March Madness Finale: NCAA Tourney Teams with Women's Gymnastics Programs

We conclude our five entries dedicated to the NCAA Tournament, also known as March Madness, with a look at ten schools who made the Big Dance that also happen to have women's gymnastics programs. In total, 30 schools of the men's basketball field have women's gymnastics team. Of the ten teams listed here, only three are still in the tournament:

1) Florida Gators * (pictured top: Florida gymnast Kytra Hunter. Amazingly enough, the Gators are ranked number one in both sports)

2) Nebraska Cornhuskers (The team's mascot Lil' Red is pictured center)

3) Western Michigan Broncos ^ (We couldn't find an image we could use of the basketball team, so we went with an image of the Broncos' hockey goalie Lukas Hafner instead).

4) Ohio State Buckeyes. ^

5) Arizona State Sun Devils

6) UNC Tar Heels

7) Michigan State Spartans *^

8) Michigan Wolverines *^

9) Oklahoma Sooners (The Sooners have a solid chance of winning the NCAAs in gymnastics)

10) North Carolina State Wolfpack.

*-Teams still in the NCAA Tournament

^- Teams that also have men's hockey programs

http://www.collegegymfans.com

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/

Feline Nicknames and Mascots Amongst College Basketball Teams

Zappa the Family Cat lives in New Haven, Conn., but he roots for the Princeton Tigers instead of the Yale Bulldogs because of the Tigers' nickname (actually, unlike ESPN, we are not based in Connecticut).

Here is a look at ten schools with feline nicknames and the names of the mascots, not all of these teams made the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.

1) Pittsburgh Panthers. Roz the Panther*

2) Auburn Tigers. Audie the Tiger (pictured top)

3) BYU Cougars. Cosmo the Cougar (pictured center)*

4) Cincinnati Bearcats. (pictured bottom)

5) Villanova Wildcats. Will D. Cat.

6) High Point Panthers. Prowler the Panther.^

7) Princeton Tigers.

8) Kentucky Wildcats. Blue the Wildcat*

9) Arizona Wildcats. Wilbur and Wilma Wildcat.*

10) Houston Cougars. Shasta the Cougar.

*-Teams which made the NCAA Tournament

^-Teams which made the NIT
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-basketball/mens-tournament/

NCAA Nicknames: Schools with Odd Nicknames

The University of  California Santa Cruz Banana Slugs were our first choice, but they are apparently a Division 3 school. Here are ten schools with strange nicknames. Eight of them made the NCAA Tournament; one of them made the NIT:

1) Stephen F. Lumberjacks. Nacogdoches, Tex. Soutland Conference. (pictured top, the team plays VCU tonight)

2) Tulsa Golden Hurricane. Tulsa, Okla. Conference USA (pictured center with star player James Woodard. The team is coached by '80s college basketball great Danny Manning. They play UCLA today)

3) San Diego State Aztecs. San Diego, Calif. Mountain West Conference (pictured bottom, the school won over New Mexico State last night. These are the team's two mascots).

4) Iowa State Cyclones. Ames, Iowa. Big 12. The Team plays North Carolina Central tonight.

5) Wichita State Shockers. Wichita, Kan. Missouri Valley Conference. The Shockers are undefeated (34-0) and a one-seed; they play the 16-seed Cal Poly Mustangs today.

6) UL-Lafayette Rajun Cajun. Lafayette, La. Sun Belt Conference. The team plays the 3-seed Creighton Bluejays this afternoon.

7) UC-Irvine Anteaters. Irvine, Calif. Big West Conference. The team lost to the SMU Mustangs in the NIT.

8) Eastern Kentucky Colonels. Richmond, Ky. Ohio Valley Conference. The 15-seeed plays the Kansas Jayhawks this afternoon.

9) Providence Friars. Providence, R.I., Big East. The 11-seed plays traditional powerhouse UNC tonight.

10) Presbyterian College Blue Hose. Clinton, SC. Big South.  The team had a losing record this year.


http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/

http://bleacherreport.com/

http://www.sportingnews.com/

Early NCAA Tournament Tweets: Chuck Schumer Differs with the Prez

Here are some early tweets from last night when Tennessee edged Iowa in a preliminary game in the NCAA Tournament; today is expected to be the least productive day in offices across the country. And, given that Harvard is playing Cincinnati in the first round of action this afternoon, we have to wonder how many brain surgeries are being postponed.

