madness Page 32 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

If March Madness Were Only About Spending Money, Syracuse Would Be National Champion
Mike Dang at Bundle calculated March Madness's most tournament-obsessed colleges, using basketball program expense and revenue, game attendance, and school spending. Syracuse wins, but not in everything: George Mason students spend 257% more at bars during the tournament. [Bundle]...

Harvard-Princeton War Of SAT Words Escalates, Yale Joins The Fray
Big basketball game Saturday afternoon, folks: Harvard (23-5, 12-2 Ivy) and Princeton (24-6, 12-2 Ivy) fighting to the death on Yale's court, a neutral site, for the Ivy League's March Madness bid. Extra high stakes for Harvard, who hasn't appeared in the tourney since 1946, back when RFK was punchi...

Harvard And Princeton Will Fight Old-Fashioned Douchebag Standoff In Saturday Playoff
Big news for our high net worth contingent: Princeton defeated Penn in the Ivy League's regular-season finale tonight, meaning—you guessed it—the Tigers will battle Tommy Amaker's Harvard squad for the conference's automatic berth in a playoff at Yale on Saturday....

Enter Madness: Jimmer Fredette And Four More Will Play At San Diego State Tomorrow
The two greatest phenomena of this year's college basketball season, BYU folk hero Jimmer Fredette and 27-1 San Diego State University, will play tomorrow at 2 p.m. EST in San Diego's Viejas Arena. And not to cause one of those "ohmygodit'smaypril!" moments for you, but March begins on Tuesday, and...

Bill Self Dresses Up As One-Hit Wonder Vanilla Ice For Kansas's Late Night In The Phog
Kansas coach Bill Self told 16,500 fans that the 2008 title "was great," but it's time to "cut down some more nets." Then, the one-time champion came out dressed as Vanilla Ice, who some might call a one-hit wonder....

Bengals Turn Into Actual Tigers After Satanic Pact, Maul Steelers. Yeah.
Yeah, I don't really know what else to add to this. [ILX, h/t Jovan J.]...

CBS Almost Paid ESPN To Take The NCAA Tourney Off Their Hands
It's the most important event in the country for three weekends every year. And yet, it's hemorrhaging money to the point where CBS considered paying a rival to broadcast it. Are there implications for the free March Madness On Demand?...

NCAA Tournament Adds Networks, Expands To "Only" 68 Teams
In a surprising move, the NCAA signed a new television deal that will add more networks to CBS's coverage of the men's basketball tournament, but will not expand the field to 96 teams. Wait, did they actually listen to us?...

David Brooks Provides Us With Yet Another Reason To Hate Duke (And David Brooks)
I'm sorry, somehow we missed this bit of intellection from the Upmarket Jeff Foxworthy, David Brooks: "How do you construct a rich versus poor narrative when the rich are more industrious?" he mused last week ... about Butler-Duke....

Welcome Back, Duke Persecution Complex
At left is the front page of the Charlotte Observer the day after North Carolina won the 2009 national championship. At right, this morning's front page. Dookies, you may now return to your hilariously overblown sense of persecution....

One Shining Turd: A Brief Analysis Of How CBS Ruined Its "Moment"
The consensus is that CBS thoroughly murdered basketball's great cornball anthem, "One Shining Moment." Where did they go wrong? Deadspin research reveals that singer Jennifer Hudson logged a full 12 seconds of screen time, a record....

Last Night's Winner: Butler Haters
In sports, everyone is a winner—some people just win better than others. Like the Duke Blue Devils, who captured the hearts of basketball fans world-wide by finally stopping the merciless hoops juggernaut known as Butler....

Indy Newspaper, Butler Cheerleader Botch Their "Victory" Celebrations
The Indianapolis Star website may have jumped the gun slightly on their Final Four recap. At least they had the excuse of not yet knowing the outcome. One confused Butler cheerleader was not as fortunate....

If Duke Loses, Will Jim Nantz Say, "The Butler Did It"? Your National Championship Game Open Thread
At the end of the season, Duke and Butler were ranked #3 and #8, respectively, in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll. This is not Hoosiers. It's not David vs. Goliath. Tomorrow: I eat my words after Duke wins by 30....

Ye Olde Shining Moment: A Basketball Montage To Remind Us How Good We Have It Now
Because neither video nor Luther Vandross was around in the 1940s, the NCAA Tournaments of those days concluded without the now-beloved "One Shining Moment" montage, which seems so very wrong. We've remedied the situation. Enjoy. [Footage via A Stern Warning]...

Coach K Has No Sense Of Humor, Part 5,643: A Firsthand Account From A Man Named Bubba
Meet Bubba, the fellow you see at right. In high school, Bubba was awarded a scholarship from the American Academy of Achievement, and at the ceremony, he shared a table with no less a personage than coachbot Mike Krzyzewski....

The Gus Johnson Megamix: A Special Deadspin Films Presentation
The last few weeks, Gus Johnson has been a hot topic. His zany witticisms and unbridled enthusiasm have made a memorable NCAA Tournament that much more memorable. The outpouring of support for Gus was enormous. Consider:...

Enough With The John Wooden Crap
OK, Butler's a great story, and I realize that a certain amount of, "Hey, it's like that one movie where Gene Hackman gets to hump Barbara Hershey!" is inevitable here, but can we please leave John Wooden out of this?...

Coach K, Summed Up In One Smarmy Quote
You know what Mike Krzyzewski loves about a Butler-Duke national championship? I mean, besides that it's fetish porn for the Playing Basketball The Right Way crowd? What Mike Krzyzewski really loves about Butler-Duke is the game's delicious elitism....

The School That Gave Dick Nixon A Law Degree Vs. Burnt Couch U: Your Duke-WVU Open Thread
Go read Jason Zengerle's defense of Bob Huggins and Will Blythe's account of meeting Coach K. Discuss in the comments....