Timothy McSweeney's Header Image

- - - -

Now available for preorder:
The San Francisco Panorama
.

- - - -

Gamble Like a Pro
With This Exclusive
Final Four Insider Information.

BY ANTHONY JAFFE

- - - -

Before you read the betting line, you'd better know the FAULT LINE. Specifically, the New Madrid fault line, which runs perilously close to the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis. Seismologists predict an excellent chance of RIM-SHAKING TREMBLERS throughout the weekend, which favors the University of North Carolina TAR HEELS and their low-post power game.

Over the last two decades, the Michigan State University SPARTANS have a paltry 4-12 record in games played near a river whose average daily sediment load exceeds 300,000 tons. Consider that every day, the Mighty Mississippi moves an average of 436,000 TONS of sediment in her swift chocolate-brown waters! Do the math, sports fans.

Growing up in Florida, senior center Nick Smith of the University of Illinois wished for two things: a chance to win a national collegiate basketball championship, and a pony. Tragically, only one wish came true. Then last week Smith and his ILLINI teammates saw through the windows of the team bus a LONE SPOTTED PONY chewing her cud in a northern Illinois pasture. The sight of this gentle beast quietly enjoying the late-winter sunshine drove Smith to tears, unnamed sources report. Will this tender moment motivate Smith to have a MONSTER GAME, or will he ride into the sunset on a pony named DEFEAT?

Tar Heel forward Marvin Williams is in exquisite physical condition, not counting the TERRIFYING WATERBORNE PARASITIC WORM living in his left knee. Infected several months ago on a holiday clam dig near his hometown of Bremerton, Washington, the 6-foot-9-inch man-child has maintained his buttery-smooth jump shot and superb rebounding ability throughout the tourney. However, look for the knee of this explosive super-frosh to itself explode at any time in a DELUGE OF BLOOD AND TISSUE as thousands of newly hatched larvae eat their way through his epidermis and spill onto the hardwood in the most revolting scene of putridity the Final Four has witnessed since the early 1970s.

Campus sources report that the Louisville CHEERLEADING ROUTINE will be so hot, it may be impossible for Illini and Cardinal players alike to run the floor without EMBARRASSING ERECTIONS. Look for tight man-to-man defenses to suddenly shift to zone.

Throughout his career, Illinois head coach Bruce Weber has helped ensure success on the court with a hearty home-style breakfast. But unbeknownst to Weber, his team's hotel only offers a heart-healthy breakfast buffet, which will certainly not include his standard pre-game repast of biscuits smothered in WHITE GRAVY, with a side of SCRAPPLE. Weber will discover this fact too late, and he will become despondent and unsure of himself. If Saturday's contest is tight in the closing minutes, look for a still-gloomy Weber to stare vacantly into space, ignoring the desperate pleas of his young charges, and daydreaming about plates and plates of CREAMY, PIPING-HOT GRAVY.

With equal numbers of Tar Heels and Spartans asserting that "If I play my best, He will take care of the rest," most SO-CALLED EXPERTS have concluded that the teams are evenly matched in the divine-grace department. But look closer: An exhaustive game-film analysis reveals a shortfall in crucifix and scripture tattoos for the squad from Lansing. And the Lord spoke: ADVANTAGE CAROLINA.

- - - -

OTHER McSWEENEY'S FEATURES:

- - - -

Gamble Like a Pro With This Exclusive Final Four Insider Information By Anthony Jaffe
An Open Letter to Global Warming By Mike Ward
The Thrusting Ape Health and Fitness Club: Member Testimonials By Tim Coffield
Sir Isaac Newton's Notes, Before the Discovery of Gravity By Jamie Allen
Marvin Gaye Explains What He Heard Through the Grapevine By John Moe

- - - -

MAIN PAGE | ARCHIVES



Memories of Amanda Davis




Red dot denotes content that is new today.

Black dot denotes newish content.