Here are nine tweets from between 11:00 p.m.-midnight last night (eastern time):

1) Dallas Morning News: What you need to know to jump on Baylor bandwagon (top image, Baylor is playing Nebraska in the first round)

2) Iowa Basketball: Bench points Iowa 35 Tennessee 4 (but as we said the Vols won the game; they face UMass next on Friday)

3) Wolfpack Wire" Mark Gottffried says "I Like Our Spirit"

4) Yes Weekly: Traffic stopped on I-40 at exit 208, the farmer's market (this incident happened in Greensboro, we thought we'd put in one tweet off topic)

5) ESPNU: Cal Poly is only the 2nd team to an NCAA Tournament game after losing 19 games during the season (pictured bottom)

6) Hank Domin (he works for Syracuse University's athletic department): Sen. Chuck Schumer to Barack Obama: Sorry, but the Syracuse basketball team will win NCAA Tournament (Schumer is pictured center. Like Obama, he is a Democrat. Schumer represent New York state in the U.S. Senate. Obama picked Michigan State to win NCAAs)

7) Mark Peterson: One of the best days of the year is tomorrow (he is referring to today)

8) Kentucky Basketball: Who remembers when Tayshaun (Tayshaun Prince) going for 41 the last time we were in St. Louis. (T.Prince now plays for the Detroit Pistons)

9) NDSU Athletics: Doug Gottlieb with the assist to NDSU dunk master TrayVonn Wright (NDSU refers to North Dakota State University, the team plays Oklahoma today)

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/tournament

College Game Day Tweets (Mostly Women's Gymnastics): The Bruins Hit the Road; the Heels Stay Home

1) Samantah Peszek (pictured, a UCLA gymnast): "It's a travel day for the bruins. Off to NoCal we go." (posted Thurs.)

2) VCU Athletics (Men's basketball team has 11:00 a.m. vs. cross-town rival Richmond): "Be early. Be loud. Wear Black. Wreck HAVOC. Let's Go VCU!

3) West Virginia U Gymnastics: "We host our pink meet Sunday at 3 p.m. at the Coliseum!"

4) Kansas Women's Basketball: "Kwbb hopes to continue its Red Raider dominance in Lubbock, Tex. tomorrow"

5) UNC Gymnastics: "Carmichael Arena is ready and waiting for tonight's meet vs. Pitt! Come cheer us on at 7:00......free admission" (Meet will be televised live on ESPN3).

6) Penn State Gymnastics: "Excited for another BUS trip to Columbus, Ohio, tomorrow." (Posted Thurs.)

7). Florida Gators Gymnastics: "When combined rank of teams is less than the ticket-price- that's a deal! No2 Gators vs. #1 Oklahoma. Tix: $5"

http://www.collegegymfans.com

Sports Desk (2 of 2): Colleges by Area Code in North Carolina

De'Mon Brooks, pictured, scored 21 points for Davidson in a 85-52 home win over Southern Conference rival Georgia Southern on Saturday. The Davidson Wilcats, a team that plays in Davidson, NC, due north of Charlotte, is in the 704 area code. Other star players associated with the teams listed below include Jabari Parker (Duke), Jeremy Ingram (NC Central) and T.J. Warren (NC State).

Here is a look at ten of the 18 Division One schools in North Carolina, but this time instead of conferences, we've divided them by area codes. For more schools divided by area code check out yesterday's entry and our sister blog: http://www.politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com


252

East Carolina University  Pirates (11-9, Greenville, Conf. USA): Next game @ Middle Tenn. State on Thurs. @ 8:00 p.m.

910

Campbell University Fighting Camels (10-11, Buies Creek, Big South): Next game vs. Charleston Southern on Wed. @ 7:00 p.m.

UNC-Wilmington Seahawks (6-15, Colonial Athletic): Next game vs. Towson (Md.) on Wed. @ 7:00 p.m.

704

Gardner-Webb Running Bulldogs (10-11, Boling Springs, Big South): Next game @ Longwood (Va.) @ 7:00 p.m. on Wed.

Davidson Wildcats (10-11, Southern Conf.): Next game vs. Chatanoogs on Thurs. @ 7:00 p.m.

Charlotte '49ers (12-7, Atlantic 10): Next game vs. Fla. Atlantic on Thurs. @ 7:00 p.m.

919

UNC Tar Heels (12-7, Chapel Hill, ACC): Next game @ Georgia Tech on Wed. @ 7:00 on ESPN-2.

