Villanova and Oklahoma, 6:09 p.m., Saturday night.

Let’s hit it!

 

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The roundup:

No surprise that Villanova-Oklahoma is early game. North Carolina-Syracuse is gonna be one of the most insufferable matchups, between two of the scudsiest programs, with the most annoying fan bases. Get ready for ESPN’s fellating of the Orange this week, because 72% (exact number!) of ESPN employees went to Syracuse. But I, for one, am SALIVATING over a potential Villanova-Syracuse final. Jay Wright is a better coach than Jim Boeheim– a topic which we’ll explore this week.

 

This is the strangest version of Happy Birthday I’ve ever heard. But you know what? I’ll go with it:

Happy birthday to ya, Arch.

 

Arcidiacono living his boyhood dream to take Nova to the Final Four.

 

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OH. MORE, MORE, RYAN! MORE!!!

 

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“It just kept coming. It took my breath away.”

 

Villanova’s Storify of the evening is worth your eye stares.

 

Villanova returns home to outstanding reception.

 

Dick Jerardi writes about the first time Villanova and Oklahoma played this year.

 

The Final Four storylines.

 

Kris Jenkins and North Carolina’s Nate Britt are brothers. And no, I don’t understand how that works. But it’s a nice story, and would make for a great National Championship arc.

 

Nike got shit on in a story last week for not getting Steph Curry, but they’re winning big with those “Always Reppin'” shirts.

 

I love Rollie’s reemergence…

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… but if it means we have to deal with more Jim Nantz “HOLY MASSIMIMO!”s, I’m out. Nantz brought more energy than I expected this weekend, but he’ll be in full Masters mode by Saturday. The Final Four is just a layover before he gets to Augusta.

 

Kevin Harlan’s Syracuse “back from the dead on Easter Sunday” was so much better.

 

Coach K is a genuine jackoff. Stick to your prick players and worry less about the guy who just beat your ass. And then to have the gall to lie about lecturing someone only to, oops, discover there’s audio? Please. There was a great NY Times follow-up piece lamenting Coach K as the “Emperor Coach.”

 

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https://twitter.com/_olives25_/status/714242846492991488

That is so hot.

 

Claude Giroux is fine after this brutal hit:

https://twitter.com/myregularface/status/714084457129619456

He is expected to play tonight.

 

Devils and Penguins fans fighting. Can we just root for MAD?

 

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You can slice the ratings 100 different ways. Probably because they won the useless FULL WEEK, which includes weekends and evenings, over-the-air. But sports talk radio is judged by its weekday and drive time shows, and 97.5 beat WIP, over-the-air, in the main 25-54 demo, from 10 a.m. through 7 p.m. WIP is also probably not including streaming, which they lose just about any way you slice it. They also do better with an older demo. So either station can rightfully claim #1, but in the metrics that matter, WIP had some real trouble last month.

 

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Well, I don’t quite have that, but this NY Times article on the womens college basketball tournament not earning as much for schools and conferences

Even if this year’s Huskies win the tournament, the N.C.A.A. will pretty much ignore them, too. Certainly it will neglect them financially. Over at the men’s tournament, the N.C.A.A. pays for success: Each game a team plays (not including the championship) earns the team’s conference roughly $260,000 this year plus $260,000 each of the five following years. So the total value of a victory in the men’s tournament is approximately $1.56 million. By contrast, a win in the women’s tournament brings a reward of exactly zero dollars. That’s right, zero dollars.

That sends a strong signal that the women’s tournament is less significant and less worthy than the men’s, and it’s a policy that perpetuates a historical pattern of discrimination against women in institutions of higher education. The N.C.A.A. needs to start rewarding women for their victories.

…. is the most ridiculous, liberal bullshit I’ve read since Abby Wambach complained that she didn’t make as much as JJ Watt. There is no signal being sent, by anyone, by womens basketball not generating as much money as mens. IT’S NOT AS FUN TO WATCH. End of story. And it’s compounded by the fact that it’s so ridiculously chalk heavy that the biggest intrigue comes from whether Geno Auriemamamamama will say something stupid and nasty because he’s an egotistical prick. Yes, women have a right to equal sports opportunities. They don’t have a right to market share. Sorry.

 

Similarly, here’s a thought piece on why the Brussels attacks get more pub than attacks in places we’d rather not visit, like Pakistan, Iraq and Africa. I don’t understand how this is a conversation. It’s because, for better or worse, attacks are expected in areas that breed or border turmoil. Doesn’t make it right, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t feel bad. But it’s 100% more of a story, for America, and Europe, when otherwise sovereign, “safe” countries, where we might live and visit, become the target of terror. It’s scary, it’s out of the ordinary. We don’t expect it. That makes it more of a story. Car bomb in Iraq is, sadly, not news. It’s reality. An unfortunate one, but it’s now expected. A bomb in Brussels or Paris, or a shooting in San Bernardino, is not. It’s that simple. Political correctness run amok in these takes.

 

Experts think Ted Cruz may have been lying when he denied sex scandal claims. I don’t think we need experts to tell us a politician was probably lying about his sex scandal.

 

Jim Boeheim is a prick:

 

And he’s still a dick.

 

I’m glad Nova is playing before Syracuse on Saturday, so Jay doesn’t get Boeheim’s slime remnants all over his nice suit.

 

Roy Williams, the only coach in the Final Four better than Jay Wright, cut his finger cutting down the net last night. Poor sensitive Roy.

 

Tom McCarthy is one of the hardest working men in sports. But yooooooooo those two in the middle:

 

Tremendous image here of a vicious dunk:

 

This singer reacting to hearing her song on the radio for the first time sets up to be the most staged thing ever.

 

This is an actual Final Four hat, it’s awful:

 

Sometimes, when you’re ya boi DJacc, you run into fans on vacation. Sometimes, one of those fans is Cecily Tynan’s son:

 

I can only imagine “CHAOS AT SOUTH PHILLY CARNIVAL AFTER FIGHT BREAKS OUT” auto-fills in the headline writer by now.

 

These children are better at sports than you have ever been.

 

The new “he got hurt doing that?” champion is crowned: Brewers reliever Will Smith tore a ligament in his knee trying to take his shoe off. The shoe stayed on.

 

Maybe don’t be cocky about shooting free throws, which you’re supposed to make. Especially if you miss.

 

The Phillies have parted ways with a key part of their rebuild:

 

J.R. Smith is always shootin’ his shot.

 

This is Lakers basketball.

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