Bulldogs and Bears and Bees, oh my!

Today started week 2 of the last quarter of my college career. It was a strange day because the temperatures continue to be more than perfect for this time of year, and I wound up having strep throat and missing Hal Green's cynicism (though I probably didn't miss much of a finance lesson). Aside from remembering to pump my body with antibiotics, I really only had three things on my mind. There probably should have been a few more but it's early in the quarter and I usually don't start doing homework until later at night anyway. Ironically, I always get the best grades spring quarter even though I feel as if I put in the least effort. Maybe I should have applied that to my winter quarters too, then I probably would have a 4.0. I also should have been focusing on my job search but I decided to put that off until Thursday-ish so I can mentally prepare myself for the torture of rejection I'm about to go through. In fact, I'm doubting my ability to think about a lot for the next few weeks, at least not while walking through campus. This is because the university is now plagued with the most annoying insects on the planet: Bees.

Every spring students are forced to walk through the trails of sidewalks all over campus and be greeted with the buzzing sounds of these obnoxious creatures. I don't know where they all come from or where they put their hives but they just come flying out of the woodworks during the first few weeks of the quarter. I understand that they serve a huge purpose in keeping the flowers and other plants fertilized so they can make campus beautiful, but I cannot understand why they have to swarm so close like they're going to attack at any moment. I'm probably the only one that looks like a monkey when I walk past them, though, because everyone else seems to pretend they aren't there. But I will go into a two-foot sprint, then walk, pattern everytime one gets near me and I shake my arms in a way that makes me look like I'm going to drop to the ground and have a seizure at any moment. I also do not understand which ones of these things are classified as bees and which are classified as yellow jackets. Below, I have inserted a picture of a yellow jacket (on the left) and a bee (on the right). They may have noticeable differences up close but how am I supposed to know what these are when I'm passing them by? All I really care about is that they could both sting me and potentially ruin my day. I've only been stung once so I know I'm not allergic but if it happens again I don't think I will be very happy about it.











One woman's basketball player that could probably punch me and it would undoubtedly hurt more than 100 bee stings is Baylor's freshman dunking sensation Brittney Griner. Though her team fell short of gettin the to the championship game, she is the reason why the Baylor Lady Bears were the second thing I thought about today.

After watching last night's game, I wasn't really left in shock about anything. In fact, this entire women's tournament was lacking in shock value. Almost everyone predicted UConn and Stanford to fight for the 2010 title and almost everyone got it right. A huge difference to the madness that took place in the men's tournament. The only thing I had to look twice at on the women's end is that Ohio State lost to Mississippi State in the second round.

Sidenote: I would like to give a shout-out to my freshman roommate Shavelle Little, who just finished up her senior season with the Buckeyes. She is one of the most interesting people I've ever met at OSU (I mean this in a good way) and I'm glad she did big things in her college career and I know she'll continue to do them in the future.

Anyway, back to Baylor and Griner. I knew that Baylor was not going to beat UConn but watching Griner play left me wondering "how does she do that?". Granted, I can't even play HORSE let alone a full game of ball, but she is going to be a powerhouse for the Lady Bears in the next three seasons. This girl is scary, if I went to high school with her I probably would have walked on the other side of the hall. And, since her team is only losing one senior, the odds might be in their favor to make it all the way in the next few years.

One team that the odds are not in favor for is the Butler Bulldogs, who are set to face the Duke Blue Devils in the 2010 NCAA men's basketball championship tonight. As this unlikely pairing gets ready to commence on the national stage, I sit here and think to myself how glad I am that I didn't fill out a bracket this year. All it would have done was lead me into utter frustration, just like everyone else. In fact, if there is anyone out there who predicted this be the Butler/Duke match-up to be for all the marbles I really want to see their bracket for proof. It's bad enough that Ohio State lost to Tennessee in the sweet 16, which was a total rejection of Ohio University's kind gesture of beating Georgetown in the first round. Most brackets showed OSU losing to GTown but since that game never got the chance, fans and media members alike were certain the Buckeyes would at least go to the Elite 8. However, that didn't happen either and somehow Michigan State weasled its way into the Final Four only to add to the embarrassments of the Big Ten on the big stage. Now, this 2010 Butler squad is doing something that no Bulldog from any previous year has managed to do before. It started in the Sweet 16 when the they knocked off Syracuse. After that, the Bulldogs made sure their bites were larger than their barks.

Though many people are angry about this, we can't forget that this was a top-25 team the entire season and was 10th in the preseason polls, so in this respect it can't be THAT big of an upset when they win. But because the team has never crowned itself king, unlike Duke which has done so 3 times, it becomes one of those teams that Hollywood decides to make a sports movie about in about 20 years after they win the title (if they win the title). Though my Buckeyes, or any other team that was supposed to go all the way, aren't in it, I'm not exactly angry about this game. In sports we must remember how meaningful it is for an underdog to rise to the top, even if they weren't "the best" all season. I am a fan of the underdog. Case in point, the Indians just got shut-out by the White Sox in the season opener, the Cavs have yet to win a title, Ohio State is always having ups and downs on the big stage and I really don't need to say anything about the Browns. So, if the Bulldogs win I will be happy because that restores the faith in underdogs everywhere, much like the New Orleans Saints did back in February. Just because people doubt a team does not mean its ability to win is lacking. It just takes a little effort in the game and a whole lot of ignoring the skepticism of the outsiders.