Georgetown students reacted last week when it was announced that the Swami had become the biggest draw at the Nation's #1 Catholic University. A Georgetown spokesperson noted that, "that's OK, Notre Dame may have the Swami, but we have Larry Flynt ."

They're baaaack...

Hey, the Swami loves to watch lacrosse on TV, especially Baltimore's Channel 2 "Game of the Week."

Sometimes things just go wrong though...

Swami (addressing Miss Bimbette) : Hey babe, put in the tape of the Channel 2 Game of the Week for the Swami.

Miss Bimbette starts the VCR...

Scott Garceau : This is Scott Garceau with Keith Mills coming to you live from Homewood Field on the campus of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore with the Channel 2 lacrosse "Game of the Week"...

Keith Mills : That's right, Scott. I just saw my Aunt Agnes in the stands and she reminded me that the Blue Jays' Director of Sports Information Ernie Larossa has a neighbor whose second cousin who once played rec league lacrosse in Brooklyn Park with...

Scott Garceau : And now, let's bring in our expert analyst, Quint Kessenich Quint, tell us about this Northern Michigan University squad...

Swami: Huh? Hey babe, when did the Wildcats get a lacrosse team?

Bunny : Oh Swami, they've had one for a long time.

Swami: Where are they located?

Bunny : Marquette. Right next to Canada.

Swami (the Swami's beer goes up his nose) : Marquette??!! The Upper Peninsula? Yoopers playing lacrosse?

Bunny : Sure. They have a good team, too.

Swami: They should be home defending our border from invasion by Canuckistan.

Scott Garceau : Ya. Here we go! It's time for the Channel 2 Plastic Surgery Associates Face-Off...

Keith Mills : Plastic surgery? I knew a guy at Mt. St. Joe that...

Quint Kessenich: A great move by Frenchy Lessard, and the Wildcats have possession...

Scott Garceau (banging down his fist): Ya. Da Yoopers! I mean...I'd just like to see a competitive game...

Keith Mills : Whoa! Did you see the hit that Hopkins' defense just put on Lessard? Hey, that has to be a candidate for the Channel 2 Baltimore Hospital Emergency Room Illegal Hit of the Game!

Miss Bimbette presses her face close to the TV...

Swami : Hey babe, what are you doing?

Bunny : Oh Swami, I'm trying to see the game...

Swami : What's all that clutter on the screen?

Bunny : Well, in the upper left corner it's the Channel 2 logo, and in the lower left corner it' the Channel 2 Timex Game Clock, and in the upper right corner its the Channel 2 Wine Store Scoreboard, and in the lower right corner its the Channel 2 Bedding Discounters Time Out Mattress. Then underneath it all, there's the Channel 2 London Smog Raincoat Weather Ticker, then at the top there's the Channel 2 Pep Boys...Oh Swami, look! The Pep Boys have the broadcast team's faces pasted over them!

Swami : Which one is Moe?

Bunny : Quint.

Swami : You mean there's actually a lacrosse game going on underneath all that stuff?

Scott Garceau : Wow! What a game! Both goalies have been just terrific! Let's ask our expert analyst who he expects to win the Channel 2 Immodium Stopper of the Game...

Quint Kessenich: Well, Scott...

Keith Mills : Immodium? Did you know that Jim Ollinger's father used to own a drug store? Jim played soccer at Mt. St. Joe and he was related...

Bunny : Swami--look! One of the Pep Boys in the logo has inched over to the Wine Store logo...

Swami : Which one is it?

Last Week...
Observations...

BALTIMORE, Md. --March 21, 2003-- The scheduled television broadcast of the Johns Hopkins-

Virginia men's lacrosse game on WMAR TV2 in Baltimore on Saturday night (March 22, 2003) has

been cancelled due to the war in Iraq. Officials at WMAR made the decision to cancel the

broadcast based on intelligence reports surrounding the invasion and the anticipated

progress of American troops in their march to Baghdad.

