America, we need to have a talk. Stop embracing movie, song, and book quotes as worldly truths and anthems of your lives.
It is not clever when someone says, "I'll try," and you say, "Do, or do not. There is no try." How profound of you. You completely took a fine piece of wisdom from Yoda and twisted it into your context. That wasn't a general statement, it was specifically geared toward Luke. Yoda had faith that Luke could be everything that his father could not. He wanted Luke to have that same faith in the Jedi he could become. Yoda knew the statement "I'll try," by Luke was rooted in doubt, as opposed to a sincere statement of intent. In Luke's specific case, there was no try. If he believed he could, he would. Why is it bad to misuse this quote? On top of the fact that it makes you look like an idiot, it sends the wrong message. Do you really want to tell someone not to try? That if they aren't 100% sure of their ability to succeed, that they should give up and move on? Absolutely not. While mediocrity should not be accepted on a regular basis, perfection should not be a demand (however, it should be an aspiration).
Another example of misunderstanding in media is from the semi-fictional Vietnam War novel The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien. In the chapter How To Tell A True War Story, O'Brien attempts to explain a concept that the way to tell if a war story is true or not is to simply inquire if the answer matters or not. O'Brien claims if the answer to that inquiry is yes, then the story is true. It is a strange idea, and, ironically, it is hard to extract the actual meaning of the chapter. Soon after most of the English classes in my high school had read The Things They Carried, people started using that idea in everyday conversation. A kid would tell another kid an exaggerated story about running from the cops at a party that got busted. The listener would say "Yeah right. Is that true?" The storyteller would ask "Does it matter?" Since it didn't matter, the story was false. The concept O'Brien was trying to convey was that a war story is supposed to make your stomach turn, so you can just maybe understand what war does to a person. If that story is completely made up, but it gets a certain emotion of war across, then it is a "true" story. This concept only fits in the context of his story. It's a mindset, not a truth.
Millennials, Gen Y, whatever you want to call them, are heavily bombarded with media influence, both voluntarily and involuntarily. We let ourselves be overly influenced by what artists and movies say, taking it as fact, as opposed to the opinion that it is. Kids too easily mold their philosophies to those whose songs are on the radio. Sure, wisdom can be found in song lyrics, but just because they are clever doesn't make them true. Don't look too deeply lyrics, because the person who wrote them is just like you and me. We're all searching for truth, but the last place we should look for it is in someone else who is looking too.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Pre-March Madness Notes
1. Louisville is logical and safe choice as champion
This year's field features a limited number of extremely convincing sides, and a surplus of inconsistent, lackluster Big Six teams. I slaved over this bracket more than any previous bracket, and most of it was due to the first round. For example, the East region 9-8 matchup with Oklahoma State and Tennessee; what can you do? Tennessee was the consensus pick for the overall SEC championship, but was probably one of the biggest disappointments of any of the teams to make a season-long drop off out of the top 25. As for Oklahoma State: what are they other than the other school in Oklahoma? Yes, I know they just beat Oklahoma in the Big 12 tournament, but they're not a better team, and we all know it. I'll take Tennessee, because this is the first year since 1991 that they made it to the SEC final, and they've been to the Big Dance the past three years. It doesn't matter though, because the winner of this game will inevitably suffer a traumatizing beatdown from Pittsburgh.
Some of the at-large nominations from the Big Six are very unconvincing and/or questionable (Arizona, Clemson, Michigan), but the mid-majors didn't help themselves either. With more ambitious non-conference schedules, these teams could have secured better seeds by one or two spots to help them advance an extra round. Not including perennial mid-major powers such as Gonzaga and Memphis, the potential Giant Killers are slim to none. Siena may have had a very good chance to bust the brackets, but they will have to beat Ohio State before facing the top overall seed Louisville. Cleveland State could potentially make it to the Sweet 16, but they'll suffer Louisville as well. If you're just dying for a Cinderella to make it pretty far, your best bet is Temple (see next note).
This year will definitely be considered a weak year, as the top-tier sides easily move to the later stages of the tournament. Most people love the idea of Cool the Underdog taking it to the Big Six, but the later rounds with most, if not every, high seed intact will steal the show. With teams like Louisville, Pittsburgh, UNC, Michigan State, and a few others likely to play in the Elite 8 and further, we should see some extremely high levels of play. However, even the teams previously listed are not on the same level.
