Oh, sure. The NCAA's March Madness starts today but with four networks slicing up coverage of the games, who actually knows what game is playing when and on which network? Behold: Thursday's March Madness TV schedule. (All times Eastern)
AFTERNOON GAMES
12:15: West Virginia vs. Clemson (CBS)
12:40: Butler vs. Old Dominion (truTV)
1:40: Louisville vs. Morehead State (TBS)
2:10: Temple vs. Penn State (TNT)
2:45: Kentucky vs. Princeton (CBS)
3:10: Pittsburgh vs. UNC Asheville (truTV)
4:10: Vanderbilt vs. Richmond (TBS)
4:40: San Diego State vs. Northern Colorado (TNT)
EVENING GAMES
6:50: Florida vs. UC Santa Barbara (TBS)
7:15: BYU vs. Wofford (CBS)
7:20: Connecticut vs. Bucknell (TNT)
7:27: Wisconsin vs. Belmont (truTV)
9:20: UCLA vs. Michigan State (TBS)
9:45: St. John’s vs. Gonzaga (CBS)
9:50: Cincinnati vs. Missouri (TNT)
9:57: Kansas State vs. Utah State (truTV)
Showing posts with label college. Show all posts
Showing posts with label college. Show all posts
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
March Madness is dead to me
March Madness is something akin to watching the birth of a unicorn. It's magical. It's priceless. Except for the fact that it heppens every year it's just like a unicorn's birth. Watching that unicorn taking its first breath is like watching a 15 seed eek out a victory against the second seeded team in the first round. The coverage turns from what should have been the most compelling game to the little game nobody cared about. 15 seed Western Podunk A&M Tech is beating Duke and it's magical. This is the kind of thing that gets remembered. Except that this year that game won't be on the national stage.
Chances are that the 2-15 game in the first round will land on Tru TV. For the previous 116 years, NCAA March Madness has been televised on CBS. The games all shared some time as during lulls in the game you were seeing you'd be treated to live look-ins of other games taking place from other regions around the country. Well, the NCAA, in the name of greed, has gone and fucked that up. No longer does CBS broadcast each and every game -- now TNT, TBS and Tru TV have a piece of the pie. A piece of the pie that CBS should rightfully have. It would be like the Super Bowl being held in May. It would be like moving Christmas to the third Friday in March. It's just wrong.
The 64 team field is even a thing of the past. Oh, sure, for the past few years there has been a play-in game between two teams that nobody gave a shit about to secure the 16th seed in one region but in all of the NCAA's wisdom, they felt the need to expand upon that and create a sort of warm-up round prior to the Madness. The First Four now features FOUR play-in games where eight teams nobody gives a damn about will scramble for the chance to get their asses handed to them by teams from schools people have actually heard of. So tuen in the Tru TV Tuesday and Wednesday night starting at 5:30 PM CT to see Kibbles & Bits Polytechnic, Jerry Fallwell University of Hatespeech and six other schools duke it out on a cable channel that most people don't even know where to find on their TVs.
Way to go NCAA. You went and fucked up what was already too much of a good thing with too much more of a bad thing. You are dead to me March Madness.
Sure, I'm still playing five March Madness brackets but that just how hypocrisy works.
Chances are that the 2-15 game in the first round will land on Tru TV. For the previous 116 years, NCAA March Madness has been televised on CBS. The games all shared some time as during lulls in the game you were seeing you'd be treated to live look-ins of other games taking place from other regions around the country. Well, the NCAA, in the name of greed, has gone and fucked that up. No longer does CBS broadcast each and every game -- now TNT, TBS and Tru TV have a piece of the pie. A piece of the pie that CBS should rightfully have. It would be like the Super Bowl being held in May. It would be like moving Christmas to the third Friday in March. It's just wrong.
Way to go NCAA. You went and fucked up what was already too much of a good thing with too much more of a bad thing. You are dead to me March Madness.
Sure, I'm still playing five March Madness brackets but that just how hypocrisy works.
Friday, September 25, 2009
A letter to myself in 1997
What would you write, in letter form, to yourself in the year you graduated high school? Would you tell yourself to totally change your course? Would you advise taking a year off from life and travel and explore the world? Would you tell yourself to chase more tail or to keep it in your pants? What the hell would I tell myself to do?
