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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open thread

Open thread

by DougJ|  March 21, 20115:30 pm| 153 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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Talk about anything except “your brackets” (you can talk about the tournament, though) and that Rebecca Black thing that’s infected many of the other internets.

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Reader Interactions

153Comments

  1. 1.

    harokin

    March 21, 2011 at 5:32 pm

    Having watched the documentary last night, did the Fab Five really change the style of college bball? Hadn’t UNLV at least done that a couple years earlier?

  2. 2.

    Cris

    March 21, 2011 at 5:32 pm

    Nobody cares about the NIT, unless they have a team in it.

  3. 3.

    Comrade DougJ

    March 21, 2011 at 5:34 pm

    @harokin:

    I think the Fab Five was less coached than those UNLV squads. I think Phi Slamma Jamma was a bit like the Fab Five, only with some even better players.

  4. 4.

    Joe Beese

    March 21, 2011 at 5:36 pm

    Arthur Silber has your number:

    Another ugly truth: anyone who still supports Obama and who denounced Bush wasn’t sincere in the smallest degree about her or his criticisms of Bush. …virtually everything the Democrats and progressives claimed to be their fervent concern was merely instrumental: that is, they staked out the positions they did for their perceived political advantage, and for the assistance those positions would provide in regaining and consolidating power.

  5. 5.

    Cris

    March 21, 2011 at 5:36 pm

    @harokin: I haven’t seen this documentary — what are they claiming the Five changed?

  6. 6.

    joe from Lowell

    March 21, 2011 at 5:37 pm

    Oh, yeah? Too bad. I’m going to do it anyway:

    I can never remember whether I have to use the Shift key for [ ] or for { }.

    ETA: I wonder how many front-page posts this will be worth?

  7. 7.

    Halteclere

    March 21, 2011 at 5:38 pm

    Chris:

    @harokin: I haven’t seen this documentary—what are they claiming the Five changed?

    How time-outs are used.

    (couldn’t help myself)

  8. 8.

    harokin

    March 21, 2011 at 5:39 pm

    @Cris: That wasn’t that clear to me, but I think it was the attitude. They talked trash. They shaved their heads. They wore black socks. Keepin’ it real, man.

    I just don’t remember it being that big a deal.

  9. 9.

    harokin

    March 21, 2011 at 5:42 pm

    @Comrade DougJ: Fisher came across as exactly what I expected in the documentary, a nice but slightly clueless guy just riding a great hand. When asked his musical preference (after the Fab Five had been talking about Ice T and NWA etc) he seriously said “Peter Paul and Mary.”

    … And yet 18 years later, here he is in the Sweet 16. Have I just underrated him all this time?

  10. 10.

    Cris

    March 21, 2011 at 5:43 pm

    @Halteclere: Funny you should say that, I was going to suggest the same thing, and I even thought it was true. So I looked up the official rules, and an “excessive timeout” (i.e. calling for a TO when you don’t have one) still counts as a technical foul. For some reason I thought that they changed that rule in reaction to Weber’s screwup.

  11. 11.

    NobodySpecial

    March 21, 2011 at 5:43 pm

    Talk about anything except “your brackets”

    Well, it’s fairly significant, in my defense, it’s the only things keeping my mirrors off the floor.

  12. 12.

    General Stuck

    March 21, 2011 at 5:43 pm

    Got done with my 6 month doc checkup this morn, and grateful that misery is over for another 6 months, hopefully. Going to the doctor for me, is like an acrophobic going out for a Bungee jump.

    Anyways, here is an odd little tune I heard on the radio today, probly not for most, but I liked it.

  13. 13.

    eemom

    March 21, 2011 at 5:44 pm

    Let’s talk about Libya! There’s gotta be an unbeaten dead horse out there somewhere.

  14. 14.

    Sentient Puddle

    March 21, 2011 at 5:45 pm

    Well if you’re going to goad us into speaking about brackets, I’ll throw this one in:

    Parentheses may also be nested (with one set (such as this) inside another set). This is not commonly used in formal writing [though sometimes other brackets (especially parentheses) will be used for one or more inner set of parentheses (in other words, secondary {or even tertiary} phrases can be found within the main sentence)].

  15. 15.

    joe from Lowell

    March 21, 2011 at 5:45 pm

    Top Yemeni General Backs Protesters.

    Go, protesters!

  16. 16.

    NobodySpecial

    March 21, 2011 at 5:46 pm

    @eemom: Was it hit with a misslie first?

  17. 17.

    Cris

    March 21, 2011 at 5:46 pm

    All you Pink Floyd fans go and try to beat me and PlatosEarWax at cleeks’ latest music quiz.

  18. 18.

    mr. whipple

    March 21, 2011 at 5:47 pm

    Arthur Silber has your number:

    Arthur Silber can go blow dead goats.

  19. 19.

    Elvis Elvisberg

    March 21, 2011 at 5:48 pm

    Anyone interested in doing a Balloon Juice fantasy baseball league? I wouldn’t mind getting back into fantasy baseball after taking a few years off, and will set up a Yahoo league if there’s interest around here…

  20. 20.

    soonergrunt

    March 21, 2011 at 5:48 pm

    Well, I was going to post about how Rebecca Black has a new song called “my brackets,” but that would start sounding real creepy, real quick.

