Anticlimactic

Despite the fact that I did very little posting here this year (only in part because I did very little proper predicting), I do check the blog every day to see what others have to say.  March (and April) Madness is one of my favorite times because of McDowhoops and sMaCkDOWn.

All that being said, I am more than a little disappointed that there was no victory smack from the winner (Maggie!).  Has anyone ever come close to 98% in this thing?  Well, except for Lauren, who had 92%!!  Besides beating people who spent a serious amount of hypothesizing about conferences, photo-shopping cereal boxes, posting pictures of other college campuses, and searching YouTube for pertinent videos, (and that guy who didn't spend enough time entering his daughter's picks) your percentages alone are impressive on their own.

How about a little recap?

Mook

Clark Kellogg is annoying

He just said that UNC is "the epitome of the spurtability team". Who says things like that? Earlier he said he expected a competitive, hard fought contest. No kidding, Clark. He was also oblivious in the UNC-Villanova game, never mentioning just how important the foul trouble on Scottie Reynolds was for the Wildcats in the first half. Clark didn't seem to realize that Reynolds went out of the game for 4 minutes in the first half, during which time UNC's lead doubled. And so forth. Where's Raftery when you need him? UPDATE! The New York Times agrees!

On this plan even the Citadel might get in the tourney

That's from The Onion.

Let's Rumble

Once again, I am promoting a comment to a post. This is from Nell: Margaret, let's rumble. It is actually my second bracket that I call my impulse bracket in which I choose Mich State to win it all. I chose UNC on my original bracket that I actually put a bit of thought into. But now I am really pulling for Michigan and for all those in the only state with a higher unemployment rate than South Carolina. (Of course their governor will actually accept the stimulus money and those folks might someday see some relief.) So if the underdog wins, will it help to feed any families? Maybe not, but what reason could anyone have to actually pull for UNC except for the selfish aspect of seeing our name at the top of the list. So come on Margaret and admit that you really want Michigan to take it all.

Nell vs. Margaret

We enjoyed watching the UNC-Villanova game, though Meredith's dad did not enjoy it in the least. (There was some swearing involved.) My quick estimate of the standings is that Margaret will win if UNC wins, but if Michigan wins, Nell will pull off a stunning upset, leaping into first place. I'll continue unburying comments that I'd like to see as posts. Here's Ron's response to Piers's comment that Ron's a moral reprobate for choosing UConn: ----- If somebody came to me in August 1939 and said "Hitler's planning on invading Poland - wanna make a gentlemen's bet on who wins?" am I a Nazi if I call it right? Or if Todd Keithley challenges Mike Tyson to a fight, am I a rapist if pick Tyson? Am I a lawyer if I pick Todd? At day's end the scoreboard does all the smack-talking that needs to be talked. I refer you all to my bracket and the standings for "comment." SCOREBOARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ----- The scoreboard is telling a different story now, Ron, but at least you bragged once while you could. I'd like to see Margaret and Nell start trading insults but I think the odds of that happening are pretty low.

Jonah, Felix, and Lauren

Just a small point, but Lauren's (wonderful) rankings have Jonah the Whale ahead of Felix the Cat by one spot, when I think in the real rankings they are (and will remain, with 0 ppr each) tied. Felix picked Wake Forest to win it all, while Jonah picked Duke, so I do like to think of Felix as first among equals (in 18th place).

What if college basketball had a bowl system?

For our mid-week slow-down, a nice attempt to follow through on a thought suggested by The Onion (click here): a listing of all the basketball 'bowl' match-ups we might have seen if there were no NCAA tournament. At least the not very Gamecocks would have gotten a bid! Outback Bowl, Tampa, Fla. Penn State (26-11) vs. South Caroliona (21-10)

Paging Dr. Birnbaum

The smack has picked up beautifully around here! I particularly enjoyed Margaret asking Dodie whether he spent more time photoshopping his cereal box than picking his bracket. Although Margaret thought it might be poor manners to smack down her cousins from her #1 spot, I believe there's nothing better than smack from the lead. Which brings me to Dr. Ron Birnbaum. I'll pose again the question I asked last year: If you enter a bragging-rights-only pool but never brag, did you really enter? Also, here's a comment by Piers that I didn't want to get buried (I think it's safe to say that Ron is not checking the comments on this blog): Paging Dr. Birnbaum! As the only one to pick UConn to win it all, there is a VERY good chance you'll be sitting atop McDowHoops. Better get in now if you want to maximize limelight. (Unless, of course, you think the NCAA will do everything in its power to keep those rule-violators from winning the championship. You really must be a moral reprobate to have picked UConn to win it all.)