There’s an interesting column by foxsports.com’s Jeff Goodman on Duke’s early exit from the NCAA tournament and its uncharacteristically “dysfunctional” make-up. It can be found on MSN.com as well. The interesting part comes toward the end, where it’s suggested Kyle Singler of South Medford could be the Blue Devils’ go-to guy the minute he steps on campus.
Here’s the link:
http://msn.foxsports.com/cbk/story/6575084

If you opened your paper this morning and tried to find the sports TV schedule, or the local schedule of games, or the NBA boxes, NCAA tournament schedule and boxes, golf scores, NHL standings, transactions, you name it, I know how futile and frustrating your search was. We had it all there on the Scoreboard, ready to go at a little after 11 p.m. last night. We pushed the button to send it through imaging and to film and on its merry way.

And nothing happened.

Well, something happened. Everything locked up and refused to budge. That’s as techy as I get. There were people who knew what they were doing trying to fix the problem, but to no avail and with no time to spare. The newsroom is near the front of a long assembly line. The pressmen, inserters and distribution folks were all waiting on us. When deadline was an hour old, the difficult decision was made to slap a house ad on the page and go without the Scoreboard and the couple of paid ads on the page. As unhappy as people will be this morning, please understand frustration reached a crescendo here, too.

And it could have been far worse. It could have been the sports cover that turned into one big house ad. Or an inside page where all the jumps from 1D were supposed to go. Or all the prep roundups could have been obliterated.

In the end, we sacrificed one page so the rest of the paper could be delivered.

We truly hate to give you this incomplete edition, and we don’t expect it to happen again.

Common sense tells me not to trust my gut anymore.

In 20-plus years of filling out these NCAA tournament brackets, that “gut feeling” hasn’t been too kind to my psyche or my wallet (not that I condone gambling or anything. Don’t do it. Stay in school).

So this year, maybe I’ll go against the grain and pick against all the teams I really do want to win. I’ll turn a new leaf.

Where to start?

First off, Arizona.

I’ve been a diehard Wildcats’ fan since I was a young pup, dating back to the pre-Sean Elliott days. I always get grief in the office about Arizona, and Tim Trower usually gets his once-every-two-or-three-year shot in when his Oregon State Beavers upset the mighty Wildcats at Gill Coliseum. He’s the boss, so I take it.

Back to my bracket.

Since Arizona, an eighth seed, is my favorite team, I’ll go ahead and check them off to lose in the first round to Purdue. I’m comfortable with that. Actually, can’t do it. Let me come back to that one.

Staying in the Midwest Region, I’ll move down here to the Oregon game. I’m not necessarily a huge Duck fan, but I’m a product of this state, so I go with the home team even though I know pain and heartache will surely follow. I am, after all, a longtime Portland Trail Blazers fan, and you know their long history of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. I’m used to suffering.

I do like Oregon’s side of the bracket in the Midwest Region, though. The Ducks face a team (Miami-Ohio) that has 14 losses and needed a miracle, banked in 3-pointer at the buzzer just to qualify from their conference tournament.

But I must stick with my new approach. So I’ll go ahead and pencil in Miami-Ohi …. Oops, pencil broke. Let me grab something new to write with.

OK, so where was I? Oh, right. Looks like Oregon and Arizona are destined to meet up in the Elite Eight.

I’m sure that’s a winner.

Selection Sunday is the beginning of March Madness. But once the brackets are announced, instead of analyzing the teams in the tournament, most of the media dialogue switches immediately to the so called ‘bubble teams’ that were left out. It becomes a real “Whine Fest.”

Many of the television commentators have their spin on how the tournament committee just blew it by leaving out Drexel or Syracuse or Kansas State or Akron or the 31-1 East Hillbillie State. But each announcer has a different take on who is most deserving and what teams shouldn’t be in the field.

The coaches of the teams omitted from the 64-team tournament are trotted in front of the cameras to lobby on how their team deserves to be in the ‘big dance.” These coaches invariably fail to say who they should be there instead of.

Even Monday morning a droopy-eyed Jim Boeheim is on ESPN sniveling on how leaving out his Syracuse Orangemen was the greatest injustice since the O.J. Simpson verdict.

