Poor North Carolina freshman Andrew Madlon. He flew too close to the sun on wings of stupid.

Andrew Madlon, a freshman at the University of North Carolina, found himself crowd surfing on Franklin Street after the Tar Heels' semifinal victory Saturday over Villanova. "I was sort of up there for five or 10 seconds, and the crowd just ran out and I got dropped into the bonfire," he recalled.

Madlon's right forearm landed on the hot coals. "I actually didn't think it was that bad at first," he said. He had second-degree burns. Dirt from the coals lodged in his skin, leading to an infection that required surgery and a type of biological Band-Aid made from pig skin.

Yeah, this wasn't even the result of Monday's championship game victory over Michigan State; Madlon was out of action after the semifinals. And now he has a pig arm. It's sad, really.

More amusing photos here ... UNC students are mesmerized by fire!

Student Burned In Franklin Street Bonfire [WRAL]

The ELP are girding for unbridled mayhem tonight whether Michigan State pulls out a win over North Carolina in the championship game or not. They're deploying about 230 officers on the streets of East Lansing. Lowering expectations is a game that this department plays well; here's what they described as "peaceful" following Saturday's MSU win over UConn:

People were arrested for a variety of offenses, including throwing objects, indecent exposure, attempted arson and assault. Several couches were set on fire shortly after MSU's win, but were quickly extinguished.

Authorities say several couch fires were extinguished in the 500 block of Stoddard. They also responded to reports of students hanging off street lamps.

By comparison, there were only 24 arrests made in 1999 in what CBS News described as "a riot" following the Spartans' loss to Duke in the semifinals.

What can stem the mayhem this time? Don't worry, everyone; Mitch Albom is doing all he can to dampen the mood:

It will not save us. No basketball game can do that. No matter who wins Monday night, Tuesday morning the jobs still will be gone, the factories still silent and empty, the houses still for sale or abandoned altogether. The out-of-town media who see a national championship tonight at Ford Field as some uplifting salve for downtrodden Detroit are a bit misdirected.

My big question in all of this: Where the hell is Robocop?

MSU Die-Hards Revel In Saturday Win, Gear Up For Monday Night [Detroit Free Press]
East Lansing Police: 60 Arrested In 'Peaceful' Celebration [Lansing State Journal]
EL Police Brace For Title Game [Lansing State Journal]
Pride Not Pity Should Be Detroit's Finals Legacy [Detroit Free Press]

I was going to write up a Final Four preview, and then I checked out Storming The Floor, and I realized that their Final Four preview is far better than anything I could come up with, so check it out. It's sure to be a fun night of basketball and, God forbid you're anything like me, booze.

****

Thank you for allowing me into your homes and hearts today. The estimable Dashiell Bennett will be here tomorrow, so you know it's gonna be good. Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold.

STF's Final Four Breakdown [Storming The Floor]

In Sunday's Albany Times Union, one Ohio man lets the paper know that the rowdy Saints fans upset the delicate sensibilities of many people present at UD Arena during the first two rounds of the tournament.

Thank God Siena fans have left Dayton, Ohio! Your local fans were anything but saints when they were in Dayton for the NCAA Tournament. The students were drunk, rude and profane. Worst yet, the adults, alumni and parents were just as bad. Thank the UD Arena security officer's restraint for not throwing all of them out on Sunday. Fans cursed out security officers and other fans. The yelling of the "F" word in front of elderly and young children was unbelievable. Is it like this at home or is this just a gift to those they visit? Louisville spared Indy. Don't come back!

Gene Jarman
West Carrollton, Ohio

So it's not only the students that were drunk and rude — it was the parents and alumni as well? Yelling the despicable "F" word in front of the children! And the elderly! What kind of people are they building in Loudonville, NY? Definitely not the type of people that write strongly-worded letters to out-of-state newspapers to complain, that's for sure.

Siena fans no Saints in Ohio [ATU]

Also, a special thank you goes out this morning to the guy who works in the Verizon store in San Mateo, who blurted out the result of the Pittsburgh-Villanova game even though I had said earlier that I was recording it. Jerk.

Check out the video below, in which Miller is featured in an early ESPN remote — Berman must have been busy that day — a few years before becoming the star point guard for his father John's Blackhawk High School team in Chippewa Township, Pennsylvania. He also went on to become Big East Freshman of the Year in 1988, leading Pitt to three NCAA Tournament appearances before becoming a coach.

