1. After a grocery shopping trip to Yoke's, I settled in to watch Purdue play Tennessee for a trip to the NCAA men's basketball tournament Final Four. The game came down to whether the Vols could, in any way, contain Purdue's giant inside, Zach Edey.
Tennessee couldn't.
Edey scored 40 points and snagged 16 rebounds. Tennessee's stellar Dalton Knecht poured in 37 points, but, in the end, Zach Edey was too overpowering and Purdue earned a trip to the Final Four with a 72-66 victory.
2. I didn't think I'd watch the Duke/North Carolina State game, but I couldn't resist it, especially after seeing, early in the game, what DJ Burns can do as a nimble, deft, intelligent 6'9", 275 pound giant who makes great spin moves to the basket, is an adroit passer, and is full of joy playing basketball.
In the second half, North Carolina State flattened Duke. Duke's star center, Kyle Filipowski fouled out. Duke couldn't reign in DJ Burns. Duke's offense was, to quote their head coach, disjointed. The Wolfpack outscored Duke by 18 points in the second half. They continued their most unlikely advance to the Final Four, not only as a lowly 11 seed, but as a team that had to win five games in five consecutive nights to win the ACC tournament in order to even get into the NCAA Tournament itself.
More than anything else, I enjoy the variety of players, playing styles, and coaching philosophies in college basketball. I enjoy how players of all sizes, of varying levels of talent, of differing ages and levels of maturity find teams to play on and enjoy hard fought competitive games, knowing, in many cases, that their basketball playing days will come to an end when their eligibility runs out.
3. At half time of the Tennessee/Purdue game, I assembled a cabbage salad called Lebanese Slaw as my contribution to tonight's family dinner. I mixed together shredded cabbage, salt, mint leaves, dill, Italian parsley, chopped green onion, and diced cucumber and dressed it with a combination of olive oil, fresh squeezed lemon juice, crushed garlic cloves, a small amount of sugar, and Zaatar.
I loved this salad and thought it deliciously complimented the asparagus casserole Debbie made, Carol's slow-cooked brisket, the accompanying medley of vegetables Carol cooked in the crock pot with the meat, and the dinner rolls.
We started Family Dinner this evening in grand style with Carol's deviled eggs and a superb Bloody Mary bar featuring Christy's peerless Bloody Mary mix and a tray of condiments.
Our conversations tonight were wide ranging, covering topics and stories that took us to memories from the past and that were also very much anchored in the present.
We had a lot on our minds during this Easter Family Dinner!
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