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While his West Virginia Mountaineers gave Bill Stewart a win over South Florida, 20-6. No, I’m not exactly sure what cause Stewart’s face to sour like that; perhaps it was the lack of offensive firepower, or maybe he didn’t like the yellow uniforms. Whatever the case, one thing’s for certain: Bill Stewart is an absolute master of the game face.
There is none higher.
H/t to 30fps for the image.
Seeing your team’s star player go down can’t very easy to watch, especially when it comes during a game where the Duke Blue Devils are handing you your asses — or at least the team you root for. While I don’t usually like wallowing in the misery of others, there’s just so much going on in this picture, you almost have to, especially once the rooting biases are factored in (I’m a Kentucky fan). Granted, the fact the reactions came from Da’Sean Butler’s unfortunate knee injury, I’m still fascinated by the picture.
First, there’s about $500 worth of nail salon care going on with the the three focal points of the image. Don’t get me wrong, I love nice-looking nails, but aren’t the expensive French manicures kind of tired by now? It’s still all about the white tips, apparently.
And then there’s the guy at the lower-right of the image. While CBS’ score/time remaining graphic obscures most of what the camera cut off, you can still see his “crazy eyes” reaction fairly clearly:
Perhaps he had some money on the game, and the realization that, without Butler, WVU’s chances were thrown completely out the window caused a Scanners-like reaction and it was simply caught before his eyes exploded from their sockets.
I’d love to see an animated gif of that.
Image courtesy of 30fps.
The Butler Bulldogs Come Home; or Tom Izzo is as Constant as the Northern Star (When it comes to the Tournament); or Duke’s Back; or Is it Huggins’ Time? Either of these headlines would work when describing this year’s
Final Four teams. To say this was an unexpected group is an understatement.
A lot of people expected Duke — the only number one seed to make it this far — to get beat in the earlier rounds by teams like Louisville or Baylor, while Butler is still shedding its “mid-major” label. West Virginia looks legitimate, but their lack of offensive pop — they’ve notoriously struggled to score in both the Big East and NCAA Tournaments — makes their appearance a little surprising. As for Michigan State, even with Tom Izzo as coach, the fact the Spartans lost their best player in Kalin Lucas to a hamstring injury makes them a surprise team as well.
Considering these teams, the hype surrounding the 2010 Final Four may not be as big as previous seasons, but don’t tell any of the attending teams that. I seriously doubt Duke or Butler care about whether or not they were popular picks. Furthermore, I also doubt any of Bob Huggins’ players doubt they belong, strictly because of how clutch the Mountaineers have been, not to mention how good they’ve been defensively. As for Michigan State, well, they have Tom Izzo, and that alone makes them a threat for a deep tournament run, whether non-Spartans fans are tired of seeing them there or not.
This is your Final Four, and while they may not be the most popular teams out there, each and every one of them deserve to be there. Nothing was handed to any of the teams. They all had to earn their trip, something the average victory margin of 5.5 points for all of the Elite Eight games indicates nicely.
With all that in mind, who ya got?
Are you siding with Butler and their awesome story, or do you want to see Izzo win his second title? Can Duke solve West Virginia’s stifling 1-3-1 zone or will Duke take advantage of any Mountaineers scoring droughts? These are just some of the stories to pay attention to as we get ready for another weekend of tournament basketball.
With
the Bad Guys beating Cornell and West Virginia dispatching Washington, the stage is set for
a nice, little border war that dates back to the days of
the Hatfields and McCoys. One thing’s for sure — West Virginia native/starting Kentucky power forward
Patrick Patterson will be ready. He’s not the only one who’s ready for a basketball war, however.
`Er fans are feeling it as well, and they want a piece of John Wall, something the upcoming video demonstrates nicely.
After the jump >>
Buzzer beaters. Game winners. Prayers. Call them what you will, but there’s something indescribably enjoyable about seeing these acts; unless, of course, your team is on the receiving end of such a thing. When they happen in March, it’s even bigger and in some cases, much more painful. Just ask Mike Cronin,
Dion Dixon, Lance Stephenson and anyone else affiliated with the Cincinnati Bearcats.
Da’Sean Butler delivered such a (gifted?) gem in the Garden last night, and while he needed some good fortune to even get a chance at the shot, when the opportunity came, Butler simply gave the fans the best “Onions!!!!!!” play he could.
One thing’s for sure: The crowd loved it.
Crowd reaction after the jump >>
Whether it’s basketball or football, it’s always a good time when Pitt and West Virginia get together. There’s a genuine affection between the two fanbases, one that extends beyond mere physical activity. Um, yeah.
About that. I mean, the rivalry is called the “Backyard Brawl” for goodness’ sake. To say there’s no love lost would be understating things. The latest edition of the Backyard Brawl saw the Panthers traveling to West Virginia, and if you’re a fan of unruly student fans throwing things at opposing coaching staffs, this game was for you.
Watch Huggins work the crowd after the jump >>
And we are all simply living in it. Including his
parents his hot mom. Curry led Davidson to a win over West Virginia last night, but it certainly wasn’t easy. Curry started the game cold, so cold in fact, he might as well have been playing outside. To give you an indication, he missed 12 of his first 13 3-point attempts.
Of course, the motto of any shooter is “the next one is going in,” and even though Curry acknowledged his cold-shooting frustration, when it came to winning time, he was the biggest player on the floor. He also rediscovered his majestic shooting stroke and scored 13 of the final 15 points for Davidson to lift them over West Virginia.
The Sporting News’ Dan Shanoff witnessed Curry’s heroics, which he kindly documented:
More on Curry’s heroics after the jump >>
You are looking at what’s probably one of the unhappiest coaches in college football this morning — Eers coach, Bill Stewart. Now, I don’t claim to be an expert in football or anything like that, but I do play one on the Internet. I’ve watched a lot of college football, while staying at a Holiday Inn, and let me say, I don’t think I can recall
such poor management at the end of a game in quite some time, if not ever.
Especially in a game that’s essentially a must-win for a school looking for an identity now that the coach who built the team is in Ann Arbor. Or perhaps Stewart gets some kind of sadistic glee wasting the almost unmeasurable talents of Pat White — something that’s obviously not true. It’s just that Stewart’s end-game management last night was so bad, if I was a betting man with money on the Eers last night, I might have jumped out of high-story window.
More great clock management after the jump >>
