I'm so excited! I'm so excited! I'm so... scared.*
* This, of course, refers to the game, about to tip off between Memphis and Texas (see "Golden Ticket" series) and uses the words of one of the most quoted/quotable moments of "Saved By The Bell" and, perhaps, of all situational comedy tv. Jessie Spano was hooked on pills that were keeping her alert and energetic enough to get all of her school work, dancing, and other jobs done. It did not turn out well for her.
Take a lesson, kids. Drugs are not the answer. Memphis and Texas got where they are through hard work, not because of drugs or some crazy scheme hatched at The Max.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Golden Ticket 4: What's A Ziggy To Do?
Saturday night. The eve of the Elite 8 showdown between my two favorite teams: The Longhorns of The University of Texas, my much beloved alma mater, and the Tigers of the University of Memphis, the team I have cheered for since I was a small child. The game begins in about thriteen and a half hours and I have yet to figure out a way to arrange it so that both teams can win. It appears that one will go to the Final Four and one will go home. Will I watch? Will I wear either team's color? Who will I cheer for?
What's a Ziggy to do?
I have considered thoroughly and been asked by many who I want to win this game. Will I root for the Longhorns - the team representing The University I love and of which I am a proud graduate (and to which my parents paid a fair amount of tuition)... the team that has a chance to get to its 2nd Final Four this decade and cement its place amongst the perennial powers of college basketball... the team that wears the color I figuratively bleed and literally eat on game days? Or will I root for the Tigers - the team I grew up idolizing and imitating on the family driveway/basketball court... the team that is and has long been the sports focal point of the city where I grew up and currently live... the team that has been overlooked by the major conferences, but who has nonetheless reached the Elite 8 for the third straight year and has the chance to get to the next level?
Here's the answer: I will be rooting for the Memphis Tigers (but will be hoping for both teams to play well and will be happy for whichever team wins and sad for the loser).
Here's the reasoning: Tiger basketball runs deep within me. I love playing, watching, and coaching basketball and that was all fed by my experience as a Tiger fan, during and since my childhood. I went to The University of Texas a huge college basketball fan and Texas basketball, at the time, did not consume me like it did in Memphis. Partly because basketball at Texas wasn't all that great, and partly because so many other things were. Basketball is THE chance Memphis has to achieve greatness in sports. Texas wins everything! UT has won a football national championship and a College World Series in the last few years, and was in the Final Four in 2003. As a matter of fact, the Texas Swimming and Diving team is in the middle of competing for its 10th National championship this weekend. In short, Texas will have other chances. Finally, and most selfishly, a Tiger trip to the Final Four would be a huge uplift for the City of Memphis and it would be fun to live amidst the excitement in the coming week.
Here's the prediction: I have no idea what will happen. Either team could win. I will be very excited.
I'm sorry that one will have to eliminate the other, but I'm thrilled that one of these teams will advance. Good luck to both and to ZiggyBackRiders (and their favorite teams) everywhere. Check back soon for "Golden Ticket 5: Grandpa Joe or Grandma Josephine?"
What's a Ziggy to do?
I have considered thoroughly and been asked by many who I want to win this game. Will I root for the Longhorns - the team representing The University I love and of which I am a proud graduate (and to which my parents paid a fair amount of tuition)... the team that has a chance to get to its 2nd Final Four this decade and cement its place amongst the perennial powers of college basketball... the team that wears the color I figuratively bleed and literally eat on game days? Or will I root for the Tigers - the team I grew up idolizing and imitating on the family driveway/basketball court... the team that is and has long been the sports focal point of the city where I grew up and currently live... the team that has been overlooked by the major conferences, but who has nonetheless reached the Elite 8 for the third straight year and has the chance to get to the next level?
Here's the answer: I will be rooting for the Memphis Tigers (but will be hoping for both teams to play well and will be happy for whichever team wins and sad for the loser).
Here's the reasoning: Tiger basketball runs deep within me. I love playing, watching, and coaching basketball and that was all fed by my experience as a Tiger fan, during and since my childhood. I went to The University of Texas a huge college basketball fan and Texas basketball, at the time, did not consume me like it did in Memphis. Partly because basketball at Texas wasn't all that great, and partly because so many other things were. Basketball is THE chance Memphis has to achieve greatness in sports. Texas wins everything! UT has won a football national championship and a College World Series in the last few years, and was in the Final Four in 2003. As a matter of fact, the Texas Swimming and Diving team is in the middle of competing for its 10th National championship this weekend. In short, Texas will have other chances. Finally, and most selfishly, a Tiger trip to the Final Four would be a huge uplift for the City of Memphis and it would be fun to live amidst the excitement in the coming week.