  21. 21.

    mr. whipple

    March 21, 2011 at 5:49 pm

    @Halteclere:

    How time-outs are used.

    (couldn’t help myself)

    Golf clap. Well played, sir!

  22. 22.

    pragmatism

    March 21, 2011 at 5:49 pm

    @harokin: seems like they were referring more to the uniform style (baggie shorts, black socks, etc.) than the playing style.

  23. 23.

    Cris

    March 21, 2011 at 5:51 pm

    @soonergrunt:
    What you gonna do with all those seeds
    All those seeds blowing 10 point leads

  24. 24.

    Alex S.

    March 21, 2011 at 5:53 pm

    @soonergrunt:

    Well, it can’t get any worse than “my humps”.

  25. 25.

    joe from Lowell

    March 21, 2011 at 5:56 pm

    @mr. whipple: Gee, a Randian libertarian thinks my beliefs don’t measure up.

    I shall retire to my fainting couch to weep now.

  26. 26.

    Fuck U6: A More Accurate Measure of the Total Amount of Duck-Fuckery in the Economy

    March 21, 2011 at 5:56 pm

    What about gay Nazi Popes on dope?

  27. 27.

    CJ

    March 21, 2011 at 5:57 pm

    I think I’m becoming an internet hipster of some sort. I sent Friday to a friend when it had 4,000 views. It’s now nearing 30 million.

    Is that a bad thing or a good thing?

  28. 28.

    soonergrunt

    March 21, 2011 at 5:57 pm

    @Joe Beese: Gotta call bullshit on that one.
    Obama is wrong, IMNSHO, about Libya, but he’s doing what he believes to be the right thing for the purpose of doing the right thing.
    Bush and his minions were clearly lying about Iraq, from the get-go, and often, and continuously. And they lied about it because they didn’t want to discuss their primary goals, which were to install a government less hostile to Israel that would allow a US base right in the middle of the region, from which attacks on Syria or Iran could be mounted at will, and such government would be very friendly with their oil to the US.
    Neither Obama nor any on the White House staff has attacked their detractors’ honesty, integrity, patriotism, or humanity for disagreeing with them. That behavior was de rigeur in the Bush years, and was their primary method of deflecting that criticism without addressing it on the merits.

  29. 29.

    Superluminar

    March 21, 2011 at 5:57 pm

    @joe from Lowell
    Why are you providing spin for the protesters who are just as bad as the dictators? If we do nothing we will be morally superior!

  30. 30.

    harokin

    March 21, 2011 at 5:57 pm

    You know what makes me feel old? The meta joke that the only people who would get the Larry Bird reference in the new McDonald’s commercials are the AARPers who remember the original ad campaign. Great way to write off my demographic guys. I don’t care if your snack wraps are delish.

  31. 31.

    Legalize

    March 21, 2011 at 5:57 pm

    @harokin:
    I think UNLV had better coaching – or MORE coaching than the Fab Five did. Given the excellent state of college basketball at the time of the Fab Five, I’d say those guys took the athletic competition to the NBA-style level we saw subsequently. I don’t think any of the teams in the tournament this year could compete on the level of the Fab Five – and I don’t think it would be close. C-Webb was probably the most successful NBA player to come from that group, but he wasn’t even the best college athlete on that team. That said, the UNLV team with Larry Johnson, et al., might have been the most exciting crop of pure “basketball players” since forever. They weren’t far removed time-wise from the Fab Five.

    Either way, I would pay to see teams like that play in college basketball again – those Duke, UK, Cincy teams too.

  32. 32.

    burnspbesq

    March 21, 2011 at 6:00 pm

    Well, I suppose this was inevitable.

    Pawlenty forms exploratory committee

  33. 33.

    Cris

    March 21, 2011 at 6:00 pm

    I prefer Jonathan Schwarz to Arthur Silber anyway. The former at least seems like he wishes things were better. Silber has that George Carlin “Fuck Hope” vibe going.

  34. 34.

    Lolis

    March 21, 2011 at 6:01 pm

    @Joe Beese:

    You are boring. Always.

  35. 35.

    burnspbesq

    March 21, 2011 at 6:02 pm

    @Legalize:

    The ultimate rejoinder to all of this Fab 5 nonsense was Grant Hill’s reminder that the Uncle Toms and bitches never lost to the Fab 5.

  36. 36.

    nancydarling

    March 21, 2011 at 6:03 pm

    @soonergrunt: Bless you for saying this.

  37. 37.

    Corner Stone

    March 21, 2011 at 6:03 pm

    @Cris: This is pure Ludacris.

  38. 38.

    4tehlulz

    March 21, 2011 at 6:04 pm

    Remember when basketball players knew how to play?

  39. 39.

    Cris

    March 21, 2011 at 6:05 pm

    @Legalize: Great points all around, and I’ll add that the final results of their Final Four appearances (losing to Duke and to UNC) showed that coaching still trumps talent.

  40. 40.