Hey, this is hot off the press. The Department of Defense realized that Baltimore's Channel 2 was going to air the 8:00 PM Virginia-Hopkins lacrosse game during a hot network prime time spot last Saturday. So, guess what? Donald Rumsfeld immediately convened the National Security Council and ordered them to provide Channel 2 with the inside dope on Iraq so that Channel 2 could cancel its planned broadcast of the game. What??? You don't believe that? How about this one, Channel 2 cancelled the game because of: "the anticipated progress of American troops in their March to Baghdad." That's funny. The Swami thought the troops were about 175 miles from Baghdad in the middle of the desert Saturday night. As a matter of fact, while the Swami is writing this, the troops are now about 60 miles from Baghdad and Channel 2 is still airing the normal network tripe.

Hey, you gotta hand it to Channel 2. What other local station would dream up a phrase like "based on intelligence reports" to excuse why they were cancelling a much-anticipated lacrosse game with practically no notice to the fans? Is that hubris, or what? This news was so important that Channel 2 didn't even post it on its web site.

Channel 2's lacrosse ratings were never what the station hoped for, and this, most likely, was just an excuse to pull a lower rated program in favor of normal network fare. The sponsors have to be ripped about this one, because the way TV stations usually work is that "credits" are given to the sponsors of cancelled games, so these ads will pop up somewhere later on other programming where they were never intended to appear.

The Swami takes this as a sign that, maybe, lacrosse programming on Channel 2 is running its course.

In fact, Hopkins drew almost 8,000 fans for this game--and that's 3,000 more than they anticipated. At five bucks a pop, that's an extra fifteen large in the coffers of JHU's Athletic Department (plus concessions), for it is not likely that the schools are paid any money at all from Channel 2 for broadcast rights.

What will be interesting to see is what Channel 2 does with the only other game it has scheduled for prime time this season: Hopkins at Maryland on April 12th.

The Swami has a tip: buy your tickets for that game now and plan to attend in person.

You'll have to pardon the Swami for thinking that it's just a little ludicrous to conceive of the staff of Channel 2 pouring over "intelligence reports" in their War Room next to the Govans Super Fresh on York Road, while agonizing over the geo-political impact of their Saturday night programming (which turned out to be "Good Will Hunting"). Who ever guessed that Govans was destined to become a major spoke in the wheel of Middle Eastern War Journalism?

The Swami thinks that whoever inspired this press release probably lived in DC too long, for it is long on self-importance and short on candor.

Let's just hope that the executives at Channel 2 remember to shred those Top Secret Defense Department memos.

Loose lips sink ships.

* * *

Just as one would suspect, many Georgetown fans came up to the Swami last week to apologize for the rude behavior of their school for burning the Swami in effigy a few years back. They wanted to let bygones be bygones. But these are the same people who have refused to honor the notable cinematic achievements of the Swami's companion, and Georgetown graduate, Miss Bunny Bimbette, the movie star. As most Swami readers know, the Swami's humble heart is very large, but the Georgetooners treatment of Miss Bimbette must be redressed in some fashion before the Swami and Georgetown can be reconciled.

First of all the Hoyas have to stop complaining that the Swami does not pick them #1 each year. Not even Syracuse expects that. Secondly, the Tooners have to quit this stuff about the Swami sniping at them with "cleverly sarcastic barbs," as one emailer put it. So, let's get this stuff straight right now: the Swami has never deliberately thrown any derogatory darts that the DC school. What the Swami thinks is happening is that the Tooners are simply reading too much into some of the Swami's very unbiased and non-judgemental comments. Everyone knows that the Swami never plays favorites, like some others who will not be named.

The Swami suggests that the University start thinking about awarding the Swami an honorary degree--and not one in Feminist Theology. Hey, it's not that Sheology degrees are just for chicks, although the Swami knows of no males with such credentials, but the Swami, being completely non-sexist, does not want the name of the Swami connected in any way with suggesting that, just because Swami Enterprises has an all-female staff, the Swami is somehow prejudiced towards chicks.

Everyone knows two things about the Swami in this regard: Feminist?--yes; prejudiced for chicks?--hey, no way.

Next week the Swami's "Lacrosse Babe of the Year" contest begins. You can nominate your favorite lax chick now. Just email her swimsuit photo to the Swami.

