Okay, I promised myself no more NCAA posts, but sorry folks: There's no way I don't comment on tonight's happenings. This night proves why The Dance is the greatest sporting event all year.

First, Douche and Coach Kommercial fall to the Bayou-Cats. The lesson, as always: Don't fuck with the Creoles.

Next, unfortunately named Kevin Pittsnogle hits a trey for West Virginia to tie Texas with five seconds to play. ...Sadly for the Mountaineers, Texas' Kenton Paulino answered with a buzzer-beater from approximately 59 feet behind the arc to win the game.

I should've known something big was coming...








In Finding Forrester, after Jamal and his nemesis both sink 50 consecutive free throws, Coach Garrick sternly announces, "That is the gutsiest thing I have seen on a basketball court."







I wonder if Coach would want to rethink that after tonight's UCLA/Gonzaga matchup, if he could think at all since techically he doesn't exist.

And I'm still not sure which Coach Garrick would consider gutsier - UCLA's stunning 11-0 run come-from-behind win that just, sort of, arrived when nobody was looking...or UCLA's Hollins and Afflalo showing some of the gutsiest sportsmanship I've ever seen when they stopped their miracle celebration to pull Gonzaga star Adam Morrison's crumpled dead corpse up off the court.

Something Morrison's own teammates wouldn't do.

Look I'm not a huge Adam Morrison fan. The guy already spends an inordinate amount of time at the free-throw line, and yet he comes into this game warning the officials about UCLA's defense through the media. And he continued his complaint-spree during the game, started taunting UCLA's Arron Afflalo once Gonzaga pulled comfortably ahead in the first half, and sure enough: By the end of the game the refs were making some horrible calls against the Bruins. Plus, Morrison's a goddamn dirty hippie.

But when he started fighting back tears during the final seconds of the game, then collapsed when the buzzer rang like someone had shot him in the forehead and rolled over onto his stomach to bleed out, well, it was just sad and awkward and uncomfortable to watch. Here's this guy you've been loathing the whole game, and suddenly his heart's been ripped from his chest - all bloodied and still beating - and you feel little pangs of guilt among the joy and delirium at UCLA's victory.

You forget these are just kids. Allow me to beat a dead horse - Morrison's dead twitching heap on the court reminds why college blows pro-sports out of the water. Maybe the skill isn't fully developed, but the pure heart, play-like-there's-no-tomorrow mentality more than makes up for it.

One last thing: The journalist in me doesn't appreciate the AP story's lead, "OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- Adam Morrison was spread out on the floor in tears while UCLA players danced in celebration around him."

What is this, fucking Lord of the Flies? I know the writer wanted to capture the game's most dramatic image, but if you're gonna lead with that don't you at least owe it to UCLA to mention their subsequent gesture of sportmanship somewhere before, oh, the 37th paragraph? Maybe that's just me.

(By the way, what the hell is Howland telling these guys at halftime? They were down 17 points against the Zags tonight - Christ!)

Anyhow, I make no guarantees this is my last consecutive NCAA post. Your Georgetown Hoyas play tomorrow - if there's a victory, you can be damn sure you're reading another tournament post and you're gonna like it, goddammit. If they lose, then clearly the refs sold my team upriver and I'm not mentioning the game in protest.

So here's to a Hoya victory, so I can piss off all you worthless bastards.