Gus Needs to Turn It Up...

1:25p -Another late arrival for yours truly. But not too much has happened. Gonzaga has fallen the The Cuse. Everyone is convinced the Gus is still hungover from the hotel trashing we imagined he pulled for not being able to call the Kansas/Northern Iowa game. Sean relays a conversation with Kerri:
-K: Objectively, why do you guys hate Wisconsin so much?
-S: Objectively?

2:05p - How many DUI's does Huggins have? Mews - "This year?" Brendan -"And what was his graduation rate at Cincinnati? I bet the scene was kind of like Animal House. I can see Huggins in Dean Wormer's office, 'Graduation rate.. zero point zero zero."

2:28p - Godfrey - "I think we need something like Diskin's Shockers t-shirt. That probably took him 4 hours to make."
Logan - "I'm surprised it had sleeves."
Brendan - "It didn't originally. You can put them back on in case you need to go to a wedding."
G-Dawg - "Or court."

2:45p - Regarding the Southwest commercial where luggage handlers flash a rival plane. Brendan- "I think they need to make a commercial where the rival airline does the same thing, but with females."

3:10p - We start thinking up acronyms for our campaign against tournament expansion. You can see where this is going.

Sane
Humans
Irate about
Tournament
Expansion

3:27p - Logan - "That guy's such a drama queen." Larina - "Who, the Missouri Tiger."

3:47p - Michigan St. and Maryland trade last-second sots and bring some excitement to an otherwise slow Sunday.

6:50p - Texas A&M blows an OT shot down low and gives Purdue a chance to make the Big 10 look strong. Brendan - "Yeah, but what about Wisconsin?" A good point.

6:55p - And that wraps up this year's coverage folks. We'll see you next year.

Return of the Dickel...

10:45a - We're back at Joe's. We are joined by Glock. Our lineup continues to include Mews, BDM, Brendan, Sean, Logan, Larina and your author. Our usual upstairs bar is reserved so we're at the front bar. Our bartender's name is Bernie. Mews speculates that it's just her stage name.

11:14a - Gus Johnson's voice. A sweet sound to our ears. Gus: "Let's get ready to rock n' roll!"

11:26a - Brendan calls out for Xavier.. "X-Nation!" We spot a bottle of Dickel behind the bar. Mews is having none of it.
12:03p - Our bartender for three years running, Katie, is back. She remembers us. She and Bernie love Mews' name. They think it's Muse... like the band... it's cool.

12:20p - Gus Johnson @ the half looks like Mars Blackman... and we still respect the hell out of him.

1:47p - X Nation victory. Big Death tries to pull out a little Dickle trickeration, "I say that if the Tigers win (the Clemson/Missouri game) we do shots of Dickel." We're not falling for it mainly because he refuses to do the shot himself.

2:35p - Oakland's Derrick Nelson takes an elbow to the forehead that gushes blood all over the place. Seriously, I would cry for weeks if I took a shot like that. And, apparently, at Oakland, you can major in dentistry.

2:55p - Logan: "I'm so glad I'm not a girl." Konold:" I'm glad you're not a girl too."

3:00p - Mews: "I'm feeling my age. Bernie said they have to watch out for people who order stuff and just 'peace out.' I have no idea what that means."

5:30p - Back at Mews' place. Sorry, I had to take a small break from the action.

6:30p - The TV's have gone wonky. Mews and I start moving equipment around to fix it. We plan to use blankets and pillows to prop up an already-hot DirecTv box. That's right, flammable material and electronics. We reconsider this and find a safer way to restore the madness.

6:40p - Disch breaks out the big weiner. Literally, it's a 7 pound hot dog. Mews asks how we're going to cook this. Mews: "I got no gas in my grill... but I do have a Foreman."

7:04p - Brendan reels off a host of one-liners regarding the giant hot dog.
"You cooking the Yeti dick over there?"
"Those slices look like Dahmer coasters."
"When you go to the emergency room, make sure to take the wrapper with you so they can see what you ate."

