Thursday’s thumbs

Razorbacks give fans something to cheer for

All across the country today, fans of basketball are playing a variation on our weekly thumbs up/down theme. As the 32 games of the first round get underway, millions have made their selections between the two teams in each game. We don’t offer much advice, except perhaps to pin your hopes on one of the No. 1 seeds. Historically speaking, one of them wins more than any other seeding. And no team lower than an eight seed has won since 1985, when the tournament expanded to 64 teams, according to the NCAA.

By the way, did we mention the Arkansas Razorbacks are a seven seed? They get today off before taking on Butler in a first-round matchup Friday afternoon. Only three seven seeds have made it into the Final Four in the last 33 years. So, yes, we’re saying there’s a chance. The Hogs put together a thrilling regular season and are fun to watch. Employers across the state Friday afternoon will just have to put up with a little less productivity as our attention turns to Detroit. Here’s to a successful tournament for the Razorbacks.

Pavani Chittemsetty, a sixth-grader at Northwest Arkansas Classical Academy in Bentonville, won the Arkansas State Spelling Bee in Conway Saturday, beating 54 other contestants from across the state, and she’s now headed to the national bee. Her winning word was laterigrade, which means “running sideways, or characterized by such running.” It’s her second goround as the state champion and her fourth victory at the Benton County Spelling Bee. Congratulations, Pavani, and best of luck.

It’s been a long, long time coming, but it’s great news that fundraising for the 50,000- square- foot U. S. Marshals Museum in Fort Smith has reached the point that construction can begin June 21. Its supporters have raised $31.5 million in cash and pledges for the attraction on the banks of the Arkansas River. Fort Smith has such an amazing story to tell from its days as a frontier town, and the U.S. Marshals Service is integral to that. But the story of this law enforcement agency goes well beyond that history. It’s going to be an exciting day when the River Valley gets this new attraction.

Listen, a president gets to pick the people he surrounds himself with and, with the advice and consent of the Senate, gets to pick his Cabinet chiefs. But who in their right mind would ever want to go to work for Donald Trump? The president fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson via Twitter and spoke to him three hours later in a phone call. Responsible managers of people who have had to let someone go have had the decency to speak to the person face to face. Trump could have easily managed that, but he didn’t have the nerve or the decency. “We were not really thinking the same,” Trump told reporters. And that’s the key: In the Trump White House, either get behind the president 100 percent or hit the road. Given Trump’s limitations, he needs people ready to offer different perspectives and, yes, sometimes argue against Trump’s impulsive behaviors.

Spring, arguably the best time of year around these parts, officially arrives Tuesday. The other good times are summer, fall and winter.