* * *

Wow! What a week for prognosticators. The Swami has asked some of the Big Boyz to comment on last week's upsets. You can read more on the Big Boyz page. This week the poison pen of Miss Venus accuses Glory Days of insulting the entire City of Annapolis, implies that Veritas is a "surrender monkey," and links Columbia Black and Blue with Jordan Industries (hey, she may be on to something there). And the fearless Miss Lee is picking her biggest upset ever. Did she go too far in telling the Swami that the real "Game of the Week" should be UMBC at Rutgers? Her remarkable observations about the Retrievers are a must read!

* * *

Here are some of the Big Boyz' comments on last week's tremendous upsets. You can read more on the Big Boyz page :

From the Ivyman:

"Uh-Baldo? Has anyone EVER gotten only three picks right in the history of this noble competition?"

Note: The Swami had to censor the remainder of Ivyman's comments, but you can read the unexpurgated version on the Big Boyz page. Proof of age is required this week.

* * *

From Miss Venus Lee, Ph.D....

"Glory Days has insulted the entire population of the Capital City..."

"Columbia Black and Blue thinks that Penn is on a par with Cornell. This is an hallucinogenic notion that undoubtedly came from consuming too many bananas..."

"...the noxious Jordan Enterprises..."

"Last week I revealed Veritas' true identity as an employee for the War Planning Department of the government of France. His pick results bear out that observation. All this was missing from his less-than-mediocre predictions last week was for him to email the Swami and surrender..."

* * *

From Veritas...

"I should get an official apology from Venus sometime soon..."

Whoa! They're going crazy in Tar Heel Country, baby! UNC's basketball team may not be in the NCAAs, but it sure looks like their lacrosse team will make that trip this' year, thanks to two gigantic wins over Duke and Maryland in the same week. The Heels are, dare I say, en fuego! None of the other games this week surprised me too much, not even Hopkins over UVA (which I called), but the Tar Heels are becoming something special. It was apparent that they are a far superior team than the Blue Devils and are better overall than the Terps.

The biggest shock this week was the United States Air Force Academy. Fred Acee and his Zoomies must not be pleased with the Navy and Marines getting all the good press this week, so they made some of their own on the lacrosse field by defeating the Mids in Annapolis. It's probably the biggest win in that program's history.

Nittany Lions? You're done. See my comments on the Big Boyz page.

Blue Devils? You're overdone. See my comments on the Big Boyz page as well. Duke fans may not want to read these.

* * *

* * *

in Maryland...
at College Park...

A battle of two excellent goalies sees North Carolina's Paul Spelman save 25...

It was obvious to the Swami that fans at Byrd Stadium were in for a treat about midway through the second quarter, for both goalies looked to be on their way to 20+ saves each. Maryland's Danny McCormick was absolutely excellent, but, in the end, it was Tarheel tender Paul Spelman who may have had his best day ever in the net (25 saves) against a top caliber team. He is the Swami's "Player of the Week."

Despite the fact that Maryland was never in this game, the Terps showed hustle and never gave up.

Victory has many fathers, so there were no Maryland dads in sight last Saturday. But, since defeat knows many orphans, there were abundant abandoned turtles on display for everyone to see: a badly lost face-off battle (15-6), courtesy of Tarheel midfielders Kevin Frew and Paul Burnette; too many point-blank snuffs, delivered up by a too-hot-to-touch Paul Spelman; and an uncharacteristic lapse of Maryland's extra-man unit, which let four man-up shots (on six attempts) by the Tarheels find the back of the net.

North Carolina jumped to an immediate three goal lead before Maryland had even taken its ninth shot. It was Tarheel Austin Garrision who notched each of the first three Carolina scores. Maryland quickly pulled within one goal on two occasions, but never came closer, as the game slowly and inevitably slipped from the grasp of the Terps.

But Maryland was not without its heroes. In addition to McCormick, Terp LSM Brett Harper showed why he is one of the best in the business. Harper had an excellent day, and his hustle was reflected in the comments of many of the fans who were fortunate enough to be sitting near the Swami. With 13:41 left in the second quarter, the Tarheels cleared the ball to freshman attacker Ryan Blair, who raced to the Maryland goal unimpeded. This was a sure score for the Carolinians, but, from seemingly out of nowhere, Harper dove behind Blair, extending his stick before hitting the ground, and checked the ball out of Blair's crosse and into the stick of Danny McCormick, leading to a Terp possession. It was a spectacular defensive play.

