Friday's hits and misses

"Unprecedented" screams CBSSports.com.  "M-I-Z O-U-T" reads the Kansas City Star, in a full page headline.  Yep, yesterday was something else--a day of days in the NCAA Tournament.  Let's break down the hits and misses as we winnow down the teams to the round of 32.

Hit:  Over 45,000 entrants, out of 6.45 million, picked Lehigh and Norfolk State to win in brackets on ESPN.com.  Who are these people!?

Miss:  Marv Albert, broadcasting with Steve Kerr, consistently butchered player names on the Missouri-Norfolk State telecast.  Albert insisted on calling Matt and Phil Pressey by the last name of "Pressley," and called Marcus Denmon "Denim."

Hit:  It's moments like this which create folk heroes.  And, Kyle O'Quinn of Norfolk State is now this tournament's poster child folk hero.  Not only did Quinn have a monster game against Missouri, he was charming and articulate in the post-game interview.  The other thing I noticed about Quinn was his sportsmanship--always helping up a Tiger who had found the floor and offering a hug to Phil Pressey, who was distraught after MU's upset loss.

Miss:  Alabama's head coach, Anthony Grant, "over-timeouted" at the end of 'Bama's loss to Creighton.  With 4.7 seconds on the clock and the ball in Alabama's half-court, Grant called a timeout after the ball had been inbounded, thus using up about two seconds of valuable time.  Alabama then didn't get a decent look and lost by one.

Hit:  Tim Brando and Mike Gminski were the broadcast stars yesterday.  Brando is a seasoned pro and Gminski's color commentary is insightful.

Miss:  Maybe it's because the NCAA is historically difficult when it comes to activation against a tournament sponsorship but do you notice how many brands (e.g., Allstate, AT&T) simply are slapping on the tournament logo on the end of their commercials?  The only brand who is using a March or tournament thematic in their work is Best Buy, who isn't even an NCAA Corporate Partner.

Hit:  Technically, it's probably not advertising that would be held up as great work, but I can't help but laugh at the "Hopper" commercial for Dish TV.

Miss:  Missouri's upset loss is already all-too-well documented but here's an interesting statistic--the Tigers become the fourth team with 30 or more wins in a season to lose in the round of 64.  The others to do it are Utah State (twice) and Belmont.

Hit:  And, finally, let's just say it--it's painful when your team is the victim of the upset but how fun is it, as a fan, to flip back-and-forth to all of the buzzer beater, low seed-beating-high seed upsets on a day like yesterday?  It's what makes this tournament not only the best sporting event of every year but also makes it so incredibly unfair.  Too much emphasis is placed on the tournament yet it's like watching a train wreck--we can't turn away.