The Panthers knocked Miller and his Xavier Musketeers out of the tournament last night, 60-55.

Of course ESPN was about seven years late with this story; Miller appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson when he was five, doing pretty much the same tricks.

Xavier Coach Sean Miller Was A Basketball Phenom, ESPN, Video [NESW Sports]

2) Forest Whitaker lied to you Or at least stretched the truth. For reasons that escape me, Forest Whitaker was featured this year in a Big East commercial which ran during every single commercial break during every single Big East regional game. The Fast Times star rambles through about 40 different facts explaining how impressive the Big East looks this year and has been throughout the history of the conference. While I don't dispute that opinion, I do dispute the fact that at one point, the Bloodsport actor makes the claim that 15 teams in the conference have reached the Final Four, including Pitt. Yeah, and Battlefield Earth was a great movie. The truth is, Pitt did reach a semi-final of a tournament in 1941. Problem is, there were only 8 teams in the whole bracket. Does winning one game in a tournament that featured Creighton really count as making the Final Four? Forest, does that mean simply getting into the tournament means Pitt has been to an Elite 8? No, sadly, it doesn't. A win on Thursday takes Pitt to uncharted territory. Following that, in the event of a win over either 'Nova or Duke on Saturday and I'd like to retract this section of this article. I'd also like my $8 back from Vantage Point.

3) Senioritis Hopefully it's not kicking in yet for any of the 3 graduating seniors from the starting 5 of this year's team. But while some local journalistic dolts claim that Levance Fields, Sam Young and Tyrell Biggs' departure, coupled with a possible early exit to the NBA by DeJuan Blair, spells doom for Jamie Dixon and the Panthers next year, others are looking to a brighter future. Highly acclaimed forward Dante Taylor joins the Panthers next year, the first to sport the title of McDonald's All-American for Pitt in 20 years. Some other key players to next years team are also helping to fuel their current run in this years tournament. Gilbert Brown might be the most athletic player on the court at any given time, freshman Ashton Gibbs led the conference for a while in 3 point % and Brad Wanamaker is a solid 2 guard. Match them with current starting guard Jermaine Dixon, and you have a very solid starting 5. Because of Jamie Dixon's willingness to go deep into his bench, the Panthers have been able to bring along the future of their program, while remaining a....I can't do this anymore. I'm sorry. I'm only writing this section as a way to soften the blow of another possible let down. If this team can't get the job done, I don't think we'll ever see a Pitt team in the Final Four. — WhoWantsaWanstacheRide (The Mosh Pitt)

XAVIER MUSKETEERS

1) Coaching audition? Inevitably, the story line that will get beaten into the ground leading up to Thursday night will be Head Coach Sean Miller squaring off against his alma mater. Miller was a Pitt guard from 1987-1992, was the Big East Freshman of the year in '88, and hit Jerome Lane in transition en route to that famed backboard breaking jam, which of course sent Bill Raftery into hysterics. If for some reason Jamie Dixon ever bolts for another gig, Miller will immediately be the number one candidate to fill the vacancy.

2) Better with age As a freshman in 2005, B.J. Raymond did little to suggest he was ever going to have a substantial impact on the program. He played only 12 minutes a game and shot a lackluster 30.6 percent from deep. But fast forward to 2009 and Raymond is the face of Xavier's second consecutive trip to the Sweet 16. He leads the team in points (14.1), minutes (30.1) and free throw percentage (80). He's also improved his range tremendously, finishing fourth in the Atlantic 10 in three pointers made. You might remember him as the player who made this frightening face after delivering the knockout three pointer against West Virginia in last year's regional semi-final.

3) They should have an "X" factor, right? With roles clearly defined and exciting aberration performances from bench players few and far between, this year's team has been fairly predictable to watch. In March though it usually takes a role player to incite an upset, so take heed of the name Jamel McLean. Derrick Brown aside, he's the team's most athletic player and was second in blocks despite averaging only 17 minutes of floor time. He's listed at 6'8", but that is very, very generous. He also likes to dunk! Something often absent in an XU game. — Searching For Billy Edelin

(NCAA buckets. Duh.)

