Why Is This Night Different From All Other Nights?

Passover begins this evening, so it's time for eight days of matzo. Hooray!

Since Passover is here, enjoy these ethical questions from a non-Jew regarding purchasing Kosher for Passover Coca-Cola. [A List of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago]

The answer to the title of this post is that Robert Morris is playing a post-season basketball game during the first night Seder. In case you missed it, Robert Morris defeated Kentucky. Even though the game occurred last week, this is still awesome. [ESPN, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Dan Shanoff, Yahoo]

Ranking the 68 NCAA tournament schools by the coolest person who went there. How does DJ Qualls rank above Robert Guillaume? [Sports Illustrated]

The guide to wearing ties includes the following statement: Finally, a tie that looks like a fish or is adorned with cartoon characters should be avoided at all costs...unless the wearer’s goal is to maintain celibacy. Not that I wore ties much during college, but when I did, they usually had Peanuts or Simpsons characters on them. In a related note, I didn't have a girlfriend for most of college. [Everybody Loves You]

Jerusalem's FC Beitar signed its first two Muslim players. Some fans weren't happy. Fascinating read about this. [Grantland & Sports on Earth]

The Reston band RDGLDGRN made their national television debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live. [Restonian]

Mr. Brame is about to live longer than Mozart. [Mr. Brame's Blog]

Make sure that you have a cup of wine ready for Elijah!

Random Ramblings

I cut myself shaving pretty badly this morning causing me to bleed my own blood on and off for nearly an hour. It's times like these when I would love to grow a Brett Keisel beard.

I'm about 75 pages until the end of Stephen King's 11/22/63. I'm not a horror fan, so this is the first Stephen King book that I'm going to finish. Despite being approximately 850 pages, it is an amazing book that I highly recommend. I guess I should probably update the "What I'm Reading" section of this blog.

Pope Francis is apparently a big soccer fan. As the Pope, can he tell Brazil to get him tickets for all of the Argentina games at the 2014 World Cup? My guess is yes and Brazil would also have to say yes, right?

I haven't filled out my NCAA bracket yet, and I really don't know what to do about Pitt. In my heart, I think they can Wichita State and the #1 seed Gonzaga. In my head, they'll probably lose in the first round, and I'll be disappointed.

Meanwhile, I'm really looking forward to seeing Kentucky play at Robert Morris in the NIT. I may need to find a bar showing this game and the Penguins-Capitals game side-by-side. Seriously, when was the last time Kentucky played a game at a venue that seats less than 3,500?

I had one of my worst experiences as a soccer referee over the weekend. During a tournament that included teams from well outside the DC area, I worked with two other officials that were very nice but completely overwhelmed and lacked the experience to work these game. I was and am embarrassed by some of the calls they made, but I really couldn't do anything about it. I agreed with all of the comments and criticism by the coaches, but I would never tell them this. Fortunately, the final score was 7-0 so the bad officiating didn't have an impact on the result. I sent an e-mail to the referee assigner with my thoughts though I haven't heard back and I'm not sure that I will. If that's the case, I'm not working for him again.

Dear UC Santa Barbara, North Texas University, Morgan State University & Robert Morris University

Congratulations on earning a spot in the NCAA Tournament! Each of you have had great seasons and deserve your spot in the field of 65. You may be wondering, well thanks random guy, but who are you? Well, my name is Sean, and I am a college basketball fan as well as an (arguably) amazing blogger. Twice in my life, I have had the opportunity to attend the men’s NCAA tournament. In 1997, I watched the #15 seed Coppin State University defeat the second-seeded University of South Carolina at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh. In 2008, I was present for the amazing game between #2 Duke University and #15 Belmont University at the Verizon Center in Washington. As a #15 seed, you may remember (or perhaps you're learning about now) the Duke-Belmont game and how Belmont could have, and arguably should have, pulled off an amazing upset. Was it a coincidence that at the two NCAA Tournament games I attended, the #15 seed won and should have won on both occasions? I say no.

Therefore, I welcome you to invite me to your first round match. I believe that my track record as stated above proves that I can be of great assistance in watching your game live. All that I ask for is a flight from the Washington DC area to wherever your game takes place, two tickets for the games (please note that games are in plural for both of your first and second round matches), a hotel room near the arena, and a gracious per diem for food. In exchange, you’ll get a great good luck charm in me. Just think of all the exposure #15 seeds receive when they win an NCAA Tournament game. You’ll be on the front page of the ESPN and Yahoo Sports websites, be the lead on Sportscenter and be the talk around the water cooler for days and weeks to come. I think the benefit your team and school will receive will certainly outweigh the cost of paying for my trip.

In full disclosure, I wrote a similar letter to Robert Morris University, Binghamton University, Morgan State University and California State University Northridge for the 2009 NCAA Tournament. None of these fine institutions took me up on my offer. Do you know how these teams fared? They lost by an average of 19.5 points. You don’t want that to happen to you, so just contact me. Robert Morris & Morgan State, I hope that you'll learn from this experience.

Just so you know, I give priority to attending the Robert Morris-Villanova game since RMU is a Pittsburgh area school and I have been on the campus and in the Sewell Center in the past. However, I will certainly consider offers from all for of you.

Good luck in the NCAA Tournament, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,
Sean

A Letter to 15 Seeds

Dear Robert Morris University, Binghamton University, Morgan State University and California State University Northridge:

First of all, congratulations on earning your spot in the NCAA Tournament. Each of you have had great seasons and deserve your spot in the field of 65. You may be wondering, well thanks random guy for the note, but who are you? Well, my name is Sean, and I am a college basketball fan as well as an amazing* blogger. Twice in my life, I have had the opportunity to attend the men’s NCAA tournament, first in 1997 and again in 2008. In 1997, I watched the #15 seed Coppin State University defeat the second-seeded University of South Carolina at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh. Last year, I was present for the amazing game between #2 Duke University and #15 Belmont University at the Verizon Center in Washington. As a #15 seed, you may remember (or you're learning now about) the Duke-Belmont game and how Belmont could have, and arguably should have, pulled off an amazing upset. Was it a coincidence that at the two NCAA Tournament games I attended the #15 seed won and should have won on both occasions? I say no.

Therefore, I welcome you to invite me to your first round match. I believe that my track record as stated above proves that I can be of great assistance in watching your game live. All that I ask for is a flight from the Washington DC area to wherever your game takes place, two tickets for the games (please note that games are in plural for both of your first and second round matches), a hotel room near the arena, and a gracious per diem for food. In exchange, you’ll get a great good luck charm in me. Just think of all the exposure #15 seeds receive when they win an NCAA Tournament game. You’ll be on the front page of the ESPN and Yahoo Sports websites, be the lead on Sportscenter and be the talk around the water cooler for days and weeks to come. I think the benefit your team and school will receive will certainly outweigh the cost of paying for my trip.

Just so you know, I give priority to attending the Robert Morris game since they are a Pittsburgh area school and I have been on the campus and in Sewell Center. However, I will certainly consider offers from all for of you.

Good luck in the NCAA Tournament, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,
Sean



* at least in my mind