Weekend Primer
Your guide to the weekend -- SIOC style.
Toast the Legacy of Michael Jackson, University of Pennsylvania, 7 p.m.
No, not that Michael Jackson, the beer Michael Jackson. The World Guide to Beer author passed away last summer, and so this Friday the Penn Museum will honor the man who is to beer connoisseurship what the other Michael Jackson is to pop music. The lavish gala includes a dinner buffet and enough ale and lager to pay fitting tribute to the greatest beer aficionado who ever lived.
The Peking Acrobats, West Virginia University, 7:30 p.m.
The performance goes head-to-head with the Mountaineers Big East tournament game, but where else can you see 10 people ride a single bicycle. Bob Huggins can't compete with that.
Lecture of the Week: Bordeaux Wine Course: Left Bank, Right Bank, Boston University, 9 a.m.
I can't think of a better topic than French wine for SIOC's Lecture of the Week. Saturday's seminar will be given by a "certified Bordeaux educator" -- whatever that means. The talk includes supervised wine tastings, which is one reason it'll cost you $225 to get in. For some people that's still a small price to pay for a socially acceptable reason to drink before noon.
Dr. Seuss' Green EGGstravaganza, Kansas State, 10:15 a.m.
How do you celebrate St. Patrick's Day, Easter, and Dr. Seuss' birthday all at once? With a green egg hunt, of course. You will not find them in a box, you will not find them with a fox, the only way find green eggs, is go to K-State and use your legs.
America East Championship, Hartford at UMBC, Noon
In UMBC's 40 year history, the men's basketball team has never made it to the Big Dance. In fact, no UMBC team has made it to much of anything. The school's "athletic" claim to fame is its six-time, Pan-American Intercollegiate Championship winning chess team (this year they feature four grandmasters!!) America East tournament bracketologists are predicting a close game on Saturday. The teams split their two meetings this year with each game being decided by a single point.
NCAA Rifle Championships, U.S. Military Academy
The top riflemen and riflewomen will be stationed in West Point this weekend. TCU, Navy, Nevada, and West Virginia are among the teams looking to unseat Alaska-Fairbanks. The Nanooks are the defending champions and have taken home the title in eight of the last nine years.
NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, University of Arkansas
Tennessee, LSU, and Arizona State are all ranked in the top three on both the men's and women's sides, but don't count out the home team---the Razorback men have won 19 of the last 24 indoor track titles.
Michigan Football Spring Practice
On Saturday the Wolverines kick off spring practice, or as Rich Rodriguez calls it, "the thing which interrupts my Wednesday afternoon paper shredding session."
The Iditarod, Versus, 7 p.m.
Who cares if the race ended on Wednesday? If it hasn't been on TV yet it's new to you. Versus' coverage of the race will keep you occupied until the always suspenseful NIT selection show on ESPN2 at 9 p.m.
