My wife has a method for choosing her rooting interest in a given sporting event. She’ll look at the team with the worst record and root for them. One aspect of the postseason is that the records are better, and you start to see that both teams are very good. Furman, the 13-seed upset Virginia the 4th-seed yesterday but you know Furman is good. They are 28-7 on the year and lost by only five to a solid Penn State team. You can have talent disparities but good teams are just that: good teams. As in a collective. Together they play hard, have winning habits, make winning plays and the rest.
North Texas saw a little of this as they faced the Braves of Alcorn St., a good squad down 31 points from four players but one that still fought hard and battled for everything. A good team! The next squad up (we’ll have a preview tomorrow) is Sam Houston State, another quality squad with winning mentality. All of this translates into some comebacks, some closer-than-they-should-be games, and the madness that we all love.
Movie Time
I didn’t think that Everything Everywhere All At Once was that great. I felt like the conceit was fine, and the moral of the story was clear and they sort of punched you with that the entire time. I get it. I got it about 10-minutes in. It was never-ending. I much preferred the Banshees of Inishirin, which is hilarious but also dark and brooding in its themes. Beyond that, I liked Avatar and Maverick much more than I thought I would, and totally recommend you watching those at your leisure.
Speaking of enjoyable movies, Shazaam was a big hit with the children, and at least one of them is hyped for Shazaam 2. So that is my weekend plan. After dragging them to Frisco for tons of basketball, I figured a little trip to the movies is in order. Also, director David F. Sandberg is a cool dude. Check out his youtube channel if you like film at all.
Programming Note
We had tried to get an interview with the head man of the basketball squad but the coaching staff is “super busy.” That busy-ness (business?) is one of things that I wanted to ask about. You might have heard that the transfer portal is filling up dudes. It is a strain on the winning programs out here competing and preparing for the next good (see above) opponents to have to vet and recruit the next program-changer.
North Texas was in the mix for — or at least contacted — a few guys that @ggoedecker was tracking on the Forum. Check it out. There were more that are not there, like at least Willis from Tech. That dude and Cobe Williams went to their old coach’s program at Tulsa. Konkol did well at Louisiana Tech and he will be competing against North Texas next season in the American.
I was going to ask Grant about preparation now, the scheduling, and any lessons learned from last year’s NIT. Alas, we *might* get him on Saturday but that is a stretch considering everything. Also, I wanted a little gap of time before the Sunday game to allow everyone to listen.
We’ll see what is what.
Sports
I am stoked for more rec-league soccer. I have been playing in a men’s league for a while and if you are not in one, I totally recommend getting out and having a little fun. You might go to Gold’s or something and get a little pick up run. I say sign up for the full-deal and play in a league game. You get to look forward to something, to compete, and to get humbled more often then not. Maybe you are the league’s best player or whatever but seeing everyone’s complete and utter lack of care for this fact will humble you. There are opportunities for it everywhere. If you watch and have hot sports opinions on sports and whatnot, getting out there and playing will keep your expectations and opinions reasonable. There’s just too much there to like.
I left a team I joined as a free-agent last year for a breakaway team. Call me Kevin Durant. I missed the matchup with the old squad because of the league tournament though. I am pretty bummed about this. We drew 1-1, and I am le sad about it. There is something about the true winter of the Midwest that makes everyone up here appreciate the spring and summer just a little bit more. There is palpable enthusiasm for the sun. All that and its going to be in the 20s for my Sunday game. Such is life.