Here's the prediction: I have no idea what will happen. Either team could win. I will be very excited.
I'm sorry that one will have to eliminate the other, but I'm thrilled that one of these teams will advance. Good luck to both and to ZiggyBackRiders (and their favorite teams) everywhere. Check back soon for "Golden Ticket 5: Grandpa Joe or Grandma Josephine?"
Friday, March 28, 2008
Golden Ticket 3: On Down To San Antone*
They've done it. It's done.
Texas and Memphis will meet Sunday at 1:20 p.m. Central time (Eastern is for suckers) for a spot in the Final Four in San Antonio.
Memphis let it get a little more exciting than I would have liked in the 2nd half, though the lead never got below 14 or 15. It would have been nice to keep it close to 30 and be able to rest more players, though, as Memphis will enjoy the shortest rest of all the remaining teams between Sweet 16 and Elite 8 games - 7 or 8 hours shorter than one of last night's teams. That's a full night's sleep!
Check back tomorrow for Golden Ticket 4: What's a Ziggy To Do? in which the staff here will discuss plans for game watching, predictions, what we'll eat and wear and, ultimately, who ZiggyBackRide will be rooting for.
* Lyric from Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues"
Texas and Memphis will meet Sunday at 1:20 p.m. Central time (Eastern is for suckers) for a spot in the Final Four in San Antonio.
Memphis let it get a little more exciting than I would have liked in the 2nd half, though the lead never got below 14 or 15. It would have been nice to keep it close to 30 and be able to rest more players, though, as Memphis will enjoy the shortest rest of all the remaining teams between Sweet 16 and Elite 8 games - 7 or 8 hours shorter than one of last night's teams. That's a full night's sleep!
Check back tomorrow for Golden Ticket 4: What's a Ziggy To Do? in which the staff here will discuss plans for game watching, predictions, what we'll eat and wear and, ultimately, who ZiggyBackRide will be rooting for.
* Lyric from Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues"
Golden Ticket 2: For What It's Worth
It's halftime of the Memphis/Michigan State game and Memphis leads 50-20.
50-20!
I do not, in any way, believe that this game is over. If anything, all the pressure is now off Michigan St. and they can come out after the half, play loose and hope to do something amazing (and if they should do it, amazing would be a severe understatement).
Whatever happens, this was one of the most fun and exciting* halves of basketball I have ever witnessed. Go Tigers!
* Only if you like Memphis, I presume. It probably did not have casual viewers on the edges of their seats.
50-20!
I do not, in any way, believe that this game is over. If anything, all the pressure is now off Michigan St. and they can come out after the half, play loose and hope to do something amazing (and if they should do it, amazing would be a severe understatement).
Whatever happens, this was one of the most fun and exciting* halves of basketball I have ever witnessed. Go Tigers!
* Only if you like Memphis, I presume. It probably did not have casual viewers on the edges of their seats.
Golden Ticket 1: Texas Does Its Part
Today's the day that I can get a team in the Final Four. I wrote after the NCAA Tournament bracket was originally released about the horror of having both my championship-contender teams (Memphis and Texas) in the same region, meaning only one could advance to the Final Four. Since that time, I have computed and recomputed every possible eventuality and considered every possible scenario to find the one that best suited me and my teams.
In the end, the obvious choice of both teams winning as many games as possible and facing each other became the clearly desirable situation. That way, I would be assured of one of my teams making it to the tournament's final weekend with a chance to be a champion. That is the upside of both teams being assigned to the same region.
Texas has done its part. The Longhorns just finished off a twenty-point win over Stanford to advance to the Elite 8. Well done, 'Horns! Can Memphis uphold its end of the bargain and secure its third consecutive trip to the next round and, more importantly*, satisfy - a round early - my desire to see one of my teams back in the Final Four? We shall soon see. I'm off to change out of my burnt orange shirt into the royal blue of Memphis, and say goodbye for now to the Longhorn Band in iTunes and click over to the Mighty Sound of the South, the Memphis band, for some Tiger tunes.
* To me.
In the end, the obvious choice of both teams winning as many games as possible and facing each other became the clearly desirable situation. That way, I would be assured of one of my teams making it to the tournament's final weekend with a chance to be a champion. That is the upside of both teams being assigned to the same region.
Texas has done its part. The Longhorns just finished off a twenty-point win over Stanford to advance to the Elite 8. Well done, 'Horns! Can Memphis uphold its end of the bargain and secure its third consecutive trip to the next round and, more importantly*, satisfy - a round early - my desire to see one of my teams back in the Final Four? We shall soon see. I'm off to change out of my burnt orange shirt into the royal blue of Memphis, and say goodbye for now to the Longhorn Band in iTunes and click over to the Mighty Sound of the South, the Memphis band, for some Tiger tunes.