Today has pretty much been a snoozer as far as basketball action is concerned. That may all change tonight during the NCAA's evening sessions.

Purdue vs. Washington, 5:40 PM, Portland. You gotta fight! For the right! To get demolished by UConn next week!

North Carolina vs. LSU, 5:45 PM, Greensboro, NC. The North Carolina schools' annual NCAA tournament tour of North Carolina's arenas continue. Will Hansbrough ever close his mouth and/or get a rebound? Tune in to find out!

Oklahoma vs. Michigan, 5:50 PM, Kansas City. Will Michigan avenge their 1976 Orange Bowl loss to Oklahoma? Tune in to find out!.

Gonzaga vs. Western Kentucky, 8:10 PM, Portland. Chicago sports radio host Dan Bernstein has a theory that every year in the NCAA tournament, one of the Cinderella teams has red jerseys. Is Western Kentucky this year's Crazy Red Team? Tune in to find out!

Duke vs. Texas, 8:15 PM, Greensboro. Tonight, we are all Texans. Hook 'em, Horns!

Possibly because Bill Clinton's personal assistant is not a former Duke basketball star, Clinton didn't get into as much detail as Obama did with his picks. However, he did prove that the political instincts that have gotten him into and out of much trouble over the years are alive and well, despite the fact that Clinton isn't, as far as I know, running for any political office.

Clinton, college basketball fan, and Carville, political strategist, went through the lineup.

"Who have you got in the Final Four?" Carville asked Clinton.

""Louisville, Memphis, Pittsburgh and North Carolina," Clinton said. "Or Louisville [versus] Connecticut. I can't tell. Memphis may have a good enough defense, but they're skinny, so U Conn can probably match up against them and I think they'll get by."

Clinton went on to predict a Louisville-North Carolina final, with the Cardinals emerging from a tight contest as National Champions.

"Louisville was so good to us the last go 'round I kind of think Louisville will win," the former president said. "But North Carolina I still believe, you know, they sort of show up sometimes and sometimes they don't.

Seriously, Prez, you're not in office anymore. It's OK to take a stand one way or another. But then again, President Clinton's been saying wacky things for years.

Former President Clinton Weighs In On The NCAA Tournament [Not Qualified To Comment]

First up at 3:20, we've got a surprising Maryland squad going up against Memphis in Kansas City. As you may remember, Maryland beat Cal in the first round to win the opportunity to run into John Calipari's well-oiled hair team. Considering no one thought Maryland would a) make the tournament and b) win their first round matchup, making a bold prediction seems like a silly proposition here. Memphis had a tough time with their first round opponent Cal State-Northridge, but let's be honest — they were probably all half asleep.

At 3:35, Connecticut takes on Texas A&M in Philadelphia. This one could be more painful than one of those Texas A&M pretend soldiers squeezing his nuts at a football game. Jim Calhoun's back on the sidelines for UConn and Mark Turgeon is still on the sidelines for Texas A&M. I feel bad for people who actually spent money on tickets for today's session in Philly.

Enjoy the games. I'm having some internet hiccups so bear with the light posting.

*A man can dream, folks. A man can dream.

"Coach Calhoun has not been feeling well for the past several days and it is best that he not coach the team today for precautionary reasons," said UConn Director of Sports Medicine Dr. Jeff Anderson.

Officials are not being any more specific than that at this point, but Calhoun was treated for cancer last year and missed a game earlier this season with health issues. More info if we get it, but he will definitely not be coaching the Huskies' first round game. Associate Head Coach George Blaney will be in charge.

UConn Coach Jim Calhoun To Miss NCAA Opener [Hartford Courant]

Obama unveiled his NCAA tournament bracket on Wednesday, and as we see here, he has Duke losing to Pittsburgh in the East Regional. Krzyzewski was not amused:

"Somebody said that we're not in President Obama's Final Four, and as much as I respect what he's doing, really, the economy is something that he should focus on, probably more than the brackets," Krzyzewski told a reporter from the Associated Press on Wednesday.

As for the rest of the President's bracket, it's being criticized as "too timid" by many. Picking Morgan State to upset Oklahoma may look good on Wednesday night and get people talking about your bravery, but I thought the idea was — just as in a Presidential election — to win the thing?

His bracket is kind of messy, though. Poor Louisville.

Photo: ESPN.