Dear 18 year-old me,
I know you're starting college this fall and that's a good thing. I also know that you're not going to get much in the way of a meaningful degree. Stay in college longer. There's no shame in sticking around for five or six years - it's a good time and the education and degree you get out of it will actually offset the tremendous amount of debt you'll incur. Oh, and you might want to expand your educational horizons a bit as well. I know you're set on being a graphic designer and websites which you see as cool but boring in their design will change drastically in the next twelve years.
It's fine that you want to get a degree in graphic design but have a fallback plan - learn as much as you can about websites - design, language, etc. because by 2007 you'll realize that shit's gonna hit the fan and your dream of making it really, really big in print graphic design will be just a dream.
Secondly, don't be apprehensive about leaving the area you already know. Move, travel, lighten the fuck up. That one friend who opened your mind to all of that cool music was a great first step. Be sure to keep in touch with her. That's one of those friendships you'll still have when you're fumbling with your dentures.
And that friend with cool tastes in music, she's going to be totally right about that girl, who in a year, will want to date you. Sure she's totally fun and wild but she's also crazy and not in a good way. Oh, she's also pregnant. You won't see that one coming.
Moving on now. Immerse yourself in something and dream big. No, bigger.
Finally, don't be a dumbass. I know you'll do some pretty stupid shit in your early twenties. Enjoy it but you're gonna come close to actually offing yourself because of your stupidity. Oh, sure, you'll laugh about it later but that's only because your friends were there to save your stupid ass from almost certain death or at least very, very painful injuries.
In the end, thing turn out alright. At 30 years old you own a house, you're married, you own a couple of Toyotas and a swingset you built. Oh, and you have a kid. She's pretty damn cute, too. Sure, you still want more but the things you want are only to further challenge yourself so that's a good thing. But that idea you have at thirty of eventually owning an apple orchard, I'll just tell 18 year-old me (you) to remember that the apple business is rather crowded and way too damn competitive to be worth the trouble.
Speaking of apples, MinnPics will probably have some orchard photos as fall kicks in to gear.
Dear 18 year-old me,
I know you're starting college this fall and that's a good thing. I also know that you're not going to get much in the way of a meaningful degree. Stay in college longer. There's no shame in sticking around for five or six years - it's a good time and the education and degree you get out of it will actually offset the tremendous amount of debt you'll incur. Oh, and you might want to expand your educational horizons a bit as well. I know you're set on being a graphic designer and websites which you see as cool but boring in their design will change drastically in the next twelve years.
It's fine that you want to get a degree in graphic design but have a fallback plan - learn as much as you can about websites - design, language, etc. because by 2007 you'll realize that shit's gonna hit the fan and your dream of making it really, really big in print graphic design will be just a dream.
Secondly, don't be apprehensive about leaving the area you already know. Move, travel, lighten the fuck up. That one friend who opened your mind to all of that cool music was a great first step. Be sure to keep in touch with her. That's one of those friendships you'll still have when you're fumbling with your dentures.
And that friend with cool tastes in music, she's going to be totally right about that girl, who in a year, will want to date you. Sure she's totally fun and wild but she's also crazy and not in a good way. Oh, she's also pregnant. You won't see that one coming.
Moving on now. Immerse yourself in something and dream big. No, bigger.
Finally, don't be a dumbass. I know you'll do some pretty stupid shit in your early twenties. Enjoy it but you're gonna come close to actually offing yourself because of your stupidity. Oh, sure, you'll laugh about it later but that's only because your friends were there to save your stupid ass from almost certain death or at least very, very painful injuries.
In the end, thing turn out alright. At 30 years old you own a house, you're married, you own a couple of Toyotas and a swingset you built. Oh, and you have a kid. She's pretty damn cute, too. Sure, you still want more but the things you want are only to further challenge yourself so that's a good thing. But that idea you have at thirty of eventually owning an apple orchard, I'll just tell 18 year-old me (you) to remember that the apple business is rather crowded and way too damn competitive to be worth the trouble.
