Half Right, Half Wrong, Half Empty, Half Full or Bracketology Revisited

I picked 2 out of 4 Final Four teams correct. If it were baseball, I'd be batting .500 and on my way to Player of the Week Honors. If it were school, I'd have scored 50% and be well on my way to a "D." (True story: in 6th grade math, I once scored 18% on a test)

Anyhow, it was good enough for me to lock up both office pools I entered before the tournament even hits its final weekend. Yee haw.

Finally!

Uploaded my damned Spring Training pictures to Flickr. 6 at a time since the damned batch upload executable kept crapping out.

Here they are.

Close (Well, Not Really) But No Cigar

Went to visit a client at the Chrysler Building yesterday. High profile place, high profile tenants. You'd think that the security folks there would at least be able to get my name right.

I've also decided that on about my 70th visit there since I was a kid, I finally like New York.

Bracketology

Dirty South Bracket
1st round winners: Duke, GW, Syracuse, LSU, West Virginnie, Iowa, Cal, Texas
Regional semifinalists: Duke, LSU, WV, Texas
Regional finalists: Duke, Texas
Final Four Representative: Duke

No surprises here. People have been saying for the past 2 years "have you seen Duke play down the stretch? They've been damned lucky!" Yeah, that's the case...but they're still Duke. 'Cuse's run in the Big East tourney was amazing but they don't have the horses to get past LSU. West Virginia's coached by my guy John Beilein and features the best last name in all of sports in Kevin Pittsnogle, but their regular season was hardly something to behold.

Oaktown Bracket
1st round winners: Memphis, Arkansas, Pittsburgh, Kansas, San Diego State, Gonzaga, Marquette, UCLA.
Regional semifinalists: Memphis, Kansas, Gonzaga, UCLA
Regional finalists: Memphis, UCLA
Final Four Representative: UCLA

Kansas not going to the Final Four seems odd. So does Indiana not making it past the first round. Gonzaga's everyone's darling and has been for the past few years (and why not, with a cool name like Gonzaga and a hippie-looking star player), but they never seal the deal. For the sake of dear old Russell, I want Memphis to go all the way...but they're just too prone to mental lapses even though they might be the most physical/fast team in the Dance.

Cesspool On The Potomac Bracket
1st round winners: UConn, Kentucky, Washington, Illinois, Michigan State, North Carolina, Seton Hall, Tennessee
Regional Semifinalists: UConn, Washington, UNC, Tennessee
Regional Finalists: UConn, UNC
Final Four Representative: UConn

Unanswered questions galore in this bracket. Why is it last year I went out and watched Illinois play 16 times, whereas I only went out and watched them once this year? Why are Michigan State alums total punkasses? Do Wichita State Shockers fans make a funky sexually-oriented hand gesture when they cheer their team on?

Hubert H. Humphrey/Paul Wellstone/Kirby Puckett Memorial Bracket
1st round winners: Villanova, Arizona, Nevada, Boston College, Oklahoma, Florida, Georgetown, (t)OSU
Regional semifinalists: Villanova, Boston College, Florida, (t)OSU
Regional finalists: Villanova, Florida
Final Four Representative: Florida

The Minny bracket is unique in that it features 3 schools I applied to and didn't get into. Some guy at the poker table in Reno told me in February of 2005 to watch out for the Nevada Wolfpack because they were gonna be something special. Too bad they drew the Illini last year and BC this year. Still amazes the shit out of me that I'm only putting one Big 10 team in the Sweet 16.

'Naptown Final Four
Duke over UCLA
UConn over Florida

UConn over Duke for the whole shebang.

Heading to Florida for the annual Spring Training trip this week. Might actually give me something to blog about!

Since I Never Blog Anymore...

...may as well point you toward someone who does.

Check out "Palehose Six," a daily cartoon showing the life of the White Sox on the high seas. Has to be seen to be believed.