Duke Blue Devils (17-4, Durham, ACC) Next game @ Syracuse @ 6:30 p.m. on ESPN

North Carolina State Wolfpack (13-7) Next game vs. Florida State @ 9:00 tonight on ESPN3

North Carolina Central Eagles (14-5, Durham, MEAC) Next game @ Howard (Wash. D.C.) on Sat. @ 4:00 p.m.

http://www.gocamels.com

http://www.goheeels.com

http://www.uncwsports.com

http://www.nccueaglepride.com

http://www.gopack.com

Sports Desk_ College Basketball Teams by Area Code in North Carolina (1 of 2)

We were hoping to add mascots from High Point University, Wake Forest and Western Carolina, but we are pressed for time here at the Hartford Public Library in Hartford, Conn. (not really where I am).

But, here is our first of two looks at North Carolina teams by area code. We have Virginia and Washington, DC, teams by area code on our sister blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time" http://www.politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com

There are an impressive 18 Division One colleges with men's basketball teams in North Carolina. Even though the four ACC programs get a lot of attention, there are plenty of competitive teams outside Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill. Here is a look at some of them:

336 (Winston-Salem, Greensboro, High Point)

1. UNC-Greensboro  Spartans(10-12, Southern Con., picture): Next game vs. Appalachian State on Thursday @ 7:00 p.m.

2. North Carolina A & T Aggies (8-13, Greensboro, MEAC): Next game vs. Coppin State (Maryland) 8:00 p.m., tonight

3. High Point University Panthers (7-12, Big South) Next game @ Presbyterian (SC) @ 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday.

4. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (14-6, Winston-Salem, ACC): Next game vs. #2 Syracuse Wed. @ 9:00 p.m.

5. Elon Phoenix (10-11, Elon/Southern Con.): Next game vs. Western Carolina on Thurs. @ 7:00 p.m.

828 (Asheville, Boone)

 1. Appalachian State Mounatineers (6-13, Boone, Southern Conf.) See UNC-Greensboro

2. Western Carolina Catamonts (11-10, Southern Conf.) See Elon

3. UNC-Asheville Bulldogs (10-10, Big South): Next game vs. VMI, Tues. @ 7:00 p.m.


http://www.uncgspartans.com/

http://www.ncataggies.com

 http://www.wakeforestsports.com

http://www.uncabulldogs.com

Little Thinkers (7 of 16) Ludwig van Beethoven

Greetings to our blog readers in the Czech Republic, The Bahamas and Laos (?!, well, we have gotten at least one hit from there before).

Tonight, we quote the great German composer Ludwig van Beethoven, whom us Generation X'ers became familiar with in some part because his music is featured prominently in Stanley Kubrick's film version of "A Clockwork Orange" (1971), which was originally a novel by Anthony Burgess.

Those who like to listen to classic music on the radio may want to tune to the American daily public radio series "Performance Today," which airs on WFDD (88.5-FM; Winston-Salem, NC), and other public radio stations.

For those who want to see classical music up close and personal and happy to reside in the Denver-area, The Colorado Symphony is offering a companion concert series this weekend to the Denver Art Museum's "Passport to Paris." Among the pieces that the symphony will perform will be several from Frederick Chopin.

Here is our quote from Ludwig van:

"Nothing is more intolerable than to have to admit your own errors."

SIDEBAR: Those of us on the east coast probably didn't get a chance to watch the University of California-Santa Barbara Gauchos (10-5; 1-1 in the Big West) win their home game versus the Long Beach State '49ers (5-12; 1-2 in the Big West)  by a score of  64-51. The Gauchos were lead by Michael Brayson (soph. Sacramento, Calif.) who scored 13 points. His teammate Alan Williams (jr. Phoenix, Ariz.) had a double-double with 12 points and 15 rebounds. For the visitors, Mike Caffey (jr., Corona, Calif.) scored 21 points. The game aired nationally on ESPN-U.

http://www.wfdd.org

http://www.coloradosymphony.org

http://www.ucsbgauchos.com

http://www.longbeachstate.com

More College Nicknames- Bulldogs, Purple Aces and Explorers

We should point out that Tyrone Garland (pictured bottom) is actually in the NCAA tournament even though the Virginia Tech Hokies, the team I grew up with, is not. This is because Garland transferred to La Salle, the Philadelphia school in the A-10 won their play-in game over Boise State. Today, the La Salle Explorers face Kansas State in Kansas City, Mo, which is a mere two hours away from Manhattan, Ks., which is the home of the Kansas State Wildcats.