    JPL

    March 21, 2011 at 6:06 pm

    How bout that Pitt, Butler game? Will two teams from Richmond, VA make it to the elite 8? Nah…

  41. 41.

    gwangung

    March 21, 2011 at 6:06 pm

    AsianMNgrrl is probably too busy for this.

  42. 42.

    BGinCHI

    March 21, 2011 at 6:07 pm

    Anyone else hear Dennis Kucinich ranting about Obama and Libya?

    Any thoughts?

    I thought he made some really poor points about what’s going on in the NPR interview I heard last night. It’s like he was opposing the Iraq war, but transposing it to this conflict, as if there were absolutely NO differences.

    The devil is in those details, and I think he’s just making hay.

  43. 43.

    burnspbesq

    March 21, 2011 at 6:07 pm

    @4tehlulz:

    Some still do. Want to see fundamentally sound basketball played by elite athletes? Go to a WNBA game.

  44. 44.

    Corner Stone

    March 21, 2011 at 6:07 pm

    @CJ: It depends. Have you started wearing glasses with non prescription lenses? Do you find yourself nodding along as you read MattY? Do you know who MattY is?
    Then it’s probably a bad thing.

  45. 45.

    harokin

    March 21, 2011 at 6:08 pm

    @burnspbesq: I hate to say it, but I think the subtext of the documentary was that the Fab Five were the real thing while Duke and Carolina represented some kind of Ivan Drago white European machine. Heck, the Carolina team had “Henrik Rodl”.

  46. 46.

    Corner Stone

    March 21, 2011 at 6:09 pm

    @4tehlulz:
    __
    Some still do. Want to see fundamentally sound basketball played by elite athletes? Go to a WNBA game.

    Bring a chainsaw with you, or possibly a really strong pair of tree trimming shears.
    You’ll need it to gnaw your arm off so you can escape and salvage what’s left of your life.

  47. 47.

    joe from Lowell

    March 21, 2011 at 6:09 pm

    @Superluminar:

    Why are you providing spin for the protesters who are just as bad as the dictators? If we do nothing we will be morally superior!

    Too early, too early, my friend.

    The Yemeni government’s crackdown hasn’t reached the “mass slaughter of crowds with high explosives” stage yet, the protesters haven’t taken up arms in response, and – most critically – Obama is still calling for a peaceful transition of power.

    These protesters won’t become skeery Muslims – maybe linked to al Qaeda! Maybe! – and the overthrow of this prick Saleh wrought with terrifying consequences, for a few days yet.

  48. 48.

    burnspbesq

    March 21, 2011 at 6:09 pm

    @JPL:

    Shaka Smart is about to have multiple schools dangle long-term, multi-million dollar contracts in front of him. It’s prom night, and he’s the prom queen.

  49. 49.

    Cris

    March 21, 2011 at 6:09 pm

    @JPL: It’s a pity that the two late calls threaten to make officiating overshadow the game itself. More specifically: yes, the refs called two fouls in the final two seconds, both of which arguably determined the outcome; but omit the first one, and Butler is 1.4 seconds of defense away from winning anyway; omit the second, and it’s still overtime (not a regulation Pitt win).

    So yeah, I give credit to Butler for that game regardless of the “controversy.”

  50. 50.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    March 21, 2011 at 6:10 pm

    @joe from Lowell:

    I wonder how many front-page posts this will be worth?

    Did Stuck leave you his cross when he retired?

  51. 51.

    Mark S.

    March 21, 2011 at 6:11 pm

    @Legalize:

    That 1991 UNLV team with Johnson and Augmon would have slaughtered the Fab Five.

    Either way, I would pay to see teams like that play in college basketball again – those Duke, UK, Cincy teams too.

    That era is long gone. It used to be kind of rare for a junior to go pro, let alone a sophomore. I don’t blame the players at all, but it kind of sucks for a casual fan.

  52. 52.

    BGinCHI

    March 21, 2011 at 6:11 pm

    Gosh, Bill Kristol is right about everything!

    http://www.tnr.com/blog/jonathan-chait/85532/bill-kristol-and-neocon-newspeak

    I didn’t know half this stuff!

  53. 53.

    joe from Lowell

    March 21, 2011 at 6:11 pm

    @4tehlulz:

    Remember when basketball players knew how to play?

    Oh, come now. Compared to the 1990s, when everybody wanted to Be Like Mike and nobody could, today’s NBA is Bird vs. Magic writ large.

    Not only can people shoot, but centers can shoot. Shoot three-pointers.

  54. 54.

    soonergrunt

    March 21, 2011 at 6:11 pm

    @burnspbesq: But since nobody outside of Pawlenty’s family, the editorial staff of National Review, and a few of the more stupid denizens of the village will care, I’m not terribly worried about him.
    When I mentioned that Pawlenty had formed a committee, my lifelong Republican mother in law asked me who he was.

  55. 55.

    CJ

    March 21, 2011 at 6:12 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    I don’t even wear my actual prescription glasses anymore, so thankfully I don’t fit the criteria. I guess I just have a good eye for terrible gifts with which the internet has graced us.

  56. 56.

    soonergrunt

    March 21, 2011 at 6:13 pm

    @nancydarling: Thank you, Ma’am.

