Irish Trojan in Tennessee

USA loses; Gonzaga, too

By Brendan Loy

Will South Alabama join VCU and Illinois State on the list of mid-majors sweating bullets on the bubble after conference-tournament losses? USA is losing by 4 to Middle Tennessee State with 1:45 left.

UPDATE: MTSU wins! Does South Alabama still get a bid? Yikes. The bubble picture keeps getting murkier and murkier. (And it could get murkier still: Gonzaga trails by 3 at halftime. On the bright side for bubble teams, Davidson's up by 8 at the break.)

UPDATE 2: Down goes Gonzaga, 69-62. The bubble carnage continues! The Zags are a lock, as are their conference-mates St. Mary's, so the WCC will be a three-bid league for the first time ever -- and somebody else who would have gone dancing, won't.

Well, at least Davidson won. Bubble teams will be rooting like crazy for Butler in the Horizon final against Cleveland State tonight (Tuesday) at 9:00 PM on ESPN. Also, Kent State needs to win the MAC and Memphis needs to win C-USA. Out-of-nowhere winners in the Atlantic 10 and/or Mountain West -- or any of the major conferences, for that matter -- would also be trouble.

P.S. As an aside, it's absolutely silly to say that San Diego "stunned" Gonzaga. The Toreros are good, they were competitive with the Zags in both regular-season meetings, they had more to play for, and the tournament was played on USD's home court. At most, this was a mild upset.

They're baaaack

By Brendan Loy

George Mason is going back to the Big Dance.

Feds suspected bribes, discovered sex

By Brendan Loy

This is interesting. According to ABC's The Blotter, the federal investigation of the "Emperors Club VIP" prostitution ring actually started as an inquiry into suspicious money transfers from Governor Spitzer's account that "initially [led] agents to believe Spitzer was hiding bribes."

So basically, everyone else who got caught in this investigation has got to be pretty pissed at Spitzer for ruining the fun. ;)

Spitzer, by the way, is expected to resign in the next 48 hours.

Shuttle liftoff tonight

By Brendan Loy

The Space Shuttle Endeavour is scheduled to blast off in less than six hours, at 2:28 AM EDT.

Just sayin'

By Brendan Loy

One of the big bubble debates of the next week will revolve around Virginia Commonwealth, which won the Colonial Athletic Association regular-season title, then lost in the semifinals to William & Mary last night. VCU is now firmly on the bubble, and will be hotly debated right up until the field of 65 is announced on  Sunday -- and beyond, probably. If they don't get in, the mid-major-loving blogosphere (ahem) will erupt in rage, while if the Rams do get in ahead of, say, Syracuse or Maryland, Billy Packer's head will most likely explode. In the latter scenario, the presence of VCU's athletic director on the selection committee will figure prominently into the commentary.

Anyway, I just thought it might be worth noting that this isn't the first time a CAA champion or co-champion has triggered intense debate after being eliminated in the semifinals of that tough conference's tournament. In fact, it happened a mere two years ago, causing me to write at the time:

With the NCAA selection show exactly 100 hours away, the most intriguing question right now — supplanting the whole Missouri Valley vs. power conferences debate — is what the selection committee will decide to do with George Mason.

Ahem. I think we all remember how that decision turned out. :)

In fairness, this isn't actually a valid argument for letting VCU in -- nor is the fact that they beat Duke last year. We mid-major-philes always insist that previous years' records shouldn't matter (in contrast to the Billy Packers of the world, who think teams should be rewarded for what they did in 1985), so to be consistent, we really shouldn't advocate letting VCU in as a bubble team just because George Mason got in as a bubble team in a superficially similar situation two years ago, and pretty well proved they belong.

Still, I couldn't resist mentioning it in passing. ;)

P.S. Speaking of George Mason, the Patriots lead William & Mary 27-26 at the half in the CAA title game.

Obama: Clintons can't have it both ways

By Brendan Loy

About this whole Eliot Spitzer business, I share the reaction of the Politico commenter who said: "Great!  Now this idiot is going to take away from the press coverage of Obama's VP retort to Hillary. crap."

Well, I figure I should do my small part to remedy that problem. So, in case you missed it, here is Obama's brilliant rebuttal to the Clintons' shameless "dream team" nonsense. Money quote: "I don't understand. If I am not ready [to be commander-in-chief], how is it that you think I should be such a great vice president?"

Watch the video. The crowd was eating it up.

CNN Breaking News

By CNN

New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer apologized to his family and the public after a report that tied him to a prostitution ring.

CNN Breaking News

By CNN

New York Times reports Gov. Eliot Spitzer admits involvement in a prostitution ring.

UPDATE BY BRENDAN: Josh Marshall: "Fox saying Spitzer will resign; me saying, no kidding."

UPDATE 2: Here's his statement. No resignation yet, just an apology, and a statement that "I will report back to you in short order." Whatever that means.

More details from the Times on what happened:

Gov. Eliot Spitzer has been caught on a federal wiretap arranging to meet with a high-priced prostitute at a Washington hotel last month, according to a person briefed on the federal investigation.

The wiretap recording, made during an investigation of a prostitution ring called Emperors Club VIP, captured a man identified as Client 9 on a telephone call confirming plans to have a woman travel from New York to Washington, where he had reserved a room. The person briefed on the case identified Mr. Spitzer as Client 9.

