Three Beautiful Things 03-24-2023: I Walked Almost Normally, NCAA Upsets, I'm a George Hamilton Convert

1. By the time I soaked by foot in epsom salt and baking soda and iced my toe one last time around 10:30 p.m., I was able to almost walk normally. My toe is still red, but the swelling went down and my foot is bearing weight much better. I hope I don't jinx myself by saying that it looks like I'm getting closer to having a normal big toe and top of my foot again.

2. I mean, heck, I'm thousands of miles away watching a game on a small television set, so what can I really tell? That said, it looked to me like San Diego State's relentless commitment to defense rattled Alabama. Here's how I saw things as this game progressed: metrics and NET scores and other more objective measures of teams' performances cannot account for the psychological and emotional impact opposing teams have on each other. I thought San Diego State gained some kind of psychological advantage as they defeated Alabama. Was it surprise? Intimidation? Did Alabama underestimate San Diego State's muscular, physical style of play? I don't know, but by every objective measure in addition to the eye test, Alabama was the better team. But by some largely immeasurable means, San Diego State outplayed Alabama and pulled off a mighty upset.

So (and, hey, I might be all wet here, but that's the joy of blogging -- I can be all wet!), you might think that the Houston Cougars, a team built very much like the San Diego State Aztecs, would do to Miami something like what the Aztecs did to Alabama.

But, no. 

Miami engineered its upset with speed, superb shot making, and a free wheeling style of basketball. It was almost as if Miami (remember, I might be all wet) didn't permit Houston to assert its physical strength by scoring on fast breaks and three point bombs and by keeping the rock moving. Whereas San Diego State disrupted Alabama, Houston never did the same to Miami and for the second consecutive year these highly entertaining, boisterous Miami Hurricane players are back in the Elite Eight.

3. I confess: for years I have underestimated the talent of George Hamilton. I should have learned my lesson when he turned in a solid performance in Godfather III, but Columbo has convinced me once and for all that George Hamilton can bring it as an actor. 

I think I underestimated George Hamilton for one very simple and superficial reason: he was the subject of a long-running and hilarious parody in Doonesbury, having to do with Hamilton's devotion to sun tanning. 

George Hamilton twice appeared as a murderer in Columbo, first as a psychiatrist specializing in hypnosis and then, about fifteen years later, in the episode we watched tonight, as the host of a television crime show.

In tonight's episode, Hamilton's character moved seamlessly between unctuous televisions star, a man frightened by a blackmail threat, and a smooth, calculating cold-blooded murderer. Oh! And he played irritation and condescension most convincingly in his interactions with Lt. Columbo. 

If you watched today's Alabama/San Diego State game and, like me, thought the Aztecs got under the skin of the Crimson Tide, it was a gnat bite compared to the under his skin work Columbo performed on Hamilton's tv star. Not only that, Columbo nailed him!