  57. 57.

    gene108

    March 21, 2011 at 6:13 pm

    @harokin: The biggest thing they changed was how coaches viewed recruiting. I don’t think coaches, before then, were pulling in huge 5 player classes. They were worried about impacting playing time for upperclassmen and spacing of scholarships, so they won’t lose an entire starting line up, once all those 5 players leave after their senior year.

    With the Fab five, Fisher took a risk (at the time) by signing 5 great players in the exact same class. Then a bigger risk by starting all 5 freshman.

    It did change how the college game was played.

    UNLV’s teams were awesome. I so wish they had won back-to-back titles and gone undefeated in 1991. I really like the way Tarkanian coached. He was aggressive. I also liked how upfront he was regarding money and college sports.

    Too bad folks are keeping him out of the Hall of Fame. I think he’s the only coach with 700+ wins and a National Title, not in the Hall of Fame.

  58. 58.

    Corner Stone

    March 21, 2011 at 6:14 pm

    @CJ: Ok then. For now we’ll categorize you as trending hipster.

  59. 59.

    Cris

    March 21, 2011 at 6:15 pm

    @Mark S.: That 1991 UNLV team with Johnson and Augmon would have slaughtered the Fab Five.

    The 1991 Runnin’ Rebels could have stood their ground against most of the NBA.

  60. 60.

    burnspbesq

    March 21, 2011 at 6:16 pm

    @harokin:

    In fairness to Jalen Rose (who deserves to be treated fairly), the “Uncle Toms and bitches” line represented what he thought as a high school senior who wasn’t recruited by Duke. It seems clear that he no longer believes that, but that part of the message got garbled. In fact, Duke recruited the heck out of Chris Webber (one of the many ironies in this whole tale is that Chris Webber, the so-called epitome of street cred, is a graduate of Detroit Country Day, which is about as establishment as it gets).

  61. 61.

    kdaug

    March 21, 2011 at 6:16 pm

    @CJ: It’s all because of you.

  62. 62.

    General Stuck

    March 21, 2011 at 6:16 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead:

    You mean like the infamous fuckhead/Cole kissy make up birthday thread. Not really a cross, more like your very own toady stool.

  63. 63.

    joe from Lowell

    March 21, 2011 at 6:17 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead:

    Did Stuck leave you his cross when he retired?

    You’re right, I’m making the whole thing up. I just imagined being called out on the front page multiple times in the last two days.

    That never really happened.

  64. 64.

    burnspbesq

    March 21, 2011 at 6:17 pm

    @Cris:

    The 1991 Runnin’ Rebels could have stood their ground against most of the NBA.

    I think you mean the 1990 UNLV team. We beat the 1991 UNLV team.

  65. 65.

    Corner Stone

    March 21, 2011 at 6:17 pm

    @Cris:

    The 1991 Runnin’ Rebels could have stood their ground against most of the NBA.

    C’mon Cris! And I thought your rap was Ludacris, this statement reminds me of ESPN fluffing a couple of the recent Pete Carrol USC teams. Saying they could beat an NFL team.
    Absolutely out of the question.

  66. 66.

    soonergrunt

    March 21, 2011 at 6:19 pm

    @Corner Stone: Particularly if the glasses are ugly.
    Also, if you own or want a Fixie, or know what one is without googling it.
    And if you wear Chuck Taylor high tops with your tweed jacket and you’re under the age of 35, or if you’ve EVER done anything simply because it was ‘ironic.’

  67. 67.

    BGinCHI

    March 21, 2011 at 6:20 pm

    @Corner Stone: Tell you one thing, last night my Boilermakers couldn’t have beat a team of well-organized 8th graders.

  68. 68.

    PurpleGirl

    March 21, 2011 at 6:21 pm

    This coming Friday (March 25) is the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. In half an hour, starting at about 4:45 p.m., the fire started and killed 146 people — 12 men and 134 women, mostly teenagers and early 20s, Italian and Jewish immigrants. This fire was the direct event behind the passage of some 52 worker safety and factory condition laws in NYS. Frances Perkins, FDR’s Secretary of Labor, said the New Deal started on March 25, 1911. In this time of union retrenchment, it is important to remember those events that led to the legal settings for worker safety, among other things. In NYS, it became illegal to employ anyone under the age of 14. The Republicans who want to turn back child labor laws should reflect deeply on the events of March 25, 1911.

  69. 69.

    soonergrunt

    March 21, 2011 at 6:21 pm

    @BGinCHI: Neither does Bill Kristol.

  70. 70.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    March 21, 2011 at 6:24 pm

    @joe from Lowell:

    You’re right, I’m making the whole thing up. I just imagined being called out on the front page multiple times in the last two days.

    My heart breaks for you. I got called out on the front page once and I’m still trying to recover from it.

  71. 71.

    burnspbesq

    March 21, 2011 at 6:24 pm

    And after all the foolishness about how dominant the Big East was this season, lo and behold the Big East has the same amount of teams in the Sweet 16 as the Mountain West. Which is one fewer than the ACC.

  72. 72.

    Cris

    March 21, 2011 at 6:25 pm

    @burnspbesq: Yep, you’re right. They were both pretty darned impressive.