After UNC were voted the unanimous pre-season number one, terrorized their non-conference schedule, and sparked debates on whether they could go undefeated just like Bob Knight's Hoosiers, they opened ACC play with a loss to Boston College. In their next game, BC lost to Harvard? It would be okay, because UNC would end up going 13-3 in the ACC to win the regular season title. But something is wrong with them. I can't quite figure out why, but I'm not buying them as elite. Their defense seems to be there at times, and non-existent during others. During their winning streak that lasted the first half of the season, they were scary. I've only watched basketball for a couple of years, but they were the best that I could remember. I wouldn't have wanted to play them. They seem to have unexplainable lapses in play that keep them from reaching their full potential, which would include a dominant performance in this tournament. They would've gone further in my bracket if they had won the ACC tournament. And P.S., they may not have Ty Lawson in the opening round.
Along with UNC, there are a few higher level teams that are not elite, like Connecticut. Although, they may be close to elite, they lost to Pittsburgh twice. UConn was ranked number one in both of those meetings. They also lost in their first round Big East matchup against Syracuse. For those who watched, the game wasn't as simple as, "UConn lost to 'Cuse." But they did lose. Some may be tempted to pick Memphis as elite. After all, they do have the longest winning streak in the nation at 25, but the majority of those are Conference USA wins. It's difficult to determine if they are legitimate until they make it to the later rounds of the tournament. It's also difficult because they lost their superstars from last year's team that reached the final.
We're down to Pitt and Louisville. Both qualify as elite. We now need to seperate them, and this is the easiest part. Pitt didn't win the Big East. They also lost in their first Big East tournament game after their double-bye, against West Virginia. Neither of these are that bad. They placed second, and the Big East was the toughest conference throughout the year. That was apparent to everyone except for Coach K, who at one point said the ACC was better because it was not as top heavy. Even a loss to West Virginia doesn't illegitimatize Pitt. Bob Huggins has toppled many teams while he's coached the Mountaineers.
Louisvile won the Big East regular season title. They also won the tournament. I was not a supporter of the Cards for a while, because of their non-conference losses to Western Kentucky, Minnesota, and UNLV, but they picked it up after that. They went 16-2 in conference play, and have won 10 straight. As an extra bonus, Louisville beat Pitt while Pitt was ranked number one.
They are on a roll at the right time. The 33 point loss to Notre Dame seems to be the result of a different team. They reached number one in the polls for the first time this season in the final poll, and earned the number one overall seed for the tournament. They have shown true poise down the stretch, and have proven that they are the team to beat. They will go into the NCAA tournament as favorites against anyone, and should bring a championship back to Louisville.
2. Best Cinderella: Temple
This is not a great year for the Cinderellas due to their unfavorable seedings, but Temple has the best chance to make some noise. The back-to-back Atlantic 10 tournament champions RSVP'd to the dance, knocking off Xavier on the way. By no means a Final Four contender, but Temple is in the South region, with North Carolina being the only top-tier team (Don't give me Oklahoma, they've been trailing off for a few weeks). With a little bit of help, they have the easiest route to the Elite 8. They play six-seed Arizona State in the first round, and would likely face Syracuse in the second round. Although, Syracuse finished off the season in high fashion, including yet another entertaining performance in the Big East tournament, they are certainly beatable. Temple will require stellar play from the guard, but Dionte Christmas should be fine in that category. His season stats are startling. He averaged 19.2 points a game, scored at least 20 points in 18 separate games, and logged a career-high 37 points against Duquesne in the A-10 final. If they can take advantage of their scoring opportunities, and improve their performance from the charity line (they shoot just under 70%) they could move a few rounds past where their seed indicates. Big games against Tennessee and Xavier, as well as an NCAA appearance last year should help boost their confidence and get them ready to play.
This year's field features a limited number of extremely convincing sides, and a surplus of inconsistent, lackluster Big Six teams. I slaved over this bracket more than any previous bracket, and most of it was due to the first round. For example, the East region 9-8 matchup with Oklahoma State and Tennessee; what can you do? Tennessee was the consensus pick for the overall SEC championship, but was probably one of the biggest disappointments of any of the teams to make a season-long drop off out of the top 25. As for Oklahoma State: what are they other than the other school in Oklahoma? Yes, I know they just beat Oklahoma in the Big 12 tournament, but they're not a better team, and we all know it. I'll take Tennessee, because this is the first year since 1991 that they made it to the SEC final, and they've been to the Big Dance the past three years. It doesn't matter though, because the winner of this game will inevitably suffer a traumatizing beatdown from Pittsburgh.
