A Sub-Blogging Historic First!

Tonight, I plan on being the first sub-blogger to live-blog the NCAA Men's Championship Basketball game! So, if you're stuck at work and can't watch the game, keep refreshing this entry for up to the minute coverage of the game from someone who writes from the perspective of an alumnus of the University that hired away one of the participant's coach after their coach traitorously left to go coach for the other participant. (No, I can't diagram that sentence.) Don't miss out on this once in a lifetime event!

Staying at PD...

Update 1853 04 April: Well, it's 25 minutes to tip-off, and I expect that it'll be a great game. I predict a tough, hard-fought contest, with Illinois' superior teamwork overcoming North Carolina's individual excellence at the end. A near real-time scoreboard of the game can be found here.

Update 1902: Tip-off is now scheduled for 7:21 MDT. Pantherfan also predicts an Illinois victory, so it looks like the blogosphere (at least in my house) is weighing in on the side of the non-East Coast school.

Update 1932: First TV time-out, 15:13 left in the first half, with the score tied 9-9. Illinois looked really tentative at first, but were able to get some some clutch rebounds and score the last 7 points. An in-progress box score is here.

Update 1947: Sorry for the delay; it took me five minutes to log on; I guess the Blogger servers are running a bit slow tonight. Anyway, at 8:55 left in the half, NC has a 20-17 lead, helped by a 12-6 advantage in "points in the paint". Now the Tar Heels have come out in a zone, so Illinois will probably have to make some changes to get back in the game. I'll have a more in-depth analysis of the various strategies in play at halftime.

Update 2003: OK, it's not really 8:03, it's now 8:07, and I know I'm missing part of the game. I tried to publish my update twice, and *poof*! off into thin air somewhere. This is getting frustrating... oh, NC leads 33-25 with 3:22 left, but that was 5 minutes ago, so who knows what the score is now.

Update 2012: Geez, that was frustrating. That post that says "2003" up there, that I tried to post for the third time at 8:07, didn't end up posting until 8:11, so I missed most of the last three minutes of the half trying to get it up. As a result, I'm not sure what happened, but NC is now up 40-27 at halftime, and Illinois is in danger of getting run out of the gym unless they make some adjustments. I'll work on a post now telling what I think those adjustments should be; as a fan of Roy Williams coached teams for the last 15 years, I have some insights as to what should work against North Carolina's fast-breaking style.

Update 2028: Dammit! Sonunabitch! Fifteen minutes of typing gone just like that! "There were errors" my screen says, and my post disappears into the ether. What the hell is going on with the servers tonight?!? Well, hopefully it will be better in the second half, which is starting in just a few seconds...

Update 2039: Well, I'll type this, but I'm probably just tilting at windmills; I can't really expect the post will go through. They say the first sign of insanity is doing the same thing, and expecting different results; is Blogger making me crack? Oh, the game: NC extended their lead to 44-29, and Illinois' Jim Augustine picked up his 3rd and 4th fouls within seconds just over a minute into the half, so it looked bleak for the Illini. But, showing the same determination they've shown all year, they used some clutch shooting to close the gap to 49-42 with 15:42 left. The same determination I'm showing by continuing this apparently futile live-blogging effort.

Update 2054: I can't win. I finally have a post go through, and I'm happy it did, but now it takes me four #%^*#^(@ minutes to log on! The game's already started back up, and I'm just starting my post! I can't @#$&^@ believe this crap! I'll probably miss this whole four minutes of play trying to get this damn post onto my blog. This is just nuts! Although I don't really care anymore, NC is leading 60-55 with 10:43 left... for the rest of the game, it's personal between me and the Blogger server... I will NOT give up!

Update 2105: Eat my post will you, you heartless bastard?!? I don't care... I'm going to get through this if it's the last thing I do. My heart has grown cold, as cold as Illinois' shooting during a 3 minutes stretch where they went down 65-55, but they scored the last four points before the TV timeout, and now trail 65-59 with 7:12 left to play. While I don't pretend to think that this post will ever see the light of day, my momma didn't raise a quitter. I'll finish this live-blogging experience, or die in the attempt.

Update 2114: Illinois has closed the gap to 70-67, and have the ball with 3:45 left, but I really don't care anymore. All I care about is showing the Blogger server that I will NOT be intimidated; that I have the WILL and the DRIVE to overcome whatever it can throw at me. Go ahead, do your worst! Make me wait 5 minutes to log on? I'll wait! Eat my posts? I'll re-type them! You will NOT bring my down, you soulless spawn of Satan!

Update 2128: Well, I did it. I made it through this horrible experience of live-blogging on Blogger with most of my sanity intact. Despite everything they threw at me, all the posts eaten, the failed log-in attempts, and the countless game watching missed while waiting for my posts to load (or not) I persevered. I'd like to thank my sons, who stood with me throughout this attempt, letting me know I wasn't a total loser. Now I'm going to drink a glass of warm milk and collect the shattered remnants of my life...
Oh, yeah -- North Carolina 75, Illinois 70.

Going deep...