Everything is messed up now. I know UTEP lost. They televised the OK City hosted teams at my hotel so I didn't get to watch the game. Kansas lost. UNM lost. A couple other top 4 seeds lost. I have no idea who is going to make it out of this one.

That Kansas/UNI game was incredible...it had me guessing all the way to the end. Several times it looked like Kansas would be able to overcome the deficit only for UNI to bank in another 3-pointer or sink some free throws and go back up to a 5 or 6 pt. lead. Right down to the wire, that one was.

On the flipside....my bracket is toast. My 2nd round games are duds for the most part (Kansas and Nova' losing has probably screwed a bunch of people's brackets up )...I'm crossing my fingers hard Duke doesn't get tossed out by a giant-killer.

Duke is back in the Final Four where they belong. It's been most of a decade since their last visit. Saturday versus West Virginia, a team which looks like it's going to be a real task to handle, but Duke's got it in them.

My poor bracket is a shambles!

Go Blue Devils!

I'm guessing the national champion will be the winner of the Duke-West Virginia game. I can't see Butler or a Kalin Lucas-less Michigan State team winning the whole thing. But, then again, I thought Kansas would get past the second round...

A fast growing and well known indoor sport has been on my mind lately by the name of Billards, or Pool. My Intervarsity Chapter at UTEP just had two amazing shows yesterday with Steve Lillis, a professional pool player and trick shot artist. On a day with doubt about attendence due to it being sandwhiched between two campus holidays, we got 100 people at the first event, and 50 at the second. Steve Lillis founded Gospel Trick Shots, in which he presents a life or Gospel message with each trick shot he performs. I saw him perform at Urbana in St. Louis this year and led my Chapter to bring him to UTEP and it was awesome. We had comment cards turned in and 47 of the cards indicated they wanted to know more about God and/or wanted info about a Bible study. That is over 30%, which is incredible. It was a huge success and we want to bring him back again next year.

But something else might be brewing as well. As I have been Steve's host at UTEP, I noticed that Steve was telling me things that I really don't think he tells to just any of his hosts. I was drawn to him because I do a very similar thing that he does with the sport of fencing (hence my username), but I just haven't got a chance to get out and deliver it much. I thought about this a while back between Urbana and now as a kind of dream, but Steve actually wants me to come on a tour with him as a guest and do a fencing presentation as a 'half-time' show or something like that. I don't know what God is doing to do with that, but both of us have our gears spinning and we are super excited about it. I just know that is very rare that two people in two different sport that have the same kind of theme of ministry get together like this and big things can happen as a result. We both know at this point that this week is not the last time we are going work together. God is moving and I can't wait to see what he is doing.

Championship game will be between Butler and Duke. The Duke/WVa game was intense and had me sweating bullets...De'sean Butler (WVa) got a knee injury 12 or 13 minutes into the 2nd half and was carried off the court...at that point the Mountaineers just couldn't seem to rally, but even so the Blue Devils were able to carry most of the game with impressive rebounding, and the 3 point shooting was the final blow. I hope they play this well against Butler.

Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease Duke...win one more!

EDIT: I heard that the NCAA is going to be instituting a 96 field tournament in the next 2-3 years. I cannot fathom trying to fill out that kind of bracket...

I'm with Shadowlander, go Duke!! They played great last night IMHO, especially with all the second chances and great 3 point shooting. I have them winning it all (although my Final Four were Duke, Butler, Ohio State and Marquette so I had two decent brackets and two that were really bad ) and really hope they pull through. I think if they play as well as they played last night they can win it.

I don't think I've noticed this thread before!

Does anyone in here like rugby or tennis? With rugby I support the All Blacks all the way, and the Auckland Blues. Both teams in New Zealand obviously.

In tennis I support the former NZ No. 1 - Marina Erakovic. A very talented player, who unfortunately has been out with various injury's for awhile. I also like quite a few of the top players, like Elena Dementieva, Ana Ivanovic, Caroline Wozniacki among others. With the guys I enjoy watching Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Nadal and Federer, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Juan Martin del Potro, and others. Anyone else follow tennis at all?

Oh, and I also like playing Soccer and Tennis.

Anyone else follow tennis at all?

Yeah, I`m big fan of tennis , I´ve also been wandering if there is any tennis fans here. I´m supporting boys from my country: Čilić, Karlović, Ljubičić they are quite good

Yesterday Roddick took Miami title, I´m really happy for him. It`s his first big title in last 4 years

Shadowlander will be happy. Duke just held off Butler for the National Champiionship 61-59 when Butler's last-ditch shot clanged off the rim. Great run by both teams.

Believe it or not, Baseball season has officially begun. Being the Colorado native that I am, I root for the Colorado Rockies, and for the first time, they are actually listed as favorites to win the NL West and make a run for the NL Pennant and World Series. They should be able to win their division if they play to their potential and can give Philly a very good run for their money in the NLCS. As for the Yanks, their season hinges on thier head-to-heads with Boston. It's going to be a fun year.

Shadowlander will be happy. Duke just held off Butler for the National Champiionship 61-59 when Butler's last-ditch shot clanged off the rim. Great run by both teams.

I'm almost hoarse from screaming, and I didn't even get to watch the game! Go Blue Devils! WoooooooOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooOOOOOOO!

*composes self*

WoooooooOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooo!

*breathes*

I had to get play by play action from my shift partner's phone via a cell where neither of them are regular basketball watchers, so I ended up having to "translate" what they were telling me because ESPN.com has this goofy 3-5 minute delay on what's happening. It was interesting. I feel like a million bucks right now.

I was hoping Butler would win. And despite the fact that they were at a major height disadvantage, their best big man was in foul trouble most of the game, and they had another average shooting night, they almost pulled it off. Butler played some great defense all night long, and even managed to outrebound Duke in the first half despite Matt Howard sitting on the bench for most of it with foul trouble. Butler was able to drive into the lane almost whenever they wanted to, but Duke's size inside forced them to kick it back out, where the shots weren't falling when Butler needed them to. Duke was able to get a rebounding advantage in the second half, Butler had another shooting drought, and that was just a little too much to overcome. Anyway, congrats to Duke. They played a great game and were able to pull it out in the end.
Next up, NBA playoffs! I'm pulling for the Cavs and Thunder, but really anybody except the Lakers works for me.

Congrats to Duke on their win.

While both the NBA and NHL playoffs are coming up, my hometown teams won't be appearing in either. I'll still probably check in on the playoff picture nevertheless.

Attention here has focused on the Twins, who are off to a 3-1 start in the AL Central, because they open their new, long-awaited outdoor ballpark this weekend. I'm looking forward to checking it out sometime this summer. But a retractable roof (like those at Safeco Field or Miller Park, where I've been lucky enough to see some games) would have been nice, for the mosquitoes, rain - or even snow.

All I have to say is: "WHO DAT!!!!" Go Saints!
I'm now proud where I come from, I can now take the bag off from over my head the next time I go to one of their games.

I just had one of the best fencing performances I have done in a very long time. I had four events, two foil, and two in epee, all today in attempt to qualify for Nationals. My results: 3rd, 2nd, 2nd, and 3rd. One of those 2nd's was 15-14 defeat that was so close for me to actually win it. I have never qualified for four events before in one go so now I have to make a serious decision on whether I will fork up the money and go. Atlanta during 4th of July week is not cheap. But I have do decide quick because of registration and attempting to approach student government to get a little funding for the trip.