Monday Medley

What we read while passing the eye test…

• March Madness is here! Yesterday was Selection Sunday, and following such a wild regular season in college basketball, people are predicting crazy things. Kansas earned a #1 seed, and Joe Posnanski wrote about what makes Bill Self great.

• A 16-year-old was shot and killed by the NYPD last week, inspiring anger and protests on the streets of Brooklyn. Outrage intensified when the autopsy revealed he had been shot seven times, including thrice in the back. The NYPD also allegedly arrested someone for criticizing stop-and-frisk. But, hey, at least New Yorkers can still drink large sodas!

• Kickstarter.com had a breakthrough, when a potential Veronica Mars movie was funded by fans on the site in less than one day. Some criticized it as “charity” for movie studios, but others see it as a hopeful sign of the future of movies. Series creator Rob Thomas is just happy to get to make his movie.

• Seinfeld vs. The Simpsons: The ultimate sitcom showdown.

• Rob Portman, who was almost Mitt Romney’s running mate last year, came out as a proponent of gay marriage last week, after announcing that his son is gay. Some called his move selfish, since he only did when it affected his own family.

• What was the new Pope’s role in Argentina’s Dirty War?

• Jack Kerouac: Sportswriter.

• Get ready for the most depressing 10 year anniversary ever.

• Is solitary confinement worse than death?

• Brandon McCarthy believes in chemistry.

The Double Bonus: First Weekend Episode

Tim and John S are back for another episode of The Double Bonus Podcast! Today they’re going over their suspiciously (and, for Tim, ominously) similar NCAA Tournament picks. The trendy upsets heading into this first weekend are Belmont over Wisconsin, Oakland over Texas, and Missouri over Cincinnati. Will Tim or John be on any of these bandwagons? Will they add a few of their own? And will anyone even hear Tim over his exceptionally poor audio quality? All those questions will be answered:  Click here and listen to their full breakdown of this year’s bracket!

Talkin’ Basketball: Kentucky vs. West Virginia

Once again, Tim was right and John was wrong in picking the early game. Well, they’re back for tonight’s game–John S to see if he can finally get one right, and Tim to tell you who will win. They are both trying to get over the fact that Dick Enberg is likely calling the last game of a great career tonight.

JOHN S: Alright, it’s time to move on to tonight’s game, the marquee matchup between Kentucky and West Virginia. The only Elite Eight game between the 1- and 2-seeds, this is probably the most anticipated game of this round; whoever wins this one will likely be the favorite going into the Final Four. It will also be by far the toughest contest either team has faced. Kentucky is coming off a 17-point win over everyone’s favorite Cinderella, and even though the score doesn’t really tell how close this one was (Cornell was within six with under six minutes left), it never really felt like the Wildcats were in danger, even when the Big Red were up 10-2. Throughout this Tournament, Kentucky has shown how much margin for error they have, and how much better they are than most other teams when they do everything well. Meanwhile, West Virginia hasn’t played a single-digit seed yet, but they are coming off a pretty dominant second half against Washington in the Sweet 16. So do you think the Mountaineers can give hang with the Wildcats?