Here is our look at this and other college school nicknames:


More Smart Schools:

1. Radford University Highlanders (Va., Big South)#
 2. UCLA Bruins (Cal; Pac 12_ pictured top)*
3. Cal Poly Mustangs (Cal; Big West)
4. UNC Tarheels (NC, ACC)*

More Angry Birds:

5. Ball State Cardinals (Ind.; Mid America)
6. Elon Phoenix (NC, Big South)
7. Southern Utah Thunderbirds (Utah, Big Sky)
8. Fla Gulf Coast Eagles (Fla; Atlantic Sun)*

Canines and Wolves:

9. Gonzaga Bulldogs (Wash; WCC)*
10. Washington Huskies (Wash.; Pac-12)
11. UM-Baltimore Retrievers (Md., America East)
12. Michigan Wolverines (Mich., Big 10-pictured center)*

Best of the Rest:

13. Cal State Northridge Matadors (Cal.; Big West)
14. Cleveland State Vikings (Ohio; Horizon)
15. La Salle Explorers (Pa., A-10)*
16. Evansville Purple Aces (Ind., Missouri Valley)
17. Missouri-Kansas City Kangaroos (Mo., Summit)

#- Radford is my alma mater, so I put it in as a smart school as a bit of a joke. The New Jersey Institte of Technology which is unquestionably a smart school has the same nickname.


*- Teams which are in the NCAA 68-team field

http://www.goexplorers.com

NCAA Nicknames_ Birds and Cats

Thanks to those of you in Latvia who are checking us out. Today is the start of the NCAA division one men's basketball tournament, and it is traditionally the day in America when the least amount of work gets done, which means Dilbert may take a long break to check out the score of the Davidson-Marquette game.

Here is a look at various NCAA division one team nicknames; most of these schools did not actually make the 68-team field.

Smart Schools

1. Harvard Crimson (Mass.; Ivy League, pictured top-the team's mascot is John Harvard)#^
2. Bucknell Bison (Pa; Patriot League)#
3. Stanford Cardinal (Calif.; Pac-12)*
4.Wake Forest Demon Deacons (NC; ACC)
5. VCU Rams (Va.; A-10)# @

Felines

6. Kentucky Wildcats (Ky;SEC)*
7. Clemson Tigers (SC, ACC)
8. BYU Cougars (Utah, WCC) *

9. Cincinnati Bearcats (Ohio. Big East, pictured center)*@
10. High Point Panthers (NC; Big South)
11. South Alabama Jaguars (Fla.; Sunbelt)

Angry Birds

12. South Carolina Gamecocks (SC; SEC) @
13. Oregon Ducks (Ore.; Pac-12, pictured bottom)*
14. UNC-Wilmington Seahawks (NC; Colonial)

15.Virginia Tech Hokies (Va; ACC) @
16. Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners (Texas, WAC)
17. Miami (Ohio) Redhawks (Ohio, Mid-America)^


#-Schools which are in NCAA Tournament
*-Schools with Div. I women's gymnastics programs
^-Schools with Div. I men's hockey programs
@-Schools that were once in the now defunct Metro Conference

Kudos to the Miami (Fla.) Hurricanes

Kudos to the Miami (Fla) Hurricanes for coming into the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, NC, and winning the ACC Men's Basketball Tournament last week.

The 'Canes defeated the UNC Tarheels 89-79 in the ACC final on Sunday. They also beat another North Carolina school the North Carolina State Wolfpack 81-71. In the first round, the 'Canes won over Boston College 81-71.

ESPN analyst say that the 'Canes have weak offensive rebounding which could make them vulnerable to an early upset in the NCAA tournament.

The 'Canes will first face Pacific University, the Big West Tournament champs from Stockton, Calif., in the first round of the NCAAs.The team's mascot is the beloved Sebastian the Ibis (pictured above).

But, it was not a bad week for all North Carolina schools. The North Carolina A & T Aggies won the MEAC Conference with a win over Morgan State, a Maryland school, in Norfolk, Va., on Saturday.