    @Corner Stone: Yep, you’re right. Definitely an overstatement.

  73. 73.

    trollhattan

    March 21, 2011 at 6:26 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    Across Amurka, reporters and editors are cursing having to correctly spell “Pawlenty” for a whole year. (Although autocorrect can help if you don’t often write about dogs and cats.) Bloggers, as usual, won’t worry.

    I’m not sure I can tell he and Paul Ryan apart. Are they the same dude?

  74. 74.

    Dee Loralei

    March 21, 2011 at 6:26 pm

    Since this is an open thread: I saw “Paul” Saturday night. Was a pretty amusing way to spend two hours getting my geek freak on. If y’all liked “Shaun of the Dead”, or “HotFuzz”, you’ll like this. Or if you like roadtrip buddy movies, or silly sci-fi, you’ll like it.

  75. 75.

    stuckinred

    March 21, 2011 at 6:26 pm

    @Cris: And they took a pay cut when they went there.

  76. 76.

    Cris

    March 21, 2011 at 6:27 pm

    @burnspbesq: That’s a little bit unfair, since the seeding resulted in two Big East teams being eliminated by two other Big East teams.

  77. 77.

    soonergrunt

    March 21, 2011 at 6:28 pm

    @trollhattan: One is less impressive and more boring than the other one, who is even more full of shit than him.

    You don’t need to thank me for sorting this out for you. I’m here to help.

  78. 78.

    trollhattan

    March 21, 2011 at 6:28 pm

    @soonergrunt:

    I’ve been waiting for a special occasion to share.

    http://hipsterhitler.com/

  79. 79.

    soonergrunt

    March 21, 2011 at 6:28 pm

    @Dee Loralei: I’m going to see it this weekend.

  80. 80.

    Joel

    March 21, 2011 at 6:31 pm

    @soonergrunt: i heart this comment.

  81. 81.

    joe from Lowell

    March 21, 2011 at 6:31 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead:

    My heart breaks for you.

    Pfft. Like you have a heart.

    I got called out on the front page once and I’m still trying to recover from it.

    Once? Poor baby.

  82. 82.

    burnspbesq

    March 21, 2011 at 6:32 pm

    @Cris:

    Arguably, but this is woofing, not the writing of appellate briefs. Different rules apply.

  83. 83.

    Cris

    March 21, 2011 at 6:33 pm

    @burnspbesq: Different rules apply.

    Maybe I should retract my Rebs-vs-NBA retraction then.

  84. 84.

    Joel

    March 21, 2011 at 6:33 pm

    @harokin: You can’t overlook Eric Montross. I certainly wish the Celtics had.

  85. 85.

    freelancer

    March 21, 2011 at 6:34 pm

    And so, despite his doubts and dithering, President Obama is taking us to war in another Muslim country. Good for him.

    Wow. Just wow, Kristol.

  86. 86.

    eemom

    March 21, 2011 at 6:34 pm

    this is a weird thread. Dead horse beating interspersed with basketball shit.

    ETA: so is Duke still in this thing?

  87. 87.

    Joel

    March 21, 2011 at 6:36 pm

    @joe from Lowell: The college game is generally terrible, however. The best players jet early and who can blame them! Many wouldn’t go to college at all if David Stern weren’t such a douchebag.

  88. 88.

    joe from Lowell

    March 21, 2011 at 6:36 pm

    How long before we see a Birther blog assert that Obama is supporting the Libyan protesters for reasons having to do with the tribal or ethnic group from which he is, allegedly, descended?

  89. 89.

    Hypnos

    March 21, 2011 at 6:36 pm

    What could possibly be an interesting study regarding Libya:
    http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2005/RAND_MG304.sum.pdf

    The study analyzed 8 peacekeeping operations undertaken by the UN, and 8 by the US.

    7 of the UN’s were now stable and at peace, as opposed to only 4 of the US’s.

    So there might be a point to international collaboration.

  90. 90.

    soonergrunt

    March 21, 2011 at 6:38 pm

    @trollhattan: You should be punished for both reading that, and linking it.

  91. 91.

    joe from Lowell

    March 21, 2011 at 6:38 pm

    @Joel:

    The college game is generally terrible, however.

    You know, I’ll just have to take your word for that. The only college basketball I ever watch is a few March Madness games, usually just the finals, so I’m seeing the best of the best.

    It makes sense what you write, though.

  92. 92.

    burnspbesq

    March 21, 2011 at 6:39 pm

    @eemom:

    ETA: so is Duke still in this thing?

    Men and women. Women play in 20 minutes, men play Thursday night (and I will be in attendance).

  93. 93.

    Joel

    March 21, 2011 at 6:39 pm

    @soonergrunt: there is a subset of fixed gear bike riders who are not hipsters. Like this guy, for example. All that changed around ~2002 or so.

  94. 94.

    soonergrunt

    March 21, 2011 at 6:40 pm

    @joe from Lowell: 3,2,1…

  95. 95.

    joe from Lowell

    March 21, 2011 at 6:40 pm

    @soonergrunt:

    You should be punished for both reading that, and linking it

    I get the “hipster” part: I totally couldn’t tell when I’d reached the punch line.

