Day 3 of the NCAA tournament
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Mar 16, 2007 
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I was 11-5 on the second day of the NCAA tournament, which is just awful. But Holy Cross did hang with Southern Illinois for a while.
I’m 25-7 in the first round, which isn’t bad. All my Final 8 teams are alive and 15 of my Sweet 16. I foolishly thought Creighton would be this year’s George Mason.
Here’s what I am thinking for today:
Carolina over Michigan State (too deep)
Washington State over Vandy (no feel for this game)
Georgetown over BC (old Big East matchup)
Ohio State over Xavier (The X-men could keep it close)
Louisville over A&M (best game of the day)
Maryland over Butler (Big day for Straw’s kid)
Pitt over VCU (this could well be an upset)
UCLA over Indiana (love the UCLA guards)
Chien-Ming Wang, who so wants to fit in, is in the team’s NCAA pool. He asked me to explain the tournament to him after he pitched on Friday. His comment? “Nothing like that in Taiwan.”
Nope, nothing like it anywhere. The Wanger has UCLA winning it all, by the way. Not a bad choice.
Louisville over A&M may not be a good choice. No chance for Xavier.
I’m 28-4 thus far, missing two games yesterday and two games today.
Am I the only one who thinks it’s adorable that Wang’s in the NCAA pool and wants to know what the hell it is, haha. Gotta love the kid.
My differing picks from Pete:
Texas A&M over Louisville
VCU over Pitt
Indiana over UCLA
It is interesting to see what I have missed so far. They are all the #8 and #9 matchups. I also missed Duke but I think Duke pretty much killed everyone. Besides that I am perfect so far.
I got Syracuse and UConn in the finals. Wait, it isn’t 2003 anymore? Oh crap.
If Vandy didn’t impress you in their game against GW (I’m pretty sure you picked GW and I guaranteed you’d be wrong about that), then I don’t know what to tell you. Vandy will beat Wash State tomorrow, and play really well against GTown in the Sweet 16. Derrick Byars was the SEC Player of the Year for a reason, and Shan Foster is a great player himself. Those two will lead Vandy far.
Sorry to go off-topic, but how fluent is Wang in English? Can you chat him up without an interpreter? What about Matsui? I know Igawa is learning, but not great.
I guess my question is, are there any Yankees who still rely on interpreters to talk with the print media?
I think Butler might take out Maryland.
Good stuff about Wang, Pete, and good luck with your bracket.
Chris..
I am sure Pete can explain it better than I, but I heard Mike Mussina interviewed recently and he said that Wang is able to understand English pretty darn well. He said that he can sit down, have a conversation with him and pick up almost everything. He also said that since he arrived in the Bronx, he has been on his own, whereas Matsui and now Igawa brought an interpreter with them. I understand that Matsui speaks pretty good English as well, and uses his interpreter more for professional purposes. I may be a bit off on this, but I’m sure Pete knows a lot more than I.
By the way, Creighton killed me too. Although my brackets are still pretty good (patting my own back), the BlueJays beating Nevada would’ve helped a lot. And four words for Nick Fazekas: Good Luck In Europe.
Wang’s been in the states for 6,7 years? He’s gotta be able to understand most things….
Hating Duke and Notre Dame finally paid off.
26-6, all of my sweet 16 teams intact, leading the office pool so far. can’t complain.
love the wanger! i hope that book you worked on with feinsand and borden finds a home over here. i’d love to read it.
UNC over MSU
WSU over Vandy (wouldn’t be shocked if Vandy won, though)
GTWN over BC (i’ve got GTWN in the final game)
OSU over XAV (though if oden phones it in, XAV could win)
A&M over LOU (acie law IV is an animal)
MD over BUT
PITT over VCU (though i actually think VCU is this year’s George Mason. i’m still kicking myself for not seeing that win vs. Duke coming.)
UCLA over IN
Wang is just fine one on one. He’s a little nervous in bigger crowds. Matsui uses his translator for formal interviews. But if it’s just you and him, he understands everything. He is a very funny guy, great personality. Wang, too.
Igawa speaks no English.
Melky is learning English and is making great progress. Mariano insisted on it and the Latin kids listen to him.
I was 14-2 last night, 28-4 overall – but picked Duke, so only 15 of 16 for the sweet 16.
Lost out on Notre Dame v Winthrop and Villanova vs Kentucky.
My picks are the same as Kasey’s – except for the VCU/PITT matchup since I picked Duke over PITT. urg.
Its amazing how fast they pick up English. If I was in Japan for 6-7 years I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to speak a word of the language! Good for them.
23-9, but all my Sweet 16 teams are still alive.
Usually (at least in past years) a 12 beats a 5. So I picked two 12′s this year—-and wouldn’t you know it, all the 5′s won.
“Usually (at least in past years) a 12 beats a 5. So I picked two 12’s this year——and wouldn’t you know it, all the 5’s won.”
That had happened a few times in the past few years. If I weren’t broke and if I had joined my office pool I would have picked at least one 12 to beat a 5. Now I can sit back and make fun of my coworkers when they get pissy about their teams losing.
I like the Wanger so much. It seems like he has a great personality.
yup, Butler took out Maryland.
Quite a few misses on the predicitions. Shame on you for going against my alma mater A&M.