Barry O Likes The Heels [Awful Announcing]
How Obama's NCAA Bracket Is A Window Into His Soul. Maybe [NYPoliticker]

However, before the deadline passes and the tournament officially begins, I would like to take this opportunity to second the wise and powerful words of mister MJD. If you fill out multiple brackets with multiple scenarios, then you are a weakling. Aside from being impractical and counterproductive, it just announces to the entire world that you are not a man or woman of your convictions. No one is in this for the money. You're doing it to prove that you're smarter than everyone. But if you think you're a hero for calling that Morgan State over Oklahoma upset (seriously, I love that bear) then why did you pick the Sooners in four other brackets?

It's because you are gutless. And those without guts deserve no glory. So own your choices.

* * * * *

Just FYI, we still have a few tourney previews left to publish and despite the timing issues we will get to those eventually, but I just want to take a second and thank everyone who contributed this year, particularly the folks at Storming The Floor and Rush The Court (no relation) who did some heroic fill-in duty. (Apparently, UConn has no fans in Deadspin-land?)

That is all for now. The games will soon wash over you in a flood of nylon and potato chip grease. Savor this day, my friends.

Join the Deadspin Pants Party Group Pool [ESPN]
Download the Deadspin Bracket [PDF or JPG]

The case, however, technically remains open after Johnson was detained in the back of a police car in the wee hours of Saturday morning after a verbal altercation with staff at Memphis' Blues City Cafe. The Big Lead broke the story on Wednesday and obtained the police report, which told how Johnson became verbally abusive and argued with manager Daniel Reed of the Beale Street eatery over the service and the food, causing an employee to flag down a nearby policeman. Reed declined to press charges.

Johnson, who was in town to call the Conference USA championship game between Memphis and Tulsa, isn't commenting.

So the moral of the story, I guess, is don't eat at the Blues City Cafe if you're a sportscaster prone to excitability. In an aside that is both humorous and sobering, Memphis Bengal, author of the blog Sportsfrog, agrees. Bengal is an attorney who lives in Memphis, and has some insights on the restaurant in question, and the notorious Shelby County Jail.

1. The Blues City Cafe is supposed to be famous for its ribs, steaks, and tamales. Frankly, it is overpriced and underwhelming fare. And the service flat sucks. Whatever it was that ticked off Johnson, I believe it. He is not the first, nor the last, to become surly while there. It's a tourist trap, more or less. Next time, Gus, ask a local where to eat downtown late. Blues City won't make the top ten such options. While we are here, it IS indeed a bitch move to contact the cops when your customer is unhappy, however vociferously, with the service, but, hey, it's about what I would expect from that particular restaurant.

2. That said, the last part of Big Lead's notation is important. Johnson was NOT taken a few blocks over to 201 Poplar. That is the city jail. And while they have cleaned it up to some extent (I am an attorney, but on the civil side, not so much the criminal side of the street), it is still no place a self-respecting adult male wants to be taken at 1:00 am on a Saturday morning. And Johnson looks a little too close to the potential spoon zone for his own comfort.

Funny, but Tom Cruise didn't seem to have these problems when he filmed a scene at the Blues City Cafe for The Firm.

This is all turning out rather well for CBS. Since no charges have been filed against Johnson, all the story has served to do is raise his profile a bit the day that the NCAA Tournament begins. Bloggers are making note of his March Madness broadcasting schedule, and reminiscing on some of his classic calls, such as Princeton-UCLA in 1996.

So the story has merely added some flavor to the tourney, which you'd expect from an incident at a Beale Street eatery. If you're going, however, you're probably better off skipping Blues City Cafe and walking across the street to BB King's.

In Which Gus Johnson Learns Not To ... [Sportsfrog]
March Madness Preview: Why You Should Watch Whatever Game Gus Johnson Calls [Sports Judge]
Gus Johnson Madness: One of the True Highlights of March Madness [Midwest Sports Fans]
Gus Johnson's Unfortunate Night On Beale Street [The Big Lead]

How would things have been different if that shot hadn't gone in with five seconds remaining against Syracuse at the Superdome? "Thankfully I don't have to think about that," Smart told me during practice with the Golden State Warriors recently, where he is an assistant coach. "But I don't think things would have changed much. I think I'd be in pretty much the same position I'm in now. But if you ask my kids, that's a different story."

