We Are Going to the Final Four in Indy............

Yes, indeed, a good friend of mine from Charlotte, NC, backed out of going to the NCAA Tournament so he could tend to the health of his ailing Yorkie terrier B.B. King (named after the blues legend, of course). We wish B.B. the best, but we are going to Indianapolis!

For those of you who are politically liberal, you will be delighted to learn that because of a hotel shortage in the Indiana capital, where Republican governor Mike Pence signed a stupid gay discrimination bill cloaked as religious freedom, I will be staying in Louisville, Ky., instead.

The issue has been the talk of both the political and sports world circuit. Dave Zirin of "The Nation" said that Duke University Coach Mike Krzyzewski (also known as Coach K) was a coward for not standing up to the measure. But, we did learn that the Duke coach recently wrote a letter to a struggling grade school kid in Oklahoma, urging him to make a strong effort in school. Unlike Zirin, a rare progressive sports writer, David Brooks, who is center-right politically, criticized gay rights groups for being too political, or something to that effect.

But, I am nevertheless pleased to go to the Final Four; the ironic thing is that I would have been just as happy to go to the Frozen Four in Philadelphia!

Images: 1) the retired jersey of Kentucky Wildcats great Sam Bowie wh played there in the early eighties, 2) the Duke Blue Devils mascot who is simply known as Blue Devil, 3) Frank Kaminisky, number 44 in red, in action for the Wisconisn Badgers.

The Michigan State Spartans are the fourth team in the Final Four.