Frosted Flakes: Never Sleep on the NCAA Tournament

Going from the title of this article I am sure you are expecting me to go into depth on the games that took place the past few days in the NCAA Tournament. My situation as being the only regular contributor here at Corn Nation in regards to Nebrasketball should also warrant that.

Unfortunately for you all, I missed just about every game and no it was not because of the holiday that bares my name. No green beer or whiskey was partaken by me this weekend.

I slept on the tournament.

This weekend was my town’s annual alumni basketball tournament. That mixed in with family obligations made it tough to watch many games. Though, I have no regrets. I am perfectly fine missing Virginia’s defeat from the Retrievers of the University of Maryland Baltimore County. Twitter gave me plenty of highlights the next morning when I woke up. Michigan’s last second winner? If it wasn’t for ESPN being on for a brief second Sunday morning I would probably have missed that bit of news until noon.

As for my tournament, we did not win it. Most years we seem to either win the whole thing or come in second. I come from a fairly athletic class that excels on the hardcourt. That is, we seemed to until this year. Time seems to have started to catch up with us after 17 years of doing this.

At this point I should go into a long diatribe over age and the troubles that come with it but I will spare you. It is not my thing. Yes, we were a step behind our usual pace but I would not hold that against us. It was frustrating not making it and realizing that time has caught up.

I still enjoyed the entire experience even though we didn’t make the title game. We only do this once a year and for most of us this is the only time we get to see each other. It is a quick few games but it only takes a few minutes into them when all of a sudden it is as if no time has passed and we are all acting as if we had just seen each other the other weekend.

Age and growing old has never really bothered me. Even with these doses of reality. If anything, it makes me want to work harder for next time. You can let it take you over and bring you down. If you look at age as a mountain then you will struggle with it. To me, that is waste of time and life is too short.

A couple guys are now talking about hanging it up after this year, I just can’t. I still enjoy it and care about the outcome. I will say that I do not have a hardcore attitude about it as some do. There is no ego in me telling me I have to stay and no yearning for the past years. I just enjoy playing.

I will have no problem letting go when the time comes. When I get bored with it, and I eventually will, that is when I will step off the hardcourt. Until then, I’m going to keep up my health and enjoy it while I still can.

Why? Again, because I still enjoy it. I still walk away with a smile every year. Regardless of the outcome.

Anyway, on with flakes...

Cornhuskers

Husker men gymnasts showing a lot of resolve in road competitions | Gymnastics | journalstar.com
Nebraska continues to cross off several droughts in men's gymnastics.

Roskam's grand slam, bullpen lift Huskers to series split with Northwestern State | Baseball | journalstar.com
Behind Luke Roskam's grand slam and solid bullpen innings, the Nebraska baseball team earned a split in its two-game series with Northwestern State with a 7-6 win Sunday on a

Tim Miles set to meet with A.D. Bill Moos and present 'five-year plan' for Nebraska basketball | Men's Basketball | omaha.com
Nebraska basketball coach Tim Miles told The World-Herald on Thursday he is set to meet with Athletic Director Bill Moos early next week to discuss his vision for the program’s

Husker men gymnasts showing a lot of resolve in road competitions | Gymnastics | journalstar.com
Nebraska continues to cross off several droughts in men's gymnastics.

Jablonski, Mergele help Huskers shut out DePaul to close out Easton Invite | Softball | journalstar.com
With the bats struggling, Regan Mergele and Kaylan Jablonski combined in the circle to keep DePaul off the scoreboard Sunday.

NCAA Tournament

How UMBC Did The Unthinkable — And The Inevitable | FiveThirtyEight
After a relatively sedate start to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, the most shocking result in tourney history was saved for one of the last games in the …

Alabama, UCF athletic directors bicker on Twitter giving Knights attention they want - CBSSports.com
Greg Byrne and Danny White had some words about what it means to be national champions

Jordan Poole plays hero as Michigan basketball advances to Sweet 16
Jordan Poole's 3-point buzzer-beater takes down Houston and sends Michigan basketball to Los Angeles for the Sweet 16.

UMBC moves quickly to trademark 'Retrievers' following NCAA upset
School looks to capitalize on victory over top-seeded Virginia.

Nevada-Cincinnati’s win probability chart was so bonkers it became a meme - SBNation.com
...and it’s the best meme of the tournament so far.

More Noise and Other Disturbances

Something worth howling about: Wesleyan captures school's first DIII national hoops title | State college hoops | journalstar.com
SALEM, Va. — For the first time in school history, Nebraska Wesleyan is king of the NCAA Division III basketball world after overtaking the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh on the way

NCAA Wrestling Championships 2018: Final results, scores, brackets, standings
NCAA Wrestling Championships 2018 have concluded. National champion Penn State surged past Ohio State to win the team title. Find the results, scores, brac

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“DESIGNED by Apple in California. Assembled in China”. For the past decade the words embossed on the back of iPhones have served as shorthand for the technological bargain between the world’s two biggest economies: America supplies the brains and China the brawn.

Not any more.