Tom: What are you doing to me? We've gone over this. We've gone over this hundreds and hundreds of times. You jerks can't let this happen. If Maryland makes a shot here, we are going to lose.
Cheeky One (trying to go cheek-to-cheek with Tom): We are not going to lose, Tom. We will not lose! We have got it covered, Tom. We really do!
Tom: You idiots don't get it. They are better than us. We can't win if you don't do what you're supposed to do!
Cheeky Two (pushing Cheeky One out of the way): Tom! We've let your big louts do whatever they want to do. We've let them push. We've let them kick. We let them work that Trimble kid over but good. How about when your guy hit him in the face? Did you see all that blood? He was almost knocked out! Real referees would never have allowed that! We did good, didn't we Tom? Didn't we?
Tom: What are you going to do if Trimble drives? If the ball goes in, we're behind. But even if it doesn't, my guys don't know how to defense him. We'll have to pound him into the floor. We just will. What are you going to do? You sissies will call a foul. He'll get two free throws. Then what will you do? Call a lane violation? You'll be laughed out of the gym! You've got this all messed up. You really do. I'm finished with you three. I heard the ACC refs knew how to handle Maryland. I should've listened to Roy and Mike. They knew. They said real money talks. I wouldn't have had to humiliate myself with you three. This is the worst! The worst! It's the end of the world. We're going to lose! All because of you idiots.
Cheeky Three (giving Tom a real big bear hug): Just calm down, big boy. We will not let you down. We will not. I've talked to your big guys. We've got it covered. They will punch down when he gets past the foul line. They will use elbows. They will use knees. They will use feet. I talked to Wayne. He's OK with it. He doesn't want these interlopers either. He's starting to wonder why we let them in. But we can't do anything about that now. You watch, though. No foul. No basket. No nothing.
Tom: Alright, then. And remember, no fouls on the foul shots if they do miss and foul us.
Cheeky Three: Make sure you tell your kids not to try to block any full court heave. Wouldn't that be a mess?
Tom: What are you talking about? What kind of full court heave? I haven't said anything about that. What do you mean, 'full court heave?' What is it?
Cheeky One: I've got a bad feeling about this. I really do.
The Big Ten put the tip-off of Maryland's quarter-final game against a red hot Nebraska team at 10:00 pm on Friday night, then brought them back on Saturday afternoon to play the No. 2 team in the nation. The three Big Ten refs allowed Michigan State to beat the you know what out of Trimble and Diamond Stone for the whole game. In one instance, Trimble was openly pushed away from the man he was guarding as a cross-court bullet was thrown in the direction of his head. As Trimble stumbled backwards, he was hit flush in the face by the ball, sending blood flying in every which direction. No call was made. Michigan State was so brutal to Stone and Jake Layman in the second half - without any fouls being called - that the Spartan's designated enforcer, Matt Costello, was seen on national television laughing and rolling his eyes after one play in which he hacked Diamond Stone without drawing a call. In the first half, Maryland Coach Mark Turgeon was called for a technical foul. Imagine. On the first play of the game, Layman scored as he was punched in the face. There was no call, although the basket was allowed. Then there was that last play. The Spartans had just moved up three on two free throws by Denzel Valentine. The in-bounds pass, with just eight-tenths of a second left, came to Trimble, who pivoted as he put up a long shot from just past his own foul line. The replay shows Harris stepping into Trimble, then backing away after he made contact. Said Trimble: "I was very surprised. He clearly bumped into me.” Putting it plainly, when given the choice of national incredulity or Izzo's anger, the three cheeky refs will always take the national incredulity, which doesn't last long at all. Make that call and give Trimble a chance to send the game into overtime, well, it would be like a death sentence for the referees. After the game, Izzo told a TV interviewer that he "honestly" didn't see the play. I believe him. I mean, why bother to watch the last play of the game. It isn't like Maryland is going to win. His buddies had already taken care of that.
It is only Maryland's second year in the Big Ten, yet I am so conditioned to getting shafted by the officials that I didn't even expect a call on the final hack. Trimble was trying to shoot a full court heave when he was chested off his spot on the floor by the Spartan's Eron Harris. It was obvious, right out in the middle of the floor. No call. The explanation was that the shot had no chance of going in. Huh? This isn't football - I mean, it looks like football, but it is supposed to be basketball - and the idea that the shot has to have a chance of going in is irrelevant. A foul, like that, is a foul.
Turns out the NCAA was just getting started. This field of 68 was obscene. How does Oregon State get in but Valparaiso doesn't. Valpo beat Oregon State on the Beavers' home floor. Valpo came within a whisker of beating Oregon - a number one seed - on the Ducks' home floor. Valpo has a record of 26 wins and just 6 defeats. But they didn't get in. Congress should investigate. Who is the Congressman from Indiana for Valpo? Live right. Play fair. Win. Get screwed.
St. Mary's was another team that should be getting ready for the NCAA but won't be. St. Mary's whacked Stanford and lost a very very close game at California. Wouldn't it be nice if California came to St. Mary's once in a while. But they won't because if they did they would lose. St. Mary's cracked the Top 25 this season. St. Mary's won so often that losing was not something they thought about. Like any team coached and recruited by Randy Bennett, the Gaels have wonderful guards and are very exciting to watch. Dane Pineau, the point guard from Australia, is a wonderful player who is worth the price of admission. St. Mary's will host a game in the NIT against New Mexico State. Like Valpo, they have a good chance of advancing in the NIT. They could actually win. Watch out. If they do, it will make their demotion to the NIT even more of a joke. Most of the coaches are most upset by the moving target used by the Selection Committee. This year, the strength of schedule was said to be oh so important. Other years it was RPI. St. Mary's RPI is 37, way better than Wichita State, which got in with a 48. If St. Mary's could have just won at California. If I made the rules, I'd insist that every team from a major conference schedule three games at mid major schools. I'd insist that the RPI be re-calculated to put more emphasis on league games. And I would absolutely insist on the NCAA tournament taking the regular season champion of every conference, especially if they have 20 or more Division I wins.
What's the use? When it comes right down to it, the Selection Committee figures the smaller schools can't complain as much or as loud as the big schools, so they pick 7th place teams from the big conferences instead of the smaller schools that won their conferences but lost to a team in the conference tournament that they'd beaten twice during the regular season. These tournaments are not fair as a method of deciding the conference participant in the NCAA. Let the regular season champ get the automatic bid and the tournament champ do the sweating on Selection Sunday. Valpo beat Green Bay twice during the regular season including a thrilling win at Green Bay. Valpo was the first team in ages to win the Horizon League by three games. Not good enough. Like heck! More than good enough. Valpo and St. Mary's should've been no-brainers with the records they compiled. But they were screwed because the NCAA isn't fair enough. If all things are equal, why doesn't the NCAA decide what matters most in getting in the NCAA. If the Selection Committee says RPI is what matters, see to it that ut matters year in and year out on selection Sunday. Don't change the bloody rules just so Ding Dong State, which finished 7th in somebody's favorite league, gets in and somebody who won their league and beat everybody twice doesn't get in because they lost the third time they played somebody.
A guy on the NIT Selection Committee had a real interesting comment on Sunday. He said it was very late on Sunday afternoon before they found out that Valparaiso wasn't going to be in the NCAA. To me, that indicates a couple of things. One, the folk on the NIT Selection Group couldn't imagine a team as good as Valpo needing an NIT bid. Two, Valpo was in the NCAA until the last second. But that raises the question of why Wichita State got in and Valpo didn't, or why Oregon State got in and Valpo didn't.
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