* To me.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Back On Track
I read yesterday that train derailments and accidents* in the State of Tennessee were down by 13% in the last year, as a result of 19 fewer incidents. WHAT?!?
19 fewer train derailments and accidents in a state, in a year was a THIRTEEN PERCENT reduction?
Where are all of these disasters? Did anyone have any idea that there were so many railroad accidents in any state? I would have thought that any reduction in incidents would have represented a 100% or 50%, or 33% at the very least, reduction.
A train is passing by my home as I write this and I'd like to share that it is not the least bit comforting that the tracks are a mere 25 feet or so from where I sit. I'm happy to hear about the big reduction in incidents, but I still feel about 87% scared.
Speaking of back on track, the Temple Israel Lady Rabs have begun a new season of teen league basketball and I made my triumphant** return to the sideline tonight. It's a great group and it's going to be a fun season. I'll keep you posted.
* I don't know what counts as an accident. Until I find out, I'd stop at crossings if I were you.
** The triumph was in being there and having fun coaching, not - as has so often been the case throughout my coaching career - in the final score.
19 fewer train derailments and accidents in a state, in a year was a THIRTEEN PERCENT reduction?
Where are all of these disasters? Did anyone have any idea that there were so many railroad accidents in any state? I would have thought that any reduction in incidents would have represented a 100% or 50%, or 33% at the very least, reduction.
A train is passing by my home as I write this and I'd like to share that it is not the least bit comforting that the tracks are a mere 25 feet or so from where I sit. I'm happy to hear about the big reduction in incidents, but I still feel about 87% scared.
Speaking of back on track, the Temple Israel Lady Rabs have begun a new season of teen league basketball and I made my triumphant** return to the sideline tonight. It's a great group and it's going to be a fun season. I'll keep you posted.
* I don't know what counts as an accident. Until I find out, I'd stop at crossings if I were you.
** The triumph was in being there and having fun coaching, not - as has so often been the case throughout my coaching career - in the final score.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Celebrate Good Times, Come On!
Memphis Mayor W.W. Herenton has announced that he is stepping down from the post as of July 31st of this year. Congratulations to Memphis!!! (see post from Oct. 4, 2007) Clearly, Mayor Herenton read that post and took it to heart. Well done, ZiggyBackRiders!
Soundtrack playing in my iTunes as I report this to you: "Celebration" by Kool and the Gang, followed by "Good Times" by Chic.
We'll see what happens, but I suspect the result will be improvement in some form or another.
Soundtrack playing in my iTunes as I report this to you: "Celebration" by Kool and the Gang, followed by "Good Times" by Chic.
We'll see what happens, but I suspect the result will be improvement in some form or another.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Question of the Day
Why me?
That is today's question and, truthfully, the one I've been asking myself since Sunday evening when my worst 2008 college basketball fear* became reality. As I predicted in the last post, Memphis and Texas were, indeed, placed in the same region of the NCAA tournament, making it impossible for both to make it to the Final Four and making Memphis play the lower-seeded Longhorns in Houston, a virtual home game for the 'Horns**.
I can only assume that I have been personally targeted by the Tournament selection committee. How else can this be explained? The task now at hand is to go committee member by committee member until it becomes clear which had the clearest motive to strike out at me in this manner. Did I - knowingly or unknowingly - wrong one of them? Did I run over someone's dog?*** Spill a beverage on a selector? Prank call one of their houses as a mischievous child? Oh, I'll get to the bottom of this, believe you me.
Upon finding the culprit, however, I will be merciful, as the perpetrator of this heinous 2008 college basketball crime - in what I can only assume was a last minute fit of conscience - clearly endeavored to soften the blow by scheduling both teams' first and second round games in Little Rock, AR. They tried to make it okay by making it possible for me to see my two beloved teams in early action, a short drive from Memphis. I don't know if I'll make it to the games, but the fact that the person or persons who harmed me sought to make it right in some way will not be forgotten.
In short, I don't think the selection committee chambers is the place to be acting on old grudges, but maybe that's just me. If others agree, though, then perhaps that little guideline could be shared with future committees and uncomfortable, unfortunate situations like this may be avoidable in future years.
* In the grand scheme of things, this isn't that big a deal. That's why the very specific category of worst fear was necessary. I mean, it's not like I'm crazy! Or paranoid.
** This all assumes that both teams advance to the Elite 8, which is not a given. They both have difficult games to play to get there and nothing is being taken for granted. It's just that according to seeding, they are the two teams most likely to make it to that game.
*** Not likely. Otherwise, I'm certain the staff here at ZiggyBackRide would have uncovered and reported that story in the "Me and My Purple Car" series of posts from October of 2007.
