Monday Musings: Harvey pleas, Coach Mal leaves

• So, the Harvey Updyke saga finally comes to a close more than two years after he poisoned the trees at Toomer's Corner. My stance has been well documented: Updyke is trash. He vandalized the Auburn campus and should be punished accordingly. Frankly, I think six months behind bars and five years' probation seems to fit his crime. I will continue to laugh hysterically, however, at those in Lee County who insist on referring to the event as a "tragedy" and suggesting that Harvey get life without parole and/or charged as a terrorist (enjoy that link, y'all). Yes, they were YOUR trees and they represented a tradition for you, but they were still just trees. Comon people.

• Nice to see the men's basketball team put together a strong effort against Stanford on Saturday, keeping the NIT championship within reach. Still not a ton of offense, but the emergence of Levi Randolph as a threat has to be encouraging. If he and Lacey can continue to develop while Pollard starts to live up to his potential, next season could be much improved. It really wouldn't take much to push this team into the NCAA Tournament-says here that a berth in The Dance is the minimum requirement for Grant to stick around beyond 2014. Agree?

• As usual, I find myself sucked in by the NCAA tournament. Seriously, what's not to love about a sporting event where fledgling Florida Gulf Coast University can knock off an old stalwart like Georgetown (what a colossal bust the Big East has been, by the way) and find itself still alive on the second weekend along with fellow hoops titans La Salle and Wichita State? Loved seeing Harvard win a tourney game for the first time in its history as well. While Louisville, Kansas, and Indiana are all outstanding teams, my money is on darkhorse Miami to win the whole thing. They just seem to have a good thing going with all those seniors. Who you got?

• Wonderful piece by Don Kausler, Jr. yesterday detailing the accomplishments of Coach Mal Moore in a career that touched seven decades, beautifully conveying the legacy he will leave behind at the Capstone. All things considered, I'm not sure that anyone is more ingrained in Alabama football than Coach Mal. May he have a long and healthy retirement. Roll Tide, Coach. New AD and good friend Bill Battle has some big shoes to fill.

Have a great week, everyone.