time to man up

are you surpirsed by this?

im not going to lie, i was surprised that u of a got in. i thought they were good enough, but their record, their place in the conference and usc winning the pac-10 tourny all told me this would be the first time in 25 years u of a would not be in the ncaa tournament.

with that said, once they got in, i was not surprised to watch them make the sweet 16 and sweet it is. nothing heals the wounds of losing to asu three times like making it further than that "school" in the tournament.

i was not surprised because when u of a is playing well they beat kansas, gonzaga, ucla, washington, usc, and cal. all teams in the field of 64 with a better seed. im not surprised because even though there record didn't look as good as normal, five of those L's were by two points or less and nine of those losses came to tournament teams. im not surprised because their tournament wins were against utah and cleveland state.

im not surprised, but i am excited. lets go cats! steel louisville's coach!

like cramer, love stewart

watch this...the whole thing, it gets better.

lute!

had some friends over for dinner on thursday and i told them i was going to the u of a basketball game later in the evening. wayne asked if lute was really all that? i explained that some critics say that considering the players he had, he maybe should have won more (specifically national championships). this is a little comical considering the guys resume. however, in tucson, he will always be "all that".

little did i know that at half time of the game, the u of a recognized lutes career. steve kerr, one of my favorite athletes spoke amongst others. here are a few of coach olson's greatest coaching accomplishments:

1997 NCAA Championship

5 Final Fours

780 Career Wins

23 Consecutive NCAA Tournament Appearances

(longest current streak, last season made it 24)

11 Pac-10 Championships

1986 World Championship for Team USA

53 NBA Draft Picks

1989 Coach of the Year

2002 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Inductee

312 Consecutive weeks ranked in the AP Top 25

i met coach "o" when i was in college, he was great, an experience i will always remember as he talked with me and 14 of my classmates about his experiences in coaching. if nothing else, he built an amazing basketball program that gave me a lot of fond memories. as a fellow coach, i hope to have a similar impact.

lookin' out

i have always been a proponent of supporting the local community in whatever way possible. a good way is hitting of ma & pop shops, restaurants, whatever. a couple of my favorite tucson restaurants are rocco's little chicago pizzeria, buddy's grill, kenny d's and el guero canelo.

i am also a firm believer we should spend money wisely. as things get more difficult i hope we keep others in mind...specifically the "little guy". i often default to big box stores and chain restaurants, one because it seems more convenient and two because i feel i'm saving money. i default this way instead of attempting to hook a brotha up. a couple of my brothas are designs in steel and avspecialists@cox.net, for all you metalwork and audio/visual needs.

along with my "brothas" is my daddy...my actual father. he works at a smaller publishing company, intervarsity press, and like many businesses, they have been taking a hit recently. i hate to tell people not to save money by getting used books though amazon, its just something to consider.

if you would like to know more about this publishing house and support it at the same time you can check out heart.soul.mind.strength. by this guy i know.