Watch that game tonight. Very competitive and interesting game. Ending was a Holy Cow special. Glad to see ND win. Question for those of you who follow the womens game, are the ND guards the best guard tandem in the nation? They were really impressive tonight. I had know about and seen Tyler Degan ? before, and she is simply outstanding. The other guard, McBride ?, was also outstanding tonight. She was knocking down all types of shots. Both of them can play the game.

Promises they will hit America with a nuke. Will this be a true test for John Kerry? Can we incorporate the anti-missle defense Israel is using against Hezbollah rockets?

Great comeback with a real chance to get the win. Get better Laura Sweeney. Too bad you missed this one.

8:30

An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had recently failed an entire class. That class had insisted that Obama's socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.

The professor then said, "OK, we will have an experiment in this class on Obama's plan".. All grades will be averaged and everyone will receive the same grade so no one will fail and no one will receive an A.... (substituting grades for dollars - something closer to home and more readily understood by all).

After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little.

The second test average was a D! No one was happy.
When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.

As the tests proceeded, the scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.

To their great surprise, ALL FAILED and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great, but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed. Could not be any simpler than that.

STRICK, your new hero?

Sugar Rodgers broke BE championship scoring record with 24 points after making 2 foul shots with only seconds left. Carolyn and Katherine Coyer played together in the game with Harry using his entire bench.

The top 8 seeds in the league advanced to the next round with all 8 being picked to advance to the NCAA tournament. Great news for Villanova especially our senior class along with Harry and his staff.

I forgot kudos to all the parents who so faithfully follow their daughters play especially the senior parents who so much wanted their girls to make the Dance which they so richly deserve.
This post was edited on 3/9 10:25 PM by UncleBill57

This post was edited on 3/9 10:27 PM by UncleBill57

I think we are going to get the game with
the Hoyas on SNY. I just watched our high school
where I taught for 35 years lose by one in the inter-sectionals.
Living up here in the hills has its advantages.

In perusing the heat sheets, a couple of things standout:

There are appear to be only seven (7) private schools represented ? Dartmouth, Georgetown, Harvard, Notre Dame, Providence, Stanford, Villanova. Says an awful lot about the imbalance in recruiting ? i.e., the advantages of the state schools.

Oregon is loaded. Something to consider when weighing relays at Penn. Oregon men have three entries in mile, two in 800, and one in 400. Women: one in 800, two in mile and Horsay.

Arkansas is loaded as well ? three men in 800, one in 400. They would have walked away with 4x800 at Penn. This Arkansas invitational must be some kind of event.

Congratulations to Laura Sweeney who once again gets chosen as a second team Big East member. She has been an exemplary player in so many ways for our Lady Wildcats leading us in several categories.

A #7 seed vs Iowa.

I wonder if a win or two in the BET would move them up another spot or so?

Very nice Lady Cats, great being in the NCAA tourney discussion again.

ESPN's predictions

This is an interesting article about Alberto Salazar "coaching" Mary Cain while she is still in high school. Be curious what others thought.

Me? Your life - do what you wish. On the other hand, I am a strong believer in letting kids grow-up and enjoy their childhoods. There is plenty of time to be an adult. Don't rush it. Cain no longer runs with her school. I think she loses something there.

Note: this is not an argument. I do not claim to be right. Others may have a totally different view and I would not argue against it.

For VU fans, this undoubtedly means Mary Cain is going to Oregon and getting an early start on a pro career. This is a scholar-athlete in VU's prime recruiting area and figured there might be a good chance she might come to VU. Only competition might have been Harvrd or Princeton because Bronxville is in the pricey suburbs and her grades are good (4.0). No chance now.

To paraphrase a line from A Man for All Seasons: "Why Mary, it profits a woman nothing to give her soul for the entire world, but ... for Oregon?"

