It's been a rough winter so I'm ecstatic that spring is on the way ... FINALLY! Spring training games are starting for my Cubbies and conference tournaments are starting for men's basketball!
Things got off a great start tonight as the Utes picked up a big win over USC. Coach K had the guys playing a really disciplined brand of basketball and it was awesome to see them respond to those two huge runs. Earlier this season, I'm not so sure that the Utes could have been able to take a deep collective breath and re-focus. Next up is Cal tomorrow at 6 p.m. PT. The No. 2 seed Golden Bears have superstar and Pac-12 Conference Player of the Year Allan Crabbe. It was hilarious when Jared DuBois was asked about if he can stop Crabbe and said with a tongue in cheek, "Yeah, maybe if he doesn't show up, lose his jersey or something ..." It will obviously be a tall order against Cal, but underdogs and upsets are truly what make March Madness magical.
And another dose of comic relief has been Bill Walton dropping knowledge as the color analyst for Pac-12 Network. How he talks about the game is just incredible! He is entertaining yet informative and just brims with enthusiasm for the game, which is to be expected from a color analyst ... But the things that set Walton apart are the little random, historical and intellectual references he'll make out of nowhere at any given moment. Here's a brief list of allusions I remember him making: "The fatal shore of Australia," "Dakari Tucker has a chance to reverse human history," "Basketball, like life, is decision-making," referring to Utah center Jason Washburn as an "impenetrable wall." He just has an absurdly dramatic way of telling the narrative of the game and I can't get enough!
The Badgers get going Friday at 12:30 p.m. MT so then we'll really cooking ...
Happy March Madness everyone!