Yesterday, the Aggies defeated Liberty University, the Big South champions from Lynchburg, Va., in the preliminary play-in game 73-72 in Dayton, Ohio. They fill now face the Louisville Cardinals, the overall number one seed in the NCAA tournament.


http://www.twitter.com/CanesHoops


http://www.greensborocoliseum.com


http://www.ncat.edu

Sports Desk- Kentucky Wins NCAA Men's Basketball, etc.

The big sports news here in the United States this week is that the Kentucky Wildcats beat the Kansas Jayhawks 67-59 for the NCAA men's basketball championship. The Wildcats were the overall number one seed and the team favored to win it all.

In Monday's title game, Doron Lamb guided the Wildcats to victory with 22 points. Anthony Davis, the 'Cats' top player, scored only six points in New Orleans, but he grabbed 16 rebounds, had six blocked shots, five assists and three steals.

The NCAA title is the first for Kentucky coach John Calipari, who has been the head coach of the 'Cats for three years.

SOCCER (MLS)_ While soccer season is winding down in Europe, it is full swing in the United States and Canada. Here are select scores from this weekend's play; the major headline appears to be that the New England Revolution won over the Los Angeles Galaxy, the defending MLS champion:

DC United 4 FC Dallas 1

New England 3 LA Galaxy 1

Colorado Rapids 2 Chicago Fire 0

New York Red Bulls 5 Montreal Impact 2

Real Salt Lake 3 Portland Timbers 2

SOCCER (Turkey): It was a good weekend for traditional Istanbul soccer power Galatasaray; the same can not be said for Fenerbahce and Besiktash, the team's main two cross-town rivals. Here is a partial list of the league games over the weekend:

Galatasaray 2 Orduspor 0

Bursaspor 3 Antalyaspor 1

Samsunspor 1 Besiktash 0

Istanbul BB 1 Sivasspor 0

Trabzonspor 1 Fenerbahce 1, tie

College Gymnastics:

This Saturday, 36 different schools will be in action as the six regional meets will determine the 12 teams that go to the national championships in women's gymnastics in Gwinnett, Georgia, an Atlanta suburb, from April 20-22.

The Florida Gators, winner of the Southeastern Conference, are the overall number one team in the country. The Gators, a team that has come close but never won a title in women's gymnastics, is the top seed in the Raleigh, NC, regional meet.

The regional meets in Champaign, Ill., figure to be exciting as well as the Oklahoma Sooners will face the Stanford Cardinal and a highly competitive Denver Pioneers squad. And, in Salt Lake City, Utah, the Nebraska Cornhuskers, the Big Ten champs, will try to win regionals over the home team Utah Utes, while the Minnnesota Golden Gophers attempt to be upset spoilers.

Here is a list of the teams in these three regional meets; the others will be posted on our sister blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time:"


Champaign Regional

1. Oklahoma
2. Stanford
3. Denver
4. Illinois
5. Kentucky
6. Ill-Chicago

Raleigh Regional

1. Florida
2. Ohio State
3. Penn State
4. North Carolina State
5. Kent State
6. UNC Tarheels

SLC Regional

1. Nebraska
2. Utah
3. Minnesota
4. Iowa State
5. Arizona State
6. San Jose State

The Final Four Is Set_ Not a Good NCAAs for Tobacco Road

One week from today, we will see if Kansas Jayhawks coach Bill Self (pictured here) and his team will win the NCAA tournament as they did in 2008.

Yesterday, the Jayhawks defeated a UNC Tarheels team that was without starting point guard Kendall Marshall by a score of 80-67 in a game that close until its last minutes. In the Sweet 16, the Jayhawks narrowly avoided an upset from the North Carolina State Wolfpack in their 60-57 win.

In the win over the Tarheels, Tysham Taylor scored 22 points, Thomas Robinson scored 18 points and Jeff Whiley had 15 points and eight rebounds for the Jayhawks. For the Tarheels, the excellent career of ACC Player of the Year Tyler Zeller, who won a final Four championship in 2009 came to an end.

Kansas will now face Ohio State in New Orleans as Jared Sullinger scored 19 points in the Buckeyes' win over Syracuse in the Elite 8.

There was only team in the Elite 8 which had never won a national championship. But, unfortunately for the Baylor Bears their opponent was overall number one seed Kentucky. In an impressive regionals for the Wildcats, they defeated the Indiana Hooisers 102-90 on Friday, and then turned around to beat the Bears 82-70.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist had 19 points for the Wildcats and Anthony Davis scored 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.