The Smoking Gun has more on Emperors Club VIP, "which charged up to $5500 an hour for one of its 50 prostitutes, who operated in New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, London, and Paris." And TPM Muckraker has more on "Client 9."

Anyway, back to the Times article...

The governor learned that he had been implicated in the prostitution probe when a federal official contacted his staff last Friday, according to the person briefed on the case.

The governor informed his top aides Sunday night and this morning of his involvement. He canceled his public events today and scheduled an announcement for this afternoon after inquiries from the Times.

The governor’s aides appeared shaken, and one of them began to weep as they waited for him to make his statement at his Manhattan office. Mr. Spitzer was seen leaving his Fifth Avenue apartment just before 3 p.m. with his wife of 21 years, Silda, heading to the news conference.

The Times was apparently working this story all night yesterday, and they're expecting another long night tonight. A memo has been sent out to the staff: "Obviously, we're going to have much late news, thanks to the governor. So we really need you to file all nonrelated stories as early as possible. It's going to be a long night...."

NY governor Spitzer reportedly admits involvement in prostitution ring

By Brendan Loy

WTF?

Gov. Eliot Spitzer has informed his most senior administration officials that he had been involved in a prostitution ring, an administration official said this morning.

Mr. Spitzer, who was huddled with his top aides early this afternoon, had hours earlier abruptly canceled his scheduled public events for the day. He is set to make an announcement about 2:15 this afternoon at his Manhattan office.

Mr. Spitzer, a first-term Democrat who pledged to bring ethics reform and end the often seamy ways of Albany, is married with three children.

I imagine this will cause levels on schadenfreude on the Right similar to those experienced on the Left over the Larry Craig incident.

UPDATE: As governor, Spitzer is a superdelegate, and he has endorsed Hillary. So has Lieutenant Governor David Paterson -- and he, too, is a superdelegate, not because of his elected position but because he's a DNC member. So if Spitzer were to resign and lose his superdelegate status, and Paterson were to replace him as governor, there would be one less superdelegate from New York State, and one less vote for Clinton. Just saying! :)

When raccoons attack

By Brendan Loy

The Tennessee Lady Vols managed to win the SEC Tournament over the weekend despite Coach Pat Summitt's lingering injury from a raccoon attack. (Hat tip: Michael Silence.)

Personally, if I were a raccoon, I wouldn't tangle with Pat Summitt. (And if I were Erin Andrews, I'd stay the hell away from Bruce Pearl. But that's another story entirely.)

USD beats SMC, faces Gonzaga for title

By Brendan Loy

WCC #3-seed San Diego beat #2 Saint Mary's in double overtime early this morning -- an "upset" in name only, as San Diego finished a close third in the regular season and is playing the conference tournament on its home floor. So it'll be a Gonzaga-USD final, again in San Diego, tonight at 9:00 PM on ESPN. If the Toreros can pull another "upset," the West Coast Conference will almost certainly be a three-bid league, as the Zags and Gaels are both considered NCAA "locks." Could the WCC get more bids than the MVC and the CAA combined? It's possible. Illinois State and VCU, along with all other bubble teams, need to root hard for Gonzaga tonight!

There are three other conference-title games tonight, as Championship Week (or Fortnight) really kicks into high gear. At 7:00 PM on ESPN, it's #3 George Mason vs. #5 William & Mary for the CAA crown. At the same time on ESPN2, the top two seeds in the MAAC, Siena and Rider, face off. Then at 9:00 PM, while ESPN broadcasts the Zags-Toreros showdown, the Deuce will have the Southern Conference title game between #1-seed, #25-ranked, bubble-if-they-lose Davidson (25-6) and #7-seed, #231-RPI Elon (14-18).

Also tonight, the semifinals of the Summit League (formerly the Mid-Continent Conference), #1 Oral Roberts vs. #5 IPFW and #2 IUPUI vs. #3 Oakland; and the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference, #1 South Alabama (a bubble team if they don't get the auto bid) vs. #4 Middle Tennessee and #2 Arkansas-Little Rock vs. #3 Western Kentucky. (Don't let the division-based seeds fool you: Western Kentucky is the clear favorite in that matchup.) Personally, I'm hoping that South Alabama and American University somehow end up playing each other in the Big Dance. It'd be U.S.A. vs. American! :)

Hitler is a Cowboys fan

By Brendan Loy

Robert Cox of Asgard Press (the people who make those vintage college-football calendars, which y'all bought $150 worth of in December) sent me this video last Thursday. It's a bit dated, as it was obviously made before the Super Bowl, but it's still freakin' funny, if you ask me. (Warning: subtitled profanity!)

Heh.

And while we're on the topic of funny, vulgar, YouTubey goodness: if you haven't seen them already, Sarah Silverman's Matt Damon video and Jimmy Kimmel's Ben Affleck rebuttal are pretty f***in' funny. Again, though: Warning! Bleeped-but-obvious profanity. Not recommended for the workplace. :)

It's 3 AM, do you know who your ad is voting for?

By David K.

The girl who appears in the now infamous "3 AM" ad that the Clinton campaign aired in Texas prior to last week's primaries supports Obama. Casey Knowles filmed some footage for a railroad company advertisement 10 years ago; the Clinton camp bought it from Getty Images. Knowles will be 18 next month and met Obama at a rally held last month in Seattle. She has already been in touch with the Obama campaign and may work with them to film a counter ad.