Speaking of apples, MinnPics will probably have some orchard photos as fall kicks in to gear.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
A revolution needed at Minnesota State Fair
I think I agreed last night to go to the Minnesota State Fair on Monday. Yes, I think I actually agreed to spend a precious Monday off, a holiday to boot, walking around a crowded, semi-paved temporary city in the middle of St. Paul. Not even a free thing. No, instead I'll have to pay eleven bucks for the privilege to walk around a bunch of crowded streets populated for only twelve days each year.
I've never understood the concept of paying to gain admission to a place where everything you want to do inside costs yet more money. What is free inside the Minnesota State Fairgrounds? There is some interesting entertainment. I know of a few free stages where you can watch bands. A few radio stations and TV stations are at the Minnesota State Fair. I, for one, always make it a point to stop during lunch time at the KFAN display because that's when Dan Cole The Common Man is on the air and despite the station being billed as a sports station - he doens't talk much sports and he's actually entertaining because he's so self-deprecating. He makes people think he's the joke but in reality the joke's on them.
I guess I could park my ass on the curb and watch the daily parade. Maybe I'll pick up another yard stick or check out some of the quarter-million-dollar farm equipment on the ever-shrinking machinery hill. But the real draw of the Minnesota State Fair is the food. Face it, you know the only reason you go to the fair is because it's an escape from your never-ending diet and the simple fact that everything is fried is just another excuse to let go for a day. But the cost of the food is harder to stomach than the gut full of greasy goodness you'll have at the end of the day.
I'm listening to the radio right now and the host is mocking his intern for having paid four bucks for a cup of root beer. That makes the all-you-can-drink milk for a buck a great deal (if you don't end up puking later). There is a place serving a relatively decent breakfast for three bucks but something like that is the exception. Oh sure, I complain plenty but I'll be waiting in a line of twenty sweaty fair-goers as I eye some six dollar cheese curds. I'll reluctantly pry open my wallet when, at the end of the day, my old lady looks longingly at me as she suggests getting a bucket of Sweet Martha's chocolate chip cookies - for just $14. I'll hold back even though I desperately want to tell her that $14 would make about sixty dozen chocolate chip cookies at home and they'd taste just the same.
Maybe it's time for a revolution in fair food prices. Hey, everyone deserves to make a living but do you really need to charge five bucks for a soda so you can send your kids to Harvard? I have a kid too (at 9 months she should get int eh gate at the fair for free, right?) but she's destined for Hennepin Tech only because I don't have a food booth at the Minnesota State Fair.
By now you should know the drill. Check out the latest in Minnesota happenings - via photos - at MinnPics!
I've never understood the concept of paying to gain admission to a place where everything you want to do inside costs yet more money. What is free inside the Minnesota State Fairgrounds? There is some interesting entertainment. I know of a few free stages where you can watch bands. A few radio stations and TV stations are at the Minnesota State Fair. I, for one, always make it a point to stop during lunch time at the KFAN display because that's when Dan Cole The Common Man is on the air and despite the station being billed as a sports station - he doens't talk much sports and he's actually entertaining because he's so self-deprecating. He makes people think he's the joke but in reality the joke's on them.
I guess I could park my ass on the curb and watch the daily parade. Maybe I'll pick up another yard stick or check out some of the quarter-million-dollar farm equipment on the ever-shrinking machinery hill. But the real draw of the Minnesota State Fair is the food. Face it, you know the only reason you go to the fair is because it's an escape from your never-ending diet and the simple fact that everything is fried is just another excuse to let go for a day. But the cost of the food is harder to stomach than the gut full of greasy goodness you'll have at the end of the day.
I'm listening to the radio right now and the host is mocking his intern for having paid four bucks for a cup of root beer. That makes the all-you-can-drink milk for a buck a great deal (if you don't end up puking later). There is a place serving a relatively decent breakfast for three bucks but something like that is the exception. Oh sure, I complain plenty but I'll be waiting in a line of twenty sweaty fair-goers as I eye some six dollar cheese curds. I'll reluctantly pry open my wallet when, at the end of the day, my old lady looks longingly at me as she suggests getting a bucket of Sweet Martha's chocolate chip cookies - for just $14. I'll hold back even though I desperately want to tell her that $14 would make about sixty dozen chocolate chip cookies at home and they'd taste just the same.