Yale transfer graduate student, and sneak-master extraordinaire Brian Hunt was held to only one goal, but he nevertheless managed to distract the Tarheel defense for most of the game. His lone tally displayed what makes him one of the most dangerous inside threats in the ACC. With 6:29 left in the second quarter Hunt, who had been covered like a blanket by Tarheel defender Charley Conkling, used his patented move to edge in close to the left side of the goal from behind, then turned around and leaned against Conkling, pushing him back, while simultaneously flicking a perfectly placed shot past Spelman. If Hunt has a hard shot the Swami has never seen it. But this guy places everything perfectly and is somehow able to insinuate himself close to the goal even though his defenders are schooled to expect just such moves.

Outshot by North Carolina 28-15 in the first half, Maryland would come back to dominate shots in the second half 32-14. Hey, what happened?

What happened was that during the fourth quarter North Carolina showed the Terps the same zone they had used so successfully against Duke three days earlier. And the Terrapins were shut down. Maryland managed only one clean score against the Tarheel zone, while, strangely, the Terp's superb outside shooter Matt Urlock (only one shot for the day) watched mostly from the bench.

Final score: North Carolina 10, Maryland 6.

at Baltimore...

Questionable strategy at Homewood digs an early 5 goal hole that UVA is unable to overcome ...

Virginia's decision to open its defense against Hopkins last Saturday evening on Homewood Field with long sticks guarding Blue Jay midfielders Kyle Harrison and Adam Donegar, proved to be costly. This tactic, which placed poles up top, coupled with an aggressive defensive posture which had Cavalier defenders ranging far from the goal, allowed a quick-witted Hopkins offense to hit the open man with relative impunity. It took five successive Hopkins goals to convince Virginia's brain trust to adopt a slightly more conventional defensive approach. Unfortunately fate would hold that, by then, it would be too late.

The Blue Jays came out smoking against a Cavalier defense that noticeably overplayed them. Successive goals by Benson and Barrie gave the Jays a quick boost before the game was even four minutes old. Barrie scored again at 4:52 in the first with an overhand steamer from the left side about 10 years out. With 1:46 remaining, Conor Ford tallied on a perfectly placed high-to-high shot from the right side almost 20 years out.

Time was running out in the first quarter, and it was all but certain that neither team would score when the clock showed only seven seconds to go, and the ball spurted toward the Virginia bench. But Blue Jay freshman midfielder Kyle Dowd had different ideas. Dowd's pure hustle allowed him to track the ball down just before it crossed the side boundary, where he wheeled and fired an off-balance missile at 00:03 (was it a pass or a shot?) toward the goal. It found the back of the net from over 35 yards away! Fantastic. This is the Swami's "Play of the Week."

Hopkins now led 5-0.

Homewood Field was pretty much packed, and everyone there knew that Virginia would not sit on its goose egg for long. But, surprisingly, there were no goals by either team during the second quarter.

Sure enough though, the Cavaliers erupted at 11:19 in the third frame on a Matt Ward quick stick from close proximity on the right side. Less than two minutes later Yevoli scored.

By the end of the third quarter, Hopkins' lead was down to 2, 7-5. And, worse for the Blue Jays, the Cavaliers were on a roll, having scored five times in the third period.

Fans wondered how much longer the Jays netminder, Rob Scherr, could continue his heroics. In the end the answer was: the entire game, for Scherr had a career-high 18 saves for the night.

Virginia continued to dog the Jays. With 1:28 left in the game, Chris Rotelli curled counter-clockwise from behind the goal, turned in front, and fired off a jump shot from about 8 yards out that found the net.

The Cavaliers had now pulled to within one.

With most fans now standing, the teams faced-off with just 1:20 left in the game. After a short struggle, UVA's Jack deVilliers came away with the ball (making Virginia 8 for 18 at the circle), and the Cavaliers called time out at 1:17. Fortunately for the team, they were not ahead. So the coaches could not tell them to hold the ball.

Virginia now played for the last shot. But, rather uncharacteristically, the ball was out-bounded on an errant pass with only 00:22 on the clock. Hopkins received possession--only to give it up seconds later.

With 00:10 left, Virginia goalie Tillman Johnson scoffed the ball, passed to Rotelli, who hit freshman Matt Ward on the run.

Ward planted and let fire a long shot that shook the net--from the outside.

Time expired.

The Cavaliers were de-throned.

Final score: Johns Hopkins 8, Virginia 7.

in Washington...
at Georgetown...

Break out the paper bags...

It will be interesting to see which team's fans will have their faces covered with more paper bags for next week's games. The Swami suspects Duke, but only because the Blue Devils have more fans.

The previously free Georgetown home games now cost $5. The Swami apologizes if the beneficial publicity that the Swami has given the Hoyas is responsible for this policy, especially since fans attending this match deserve refunds.

It was not a pretty sight.

Duke was able to stay in the first half of this poorly officiated game (down 4-3 at the half) by virtue of numerous Georgetown penalties, two of which the Blue Devils were able to convert to scores. Last week the Swami warned that Duke had better watch its penalties in slow games, and Duke did just that. The Duke defense was called for just three penalties Sunday, and all three involved some creative officiating in the Swami's opinion. In the first penalty, Duke defender Eric Southard flattened Georgetown's Brice Queener in a collision that resulted in a stoppage of play while Queener recovered. The play happened right in front of the Swami. Queener was in the process of turning his body toward Southard when he was hit. Were they face to face, or not? It was really a call that could have gone either way, but Southard was flagged for hitting from behind. In the second case, Blue Devil Paul Jepson was marking a ball carrier outside shooting distance when his stick struck the Georgetown player twice. Two penalties, both for slashing, were called on him simultaneously. The Swami thinks that was a bit of overkill, but, hey, these things happen.

Duke coach Mike Pressler can be credited with an excellent game plan, for Duke's failures were those of execution, not strategy. And give Pressler credit for not micro-managing his offense in overtime. Although, with this offense, one can see why that temptation is omnipresent. Even with a late third quarter injury to Duke midfielder Kevin Cassese, which hobbled him for the remainder of the game, Pressler showed composure, although tempered with some measure of impatience, on the sideline. No mean feat this day.

Duke's excellent defense dominated what little this contest was by holding Georgetown to half its normal 12+ goal production. And Duke goaltender A. J. Kincel put on a brilliant performance for the fans with many crucial saves, some almost acrobatic, against a team that controlled possession for most of the day. The Hoyas outshot their opponents 44-37.

But a great number of Georgetown's shots were off cage by a wide margin, and the Hoya attack looked disorganized and harassed. That being said, there was a single bright spot for Georgetown's offensive personnel: they looked immeasurably better than Duke's.

Duke's offense lost this game with a performance that is, by now, vintage Duke 2003: selfishness. Stripped of the ball numerous times, and victims of poor shot selection, no unit ever deserved to lose a game more than did this Blue Devil offense.

It should be noted that wild shooting and getting stripped are not problems. They are symptoms. In the case of this team, they are symptoms of offensive players holding the ball too long. Duke players only pass when they're forced to, which may serve to explain why they were stripped almost naked by Maryland last month, and by Georgetown last Sunday.

When Duke's offense does pass the ball, it is usually a sign that the ball carrier is in trouble--and troubled players make troubled passes. Hence, all the errant and dropped attempted transfers, leading inevitably to turnovers, and scores. And this game was full of Duke turnovers.

This is unfortunate because Duke may be the most athletically talented team in Division I lacrosse. The Blue Devils have all the tools--excellent goalie and defense, reasonably deep and competent midfields, and a young and aggressive attack--that are needed to be competitive at the championship level.

And Duke has these tools in a year in which it can truly be said that no one team in Division I can not be defensed.

Duke is now in a hole, with only two teams in the Top Ten left on its regular season schedule, and the ACC Tournament looking like an uphill climb. And, one thing is for certain: this Duke team will never see the Final Four until it starts passing the ball unselfishly and stops waiting for trouble to threaten the ball carrier before relinquishing possession.

