Parkland Students Flew to DC For March on Plane of the New England Patriots

New England Patriots

This is rather unexpected!

The New England Patriots allowed the students at Parkland High School to use their plane in order to attend the March for our Lives event in Washington, D.C. to be held later today, and so it seemed very appropriate to write a story about them, and what they are doing.

It is an unexpected, but encouraging gesture by a professional football team - and NFL teams are not usually known for their progressive stances. 

Apparently, Patriots owner Robert Kraft was persuaded to do this by former Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. She herself was shot in the head during a mass shooting in Tucson, in her home state of Arizona, during one of her political rallies. Ever since, Giffords has become one of the most prominent voices for gun control legislation in this country.

These kids have been amazing! After surviving one of the very worst school shootings in American history, they have become incredibly politically active. Everywhere you look, they are on the news, making headlines, forcing attention on an issue that, obviously, impacts them tremendously.

Obviously, this activity has generated a lot of attention. Some of it has itself made news, because it is the unwanted attention of gun nuts who have taken to threatening the students. Think about that, these kids survived one of the worst school shootings, and then voiced their concerns that this kind of tragedy could happen again. Now, precisely because they sounded off on this issue, they are being threatened with, of all things, gun violence. 

A truly American paradox, is it not? It kind of brings new meaning to that old phrase, "Only in America," doesn't it? Only, that is not the way most Americans want to think about their country.

Now, it is not only enemies who have been noticing the activism of the Parkland kids. They have plenty of supporters, including, obviously, Congresswoman Giffords and the New England Patriots organization, as well of plenty of others. That includes actor Bill Murray, who recently likened the group and it's activism to the student anti-war movement during the Vietnam era:

"I was thinking, looking at the kids in Parkland, Florida who have started these anti-gun protests, that it really was the students that began the end of the Vietnam War. It was the students who made all the news, and that noise started, and then the movement wouldn't stop. I think, maybe, this noise that those students in Florida are making — here, today — will do something of the same nature."

Now, that's high praise!

I am both pleasantly surprised, as well as proud of the kids at Parkland. Sometimes, my cynicism gets in the way of things, and I remain overly skeptical that meaningful change will occur anytime soon. But these kids have me feeling something that feels priceless: hope for a better, brighter future, one where this country finally joins the world community in obtaining sensible gun measures to keep dangerous, violent people from being able to have quick and easy access to deadly weapons.

Whether or not I am there physically today during the march, I stand with the students of Parkland!

Parkland students flown to DC on Patriots plane BY MAX GREENWOOD - 03/23/18:

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/379943-parkland-students-hitch-ride-to-dc-on-patriots-plane

Bill Murray The Parkland kids remind me of the students who helped end the Vietnam War  Mar.22.2018:

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/parkland-kids-remind-me-students-who-helped-end-vietnam-war-ncna858851

Americans Still Remain Divided About Iraq Invasion Even After a Decade and a Half, and Clear Evidence That Reasons Behind it Were Wrong

"The war was based on two lies. The first was we were in danger of weapons of mass destruction and the second was that Iraq was somehow to blame for September 11th. It has been a tragedy for all the families that have lost members. As many as 100,000 people have died, half of them women and children. If that is not a war crime, what is?"

~ Stephen Hawking

I missed yet another important anniversary that just happened. 

Just a few days ago was the 15th anniversary of a real tragedy, and not just an American one. It wound up being one of the biggest foreign policy blunders in American history, and possibly, even world history. THe United States has never been the same since we took the plunge into starting that "preemptive" war, and the rest of the world has never really viewed us in the same way, either. 

Yes, on March 19, 2003, the United States went ahead with an invasion of Iraq under false pretenses. As mentioned in the quote above by Stephen Hawking, Americans (and mostly only Americans) were sold on the idea of the Iraq invasion based on the premise that there was a huge arsenal of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD's) that Saddam Hussein's Iraq possessed, and also that there was some kind of a connection with the September 11th attacks.

