OK, since Mitchell promised, here are my Final Four picks.
I will confess now that I am completely incapable of objective reasoning for this tournament. I want Kentucky to lose early and often, and in the most painful way possible. Maybe on an outrageously bad call, the kind that’s obviously bad on the replay. Or a 60 foot three at the buzzer. Seriously, Cal did alot of good in Memphis, and I hope he’s happy in Lexington. But I hope they don’t win it all. It’s not because John Wall and Demarcus Cousins would have been playing here (and Xavier Henry and Darnell Dodson and…), because it’s not just about winning. It’s not because now Josh Pastner is our coach, cause I’m crazy about the guy. It’s because I love Memphis, and I believed Cal did too, the way we do. He talked about how generous the people are here and what a really great place it is. He fought our causes and sang our praises to everyone who would listen, and he always did it on a big stage. I thought he got it. That Memphis wasn’t just a job, that it was family. That he could do big things here, more than just win games, and we didn’t have to be UCLA or Duke… or Kentucky, to be special. If you have grown up in Memphis, you know what Tiger basketball means to this city. How guys like Keith Lee, Elliot Perry, Penny Hardaway and, more than anyone else, Larry Finch, brought every part of Memphis together. In the end, it wasn’t enough. He wanted bigger, brighter lights- a different kind of special. If you love Memphis, you know what I’m talking about.
Final Four: Kansas, Duke, Kansas State and ABK (Anybody But Kentucky)
Very well-said.