More with Smart on The Shot, playing for Bobby Knight, and his unique role as the only official "defensive coordinator" in the NBA.

So take us back. How has The Shot changed your life?

I always say that the history of the shot is always chasing me to do things the right way. It's an honor, but it always makes me feel that people are looking up to that moment, and I have to make sure that I do all the right things. I still bump into people all the time who want to talk about. I don't mind. I'll talk about it as much as they want.

The thing I remember most about it was that Knight didn't call a time out before the play. Not that that was unusual.

People say, well you guys didn't call a time out. But that was Knight. We knew what to do in different situations; that all came out in practice. As a coach now I see that sometimes when you call a time out and draw up a play, the player only sees what you show him and doesn't take what the defense is giving. That shot came out of the motion offense, and that's an offense where you learn to take what the defense gives you. Playing at Indiana and playing for coach Knight has given me a tremendous base for basketball.

It went to Thomas first.

Yeah, in to Daryl, and he kicked it to me in the corner. I was just thinking 'I hope it goes in.'

Your kids must be old enough now to appreciate it. How often do they see it?

Especially now, because CBS or ESPN Classic or whatever will show it from time to time. When tournament time rolls around it will be on TV, they'll see it, and of course they'll see the short shorts and they'll see that their dad had hair, and all of that stuff. But it's always fun sitting there and watching their reaction when they see it on TV .Andre is my oldest, and Jared is the youngest. They both play basketball.

Now that you're a coach, what do you see that made Bobby Knight unique?

You couldn't tell if we were a losing team or a championship team. Because he coached it the same way. He didn't look at it like we were a 30-4 team, he coached it like we were a 4-30 team. I enjoyed my time there. I still use the drills as far as defensive principles of where you need to be. People always talk about the line drills and suicides and things; people always think that we ran a lot, but we didn't. We didn't practice a long time either. We went from an hour, maybe an hour and 15 minutes. But it was at a high intensity level. I've been around coaches in different places when you're in the gym for 2½ hours, but there's no focus or intensity with that. With Knight, practices moved from a to b to c, and you were out of there.

Do you still keep in touch? What does he think of your work with the Warriors?

I haven't talked with coach for awhile. I've talked to his son (Pat), but I have not talked to coach. Coach Knight doesn't call you; you call him. If there were ever something I needed, or if I wanted some advice, I'd call him and he'd be right there. He'll do anything for his former players. But while you're playing for him, you don't have a relationship. One big piece of advice he gave me early on was that once you start coaching, you have to fast yourself from playing basketball. Because if you're playing, you think like a basketball player. You only see one or two players removed. But when you're a coach, you have to see the entire picture. So I stopped playing completely when I started coaching. Not a pickup game, nothing. And as I moved through the years, my view of everything started getting much bigger.

What would he do when he got mad?

The big thing was when you got back to the locker room, your bags would be outside. And if he was real mad at you, he'd throw your bag down the hall.

What's the biggest adjustment from college to the NBA? How is the coaching different?

The defensive schemes are a lot different. There's a lot of motion and pick and roll stuff in college, where in the NBA it's a lot of quick hits to your best players right away. So a lot of players don't come into the NBA with that principle. Another thing is that back when I was coming up, you had players who were in college three years or four years or whatever it had been. You develop a toughness for rebounding and getting loose balls with four years of college. Now, players are coming out of college so early that most of their skills are on the offensive side. So you have to work a lot on defense. A senior in college very seldom gets caught on a screen. He gets over it or under it. A freshman, a sophomore, will hit a screen and say ‘Oh, I need help!' So that's what you learn with four years of college; getting to places before you need to be there.

Is defense a lost art?

Yeah. Because every guy wants to have fun. They want to have fun on the break with the wide open dunk. But if you don't have stops on defense that create those situations, you're lost. I was always taught that rebounding is the most important thing. The good teams rebound. If you're not rebounding, you're constantly playing fast, trying to catch up. When the shot goes up, if you don't get the rebound, your defense meant nothing. And you have to get the loose basketballs. So the art of teaching defense is really teaching hard work.

This has been a tough season for you.

Not really, because I'm learning a lot, and the players have bought into what we're trying to do. It's just that to be successful, you have to have the talent. And you have to stay healthy. That's been the big thing.

