Bad TV?

But the routs are likely to continue, and it makes for lousy TV.

The writer wonders if UConn is bad for women's basketball.

I don't know, but OSU will find out Sunday.


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Ouch!

Much like the Men of Oregon last weekend in Anaheim, the Women of Oregon fell just short of glory last night in Vermillion, S.D.

The Lady Ducks lost to hot-shooting South Dakota in the NIT semifinals and so will miss out on the championship game.

Next year Oregon!

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Another Annoyance

It seems Yahoo mail has finally discovered its last inch of ad space in its present format.  Now as you click out of mail a video is presented for your enjoyment, with a an exclamation that you've not watched it yet.

Oh, drat...

Listen, everybody is susceptible to advertising--Edward Bernays demonstrated that a long time ago--but isn't the point to use a little cunning in the process?

Shouldn't it have some purpose other than annoyance?  A "last chance for gas" sign at the edge of town has meaning for instance, doesn't it?

Well, somebody must like Yahoo's new addition because there it is filling my screen as I'm desperately trying to get out of mail, but that somebody isn't me.

Ha!


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Go Girls

OSU women greet fans in Corvallis, get ready for UConn in Indy on Sunday.

Good luck!

My own Lady Ducks play in the NIT semifinal this evening.

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No Spanking Allowed

A virulent if familiar censorship is about to descend on the US election campaign. As the cartoon brute, Donald Trump, seems almost certain to win the Republican Party’s nomination, Hillary Clinton is being ordained both as the “women’s candidate” and the champion of American liberalism in its heroic struggle with the Evil One.

This is drivel, of course; Hillary Clinton leaves a trail of blood and suffering around the world and a clear record of exploitation and greed in her own country. To say so, however, is becoming intolerable in the land of free speech. JP

Many liberals think any attack on Hillary is in poor taste, misogynistic, and unfair to a "great stateswoman."

Um...No, it isn't, and no she ain't.  Now, if I said she deserves a spanking, that would be misogynistic.  And sexist, unless I meant it metaphorically--as in spanked at the ballot box.

It's good to see John Pilger back in the swing of things at CounterPunch.


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Crossfire

The American shooting war may be closer at hand than I realize.

If you're like me and want to see it commence as soon as possible, sign the petition.


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Es la verdad

No wonder young people are flocking to Bernie. Hillary can't stop being the senator from Wall Street. These are her constituents, her donors. That's why she has to do policy contortions to keep from hitting Wall Street too hard. That's why she has no program at all to halt, let alone reverse runaway inequality.--Les Leopold

I have no problem whatsoever believing Hillary is more concerned about her own personal wealth, and that of her friends, than the well-being of the U.S.

One more time please.  Hillary.  Is.  A.  Fraud.

Got it, Dems?


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50 Great Documentaries

Five Broken Cameras, Emad Burnat, Guy Davidi, 2011

This is about a Palestinian man who films the destruction of his village’s olive groves by the Israeli army. His cameras keep getting broken by the Israelis, hence the title, but he just kept filming. I think he was feeling: “There’s an incredible wrong being done to my people, I’m going to film it, even if I die doing it.” Then he linked up with an Israeli film-maker, who edited the footage. I remember people saying he shouldn’t have worked with an Israeli, but I thought it was so great that they came together and made something very powerful which showed us what is really going on in Palestine. KF

50 great docs.


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Great Movie

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OU Cruises, 80-68

I suspected Oregon would have big trouble with Buddy Hield, an absolutely dominant college player who is NBA ready now.

He dropped 37 on the Ducks' heads today.

Outside of Elgin Cook, Oregon had no answers, turned the ball over too many times in the first half, missed wide-open shots, and didn't rebound.

Oregon needs a point guard who can create his own shot, and may have one coming in next year, a kid out of West Linn High who has led his team to four straight Oregon 6A titles.

The kid, Payton Pritchard, was once committed to, guess who--Oklahoma--before changing his mind and deciding to stay closer to home.

With Oregon's other returning players, the Ducks might be pretty good again next season.


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Are the Ducks Good Enough?