8:47p - Michigan St. drains a big shot. A bench player jumps up, crosses his forearms and powerfully pulls off a Deez Nuts. Classy.

8:59p - Godfrey shows up. "Kaw!"



9:10p - Mews breaks out the Schlitz reel. We thought this thing was lost. It has not aged one bit.

9:45p - Godfrey - "How do you make a turtle sound?"

10:21p - Logan - "That cougar has no claws and too much mascara."

10:40p - The games are winding down and momentum is fleeting. BDM - "Mews, do something dumb."

Gus Is Trashing His Hotel Room...

1:05p - A late arrival at Mews' place. Maybe we're slowing down. Upon arrival, the one gae is at half and none of the DirecTv signals are working. Then, magically, as if sent by the gods, Lgan shows up and the signal comes back!

1:30p - Every play in St. Mary's playbook reads, "Get the ball to #50."

1:40p - Brendan - "Is Villanova losing the game?" Konold - "They're trying." The Raf - "And Nova consummates the play."

2:10p - St. Mary's pulls out a lucky 3 pointer. The Raf calls onions. Brendan - "That wasn't onions! That was horseshoes, ya lucky bastards."

2:17p - Nova is out. That hurts quite a few of us. Brendan on St. Mary's - "Australians should not be allowed to win. It's bad for the game."

2:44p - Hot Tub Time Machine is this year's Spring Break Shark Attack.

4:00p - Yeah, there's a gap here. But not much has happened beyond murmurs of a trip to Nemo's later.
The camera pans across the Murray St. band. Logan - "Man, I wish that guy played the flute."

5:25p - New Mexico's coach is wearing a bright red jacket. Brendan - "That guy looks like he's gonna try to sell me a house."

6:00p - Bill self is befuddled. How can Kansas be having this hard of a time against Norther Iowa?

6:05 - Brendan - "Gus Johnson is trashing his hotel room right now. He knows he should be calling this game and is going apeshit because he's not."

6:08p - Mews - "How can you not believe in jinxes? This is why I'm superstitious"

6:17p - Bruce Weber's soul has invaded Bill Self's body. He has no idea what's going on.

6:28p - A quick pan across Norther Iowa's players reveals that one has no hair and one's got no teeth. Brendan - "I'd like to see those two in a spelling bee."

6:44p - CBS fixes the game. The refs call a close out-of0bounds against Norther Iowa. Mews - "David Stern is running the NCAA." Brendan - "We got a guy in a suit with a whistle on the floor. Call whatever you want. Three shots."

6:48: Farokhmanesh drains the dagger 3. Huge cabbages on this guy. Anyone know how to say "dagger" in Farsi? Logan - "I think it's just 'dagger.'"

6:50 - Mews: I don't believe in Jinxes.

6:52 - Maps ripped up all over the place.

7:30 - Bren on Callipari after leaving UMass.. There's a burned-out hole of a crater... it look slike an old Soviet republic with burned out power stations and exotic animals eating carcasses. Even the lesbians left Amherst.

7:45p - At this point, we stopped taking notes on the evening. A mass trip was made to Nemo's to bring authenticity and legitimacy to this year's tournament. Besides, after that Norther Iowa/Kansas game, where are you gonna go? Just know that maps are shredded everywhere and the Bruce Weber/Bill Self jokes are flying as much as shredded paper.

Same But Different...

10:15a: We start off at the Salt N Pepper diner. It's a different one than our original haunt on Clark St. but, it is conveniently down the street from the recently-newly-opened Hi Tops. Brendan is making an appearance for the first time in a few years so we all know we're in for a good treat. However, we're not 100% on Hi Tops actually being open this morning and are hoping we don't have to call and audible.

11:05a: Hi Tops is closed. They told us they'd be open by 10:30a. They're not opening until noon. They suck. We shift on the fly and head two doors over to Buffalo Wild Wings.

11:15a: We decide to leave a note on the door at Hi Tops for Logan lest he think we are nowhere to be found.

11:15a: Two games are on and life is good. The Buffalo Wild Wing staff is not quite sure what to think of us yet.

