Thoughts

What happens when you take Wil Morris's man-crush on Kevin Pittsnogle, teach him about the rapid-capture action-shot capability of my camera and let him loose on the West Virginia v. Northwestern State game?

148 pictures. (Though in fairness, included in that total were pics from the Pitt/Bradley game. And only 130 made it to the gallery.)

Impressions:

The officiating for Pittsburgh v. Bradley was some of the worst I have ever seen. Bradley won that game fair and square, and Pittsburgh is not a team I would ever make excuses for; that is not my intention. Calls on both sides of the ball were horrible. I guess the silver lining is that at least they were equally bad to both teams, but they were not consistent in the level of contact required for a foul.

The band director/leader for the Northwestern State band was awesome. The band itself was little more than a drunken student section with instruments. In his highly animated state, the man led his band through many hip-hop/rap hits such as "Let Me Clear My Throat" and "Laffy Taffy." He also led the band in cheers. After one bad call the band yelled "Nuts and bolts. Nuts and bolts. We...Got...Screwed!" Pretty funny, though not the best. While at the free throw line, West Virginia Guard Johannes Herber was serenaded by the band as they chanted "Brokeback Mountain. Brokeback Mountain." (I have just learned that Gonzaga fans had been reprimanded for similar behavior. Thanks for the update, Matt.)

I know it is hard to get fans from schools across the country to make the trip, but I thought the stadium seemed very empty. Maybe it was because there is no alcohol served at the NCAA events.

Bradley played very well against Pittsburgh. Since Kansas was kind enough to lose to them in the first round, maybe I will jump on the Bradley bandwagon to beat Memphis...

I could not believe that there was not a screen in the building that was constantly scrolling scores for the other games-in-progress yesterday. Only during a stoppage of play would the other scores be shown.

I was not happy that I had to leave Las Vegas early to come home for class on Saturday, but at least having tickets to the two games on Sunday was a consolation.