In the meantime, a team with a defense that is capable of shutting down the offenses of all the top teams is languishing in the second tier, not because they do not have an excellent offense, but because they refuse to pass the ball unselfishly.

As one fan remarked to the Swami at halftime, "if this offense plays any dumber, they will ruin the academic reputation of their school."

Final score: Georgetown 6, Duke 5 (1 OT).

This Week...

What's new...

An update on the NCAA Playoff venue. Passout policy can be termed "modified Roach Motel"...

The Championship Weekend passout policy is now formulated, and it's the same as last year's at Rutgers (hey, surprise!). Fans will be able to leave between games on Saturday, but Sunday will have to remain in the Stadium. Hey, the Swami forgot to ask the Ravens if staying in your seat was a part of the deal. More to follow later...

The Swami has also been asked to post up some web sites for those who intend to stay overnight in Baltimore for this Championship Series. OK, Here they are:

Fly to Baltimore cheap:

Southwest Airlines

Air Tran

BWI Airport

Meet the Mayor and his gang:

Baltimore's Official Homepage

Stay in Charm City:

Baltimore Hotels (including reviews)

The Swami says that if you're coming to Baltimore, and are interested in night life, Fell's Point is a MUST VISIT LOCATION ON YOUR ITINERARY. This neighborhood is located about 18 blocks from the stadium and should not be missed. Team Swami will be headquartered in one of the pubs in Fell's Point (hey, which one is not yet been determined as offers to host the Swami's annual playoff party are still coming in). But the Swami will let you now where he will be hanging out soon.

Bars in Fell's Point

Hey, if you like food, Charm City has great seafood, even if May is only the beginning of crab season:

Baltimore Restaurant Guide

Be forewarned: these pub reviews are linked to the Baltimore City Paper, which can get real weird, but it also offers the most comprehensive guide to city night life:

Baltimore Bars, Clubs, and Pubs Guide

Dozens of movies have been made in Baltimore since Miss Bunny Bimbette was introduced to Charm City by the Swami. Coincidence? You be the judge. Check out this site:

Movies made in Baltimore

And, don't worry, there is more great stuff coming in the following weeks! If you have specific questions about the playoffs, or about Baltimore, hey, don't trust the NCAA or a tourist guide. Email the Swami and get the straight scoop: swami@laxswami.com.

Some new computer stuff...

The Swami will have his archive pages up on Friday. The archives contain old "This Weeks" and all of the Big Boyz picks and commentary.

Also, the Swami sees posts in the Laxpower.com Forum all the time concerning what games are on radio/TV. Hey, the Swami has a complete run down on all televised and radio broadcast games in Division I on the Swami's Top Radio/TV Links page. Each team on Internet radio also has a direct link to the station that broadcasts its games. You can access the page through the pull out links tray on the left of this screen.

Also, you can mute the Swami's music, but it helps to have downloaded Beatnik Player from the bottom of this page.

And, remember, the Swami's web pages look better in Netscape, set at high resolution.

Hey, get ready for Week #6!

Listen to Pete Medhurst call this important game locally over WNAV 1430 AM, or click on the WNAV logo to hear the Internet broadcast.

1. Swami's Game of the Week: Georgetown just barely scraped by a Blue Devil squad that missed both Kevin Cassese and Matt Monfett for significant parts of last Sunday's 6-5 (OT) game, which the Hoyas won. But, the tough Duke D showed that Georgetown can be defensed. Now the Hoyas will meet another squad with solid defensive credentials. Navy has upset Georgetown twice in the last four years--both times in Annapolis. But this year they will not be playing on natural grass where both of Navy's last victories took place (1999: Dewey Field, 2001: Navy-Marine Corps Stadium). The 1999 win was strong enough to carry the Mids to the NCAA Playoffs--the last time the team appeared in post-season play. Hey, this is always a big game. But it's even bigger this year because North Carolina has defeated Maryland and that has caused Navy's RPI to take a significant jump. If the Mids can knock off the Hoyas they are likely to see action in May.

