Stomp The Lunatic

Elizabeth’s sister Mary Kate is in town so we were enjoying a nice family dinner at Elizabeth’s mom’s place. Of course, I have been checking the score and was impressed that Illinois was only down at halftime by 5 in what was a really tight game.

It has been an eventful last 20 minutes

I chipped my tooth eating dinner – so now I am a little distressed.

I have found out that Elizabeth’s mom got a new printer which is not working, and so now I am trying to install it after Mary Kate and Katie have both tried multiple times – not a fan at the moment of the HP Envy printers – although part of that could be because my tooth is chipped.

My phone has dropped to 12% meaning that I might lose my access to both the games and HP Envy Support YouTube videos.

To ignore a frustrating moment with the printer I thought I would check the game. And I see UConn has gone on a 31-6 run to start the first half. So with 4 minutes left, the Huskies are up 29.

Well at least I don’t have to worry about my phone dying – congratulations on the Huskies eventually becoming the first team to make their way to the 2024 Final Four.

So, as Illinois rolls into their Elite 8 game against Connecticut, I have severely mixed feelings.

Being from Chicago, I have several friends and family who went to Illinois for school. Illinois was one of the two schools I chose between for both my undergraduate and graduate studies – I was very happy at Purdue, but I knew that Illinois was also a great school.

That is why I am so conflicted. Because there is no doubt that Illinois would not be in the Elite 8 if it wasn’t for guard Terrence Shannon Jr. He is averaging 23.3 points per game – ranking 3rd amongst all Division I players. He is clearly a gifted athlete. But that is not the full story.

In December, Shannon was charged with rape for an alleged incident that took place in Kansas at a bar after the Kansas / Illinois football game. The allegations said that he summoned the woman over to him, grabbed her butt, reached under her skirt and inappropriately touched her. There were enough witnesses that the Douglas County district attorney’s office decide to press charges.

I was actually proud of what Illinois behind that. The university cited its zero-tolerance sexual misconduct policy and indefinitely suspended Shannon from all team activities including games. At the time, Illinois was ranked #9 in the country. In a world that it seems all that matters is winning, Illinois took the moral high ground and said that is not who they are.

That suspension lasted 30 days. Because Shannon sued the university saying that the university violated his civil rights – depriving him of an opportunity to be a high NBA draft pick and earn NIL endorsements. So, based on the lawsuit, Illinois had to re-instate him – and he has been on fire since, leading Illinois to the Elite 8.

The whole situation is sad. Don’t get me wrong – Shannon clearly deserves to have his day in court – our legal system presumes people are innocent until proven guilty. But that doesn’t mean he deserves to play basketball. It means he deserves not to go to jail until he gets to defend himself.

And he certainly has questions to answer. Why would he even be in a Lawrence bar that evening? I think it is crazy that he travelled to a football game that was multiple states away but I know some students would do this. But I probably wouldn’t be hanging out afterward in the bar scene potentially rubbing in that their school lost after the game. Not to mention the need to get back to campus for classes on Monday (naively realized the fact that classes are important is a ridiculous concept). Even if he is innocent, he certainly did not make good choices.

But the university followed their written student policy. The university could have just as easily expelled him, but they at least let him have a chance to defend himself. If you believe the players are students, there is nothing that states a student has a right to play a sport. If you believe the players are employees of the university, I am pretty sure that they don’t need a ton of reasons to fire an employee – especially if they have a written policy that states the rules.

Where does the slope end – does a player who doesn’t get enough playing time get to sue because it could stop them from getting drafted in the NBA. If a player has failing grades and is ruled ineligible, can they sue because it could stop them from getting drafted in the NBA. If a player is a star, does that mean they don’t have to follow any of the rules that everyone else have to follow.

If this had been some random student, he would likely have been expelled – and would have no recourse despite the fact that no longer being able to go to Illinois can effect him in the job market.

Many of the people who will be drafted are not even in college – there are plenty of international players or G-league players who will get drafted. After the season is over, the NBA holds sessions to evaluate players – he could have gone to those without finishing the season at Illinois.