Despite the fact that no WMD's were found in Iraq, and despite the fact that there was absolutely no link between Iraq and the September 11th attacks, not only did the invasion of Iraq happen, but a majority of Americans were in favor of it, too.

That was bad enough, but what is worse, is that we Americans collectively have not learned our lessons from this clear mistake (if it was indeed a mistake).

A new poll shows that Americans are largely still very divided about the Iraq invasion and the war that last a very long time as a result. Despite the fact that the premises of the invasion were proven to be false to begin with, an alarming percentage of Americans still feel that the Iraq invasion was justified!

Indeed, while the United States was not the only nation to invade Iraq, it was clearly the driving force behind the effort, and the obvious main and essential powerhouse behind the so-called "Coalition of the Willing." But most citizens of the other countries were not so enthusiastic in their support of the war effort, which is to say, they did not buy it hook, line, and sinker, like Americans did. And frankly, Americans back then rejected facts and, even more frankly, simple logic, that suggested that it was impossible for Saddam to have such an incredible military capability and "45-minute response time" and all of those other things that were used to justify the invasion, but billed Iraq as a virtual superpower of the world  which it most certainly was not.

Then, like now, it seemed that facts simply do not matter. The United Nations, and indeed almost all of the world community, warned Americans that an invasion would be a huge mistake, that Saddam did not have the WMD's that the Bush administration insisted he had, and that the concerns over a lack of any exit strategy should be a serious concern, as we would possibly, even probably, get ourselves involved in a quagmire. Indeed, that is exactly what happened, as many people including conservatives, criticized the handling of the war effort by the White House, who had promised Americans leading up to war that it would be won quickly, easily, and decisively.

Obviously, that did not happen, and the reasons for the war were proven false, as well. So, what does it say that even after a decade and a half, tens of millions of Americans still feel that it was a good idea, that it was necessary? Frankly, this, and the election of Donald Trump to the White House, has painted Americans in a very suspect light, and the whole world is watching, scratching their heads in bafflement, and wondering just what is wrong with us.

Frankly, a growing number of Americans feel the same way, including yours truly. That might have been happening for many years, even decades, in the lead-up to the 21st century. But the election "wins" of George W. Bush and Donald Trump, as well as the dangers of scrapping facts and common sense logic in favor of conspiracy theories, has already gotten this country in trouble and seriously weakened it's credibility and sense of invulnerability the world over. Think about it: in 1999, the United States might have had problems, but it was still far and away the leading superpower of the world. But then the strange election where the guy who got less votes "won," followed by the September 11th attacks, which then were followed by the two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (and I have already mentioned that Iraq was justified by false claims), the abuses of power in Iraq (such as Abu Graib) as well as the acceptance of some forms of torture for interrogation, then the general buffoonery of the Bush White House years, and then the election of Donald Trump, which of course has been followed by the idiocy of the Trump White House, has left a sour taste in the mouths of the rest of the world towards Americans. During that time, the mishandling of the Iraq war highlighted the weaknesses and limitations of American military might, and now, because of complete blind allegiance to the idea of corporate supremacy, we saw an almost total financial meltdown that the United States has never seemingly fully recovered from. Now, China seems right on the heels of the United States, about to bypass it as the leading economy, and thus superpower, of the world. 

Let's be honest: we have compromised ourselves in this regard, collectively. Selecting Donald Trump as the voice and the face of the nation for four years was, under the circumstances, exactly the wrong message to send. So, why do I get the feeling that we as a nation are not done making some huge, glaringly obvious mistakes that we will be paying for many years, if not decades, to come?

We should be able to admit as a nation when we are wrong. Before I was born, Vietnam was a mistake, and it clearly shook the credibility of the American government, both here and abroad. The Iraq war was, frankly, even more blatantly a mistake, and the election of Donald Trump plunged us even deeper. We are a nation on the decline, and it matters little, if at all, how much we now are grabbing at efforts to make us appear united and strong as a nation, if we are not even strong enough, and honest enough, to be critical of ourselves.