Can Oregon beat Buddy Hield and Oklahoma?

How in the hell would I know...

The Sooners are certainly the best team the Ducks will have played this season, which is the way it's supposed to work as 1 and 2 seeds square off.

Hield will get his points, so the question becomes can Oregon stop the role players that surround the gunner from Norman.

Hield is fast and excels at running to an open spot and producing a catch and shoot play.  From anywhere on the floor.  He can also drive to the rim to finish on his own, and he's a good passer.  In short, he can do it all.

But it is his range as a shooter with a quick release that makes him so impressive.

Oregon doesn't have a player with comparable skills, though Dillon Brooks can take over a game--just not as readily and consistently as Hield does it.

Should be a helluva game as long as Oregon plays as a balanced team.


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Routine

Off to the doc again today.  Hoping someone has a remedy for my facial paralysis (trigeminal neuralgia).

Not holding out for much change.  Tired of not being able to eat and enjoy a meal.

Really tired of the constant pain and discomfort, inability to talk and the painkillers that make me feel tired and wasted all day.

Inability to concentrate.

Will request a referral to a specialist.

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Waiting

We're in the annual lull of the Madness, the dead time between the rounds of 68 and 16, when a junkie such as I needs a fix.

This is an aspect of March Madness I loathe, though in fairness to the kids who play the games, it allows the remaining teams time to rest and regenerate.

That is pure accident of design, however, as what really counts is television.  Television drives the profit motive that has consumed college sports since the advent of ESPN and the forced march of competing networks into the sports broadcasting business.

The Madness has been CBS's baby for a long time, and what CBS says is sacred.

Which brings us to something new for me to bitch about.  It wasn't all that long ago that the Sweet 16 unfolded during daylight hours.  Now the starting times have been pushed back for primetime viewing on the east coast.

Duke fans can't be too happy about that.  Their team will tip off against Oregon in Anaheim at about 11 p.m. Thursday night. Bedtime for most people.

I'm not happy having to wait for five days between games, and neither am I happy about the late starts the new sports economics command.

But as a junkie, I'll tap my toes impatiently and wait for the dance to continue.


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Year After Year

The atrocities in Brussels — and they are horrific, criminal atrocities — are not occurring in a vacuum. They are not springing from some unfathomable abyss of motiveless malevolence. They are a response, in kind, to the atrocious violence being committed by Western powers on a regular basis in many countries around the world. And just as there is no justification for the acts of carnage in Brussels (and Paris and Turkey and elsewhere), there is likewise no justification for the much larger and more murderous acts of carnage being carried out by the most powerful and prosperous nations on earth, day after day, year after year.

The Western powers know this. For many years, their own intelligence agencies — in study after study — have confirmed that the leading cause of violent “radicalization” among a small number of Muslims is the violent Western intervention in Muslim lands. These interventions are carried out for the purpose of securing the economic and political domination of Western interests over lands rich with energy resources, as well as their strategic surroundings. That they have not even the slightest connection to “liberating” people from religious or political persecution, or making the world “safer,” is glaringly transparent. They are about domination, pure and simple.

The rest of the story by Chris Floyd.


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Color Me Trumpist

I've decided I'm all in on Trump.

I can't wait for the shooting war to commence.





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Sweet 16

I'm not at all sure how Oregon survived St. Joseph's, but the Ducks pulled out a win tonight in Spokane to advance to the Sweet 16--the lone Pac-12 team to make it.

Oregon didn't play well, shot poorly, except when it counted the most as time dwindled.

It seemed like Oregon got a lot of good looks at the basket, but nothing fell for most of the game--one of the team's poorest shooting exhibitions of the season.

But the Ducks prevailed, setting up a showdown with the much despised defending national champs, the Duke Blue Devils.

It is often said--and you could go back and document the fact--that a team has to survive a close one, a clunker, early in the tourney in order to get to the final four, so perhaps tonight was Oregon's near disaster.

Perhaps it bodes well.

I think the Ducks will play better in Anaheim and advance.


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Hield Dominates

Two great games wrapped up the CBS Madness coverage today--from here on out it's cable.