11:34a: Nova is supposedly not starting Scottie Reynolds to teach him some kind of lesson. Nova soon learns a lesson that it should not piss off Scottie Reynolds if it wants to win.

11:55a: Nova could really screw this up big time. Logan is hoping and praying for Robert Morris to pull this out and relieve Iowa St. of the yoke of being the last 2 seed to lose to a 15.

12:01p: First all-commercial moment. It had to happen some time.

12:02p: Mews - "I set the ground rules ahead of time so what I think is my brain can't take MU to the championship game. I only take them as far as their seed."

12:06p: BDM wonders aloud, "Do chicken tenders and popcorn shrimp counts as surf-n-turf?"

12:31p: Brendan - "Nova Nation!!!"

12:56p: The age-old argument of soccer being tougher than ski jumping is resurrected. We all get a good laugh out of it.

1:20p: ND loses. Looks like the first of many bad picks for many of us.

1:50p: Nova is in OT and the BYU cougars are getting frisky. We're all about cats in this place.

2:11p: Larina - "I'm dong watching Nova suck. Just win by one, dammit!"

2:32p: Godfrey texts and wants to know if we're drinking. (We'll let you put in any wisecrack you think is necessary. We came up with about 147)

2:50p: I say "Murray" you say "State!"

3:40p: Murray St. with a chance to close it out... and they fail. Big Death: "That was Brett Favre-esque." Mews wholeheartedly agrees.

3:41p: Murray St. wins... Everyone goes crazy. Best morning session is a while. Welcome to March madness. Brendan lives to see his riskiest Sweet 16 live to fight another day. Sadly, there is no Dickel at this bar to celebrate the moment.

3:51p: Logan - "Baylor!! Big 12 Basketball!"

4:10p: Mews - "I want a bracket based solely on cheerleaders." Schabel: "MU wouldn't even make the NIT."

5:15p: Butler warms it up! The Minters are going cold. Waldo checks in to say his map is almost busted by an almost-Nova loss.

5:45p: We're back at Mews'. Kentucky isn't sweating their game at all. Schable drops $35 on an HDMI cable to connect his laptop to a monitor.

6:55p: MU starts! It's gonna get ugly. We can tell already. hell, Georgetown/Ohio is already way ugly.. kind of like Georgetown's entire season. I mean, really.. when did the wheels start coming off *this* badly? Oh yeah, their whole season.

7:10p: It's Lazar Hay-WARD, not Haywood.

7:50p: Mews - "Can MU ever lead by more than 3?"

8:07p: LD checks in from New Zealand. but he entered no bracket this year. He just took the money and left. Kind of like a bad-mannered poker player.

8:22p: Northern Iowa shows some cabbages against UNLV. The Godlschlagger is working its magic in the room to sooth the pain of the Marquette loss. But Mews is not drinking. We are concerned.

9:10p: The Big East is 1/3 on the day. Ugh. Wade - "I'm leaving. I'm not spending $200 on a loss tonight."

9:30p: We try to rally Mews with the old, "Olé, olé, olé olé" chant. Mews - "Sorry, guys. I need more time." We start scheming to get Paige from The Admiral to get over here and cheer Mews up.

10:05p: We start watching YouTube videos of people who act out D&D battles. One of them keeps throwing pebbles at people while shouting, "Lightning bolt! Lighting bolt!" We then think that that guys is actually dead. Big Death - "He is. I went to his online funeral."

11:45p: Godfrey's thoughts on Texas' subpar performance on the court and on the sideline. "They should be taking the Megabus home." Brendan is in full agreement.

Back From The Dead....

Yes, folks it's been a long three years since we last updated these pages. Since then, the storied weekend tradition has seen some highs (Mews dancing to MU victories) and some lows (Casey Moran's on a Thursday). People have made the long trek to Chicago and some have had to miss one here and there. But rest assured good reader, the dream has continued and this year, 'Ol Pickett is gonna take care of you with tourney coverage. Look out for the bull, y'all.

