Now that George Mason is in the Final Four, how about a little crow-eating from all the people on Selection Sunday who said they had no business being picked for the tournament field? Any of them (cough-Billy Packer-cough) think Cincinnati would've made the Final Four?

In fact, for the first time ever, I can say with complete confidence that the selection committee really nailed it this year. I thought going in that Gonzaga got screwed being a 3 instead of a 2, but boy - somebody on that committee must have ESP. Tennessee was probably over-seeded, but that's a minor quibble.

And can I point out - since I haven't really heard anybody mention this - that, given that they now have SIXTEEN teams in their damn conference, the Big East getting eight teams into the field isn't really an amazing achievement? Six teams from the bigger power conferences, the ones with eleven or twelve teams, has been the norm for a long time now. Anything less than eight from the Big East should actually be considered a "down" year.

Oh, and in case nobody noticed, there are two SEC teams in the Final Four. Take that, Billy Packer.

actually, Jeff, I'd kinda like the shot clock PIP to be there all the time; there are so many times when I've watched a team bring the ball up from the back court slowly, and thought, "Jeez, hasn't that been ten seconds?" Seeing the shot clock go from 35 to 25 would be helpful for that, because I don't really think about counting "one-mississippi, two-mississippi" until some time has already gone by.

But, I'm a geek about stuff like that.

And let me add my two cents on the last minute fouling "controversy": it would be stupid to change it any way, shape or form (though King's idea would be kinda fun to watch). Who watches an exciting ballgame and thinks, "Man, I wish this game would be over already?"

Having the ability to foul at the end of a game to get the ball back is sorta like the home team in baseball being able to theoretically come back from any deficit in the bottom of the ninth, as long as they keep hitting. Would anyone want to impose a rule that limits the number of players who can come to bat in a half-inning, and render the game over before it's actually over?

Leave it alone - it's one of the best parts of the game.

You beat me to it, Anonymous. But I should point out, in the title of the Dylan song, "Carroll" has two "l"s, not one.

but at least I woulda finished ahead of Seth Davis. And I did have Florida in my final four (the only final four team I had right).

Man, I have NEVER been more proud to be a Kentuckian. I just wish I could afford to live in Mary Lou's district.

I suppose she would refuse to do the propaganda videos that her captors order her to make, going to her noble death as a "loyal American."

Yeah, right. If she actually got off her Lazyboy long enough to go to Baghdad, and actually left the relative safety of her Baghdad hotel room, and ended up being kidnapped, she would sing like a drunken mockingbird.

the Decider's reaction was a lot milder than I was led to believe. He actually does very little scowling here, and he does laugh a couple of times.

His standard blank expression has always looked a little like a scowl, but I think that's just because of his lopsided mouth. Really, there's not much of a story here. And no, I'm not a freeper troll, and yes, I thought Colbert was superb, and no, I'm not a Bush apologist.

In case you hadn't noticed, siraluce, Republicans control the entire executive branch of the federal government - not just the White House, but the cabinet/agency/bureau-level toadies who do all the enforcement of federal laws. Including, of course, the Justice Department - the ones who are supposed to be "policing" the Bush Administration, instead of going after the reporters who expose their crimes.

And they control both houses of Congress - meaning they control what legislation comes up for a vote, what committees get to investigate what wrongdoings (more accurately, what wrongdoings to ignore and sweep under the rug), and meaning they've willingly given a blank check to whatever the Bush Regime wants to do. (Up until now, anyway. The rats seem to have noticed that the ship is sinking.)

And don't get me started on the courts.

Are the Democrats without fault, or without corruption? Of course not, and nobody has implied that they are, including we Democratic supporters. And you don't have to tell us how cowardly they've been for most of the last six years - we've been screaming the loudest about that.

Of course there are corrupt Democrats, just like there were corrupt Republicans during the years Democrats ran the show. But the current corruption - the lobbyist/contractor-related corruption that is costing taxpayers billions of dollars and bringing so much shame to an already shameful Washington - that's a REPUBLICAN scandal. It comes with the power, and with the Republicans' continuing efforts to squeeze the Democrats out of power permanently.

"Both sides do it" is lazy, uniformed bullshit. And saying that the Democrats are equally at fault because of their timidity is like blaming a vicitm of abuse for the abuse itself.