Notre Dame squeaked past upstart Stephen F. Austin on a last second tip-in bucket, and Buddy Hield caught fire in the second half to help Oklahoma deny VCU.

The feature this evening on TBS, from my perspective, is Oregon vs. Saint Joseph's.

The higher seeds have mainly been winning this round, bringing a bit of sanity back into the tournament.

Looking forward to next weekend's Sweet 16, even if the Ducks don't beat formidable St. Joe's tonight.


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Ugh...

Utah is out.  Oregon is the last hope.

A PAC homer, I'll admit I didn't expect the league to fizzle like it has.

Woe unto me!


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Another View

The growing anti-Trump protests disturb me.

And not just because much of the rancor comes from Republicans, never mind liberals of every persuasion.

I don't think U.S. citizens ought to protest elections, unless the elections are rigged.

I mean rigged in a dictatorial sense; some would say our elections are already rigged inasmuch as they're about money.

Trump is legitimate in the eyes of stupid people.  We can't stop stupidity without denigrating elections in general, or democracy.

What we really need is for everybody who is eligible to vote, along with better candidates across the land.

I'd rather Trump be elected than protested so we might one day hang him in the public square.


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Go Gonzaga!

The Zags are blowing out Utah...but...

Finally, a good game. Providence is giving # 1 seed North Carolina a tussle.

I've watched a few stinkers today.  I'm about burnt out and will remain so until Charles Barkley, Spike Lee and Samuel Jackson die.

I hope that happens real soon.

Maybe the Zags and Oregon will play each other down the road? Everyone knows Oregon tried to hire Mark Few after Ernie Kent was fired at Oregon six years ago.

Oregon settled for Dana Altman.


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Big Upset

No. 2 seed Michigan State falls to No. 15 Middle Tennessee.

Unbelievable game.  MTU was underrated by a wide margin. Very talented team with dead-eye shooters and tough rebounders.


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Gawd...

Colorado, Arizona and USC flamed out today in the Madness, while Utah won.

Now the losers are mad at themselves, and well they should be because the PAC needed better representation than it delivered.

Oregon, Cal and Oregon State must prevail tomorrow or we shall live with an omelet on our heads until next year.

I expected better, but maybe the pundits who believe basketball doesn't exist west of the Mississippi are right.

On a positive note, Gonzaga is beating Seton Hall at the moment.


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Another

Another #5 goes down.

#12 Little Rock beats # 5 Purdue.

Wow!

The best tourney since last year!


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No Shit?

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Game of the Day

It's early, but the Yale/Baylor game is already the game of the day.

#12 Yale beats #5 Baylor in the first round!  Nothing will beat this today, I'd venture.

An amazing game in March Madness.

An interesting aside is that Duke and Yale are matched up in the next round. The great former Dallas Cowboy and Yale alum, Calvin Hill, gets to root for his Bulldogs while his son, former NBA great and Duke alum Grant Hill, gets to cheer on the Duke team.

Nothing like a rivalry in a family.  Duke also won today, beating N.C. Wilmington.

If you're not cheering for Yale after today, you too must be a Duke Blue Devil.

One more sort of selfish reason to pull for Yale.  If Oregon can win its first two games the Ducks' Sweet 16 opponent would be the winner of the Yale/Duke game.


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Amateur Hour

Amen, brother.

CD on the perils of the mob on St. Patrick's Day.





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Holy Cow!

Holy cow!  Holy Cross will play Oregon in Spokane Friday evening after beating Southern tonight in the First Four play-in round in Dayton, Ohio.

Holy Cross is 15-19, a team that one might say gelled late.  It was 5-13 and going nowhere at one point in the season.  But because conference championship games give late risers a chance to get into the field, the Crusaders are in.

Michigan and Tulsa are up next in the final First Four game.  The Wolverines feature a Portland kid, Kameron Chatman.

That alone has me pulling for Michigan, because otherwise I wouldn't care about this game.  Should be a close one, which is always a good thing from a fan's perspective.

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The Worst

The Mitch McConnells are truly nasty pricks, aren't they?