Runner's World

It seems absolutely ridiculous to me that we can't cut $85 billion of spending without disrupting everyone's life. Government is so inefficient this should be a cakewalk. I'm watching Obama and how the world will end even though we'll still spend more money this year as we did last year. Is it me or this just ridiculous? Just give the agencies some flexibility on the cuts and call it a day. Why is this such a huge deal. If we can't agree on only spending a little more than last year there is no hope for us. Interested to hear the thoughts of others as this just seems like more fear monguring from Obama. We're still spending more than last year and the world will end?

I am pretty sure the score was 77-75 with Sweeney scoring close
to 30. They were quicker and more athletic then we were at every
position, and their coach played us zone the entire way. That allowed
us to dictate tempo. The trip home was horrendous on country roads,
but I saw almost the entire second half of the men's game.

DAN--IVE DONE SOME CHECKING ON THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN TAX RATES---ON 6 DIFFERENT SITES-----IF YOU SIMPLY TYPE ON -----HISTORY OF AMERICAN TAX RATES YOU WILL FIND THIS-----------------MY RESEARCH IS NOT COMMENSURATE WITH YOUR- RATES YOU PROVIDED-------------ILL STAND BY MY STATEMENT OF HAVING LOW TAX RATES ---AFTER THE BUSH TAX CUTS FOR APROX A DECADE-------WHICH WERE EXTREMELY LOW BY OUR HISTORICAL STANDARDS- AND HELPED TO CREATE THIS DEFICIT WE R IN---------SO TELL THE TRUTH--AND SHAME THE DEVIL--------PAINT THE REAL PICTURE--DAN--------------HERE GOES-------------FROM 1940----THRU 1963-------THE TOP TAX RATES RANGED FROM 81------TO 91 PERCENT------------THINK ABOUT THAT FOR A SECOND-------------------------------FROM 1964---TO 1980----------THE RATES WERE APROX 70 PERCENT----THINK ABOUT THAT FOR A MOMENT--------------------------FROM 1981-----TO 1986-----THE RATE WAS 50 PERCENT-----------THINK ABOUT THAT---------------NOW WE GET INTO SOME TAX BREAK YEARS------------------FROM 1993------TILL THE YEAR 2002----38 OR 39 PERCENT----------IN THE PAST DECADE----OR SINCE 2003-------THE RATE WAS 35 PERCENT-----------------------------------VERY VERY VERY VERY LOW BY HISTORICAL STANDARDS---- ON TOP OF THAT-----THERE ARE WAY WAY WAY MORE LOOPHOLES TODAY THEN IN DECADES GONE BY----WAY MORE WAYS TO HIDE MONEY------------HENCE--YOU SEE---ROMNEY PAYING 14 PERCENT------LOWER THAN MOST SECREATARIES--------------------------------I REST MY CASE-----------


.

This post was edited on 3/5 11:26 AM by Beefer.

We end up being the 6th seed in the BE tourney even though we end up tied with DePaul and South Florida. We get the #6 seed since we beat them both.

We'd likely play @ 8:00 p.m. Saturday probably vs GTown.

ND beat UConn tonight in triple OT.

Tpenter supplied the BE tourney info alternatives before tonight's game. I left my wife at tonight's Jay Wright show which was an event.

Our seniors and their parents had an amazingly great home court closing game tonight. Kudos to them all.
This post was edited on 3/4 10:38 PM by UncleBill57

Both DMRs, Ellison in 800, Denault in mile, lipari in 3k all qualify. Margey just missed in 800.

Looks like Nova will run the DMR at the NCAA's as they have the 9th fastest time now. Also looks like Texas which had the fastest time in the nation before today will not be one of the 12 teams to qualify.

Understand the "new" Big East will be a basketball conference ? which is not a bad thing. But what about track & field? Where are the track powers?

Of the original schools, St. John's and Seton Hall no longer have men's track. Creighton only has XC. Marquette, DePaul, Butler and Xavier …? That apparently leaves just three schools devoted to track & field: VU, Georgetown & Providence. How does this affect recruiting? Big East Track championships mean exactly what?

