Live from my hotel room: The NCAA tournament commences!
My view of the proceedings. Please note the abundance of foot hygiene. (Photo by M. Bradley)
Milwaukee — OK, here’s the plan. We’re going to tip off our NCAA tournament coverage with a live chat off the afternoon games, same as we did a year. As some of you might recall, last year’s chatting was done from my house.
Some might also recall the action photo of my propped-up feet. (For reasons unclear, y’all found this the height of hilarity.) Far be it from me to flout tradition, so I offer another action shot of MB’s tootsies, only this time the venue has changed. I’m ensconced in my plushly appointed hotel across the street from the arena where Georgia Tech will hold an open practice later today.
Because I need to wander over for that — you never know when the coach might say something nice about the media — we won’t make this an all-day affair. We’ll start around 12:15 p.m. EDT — I’m on CDT, FYI — and we’ll go until the opening games of the day are done.
We can talk about the ongoing games, if you’d like, but we can also broaden our horizons. You can ask me about Tech, about Tech’s coach, about Bradley’s Bracket Fiasco (nee Final Four Fiasco). Heck, you can ask me about Dunta Robinson or Josh Smith or Jason Heyward. I’m in an expansive mood, and I’ll be happy to converse for the next 3 1/2 hours. Join me, won’t you?
But give me a few minutes first. I have an appointment for a pedicure.
Here's my new location: Major Goolsby, a sports bar across the street. (Photo by M. Bradley)
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378 comments Add your comment
Innocent Bystander
March 18th, 2010
12:53 pm
This kid for BYU can really shoot those 3’s.
StingerSplash
March 18th, 2010
12:54 pm
Little Hansbrough is having himself a whale of a half. Think Missy State misses him right now?
Mark Bradley
March 18th, 2010
12:54 pm
Greg, it’s a rule of professional sports: You always overpay for free agents. Stan Kasten once explained it to me: The team the guy is leaving had the best measure of his value, having seen him every day, and if he won’t take their offer then he’s going to get overpaid.
That said, I think if the Falcons were going to overpay for any position, cornerback would have been the one.
Mark Bradley
March 18th, 2010
12:55 pm
ODU down nine, StingerSplash. I have no hope for my pick in this tilt.
How do we tailgate...
March 18th, 2010
12:56 pm
…without these items: “Tailgating on North Campus can begin only four hours before kickoff, according to the rules the UGA Cabinet released Thursday. Tailgaters also will not be allowed to bring tents, kegs, generators, grills, tables, folding chairs and other items to that area on game days”.
Mark Bradley
March 18th, 2010
12:57 pm
It was weird, that great Florida team, South Ga. Only one of the starters — Corey Brewer — was a McDonald’s All-American, and Florida always has a slew of McDonald’s guys. But that team might well have been a harmonic convergence of really selfless players.
Mark Bradley
March 18th, 2010
12:59 pm
I’m guessing tailgating will be reduced to a sub sandwich from Steverino’s. (Although I think I heard Steverino’s in Athens closed.)
Innocent Bystander
March 18th, 2010
12:59 pm
I remember in high school we were allowed to sit outside during lunch. That is, until some people started leaving their trash and whatnot outside. Sure enough, they stopped allowing ANYONE to sit outside.
Mark Bradley
March 18th, 2010
1:01 pm
Speaking of lunch … a key decision is at hand: What to order from room service?
Mark Bradley
March 18th, 2010
1:06 pm
Robert Morris leads Villanova by nine. ODU trails ND by six.
Cur-Cur
March 18th, 2010
1:07 pm
MB, why must you insist on Gator Hating?!?
SOUTH GA DAWG FAN
March 18th, 2010
1:07 pm
have the bulldogs ever had a mcdonalds all american sign with them I honestly can’t remember ? I mean having a lot of players year in and year out go to the Nba early what coach wouldn’t want to have that problem?
Ok Robert Morris is scaring my bracket already
Mark Bradley
March 18th, 2010
1:09 pm
Carlos Strong was a McDonald’s All-American. And Jumaine Jones might have been.
Phil from Findlay
March 18th, 2010
1:09 pm
Does anyone besides me actually think the Buckeyes can beat (or at least not get embarrassed) by Kansas? What about it Mark, any chance my Bucks make the Final Four?
Chris Moyen
March 18th, 2010
1:11 pm
Anybody know why CBS is not multicasting March Madness games this year? I hate watching the game that CBS Atlanta tells me I am supposed to be most interested in watching.
Mark Bradley
March 18th, 2010
1:11 pm
Good chance, Phil. I struggled with that game mightily.
IceColdATLien
March 18th, 2010
1:13 pm
No, Phil, nobody else is with you on that…
Mark Bradley
March 18th, 2010
1:14 pm
I was wrong. Jumaine Jones wasn’t a McDonald’s All-American. But Carlos Strong, Dominique Wilkins, Damien Wilkins (who started at North Carolina State), James Banks, Donald Hartry, Terry Fair and Vern Fleming were.
IceColdATLien
March 18th, 2010
1:14 pm
Chris, you gotta go to a sports bar with wifi
Cur-Cur
March 18th, 2010
1:14 pm
I agree, ain’t happening Phil.
thadd peavy
March 18th, 2010
1:15 pm
Hey Mark, Im a huge duke fan! You think they actually have a shot at the national championship?
Mark Bradley
March 18th, 2010
1:15 pm
No, thadd. I don’t.
thadd peavy
March 18th, 2010
1:16 pm
Seriously? Dude they actually have size this year! U think they are not athletic enough?