Pure evil.





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End of the Road

So it's either Hillary or the Donald/Cruz.

Do you mind if I take a small vacation from the U.S. and never come back?

I feel dead.  America, you deserve what you sow.


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A Sad Story Could Happen

Let us go then you and I into the realm of the East Coast pundits.

If Oregon manages to get past the winner of Wednesday night's first four playoff between Holy Cross and Southern, the Ducks are picked to lose to the winner of Cincinnati/ St. Joseph's  in the second round.

No Sweet 16 for Oregon.

Hmm...


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The Political Class

Their mutual admiration does nothing for the rest of us.


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Best Buddy?

Oklahoma's Buddy Hield

CHM Academy's Buddy Dooley

Some basketball experts are saying that 2016 Wooden Award favorite Buddy Hield of Oklahoma is the best collegian to play since Buddy Dooley brought the game into the modern era.  Dooley is generally acknowledged to be the first player to ever perform a "whirlybird," i.e., execute a 360 degree dunk in an official contest.


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Our World

In the U.S. there is the added dead weight of the war industry. We have spent or obligated $4.4 trillion for the wars in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq. In 15 years of war we have produced hundreds of thousands of dead, millions of refugees, wholesale devastation in countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan, tens of thousands of Islamic terrorists, a series of failed states that stretches from Iraq and Syria to Libya, and obscene profits for the arms manufacturers, who constitute the only real reason these wars are still being fought. The national treasury is being drained for military adventurism that makes us one of the most reviled nations on earth. At some point the entire house of cards, including the speculative financial markets, will collapse. And then, as John Milton wrote in “Paradise Lost,” “engorged without restraint,” we will eat death.

Mr. Hedges goes off once more.


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My Pick

I just filled out my NCAA Tournament bracket.  I have Oregon all the way.  Does that make me a homer, or merely unrealistic?

Oregon vs. Michigan State would be the game of the century.

No, there is no hyperbole involved here, heh.  A lot of teams could win this thing, but Kansas is No. 1 overall for a reason.

The path to the title crosses Wilt's grave.

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Bracket Set

Oregon conquers the West Region as a No. 1 seed in the Madness.

On a possible collision course with Michigan State.  Who wouldn't love to see that game?


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Tourney Champs!

(Tourney MVP Elgin Cook)

My God, Oregon looked good tonight in capturing the Pac-12 tournament championship, crushing Utah.

Should be a No. 1 seed in the Dance, but probably won't be because...well, because an East Coast bias is real.

Regular season and tournament winner; here's hoping they keep the intensity throughout the Madness.

Could win a few, but Kansas is the best team in the country.


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The Teeth Mother Naked at Last*

RALEIGH, NC—Flatly declaring to audience members that she stood on stage as no more than a human being with nothing to hide, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton reportedly appeared Friday before a campaign rally completely nude in a bid to once and for all prove her authenticity.

The rest of the story.

*With apologies to Robert Bly.


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Yep

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Incredible Shot

This is what it's all about.  UConn went on to win the game.


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Instant Classic

Oregon beats Arizona in OT in a bizarre game tonight that featured missed free throws and boneheaded plays all over the place, particularly at the end of regulation.

I'm exhausted just watching it.

Oregon gets the winner of the second game tonight between Utah and Cal, which also should be an instant classic.

Championship game Sat. night, if Oregon can get out of bed in the morning.  The Ducks expended a lot of energy just surviving Arizona and had a couple of injuries that might be a factor tomorrow.

Great league this year, great fun.


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Prep

About 15 min. to tip off of the first semifinal in the Pac-12 tourney--Oregon and Arizona.

The winner of this one will have a chance to make an impact in the Madness in my opinion.  Two good teams, one will affirm how good it actually is and take that attitude into the big tournament.

One of these teams will go as far as the Elite Eight, maybe farther.

I just don't know which one.

That is why I'll watch tonight and study the book.


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Revisionism as Psychopathy

Hillary Clinton outraged LGBT activists on Friday with her comments at Nancy Reagan’s funeral praising the former first lady for helping start a “national conversation” about HIV – remarks that critics say ignore the Reagans’ deeply troubling legacy on the 1980s Aids crisis.

