watch after a night at the clubs. We often call it Karma.
But they are good. Really good. I have to admit that Wade and LeBron are probably two of the top three players in the league. And Bosh is a 20 and 10 guy every night. LeBron is 6'8, powerful, and gets triple doubles on bad nights. Wade can get any shot he wants, any time he wants it. Both guys demand double teams, leaving Bosh one on one for low post turn arounds, and twelve foot jumpers.
But explain to me this. I get that all of your money was spent on those three, but is that the best a team can do for the rest of the players?
Haslem getting injured was huge, but Erick Dampier, Juwan Howard, Mike Miller, Zydranus Ilgauskas, Eddie House, and Carlos Arroyo? Hey Miami, 1999 called, they want their players back.
And now the Heat pick up Mike Bibby just before the deadline? Now the average age of the Miami heat is around 63 years old.
Couldn't LeBron, Wade, and Bosh just restructure their contracts, or find some loose bills between their couch pillows and sign someone that could help them? If Bibby turned down six million dollars for next year to play for the Heat, isn't there ten more guys hoping for a ring....and beachfront property...that would do the same? I just don't get it. Every team has four talented guys who sit the bench. Every team has disgruntled players, and salary dumps. They couldn't have figured out a way to get someone better than Joel Anthony?
If the Heat fail to win the championship this year it won't be because LeBron and Wade can't figure out who should take the game winning shot. It'll be because the ball is going to end up in Erick Dampier's hands as he's standing out by the three point line, because the team ran out of options.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
BYU....serious?
I was watching SportCenter the other day when I heard the report about the BYU basketball team kicking a member off their squad for "undisclosed reasons." This was big news. Brandon Davies was the Cougars starting center, third leading scorer, and leading rebounder. BYU was having an incredible season, ranked in the top five, and fighting for a possible number one seed in the NCAA tournament.
A student being suspended or dismissed for "undisclosed reasons" is a relatively common occurrence in Collegiate athletics. Immediately I thought about the possibility of this student being caught cheating in school. Cam Newton was accused of cheating while at Florida, the Florida State football team suspended a third of its team for a bogus online class that someone took for them, and historically, many papers have been turned in with players names which others created.
Wait. Maybe Brandon had dealings with an agent. Didn't A. J. Green, the Georgia wide receiver, have to sit out a few games for accepting money from an agent? Wasn't the North Carolina football team shorthanded because their players were connected to agents? Maybe this kid accepted money.
Or drugs. Performance enhancing or recreational. Either way, drugs were a real possibility. Steroids are all over the place. Or maybe the kid failed a urine test after running to Fat Burger for a little midnight snack. Was it last year or the year before, when the best player for Gonzaga got busted with a bag full of magic mushrooms in the back of his car?
Actually, it ended up being none of the above. BYU dismissed Brandon Davies for an "Honor Code Violation." Brandon had pre-marital sex with his girlfriend.
No criminal charges were filed as Brandon and his girlfriend were both consenting adults of legal age. There was no 911 call, no Charlie Sheen like activities going on, no Chris Brown and Rihanna suspense. Brandon Davies simply broke a rule of the team. A rule of the University. And was dismissed for breaking it.
The code of BYU and the Mormon Church are pretty clear for all those who attend the University. No drugs, no alcohol, no caffeine, clean language, no facial hair, attend Church regularly, and no pre-marital sexual relations.
Let's just say that most of us would be dismissed as well.
I wanted to write this blog in defense of Brandon and the absurdity of the rules that caused his dismissal. But I can't. I respect our Nation's freedom of religion, and the rules applied. Brandon knew the rules clearly when he signed on at the University. All of BYU students and athletes are aware of the code.
In most of our worlds, not only would we not follow such a code, but we would hesitate to ever turn someone else in for breaking them. But the reporting of those who break the code, is ironically, part of the code.
In a way, BYU showed how their faith overrules everything. Brandon Davies was allowed to stay at BYU and continue his academics, while the Cougars went out the next day and lost by 20 points to an average New Mexico team. The Cougars lost their chances at a one seed, lost their swagger, and most likely, have lost their chances to advance during tournament time.
Can you imagine Kentucky, Louisville, or Florida doing the same?
As a matter of fact. I think BYU should petition to have all NCAA players who drink alcohol, do drugs, drink caffeine, have facial hair, use foul language, or have pre-marital sex be immediately suspended as well.
That would assure the Cougars a spot in the championship game....and no opponent.
A student being suspended or dismissed for "undisclosed reasons" is a relatively common occurrence in Collegiate athletics. Immediately I thought about the possibility of this student being caught cheating in school. Cam Newton was accused of cheating while at Florida, the Florida State football team suspended a third of its team for a bogus online class that someone took for them, and historically, many papers have been turned in with players names which others created.
Wait. Maybe Brandon had dealings with an agent. Didn't A. J. Green, the Georgia wide receiver, have to sit out a few games for accepting money from an agent? Wasn't the North Carolina football team shorthanded because their players were connected to agents? Maybe this kid accepted money.
Or drugs. Performance enhancing or recreational. Either way, drugs were a real possibility. Steroids are all over the place. Or maybe the kid failed a urine test after running to Fat Burger for a little midnight snack. Was it last year or the year before, when the best player for Gonzaga got busted with a bag full of magic mushrooms in the back of his car?
Actually, it ended up being none of the above. BYU dismissed Brandon Davies for an "Honor Code Violation." Brandon had pre-marital sex with his girlfriend.
No criminal charges were filed as Brandon and his girlfriend were both consenting adults of legal age. There was no 911 call, no Charlie Sheen like activities going on, no Chris Brown and Rihanna suspense. Brandon Davies simply broke a rule of the team. A rule of the University. And was dismissed for breaking it.
The code of BYU and the Mormon Church are pretty clear for all those who attend the University. No drugs, no alcohol, no caffeine, clean language, no facial hair, attend Church regularly, and no pre-marital sexual relations.
Let's just say that most of us would be dismissed as well.
I wanted to write this blog in defense of Brandon and the absurdity of the rules that caused his dismissal. But I can't. I respect our Nation's freedom of religion, and the rules applied. Brandon knew the rules clearly when he signed on at the University. All of BYU students and athletes are aware of the code.
In most of our worlds, not only would we not follow such a code, but we would hesitate to ever turn someone else in for breaking them. But the reporting of those who break the code, is ironically, part of the code.
In a way, BYU showed how their faith overrules everything. Brandon Davies was allowed to stay at BYU and continue his academics, while the Cougars went out the next day and lost by 20 points to an average New Mexico team. The Cougars lost their chances at a one seed, lost their swagger, and most likely, have lost their chances to advance during tournament time.
Can you imagine Kentucky, Louisville, or Florida doing the same?
As a matter of fact. I think BYU should petition to have all NCAA players who drink alcohol, do drugs, drink caffeine, have facial hair, use foul language, or have pre-marital sex be immediately suspended as well.
That would assure the Cougars a spot in the championship game....and no opponent.
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