I understand legally why the judge ruled in Shannon’s favor – and the whole world of NIL makes it even more complicated to evaluate if the player is simply a student or if they are an employee. I am sure the judge didn’t want to be anywhere near the case as it creates problems no matter what they chose.

But it was still the wrong decision. Basketball is not a civil right. Just because leading them through the NCAA tournament could make his draft stock rise doesn’t change that he has any rights to be on that court. Does he get to sue the NBA when the draft happens before his case is decided and teams don’t want to risk a high draft pick on a player who might miss the season because he is in jail? It could cost him millions.

But apparently everyone else is responsible to give him the opportunity for those millions. He can do whatever he wants and as long as he scores 20 points per game, he should be paid by everyone.

So, as much as I would like to root for Illinois, I can’t root for Shannon. I guess I can root for Shannon to get in foul trouble, have to sit, and see one of the other Illinois players lead them to victory. And then maybe he will sue the referees for calling bad fouls that made him miss part of the game.

Then again, it probably is a moot point. With the Huskies beating everyone by double digits, my feelings probably don’t matter as Connecticut appears to be on their own mission to destroy everyone.

It is almost here – the Elite 8.  We have the Big 10 tourney champion against the Big East regular season / tourney champion (Illinois vs Connecticut) in the East.  We have the West with its upsets as Alabama faces Clemson.  We have the ACC championship part 2, as Duke plays NC State in the South.  And of course, my Boilers (the Big 10 regular season champs) take on the SEC regular season champs (Tennessee) in the Midwest Region.  8 amazing teams with 8 amazing stories – all hoping to continue to write more chapters to theirs.

We also have some amazing performances in the Lunatic pool.  Congratulations to Sam Brunner who is winning the Standard Pool with 700 points.  Following him closely in a tie for 2^nd is Carrie Viera and Michael Swinson – just 20 points behind.  We have a 5 way tie for 4^th – just 40 points behind – between Anne Haines, Wil Austin, Taylor Early, Ann Schumaker, and my uncle – Bill Yost.  And then in 9^th place, just 50 points behind, are Kelly Woods, Scott Grimes, and Rob Nesbitt.  And we have another 20 people within 80 points (just one extra correct Elite 8 team).

In the Upset Pool, Michael Swinson is all alone at 259 points in first.  He is being followed by Gus Woodburn (249), Ann Schumaker (247), Taylor Early (245), and Bill Yost (240) – but beware those entries that have NC State (who if they win Sunday will score 44 points) or Clemson (who if they win tonight will score 24 points).

We have a three-way tie for the Second Chance Pool, as our leaders got 7 of the 8 Sweet 16 games correct.  Those leaders are Tanmay Gautam, Eric Zeidler, and my daughter Katie Hodgson (which is probably driving her brother crazy – apparently picking Clemson and NC State to win their regions might not be as wild as first thought when she put the picks in).   Also ironic in that is the person in my family who could care the least about how they do is Katie – who is proud that she filled out her bracket in a couple minutes.  They are being closely followed by those who got 6 of 8 games correct (also an impressive feat) – Kristian Schmidt, John Woodburn, Scott Grimes, Kathleen Godwin, Karl Knox, Gerry Sherman, David Ogle and Drew Bradley.

Congratulations to all our leaders!!!!  The Lunatic kind of fell apart in the Sweet 16 – as teams like UNC and Marquette fell.  But while he might be too far down the pool to win, he really only cares about the results of hopefully 3 more games.  BOILER UP!!!!  

I apologize for skirting my duties. I normally would be blogging about the Elite 8 all day. Emails would be flying out at 1 in the morning. But the Lunatic needed a mental and physical health break. I have been sitting in front of a computer a lot this month.

I promise to give more details this afternoon as the Lunatic has fun outdoors!

You have to give Houston a ton of credit – most teams would not be able to keep it close after losing one of their star players. But close still sadly goes home.

Duke’s Jeremy Roach with a little over a minute left hit a huge three pointer to give Duke a 54-48 lead over the 1 seed Cougars. Emmanuel Sharp drove to the basket for the layup and foul, and hit the free throw to cut the lead to 3.