How does Notre Dame play in this drama? They are supposedly headed to the ACC, but may stopover in the new Big East for a year. They are a better fit with the new Big East. All seems slightly bizarre to accommodate football $.
This post was edited on 3/3 11:43 AM by sebastianc

In the last game, versus Louisville, Villanova had a 2 point lead, but could never extend the lead beyond 2 points. Last night, versus St. John's, Villanova had a 4 point lead on numerous occasions, but could never extend the lead beyond 4 points. St. John's looked tired and beatable, so I don't understand why it's so difficult for Villanova to extend leads.

I thought the first turning point of the game was when Villanova had a four point lead with about 6 minutes left, and Villanova got an offensive rebound by Sweeney to keep possession, but St. John's got a steal and a fastbreak layup to cut the lead to 2. That seemed to wake up St. John's. I don't think Villanova ever had a 4 point lead again.

The second turning point was when Villanova had a three point lead with two-and-a-half minutes to go, and possession of the basketball. Then, on two successive possessions, Villanova just seemed to stand around, and never even got off a shot.

On the second to last possession for Villanova, Roberts took a three pointer, but missed. Roberts is, in fact, Villanova's top three-point shooter this season. Considering how badly Villanova shot three pointers in this game, however, I didn't like the decision to shoot a three. Villanova shot just 2-10 from three point range in the second half.

On the last possession for Villanova, if Kane had made the 15-footer, it would have looked like a great call. At the time, I wanted Kane to drive to the basket, because the refs were calling a lot of fouls. On the other hand, Kane was only 2-4 from the line in the game, and Villanova was a brutal 6-12 from the line in the second half, compared to St. John's 9-11 at the line. However, if Kane had made just 1-2 from the line and St. John's hadn't scored in the last 6 seconds, the game would have gone to OT. Considering that Kane is a 69% free throw shooter for the season, I think she could have made at least 1-2 from the line.

In the last two games, Villanova's motion offense and deep bench seemed to tire out both Louisville and St. John's, but Villanova doesn't seem to be able to handle prosperity well against the Big East's better teams. When Villanova misses easy layups, they allow tired teams to keep it close.

Did anyone else read this?

The lineup on the floor for the first 7 minutes of the second half, when Villanova outscored Louisville 13-10, was Sweeney, Leer, K. Coyer, Carey and Roberts/Kane.

Emily Leer hit a jumper with 9:34 left in the game to give Villanova a 42-40 lead. That was Nova's last lead in the game. Leer was frequently open behind the three point line in the second half, but her teammates didn't pass her the ball. Leer attempted no three-pointers in the game. For a team that has difficulty scoring, that doesn't seem to me like good strategy.

Harry took Leer out with 4:54 left in the game and Villanova down 2 and didn't put her back in the game until 43 seconds left.
After Leer left the game with 4:54 left, Nova only scored 6 points the rest of the game, and 4 of those points were after there were only 21 seconds left.

I thought the Villanova offense was out of whack at the end of the game. They kept forcing the ball to Roberts even though she wasn't playing well offensively. In the last 3 minutes, Roberts missed 3 layups and 1 three-pointer.

If Roberts is not playing well offensively, and Burford is on the bench the whole second half, and C. Coyer is injured, I don't think you can afford to take Leer out of the game at the 4:54 mark, because you don't have enough offensive options.

Harry seemed to take Leer out and put Pearson in because presumably he thought Pearson was a better defensive option versus Louisville's Bria Smith. Also, Pearson had 8 rebounds in the game. While Smith didn't score again until 6 seconds left, Louisville got points from other players, and Nova had great difficulty scoring.

Why couldn't Villanova have played the last 4:54 with Sweeney, Leer, Pearson, K. Coyer and Kane/Roberts/Carey on the court?

I'm glad Villanova hung in there with #11 Louisville, especially after Louisville was up 12 points in the first half. However, USF beat Louisville by 11 in Louisville four days ago, and we beat USF.

I thought the best thing about the game was K. Coyer: 12 points, 5 rebounds, 32 minutes.

Didn't have to watch Obama

Is he gay? If so, good for him. I'm sure the LGBT could use him as an advocate. I like him as a Senator. Don't understand why he and McCain have this thing for Kelly Ayotte, but he's a moderate Southerner.