McSWEENEY'S STORE

SUBSCRIBE TO:
McSWEENEY'S
THE BELIEVER
WHOLPHIN

FUTURE McSWEENEY'S BOOKS

THE AMANDA DAVIS HIGHWIRE FICTION AWARD

INVITE A McSWEENEY'S AUTHOR TO SPEAK IN YOUR TOWN OR COLLEGE

THE BEST AMERICAN NONREQUIRED READING

McSWEENEY'S MONTHLY MAILING LIST

BOOKSTORES WITH A McSWEENEY'S DISPLAY

McSWEENEY'S-RELATED EVENTS AND VARIOUS TOUR DATES

ORDER INQUIRIES AND ADDRESS CHANGES

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
FOR BOOKS
FOR THE QUARTERLY
FOR THE WEBSITE
FOR WHOLPHIN

McSWEENEY'S INTERNSHIPS

CONTACT US

- - - -

LETTERS TO McSWEENEY'S

LISTS

McSWEENEY'S RECOMMENDS

REVIEWS OF NEW FOOD

NEW WHOLPHIN FILM

DAN LIEBERT, VERBAL CARTOONIST

TEDDY WAYNE'S UNPOPULAR PROVERBS

NON-ESSENTIAL MNEMONICS

BITCHSLAP: A COLUMN ABOUT WOMEN AND FIGHTING

DISPATCHES FROM A GUY TRYING UNSUCCESSFULLY
TO SELL A SONG IN NASHVILLE


GLOBAL WAR ON BEDBUGS: LETTERS FROM BEDBUG CITY

THE CONFLICTED EXISTENCE OF A FEMALE PORN WRITER

OH MY GAWD: A COLUMN ABOUT A TEENAGER NAVIGATING RELIGION

DISPATCHES FROM MANILA

DISPATCHES FROM AN INDIAN CASINO

THE CONVERGENCES CONTEST

CHRIS WHITE ANSWERS PROFOUND
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PRESIDENTS


REPORTS FROM THE PINBALL SCENE

LETTERS FROM THE HELLBOX

NOTES FROM AN AMATEUR SPECTATOR
AT AMATEUR MIXED MARTIAL ARTS FIGHTS


B.R. COHEN'S DAYS AT THE MUSEUM

CONVERSATIONS AT A WARTIME CAFÉ

AND HERE'S THE KICKER:
MIKE SACKS'S CONVERSATIONS WITH HUMOR WRITERS


GRANT MUNROE'S CORPORATE FOLKTALES

SARAH WALKER SHOWS YOU HOW

DISPATCHES FROM AN ENVIRONMENTAL LAWYER
WHO IS TRYING TO GROW A MUSTACHE


DISPATCHES FROM A HANGDOG BANKRUPT

DISPATCHES FROM THE CAPITAL

DISPATCHES FROM INDIA

THE WINNER'S CIRCLE WITH ERIC FEEZELL

SEAN MICHAELS LISTENS TO MUSIC IN MONTREAL

SHORT IMAGINED MONOLOGUES

KIDS' LETTERS TO PRESIDENT OBAMA

STAINED TEETH: A COLUMN ABOUT WINE

YOUR MONEY, YOUR JOB ... YOUR LIFE, WITH ALISON ROSEN

KEVIN DOLGIN TELLS YOU ABOUT PLACES YOU SHOULD GO IN EUROPE

ABOUT THE WILD THINGS

ABOUT THE CONVALESCENT

ABOUT FEVER CHART

ABOUT GOD SAYS NO

ABOUT ZEITOUN

LETTERS FROM AN EARTH BALL
TO, OR CONCERNING, SEAN HANNITY


E-MAILS SENT TO THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FLAG-FOOTBALL TEAM


TRAVELING EUROPE IN STYLE WITH AUCKLAND DINGIROO,
DARK-AGE TOURIST AND CRITIC OF FOOD AND DRINK


JOHN MOE'S POP-SONG CORRESPONDENCES

INTERVIEWS WITH PEOPLE WHO HAVE INTERESTING OR UNUSUAL JOBS

FLIP: A COLUMN ABOUT SKATEBOARDING

OPEN LETTERS TO PEOPLE OR ENTITIES WHO ARE UNLIKELY TO RESPOND

DISPATCHES FROM A PUBLIC LIBRARIAN

MICHAEL IAN BLACK IS A VERY FAMOUS CELEBRITY

DAN KENNEDY SOLVES YOUR PROBLEMS WITH PAPER

STEPHEN ELLIOTT'S POKER REPORT

- - - -

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL