NCAA Final Four, 2020 Tournament (And You Thought You Weren't Going to Get It This Year

Two weekends, they would have played the 4 games to break the Elite 8 down to the Final Four.

The Tribune's picks:

MIDWEST WINNER

#1  Kansas

EAST  WINNER

#2  Florida State

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WEST WINNER

#3  Seton Hall

SOUTH WINNER

#3  Michigan State

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These are particularly hard as I like all four teams.  If I go with Little Guys, I'd pull for Dayton and Gonzaga.  If I go with the Big Guys, it would be Kansas and Michigan State.

Decisions, decisions.

MY FINAL FOUR

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MIDWEST WINNER

#1  Kansas

EAST WINNER

#1  Dayton

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WEST WINNER

#1  Gonzaga

SOUTH WINNER

#3  Michigan State

I'll split the difference.

At least Kentucky is not in there.  I have never liked Kentucky.  And now, I also would have been pulling against UNC and Duke, two teams I've always liked in the Big Guys.  But Duke now is one of those one-and-done schools (like Kentucky) where they get all new starters every year.  I don't like UNC because of what they did to the Silent Sam statue.

So, who would your Final Four be?

--B-BallDog

LAUGHTER HELPS WITH THE "V":  To the tune of Paul Simon's "Fifty Ways to
Leave Your Lover":

"Sneeze Into Your Sleeve, Steve
To Keep Virus Free."

Mizzou-Rah Trip 2011-- Part 3: Poor Joplin

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9th

Taking some roads never before traveled this morning.

Took Mo-5 south to US-60 and then west to Springfield. We had to stop at Lambert's right off of US-65. Throwed Rolls and all those pass-arounds. Hard to beat the food and fun.

Back on 65 and played NTN at two new places, Hooters and Old Chicago, both on Springfield's south side.

We got onto I-44 and took it to Joplin where we drove around the part damaged by May's tornado. Most has been cleaned up, but gosh. Striking and sad all the same.

Got onto US-66 into Kansas where we met Lulu, Barb, Brenda and Dean Walker at Van's steakhouse. Then, into Oklahoma and to Miami where we registered for the Missouri Rt. 66 Motor Tour and got a room at America's Best Value Inn and enjoyed Boomer's Bar on the premises.

Quite a Day. --RoadDog

Back in Illinois

The Missouri Motor Tour is over now and we're in Springfield, Illinois. We were able to visit quite a few new and some overlooked Route 55 places since last Thursday.

Among them:

An automotive place in Pacific, Missouri, when the car broke down.

Fanning Outpost, home of the world's largest rocking chair, west of Cuba.

Lambert's Cafe "Home of the Throwed Rolls" in Ozark, Mo. (south of Springfield).

Gay Parita restored gas station west Springfield.

Red Oak recreated village east of Carthage.

4 Women on the Road restored gas station and home of Tow Mater from "Cars" in Galena, KS.

Jukebox Saturday Night nightclub in Joplin, Mo.

Spencer Station

Arlington, Missouri

Cooking from Scratch- Doolittle, Mo.

Witmor Farms

And Others, I Can't Remember Right Now. --RoadDog

Favorite Teams in AP NCAA Football Top 25

For some unknown reason, good old NIU isn't in it. What gives? Perhaps the 2-8 record might have something to do with it. But, a few years back, the Northern Huskies were in the top twenty for a good part of the year. Oh Well.

These are my favorite teams in the Top 25.

#4 Kansas- Good to see this after all those losing seasons. What basketball?
#5 West Virginia-- ACC fan
#8 Georgia- I went here for a year. Plus my sister Julie graduated from there and niece Annsley attends now.
10. Virginia Tech- I'm an ACC fan
16. Virginia-- I'm an ACC fan
17. Boise State- Got to pull for the "little guys."
19. Tennessee-- Also an SEC fan. Nephew Andy went here.
20. Illinois-- Big Ten fan. Plus, got to pull for home state.
22. Kentucky-- great season after being a losing program for all those years. What basketball?
24. Wisconsin-- Favorite Big Ten team
25. Connecticut-- Doing well for this young of a football program.

"Huskies, Come On You Huskies. And Win a Game or Two." Huskie Fight Song. They did. --RoadDog

Frances Turns 92!!!

My mother-in-law, Frances, turns the ripe old age of 92 today. We are going out to visit her at Alden Terrace in McHenry in just a little bit.

She was born in Kansas on August 5, 1915, and grew up in the very small town of Holland, near Abilene. She stayed with people in Abilene to go to high school as there was not one near her home.

She started working as a bookkeeper in the office of Duckwall's Five and Ten store in Abilene right out of high school.

Frances met her future husband, Ambrose, during WWII, while he was stationed at Abilene. He was a captain in ordnance from Green Bay, Wisconsin. They no doubt would not have met had it not been for the war.

He had a series of jobs after the war as a traveling auditor for Rheem and Mall Tool Corporation that took him to Oakland, Ca, Elizabeth, NJ, New Orleans, La, and Houston, Tx. They settled in Chicago and my wife, Liz, was born in 1951.

He always wanted to own his own business and in 1955 opened Fran's (named after Frances) Delicatessen on Chicago's West Side. He ran that until a Jewel Tea grocery store opened and put him out of business.

Frances continued to work as a bookkeeper at Steel Fabricating and Checkline Corporation in Chicago during this time.

He then got a job at the General Finance Corporation in Evanston. This company made loans to people. He retired in 1981. In the meantime, they moved out to Palatine, Illinois, where I met Liz.

They lived in the house on Patricia Lane until Ambrose died in 1986. The following year, Frances moved to a two bedroom apartment in Arlington Heights and lived there until 2004. She then moved to an assisted living apartment on the square in Woodstock, Illinois.

Here's hoping for many more birthdays to quite a remarkable woman.

Don