Memo to the teams not making the field: just win more games or beat some ranked opponents or go far in a conference tournament, instead of getting knocked out without making at least the semifinal or championship game. A 20-win campaign with a bunch of pre-season home victories against a handful of cupcakes, doesn’t impress the committee.

Now some coaches are even promoting the idea of changing the tournament to a bigger field. Of course to most coaches, more is always better. And no matter how many teams are in, there will always be the teams that didn’t make it arguing why they deserve to be there.

A bigger tournament is not needed. March Madness has found an ideal formula that works. The three weekend format is compelling. The first two rounds on the opening weekend provide excitement with interesting match-ups and the upset waiting to happen. The Sweet 16 and Elite Eight rounds usually have some unexpected twists that culminates a week later with the Final Four. The 64-team field provides plenty of basketball for even the most avid spectator, doesn’t leave out a team that has realistic expectations of winning the championship and is not so unwieldy that the tournament is dragged out until summer.

March Madness is ideal. It doesn’t need to have a bigger field. The discussion on the ‘bubble teams’ is interesting prior to the selections, but once the 64-team field is set, just move on. Let the games begin.

Kyle Singler and Michael Harthun are both named first-team, all-tournament. E.J. Singler is second-team all-tourney. South finishes the season 27-3.

The game has been over for 15 minutes and South Medford fans and students won’t leave the floor … they’re hugging, dancing, singing … and why not, it’s the first state hoop title by a Medford team since the Medford High Black Tornado won it all in this same gym in 1960

– You can cut the intensity with a knife, Lake O misses long three, South gets rebound and Grimes dribbles out the clock … Panthers are state champions!

– K. Singler gets fouled again, makes 1 of 2, S. Medford leads, 56-53 with 35 secs left, E.J. Singler fouls out as Babcock-Krenk goes to the basket, Babcock-Krenk hits 1 of 2, 12.5 secs left, and Dellenback-Ouellette gets fouled, drills the first, and the seconde, S. Medford leads, 58-54, I can see the ice in Dellenback-Ouellette’s veins… timeout, Lake Oswego

– K. Singler now at point guard, drives, gets fouled, swishes two FTS, South leads, 55-51, but Love scores at other end to trim Panther lead to 55-53 … Fans are on the edge of their seats, no wait, everyone is standing.

– Harthun fouls out with 1:18 to go, Lavender goes to the line for a double bonus, misses the first, hits the second, 53-51 S. Medford

– Spada drains a trey from Vancouver, Lake O now within 53-50 with 1:32 to go

– Kyle Singler appears to walk driving on Love but Love called for block and Kyle hits two FTS, South now leads, 51-45 with 2:50 left, but Ainge connects at other end, 51-47 South Medford, until Harthun buries 12-foot J, what a ball game!

– It’s white-knucke time as clock dips under four minutes

– E.J. Singler with tremendous hustle play under South basket, dives out of bounds to throw ball off a Laker and allow Panthers to retain possession — Timeout, S. Medford

– Love scores again, South lead shrinks to 47-45 … Kyle Singler takes it to Love inside, Love fouls (his third), K. Sing makes both, 49-45 South Medford

– Fourth quarter beings and E.J. returns to game with 7:27 left in the game with four fouls.. E.J. Singler gets fouled, South in the bonus, hits both FTS, South leads, 44-37 … Love scotres underneath but Harthun drills 3, South leads, 47-39, with 6:20 left … Love scores underneath .. then Harthun gets his fourth foul trying to draw a charge .. Landon Ainge for the Lakers hits two FTS, Lakers creep within 47-43 .. … Kyle Singler returns with 5:27 left

– South takes 30 secs off clock, then Harthun drills a 3, but Love scores twice underneath, South lead shrinks to 39-35 .. Harthun gets a charging call, his third, Lakers are flopping like fish on the dock and refs are going for it … Love scores inside again, 39-37 South… Ainge fouls Harthun on 3-point shot with 3.7 secs to go in the third … finally, South gets a break … Harthun makes all three shots as South builds lead to 42-37 … Lakers take timeout to set up fullcourt play at end of quarter. They throw long pass to Love, who kicks to Spada, who travels (it’s not called) and then he misses a 3 from the baseline … Panthers got no breaks from the zebras in that quarter

