Badgers B-Ball

We all love the badgers right? Well, it's a good thing we do because the Badger Basketball team is ranked number 2 in the nation, right behind our Big 10 rivals, Ohio State. I don't know if everyone has noticed, but March is just around the corner, and with March comes the NCAA Tournament. I think that this is one of the most exciting times of the year, and personally, I can't wait for it to start. I would love to be filling out my bracket and notice that Wisconsin has a legitimate chance to win it all. How good are their chances though?

I think that next week's game is extremely important to the outcome of the tournament next month. Wisconsin will take on Ohio State, and the winner will probably be granted a number 1 seed in the tournament. I still don't know who I want to win that game. If the badgers win, they will (assuming they don't screw up any other games) get a number 1 seed in the tournament. I'm not so sure I want the badgers to have a number 1 seed. I think a number 2 or 3 seed would be much better, because number one seeded teams never seem to do that great. Tournament history shows that on average, only about two out of the four number 1 seeds make it to the final four, and one #1 seed makes it to the championship only about half the time. Most of the time, the national championship game is decided against teams seeded 2 or 3.

I think that a lot of number 1 seeded teams have too much pressure to win, and as a result of that, are eliminated later in the tournament. That is why I would rather have Wisconsin get seeded 2 or 3. There is also a major factor in win streaks. A lot of people think that when a team goes into the tournament on a big win streak, they tend to slip up at some point, and get eliminated. A loss to OSU would break a relatively long winning streak, and bring them into the tournament with a fresh streak, and it would bring OSU into it with a longer streak, both situations would be good news for the Badgers.

Of course I hope that the badgers beat the Buckeyes next week, but I'm not sure how disappointed I would be with a loss. The badgers have a great team, and they have a good chance to win the tournament this year. A lot of this article is based off of superstition, and whatever seed the Badgers get in the tournament shouldn't really matter. Lets just hope they can go out there and get the job done either way.

The Numbing of the American Mind

I thought that "The Numbing of the American Mind" was a really interesting article. I was most interested by the comments made about 9/11, and how it is strange that we have recovered so soon. When I first read that, I ultimately disagreed with him. I didn't really think we had gotten over 9/11 as fast as he had made us think. More than 5 years later, I still see commercials about it, pictures of it, conversation about it, and tons of other stuff to prove that we have not moved past that day. I did realize the numbness he was talking about though. A couple weeks ago, I heard about another suicide bombing in Iraq, and I didn't realize until reading this article how little I was affected by it. I bet it would be a pretty big story if it had happened 15 or 20 years ago, and everyone would have thought it was a much bigger deal than I did. I never realized how desensitized we have become, not because we don't care, but because we are so exposed to these kinds of things every day.

Everything that was talked about in this article is very strange to take in. You don't realize how unaffected we are by things that should have major impacts until someone finally realizes it, and comments on it. Although this article seems a little extreme in saying that the American mind is "numbing", it brings up very interesting points about today's society, and how we all live. But I guess we can't really do anything to stop it, and it is just the product of an ever changing lifestyle.