Longtime participants will recall my contempt over the years for Duke. Heck, we still have plenty of our “A bad day for Duke is a good day for America” and “Honk if you hate Duke” tee-shirts available in our G.A.M.M. online store:
Enter promo code COMMISH for free shipping!
To be honest though, in recent years with Coach K retiring, the hate kinda fell away a bit. I thought maybe I was just going soft in my old age. Well, now it’s back. Between Kyle Filipowski’s flopping like a soccer player following the Wake Forest court storming, Jon Scheyer apologizing to the fans for losing to UNC, and just their whole arrogant vibe, well, I could feel the hate coming back.
Oh, the hate was definitely flowing last night
The Blue Devils managed to survive and advance against a hapless Houston squad that couldn’t hit water if they fell out of a boat. Especially after losing superstar Naismith finalist, Jamal Shead, to an ankle injury in the 1st half. Honestly, up to that point, Houston seemed to be in control of that game. Once he went down, everything changed.
While the Commish is filled with hate for Duke, not sharing in my hostility are Melissa Buchanan, Sara Sutton, and my beloved cousin, Suzie Gallagher, who are the ONLY 3 people to have picked Duke to win it all.
Next up for their Duke squad will be a fellow ACC team, #11 seed NC State, as the Wolfpack’s magical run continued with a 67-58 win over #2 Marquette.
Rounding out the rest of last night’s action, The Commish’s pick to win it all, #3 Creighton, went down to #2 Tennessee 82-75, and #1 Purdue blew out #5 Gonzaga 80-68:
For those who are curious, yes, I managed to stay up to watch the late games. A 45 minute nap earlier in the evening may have played a role. Regardless, credit to me for being able to overcome such adversity.
We ended up going with the 2 TV setup at GAMM headquarters last night. Gotta tell ya, with each of the late games featuring a team in blue vs a team in white, it was a little disorienting at times, especially since I was rooting for the blue team (Creighton) on one screen and rooting against the blue team (Duke) on the other:
Was it just me, or did anyone else experience this whole blue/white thing?
After all the smoke cleared, Alex Johnson still maintains her hold on 1st place with 74 points and has to feel bolstered with how her Purdue squad has looked thus far:
Trailing Alex in 4th place is none other than our favorite mother of the bride, Toni Dennehy, with 70 points. Her daughter, aka my niece Nora Dennehy Kendall, was texting me last night as she was stressing about the Houston game. After the Cougars lost, I sent her a screenshot of the standings showing her mom near the top, prompting this exchange:
Fact Check: True. #TYFYS Nora.
In any event, the Elite Eight kicks off tonight with 2 games on tap, starting off with Toni’s UConn squad tipping off against Illinois :
The second game features the upstart #6 Clemson Tigers facing a suddenly formidable Alabama squad. Like Duke, only 3 people picked Alabama to win the championship, including the G.A.M.M. youth division’s breakout star last year, Maddie Hammond. Maddie, a rising star volleyball player on the Mason Middle School team, unfortunately tore her ACL this season, so we’re all wishing her a speedy and full recovery. The only silver lining appears to be that all of that downtime allowed her ample opportunity to study this year’s bracket, judging by her performance this year.
Playing off the Star Wars “Hate” GIF up top, here’s a pic of The Commish and Maddie back in the day supporting #TeamDarkSide:
Entry fee update: As we go to press, there are still 7 entry fees that have yet to be paid as the April 1st deadline looms on the horizon. Every outstanding account has been notified in some form or fashion (or the people who invited them into the pool have been notified). Clock’s ticking, folks. Here, yet again, is my Venmo:
https://account.venmo.com/u/Greg-Dennehy
That’s it for today, everyone. Enjoy your Saturday!
The Commish
