The Madness Descends
And we’ve got an eye for the Tigers
March 15, 2012
Bucky the Badger fills out his bracket.(The author)
It’s … that … most wonderful time … of the year. March Madness is upon us. Who will be our team? Last year, it was the Wisconsin Badgers, based primarily on the probable Jewishness of player Mike Bruesewitz and my and Rabbi Andy Bachman’s person fandom. Well, yesterday Wisconsin confirmed for me that Bruesewitz is not Jewish (“But I heard Jordan Taylor went to Amar’e’s Ulpan class,” Bachman writes in). Wisconsin, incidentally, just won its first game. The University of Pennsylvania’s Zach Rosen was named Ivy League Player of the Year, but Penn didn’t make the Big Dance; Jeremy Lin’s alma mater did. Davidson’s Jake Cohen was probably the best Jewish player in the tournament, but Davidson just lost its first-round game to Louisville.
That leaves us with the Memphis Tigers, who are coached by nice young Jewish boy Josh Pastner. The Tigers somehow ended up an eight-seed despite being ranked very, very high by smart people. Their first game is tomorrow evening in Columbus, Ohio, against St. Louis. Go Tigers! (And Badgers! Go Badgers!)
The Obligatory March Madness Entry [Kaplan’s Korner
Earlier: On Wisconsin!
Memphis Boasts Young Jewish Basketball Coach
Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.