But, just how good is Navy's defense? The Mids looked plenty tough against North Carolina at home and at Amherst against UMass, but faltered badly against Rutgers and played much below par at Stony Brook. Navy collapsed after its six overtime marathon against North Carolina last year and hasn't been the same since losing a heart breaker to Massachusetts on a last second pipe shot at Garber Field three weeks ago. Is this season déjà vu all over again?

Only time will tell, but the Swami thinks that GT got quite a scare last week and will be extra sharp for this Sunday's contest. Navy has to crawl out of a hole dug by itself with a big loss to Rutgers. It's certainly not darkness for the Mids yet, but the lights are flickering at Bancroft Hall. The Swami likes Georgetown.

2. Penn State (unranked) at UMass (#8)--(Friday, March 28, 12 Noon, Amherst, MA)--UMass got quite a scare last season, pulling this game out only in the final minutes to salvage a 13-12 victory at Nittanyville. In 2001 it was last minute heroics at Amherst that allowed the Minutemen to escape Penn State narrowly (10-9), after a humiliating loss to the Lions the year before. Yes, Penn State has the hex on UMass. But the undefeated and improbable Minutemen keep marching towards the seeming inevitability of the NCAA Playoffs. The Swami puts the double hex on UMass and picks the Minutemen to win.

3. Maryland (#7) at Virginia (#2)--(Saturday, March 29, 1:00 PM, Charlottesvile, VA)--Both of these ACC rivals are coming off exhausting upset losses. For UVA the hope for an undefeated season lies in tatters at Homewood Field. For Maryland, the juggernaut offense that handled Duke so disarmingly came to an ugly end at the hands of a North Carolina zone defense that the Terps could not solve last week. ACC teams are notoriously competitive in every sport. Does that mean possible upset? The Swami says no. Virginia wins big as the best offense in the ACC proves better than the best defense in the ACC.

Others receiving votes (in order): Penn, Bucknell, Hobart, Dartmouth.

Once again, Hofstra is tied with a team (Cornell) it beat 13-5.

Swami Fan Club Members: You don't need a Secret Swami Decoder Ring to read this week's message: It's for all of our service men and women to return home safely. The Swami, and countless other lacrosse fans, appreciate your dedication and sacrifice.

PLEASE NOTE: The Swami's links have moved to the pullout tray to the left of the screen labeled "The Swami's Links." Move your mouse over that tray to pull it out and connect to the links by clicking on the appropriate marker.  

--Swami (Official winner of the "Prognosticator of the Year Award"; the prestigious L.P.A. "Goldfinger" trophy; the 1999 "Best Seed" selector; the 2000 Best Playoff Record Award; the 2001 "Most Accurate Rankings Forecast," and, in an independently audited open poll conducted during the 2000 season, was selected "Prognosticator of the Decade" by an impartial fan vote.)

Some of the Swami's many other awards:   

E-mail the Swami:

This Week's Music: "Soulfinger," by the Bar-Kays. This group of six excellent rock musicians was the house band for Stax Records in Memphis, and backed up legendary soul artists like Ottis Redding. "Soulfinger" climbed to #17 on the Billboard chart by August 12, 1967, and became the Bar-Kay's first hit. Success seemingly assured with the release of the record, the band embarked on their last tour with Ottis Redding. Sadly all but two passengers, including Ottis Redding, perished when the plane carrying them crashed in Lake Monona, Wisconsin, on December 10, 1967. Shortly thereafter, Ottis Redding's "Dock of the Bay" rose to #1. He never lived to know.

This page is sonified. The Swami says that if you're listening with a cheap browser related sound program you're not hearing the right stuff. You need to get the Beatnik Player 2.2 (it's free and it's an upgrade from last year's version) so that you can hear the sounds the way the Swami wrote them. And, if your Beatnik Player doesn't seem to be working right, you can test it HERE. NOTE: this page now contains a mute button for those readers whose musical tastes may be retarded. It is located near the top of the page just below the introductory Flash graphics. If you cannot see the mute button, or if the mute button appears to be a truncated portion of an audio icon, that means that you haven't yet downloaded Beatnik Player 2.2. If you download Beatnik, you will see a small, clean icon that enables you to turn off the Swami's music.