The season comes down to this game and unfair as it will be I almost feel like the outcome determines whether it was a successful season or not. When you consider the start to the season, making the NIT will be a definite disappointment.

And, Anchorman is a great movie in the area of quotes. I loved Brick so I’ll go with – “Hey! Where did you get those clothes? At the…toilet…store?”

While you’re usually wrong about nearly everything, you nailed the Pizza call. Absolutely the best. Close second is a place in Mahtomedi called Donatelli’s, which was featured on the show “Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives” on Food network.

And Anchorman is the best movie ever. My favorite line is how I usually feel watching the Gophers implode yet again, “I’m trapped in a glass case of EMOTIONNNNNNNNNNNN”

…is a fantastic place to get a pizza. Good link.

Regarding the Minnesota sports fan who wrote on the Bleacher Report about the pros and cons of Minnesota getting into the tourney, I bring up this point. One of his arguments in favor of Minnesota getting in is that Minnesota is definitely one of the top 65 teams in the country. To that I agree – I believe they are top 20 when playing to potential. What I don’t agree with is that being one of the top 65 teams justifies the Gophers being in the tourney. That presupposes that the NCAA wants to include the top 65 teams in this tournament. The way the selection process takes place confirms that the NCAA could care less about this.

I have read for years why the NCAA tourney for basketball is vastly superior to the BCS, and why it’s more fair. Well, I disagree with that. I start with the stated premise that I dislike the BCS and want it expanded. However, the NCAA tourney is set up to be just as unfair to the majority of small schools as the BCS is. On occasion a conference will get more than its automatic qualifier into the tourney, but most conferences are normally restricted to its qualifier.

And, geez, what a way to select your conference representative. For all the complaints the BCS gets, at least those teams have to prove their worth over a 12-game schedule (13 if it’s a conference with a title game). In basketball, a team can go 2-28, get hot for 3 days out of a 5 month season, and end up in the tournament to get blown out by 50 by North Carolina. I recognize this rarely happens, but it happens enough that a conference champ does not advance to make it inequitable. I would have no problem with the selection process as to conference champions if they were based on REGULAR season championships, not conference tournament championships. It’s clearly the better way to determine the best team in a conference. Would anyone have been happy on this board if, say, Oregon, Iowa, Nebraska, Georgia and DePaul would have won their conference tournaments, thereby depriving the Gophers of a place in the NCAAs? Not me. I realize this is speculation on top of speculation, but this extreme would probably make people question how the teams are selected. At least with the BCS, you knew that Penn State, Florida, Virginia Tech and USC deserved their berths (I’ll leave the Big 12 mess out of this).

So my proposal is, like soccer and Big Ten football, give the title to the team with the best record at the end of the season. Have a conference tournament and hand out a Cup. But tie the NCAA bid to the regular season achievement of 5 months, not a tournament achievement of 4 days. It’s a greater reflection of your body of work.

Rencito – the game between the Red Wings and the Black Hawks was amazing to see on TV (particularly since the Wings blew out the Hawks), but watching an outdoor game live is very fun. I had a few friends there and it was wild. I know Michigan plays at Camp Randall this fall, and against Michigan State in 2010. I think the exciting aspect is (1) it’ll be very cold, and (2) there will be at least 111,000 people watching a hockey game. That will make an insane atmosphere.

I think the Gophers should host a doubleheader – Minnesota v. Wisconsin, followed by Wild v. North Stars. With 50,000 at TCF, that would be an event.

DownWithGoldy – I think I saw that show with Donatelli’s. Is that the place with the “heart attack” pizza, with pounds of meat and cheese on it? When I get that I’ll just call Abbott Northwestern 3 hours beforehand to have my room ready.

…the Gophers will be “Dancing With The Stars.”

The Star/Tribune has a great article today on Tubby Smith.
http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/41127437.html?elr=KArksi8cyaiUo8cyaiUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUr

the significance of (albeit small) the wins against tourney teams like cornell and ndsu and of the overall talent level of the conference. I could go on and on about the blunders of seemingly ignorant people, but instead I need to say that, as a recent U grad, Mesa Pizza is by FAR one of the best places for amazing pizza (over 70.. yes 70, different kinds)… Also… love Anchorman, especially Brick. One of my favorite lines has to be from him after the brawl.. “I just stabbed a guy… with a trident :))” Classic.