Jesus, she is at it again.

Christ, not even my memory is that short.  Ronnie and Nancy were dullards whose legacy we are suffering even now as a nation and people in multiple crises.

Clinton is so awash in political purpose that she can do nothing more than demean humanity. With her every denial or false utterance, she alienates those with good sense. That she had to be reminded of what actually happened in the 1980s is a stunning indictment of her corruptibility.

Please somebody, just stop this woman before it's too late.  Before she decides Bush Jr. had a strong response to Katrina, or didn't start an unnecessary and disastrous war in Iraq.

(Wait...she wasn't very smart about Iraq to begin with...)

Stupid fucking rich people piss me off.


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PAC Semi Tomorrow Night

Oregon and Arizona tomorrow night after the Ducks knocked off Washington and the Wildcats beat Colorado today.

 Gonna be a classic.

Or not.  Oregon won the lone game these two teams played in Tucson earlier this year.  Turned out that was Arizona's first home loss in ages.

Arizona will be seeking vengeance.  Oregon is just solid.

Can't wait.


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Pain

Docspeak:  I think your symptoms are caused by Ramsay Hunt syndrome (multiple cranial nerves affected by herpes zoster) in addition to post-herpetic neuralgia. 

Translation:  You are fucked. I think.  Here are some drugs that may or may not work.  See you in two weeks.


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Before the Madness

The Pac-12 tournament starts at noon with Washington and Stanford squaring off.  Winner of that one gets the Ducks tomorrow at noon.

Four teams have byes today: Oregon, Utah, Arizona and Cal.

This tournament will be hyper-competitive, and the bball scholars are all saying several teams have a chance to win it.

I'm no scholar but I agree, and for the hell of it I'm picking Cal, though it be a young and inexperienced team.

Just a hunch.

OSU plays in the fourth and final game of today's schedule, tipping off at 8:30 against ASU.

I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow.  Hopefully someone will have an answer for my pain, but I'm not counting on it in the short term.

Something's gotta give.


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The Clash

Strummer died in 2002 of a congenital heart defect, but his mates met in 2013 and talked through the great band's career.


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Rift

The old farts are having a tiff.

Can't we all just get along?  Ha.


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The Ray-Guns

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Bingo Bango Bongo

Oregon is the Pac-12 Champion!

Beat USC by 10.






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Action

Not the biggest game of the year, but nonetheless a huge game today in L.A. Oregon/USC tips off at 1 p.m.

An Oregon victory would clinch the PAC outright for the Ducks, who are already guaranteed the No. 1 seed in the conference tourney next week.

A win today and two in the Vegas tourney would likely secure the Ducks a No. 2 seed in the Madness.

Tipoff in 40 min.


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Report

Across the south people were marching and sometimes dying for civil rights, though you didn’t have to march or even reach the age of majority to qualify for murder, as shown by the 1963 bombing deaths of four young African American girls, at church, in Birmingham. After Kennedy’s assassination, Lyndon Johnson, Democrat of Texas and a son of the hardscrabble south, seized JFK’s cautious civil rights agenda and turned it into a juggernaut. “If you get in my way I’m going to run you down,” he told his old Senate mentor, Richard Russell of Georgia, and it’s surely one of the great mysteries not just of American politics but of human nature in general that Lyndon Johnson, a man born and formed in one of America’s most enduring tar pits of xenophobia, would be the crucial force multiplier for civil rights.

Ben Fountain reports for the Guardian.


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Weekend Assignment

You probably thought you were going to get off easy this weekend, didn't you?

Surprise!  BD has another assignment for you.

You are to go here over the weekend and read the first two essays by Messrs. Levine and Street, annotate them, and submit your work to us by noon Monday.

Your failure to finish this assignment will result in your expulsion from Dooley University.

DU reminds you that your tuition is non-refundable.

If you don't like it, sue him.  But be careful.  He can identify each and every hand-picked member of his faculty.  He's legit.


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