Some of the at-large nominations from the Big Six are very unconvincing and/or questionable (Arizona, Clemson, Michigan), but the mid-majors didn't help themselves either. With more ambitious non-conference schedules, these teams could have secured better seeds by one or two spots to help them advance an extra round. Not including perennial mid-major powers such as Gonzaga and Memphis, the potential Giant Killers are slim to none. Siena may have had a very good chance to bust the brackets, but they will have to beat Ohio State before facing the top overall seed Louisville. Cleveland State could potentially make it to the Sweet 16, but they'll suffer Louisville as well. If you're just dying for a Cinderella to make it pretty far, your best bet is Temple (see next note).
This year will definitely be considered a weak year, as the top-tier sides easily move to the later stages of the tournament. Most people love the idea of Cool the Underdog taking it to the Big Six, but the later rounds with most, if not every, high seed intact will steal the show. With teams like Louisville, Pittsburgh, UNC, Michigan State, and a few others likely to play in the Elite 8 and further, we should see some extremely high levels of play. However, even the teams previously listed are not on the same level.
After UNC were voted the unanimous pre-season number one, terrorized their non-conference schedule, and sparked debates on whether they could go undefeated just like Bob Knight's Hoosiers, they opened ACC play with a loss to Boston College. In their next game, BC lost to Harvard? It would be okay, because UNC would end up going 13-3 in the ACC to win the regular season title. But something is wrong with them. I can't quite figure out why, but I'm not buying them as elite. Their defense seems to be there at times, and non-existent during others. During their winning streak that lasted the first half of the season, they were scary. I've only watched basketball for a couple of years, but they were the best that I could remember. I wouldn't have wanted to play them. They seem to have unexplainable lapses in play that keep them from reaching their full potential, which would include a dominant performance in this tournament. They would've gone further in my bracket if they had won the ACC tournament. And P.S., they may not have Ty Lawson in the opening round.
Along with UNC, there are a few higher level teams that are not elite, like Connecticut. Although, they may be close to elite, they lost to Pittsburgh twice. UConn was ranked number one in both of those meetings. They also lost in their first round Big East matchup against Syracuse. For those who watched, the game wasn't as simple as, "UConn lost to 'Cuse." But they did lose. Some may be tempted to pick Memphis as elite. After all, they do have the longest winning streak in the nation at 25, but the majority of those are Conference USA wins. It's difficult to determine if they are legitimate until they make it to the later rounds of the tournament. It's also difficult because they lost their superstars from last year's team that reached the final.
We're down to Pitt and Louisville. Both qualify as elite. We now need to seperate them, and this is the easiest part. Pitt didn't win the Big East. They also lost in their first Big East tournament game after their double-bye, against West Virginia. Neither of these are that bad. They placed second, and the Big East was the toughest conference throughout the year. That was apparent to everyone except for Coach K, who at one point said the ACC was better because it was not as top heavy. Even a loss to West Virginia doesn't illegitimatize Pitt. Bob Huggins has toppled many teams while he's coached the Mountaineers.
Louisvile won the Big East regular season title. They also won the tournament. I was not a supporter of the Cards for a while, because of their non-conference losses to Western Kentucky, Minnesota, and UNLV, but they picked it up after that. They went 16-2 in conference play, and have won 10 straight. As an extra bonus, Louisville beat Pitt while Pitt was ranked number one.
They are on a roll at the right time. The 33 point loss to Notre Dame seems to be the result of a different team. They reached number one in the polls for the first time this season in the final poll, and earned the number one overall seed for the tournament. They have shown true poise down the stretch, and have proven that they are the team to beat. They will go into the NCAA tournament as favorites against anyone, and should bring a championship back to Louisville.
2. Best Cinderella: Temple
This is not a great year for the Cinderellas due to their unfavorable seedings, but Temple has the best chance to make some noise. The back-to-back Atlantic 10 tournament champions RSVP'd to the dance, knocking off Xavier on the way. By no means a Final Four contender, but Temple is in the South region, with North Carolina being the only top-tier team (Don't give me Oklahoma, they've been trailing off for a few weeks). With a little bit of help, they have the easiest route to the Elite 8. They play six-seed Arizona State in the first round, and would likely face Syracuse in the second round. Although, Syracuse finished off the season in high fashion, including yet another entertaining performance in the Big East tournament, they are certainly beatable. Temple will require stellar play from the guard, but Dionte Christmas should be fine in that category. His season stats are startling. He averaged 19.2 points a game, scored at least 20 points in 18 separate games, and logged a career-high 37 points against Duquesne in the A-10 final. If they can take advantage of their scoring opportunities, and improve their performance from the charity line (they shoot just under 70%) they could move a few rounds past where their seed indicates. Big games against Tennessee and Xavier, as well as an NCAA appearance last year should help boost their confidence and get them ready to play.
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