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college basketball coaches are generally like the sleazy guys that you’ve met in your life: they’re always looking for the more attractive upgrade. the thing about college basketball coaching jobs though, is that there’s a clear hierarchy of jobs. And most clearly, there are four jobs right at the very very top:

• Duke: as much as i detest them, coach k has built one of the premier programs in the country, in little more than 20 years
  
• Kentucky: adolph rupp, rick pitino, and others
  
• North Carolina: dean smith
  
• UCLA: john wooden
  

yes i know, you can argue there are a few more up there (indiana, kansas, arizona, louisville, etc…), but i consider those four jobs to be the elite. how do you judge that? in the “secure and upgrade” world of college basketball, you never see coaches willingly leave those jobs for another college job (or at least you would never think so until tubby just did). they are “destination” jobs.

so it seems that this latest news about kentucky pursuing billy donovan for its opening would make sense for everyone. after all, isn’t kentucky a top-end job? it is, but i don’t think it’ll happen.

for billy donovan, it’s hard to imagine jobs gettinig much more attractive than florida right now. big public school, no academic restrictions in recruiting, huge support base, a (now-)built reputation, and momentum in his program. to me, he has an opportunity to build florida INTO one of the elite programs. to define a legacy that isn’t just “the next great kentucky coach,” but is THE MAN.

that’s not even to mention the awkwardness of leaving for another SEC school (a bitter rival). wouldn’t that be strange? i mean, what is he REALLY gaining with the move (besides a million a year)? who knows, perhaps he’ll run for the $1M extra per year. but somehow, i just don’t see it happening.

for kentucky, this is a shot in the dark. a great, young, passionate (AND experienced) coach who is a tremendous recruiter. give it a shot, what could go wrong? well, for one thing, your fans could hate you, particularly if you don’t land him. when you’re a fan of these elite programs, you expect everyone to jump for your school’s job. when they don’t, you’re stunned. i have a feeling they’re going to be stunned this time.

who knows, maybe billy d will jump at the chance still, but my guess is no.

just to throw a couple of names out there as alternatives: tom crean, mark few.

red bridge

Originally uploaded by pink_emmie_bat.

Just came across this amazing picture on Flickr…

so i’ve been in a strange blog hiatus. it’s been a tiring couple of weeks. a strange conglomeration of busyness at work, family occurrences, and deep thoughts about my future. sounds pretty boring, huh? ah well…

as make-up for not going to vegas on the first weekend of the tournament, i’m headed out there next friday (april 6) for some good old-fashioned, healthy gambling. i might try to hit up a good steakhouse while i’m there, but for the most part it’ll just be wagering fun. i used to do these little trips all the time (think of them as pilgrimages to the poker mecca), but now it’s just once in a while out of the blue. definitely have to get some rest for myself before then…

speaking of that, does anyone know why i feel CONSTANTLY tired these days? so i usually get to bed around midnight, and i’m usually popping awake around 7am. sounds pretty reasonable, right? i mean, i distinctly remember getting 6 hours of sleep or less daily in high school and squeezing by with good energy. i think this may be a sign that i’m getting old. 25 is the new 65, i suppose…

how depressing.

weekend should be fun: working out, final four, going out to the city on saturday… hello, friday!

the first time i tied a necktie, it was for a very fun and goofy purpose. i was a freshman in high school and our team (read: our coach) decided that everyone should get dressed up on game days. thus, everyone slapped on some wrinkled khakis, boring brown shoes, dress shirts, and a tie. before that, i had always used clip-ons.

it was one little day, but no one ever told me it would be the start of so many important meetings and occasions and banquets and parties. if you look back on all of the days in your life that you wear a tie, you can find a lot of meaningful days. i’d say it’s a better indicator of meaningful days than most else.

as i was sitting here strangling a tie on myself this morning, i couldn’t help but think about the symbolic nature of pulling that long strip of cloth around my neck and down to my belly button. it’s a simple act, but it can mean so much. there was a time when wearing a tie was just common dress, but now it’s a demonstration or confirmation that something serious is happening today. something that is memorable or celebratory or nerve-wracking or special.

sometimes it means, “i really want this job.” sometimes it means, “i really need to look professional.” sometimes it means, “i’m so happy.” sometimes it means, “this is very important.”

and sometimes it means, ‘goodbye’ to someone whose absence from this world is forever…

today, ‘goodbye’ it is…

so it’s finally time for me to kick back and watch some games in full luxury and so i’ve set up a complicated arrangement where i’m currently watching the usc-arkansas game on the tv with my laptop in front of me, dialed in to CBS’s MarchMadnessOnDemand service (switching between southern illinois – holy cross and villanova – kentucky). what a life!

