Yesterday was a good day, a mix of work and play with play taking a slight lead that will have to be remediated today. It looks as though Mother Nature is going to oblige, as there are angry rain clouds gathering outside as I write. I had to explain the whole "I'm not on vacation" thing to the Kitten on Skype last night (she rarely reads this blog, joining most carbon based life-forms in that decision) when she asked how my vacation was going. I (re)explained to her that I was not ON vacation, but simply changing my location and doing essentially the same things I was doing in Easton. She was floored by this--she asserted that I was wasting my money, etc. As I sit here, happy as a clam, with a full day of work ahead of me, enjoying the sounds of the ocean and a warm breeze, I simply cannot agree. I am getting my money's worth in a big way.
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| Ian, our nature tour guide |
In the afternoon, Tercetta delivered unto me a relaxing 50 minute Swedish Massage, as skillful as the one Phyillis provided the evening before. I get a lot of massages, and I have come to believe that one's techniques are almost like a fingerprint, with no two therapists exactly alike. The spa here clearly has a training program and a guideline for how the massage will go, as the little introductory conversation was essentially the same, and I had to do the breathing thing at the same point, and the order in which the body was addressed was the same. But the differences between the two approaches were wide. Unlike sex, even a bad massage IS a bad massage--and so one takes one's own tender sensibilities into one's hands whenever you have a massage with a new therapist. And while there were technique differences (Phyllis with killer forearm and hand work, Tercetta with a never before experienced regimen of long, slow, sweeping back work), both turned out to be wonderful. We find out if good things come in threes this afternoon at 1400.
It appears like I slept through a whale of a game last night between ND and KY--though my interest in the tournament was sucked out of me by UVA's tremendous underperformance. I had ND beating KY and getting to the Final Four--and I think from what I've read, KY is beatable, but still will be favored over anyone. It is an extreme thing indeed to be rooting for Duke, but league honor is at stake. Though I do like the pluck of Gonzaga....
Ok, that's enough for now. Back to (sort of) work.
The KY coach has been getting a verbal beating for his class-less (as others described it - I didn't see it) post-game interview after KY survived ND. The gist of all the grief he's getting is that he refused to admit that ND played them tough. Instead he responded that "We played poorly" (or words to that effect). In other words, just what you did in this post. You claimed that UVA under-performed, and yet the Michigan State team that beat them is going to the Final Four. I offer in further evidence your post weeks earlier, warning Wahoo Nation against over-confidence given the team's glaring weakness (lack of an offense). You even noted that this weakness would be spotlighted in a tournament of other teams blessed w/ both an offense AND a defense. So here's the question: If you PREDICTED this very outcome for UVA WEEKS in advance, and were proven correct, why all the gloom now that it has played out EXACTLY AS YOU PREDICTED?!?!? Oh, and if I were you, I'd be pulling for Michigan State. If they were to win it all, it would mean that UVA was bounced by the eventual champion, as opposed to some Cinderella team punching above its weight class.
ReplyDeleteI did not predict the outcome. I had UVA as my winner of the entire tournament in the CW challenge. And while I predicted offensive malaise, I did not predict/anticipate 29.8% shooting from the field and 11.8% from 3 point land. That my friend, is undeperforming.
ReplyDeleteIs it really "underperforming" or is "29.8% shooting from the field" what happens when offensive "malaise" meets a tournament-quality defense?
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