Maybe it's time for a revolution in fair food prices. Hey, everyone deserves to make a living but do you really need to charge five bucks for a soda so you can send your kids to Harvard? I have a kid too (at 9 months she should get int eh gate at the fair for free, right?) but she's destined for Hennepin Tech only because I don't have a food booth at the Minnesota State Fair.
By now you should know the drill. Check out the latest in Minnesota happenings - via photos - at MinnPics!
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Has America changed?
As we made a trip, as far too many old married couples do on a Friday night, to the local Menard's store I asked the missus a question which I frankly haven't had the intestinal fortitude to do before tonight in serious fashion.
"What is your second career choice?"
This question was meant with silence and then the response of "I don't know, when I chose this before I started college, there were plenty of jobs advertised in the newspaper."
If you're unfamiliar, the wife has a Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts with a focus on Graphic Design/Graphic Arts. Essentially, she has the more advanced version of my college degree but I am the one with the job in that particular field. But back to the conversation.
She continued, in a flustered state of disbelief, by saying "I don't know what really happened."
Of course, I was quick to respond.
"September 11th, 2001 happened. No matter how rosy people paint the economy and the job market and its growth, the growth isn't in professional areas like ours. I remember how easy it was to find graphic design jobs before that day."
I really do remember how much things changed almost instantly on that day. Advertising, which is truly the lifeblood of many graphic designers/artists, thrives on a strong economy. It's pretty damn simple to figure out. If people have money, they buy stuff which keeps businesses open and they can afford to have fantastic sales and promote the hell out of their establishment. All is good for me. People buy houses and cars, Sornie gets some overtime and a nice stack of his own benjamins to stimulate the economy. Advertising starts to stack up and maybe a new position gets created allowing the wife to get her foot in the door at some prestigious ad agency.
But on 9/11/01 people got scared. They stayed at home. They closed up their billfolds. As people spent less on "luxury items" (i.e. cars, bigger houses) those core pools of ad dollars dried up. Energy (fuel) prices went up too. People stuck with their older cars and insulated the house they had instead of moving on up the ole' property ladder. Sornie's overtime dried up and the old lady stayed at her job she took in lieu of a job in design as the openings for graphic designers shrunk as companies downsized in the wake of less advertising dollars being spent.
Long story short, that's why it's been simply brutal and borderline excruciating for the missus to nail down a graphic design job.
But what can y'all do? You can drop me a line about openings for the missus in the graphic design world in the best damn city in all of America for graphic design and printing -- the good ole' Twin Cities!
"What is your second career choice?"
This question was meant with silence and then the response of "I don't know, when I chose this before I started college, there were plenty of jobs advertised in the newspaper."
If you're unfamiliar, the wife has a Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts with a focus on Graphic Design/Graphic Arts. Essentially, she has the more advanced version of my college degree but I am the one with the job in that particular field. But back to the conversation.
She continued, in a flustered state of disbelief, by saying "I don't know what really happened."
Of course, I was quick to respond.
"September 11th, 2001 happened. No matter how rosy people paint the economy and the job market and its growth, the growth isn't in professional areas like ours. I remember how easy it was to find graphic design jobs before that day."
I really do remember how much things changed almost instantly on that day. Advertising, which is truly the lifeblood of many graphic designers/artists, thrives on a strong economy. It's pretty damn simple to figure out. If people have money, they buy stuff which keeps businesses open and they can afford to have fantastic sales and promote the hell out of their establishment. All is good for me. People buy houses and cars, Sornie gets some overtime and a nice stack of his own benjamins to stimulate the economy. Advertising starts to stack up and maybe a new position gets created allowing the wife to get her foot in the door at some prestigious ad agency.
But on 9/11/01 people got scared. They stayed at home. They closed up their billfolds. As people spent less on "luxury items" (i.e. cars, bigger houses) those core pools of ad dollars dried up. Energy (fuel) prices went up too. People stuck with their older cars and insulated the house they had instead of moving on up the ole' property ladder. Sornie's overtime dried up and the old lady stayed at her job she took in lieu of a job in design as the openings for graphic designers shrunk as companies downsized in the wake of less advertising dollars being spent.
Long story short, that's why it's been simply brutal and borderline excruciating for the missus to nail down a graphic design job.
But what can y'all do? You can drop me a line about openings for the missus in the graphic design world in the best damn city in all of America for graphic design and printing -- the good ole' Twin Cities!
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