What is this stuff falling from the sky this year? I felt like I was walking around in a giant Slurpee last night. In the only other significant storm this winter, it froze over, and was called the "worst ice storm in twenty years." I think they only said that to cover their asses, since they clearly had no plan for getting rid of the stuff. And last night, we got ice needles slamming us in the face, and turning into a five-inch slush layer on the ground. While walking around (Chan and I watched some Smarch Smadness at a few different places with our friend Mike last night), we found that every corner was a soupy puddle. You had the choice of walking in the existing footprints--which had already filled with water--and soaking your socks, or make your own new prints, and get a pantleg full of snow. Oh, and as a wacky bonus, the city also didn't do much about the snow on the roads or sidewalks...

The sun is out today, but the car I'm currently borrowing [below; Yes, I miraculously got a spot right out front--both these shots are from out our front window. Note the grime on the glass.] is buried to its ankles. Fortunately, I don't have to move it for a while, so a lot of this stuff should melt away without me having to do anything.



The greatest moment of this mostly upset-free tourney was this: Chan, Mike and I each put a dollar into the "guess how many points Florida wins by" pool, when the Gators were up by 30 with a few minutes left in their game. Mike and I make fun of Chan, who is a Florida graduate, for his football team's tradition of running up the score, especially in the Steve Spurrier era. So, Chan predicts they win by 40, while Mike and I go much lower. Sure enough, the Gators score the next ten points, giving them a 109-69 lead. Note: A different game was being shown, we were just watching the Florida score on the tiny scoreboard at the top of the screen. We're all watching the final seconds tick away, and at about two seconds, the score changes. A final shot by the poor Jackson State squad, to make it a little less humiliating? Nope. It was Florida who scored at the buzzer--with a three-pointer! Come on, Chan! Terrible job! Did Spurrier come out of the stands to show the coach how it's done? Well, we got the last laugh as the shot cost Chan the money, ruining his 40-point win prediction. Sometimes you have to make your own excitement in these things.