And They’re Out, in the Regional Semi-Final

I haven’t been paying much attention to LSU basketball this season, though my stepfather has repeatedly told me that I should. And I didn’t watch much of yesterday’s first round games in the annual celebration of Madness (except, of course, the bit that I caught while I was having my nails done. Yes, I was the only customer, and the guy who did my manicure was a guy, and the only other employee in there was also male, and there was basketball on the television set. The whole thing was a little odd). But I did have a wincing moment of precognition when I first saw the bracket, given that the Atlanta regional bracket looked like this:

What did I foresee? LSU getting slaughtered by Duke in prime time. And now, given that the bracket has begun to look more like this —

— well, it’s beginning to look pretty much inevitable. I guess there are worse ways to go out.