Now that the NCAA tournament is finishing up, some coaches are hoping to add even more teams to the field next year. Syracuse's Jim Boeheim—perhaps sensing the dark post-G-Mac days awaiting his program—made his case for expanding the bubble to the Associated Press last Thursday. If that sort of expansion strikes you as greedy and unnecessary, though, consider what the New York Times did with the story itself.

Like hundreds of other papers around the country, the Times has access to the AP and often runs its stories. This time, though, instead of just printing the piece, the Times decided to cover the story itself. The Times version adds no new information—in fact, it even recycles a quote about George Mason from Clemson Coach Oliver Purnell. ("Obviously, they're a deserving team," Purnell says in both articles. "If you expand it, you decrease the possibility of leaving out more deserving teams.")

This is a silly practice, and it's not uncommon. Like a big-time school having a down year, the Times makes a sad and undeserved attempt to get in on the action. It ends up looking foolish and useless.