– South calls timeout to regroup with 2:13 to go in the third .. K. Singler sits, Anderson in

– Mitch Singler with a steal, passes ahead to Harthun, who makes layup, South lead grows to 36-31 … Kyle Singler gets his fourth foul on offensive foul vs. Love, very shaky call

– E.J. gets his fourth foul with midway through the third quarter .. Mitch Singler replaces him … Love scores inside again … South is now powerless to stop him because of all the fouls … but Kyle swishes a long 3 as Panthers break 31-all tie to take 34-31 advantage .. Grimes gets tangled with Love and gets his third foul .. Holy cow, the officials are wearing out their whistles

– Love scores inside but Dellenback-Ouellette nails another 3-ball from the corner, South regains lead, 31-29, 4:42 to go in the third

– K Singler draws another foul on Love, his second, as he takes the ball to the basket again, K Singler hits two FTS and South retakes lead, 28-27 … South goes into full court pressure and draws a 10-second count from Lakers … K Sing in and out with long J, heart-breaker

– Kyle Singler finally takes the ball to the basket, Love fouls him, K Sing makes two FTs, South inches within 27-26 —

– Love outscores Kyle Singler 15-4 in the first half .. Second half begins with Love scoring underneath .. on next possession, Love gets offensive rebound, fouled by EJ (his third), and hits FTs .. Love is starting to take over … Lakers lead, 27-24

– Love takes it hard to the basket and Kyle Singler hacks him for his third personal, Love makes two more at the line … Half closes with E.J. missing an easy one near the basket .. It’s South Medford 24, Lake Oswego 23 at the break … Anyone who said it would be easy is missing that large item between the ears …

– Dellenback flashes to basket on back door, K. Singler bullet pass, basket, foul, miss, South leads, 24-21

Ainge hits a 3 for Lakers, stops the bleeding .. then Grimes gets his second foul, he leaves, Mitch Singler back in … E.J. Singler gets his second foul guarding Love … Panthers need to stop the pushing or it’s going to be trouble … Love hits both ends of 1 and 1, game now tied at 19-all but not for long as Toons cans another deep 3, South up, 22-19, with 2:15 to go in the second .. there goes Love with a beautiful hook in close, South leads, 22-21

– Harthun hits a 3 from Veneta … on next possession, Dellenback-Ouellette hits reverse layup off a nifty Kyle feed. South lead grows to 19-14 … South crowd is VERY loud … timeout, Lake Oswego

– Love scores over Kyle underneath, but Mitch Singler counters with a baseline J, it’s 12-all

– Kyle Singler fouls Love going to the basket, Love makes 1 of 2, Lake O leads, 10-8 … Kyle Singler finally hits a jumper, game tied 10-all, 6:55 to go in the second

– Spada counters with a trey for Lake O, Lakers retake lead, 9-8 … Elliot Babcock-Krenk gets whistled for his second foul and goes to bench … after one quarter the pace and the lead belong to Lake O, 9-8 … South Medford struggling to make shots

– Dylan Anderson and Mitch Singler check in a 2:25 mark of first quarter … Harhtun swiches a 3 from way out to give South an 8-6 lead with 1:31 to go in the first

– Kyle Singler scores inside, fouled by Ernie Spada, after a TV timeout (don’t you love those), Kyle misses FT .. Lake O still leads, 6-5

– Both teams seem a little tight offensively .. Landon Ainge connects from 15 feet, Lake O takes lead at 4-3 … S. Medford switches to man to man defense … Love scores inside, nice patient by Lake O in the halfcourt, Lake O leads, 6-3

– Panthers open in 2-3 zone, Kyle Singler surrounding Love inside;; Love gets fouled by Grimes underneath, makes them both, 3-2 South …

– E.J. Singler tries a spin move but travels … Van Dellenback-Ouellette drills a 3 from the top, good sign for Panthers, 3-0 South

– South Medford fans extremley noisy as player introductions begin … Panthers definitely have the most fans here … Well, fasten your seatbelts and hug your loved one, this one is about to tip off.

– We’ve got a middle-aged official and a young one … that’s often a good combination … player introduction about to start …

– Michael Harthun looks to have a major bounce in his step during warm-ups… And he’s making every shot … He just might score 40 …

– South Medford students and fans have brought their blue and white “terrible towels” and are waving them frantically during pre-game warmups … 12 minutes until tip-off… lots of nervous excitement in the Mac Court air

– North Eugene defeats Roosevelt 38-28 for the 5A title. Highlanders go undefeated and win their first state title in 30 years. Danny Ainge played on their last title team.

– The word on Michael Harthun is that his injured shooting hand has healed enough that he won’t need to wear a glove tonight.

It’s less than an hour before top-ranked Lake Oswego and second-ranked South Medford square off for the state title and Mac Court is sold out. It looks like there’s a few seats available in the third balcony but they’e at 9,000 feet elevation and there aren’t any oxygen masks being handed out.
North Eugene is beating Roosevelt 30-28 in the Class 5A state title game. Roughriders haven’t been to the state tournament in 49 years.

– It’s a final! South Medford 70, Jesuit 51 … Panthers might have covered the spread

– With 20 secs left, Conner Egan makes an appearance for South Medford.. he gets a standing O all by himself.

– Both teams clearing their benches, thousands of South Medford fans stand and applaud … Just like many predicted, it’ll be No. 1 Lake Oswego and No. 2 South Medford playing for all the marbles on Saturday

Kyle hits the first end of a one and one, misses the second but it comes his way and he hits a 15-footer, then Harthun hits a 3 and a layup .. Now it’s 68-44 with 2:49 left and some folks are heading for the exits

– Kyle Singler goes coast-to-coast and flips in a finger-roll .. Duke is going to love this kid

– Free-throw feast continues for Panthers.. Kyle makes two more and then Harthun connects on a pair .. differential grows to 58-41 …

– South Medford in the one-and-one with 6:40 to go and Kyle hits a pair from the line.. Panthers lead 53-40

– Jesuit’s Kaempf hits a 3 to start the fourth quarter, Jesuit creeps within 47-38, but Harthun lobs in his patented 8-foot floater, 49-38, South

Harthun swishes a trey .. the young man is back to normal on his shooting stroke .. Beware Lake Oswego.. South leads, 47-32, and playing for the last shot of the third quarter … but Dylan Anderson launches early, misses, and Feest nails his fourth 3-pointer of the quarter. End of three and it’s South Medford 47, Jesuit 35 … Panthers still not out of the woods

eJsuit’s McShane just committed third-degree assault on Kyle, grabbed his jersey and his neck in the key, but the ref called it … E.J. Singler with a beautiful baby hook from in close — who taught him that? — and then Kyle with a 12-foot J, South lead grows to 44-32 .. very fast-paced, entertaining game. Fans getting their money’s worth

– McShane scores on the fastbreak after a Kyle Singler turnover … Crusaders are like a bad smell, they just won’t go away

– Kyle Singer connects from free-throw line extended but Feest hits a 3 for Jesuit, Crusaders within 33-27, until E.J. buries a FT area jumper, Singler Nation still at work

Jon Grimes is on fire … figuratively speaking, of course. He nailed a 2 and then a 3 to start the second half and now has 13 points … South Medford still up by nine, 33-24, with 6:07 left in the third

- Sam Kaempf hits a 3 for Jesuit as Crusaders creep within 28-17 one minute to go in the first half … South Medford now playing for final shot of the half but Mitch Singler has the ball stripped and Kaempf scores a layup … It’s halftime. South Medford 28, Jesuit 19. All in all, a good half for the Panthers, but they got a little bit careless late.

Mitch Singler flies in for a rebound and drills a jumper… students now chanting, “Singler Nation! Singler nation!” Panther lead swells to 25-11

Hart scores on an inbounds-play, but at the other end, Grimes connects on a baseline cut after great pass from Kyle, Grimes gets fouled on the play as well, hits, 23-11, South

Michael Hart nails a 3 for Jesuit from the top, 20-9, South 5:56 left in the second

Kyle Singler a tip-in to start the second quarter, then E.J. on a close-in shot.. 20-6 Panthers, South students are chanting, “Domination! Domination!” It’s hard to argue.