The invasion of Iraq was a mistake, period. It was wrong in 2003, and it completely destabilized that nation and, indeed, the whole region. That was our doing, and the reasons stated to justify it were clearly wrong. When are we going to grow the hell up and be adults enough to take responsibility for our actions, when they have caused so much damage to the world, and to our own standing within it?

Below are the links to the news articles that I used in writing this particular blog entry, and the top one is where I got the quote from Stephen Hawking, which is found on the very top of this blog. 


Stephen Hawking says Iraq war was based on 'lies' Associated Press Published 5:30 am, Wednesday, November 3, 2004:

https://www.chron.com/news/article/Stephen-Hawking-says-Iraq-war-was-based-on-lies-1486480.php

15 years later, Americans remain split over Iraq War Jennifer Hansler By Jennifer Hansler, CNN, March 20, 2018:

https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/20/politics/pew-poll-iraq-war-march-2018/index.html

A Spring Nor'easter

Wow! 

It is officially spring now, yet we had another nor'easter. This was the fourth time in roughly three weeks that we here in the New York/New Jersey area have gotten hit by a serious nor'easter storm that produced strong winds and measurable snow.

This latest was one of those storms that did not look like much in the days leading up to it, and then, as the date got closer, the projections for how severe this storm would get just grew worse and worse, until they were predicting somewhere between a foot to a foot and a half of snow!

Well, it was not that much, and for that, perhaps, we should be thankful.

Indeed, this has been the snowiest month of March that I can remember, and likely the snowiest March since at least 1995-96, and perhaps since 1993-94. 

Certainly, it has been quite a while since a March has felt quite this wintry. We have seen colder temperatures and more snow than we have seen this late in the year in many years.

That said, perhaps this is small return to normality, because winters used to go right into, and sometimes perhaps right through, the month of March. And yes, technically it is spring, but usually, the beginning of spring is still quite cold, much like the beginning of autumn is usually still quite warm, right? 

So, I am not overly concerned about this. It seems that more people have grown an intolerance for winter, and outright hate it these days. Maybe that is just an impression that I am getting, perhaps because people are more vocal than ever before about voicing their complaints, with social media and such as an outlet.

Still, it is spring, at least officially, even if it does not quite feel like it here in the northeast just yet. I am not overly concerned, because cold, snowy weather is still relatively normal for this time of the year.

Besides, spring is officially here, which means, surely, that warmer weather, and an end to the snow and ice and the headaches that these often cause, will end soon. Milder temperatures surely are right around the corner!

Mark Hamill Has an Emotional Goodbye With the Millennium Falcon

Having grown up on Star Wars, I can sympathize with some of the people who reacted strongly, and mostly negatively, to the way that Luke Skywalker was portrayed in the last movie. I can sympathize, although it seemed that many people went just way too far in their hatred of that, and of the film altogether. I believe that something was published here once about an online petition to remove 'The Last Jedi' from official Stars Wars canon, which seems to me to be taking it entirely too seriously. 

Before I go on too far, let me be clear that the following will have spoilers regarding both of the last two franchise movies in the Star Wars series, so be warned. If you have not yet seen them, and intend to, then maybe you want to stop here.

Now, of all the members of the Star Wars cast, we kind of got the sense that Mark Hamill, who plays Luke Skywalker, also felt the most emotionally invested in the Star Wars franchise, and he was caught on camera reminiscing, and seemingly quite emotional, leaving the set of the Millenium Falcon for the most recent film, as he knew this was going to be the last time that he will be on it. 

Indeed, many of us, if not perhaps most of us, can sympathize. The heroes from the original trilogy are almost all gone. Harrison Ford's Han Solo character died in the first one, and Hamill's Luke Skywalker died in the last movie (although we would probably expect him to return as a Force spirit, like Obi Wan and Yoda did, as well as Luke's father, Anakin). There are some characters remaining (for now), such as Leia, although the real life death of Carrie Fisher will obviously change that. Then, there is Chewbacca, C-3P0, and R2-D2, although they are steadily being relegated to lesser roles themselves. And, to some degree, the Millenium Falcon, which itself sometimes felt like a character, and in many ways nonetheless felt like a character in it's own way.

