No Barnes, Bracket Busted for Good, Packers of the AFL

• Nice job raising money for Coaches vs. Cancer. The First Annual Senior All-Star showcased many of the CIML's best basketball players, though there was one notable absence: the top recruit in the nation, Ames Senior Harrison Barnes. Have to cut Barnes a break though, he was in the McDonald's All-America game the night before.
• The WNBA invites its first Cyclone to the draft. Congrats Alison Lacey. Lacey didn't dream that big while growing up in Australia.
• Ali Farokhmanesh couldn't find the magic in the 3-point shooting contest either. That's okay. He'll always have Kansas. And UNLV.
• I'll still watch the Final Four, but it's a lot less interesting when my bracket's been completely blown up. I'll bet I'm not alone, and the NCAA should think about that before going through with the obvious cash grab of expanding the tourney. How many fewer brackets will people fill out when it's two sheets and 96 teams?
• Nice article on Marshalltown's Jeff Clement in USA Today. Jeff's one of the good guys. I had forgotten for a moment he's now a Pirate. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/nl/pirates/2010-03-31-clement-breakout-player_N.htm
• The weekend means making good on my promise: "How To Train Your Dragon". Anyone see this?
• The Barnstormers are the Packers of the AFL. Look for a record crowd Friday night. If you're not on Mediacom, and you get the NFL Network, you can watch and hear former Hawkeye QB Paul Burmeister on play-by-play.