It's finally here! Who will be National Champion?

Soooooo tonight is the Big Night - the field has been narrowed down to two. 3rd seeded UConn Huskies against the 8th seeded Butler Bulldogs. Butler was in this position last year and played a great game, only to lose on a last second shot to the Duke Blue Devils. UConn has also been waiting for this moment all year, after winning 5 games in 5 days in the Big East tournament and then fighting their way through their opponents in the Big Dance to get to this point. The Huskies haven't lost a tournament game yet this season, having won the Maui Invitational to start the season. If the Huskies are victorious this evening, Coach Jim Calhoun will join an elite group of coaches to win three National Championships: this amazing group includes legendary coaches like John Wooden of UCLA and Coach K of Duke.

I'm going to keep this short and sweet: This game is being slated as 'Good vs. Evil': the young talented Butler team being lead by their baby faced Coach, 34 year old Brad Stephens, defying all odds and nay-sayers to make it back to the National Championship for the second year in a row. This year, they won't be playing in their back yard in Indianapolis, they'll be playing in Houston. Huskies Coach Jim Calhoun has already been suspended for the the first three games of the Big East season next season for 'failure to promote an atmosphere of compliance' for having knowledge of a former player receiving money and gifts from a pro agent (according to ESPN.com). Kemba Walker, Shabazz Napier and Alex Oriakhi have been ploughing through their opponents like the Evil Empire. It's the big dog Big East Champion against the small market small conference team. But I think they are evenly matched and I expect a great game.

I personally love both teams; I love UConn's intensity and I adore Kemba Walker, and I love Butler's story, their play and how humble Coach Stephens has kept his team. I also love the Butler Bulldog - he's so cute! I cannot wait to watch this game, and hopefully, this year Butler will be able to bring the National Title home to Indy. Here's a great article written by Pat Forde on ESPN.com about how Butler's feel good story and how it's good for the tournament in light of the number of NCAA violations by teams this year.

I will end this post with a fun fact that I had forgotten about the entire tournament!! Pay attention when the analysts are talking tonight, and pay special attention to my good old boy, Digger Phelps. If you've been watching the tournament the whole time, think back - did you notice anything odd about Digger? He always matches the highlighter he holds in his hand during the broadcast to his tie :) Gotta love a guy who takes fashion so seriously and color coordination to the extreme :)

xoxo,

The Skinny

The Final Four - Short and Sweet (Oh, and a little Reds Opening Day recap too)

Happy Saturday Readers!

The jubilation and utter joy that ensued on Thursday afternoon as the Reds won their first Opening Day since 2007 has finally started to die down and baseball season has officially started. The Reds won in the typical fashion that they won last year, a down to the wire three run walk off homerun (i.e. homerun in the bottom of the 9th = win the game and 'walkoff' the field) by the unassuming Catcher, Ramon Hernandez, who was a stunning 4 for 5 with a homerun for the game. The Reds managed to come back from back to back leadoff (def. first hitters or the game or inning) homeruns and a 6-3 deficit going into the 9th. The Reds clinched the National League Central Division last year in walkoff fashion as well: that's just how they roll, hustling to the end. The last time the Reds won Opening Day was in 2005 with a Joe 'the Panda' Randa walkoff job for the win. This Opening Day was such a boring game until the 9th - half the spectators had left by the 7th Inning Stretch, but those Reds faithful who stayed til the bitter end got their money's worth, and celebrated into the wee hours of the night. I had the pleasure of watching the game with my fiance (the biggest Reds fan I know) and his two of his buddies from high school. It was a great time and a great way to begin the season! The fashion at the game was good, but the win was even better. Looking forward to a great season - wire to wire baby! Card lose (how can you win when Albert Pujols grounds into three double plays in one day? Way to start your contract year...), Cubs lose. Oh, and Suck it Phillies.  R-E-D-S! REDS! REDS! REDS!


Hokay, now that I've got that out my system :) we'll move on to the task at hand - The Final Four. So I think only two people out of like millions who did brackets on ESPN.com have all 4 Final Four teams correct, it's nuts! Too bad the two teams I'd love to see in the Championship game Monday have to play each other today. Here's my two cents about the two Final Four games being played today in Houston:

Butler (#8) v. VCU (#11) @6:09pm. This game is a matchup of tournament underdogs, Cinderella teams if you will. Butler was not supposed to make it past Pitt in the second round, they were not supposed to have the opportunity to get far enough in the tournament to make it to back to back National Championships, but they've played their little hearts out and they play tonight for that opportunity. They will try to slow down the fast paced game of the VCU Rams, who no one thought in their wildest dreams would make it to this point. I bet Jay Bilas, who publicly spoke out against the Rams making it into the tournament, is eating a big old piece of humble pie right now. The Rams clawed their way through their opponents, most recently sticking it to #1 seed Kansas to make it to the Big Big Dance, the Final Four. I think this will be a great game, and I don't know who I want to win, because I really like both of their stories, but I think I have to go with the Bulldogs of Butler, as I think if they win tonight, they have a very very good chance of winning the National Title. This game makes for a great story and I look forward to watching it. I also love the name of the VCU coach - Shaka Smart. Almost as good as Shabazz Napier :) And the Butler Bulldog is adorable. Case closed.

Kentucky (#4) v. UConn (#3) @ 8:49pm: This is going to be a great game. Coach Calipari's Wildcats are ready to make it back to the National Championship game for the first time in 13 years. According to my dear friend and die hard 'Cayets fan Kyle, in 1998 (the last time they made it to the Championship) they were the Comback 'Cats, this year they're the Payback 'Cats. Every team they beat in the SEC tournament, they lost to in the regular season. West Virginia knocked the 'Cats out of the tourney last year, and they lost to UNC and UConn in the regular season. To get to this point, the 'Cats knocked off Huggy Bear and his WVU Mountaineers as well as the Tarheels of UNC. So if the theory is correct, then UConn should be the 'Cats next victim. I hate to disappoint my legion of 'Cats faithful friends, but I don't think the Huskies are going to take this lying down. Coach Jim Calhoun's Huskies have been working for this moment all season. They excelled in the Big East and throughout the tournament, picking off their opponents with grace and agility. Kemba Walker and his supporting cast of Shabazz Napier, Jeremby Lamb and Alex Oriakhi are going to be tough to beat. Can a young Wildcats team that has 3 freshmen in their starting lineup shut down a dominating Kemba Walker? We will see this evening. This is going to be a hard fought game, and to keep the peace with my UK buddies, the victor in this matchup is too close to call - may the best team win.

Lots of sports on today! Baseball! Basketball! Even cricket (go India!)! So before I leave you for my day of running wedding errands and checking scores on my phone, here's a little fun tidbit I heard about on the ESPN radio morning. One of the few people who has all four Final Four teams correct in their bracket is a woman who had these teams going to this far solely because their mascots are all dogs, and she is a dog enthusiast. Hilarious. At least I nailed in the #2 spot in my bracket pool, only to be topped by my fiance's aunt, who has one team right in the Final Four.

Have a great weekend y'all!

xoxo,

The Skinny