They will meet in-state rival Louisville, which lost to the Wildcats 69-62 earlier in the year, as the Cardinals made a 23-8 rally to defeat the Florida Gators 72-68. Russ Smith lead the way for the Cardinals with 19 points.

The Kentucky-Louisville game appears to be the more interesting of the two match-ups for another reason: The Cardinals' coach Rick Pitino used to coach the Wildcats. Both Pitino and Kentucky coach John Calipari are the only two coaches who have taken three different teams to the Final Four.

Quote of the Day/Week- John McCain

It seems that politics both here in the United States in Turkey, my late father's country, is always filled with irony.

Since I was very apprehensive about the possibility of a George W. Bush presidency in 2000 and I had sincere admiration for Sen. John McCain (R-Az.), even though I am a Democrat, I crossed party lines and voted for McCain who did in fact lost to Bush and (forgive the partisan commentary) my worst fears were fully realized.

I did actually end up voting for Al Gore in the general election of 2000.

Eight years later, I voted for Hillary Clinton in the North Carolina Democratic Party and later Barack Obama in the general election. Thus, I am perhaps one of the very few people who have voted for McCain, Obama and Hillary Clinton (I voted for her husband twice as well).

Though he has become more conservative and less rebellious in recent years, I still admire McCain personally, especially since he had the courage to go after Rush Limbaugh in light of the far-right talk show host's sexist comments controversy.

Today, McCain was in the news for publicly slamming the media for going overboard in regards to the 'Etch-A-Sketch' gaffe made by Mitt Romney aide Eric Fehrstorm on CNN yesterday.

Here is the quote from McCain, 75, whose daughter Meghan McCain sent waves when admitted that she liked sex; we expect that would even make Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), who is believed to be one of the most liberal U.S. Senate members, blush:

"I don't doubt the sincerity of my Democratic friends. And they shouldn't doubt ours."

SIDEBAR: While the nation is abuzz with the Sweet 16 games underway tonight in Division One men's college basketball, over the weekend, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater (29-4) beat Cabrini College (31-2) from Radnor Township, Pa., 63-60 for the Division Three basketball title in my hometown of Salem,Va., last weekend. The other two teams in that Final Four were MIT and Illinois Wesleyan. Chris Davis lead the winning Warhawks with 12 points; John Boyd scored 18 points for the losing Cavaliers.

Quote of the Day/Week_ Michael Dukakis

Hmmm....since there is the NCAA men's basketball tournament here in the United States (editorial comment: Go Harvard! They face Vanderbilt today) and the UEFA Champions League soccer games in Europe, assuredly Taiwan may be one of the few places where actual work is getting done today.

Today, we quote Michael Dukakis, the Democratic candidate who unsuccessfully ran against George H.W. Bush, in the 1988 presidential election. All this month, we are quoting men who fought the good fight, but didn't end up serving in the White House. Last week, we quoted Republican Robert Dole who lost to Bill Clinton in 1996.

There is a bit of a personal connection with me and the Dukakis campaign. Since I was 18 in 1988 and I was one of the few people from my high school in a conservative zip code who disdained the policies of Ronald Reagan, I was eager to vote Dukakis. And, I did.

The problem is that I'm a Turkish-American, and this didn't go over well with the relatives in Istanbul. In fact, my since deceased uncle by marriage Omer Bati pretty much threatened to throw me over the balcony for voting for Dukakis.

We learned today that Dukakis, a Greek-American, actually has connections to modern-day Turkey as his parents came from the Turkish port town of Erdemit in the Balikesir province. There are still many Turkish citizens of Greek heritage in Turkey; most of them reside in Istanbul.

Ironically, Dukakis was the second Greek-American to become the governor of a state. Long before Dukakis became the governor of Massachusetts, a post later held by both Democrat John Kerry (who lost to George W. Bush in 2004) and Mitt Romney, who is likely going to be the Republican nominee this year, one Spiro Agnew was the governor of Maryland from 1967-69.

Agnew's life is however best remembered for scandal as the Republican who would become Richard Nixon's first vice president was forced to resign from that post due to a bribery scandal.

As for Dukakis, he is perhaps best-remembered for taking more firm stances on liberal issues, including his opposition to the death penalty and his belief in gun control.

As for me, there are no regrets about voting for Dukakis, though today, I may not share voting for a Greek-American with other Turkish people.

Here is the quote from Dukakis:

"The best America is a nation where the son of Greek immigrants, with your help, can seek and win the presidency of the United States."