It's The Big 10's Fault...

11:10a – Guitar Hero is started and Mews’ dreams come true as he earns the right to do an ecore of “Sweet Child O’ Mine.”

11:30a – Andy gets his first crack at Guitar Hero and is rocking the house. At the same time, the Tennessee/Virginia game gets underway.

11:45a – LD returns from Meghan’s and asks Andy, “So does Guitar Hero feel natural?” “Hell no,” Andy responds. “Let’s just say Mews is getting’ the double d’s in the groupies and I’m getting’ double deez nuts!”

12:06p – “The Burger King at Southport and Irving Park was banned by me because they kept screwing up my order. They’re on a working probation right now.” – Mews

12:20p - Clark Kellogg and Seth Davis are verbally duking it out and Special K hands Seth his ass by introducing a new word: “Maestrating.” Take that, Seth, you pansy.

1:08p – Tim: “Have you seen they knocked down the cheap motel they knocked down on Irving Park, next to the Domino’s?”

1:09p – An anonymous contributor says, “My girlfriend Meghan and I talked about having a fetish night where I kidnap her and take her there.”

1:40p – LD is packing up to leave. When asked where he is going, he tells us he is going to dance lessons with Meghan. “There’s all sorts of dancing going these 4 TV’s. What more dancing do you need?”

1:50p – Rafferty is announcing the Florida/Purdue game. He’s already in fine form and knows he has to leave it all on the court after Gus Johnson’s performance yesterday. In 5 minutes we’ve heard, “Puppies,” “Nickel and dimer,” “The big fella,” and “A little blow by!”

2:45p – “What I couldn’t believe was last year, Pittsnoggle’s mom wearing a t-shirt with nothing underneath, and she clearly weighed 400 pounds. I’m glad I didn’t have hi-def for that. That was West Virginia chic at its finest.”

3:00p – Godfrey leaves and heads back to Arizona. “Tell Anne we said hi and we hope to see her next year.” “I will,” Godfrey tells us, “but I have a feeling that she… really… doesn’t miss this.”

3:13p – Brendan: “I wonder how LD’s dancing is going.”

3:38p – With Wisconsin being in the Big 10, not to mention its hippie credentials, it faces elimination and Mews quips, “A badger ain’t nothin’ but a big rat.”

4:13p – At the start of the Kansas/Kentucky game the camera shows our announcers, Jim Nantz and Billy Packer. Billy looks like the following:

-Like he’s been dropped kick by a golf spike

-Like a relief globe of Mars

-Like he fell in some mude

-Like he could be used to aerate a golf green

5:43p – After a prolonged absence, Mews considers giving McNerney the Most Disappointing award.

5:45p – Logan: “Ah, Nick Fazekas, that greek.” Brendan: “Thanks for starting civilization, ya fucks.”

6:09p – Who would you rather listen to? Billy Packer or Dick Vitale?

6:12p – 2007, the year of the suck. There is such low energy permeating practically all games this year. We believe it is all the fault of the Big 10. It has infected every participant and fan this year. Brendan: “I should have flown home yesterday.”

6:33p – The Brothers McNerney roll out, as does Sean. The games are winding down and all that’s left is for USC to kill the clock, not to mention Kevin Durant’s college career. Guitar Hero will commence and we say goodbye to Madness on Ashland.

Gus Johnson For President...

1:20p - Gus Johnson has lost weight since last year. He chiseled. "He's the Ed Hoculey of college basketball." - Logan

1:26p - Trashing of the Big 10 continues. "Big Ten basketball is MY basketball."

1:28p - "My second guesses are just as bad as my first ones. Which is ironic because there's only two teams." - Brendan

1:35p - Xavier is looking like a serious threat to Ohio St. and Brendan is starting to lament his decision to admonish his girlfriend against picking Xavier to advance past the first round.

2:10p – Gus Johnson proclaims the Ohio St./Xavier game as "The battle for Ohio!" He’s on fire, probably due to a realization that today is his last day of the season since he got the shaft for the next round.