Van Dellenback-Ouellette on a fastbreak layup, Harthun the assisgt, 14-2, Panthers. Brad Gerbing hits a FT jumper for Jesuit, but Kyle with a hard take and acrobatic layup at the other end… Gerbing scores with 4 secs left in the quarter.
After one, it’s South Medford 16, Jesuit 6. A very solid period for the boys from Pear Valley, especially defensively

Michael McShane finally breaks the scoring ice for Jesuit with 2:15 left in the first, 12-2 South

Harthun swishes a trey. very fluid, 12-0 South.

Grimes with another jumper, he looks very confident shooting the ball here at The Pit, Kyle Singler with assist, 9-0 Panthers, 3:19 left in the first … Will Jesuit score tonight?

South’s man-to-man defense is suffocating

E.J. on a drive and score, 7-0, South

that 3-0 early, and then Harthun drives to the hoop and scores, Panthers up 5-0 at the 6:20 mark of the second quarter … timeout Jesuit

Grimes nails a 3-ball from the top, 2-0 South early

The crowd is bigger tonight. Folks are in the third balcony.

The countdown has begun for South Medford vs. Jesuit in the state semifinals.
The cut hand suffered by Panthers point guard Michael Harthun in a home accident Wednesday night is better today. He is no longer wearing a bicycle glove, as he did for protection during Thursday’s quarterfinal-game win over Grant. Instead, it’s simply wrapped and taped.
I got a look at the wound first-hand today. It’s between the index and middle fingers on his shooting hand and is about the size of the end of a thimble. He said it’s feeling better and he doesn’t expect it to bother him during tonight’s game.
Jesuit is a smaller team with a lot of quickness and 3-point shooters, so I’m looking for an up-and-down, run-and-gun game. Fortunately for South, the Crusaders are out of Tarvers. Seth Tarver, now playing for Oregon State, is out in the hallway.

but i really do work here.

seriously, i do. and i don’t like capital letters, as you’ll see throughout. i’m a short guy, so i like to keep letters at eye-level.

and on a night like tonight — another round of prep basketball playoffs, where i have six blank pages, photos to place on those pages, video to be edited and reporters to annoy with my loud-mouth antics — the worst has happened to me. no, i didn’t lose a leg or anything — it’s worse. i’m down to my last Girl Scout cookie. granted, there’s a bag of Reese’s Pieces tucked tightly behind my computer (hopefully not melted or the IT guys may get angry), but through this tournament i have relied on the genuine taste of the single box of Girl Scout cookies i own to get me through the tough times here at the office.

just last night it was the third cookie from the right in the second row that gave me the inspiration and the sugar rush to get the South Medford game video edited and published in a timely manner. and then it was the cookie two spots down that almost helped me make deadline. almost. and now, they’re all gone — all but one.

as i sit here and write this, i glance to my left and the one lonely cookie, with sweet tasting caramel and delicious strands of coconut, beckons me to eat it. but i just can’t.

how could i make it through the rest of the night — let alone live with myself — if i ate my last cookie now before the game even started?

9:43 - It’s a final: South Medford 80, Grant 56 … Bring on Jesuit

9:41 - Chris Granger hits a 3 off a pass from Gonzalo Duran-Chaparro. Subs looking OK.

9:37 - Murphy clears the bench with two minutes left and South leading 77-52.

9:34 - Grant students are yelling “White Trash” at Singler. He responds with his patented slam dunk off a backboard pass from Harthun as lead grows to 75-48 with 2:05 remaining.

9:28 -  E.J. Singler draws his fourth foul .. Singlers are using up all their personals. Luckily, they’ll start over tomorrow.

9:26 - Singler draws his fourth foul with 4:55 to go but Panthers in no trouble at 65-41

9:24 -  Kyle with a tip-in of brother’s miss. South keeps putting on the heat, now leads, 63-39 with 5:17 left

 9:21 - Singler scores near the basket, Harthun with the feed, foul, Singler with a 3-point play. Then Dylan Anderson with a hustle play and steal, feeds Harthun, who hits layup. South now leads by 20 with 7 minutes to go … It’s time for Grant to warm up the bus and South to start prepping for Jesuit.

