JayarJackson

1.                  Why is “The Final Four” deemed the pinnacle of college basketball?

It’s March, so of course the last couple of weeks have caused normally responsible adults to revert back to their days of adolescence and invent new reasons to skip work or leave early enough to watch college basketball’s championship tournament.  When not skipping work, they’re still not working, and instead filling out tournament brackets for pools AT work for some of prearranged payout.  In order for these previously dependable, hard working Americans to guess which teams will emerge from a field of 65 teams, sports programs and countless online sources provide analysis and commentary on the teams and players that employed people couldn’t follow during the regular season due to their….jobs. 

Anyway, with the majestic nature of the tournament, the big slogan from the host network CBS is “The Road to the Final Four.”  What??  Why the final four?  Teams traditionally cut down the nets after winning the game that guaranteed them a spot in the final tournament city where the last four teams meet to play for the championship.  As these grown men and coaches dance and celebrate over being one of the last four teams left playing, I can’t shake the question in my head, “Why aren’t they saving the celebrating for when they WIN the Championship?  Analysts and fans alike keep track of which teams and coaches have made it to The Final Four with such regularity, you’d think that the season is over and the trophy is split 4 ways once this amazing accomplishment is reached.

No other sport celebrates getting close to winning a championship the way college basketball does.  No one can ever remember who the 4th place team was after the NBA postseason plays out.  College football provides a forum for frustration and animosity every year simply because the teams that had a shot at playing for the championship are relegated to secondary and tertiary bowl games.  Maybe the seemingly immortal and hated college football system that snubs a few teams every year should be switched with college basketball’s tournament since the players are so conditioned to be happy with a 2nd-4th place finish.

2.                  Cartoon characters run with their arms in weird and locked positions. 

 

I admit it; I’m a cartoon junkie; in fact, I’m an old school cartoon junkie with some new school sprinkled on top.  I can confidently say that I’ve seen every Tom & Jerry cartoon ever made…multiple times.  Every time I hear that symphony-style music providing background noise for that cat with a serious rodent obsession to chase that psychopathic mouse with an appetite for war that could even scare Dick Cheney, I can’t help but to watch just one 7 minute short. 

Yes, I’m a kid at heart, but that doesn’t keep me from noticing the inefficient way so many classic cartoon characters run.  With arms to their sides or straight out in front of them as if they’re pushing a shopping cart, Hanna Barbera-produced animation probably had it the worst, as their talking cats, dogs, wolves, mice, alligators, and gorillas got involved in chase scenes that seemed to reach high speeds.  As an ex collegiate track athlete, I know a few things about running, and the first rule is that pumping your arms is essential.  Who taught these blue dogs like Huckleberry Hound to run?  No wonder they always lose the senseless battle; it is impossible to run with that form!

--JJJ

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