2012 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship: Play In Day 1

These are much more complicated than they look.  In the interior of the pretty table are links to each school’s Men’s Basketball page and their record (not always trivial to find).

Tonight I have no particular favorites other than my basic puzzlement about why any of the Play-Ins get seeded at all.  If you’re bad enough to need to play your way in, you’re by definition worse than anyone who got an invite.

Fittingly the Play-Ins are featured on basic cable trueTV which will interrupt it’s all crime all the time schedule tonight and tomorrow starting at 6:30 pm.  When in full swing starting Thursday CBS will be partnering with Turner Broadcasting and it’s TBS and TNT (in addition to trueTV) networks to provide complete game coverage for 2 games per Region in afternoon and evening sessions.

For those following along here that means one noonish and another 6ish piece covering 8 games each.

Last year I attempted to capture updates from each game.  That was stupid.  This year you have to make your own fun.  If there is a game of particular interest you might create an anchor thread or simply note your observations below.  If ambition inspires you then do a satellite piece.  I’d be especially interested in alma reminisces.  You’ll get linked if not promoted as my time allows.

Finally, I like to tickle the ironies on occasion and so I repeat for you the song of the representative from the only League that dares, dares I say, send its regular season Champion into the fray-

I know it’s very bad form to quote one’s own reviews, but I would like to mention something that The New York Times said about me a year ago which I’ve always treasured — they said:

Mr. Lehrer’s muse is not fettered by such inhibiting factors as taste.

Now we come to that peculiar bit of americana known as the football fight song. I was reminded not too long ago, upon returning from my lesson with the scrabble pro at the Harvard Club in Boston, in the days of my undergraduacy long ago when there used to be these very long Saturday afternoons in the fall with nothing to do — the library was closed — just waiting around for the cocktail parties to begin. and on occasions like that, some of us used to wander over to the… I believe it was called the stadium, to see if anything might be going on over there. and one did come to realize that the football fight songs that one hears in comparable stadia have a tendency to be somewhat uncouth, and even violent, and that it would be refreshing, to say the least, to find one that was a bit more genteel. And here it is, dedicated to my own alma mater, and called Fight Fiercely, Harvard.

Fight fiercely, Harvard, fight, fight, fight! Demonstrate to them our skill.

Albeit they possess the might, nonetheless we have the will.

How we shall celebrate our victory, We shall invite the whole team up for tea (how jolly!)

Hurl that spheroid down the field, and fight, fight, fight!

Fight fiercely, Harvard, fight, fight, fight! Impress them with our prowess, do!

Oh, fellows, do not let the Crimson down, Be of stout heart and true.

Come on, chaps, fight for Harvard’s glorious name, Won’t it be peachy if we win the game? (oh, goody!)

Let’s try not to injure them, but fight, fight, fight! (let’s not be rough though)

And do fight fiercely! Fight, fight, fight!

Play In Day 1

All yours.