A week after the NCAA Tournament started my bracket, like many others, is pretty much toast.
But, luckily I’m not alone based on those that turned in the brackets for our challenge.
I will do a better job of preparing and promoting it next year. I will admit I got a bit buried in the spring sports preview and somehow the tournament snuck up on me.
But back to basketball for now.
This tournament has been one that will be historic for the upset that UMBC pulled off. I, like, many others, put a lot of stock in Virginia. The team isn’t flashy at all but for the past few years the Cavaliers have been a top 10 team, but despite losing their sixth man, I still figured they’d win a couple of games.
But, the Retrievers shocked the world and their Twitter troll game was spot on too. Poor Seth Davis.
Sadly the run ended with a loss to Kansas State, which became one of four teams from the Big 12 to reach the Sweet 16.
For as much as Kansas dominates the league in the regular season, the depth of the league is pretty solid for having only 10 teams. All four teams that reached the semifinals of the Big 12 tournament have reached the Sweet 16 — adding in KU, West Virginia and Texas Tech.
Will any of them survive through this weekend? I’d say Kansas should, but the rest are toss ups.
I think the game I’m looking forward to most is Nevada vs. Loyola in that ever popular 7 vs. 10 matchup. It seems like every year a double-digit seed finds a way to make a run and usually it turns into a life-changing job for those mid-major coaches.
I’m sure by the end of the tournament you will have some of the usual blue bloods playing for the title, but I always like it when the underdogs find a way to get there. Years ago it was Butler and before that George Mason.
Maybe a team called the Ramblers — who I’m sure Bill Graham is pulling for — will be it this year.
******
I have been at this job for a few months now but last week’s experience at the Ferrelview board of trustees meeting was one that I can’t say I have encountered. Granted, I haven’t been a news writer for most of my 18 years of writing, but I have been to numerous council and aldermen meetings and I had never seen one operate like that one.
I’ve heard all about Ferrelview before even taking this job due to my time in St. Joseph at the News-Press and seeing the various happenings since Platte County was one of the many counties we had readership in.
There are obviously citizens upset with how things are going in that village and they were rather boisterous during the meeting. I’m not saying there is anything wrong with that. Sometimes you have to speak up to be heard, but during that meeting the speaking up was almost enough to cause a Platte County Sheriff’s deputy to throw people out.
And as many people can recall, back in November officers were called because members of the trustees feared for their lives at a meeting. That is the same meeting where then police chief Daniel Clayton was suspended.
There is clearly a divided faction in that town that I hadn’t encountered in covering meetings in Platte City and Dearborn thus far. It is interesting to say the least. Watching election night results in a few weeks should be interesting.
******
As I came into work on Tuesday, March 20, I got an alert on my phone about another school shooting. This one was in Maryland and luckily it was not as bad as the Parkland, Fla. one, but it is just another event that will get attention and headlines.
I have a friend from back home in Carl Junction that made a post on Facebook that kind of stopped me in my tracks. She posted a link about the shooting and brought up a point I hadn’t really considered in the large amount of discussion that followed the Florida shooting.
Essentially, she is worried more now than ever each day she drops her son off at school because he is autistic and knows if the school ever got into a situation where they were hiding from a gunman, she said her child wouldn’t be able to stay quiet.
Kind of sad that this is where we are as a society that dropping a student off at school for an education has a fear like that coupled with it.
Cody Thorn is publisher of The Citizen. He may be reached via email at editor@plattecountycitizen.com. Follow him on Twitter: @Citizen_CodyT.