2:13p - "What a stupid cheer. Z no X...." - Godfrey

2:40p - Inspire by the Ohio St. /Xavier game, we spent 30 minutes looking for Gus Johnson clips on the internet.

2:50p - As he heads for the bathroom LD says, "There is no way any of this is gonna be solid."

3:33p - Quinlan McNerney arrives. The first 'next generation' member of March Madness.

4:26p - Butler knocks out Maryland and Godfrey realizes, “Butler and Xavier are those teams you never really think about too much until tourney time and even when you do think about them, you really don’t take them seriously. But you should.”

4:45p - Mews: "There is no announcer who loves college basketball more than Gus Johnson." Brendan: "If he weren't an announcer, he'd be here."

5:00p - Gus Johnson has one of the best moments of this whole weekend: "As my collegue Clark Kellogg would say, 'He's Roberta Flacking ‘em. Killing them... Oh... So... Softly!'"

5:20p – “He babied that one.” Rafferty gently criticizes a free throw.

5:27p - Texas A&M escapes a loss to Louisville and in the course of the game all of the coloring Pitino used to cover his gray has faded.

6:01p - "Washington State is the new Gonzaga. A bunch of dirty West Coast hippies that I don't like, don't want to win but always do, and I don't like their uniforms." - Brendan

6:20p - Suddenly the Vanderbilt/Washington St. Games and the BC/Georgetown games become exciting. The crowd comes alive at the Upper Deck for the second time today, two more times than we were in the last two days.

6:43p - VCU/Pitt: Still pumped from cheering them on over Duke, the crowd wants to see them continue their progress and slaughter Pittsburgh. Myself and one other person are the only two rooting for Pitt but it’s for selfish bracket purposes only.

7:10p – Vanderbilt and Washington St are in double overtime. It’s the damn hippies verses Skuchas and Skuchas is mopping the floor with them. “It’s because these damn hippies don’t build their stamina on the commune!” - Unknown

7:13p – The hippies of Washington St. are sent back home to their commune to recycle their crap. By the way, could any more game deciding free throws be missed?

7:50p – North Carolina/Michigan St & UCLA/Indiana – Watching the Big Ten is like watching the WNBA.

8:20p - With the number of people and the level of energy, you'd think this was Sunday evening. And with that, the night drifts off into mediocre silence.

Look Out For the Red Bull...

10:00a - Back @ Upper Deck, Glock and I meet up with Mews, LD and Godfrey. Everyone is a little groggy and Mews is finishing up a quick clean up job of the place. “If you gotta piss, just don’t leave any drops on the floor. I just cleaned in there.”

10:30a - Arrive at Joe's. Much darker than usual as we take our usual perch. Allison is taking care of us today.

11:15a - Games start again. Diskin and Bren have Albany picked to beat Virginia. Bren is just hedging his psychological bets - if UVA wins he'll be happy. If they lose he will have called it and his brackets will be in tact.

11:27a - Logan arrives to find 8 of us sitting here and proclaims, "There is something so comforting about seeing this."

11:29a - North Texas is hereby named The Green Showers and everyone is hoping they beat Memphis because Calipari runs a dirty program. Not to mention this has been a boring tournament so far with no drama so a 15 upset of a 2 seed would make our day.

11:30a - Tim: “So should we call Meghan so you can apologize in advance for your behavior?” LD: “No. She's got a big interview and the last thing she needs on her mind is Steve on Red Bull and Vodka pre-11:30.”

11:46a – Logan: “Two words: Shampoo Effect.”

12”00p – “We haven't hit half time on a single a game and Mews is already hopped up.” - Brendan

12:45p - Mews is working a dirty program on Allison and another waitress at the end of the bar. "The score is 12-0. And I've got the 0."

1:17p - UNLV and Georgia Tech are close. Bren proclaims, "I've got GT picked so those of you picked them too are screwed."

1:35p - With no one listening to him, Godfrey tells his sandwich, "Lon Kreuger started running a dirty program when he came to Illinois."

