TicketsSome days you wake up and know today is going to be a good day. If you can't be happy about perfect weather conditions, the excitement of St. Patrick's Day and return of the Bearcats to the NCAA tournament you need to do some soul searching.
Win, lose or draw tonight, this season, in particular the last month, has been one of the most enjoyable rides to witness since I started covering sports professionally eight years ago. There's nothing like seeing players and staff enjoy success like this for the first time.
As I was watching Yancy Gates, Ibrahima Thomas and Darnell Wilks sit in front of the media at the Verizon Center presser yesterday, I couldn't help but think back to so many press conferences in the Fifth Third Arena media room where it would be Bill Koch, Chad Brendel from Bearcat Lair, myself and Rufus from Fox19. That would be it. Now, they worked their way up to a room packed with national media wanting to hear their story. Well deserved, even if the Gates-Cronin relationship story has officially reached overkill mode.
Let's eat...
--- People will play up the experience element when comparing UC and Missouri since the Tigers have won at least one game in the tournament each of the past two years, including an Elite Eight run two years ago. The Columbia Tribune points out Missouri will be the last team to view that as an advantage. When they made their deep tournament run they only had one player, a senior walk-on, who'd ever played in an NCAA tourney game.
--- Dan Hoard and Tommy G with some game breakdown and the search for a dancing Chuck Machock from the Verizon Center. Good stuff on GoBearcats.com.
--- Dan mentions during his piece what I wrote about yesterday afternoon, that was Cashmere Wright as the most important player on the floor for UC tonight.
Missouri's goal will be to turn the Bearcats over and much of that will fall on Wright's shoulders. Wright's shown he will be one of the better point guards in UC history by the time he leaves here with his play this season, but its come with some ups and downs. An up tonight should equal victory for UC.
--- If you missed a special edition of Bearcats Sports Weekly yesterday, I recommend watching it online. Great line from Biggie thanks to interviewer Larry Davis -- who hopefully doesn't take my job upon graduation -- on going to the NCAA tournament: "I've been through hell now I'm going to heaven."
--- Random nugget: Every team UC lost to this season is in the NCAA tournament.
--- WLWT talks about UC coming out of the shadow of Bob Huggins. Hopefully we can now put this storyline to rest.
--- Geoge Vogel with some great behind-the-scenes video from UC's locker room session with the media yesterday including Sean Kilpatrick doing some imitations and Cashmere Wright so happy he could barely put it into words. No doubt, the Cats are loose.
--- Dan Steinberg of DC Sports Bog called it one the most boisterous locker rooms he's seen at an NCAA tournament. Here's LD and Cash doing their Mick Cronin impressions.
--- Some more info on the Tigers frenetic pressure.
--- There wasn't a ton of question about this in my mind, but Yancy Gates assured Bill Koch that he will be returning for his senior season.
--- Mike DeCourcy made an appearance on Bearcats Sports Weekly and also wrote this piece on the rebuilding of the program. The standard fantastic stuff from Mike.
--- With UC back in the NCAA tournament they now join the large contigent of power conferences attempting to maintain and thrive while turning over personnel and coaches. Great piece from SI.
--- Today's tournament viewing guide! Hide your kids, hide your wife.
--- Watch the tournament, '>don't get in trouble by your boss. Win-win.
--- As for today's randomness, there is no reason to think about anything but the NCAA tournament. So, of course, and once again, One Shining Moment. Because they make me happy.