  96. 96.

    Karen

    March 21, 2011 at 6:40 pm

    Every time I read Balloon Juice there’s always something I’m out of the loop of. Who is Rebecca Black and why should she matter to me?

    I’m all for the brackets and basketball because I have no interest in it. It’s better than the crying I’ll do in April when the Mets blow it, yet again.

  97. 97.

    soonergrunt

    March 21, 2011 at 6:41 pm

    @Joel: Well, it figures. And not everyone who has ugly glasses has them because they are hipsters. Some people come by their lack of taste or aesthetics honestly.

  98. 98.

    Southern Beale

    March 21, 2011 at 6:41 pm

    Sarah Palin aborts visit to Bethlehem, didn’t realize it was in Palestine.

    Jeeeeeeezus. Efffin. Keeeee-rist.

  99. 99.

    trollhattan

    March 21, 2011 at 6:41 pm

    @soonergrunt:

    I’ve been punished, but ironically!

  100. 100.

    burnspbesq

    March 21, 2011 at 6:42 pm

    @Karen:

    It’s better than the crying I’ll do in April when the Mets blow it, yet again.

    Today is a good day to be a Mets fan. Ollie is gone!

  101. 101.

    soonergrunt

    March 21, 2011 at 6:42 pm

    @Joel: Thanks.

  102. 102.

    Cris

    March 21, 2011 at 6:43 pm

    @Karen: Who is Rebecca Black and why should she matter to me?

    She shouldn’t.

  103. 103.

    arguingwithsignposts

    March 21, 2011 at 6:43 pm

    Fuck all the north carolina teams. there. i said it. hate away.

  104. 104.

    trollhattan

    March 21, 2011 at 6:44 pm

    @Southern Beale:

    Bless The Telegraph’s headline writers for their delicious snark– “Sarah Palin aborts…”

  105. 105.

    BGinCHI

    March 21, 2011 at 6:44 pm

    @Joel: Extra stupid points for this comment.

    Go watch HGTV and STFU.

  106. 106.

    joe from Lowell

    March 21, 2011 at 6:44 pm

    @Southern Beale:

    didn’t realize it was in Palestine.

    There’s also the possibility she’s a complete chicken shit.

    ETA: Oh oh oh! “I can see Russia from my manger.”

  107. 107.

    jl

    March 21, 2011 at 6:45 pm

    I have *bracketed* some time after work to listen the *Rebecca Black*’s Friday song (which I did not know about until I read Commie Comrade DougJ Hill Stalin’s post.

    If my ears bleed and my head explodes, it is on his head.

    But, given the way work has gone lately a song that goes ‘Friday Friday Saturday Sunday, etc or something like that should be just what I need.

  108. 108.

    pragmatism

    March 21, 2011 at 6:45 pm

    @burnspbesq:but they still owe him $12M

  109. 109.

    Cris

    March 21, 2011 at 6:45 pm

    @Southern Beale: didn’t realize it was in Palestine.

    Philistine!

  110. 110.

    burnspbesq

    March 21, 2011 at 6:45 pm

    @arguingwithsignposts:

    Fuck all the north carolina teams. there. i said it. hate away.

    I didn’t realize you were a Maryland alum.

  111. 111.

    soonergrunt

    March 21, 2011 at 6:45 pm

    @Southern Beale: Sarah Palin aborts…
    nope. not gonna do it.

    BTW–how many hipsters does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    It’s a really obscure number, and you wouldn’t understand it.

  112. 112.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    March 21, 2011 at 6:46 pm

    Once?

    It was the first time it had ever been done, douchebag, so it was unexpected and horrifying, kinda like getting eaten by a tiger you raised from a cub. There was only three of us back then, two if you don’t count John. It was John frontpaging and me and his mom reading and commenting. She was all like, you go boy-look my son is an internet superstar-I taught him that word-call me this evening snickerdoodle! and I was completely new to blogs, unaware of etiquette. Heck, I only stumbled onto the blog by accident, after doing a search for “anal midgets”, but I was hooked just as quickly as I was disappointed there weren’t any naked midgets playing with each other’s asses.

    I’d never seen such a warped conservative mind (until I met you Joe) and I could barely stop myself from reading each agonizingly stupid word. Finally, after weeks of this, I just snapped one day and said “Where are the naked midgets, asshole?!”. His mom fainted dead away and he frontpaged me.

    Sigh. It’s been all downhill from there.

  113. 113.

    burnspbesq

    March 21, 2011 at 6:46 pm

    @pragmatism:

    We’re much better off paying him $12 million to not play than we would be if we were paying him $12 million to play.

    Let’s see the Madoff trustee try to grab that $.

  114. 114.

    Cris

    March 21, 2011 at 6:48 pm

    @jl: But, given the way work has gone lately a song that goes ‘Friday Friday Saturday Sunday, etc or something like that should be just what I need.

    Go here instead.

  115. 115.

    BGinCHI

    March 21, 2011 at 6:48 pm

    @Southern Beale: Just leading with “Sarah Palin Aborts….” is classic.

    Ran out of synonyms I guess.