Colleges Nicknames- Wild, Wild Horses

Today, we conclude our looks at the nicknames of 96 different colleges, most of which will be going to post-season play in a sport besides college basketball (I'm making fun of an ad for the NCAA which shows most student athletes going on to become chemists instead of becoming NBA superstars).

The three schools pictured here are the Boise State Broncos from Idaho, which have a highly touted football and women's gymnastics program, the Bucknell Bison from Lewisburg, Pa., which has a competive wrestling team and one of the very few water polo teams on the east coast, and the Iowa Hawkeyes, from the Big Ten.

In addition to Boise State, there are two other teams from the Mountain West Conference, including the San Diego State Aztecs, which is nationally ranked and a virtually certainty for a NCAA bid in men's basketball, and the Colorado State Rams, which are predicted to get an at-large bid.

Here are the teams, all of which are related to horses, knights, cowboys/cowgirls and Native Americans:

1. Army Black Knights, Patriot, West Point, NY.

2. Boise State Broncos, Mountain West, Boise, Idaho

3. Bucknell Bison, Patriot, Lewisburg, Pa.

4. Colorado State Rams, Mountain West, Fort Collins, Colo.

5. Iowa Hawkeyes, Big 10, Iowa City, Iowa

6. Illinois Fightin' Illini, Big 10, Champaign, Ill.

7. Oklahoma State Cowboys*, Big 12, Stillwater, Okl.

8. San Diego State Aztecs, Mountain West, San Diego, Calif.

9. Southern Methodist University Mustangs, C-USA, Dallas, Tex.

10. UNC-Greensboro Spartans, Southern Conference, Greensboro, NC

11. University of Southern California Trojans, Pac-12, Los Angeles, Calif.

12. Utah Utes, Pac-12, Salt Lake City, Utah.

*-Oklahoma State's women's basketball team is nicknamed Cowgirls

CollegesNicknames- The Felines

Today's list features schools with feline nicknames; they include Princeton University, Montana State and Vermont (all three are pictured here).

One team that is on this list, the Kentucky Wildcats are virtually assured of a number-one seed in the NCAA torunament.

Since we like to make fun of Provo, Utah (it is presumably the most politically conservative place in America), we thought we'd include the Brigham Young Cougars as a goodwill gesture.

Three of these schools, Penn State, Pitt and Lafayette are in Pennsylvania.

Here are the schools:

1. BYU Cougars, West Coast Conference, Provo, Utah

2. Clemson Tigers, ACC, Clemson, SC

3. Columbia Lions, Ivy, New York, New York

4. High Point University Panthers, Big South, High Point, NC

5. Idaho State Bengals, Big Sky, Pocatello, Ida.

6. Kentucky Wildcats, SEC, Lexington, Ky.

7. Lafayette Leopards, Patriot, Easton, Pa.

8. Montana State Bobcats, Big Sky, Bozeman, Mont.

9. Penn State Nittany Lions, Big Ten, State College, Pa.

10. Pitt Panthers, Big East, Pittsburgh, Pa.

11. Priceton Tigers, Ivy, Princeton, NJ

12. Vermont Catamounts, America East, Burlington, Vt.

College Schools Nicknames- Retro Metro

Yes, there was once a college basketball conference called the Metro Conference, but it ceased to exist in the mid-1990s. But, today we remember the conference with its member schools (not all were in the Metro at the same time).

Since we are limiting these lists to 12 schools, we had to omit the Georgia Tech Yellowjackets, the first Metro team to defect to the ACC in 1979.

Four of these schools, Louisville, Memphis (the school was called Memphis State in its Metro days), Cincinnati and Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) have reached the Final Four in men's basketball, while Louisville has won two NCAA titles in the sport. VCU has also qualified for this year's NCAA tournament by winning their conference tournament.