Eventually, presumably, we will have to expect Star Wars movies without any of them in it, on any level, and probably fairly soon.

That in and of itself is not such a bad thing, as it means a continuation of the great saga, just in another format.

However, it feels sad on some level also, because the pure fun of Star Wars seems to be either gone, or severely threatened these days. There are all of these whiners on all sides, either criticizing the new movie, and taking it too far, or those who complain against those folks, and sometimes seem to disregard the old traditions and magic that made Star Wars big in the first place. Having grown up on Star Wars, I loved the original movies, yet some people seem to now feel that doing so is an act of virtual racism. There was another blog entry that I published some time ago where the author likened the original Star Wars to Nazism, even though he himself later admitted that this was an intentional exaggeration. Part of the problem is that like with everything else, the Star Wars universe is being sucked into the black hole that is politics. The first trilogy remained free of politics by and large, although the second trilogy focused far more on the politics (in the Star Wars universe) and, also, seemed to take some shots at the absolutism of many Americans leading up to the Iraq war (particularly Anakin's "You're either with me, or you're my enemy" statement which echoed the words of former President George W. Bush). 

But now, it is not just small pot shots or statements hidden within the movie or saga itself, but outright political interpretations are starting to seem to weigh on Star Wars and how the viewer is supposed to take this, or accept it. 

Once again, it feels like a certain innocence has been lost. The original movies had mythological roots, and there was an acceptance that the overall message was basically positive. That lasted, and was largely unchallenged, for years, even decades.

Now, suddenly, all of that is being challenged, being questioned. And once again, a great movie series, one that I feel both took us away from our everyday and transcended it, especially politics, is now being dragged through the mud a bit. Suddenly, something that aspired to our imaginations and our wildest longings for space exploration, for technological advances mixed with a sense of spiritual awareness and meaning, and yet for clear cut ethics reminiscent of seemingly simpler, more innocent times. That is a difficult combination to achieve, yet Star Wars did it.

Perhaps it should come as no surprise that it feels like it is being taken away, bit by bit. I am not sure who the culprit is, but indeed, I can sympathize with Hamill in feeling reminiscent about something that, not all that long ago, took us beyond this limited world and showed us new possibilities, instead of being tangled up in the web of our own making.

It feels increasingly like Star Wars has been caught up in that web of modern life and politics, and frankly, it is a shame. 

Watch as Mark Hamill Says Goodbye to the Millennium Falcon RYAN SCOTT03.20.2018

https://movieweb.com/last-jedi-mark-hamill-millennium-falcon-video/

Trump & Fans Blasted Obama on Raising National Debt, But the Trump Tax Scam Pushes Debt to Over $21 Trillion for First Time

President Trump (still have a hard time believing that we have to say these words now) made a lot of promises during the campaign trail leading up to his election victory in November of 2016. Much of what he said was preposterous, ridiculous, or unbelievable. Some of it we apparently were supposed to know not to take seriously, because it was so outlandish. Yet, almost all of what he says is outlandish, and now, as the nation's top elected leader, we have to take him seriously, even though it seems clear to me that he does not deserve it.

One of his most preposterous claims was that he could take care of the national debt, that he would make sure that the United States pays it off "over a period of eight years."

Some people liked what they heard, even though most people would likely admit that it sounded too good to be true.

Guess what?

It was.

That was his stated opinion as a candidate. Now that he is in office, it hardly seems like much of a priority. In fact, far from some brilliant plan to pay off the national debt, or even significantly lower it, he has added on to it significantly with a tax scam that benefited the wealthiest Americans predominately, and has since asked for the debt ceiling to be lifted.

Translation: no serious efforts to pay off the national debt will be forthcoming.