That is today's question and, truthfully, the one I've been asking myself since Sunday evening when my worst 2008 college basketball fear* became reality. As I predicted in the last post, Memphis and Texas were, indeed, placed in the same region of the NCAA tournament, making it impossible for both to make it to the Final Four and making Memphis play the lower-seeded Longhorns in Houston, a virtual home game for the 'Horns**.
I can only assume that I have been personally targeted by the Tournament selection committee. How else can this be explained? The task now at hand is to go committee member by committee member until it becomes clear which had the clearest motive to strike out at me in this manner. Did I - knowingly or unknowingly - wrong one of them? Did I run over someone's dog?*** Spill a beverage on a selector? Prank call one of their houses as a mischievous child? Oh, I'll get to the bottom of this, believe you me.
Upon finding the culprit, however, I will be merciful, as the perpetrator of this heinous 2008 college basketball crime - in what I can only assume was a last minute fit of conscience - clearly endeavored to soften the blow by scheduling both teams' first and second round games in Little Rock, AR. They tried to make it okay by making it possible for me to see my two beloved teams in early action, a short drive from Memphis. I don't know if I'll make it to the games, but the fact that the person or persons who harmed me sought to make it right in some way will not be forgotten.
In short, I don't think the selection committee chambers is the place to be acting on old grudges, but maybe that's just me. If others agree, though, then perhaps that little guideline could be shared with future committees and uncomfortable, unfortunate situations like this may be avoidable in future years.
* In the grand scheme of things, this isn't that big a deal. That's why the very specific category of worst fear was necessary. I mean, it's not like I'm crazy! Or paranoid.
** This all assumes that both teams advance to the Elite 8, which is not a given. They both have difficult games to play to get there and nothing is being taken for granted. It's just that according to seeding, they are the two teams most likely to make it to that game.
*** Not likely. Otherwise, I'm certain the staff here at ZiggyBackRide would have uncovered and reported that story in the "Me and My Purple Car" series of posts from October of 2007.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
The Journey Continues. The Journey Begins.
The Journey Continues
I'm back. I stepped off The Ride for a good, long while and I have plenty of stories to share. It occurred to me, at times, that perhaps our glorious expedition had met its end. And then I thought, "Awww, hell no!" Not with an election coming. Not with a southern Jewish comedy tour coming. Not with the strange, but glorious and true story of the life I lead continuing to unfold with each passing minute.
And not with the NCAA Basketball Tournament set to begin...
The Journey Begins
Here it comes again. The event/series of events that I have written about at this season in years past. The greatest sports championship process of all. The tournament pairings will be announced in just a few short moments and the stage will be set. As has been the case in previous years, but perhaps to an even greater extent, the two teams which I follow and support loyally have legitimate championship aspirations. Both Memphis (the team of my childhood and my daily life in the city of the same name) and Texas (my alma mater) have been considered among the top teams all year and have big expectations going into the "Big Dance." Having two teams can present some problems. I am prepared, however, to deal with the possibility of the two meeting in the national championship game. That's a problem I'll happily confront. What I do not want (and what seems more and more destined to happen as the moments pass) is for the Tigers and Horns to end up in the same regional, meaning only one can get to the Final Four. You'll hear more from me, rest assured, should this travesty come to be.
For now, I'm just excited for tourney time. It's going to be fun. It always is!
I'm back. I stepped off The Ride for a good, long while and I have plenty of stories to share. It occurred to me, at times, that perhaps our glorious expedition had met its end. And then I thought, "Awww, hell no!" Not with an election coming. Not with a southern Jewish comedy tour coming. Not with the strange, but glorious and true story of the life I lead continuing to unfold with each passing minute.
And not with the NCAA Basketball Tournament set to begin...
The Journey Begins
Here it comes again. The event/series of events that I have written about at this season in years past. The greatest sports championship process of all. The tournament pairings will be announced in just a few short moments and the stage will be set. As has been the case in previous years, but perhaps to an even greater extent, the two teams which I follow and support loyally have legitimate championship aspirations. Both Memphis (the team of my childhood and my daily life in the city of the same name) and Texas (my alma mater) have been considered among the top teams all year and have big expectations going into the "Big Dance." Having two teams can present some problems. I am prepared, however, to deal with the possibility of the two meeting in the national championship game. That's a problem I'll happily confront. What I do not want (and what seems more and more destined to happen as the moments pass) is for the Tigers and Horns to end up in the same regional, meaning only one can get to the Final Four. You'll hear more from me, rest assured, should this travesty come to be.
For now, I'm just excited for tourney time. It's going to be fun. It always is!
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