The greatest upset in tournament history since last week!

My buddy Captain (not Captain Morgan, not Captain Jack, and not Roger Penske) asked me if I had any thoughts about what he heard someone call the Greatest Upset in Tournament History (i.e., George Mason over UConn on Sunday).

In sports and in elections, the public has a senility that irritates those of us who pay attention. Hey, people are given to hyperbole, and I'm guilty of it too at times - I try to avoid it, but sometimes I just get carried away.

But, really, there needs to be a little bit of perspective. Was it a great win? Yes. Was I jumping up and down? Yes. Was I happy they won? Hell, who wasn't, aside from UConn alumni and asshats who had UConn in their bracket?

But consider who GM beat to get to this point. They beat a pretty good Michigan State team in the first round despite their awful free throw shooting that could have iced it a lot sooner. Then they beat a North Carolina team that, admittedly, wasn't the best to come out of Chapel Hill, but for all intents and purposes, still should have beaten what was assumed to be the 31st or 32nd best at-large team. Then they beat the Wichita Linemen, who didn't have exactly an awful year. The Patriots have been a hot team, and hot teams excel in playoff situations - look at all of the Stanley Cups that otherwise average teams have won thanks to having a hot goalie - but their run has been legitimate. They've not really benefited from questionable calls, and it's not like they stand out on the wing and jack up 3s all game like they're channeling Bracey Wright - they're playing good, solid basketball. What's not to appreciate about that?

Then, consider UConn. They're a team that really should have lost in the first round to an Albany team that played way over its head for 30 minutes. If not Albany, then the Washington game in the Sweet 16 should have been their end; it took a guy hitting a 3 with two Washington defenders on him merely to send it into overtime. In other words, they've not played their best in the tournament, but did have luck on their side throughout. And luck in a single-elimination format means a lot.

So, long story short - was it an upset? Sure. The greatest upset in tournament history? Mmmmm ... give me #15 Hampton over #2 Iowa State in the first round a few years ago, or really, any #15 or #14 over a #2 or #3 (Richmond comes to mind here - was it Syracuse that they beat some years back?), especially since those 14s and 15s almost invariably go on to lose in the next round. GM has proven that it belongs in the tournament, that this run to the Final Four is no fluke, and if anything, they were underrated at an 11. (Hindsight is 20/20, of course.)

Anyway, good for them - it's good to see someone outside the major conference axis do well. I'm rooting for them next weekend, and I can't imagine that there will be many who don't. Of course, win or lose, there will be Mason fatigue by this point next week - every journalist will want to be looking for some angle, any angle, to cover the Final Four from the GM perspective, and there will be approximately 7,000 stories filed about the school and the team.

I still think it'd be awesome if the history books end up reading: "2001 - Duke; 2002 - Maryland; 2003 - Syracuse; 2004 - Connecticut; 2005 - North Carolina; 2006 - George Mason." And I think they've got as good a shot as anybody to take it all; the tournament is truly wide-open now. I'm just sad that the media is going to take this wonderful story and shove it down a willing public's collective throat. Perhaps it'd be best if I stayed away from all media for a week, because quite frankly, I don't want this truly grand story ruined for me.