Grading is complete for Member Mayhem’s Elite Eight. All the competitors did a great job with, what I’m sure was a pretty tough topic. Zacky103210 had the high score for this round, racking up 85 points.
I’ve decided to make a change to the original schedule. Final Four essays will now be due at 4 p.m. ET on Friday, April 4. By cutting this period a little short, championship competitors will have an extra day for their final essay. Get your submissions in soon, and check out the updated Bracket and Message Board for match-ups.
Full grading for the Elite Eight is below.
Elite Eight Grading
EAST
HogRoll07 (Arkansas)
To: The SEC Conference
It has come to my attention that the other conferences throughout the nation have become extremely jealous of our balanced success in every major sport across the nation. After reeling off back-to-back National Championships in football and basketball, you figure it would be time for someone else to win one. So with your approval I would like to wait till at least the 2009 season before taking another basketball championship. It would be nice to see another conference get a championship.
The SEC continues to dominate from the Top-to-Bottom in every single sport, with 121 National Championships since 1990. It is amazing that we were able to win these championships in football and basketball. It remains so hard to win a football championship do to the fact that the SEC is the toughest, deepest, most prestigious conference in the nation. On average in the last 100 seasons, we took a National Football Championship 1 in every 5 years. Have combined to average a National Basketball Championship 1 in every 6 years for the last 60 years, and house two of the most prestigious programs in basketball (Kentucky & Arkansas).
What makes the SEC so exciting is the fact, that it is hard to even call another conference team a rival, every time one of us steps on the court or field it is a battle. Never is anything guaranteed in the SEC on or off the field. I look forward to the continued success, and greatness every year.
Sincerely,
Mike Slive
Grading:
Words: 255
Passion: 17
Creativity: 19
Clarity: 16
Knowledge: 17
Voting: 15
Penalty: 0
Total: 84
Cardfan Drewski (Louisville)
I was born in Louisville, home of the Louisville Slugger... home of Muhammad Ali... home of my beloved Cardinals. We eat basketball for breakfast, spit up rubber for lunch, and for dinner we try to digest the atrocity that college basketball can’t be played year-round. My name is Drewski, and I am too proud of a fan to do this.
I am too proud to write what I admire about UK basketball. I can’t tell you The University of Kentucky has won more games than any other team and at a higher percentage; I would just say UCLA has won more championships. I won’t drop names like Dan Issel, Tayshaun Prince, or Jamaal Mashburn or I’d have to mention the other countless NCAA All-Americans.
I can’t bring myself to mention that the UK fan-base is one of the most loyal. I won’t stomach saying that they bleed blue through and through, that they don’t wake up wanting to be ‘Kobe’ or ‘LeBron’ but instead just want to wear the word Kentucky across their chests. I hate saying that fans wait patiently for weeks... for a chance to peek at the first practice. I won’t mention that the fans consistently make UK number one in attendance. Instead, I'll just tell you what happened with Tubby Smith.
And I'm simply too proud to answer this question without thanking UK for making the Christian Laettner shot the most memorable in sports history.
Thanks for that One Shining Moment.
It will to play on... Forever.
Grading:
Words: 251
Passion: 19
Creativity: 20
Clarity: 18
Knowledge: 17
Voting: 5
Penalty: 0
Total: 79
MIDWEST
RJDUB (Vanderbilt)
Ashley Judd...... Oh wait, 250 words???
Despite the close proximity of our in-state competitors, the Commodores' most abhorrent rival on the hardwood is the Kentucky Wildcats. Their fans are routinely arrogant, loud, and obnoxious. Playing at Rupp Arena, opened in 1976 and named after the program's legendary coach is a grueling task for any road team.
Regardless of my animosity towards this storied program and their sordid supporters, one has to admire their unwavering commitment to win. The University's students, alumni, and boosters perceive any season which ends prior to a Wildcat national title victory, as a FAILURE. (Just ask Tubby Smith).
The Kentucky Wildcats are the "winningest team" in the history of college basketball in terms of BOTH number of victories (1,965) and winning percentage (just above 76%). The Wildcats have made 49 NCAA Tournament appearances (more than any other program). Lastly, their 7 National Championships, the most-recent of which came in 1998, ranks 2nd to only UCLA's eleven.
This essay could easily reach War and Peace-length proportions if I were to continue listing this historic program's accomplishments and records. The aforementioned fans comprising the Big Blue Nation can be the most conceited in the country... but they have good reason to be. Why are the 'Cats so reviled? Other fan bases with their schools could be so successful, and as a Vandy fan, I'm no exception. Everyone hates a bully... and in the Southeastern Conference, there's none bigger!
...oh, and Ashley Judd.
