as we may blog

For the first time in my life, I went the whole year without watching a single college basketball game. To drive the point home, I can list every second of college basketball I’ve seen this year:

• Five seconds of Iowa vs. Michigan State as I walked past The Village Pourhouse, one of those awful East Village bars that hoses the vomit off the pavement every morning. Iowa was behind by 30 or so.
• The first four minutes of Illinois vs. Minnesota on Saturday. Snore.
• The first half of Illinois vs. Wisconsin on Sunday. Snore.

I know that Drake is good, Gorney wasn’t enough, and Steve Alford’s new team played its way into yet another “March situation.” Apart from that, I’m clueless. We’re a long way from those halcyon days of informed, reasoned analysis as seen on DUNK SONDY DUNK.

Any bracket tips?

Related coverage

• Vanderbilt vs. Washington State? That’s some compelling shit right there. (3/14/2007)
• Bracketbot submits sublimely spineless pix (3/16/2006)
• Gambling on amateur sports: Do it for your sister (3/16/2005)

No!

Many Facebook users are devastated by the news that their favorite application, Scrabulous, is in danger of being taken down. Toymakers Hasbro and Mattel are telling Facebook to lose the game, claiming the online game infringes their copyright on the classic board game. The word-nerd add-on, created by brothers Rajat and Jayant Agarwalla, two software developers based in Calcutta, is one of Facebook’s 10 most popular applications, attracting 594,924 players daily.

Facebook Users Rally to Save Scrabulous
Related: Scrabble vs. Scrabulous on MetaFilter

Michael Lewis (the guy who would’ve written Moneyball if Billy Beane hadn’t beaten him to it) on the illusions of equity and amateur status in college football:

College football’s best trick play is its pretense that it has nothing to do with money, that it’s simply an extension of the university’s mission to educate its students. Were the public to view college football as mainly a business, it might start asking questions. For instance: why are these enterprises that have nothing to do with education and everything to do with profits exempt from paying taxes? Or why don’t they pay their employees?

This is maybe the oddest aspect of the college football business. Everyone associated with it is getting rich except the people whose labor creates the value. At this moment there are thousands of big-time college football players, many of whom are black and poor. They perform for the intense pleasure of millions of rabid college football fans, many of whom are rich and white. The world’s most enthusiastic racially integrated marketplace is waiting to happen.

My bracket is here, Kate. This gets harder and harder each year. Maybe if I actually watched a basketball game this year I’d have some insight.

In a nutshell: Ohio State to win, in a Final Four featuring teams full of players who wouldn’t even be in college were it not for the NBA’s asinine age limit (although Greg Oden is, what, 35?). Fire Alford.

Previously on As We May Blog:

• Gambling on amateur sports: Do it for your sister (2006 version)
• Gambling on amateur sports: Do it for your sister
• Mattbot’s guide to online sports discussion

1. Where do you regularly watch the University of Michigan football games?

[x] Park Avenue Country Club (Go to question 3)
Professor Thom’s (Go to question 2)
Proof (Go to question 2)
At home (Go to question 13)
I don’t regularly watch University of Michigan football. (Go to question 13)
Other (please specify) (Go to question 13)

3. How do you feel about the location of the Park Avenue Country Club?

Convenient
Centralized
Too far
[x] Other (please specify)
The location is convenient, but my chauffeur often has difficulty finding suitable parking to accommodate myself, a man of ample carriage.

4. Where do you feel would be a good location for future football watching? (You may make more than one selection for this question.)

Upper Manhattan
Midtown
Lower
[x] East side
[x] West side

5. How do you feel about the reservation process at the Park Avenue Country Club?

Great
Good
Okay
Neutral
Could be improved
Bad
Terrible
[x] Other (please specify)
“Could be improved” doesn’t quite capture the essence of my opinion about the reservation process at PACC. On the one hand, my handler tells me they are efficient and courteous, a standout compared to the other country clubs in which I enjoy membership. On the other hand, women sometimes answer the phone.

6. How do you feel about the choices for alcoholic beverages at the Park Avenue Country Club?

Great
Good
Okay
Neutral
[x] Could be improved
Bad
Terrible

7. What choices would you like to see added in regards to alcoholic beverages?

First, remove all beverages with hops from the menu. These are declasse, swill for the proles who "tail gate". Second, the scotch selection is reminiscent of a corked bottle of 1998 Turning Leaf: cheap, common, and decidedly rancid. Any scotch aged less than 18 years afflicts me with severe double vision and an unfortunate bout of paranoia about a zombie Bo Schembechler. Ask any of the club’s lavatory towel lads about my shouts from the stalls.

8. How did you feel about the food selection?

[x] Great
Good
Okay
Neutral
Could be improved
Bad
Terrible

9. What food selections would you like added to the menu?

My colleague, a wealthy industrialist, told me of a rare delicacy he enjoyed while on holiday in Central America. It was reminiscent of ceviche, but composed entirely of locally raised, grass fed, and antibiotic-free children. I do not expect such treats at PACC, however a turkey bacon club would be a welcome addition to la carte.

10. How do you feel about the University of Michigan Club of New York’s involvement at the football games (raffles, game prizes, and announcement of upcoming events)?

Great
Good
[x] Okay
Neutral
Could be improved
Bad
Terrible

11. What changes would you like to see made with the University of Michigan Club of New York’’s involvement with football games?

An option to take a chartered jet from New York City to Ann Arbor. This service would be aimed at the university’s wealthiest Gotham alumni, such as myself.

12. What is your overall impression of the Park Avenue Country Club football watching?

[x] Great
Good
Okay
Neutral
Could be improved
Bad
Terrible

13. What further suggestions would you have for improving U of M football watching in New York?

A life-size cardboard cutout of Lloyd Carr would amuse Wolverines and terrify any opposing fans in attendance.

14. What was the last alumni event you attended?

President Gerald Ford’s funeral.

15. What year did you graduate?

1905

16. In which area/s of the University of Michigan Club of New York would you like to be more active? (Check all that apply and provide your e-mail address in the “Other” box for future contact by a University of Michigan New York Club Representative.)

Athletic Events
[x] Broadway Shows
Educational Events
Happy Hours
Fundraisers
Community Service
Cultural Events
Other (e-mail address and/or other areas)

Related links
Fun with Sports Marketers, Part I