And the Cougars got the defensive stop they needed as Kyle Filipowksi missed his shot with about 25 seconds left. But Sharp’s three pointer from the top of the key would miss and the scramble for the rebound would have the Houston player be on the ground and the out of bounds line giving the ball to the Blue Devils, who were able to then run the final second off the clock.

So the ACC teams from Raleigh and Durham travelled all the way to Dallas and will now play each other for the chance to head to the Final Four.

Meanwhile, the Tennessee Volunteers outlasted Creighton to set up a rematch from the Maui Invitational with Purdue. Sadly, I missed most of the game between falling asleep and watching the end of the Duke game. So, the Lunatic will go to sleep for the night as the Elite 8 is set!!!!

Houston’s Jamal Shead drove to the basket and fell to the ground looking like he really injured his ankle. He could not put any weight on it as they took him to the locker room. And now Duke is on a 11-4 run to take a 1 point lead

I hope he is alright – I hate to see players get hurt in the tournament, but it is not looking good for his return.

Zach Edey had 27 points and 14 rebounds, and Braden Smith had 14 points and 15 assists, as the Boilers won 80-68 to head to the Elite 8.

Gonzaga had cut the lead with 12 minutes down to 2, but Anton Wilson picked up his 4th foul when Edey grabbed an offensive rebound. And then Purdue pounced.

Braden Smith got a layup. Then he hit Fletcher Loyer in transition for another layup. The Boilers got the ball into the lane with Edey who hit his short jumper. Smith drove for another layup. Edey got one of his classic dunks. And Camden Heide hit a three pointer from the wing to force a Gonzaga timeout. In just 3 minutes, what had been close all game had now watched as the 2 point lead was suddenly 14.

And the Boilers never looked back. They are so comfortable playing with a lead – they can take 20 seconds off the clock and then still get a high percentage shot.

And the Lunatic can go to sleep happy. His Boilermakers are heading to the Elite 8. So much hope – so much nervousness. So badly want to see them keep winning. The anticipation will surely grow throughout the weekend.

BOILER UP!!!

The magical run of the NC State Wolfpack is continuing in Dallas. It is amazing what they have done. They were not even going to make the tournament. Then 5 wins in Washington Dc to claim the ACC title. Then 2 wins in Pittsburgh to advance to the Sweet 16.

And tonight they spent most of the night with a double digit lead as the Wolfpack chewed up the Marquette Golden Eagles on defense, holding them to 33% from the field. The Eagles simply could not hit a shot from outside the three-point line as they went 4 for 31 shots.

Obviously, my attention is elsewhere – but congratulations to NC State Wolfpack.

The closest thing that we have to a Cinderella team does not look like they are ready to leave the dance. Considering that my attention is on Detroit, I have no clue of how they have done it.

But NC State is taking a 37-24 lead into halftime – so they are playing fantastic defense against Marquette (and their offense looks really good as well).

Now if my Boilers can make a stop…..

The Lunatic is preparing for tonight’s Sweet 16 – especially the game in Detroit between Gonzaga and Purdue. Watching the favorites fall on Thursday always makes me nervous as my team gets ready to go.

It is the beauty and the misery of the tournament. This isn’t like the NBA where you play a best 4 out 7. If you star player has an unusually off night (like Caleb Love going 0-9 from three or RJ Davis going 0-9 from three), and the rest of the team doesn’t pick them up (which can be hard if the star is shooting the ball 20 times), you sadly watch your season end.

So, it is certainly scary. There is so much hope because we have such an incredible team. Zach Edey is impossible to guard. We have multiple guards that can shoot from the outside making teams choose if they are going to gamble with them making outside shots or Edey scoring in the paint. And yet, in a period of 2 hours, it can all end in heartbreak. But the excitement during that 2 hours to cheer on your team, hoping them to victory – that roller coaster ride can be a lot of fun. And hopefully, it leads you to next roller coaster in the park instead of the exit because the park is closing.

BOILER UP!!!!