Surely, any reasonable, halfway objective individual would instinctively know that, assuming there is even remote knowledge that this man has an extensive history of being a con artist. Throughout his life, he has shown not only the capacity, but the priority of telling people what they want to hear when they want to hear it in order to get his way. He does not think about tomorrow, and he has never really been forced to face very serious consequences for his lies and outrageous, disgusting behavior.

Anyone who was paying attention and had any kind of common sense could easily see through all of the lies that this man so effortlessly put out there, all in an attempt to win the naive, and in hopes that this would be enough to win him the White House.

He gambled, and he won. He went for broke, and he shocked the nation. Now, he has been shocking it ever since, and not in any kind of positive way.

One thing after another reveals just how unstable he and his administration are. There is nothing normal about the Trump administration. It has been perennial chaos and ridiculous drama, and he has never passed up an opportunity to embarrass himself and his country.

And his promises?

Yeah, they mostly went out the window once he was in power. Forcing Mexico to pay for his absurd wall? That was never going to happen. Saving the coal industry? It has become clear that he is not capable of doing that. Being the greatest job creating president in history like he promised? Not even close so far. Letting go of his business ventures so that there is no conflict of interest once in office? He never intended to in the first place, it seems. Releasing his tax returns to the public? Also, it seems there was never any intention of actually making them public. Promising that once he would be in the Oval Office, the country would just "win, win, win" to the point that we got sick of all of the winning? Listen, this guy is the biggest loser and imposter that anyone could have imagined. Seriously, does it look like we as a nation as winning right now?

Now, of course, the national debt. Another promise that sounded too good to be true, and another promise that any halfway reasonable individual wold know, within seconds of hearing about it, would never happen. And indeed, it will not happen. Why? Because Trump is, always has been, and always will be a con artist. He said whatever he needed to say to be elected. For all of the talk that he is a "refreshing breath of fresh air," the man represents the very worst stereotypes of politicians: he lies so effortlessly, that the lies gush from everywhere, he has a false sense of entitlement, and he pretends top be concerned about others, when in reality, he is pursuing his own interests exclusively. Again, though, that is all that this man has ever done in his entire life. How anyone could think that he would be different once in office is, frankly, beyond me.

Under Trump's watch, national debt tops $21 trillion for first time ever

By KATHRYN WATSON CBS NEWS March 17, 2018, 10:41 AM Under Trump's watch, national debt tops $21 trillion for first time ever

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/under-donald-trump-national-debt-tops-21-trillion-for-first-time-ever/

Retired General Believes That Trump is "Serious Threat to US National Security"

Is this really surprising in the least?

A retired four-star general recently stated that he felt that President Donald Trump poses a "serious threat" to national security.

Of course, Trump fans and supporters will dismiss it,, as they quickly dismiss any and all criticisms of their beloved leader.  Despite a long and extensive history of lying and deceiving to get whatever he wants, his loyal supporters are so brainwashed, that they find absolutely no fault in this man who is truly defined by faults. The devout, Evangelical Christians who almost seem to mistake this buffoon as almost a savior of sorts sorts, seem to neglect the fact that this man clearly more embodies the Seven Deadly Sins than he does anyone who truly serves, or even respects, God, or the principles that Christianity is supposed to be based on. Not only is he guilty of the worst sins, but he seems to outright take pride in them, boasting about them. In his own words, he is "selfish, selfish, selfish." They forgive him, because ultimately, they are, too.

For the rest of us, however, this is just common sense. A man who goes before the United Nations right around International Peace Day, then mocks another leader and literally calls him names, like a child might, and then threatens to wipe a whole nation off the map, is indeed a threat to his own nation, and to world peace more generally.

Trump always seems to be addicted to perceptions of strength. And his version of strength is to play the role of a bully. That is easy to do now, as an elected world leader, the leader of the most powerful nation on Earth. He does not hide the fact that he much enjoys being in the position to press the nuclear button, and wipe another nation off the map entirely.

