the 4th star

I should probably point out that I haven’t read one thing about the NCAA tournament this year. Not one article. That’s a departure from my usual *expert* analysis, where I pour over countless projections, sleepers, and darkhorses until I forget what to do and end up picking half the first round losers. This time around, things are a little different. I’m going with a perfect combination of hunch and favourites. Results may vary in your region. The West is won this way: Syracuse, Gonzaga, Butler, Vandy, Minnesota, Pittsburgh, BYU, Kansas State.

Next time through: Syracuse, Butler, Minnesota, Kansas State. That will then turn into: Syracuse and Kansas State. Hello: Kansas State.

Say, have you met Kansas before?

Something I never understood about the Midwest bracket: Why is it called the Midwest bracket? Shouldn’t it be the north — you know, to go along with the three other points on the compass? Think about it. Who looks in the midnight sky for the Midwest Star? There is no Midwest End in Winnipeg. And whose favourite male porn actor is Peter Midwest? Perhaps I’ve said too much. Here are the picks for this bracket: Kansas, UNLV, Michigan State, Maryland, Tennessee, Georgetown, Georgia Tech, Ohio State.

After that, let’s go with Kansas, Michigan State, Georgetown, Ohio State. Following that up we have: Kansas and Ohio State. Your Midwest bracket winner is (drumroll)…Kansas.

Shocker, I know.

A generous person left me a couple tickets at will call for the Manitoba Moose game Saturday. In his message earlier in the day, he warned me they would be in the upper deck. Little did he know I was hoping to sit up there.

See, I have a concern about the MTS Centre for when we’re all going crazy for a visit by the Carolina Hurricanes next January. Or the January after that. It’s a concern of space, mixed in with cost, and marketplace. I feel if you’re going to bring an NHL team (and the Stanley Cup) back to Winnipeg and expect to make a small profit, a greater opportunity to make some money will be required. That means more people in the stands, right? For the sake of non-arguments, let’s all agree that it does. If you’re selling 15,000 seats per game, that would probably work, but the cost of those tickets would be collectively higher. Wouldn’t it? If you have, oh…I don’t know, 18,000 seats, then you could charge a lower average price and still fill the building — making a bit more on the bottom line in the process. Plus, on the plus side (and we’re being positive here), the bigger building will keep the average attendance numbers respectable as the NHL endeavor begins to wear down the VISA in the third and fourth year. The *guaranteed* sell outs of Montreal and Toronto will offset the 13,000 to see the Kings on a Wednesday night when American Idol is on.

Smarter people than this little blog writer have and will crunch the numbers to determine if the mighty NHL, the great hockey league which can barely manage itself on and off the ice with any semblance of consistency, can work in Winnipeg. Some have already, with figures that are, as one of my trusted economist friends called them, “very, very conservative.” He laughed when he said that. Almost spit his coffee out. Nevertheless, those mathemagicians are out there on various websites declaring ownership and busting myths. Of course, those numbers back up the truth on how the NHL can work here, and all other accounts or accounting is irrelevant, but that’s not why we’re here this morning.

Back to the MTS Centre. As my friends and I sat up in the second to last row of the building, looking at the roof and the tight spaces surrounding us, the conversation came up. No, it wasn’t ‘How man drinks will be dumped on Mike by the family behind us?’ or ‘Can these stupid children stop banging those thunder sticks for two seconds?’ No, it was a question of space, mixed in with cost and marketplace. Specifically…

How the fudge can they fit in an extra 3,000 seats in this barn?

If your answer is “magic” then you’ve come to the right place.