Ali Wins, Ka-Boom! Down Goes UNLV

• Ali Farokhmanesh hit one of the biggest shots in UNI history. Who knows, maybe it's #1. (No, still Maurice Newby of Des Moines East vs. Missouri in 1990.)
• Nice of UNI to give most of us a rooting interest, and it's hard not to root for these guys. They're impressive on and off the court. It's hard not to think of Drake two years ago. Except the Panthers made it to the second round. (Ouch. Sorry, Andy. I know that hurt, and I didn't enjoy it.)
• My dad turned to me in the second half, and said, "This team is a lot more fun to watch than Iowa or Iowa State." He's right.
• Chris Hassel said the UNI locker room was not overly celebratory. The Panthers treated this like a business trip. Too bad Kansas comes next, but you never know, the Panthers are good, and fear no team.
• Ben Jacobson's stock just went up.
• What a great first day of the tourney. This is why the NCAA should resist the cash grab and leave it the way it is: perfect.
• Steve Alford is one of four finalists for national coach of the year. Hawkeye fans still don't want him.
• Iowa has already locked up a third straight NCAA wrestling championship. The Hawks are dominating. My favorite moment of Thursday night was when Shawn Terrell asked Tom Brands if he was ready to say it's over. Brands stared a hole right through Shawn. Great moment.
• I thought the Cyclones would show up stronger.
• Shawn says the thousands of fans at the sold out Qwest Center in Omaha are paying no attention to the basketball tourney. They're focused--- like Brands.
• I had a great time at the St. Patrick's Day parade. The Friendly Sons couldn't have been better to my family, and my father had one of the great days of his life. We did it up right without overdoing it. (photo by Nuzum Photo)

• My youngest boys thought riding on a car was cool, but they would have rather been standing on the side with a big bag to collect candy.
• Catching up on new additions to my DVR. The Pacific is off to a great start. It may do the impossible: live up to Band of Brothers. Parenthood is good and getting better. The Marriage Ref would make a decent half hour, but it's spread way too thin over 60 minutes. Plus, why is the show open about baseball? Baseball has umpires, not refs. Parks & Recreation has improved so much from its nearly fatal rookie season that I've added it to my series recordings. Southland just had its best episode ever (what was NBC thinking?!), the excellent Men of a Certain Age already wrapped, Celebrity Apprentic remains my guilty pleasure, I love Ellen on American Idol, though the talent has been underwhelming, and I'm looking forward to Justified. Best thing I did was listen to your advice, Modern Family is terrific.
• Notice I didn't give you any details about my NCAA bracket? No one wants to hear about anyone else's bracket. No one. Trust me.