What's The Best Way To Remove A Foot From One's Mouth?

To anyone that would listen, whether it was here, or here, or to my friends and coworkers, the only point I really wanted to make to anyone about the Big East Tournament was how stupid I thought allowing all in 16 teams was. 

From mountain tops, I ran on and on about how DePaul couldn't manage a win all season, and yet somehow qualifies for this tournament.  On and on, I droned.

At approximately 2:35 EDT I was made a fool, once more.  Then again, I'd imagine not even Jerry Wainright really thought his Blue Demons were going to upset Cincinnati.  They'd gone 2 and 28 over their last 30 conference games and didn't win one this whole season.  Hell, it had been over a year since their last Big East win of any kind.  By the way, care to guess who it was against?  (If you guessed Cincinnati and then mumbled something about how ironic the sporting landscape tends to be with a scowl on your face, then you are correct).

Now, while I still don't think DePaul deserved to be there, this makes for more fun discussion about a game that otherwise was entirely meaningless.  In front of what had to be tens of tens of people, DePaul shocked the world (at least that small population watching on www.BigEast.tv).  

Imagine though, that you're a fan of Cincinnati, who wasn't going to make the tourney anyway.  Still, you have a solid season and its ended by a team that likely got lucky over the course of one game, when they couldn't do it over the course of 18.  People say, that's the fun of this time of year.  Well, not if you're team lost to the "DePauls" of the world. 

So while I still maintain that this season's train-wreck of an effort from DePaul didn't warrant inclusion, I'm happy for them.  Maybe they can beat Providence, and send another team home.  Problem is, they probably didn't pack enough clothes to stay for more than one win.