  116. 116.

    MattR

    March 21, 2011 at 6:48 pm

    @Karen: @burnspbesq: Something for you to enjoy.

  117. 117.

    Joel

    March 21, 2011 at 6:49 pm

    @BGinCHI: From where I’m standing, this year’s draft class rates somewhere around the 2006 class, maybe a little worse.

  118. 118.

    srv

    March 21, 2011 at 6:50 pm

    @Joel: And another set of us who could never fix our broken derailleurs back in the 80’s (in fact, I still can’t). Back when people would call your messenger bag a “man purse.”

  119. 119.

    The Dangerman

    March 21, 2011 at 6:50 pm

    @Cris:

    The 1991 Runnin’ Rebels could have stood their ground against most of the NBA.

    They would have been blown out by the Cavaliers; two different games.

    Best college basketball team I ever saw had nothing to do with success in the Pros: 1995 UCLA Bruins (yes, I’m biased, alma mater and all). Proof: They lost arguably the most important position on the floor (the point, Edney) and still blew out Arkansas.

  120. 120.

    BGinCHI

    March 21, 2011 at 6:50 pm

    For those of you looking to join a band:

    http://www.dead-philosophers.com/?p=605

  121. 121.

    burnspbesq

    March 21, 2011 at 6:50 pm

    @MattR:

    Those guys have a great ad agency. The last time I was in NY, I saw one of their ads that said “If you store your stuff in Jersey, it will come back Republican.”

  122. 122.

    pragmatism

    March 21, 2011 at 6:50 pm

    @burnspbesq: lol re: madoff. its amazing that ollie perez once commanded that type of coin. he’s mental.

  123. 123.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    March 21, 2011 at 6:51 pm

    @Southern Beale:

    Damn you beat me, I was just about to post that Jeebus Christ on a moped indeed. “Geography is hard” squeaks Palin Barbie.

  124. 124.

    soonergrunt

    March 21, 2011 at 6:52 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead: That is the funniest shit I’ve read all day.

    Finally, after weeks of this, I just snapped one day and said “Where are the naked midgets, asshole?!”. His mom fainted dead away and he frontpaged me.

  125. 125.

    BGinCHI

    March 21, 2011 at 6:53 pm

    @Joel: I wouldn’t judged the college game like that, honestly.

    Come on, the beauty of college b-ball these days is that in the Tournament (and during the regular season) you have these giant programs going down regularly to small schools with almost no national name recognition. The parity is amazing.

    Compare to college football, which has shit for parity (relatively speaking). It’s just a lot easier to field a b-ball team and to make it function.

  126. 126.

    Joe Beese

    March 21, 2011 at 6:54 pm

    @ J-Lowe:

    How long before we see a Birther blog assert that Obama is supporting the Libyan protesters for reasons having to do with the tribal or ethnic group from which he is, allegedly, descended?

    The way you can tell Obama isn’t a Muslim is because he kills so many of them.

  127. 127.

    Barb (formerly Gex)

    March 21, 2011 at 6:55 pm

    @burnspbesq: I can’t wait until the Tea Party – GOP showdown really heats up. I think it will be Pawlenty and Bachmann starting the ground war here in Minnesota.

  128. 128.

    Southern Beale

    March 21, 2011 at 6:55 pm

    WOOT! ACLU lawsuit challenging Bush wiretapping is BACK ON bay-beees….

  129. 129.

    joe from Lowell

    March 21, 2011 at 6:55 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead: I’m even willing to let your pointless insult (“conservative?” really?) go, because I can’t believe that YOU’RE REALLY THE “WHERE ARE THE NAKED MIDGETS, ASSHOLE?” GUY!

    Wow!

  130. 130.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    March 21, 2011 at 6:57 pm

    @soonergrunt: Back then, his nickname was “Chunkier Bobo” and I think one of the reasons he went left is so he could be known as the Svelte Michael Moore.

  131. 131.

    taylormattd

    March 21, 2011 at 6:57 pm

    @soonergrunt: You see, sooner, if Obama did it, it is wrong.

    By contrast, if Hillary had done and said literally the same thing, she would be a tough, seasoned fighter doing the right thing.

  132. 132.

    joe from Lowell

    March 21, 2011 at 6:58 pm

    @Joe Beese: Lolis was right.

    They should read your comments to insomniacs.

  133. 133.

    JPL

    March 21, 2011 at 6:58 pm

    @Karen: She is a girl who recorded a song on youtube. Because it is sooooo bad, it went viral. It’s bad enough that I’m not linking to it. She’s been on morning talk shows and such.

  134. 134.

    taylormattd

    March 21, 2011 at 7:03 pm

    @joe from Lowell: are you trying to give the insomniacs night terrors?

  135. 135.

    soonergrunt

    March 21, 2011 at 7:04 pm

    @JPL: But I’ll link it, cause that’s just how I roll.
    She’s a 13-year-old kid who wrote this awesomely horrible song that she actually sings fairly not super horribly.

  136. 136.

    Corner Stone

    March 21, 2011 at 7:05 pm

    @BGinCHI:

    Go watch HGTV and STFU.