 9:18 - Kyle Singler gets called for his third offensive charge of the third quarter after taking the ball hard to the basket. Looked like a good call from here, although my seat is almost in Elmira … Luckily for him, he has no other fouls. End of third, South Medford 52, Grant 35 …

9:16 - Harthun with his first 3 of the night as Panthers lead 52-35 with 24 secs left in the third

9:10 - Kyle scores again off a nifty lob from E.J. … South lead balloons to 47-33 with 3:46 to go in the third. It could be blow-out city real soon.

9:09 -  Harthun back at the FT line. Swishes the first, and the second. Hand is feeling better … Kyle scores underneath off beautiful pump fake, lead grows to 45-33.

9:06 - Dellenback-Ouellette drains a 3 … good to see other Panthers stepping up and looking to score as Harthun nurses his sore hand .. 4:49 to go in the third, timeout Grant, Panthers’ lead swells to 41-31

9:04 - Kyle Singler gets called for charging.. he’s angry about the call and vents to Murphy, refs and anyone else who will listen. But, surprise, the call stands. Moser for Grant and Grimes for South exchange 3’s… South leads, 38-31, with 5:20 to go in the third

9:01 - Van Dellenback-Ouellette finally joins the scoring, gets a rebound basket, gets fouled, and one … South leads, 35-28

8:59 - Coach Murphy must have talked about getting the ball inside at halftime because on the first possession of the second half, Kyle Singler scores inside, gets fouled, and completes 3-point play, but McCoy drains a 3 at other end … South leads, 32-28

8:56 -  South Medford cheerleaders do a fancy dance routine at halftime … Grant students boo … not too classy

8:49 -  South leads at halftime, 29-25 … Kyle Singler leads all scorers with 12 points … Panthers have had a habit of not playing their best basketball in the opening game of state tournaments … Here’s another example, but there’s another half to go.

8:45 - At the 52-second mark of the second qr, Singler banks in a 15-foot jumper, then Harthun gets fouled. How will the injury affect his FT shootiing? A lot, he misses both

8:43 - James scores on a Harthun turnover, Grant creeps within 27-25 at the 1:50 mark of the second

8:41 - E.J. with a foul line J, but Grnat counters with a long trey .. Action is heating up. 27-23 Panthers

8:39 -  Grimes cleans up the trash with a weak-side rebound basket .. South leads, 25-16 … timeout, Grant … Generals’ Andre Broadous and Kyle get into a little shoving match under the South basket. Refs jump in quickly and peace is restored.

8:37 - Kyle with a nice follow of his own miss, 23-16 South

8:36 -  Kyle with another big-time block, swatting Mike James’ shot off the backboard as James went in for a layup. The play fueled a South fastnbreak, but Harthun tried wrap-around pass that got deflected … Get out the mustard

8:31 - Grant gathers itself a bit as reserve guard Mike James steals an inbounds pass from Grimes and drills a 3 late in the quarter … after one, it’s South Medford 19, Grant 14 … Kyle leads the Panthers with eight points in the quarter.

8:29 -  Harthun drains another jumper .. His hand seems OK after all. 19-9, Panthers

8:28 - It’s the Singler show right now… Kyle smothers two shots on defense, scores twice on offense .. then E.J. dumps a great pass to Mitch Singler underneath for a basket … one minute left in the first and South leading, 17-9

8:22 - Paul McCoy follows in own miss, 7-4 Grant

8:21 - Joe Hagen hits baseline J for Grant, 4-2 South. Grant switches to a zone defense, and then Hagen hits a long 3, 5-4 Grant

8:19 -  E.J. Singler drills a 15-foot jumper from the basebline, then Kyle scores on the break, 4-0 South

8:18 - E.J. scores first basket of game, but it’s nullified .. charging

8:15 - Normal starting lineup for South: Both Singlers, Harthun, Grimes and Dellenback-Ouellette

8:08 - Harthun is drilling jump shots from the free-throw line, with the bike glove around his injured right hand.

Holy cow, South Medford is wearing brand-spankin’ new warm-ups. They look like long-sleeved, form-fitting, Under-Armours.

8:03 - Grant has taken the floor for warmups at McArthur Court, but South Medford remains in the locker room 11 minutes before tip-off. Well, FINALLY, here comes the Panthers. Coach Dennis Murphy must have given them a loooong pep talk.

The Grant students, sitting near where the South team is warming up, are chanting, “over-rated, over-rated.”