You know what the best part of the drive from Palm Springs to Phoenix was (besides the beautiful mountainous scenery)? This…












And people were blowing by me!

Not to worry. I checked the desert driving handbook and it said it’s okay to take pictures while driving. As long as you’re wearing a seatbelt.

Text from the Good Doc: My friend just texted me that Gumbel looks like a fat penguin. Heh heh. Gumbel is one of my favorite talking heads, but I have to agree with this. On Saturday, I left Carino a rambling message about Gumbel's unfortunate choice in attire.

19:46 - Oden scores immediately. They need more of this, and better outside shooting.

19:07 - Lewis hits one. Then comes back with a sweet slam to cut it to seven. I'd have love to been a fly on the wall during halftime.

15:56 - Florida three to go back up 11. In a way, Oden's tremendous defensive presence is hurting OSU, because the Gators are hanging around outside the arc and taking threes, which they are making, rather than risking going inside the paint.

My uncle: The play better when Oden isn't the main scorer. It's not too late for some adjustments. Like guarding the 3???????
JG: I bet Clark Kellogg would get out there and defend the three!

Ok, 14 minutes left, OSU down seven. They are by no means out of this. They've played a lot of close games and are used to a hard fight.

The editing isn't going well thus far, for anyone interested.

As Carino commented, Florida is picking up some fouls. Buckeye guards should just keep driving the lane.

Not to get Carino started, but Packer's a moron. "He'd like to have that one back." What player who misses a shot wouldn't?

9:55 - I can't say I enjoyed that. Florida up 12.

Speaking of talking heads, I find this somewhat surprising. Maybe more people than I'd have thought find him as annoying as I do.

8:59 - Man, what a crappy foul on Oden. If you're going to foul, get your money's worth.

Nantz chatting about how old Oden looks. And he does. So does his coach, who's only three years older than me but who looks 50.

I don't know that OSU has enough to pull this off, but I appreciate that if they're going down, they're going down fighting.

7:49 - FUCK. Again with a fantastic Oden block that led to a Florida trey.

6:17 - Thank God, a TV timeout. This is exhausting. I don't know how people do this regularly.

5:03 - Oden is doing everything he can. Cuts it to six with two free throws. Is anybody going to help him??

FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, WOULD SOMEONE PLEASE GET OUT AND DEFEND THE GODDAMN THREE-POINT LINE?

...deep breath...

3:21 - ...shakes head...

AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Why is Belichick on my television?????????? Am I not suffering enough???

Wine by the Color will be on a brief hiatus while Jersey Girl gets a sip of water and tries to lower her blood pressure.

Well, at least I'm still watching the game, which was not the case at this point three months ago.

I really do not like Yannick Noah. His son hasn't bothered me that much tonight.

And all of a sudden, it's raining Buckeye threes.

And that is it.

I am still watching but have turned down the sound. Wonder if Donovan will announce he's leaving for Kentucky now or wait a day or two?

WHOA - the Devils fired Julien? Why does Lamoriello even bother hiring other head coaches? Just to give himself a break?

A look at a few positives from tonight's game:
-OSU kept its young head for most of the game. They lost to a better team because they couldn’t overcome the defensive lapses and the chilliness from the perimeter offensively.
-From the Good Doc, “Oden was a beast.” Indeed. He finally showed what a phenomenal talent he is. Twenty-five points and 12 rebounds, defensive domination. Unfortunately, no one stepped up to help him.
-I work with someone who has, throughout the entire tournament, deemed OSU overrated to anyone who’ll listen (except to me, of course). I can’t say a team that lost to the defending national champion, which brought back everyone, by nine points in the final is overrated. They’re the unquestionable #2 team in the country.

That's all from here. My fingers are tired. As is my arse, from sitting still for more than two hours.

Thanks for reading.