Grading:
Words: 244
Passion: 18
Creativity: 17
Clarity: 17
Knowledge: 17
Voting: 8
Penalty: 0
Total: 77
Badgerdiver (Wisconsin)
Wisconsin has no legendary basketball rival, but in recent years, the Badgers have been battling the Indiana Hoosiers and the Michigan State Spartans for the title of Big Ten Champions. Marquette is a fantastic in-state rival, but conference foes are more easily despised. It seems tough to discern which of these worthy opponents to focus my hate at, but after much deliberation, I have decided that the Indiana Hoosiers are most worthy of my enmity. It's easy to hate the Hoosiers, but it proves increasingly difficult to hate the legacy the storied Indiana program has built. Indiana's legacy is something that I have never experienced as a Wisconsin fan (save Track and Field), and something I will not experience for MANY years, if ever. Indiana has FIVE National Championships, only Kentucky and UCLA have accumulated more, thirty two NCAA tournament appearances, and twenty Big Ten Championships. Nobody can argue the talent that the Hoosiers have put on the court, and the men coaching them. Names like Scott May, Calbert Cheaney, Isiah Thomas, and more recently D.J. White, come to mind when you think of Hoosier Basketball, and who can forget the arguably greatest coach of basketball ever: Bob Knight. You want to talk about tradition? The Hoosier's played their first basketball game in 1901 at Old Assembly Hall. 106 Years later, the Hoosier's boast an 86% winning record at the new Assembly Hall. This program has reached a level that few programs will ever reach, and that is what I truly admire about the Indiana Hoosiers.
Grading:
Words: 256
Passion: 17
Creativity: 17
Clarity: 16
Knowledge: 17
Voting: 12
Penalty: 0
Total: 79
SOUTH
DaPillCaper (Maryland)
Well, as a Maryland Terrapin fan I would definitely say that Duke is our greatest rival. We may not be THEIR biggest rival (See, North Carolina Tarheels), but I think that helps us hate them more. The fact that every year Duke doesn't give us the respect we deserve angers us. They truly are one of the easiest teams to hate. However, even from my perspective, there are things I admire about them.
Take Coach Krzyzewski for example; since he has started coaching for Duke he has amassed a 730-208 win/loss record. That means since his arrival in 1980 the Blue Devils have won 77.8 percent of their games. That's quite an amazing feat in itself, and then you throw in the ACC Tourney championships (10), ACC regular season championships (11) and national championships (3). Most would agree those high caliber accomplishments would be certainly enough to lock in a Hall of Fame induction, but wait there's more. He has an unprecedented 68 wins in the NCAA tournament, which ranks first all time.
Why does he get all those wins? Well, simply because he is an expert recruiter. Every year I follow Duke hoping they lose a ton of games, and every year my wish fails to come true. The passion he shows is both immense and intense (This part of his personality can probably be traced back to the fact that he was an apprentice of Bob Knight). And though I truly hate to say it, I do respect, and admire, Duke Basketball because of Coach K.
Grading:
Words: 258
Passion: 17
Creativity: 17
Clarity: 17
Knowledge: 18
Voting: 14
Penalty: 0
Total: 83
Miamigregory (Miami)
Earlier this year, I went to the Miami Hurricanes' game versus North Carolina . The Hurricanes' stayed in for most of it, but the game ended with North Carolina prevailing 98-82. I admired many things about North Carolina that day, the first and foremost being their teamwork.
The player with the ball always has at least two options, and the players’ movement is constantly creating holes. The ACC-leading 14.8 assists per game prove just that. Even though they have players that can single-handedly take over a game, they play with a team-first mentality.
Another thing I admired about the Tarheels is their ability to control the tempo. The ability to make the other team play your game. Right when you think your team is controlling the tempo, the Tarheels turn it around. This is something my Miami Hurricanes’ lacked, as they were unable to change the pace of the game until the last 5 minutes against Texas .
Lastly, and most importantly, they are a perfect representation of the love of the game. They play with more heart than any other team. The unselfishness they posses is an example to us all. None of their players play for their stat sheets.
I often admire many things about different teams, but I can truthfully say i admire no team more than North Carolina, even if I dislike them
Grading:
Words: 227
Passion: 17
Creativity: 17
Clarity: 17
Knowledge: 15
Voting: 6
Penalty: 0
Total: 72
WEST
Zacky103210 (Iowa)
You could say the Iowa Hawkeyes have many “rivals”, with three Division I schools in-state, and their place in the highly-competitive Big Ten Conference. However, the Hawkeyes’ chief rival is the Iowa State Cyclones. Fans resent each other like Cubs fans and Cardinals fans, like Republicans and Democrats. In sports, they say you have to wait out the bad years in hopes for good years. And despite the fact that the Cyclones have compiled a record of just 45-48 on the hardwood over the last three seasons, after going 276-168 from 1991-2005, Cyclone fans continue to stand by their team. Much like Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, the Hilton Coliseum in Ames is one of the last places ANY team wants to play at in all of college basketball. “Hilton Magic,” which refers to the atmosphere created by the sellout crowds at the arena, boasts deafening sound levels during every home game. The Cyclones have won 80.3 percent of their home games in the last eight seasons. Most every attendance record at the arena is associated with the Cyclones’ rivalry with the Hawkeyes. Thanks in part to its loyal fans, the Cyclones have won two of their last three clashes with the Hawkeyes, and they give a fight every single year, regardless of what their record or RPI shows. Make it a home game, and you have an even more kicked-up version of one of the most heated rivalries in the country.
Grading:
Words: 242
Passion: 17
Creativity: 17
Clarity: 16
Knowledge: 18
Voting: 17
Penalty: 0
Total: 85
Wayslow1 (Alabama)
Grading:
Words: 0
Passion: 0
Creativity: 0
Clarity: 0
Knowledge: 0
Voting: 3
Penalty: 0
Total: 3