IceColdATLien
March 18th, 2010
1:16 pm
thadd in his own world…
Mark Bradley
March 18th, 2010
1:17 pm
Unbelievable! This hotel does NOT HAVE ROOM SERVICE FOR LUNCH!
thadd peavy
March 18th, 2010
1:18 pm
haha, anything can happen! I think its possible!
thadd peavy
March 18th, 2010
1:20 pm
duke over Kansas! 78-76
Hey, GTSupporter...
March 18th, 2010
1:20 pm
…what rock have you been under regarding you can’t believe GT is “rewarding” Hewitt with an extension?
Obviously, you cannot read, or you would know, that a UGA lawyer negotiated Hewitt a contract that Tech signed which AUTOMATICALLY extends itself every year, in perpetuity, unless GT pays him a $7.1mil buyout on March 15 after each season is concluded…
Mark Bradley
March 18th, 2010
1:20 pm
Folks, I’m going to have to take this live chat somewhere else. I’m starving, and this hotel DOES NOT HAVE ROOM SERVICE FOR LUNCH!
Mr C.
March 18th, 2010
1:20 pm
No room service? Happens when u stay in a $39.99 motel!!! Is AJC that broke? What time is Tech playing tomorrow?
So, Mark...
March 18th, 2010
1:21 pm
…you’re saying the AJC put you up in a really quality place? At least they have flat screen TV’s…
Mark Bradley
March 18th, 2010
1:22 pm
I would mention the name of the hotel — it’s a major chain — but I’m too incredulous.
Tech plays at 7:15 p.m. Eastern, Mr. C.
Dan
March 18th, 2010
1:22 pm
Well Mark, I guess it’s Donovan or Phil Woolpert for worst coach to win multiple titles.
Woolpert had some help in his wins with some guy named Russell and never won it agsin
I think this is the list
Adolph Rupp (1948, 1949, 1951, 1958)
Branch McCracken (1940, 1953)
Henry Iba (1946, 1947)
John Wooden (1964, 1965, 1967–1973, 1975)
Bob Knight (1976, 1981, 1987)
Deano (1982, 1993)
K (1991, 1992, 2001)
Ol’ Roy (2005, 2009)
Billy Donoavn (2006, 2007)
Mark Bradley
March 18th, 2010
1:22 pm
This is the official media hotel for this first- and second-round. What can I say? I’ve stayed in a few hotels, and this has never happened.
StingerSplash
March 18th, 2010
1:23 pm
Whither Jumaine Jones now?
Ah, the great Georgia high schoolers who fizzled in the pros … Jumaine, Ezra Williams, Louis Williams, Dion Glover, Dontonio Wingfield, Darrin Hancock ….
Sonny Clusters
March 18th, 2010
1:23 pm
We was wondering, with all the cutbacks at the AJC, what would happen if Julia sees that picture of your feet up in your hotel room? She has been a little testy lately with some of the other writers down there and we was wondering if you are going to get a memo? When we was working for the paper we was always having our photo made working but never with our feet up looking at television. When she finds out you promised somebody $1 million there could be trouble.
Mark Bradley
March 18th, 2010
1:24 pm
Didn’t Ed Jucker win two with Cincinnati, Dan?
Mark Bradley
March 18th, 2010
1:24 pm
There’s always trouble with me, Sonny C.
Sonny Clusters
March 18th, 2010
1:25 pm
A well prepared journalist will have some crackers in his suitcase.
Mark Bradley
March 18th, 2010
1:25 pm
And who was the moron that picked Villanova to reach the Final Four? That’d be me.
StingerSplash
March 18th, 2010
1:26 pm
So Miss April 2010 is from Conyers. Move over, Holly Hunter. There’s a new hottie from Rockdale County!
Mark Bradley
March 18th, 2010
1:26 pm
I had a banana, Sonny. Apparently the hotel does sell bananas.
Hey, StingerSplash...
March 18th, 2010
1:26 pm
…the jury is still out on Louis Williams…and you seem to be forgetting about that little guy currently playing for the Orlando Magic who goes by the name “Superman”…
Mark Bradley
March 18th, 2010
1:30 pm
ODU-ND is a lousy game. One of those vintage 12:20 p.m. starts on Day 1
CJ
March 18th, 2010
1:31 pm
Nova will come back in the second half, but they will lose to either Richmond next round or Baylor in the sweet 16. Their chemistry has completely disappeared over the past month.
StingerSplash
March 18th, 2010
1:34 pm
I didn’t say ALL of the great state prep players were busts. But Lord knows a whole bunch have.
Whatever became of Randolph Morris? And let’s not forget perhaps the biggest bust of them all … (no not Morganna …) but Kwame Brown. Saw him play in high school. Ridiculous. Just utterly so much more advanced than everyone around him.
Seen some great ones here in the Coastal Empire — Sam Mumford, Larry Johnson — who for some reason, never quite got it together later.
And ODU has cut it to one.
CJ
March 18th, 2010
1:35 pm
Mark – If you’re looking for good games, this is not the year to be glued to your TV during the tourney. So many teams in the dance are seriously flawed. I’m a huge UK fan, and they are clearly one of the better teams in field, but I completely expect them to find a way to give a game away before the Final Four. I hope I’m wrong, but it is just another piece of evidence that shows teams this year are just not that great.
Mark Bradley
March 18th, 2010
1:35 pm
A Morganna reference? Nice.
jcwfalcon
March 18th, 2010
1:35 pm
I’m white, but I have to say this…how is it BYU has a team full of white guys on the floor and are leading Florida? I feel like I am about to see the BYU coach get thrown out to be replaced by the drunk with a high basketball IQ that looks like Dennis Hopper.
jcwfalcon
March 18th, 2010
1:37 pm
Why are you guys talking about bad games? Their are 3 games on right now and they are all within 6 points. In one of them a 15 is leading a 2.