The Warriors are probably the only team that has two huddles during a time out. Don Nelson talks, and then the players huddle around you to hear about the defense. What's been the reaction to that?

I tell you, I have friends around the league who text me from time to time saying "Man, that is something else, we've never seen that. It takes a coach with an incredible amount of confidence to be able to do that. He'll just come to a game and say ‘You got your plan?' And we go on from there. And I want to be perfect for him. He trusts me so much, that I don't want to let him down. I think it's something that may catch on. Because you see a lot of coaches that work strictly with the defense. But nothing's like this situation right here. It's direct now. If there's a timeout and the players have a question about the defense, right away they come to me. It frees you up. So he's created something that's incredible. None of us had ever thought this way in basketball. It's gone beyond what I thought it could possibly be.

You make all the defensive calls?

Coach has told me if I need to take a player out of the game, I take him out of the game. It's not a problem. So I give the player three strikes. We had a situation a couple of nights ago, Cory missed an assignment. During the time out I told him, Cory, you've got one strike. The veteran guys have bought into it, and we've gone that way. And we haven't made it to three strikes yet. You have to hand it to coach Nelson. I can't think of another NBA coach who would be secure enough with himself to allow something like that.

Do you coach your sons? Who are their favorite players?

I don't coach my kids at all. I'm simply dad. Andre loves Jason Kidd. He gets more excited about making a pass than anything. He'll come home and say dad, I made 12 assists last night. Jared is a big Steve Nash fan. He got an opportunity to meet Kevin Garnett, and really likes him too. I just want them to have fun playing, and whatever happens with their career happens.

What do you tell your team when you're playing Kobe?

Sometimes there's nothing you can do. When he wants to turn it on and go, you can forget what you're trying to do. Those guys are so good, that sometimes you say that they're just bleeping with the game. They'll let you have fun playing with them, but they'll look at the score and say OK, we're up by six, let me turn it up a notch. Those guys, Dwyane Wade, they have the ability to allow their teammates to get involved. The key is to hold every player to his average. Don't allow other guys with a low average to have a great game.

Tell me something about Knight that may surprise people.

One of the first days I was there, I went to the dining hall. We had all of the African American players sitting at one table, all of the white players sitting at another table. Nothing big, but we knew that that wasn't how he looked at things. He told us that he didn't want to see that again. You know you don't think anything of it; right away I gravitated toward Darrell Thomas, Rick Calloway, Dean Garrett, and we were all sitting at one table. We didn't think anything of it. But you started to see that he didn't want it that way ; he wanted us all together. I didn't have the same roommate twice in a row. We rotated. He saw things differently. He and coach Nelson, their thinking is just different. I've had the opportunity to play for one who's the all-time winning college coach, and working for one who will probably be that in the pros. I am really lucky.

For those of you wondering if NCAA office pools are technically illegal, I wouldn't sweat it now. President Obama filled out the "Presidential Bracket" in an exclusive for ESPN on Tuesday, and picked Louisville, North Carolina, Pittsburgh and Memphis in his Final Four. Hey, if you were looking for longshots, you should have voted for Ron Paul. Not much else is known yet about the picks, except I see by the photo that he has Pitt beating Duke in the East. The entire bracket it will be posted at ESPN later today, and revealed by Katz on SportsCenter at noon ET.

The President's bracket fulfilled a campaign promise made to Katz during an October 19, 2008 interview, for a story about Craig Robinson, Oregon State head basketball coach and brother-in-law to the President.

I don't know about you, but there's something disconcerting about having Andy Katz rummaging around in the White House. What if he spills coffee on some important papers, or God forbid, gets near the nuclear button? "Hey, we're in Defcon 2. KATZ! ..."

Meanwhile, John McCain picked Arizona to win it all in a private bracket unveiling in his bathroom.

Bonus Rick Reilly headline: The Audacity of Hoops.

UPDATE: Obama picks North Carolina to go all the way. A breakdown of his entire bracket over on The Daily Fix at the Wall Street Journal.

President Obama Picks Bracket In Exclusive ESPN Interview [TV By The Numbers]
Presidenht Obama's Final Four Revealed [ESPN]
Oval Office Roundball: Analyzing Obama's NCAA Picks [The Wall Street Journal]