and while this might completely jinx them (because they’re only up 5 at half and just had one of their starters crumble to the ground in a heap after a sprained ankle), i’m officially declaring southern illinois my favorite team left in the tourney (outside of unc and ucla). hopefully they’ll win so you can watch them a little bit, but i just love how they play. they share the ball well on offense, which is great. they’re tiny, but they play tough tough man-to-man defense and they do it end-to-end, with the defender picking up the point guard the whole length of the court. now that’s a team that understands its philosophy and physical disadvantages. just really fun to watch.

and best of all, their mascot is the Saluki. saluki? how can you NOT root for the salukis?

somehow over the past couple of years, i’ve accumulated several gift cards (usually through birthday and christmas presents) that i’ve just never got around to using. so to make me feel productive in not wasting them, i’m going to declare this weekend “Gift Card Weekend.”

i’m thinking it should mesh nicely with the other theme of this weekend: “make up for missing the first two days of the NCAA tournament by spending every possible waking moment watching the second round” (if you’re interested in taking part, let me know). anyhow, my list of gift cards:

• $25 gift card to Jack in the Box: i will try not to use this entire card this weekend because doing so would probably cause my arteries to instantly constrict and kill me
• $25 gift card to Jamba Juice: using all of this card would be OK, but that sure would be a lot of juice
• $40 gift card to Nordstrom’s: i’m not sure what i would possibly need from nordstrom’s to make my basketball-watching go better, but i’m committed to getting it
• $25 gift card to Chili’s: does anyone want to go eat at chili’s this weekend?

so there we go. sounds like a fun-packed weekend of gorging myself and buying things.

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and if you think it sounds like i’m writing about this as a cop out because i don’t want to write about the embarrassing display of basketball by stanford… well, you would be right.

go unc and ucla…

2007 NCAA Tournament Bracket

Originally uploaded by smallchou.

and here’s the bracket… i came thisclose to putting Wasu into the final four, but at the end of the day i had to go with my tar heels there…

i don’t think i have to tell anyone who knows me that my absolutely favorite day of the year is tomorrow, the first day of the ncaa tournament (http://smallchou.com/blog/?p=195). and even though i’ll be stuck in a silly conference all day, unable to watch any of the day games… actually no, there’s no way to sugarcoat it: i’m going to wish i was watching basketball tomorrow. : |

hey everyone, next year when i’m deciding whether or not to take thursday and friday off to jet off to vegas and be in a sportsbook thursday morning, can someone point me back to this post to remind me how aggravated i currently am?

thanks…

so on an impossibly sunny and beautiful day like today, am i supposed to feel guilty because it was probably caused by global warming? after all, it is early-march.

from espn…

Now just a day before Selection Sunday, it’s time to really bore downon the final at-large candidates and establish a pecking order. We’lldo that after a quick look at the current bubble picture.

* — Auto bid winner included. ^ — Butler and Nevada are locks; Xavier should be in.

The Bubble Breakdown
CONFERENCE	LOCKS	SHOULD BE INS	AT-LARGES TAKEN (OUT OF 34) (assuming no auto bid outlier)
ACC	6	1	6
Big East	6	1	6
Big Ten	3	3	5
Big 12	3	2	4
Pac-10	5	0	4
SEC	4	0	3
MVC	2*	0	1
MWC	2	0	1
Other Locks/Should Be Ins^	2	1	3
TOTAL	33	8	33

If you believe Nevada and Xavier are in (which is a very safe bet),and you believe Purdue, Illinois and Kansas State are now likely to getthere (which is pretty reasonable), that leaves only one at-large spotfor the rest of the pool — and that assumes that Memphis doesn’t losein the C-USA final Saturday.

Here’s the pool of teams that appear to be in contention for that spot:

Air Force, Stanford, Florida State, West Virginia, Old Dominion, Drexel, Missouri State and Appalachian State.

Of those teams, I believe Stanford, Air Force, Old Dominion and Drexelhave the best cases — and right now, it appears Old Dominion woulddeserve the nod on paper. The Monarchs should be ahead of Drexel giventhe head-to-head sweep, better CAA standing and better record againstthe top CAA opponents. Air Force beat Stanford (minus a Lopez) by 34 inPalo Alto — a nice tiebreaker to own — and has a vastly better RPI,but ODU’s profile seems to slightly edge Air Force’s (and Stanford’s)in direct comparison — even though I suspect Stanford would be a moreformidable first-round opponent given Anthony Goods’ return and itsunusual size inside.

rough to rely on that selection committee…

so spurred by a couple of different things, i picked up a new bike a couple of weeks ago. it’s pretty sweet and i was really excited about the price i paid ($499 out the door). mostly i got it for a couple of reasons:

• bike to work: since i live less than 2 miles away from my office these days, i felt just a little ridiculous revving up the rex every morning.
• biking around work: part of my job requires me to spend, oh, ALL OF MY LIFE in meetings at different buildings on our campus, often requiring me to travel a good half mile each way.
• becoming floyd landis: except without the steroids (because steroids make your balls shrink).
  

not much to add besides that. if you’re interested in going out for a ride, let me know or something.