1:37p - Logan is now working his own dirty program on Allison. "So is this your first bartending job?"

1:45p - A phantom foul and a bogus 5 second call, both of which favored UNLV and subsequently led to their victory over Georgia Tech, leads to no other conclusion: Dirty Program in Vegas.

1:46p – “These beer pitchers are really slender at the bottom. Like me.” – BDM

1:50p - When asked whom among us is the 'creepy guy' in the group, Allison responds, “The guy at the end drinking Diet Coke (Godfrey). He's not really drinking much.” Lest I be tagged a creepy guy, I order another gin & tonic.

1:53p - Offended at that last entry, Bren threatens, "I'll put that broad's head through the granite."

1:57p – “Konold, no matter where you are in Jamaica, you're high.” – Logan

1:10p - Logan: “Wow, check out Mews rockin' the Salt N Peppa.” Mews: “What don't I rock?”

1:11p – “Just keep the Red Bull and vodka comin'. I got more where that came from.”

1:25p – Texas A& M CC is beating Wisconsin early. Godfrey is so excited and it's only 2 minutes into the game.

1441 – “We've just decided that Jim Callhoun is the Ron Zook of the Big East.” – BDM

1:02p - Upon seeing the Texas A&M CC mascot Godfrey asks, "What is that thing?" Bren: “It's either seaweed or herpes sore I can't tell.”

1:47p – Tennessee/Long Beach St. – 200 total points. Bruce Pearl runs a dirty program. Just look at that man tan.

1610 - Violins kickin' ass - Diskin

4:15p - Seany kicks a trash can out of frustration that if Creighton loses, he'll lose his 5th Sweet 16 and that ND was an elite 8 loss.

4:30p - Because we're sophomoric, we get Mews a shot of a whiskey called Dickel.

4:32p – “If I get sick, I'm blaming it on Dickel.” – Mews

5:17p - Me, Glock, BDM, Bren & Diskin are freezing outside the Upper Deck while Mew, LD, Logan, and Sean are sampling free shots of Irish liquor at the CVS and Jewel on Southport.

6:45p – “I got Dickel and a brumsky in the same day” - Mews

7:25p - Diskin is taught the difference between the sleeper and the stranger.

7:37p - Godfrey booed for Bruce Weber impression mocking Weber's mother's death.

7:41p - Illinois is doing everything it can to lose against Virginia Tech.

8:08p - Jim Mews, all hokey no pokey.

8:45p - The Schlitz Malt Liquor reel rolls. Roofus Thomas, The Bull and Wilson Pickett. All is right w/ the world.

9:20p - Logan sermonizes that Godfrey should always carry with him a milk crate, that way wherever he goes, he will be able to put it down and rise above the crowd and dispense his knowledge of Ilini basketball and Cubs underperformers. Now, these aren’t his exact words but it’s the best I could do from memory. The truth is no one knows exactly what he said but the room became eerily silent as he said it and it was quite genius.

9:57p – “Tantalizing!” - Rafferty. Finally this tournament is showing a bit of life.

10:43p - This tournament sucks. No big upsets. All 5 seeds have won. The highest seed to do anything is a six. Six is the new five.

11:15p – The games are a disappointment so we break out Guitar Hero II. People still have skills and Mews is clearly the odds on favorite to rock house tomorrow night.

I Heart Washington State...

10:00a – Mews, Tim and Brendan arrive at the Salt N’ Pepper to find me waiting for them. There is a slight pause as they are not expecting me to be here from Jamaica. According to all three of them, I’m running a dirty program.

10:30a - There are no winners in the Big 10. If you're in the big ten you're a big loser. – Mews

10:58a – For some reason, Hi-Tops is getting all of their deliveries this morning which means a large back door is open (take that any way you want) and there is a serious freeze in this joint. Time quips, “I'm gonna need a drinking glove it's so cold in here.”

11:20a - Tip off Maryland vs. Davidson. The tourney has begun. WE’ve been waiting a long time for this.