Almost anyone with even an ounce of objectivity and perspective, however, realizes that this is a very dangerous mindset for a man is such a position. Trump reminds me of a real-life Greg Stillson, that crooked politician from Stephen King's "The Dead Zone." Stillson sarcastically described as a "man of the people"in the movie by someone who saw how dangerous he really was, and ultimately, the reluctant psychic of the movie, Johnny, sees a dire future when he shakes Stillson's hand. We catch a glimpse in the movie of an obviously unhinged and insane Stillson launching a nuclear strike against some unknown enemy just before his advisers inform him that a diplomatic solution has basically been worked out. Stillson does not seem overly concerned, as he clearly feels that this third world war is and always has been his destiny.

The thing with the fictional Stillson that most reminds me, personally, of Trump, is his tendency to make everyone dismiss what he is actually saying and doing, because he comes across like he is joking, like he is just playing around, when he actually is deadly serious. Numerous times, Trump has done or said something completely arrogant or irresponsible, and then backs off from this, saying that "everyone" knows that he is joking. He did that recently after comments suggesting that he thought being "President for life" might be a good idea for the United States. The thing is, when you look at someone who is as blatantly power hungry as Trump, it is hard for most of us to completely dismiss this as a joke, and impossible for us to laugh along with him when he "jokes" like this. For many of us, our feeling is that he is joking, until he informs us that he is not. Besides, when are we supposed to take him seriously, when he "jokes" around so much about grabbing more power, either by constantly. incessantly attacking the free press, or by scapegoating minorities, or by threatening another country.

Inevitably, some people are going to stand up and say enough is enough. Even prominent Republicans have leveled serious criticisms at Trump, more than any other Republican we have ever seen (at least since Nixon, which was before my time). Perhaps all of that joking by President Trump has gone too far for many, and that includes one of the generals who Trump assured us he knew more than, at least about ISIS.

Indeed, Trump always assumes that he is the expert on all matters. In keeping with his tradition of discarding the superior knowledge of experts, he simply assumes that he always possesses superior knowledge, that he always knows better. Unfortunately, now tens of millions of people believe him, and take his ridiculous word as the truth. And this, of course, is dangerous as well.

So, any wonder that a general will look at all of this and suggest that Trump is actually a true threat to the nation that he now leads? He has the power, he has the arrogance and influence, and he has the instability factor that makes it a dangerous mix.

Frankly, I think that this kind of warning is true patriotism, because it is indeed still brave for a man in this position to criticize the sitting President of the United States, let alone to blast him as a serious threat to the nation's security and best interests.







Here is the link to the article about the general who called Trump out, and suggests that he is every bit as dangerous as our worst fears:

Retired four-star Army general: Trump ‘serious threat to US national security’ The Hill Jacqueline Thomsen, March, 2018:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/retired-four-star-army-general-trump-%E2%80%98serious-threat-to-us-national-security%E2%80%99/ar-BBKjMVt?ocid=sf

UMBC Retrievers Become First 16th Seed to Defeat Number 1 Seed in March Madness History

Ohoto courtesy of Alan Levine's Flickr page - Gotta Like a Retriever: https://www.flickr.com/photos/cogdog/2552171362/in/photolist-4TskSe-4TwxCw-8FhAwP-XhA8R-RE3ggT-21gFnjL

Creative Commons License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

Well, you can probably tell that I have not been following the March Madness college basketball tournament as religiously as other people, because I only found out about this just last evening, as the casual online search for results from the opening weekend of March Madness revealed that history was made.

The 16th seed UMBC Retrievers (University of Maryland Baltimore County) became the first 16th seed to win against a number one seed, as they took out the Virginia Cavaliers, 74-54.

The game was a low-scoring, defensive affair through the first half, and the two teams went into the lockers for halftime tied at 21-21.

In the second half, however, UMBC got hot from with their three-pointers, and built up a double-digit lead. They never looked back, and never relinquished it, as Virginia became the first top-seeded team to lose their very first tournament game since the 64-team system was set up.

However, this was not the first time that a number one ranked team lost a shocking upset in the first round of the NCAA tournament. In fact, it happened to Virginia before, when they were the number one seed back in 1982-83, only to lose to Chaminade, 77-72. At the time, it was known as the biggest upset in NCAA tournament history.

