To blow or not to blow, that is the question.
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind of the referees to suffer the slings and arrows and screams of outrageous fans coaches and media experts or to take the whistles against a sea of basketball actions; and by holding them to let them play on; thus by opposing let the game end with them. Ok, I hope Hamlet and Mr. Shakespeare like the basketball usage.
I thought Duke was toast. They already cost the public money by not covering the spread — were they going to crush people's brackets and the TV people money by losing. They could have rattled and done dumb stuff; but no, they stayed within themselves and played with a calmness and resolve and focus to win. Good coaching and good players equate good victory. I understand that the country is divided on the love and hate for Duke, but there should not be any division on the skills of Zion Williamson. He didn't hide during crunch time. He faced the enemy and said, "Stop me, here I come". Did he knock down some two - pound people on his way to the basket as the referees in my eyes were correct in not calling a foul. No he didn't. Did his teammates do some arm to arm combat to get the rebound on his missed free throw as the referees let the players play? Again, good – no calls. It is at this point where the Duke haters and many experts are upset with the referees. They believe that the referees should blow everything like three - seconds and fouls if you look at someone too hard. They advocate that if we had full - time officials who were much younger then the calls would be better. Nothing is said about having qualified referees — just make them younger and full time basketball referees. Yeah, just talk to the airline stewardess about that one.
Hey, let them play and inform the players before hand the points of interest on how the officials plan to do the flow of the game.
Ok, we saw it; the world saw it; new born babies saw it before they were handed to their mother the red - faced dance by Coach Izzo on his player. This was not new to Big Ten people; but for others this was an INTENSE basketball episode. Izzo yells when he coaches and he goes ballistic when players don't do the right stuff. He knows his players and they know the lesson plan when they sign to play for him. I grew up playing ball for coaches who yelled and screamed at me, so it is water down a duck's back when a coach yells, but I prefer a coach not demean a player in public. Make your point and use the bench to get things across. For the people who are up in arms over Izzo's red face, stomp and point dance, please understand that if the players and their parents are fine with how Izzo treats their son then these people need to find another sortie to place their hat.
People, please understand this; my tax person has informed me that I need to follow Michigan in order to pay for my tax bill. I know, Kendra, you shake your head when I put these dead presidents on Michigan; but the IRS wants their money by April 15 so they told me to ride Michigan to cover and Michigan State not to cover during these games. I expect to do well by putting no faith in Virginia, Tennessee and Gonzaga. Heck, I might ride Duke to the promise land but, it appears that the basketball gods are in discussion on if they wish to give that special love to Michigan, who have an easy road to the Final Four, or hugs and kisses to the Spartans for the dance in Minnesota. Bottom line, I need to choose wisely. Oh, just to let you know, my wife is leading everyone in the household with the brackets.
Have a warm and happy week.
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