11:30a – Lauren is our waitress and kicks off the day by bringing a full tray of beers before we really settle in. Hi-Tops has a special this year: $20 gets you “all you can eat/drink” access to a buffet and drinks. We like her already.

11:31 – Tim thinks to “tip waitress in advance” and she’ll be great to us, to which Mews quickly shouts, “Keep the drinks comin!"

11:37a – Man down. First spill of the day belongs to Chad, one of Mews’ co-workers. Diskin quickly chimes in, “And it wasn’t me!” LD replies, “Mews brought him.”

11:48a – Lauren comes back and asks, “You guys want me to just keep bringing 'em?” Chad replies, “Yeah, can you bring me a tippy cup?” Lauren reports back a few minutes later that after asking all of her co-workers, nobody knows what a ‘tippy cup’ is.

12:05p – Davidson is doing a rain dance at the free throw line. – Brendan

12:45p - Godfrey shows up with luggage in tow.

1:05p – The first final of the tournament. BC knocks off Texas Tech and Bobby Knight has yet another first round loss. The highlighter to mark victories on our brackets is officially dubbed the “Victory Marker.”

1:25p - I gave up victory for Lent. – Bren

1:30p - It's 1:30 and Marquette hasn't been eliminated yet. – LD

1:50p – Mark to Bren, “Here's the victory pen.” "Yeah I don't need that yet,” he dryly replies.

2:00p - Logan is painfully reminded that his Alma matter, Iowa St, a 2 seed, was upset by the Hampton Pirates, a 15 seed, in 2000. Arrrrgh!

2:30p - Tim to LD – “You don't liike vommiting. I don't have such a problem with it.”

2:43p - Washington St is full old dirty hippies. That guy could make out with Joakim Noah and you wouldn't know who the dude was. – Tim

2:44p – Tim to Logan: “You know what you have that the rest of us don't? Visual proof that Mews hooked up w/ a girl.”

3:03p - Waldo is missing March Madness for the first time since its inception. He is in Louisville, going to school and is at this weekend’s games. At the moment, Tim and I are on the phone with him and using every means necessary (guilt, bribery, shame, etc.) to pressure him to sell his tickets and drive up here.

3:18p – Oral Roberts University loses and Mews let us know, “There will be no more Oral in the tourney.”

4:35p – The games are coming to a close and whoever is working the remotes here at Hi-Tops are not on the ball so some TV’s have Dr. Phil on them. Godfrey proclaims, “I don't wanna watch no anorexic twins. I wanna watch basketball.”

6:20p – The Marquette/Michigan St. game starts. Turrets Syndrome all around.

6:30P – Marquette doesn’t score a point for most of the first half. Brendan wonders, “Who's the Big 10 team here?”

6:35p - Kebone arrives still in work attire. He 'makes it rain' with coasters from a bar.

6:45p -Mitch and Balcer arrive at the Upper Deck to much heralding from the crowd.

6:55p - Ibok dislocates his elbow in the Marquette/Michigan St. game and they keep showing it. The crowd winces and screams every time. It’s pretty gross.

7:00p – There is always Dong in Michigan St basketball – Tim

7:40p – My first taste of Nemo's in a year. While we are in line Manny asks if he can get one of the t-shirts Brendan has made for the tournament.

7:57p - The Marquette game, an obvious loss, has lost our interest. Everyone is now pinning their excitement, attention and hope on VCU possibly besting Duke.

8:20p - Waldo isn't answering his phone. He's either on his way or not answering because he doesn't want to be harassed anymore. – Tim

9:15 - If you're not too busy, you should do that. – Godfrey

9:20p - Tank Johnson is dirty. He's from the desert. - Godfrey

9:30p - Godfrey's autobiography – ‘Me, Bill Self and I.’ - Brendan

9:40 - If you go to Champaign you'll get robbed by Rod Zook – Godfrey

12:15p - LD watches (in secret) as Diskin and Logan join hands and spin in a circle while punching each other. It is very reminiscent of the 'Beat It' video only it's a million times funnier b/c of their current condition.