Here is the list of Metro Conference schools with their present conferences (note about the image, Virginia Tech has a club hockey team, not a NCAA team in the sport):


1. Cincinnati Bearcats. Big East. Cincinnati, Ohio.

2. Florida State Seminoles. ACC. Tallahassee, Fla.

3. Louisville Cardinals. Big East. Louisville, Ky.

4. Mephis Tigers. C-USA. Memphis, Tenn.

5. Saint Louis Billikens. Atlantic-10. St. Louis, Mo.

6. South Carolina Gamecocks. SEC. Columbia, SC.

7. South Florida Bulls. Big East. Tampa, Fla.

8. Southern Missippi Golden Eagles. C-USA. Hattiesburg, Miss.

9. Tulane Green Wave. C-USA. New Orleans, La.

10. UNC Charlotte '49ers. Atlantic-10. Charlotte, NC

11. VCU Rams. Colonial Athletic. Richmond, Va.

12. Virginia Tech Hokies. ACC. Blacksburg, Va.

NCAA School Nicknames- Angry Birds

Yes, this might be one of the zaniest things we've done in a long time, well perhaps not, but since March Madness is descending upon us (for those of you in Latvia or Bolivia, March is the month when both men's and women's college basketball teams play for championships here in America), we thought we would put together some lists of several colleges with unique nicknames.

Please note, most of these teams are not actually going to playing in the NCAA tournament, which will be announced on Sunday. But, from this list, we can guarantee that the Creighton University Bluejays from Omaha, Neb., will be at least one of the teams representing the Misouri Valley Conference as they won their conference tournament.

Both the Lehigh Mountain Hawks and the LIU-Brooklyn Blackbirds play in their respective conference tournament title games tonight. Lehigh will face Bucknell in the Patriot League, while LIU-Brooklyn faces Robert Morris in the Northeast Conference title game.

The logos for the two teams here are for the UNC-Wilmington Seahawks and the Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners.

All of these teams have nicknames pertaining to birds.

Here is the list:

1) Air Force Falcons. Mountain West Conference. Colorado Springs, Colo.

2) Ball State Cardinals. Mid-American Conference. Muncie, Ind.

3) Boston College Eagles. ACC. Boston, Mass.

4) Coastal Carolina Chanticleers. Big South. Conway, SC.

5) Creighton Bluejays. Missouri Valley. Omaha, Neb.

6) Delaware Fighting Blue Hens. Colonial Athletic. Newark, Del.

7) Lehigh Mountain Hawks. Patriot League. Bethlehem, Pa.

8) LIU-Brooklyn. Northeast Conference. Brooklyn, NY.

9) Marquette Golden Eagles. Big East. Milwaukee, Wisc.

10) Oregon Ducks. Pac-12. Eugene, Ore.

11) Texas-San Antonio. Southland. San Antonio, Tex.

12) UNC-Wilmington Seahwaks. Colonial Athletic. Wilmington, NC

For more nicknames with fowls, check out our sister blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time."

Quote of the Day/Week- Alicia Sacramone

We were going to quote American Olympic gold medal winners this month (for those of you blogging in from Argentina or Greece, I will quote international gold medal winners next month), but we realized two things: 1) Alicia Sacramone, women's gymnastics team captain of the 2008 Beijing Olympics team won a team silver and 2) Sacramone is sure to get more hits per day than 1984 Los Angeles gold medal winning gymnast Mary Lou Retton. So, we are 'cheating' today, by quipping Sacramone.

The 2012 Summer Olympics will take place in London this summer.

In 2010, Sacramone made a huge comeback by winning a gold medal on vault at the world gymnastics championships in Rotterdam, Holland.

Sacramone is a graduate of Winchester High School in her native Winchester, Mass.

In 2006, Sacramone had the tremendous distinction of competing in college gymnastics for Brown University in Providence, RI, while taking a full class load and still competing as an elite gymnast!

Last year, Sacramone made headlines again, but this time because she posed nude (the actual published pictures are actually partial nude shots) for the 'Body Issue' of "ESPN" magazine along with women's soccer star goalie Hope Solo.

Here is Sacramone's quote:

"Missing the Olympic team gave me the push I needed. I stepped it up a couple of notches and did my stuff."

SIDEBAR: It appears to be a virtual certainty that no local colleges will represent the Greensboro/Winston-Salem, NC, area in the NCAA men's basketball tournament.

Today, North Carolina A & T fell to Howard University from Washington DC in the MEAC tournament. Three other local universities fell in their respective conference tournaments: Elon and UNC-Greensboro lost in the semi-finals of the Southern Conference, which was won by another North Carolina college in Davidson (which is near Charlotte) and High Point lost to eventual Big South champions UNC-Asheville in the the quarter-finals of the Big South Conference.

This means that Wake Forest, a very low seed in the ACC tournament, must somehow prevail over the likes of UNC, Duke and Florida State in Atlanta this weekend for a team from the Triad to get into the NCAAs.