Now, it has been eclipsed by this latest loss by another Virginia team, this time to the UMBC Retrievers, who wound up losing themselves in the second round to the 9th seed Kansas University in the second round.

Still, that is some unbelievable history, as prior to that game, the 16th seeds had a combined record of 0-135 against number 1 seeds. But now, what was deemed as impossibly by some has happened, and a top-seeded team has indeed lost to the lowest rated team of a bracket. It had taken Virginia 35 years to get back to the number one ranking following that shocking defeat to Chaminade, and they saw yet another disaster - one probably even bigger and likely more haunting than the loss to Chaminade - to have it taken away from them. This Virginia team was not just the number one seed in their bracket, but the overall number one ranked team, and many considered them the best team in years. They had not allowed more than 53 points in any game all season thanks to a stellar defense, yet they allowed 53 points in the second half alone, and wound up losing by 20 points!

Indeed, history was made in the NCAA tournament this weekend, and it was not just with that shocking win by UMBC over Virginia.

Yes, there were a few upsets and eyebrow raising results, but perhaps none of the other games were quite as noteworthy as what happened to Cincinnati.

Another huge and shocking outcome occurred on Sunday evening, when Cincinnati did their best impression of the Atlanta Falcons in the Super Bowl, as they blew a huge lead well into the second half, and improbably found a way to lose a game that they had in the bag.

By the end of the game, however, Cincy players were scratching their heads and wondering what went wrong, as Nevada celebrated an improbable win.

Two years ago, Northern Iowa was coming off a huge win from one of the most iconic shots in tournament history, and things were going well for them against Texas A&M, as well. They were up by 12 with just 44 seconds remaining. Usually, that means cruise control to the finish line. Just don't do anything stupid and self-destructive, and you have got yourself a win, right?

Well, not this time. Somehow, Northern Iowa had a historic collapse that most people believe ranks as the worst collapse in tournament history, Somehow, they found a way to lose that game.

All of that, and just a few weeks ago, Drexel managed to pull off the greatest comeback in NCAA history, overcoming a 34-point deficit to Delaware to ultimately win the game.

Cincinnati's collapse, or  ranks as the second Nevada's epic comeback win, was the second biggest comeback in March madness history, as Nevada overcame a 22-point deficit to ultimately win the game.

So, what was the biggest comeback?

That came in 2012 during the Final Four, when the BYU Cougars gave up 55 points in the first half and were trailing by 25 points at one point, they came all the way back to stun Iona, 78-72, to pull off a win for the ages. It still stands as the greatest comeback in the history of the NCAA tournament, often known better as March Madness.

So, there you have it. Only two rounds into the March Madness tournament, and already, there have been some epic, memorable games and history made! Let's see what the rest of the tournament has in store!





The following were the articles that I used in writing this blog entry, including numerous background stories and records and such to illustrate some of the other epic moments in March Madness history. Please take a look at these, as they provide some really interesting stuff!

The night UMBC, Virginia and the impossible all collided by ESPN by Ryan McGee, March 17, 2018:

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/22800763/umbc-pulled-most-unforgettable-did-just-see-upset-ncaa-tournament-history-knocking-no-1-overall-seed-virginia

A Little-Known University Stuns No. 1 Virginia? You Must Mean Chaminade By JOHN BRANCHMARCH 17, 2018:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/17/sports/ncaabasketball/virginia-upset-chaminade.html

Odom family tied to college basketball’s biggest upsets — UMBC and Chaminade Associated Press March 17, 2018:

http://www.staradvertiser.com/2018/03/17/sports/sports-breaking/odom-tied-to-college-basketballs-biggest-upsets-umbc-and-chaminade/

What Are the Largest Comebacks in March Madness History? by Ryan Davis March 13, 2018:

https://www.cheatsheet.com/sports/what-are-the-largest-comebacks-in-march-madness-history.html/?a=viewall