    Hey! I watch HGTV and the STFU channels all the time!

  137. 137.

    joe from Lowell

    March 21, 2011 at 7:10 pm

    @BGinCHI:

    Go watch HGTV and STFU.

    All right, smart guy. I just got off the phone with Comcast.

    I want you to explain why they laughed and hung up on me RIGHT NOW!

  138. 138.

    BGinCHI

    March 21, 2011 at 7:13 pm

    @Corner Stone:
    @joe from Lowell:

    You gotta get that channel. It’s a little Sicilian guy on a loop who tells you to stop “breaking his balls,” then he tells you to “Shut the Fuck Up!”

    The latter phrase of course you say with him like in a suburban Irish bar at singalong time and then you drink a shot of vodka.

    I thought everybody knew about this.

  139. 139.

    Martin

    March 21, 2011 at 7:16 pm

    @Southern Beale: Heh. You know some editor went out of their way to use ‘abort’ in that headline.

  140. 140.

    Tax Analyst

    March 21, 2011 at 7:27 pm

    @General Stuck:

    Going to the doctor for me, is like an acrophobic going out for a Bungee jump.

    Got yah beat. For me, going to the doctor is like an agoraphobic acrophobic going to Bungee Jump into a crowded hospital waiting room.

  141. 141.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    March 21, 2011 at 7:50 pm

    Go VCU!!! Make em eat their words!

  142. 142.

    WaterGirl

    March 21, 2011 at 7:53 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead: Link or it didn’t happen? :-)

    Edit: Just being silly, not snarky. It’s is a great story, and I would love to see the thread you are talking about.

  143. 143.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    March 21, 2011 at 8:39 pm

    @Fuck U6: A More Accurate Measure of the Total Amount of Duck-Fuckery in the Economy: Have you noticed how hot the Ratz’s personal secretary is? In that sort of elegant, teutonic, gay monsignor kind of way, that is. Coincidence? One wonders.

  144. 144.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    March 21, 2011 at 8:44 pm

    @soonergrunt: So very true. Thank you for making that important point.

    @BGinCHI: I agree that he’s trying to make hay. Only Sherrod Brown and Marcy Kaptur fail to embarrass Ohio, it seems.

  145. 145.

    Anne Laurie

    March 21, 2011 at 8:49 pm

    @trollhattan:

    I’m not sure I can tell he and Paul Ryan apart. Are they the same dude?

    If my notes are correct, Ryan’s the one who looks like Eddie Munster grown up to be an insurance adjuster. Pawlenty is the one who looks like Eddie Haskell after the DWI incident that left him permanently brain-damaged.

  146. 146.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    March 21, 2011 at 8:52 pm

    @a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): You think he’s hot there, you shoulda seen him when he was 10.

  147. 147.

    Anne Laurie

    March 21, 2011 at 8:57 pm

    @BGinCHI:

    Anyone else hear Dennis Kucinich ranting about Obama and Libya?
    __
    Any thoughts?

    For the first 18 months after he came to live with us, our dog Zevon had to walk carefully around a pool at the base of the back stairs every time it rained. By the end of a very rainy summer, Zeev had started to make an exaggerated loop around the low spot even when it was perfectly dry. Now it’s been 3 years and counting since the hardscaping was redone, and our other two dogs don’t even remember the Rainy Day Puddle, but Zevon is still looping carefully around the area where he once got his paws wet.

    Denny the K is gonna be complaining about the Bush-made puddle at the base of America’s political stoop long after the rest of America has forgotten the difference between ‘Iraq’ and ‘Iran’ again (assuming most Americans ever knew, or cared).

  148. 148.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    March 21, 2011 at 8:59 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead: While I’m proud to be known colloquially as Mrs. Robinson, I’ll skip the kiddo views of Georg, thanks. College ones, however…

    @Southern Beale: It’s not like we didn’t know she’s an idiot. She shoulda let the Republican Jewish Coalition plan her trip, but she got pissed cause Frum called her dim.

  149. 149.

    Gian

    March 21, 2011 at 9:33 pm

    @Cris:

    Givem how the big east played against other conferences, playing against other big east teams was the best way to have two teams left in for the sweet sixteen. Maybe next year they’ll be so “dominant” they can get 12 teams in and lose to another play-in team like VCU beating Georgetown…
    I know Georgetown was soo tired after the big east tourney, and VCU was fresh as a daisy after the play-in game, right?
    and the first #1 seed to drop was Big East.

  150. 150.

    Yutsano

    March 22, 2011 at 1:20 am

    @gwangung: A) ME. WANNA. GO!!

    B) Are you featured?

  151. 151.

    Paul in KY

    March 22, 2011 at 10:52 am

    @Cris: I don’t know about that. They were a great college team, though. One of the best ever, IMO.

  152. 152.

    Paul in KY

    March 22, 2011 at 10:57 am

    @Joel: All those ‘fixie’ riders must ride on flat terrain. Around Central KY, you need & want all those icky gears.

  153. 153.

    Paul in KY

    March 22, 2011 at 11:03 am

    @The Dangerman: 96 UK team would have wiped the floor with them. No John Wooden around to intimidate the officials.

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