First Impressions

When I was looking at colleges (in the fall of 1991), I visited Villanova on a beautiful, wintery Saturday afternoon. I hated it. I've never been able to say why, but I did. I don't have the same passionate dislike now that I did then - but I still picked American to beat Villanova tonight. With a score of 55-55 currently, it is possible that I will be right. And I'll be the only one of the currently top-ranked people who did. In fact, Erin may be the only other person who called it like this. Can't wait to see how this one turns out...

Bracketology vs. Bracketometry

It's the same old story: you have a degree in bracketology, but all the easy money seems to be going to the bracketometrists. And you studied so long. Well, welcome to McDowHoops, where anyone can win. (Let the record show that in 2006, a joke bracket won the whole thing. And a two-year-old picking by mascots came in second.) But who are all these bracketometrists? For your edification, here are all the entrants with their age groups. We do not publish weight classes. Or cholesterol levels. Please note: In order to attract a higher quality clientele, we use discretion in sharing information with third parties. I have taken the liberty of spamicizing the last names in the list so that your future employer will not be able to use Google to link you to this site. (! is i; 0 is o; = is e) Barack 0bama [45+] Brian R!chards [30-45] Chuck Jenk!ns [15-30] Clarkson McD0w [45+] David Le0nhardt [30-45] Dodie McD0w [30-45] Eddie Bl^ck [30-35] Eleanor M0lvig [1-15] Erin F!tzpatrick [30-45] Diego R!ncon [30-45] Felix Le0nhardt [1-15] Greg Rask!n [30-45] Jeff Gumb!nner [30-45] Jim G0ff [45+] Jonah Le0nhardt [1-15] Lauren McD0w [30-45] Leslie McD0w [30-45] Maggie Gumb!nner [30-45] Maggie Lou McD0w [1-15] Mary R!ncon [30-45] Nell Jenk!ns [45+] Nellie Jenk!ns [15-30] Ole Molv!g [30-45] Piers Turn=r [30-45] Randy McD0w [30-45] Ron B!rnbaum [30-45] Rush L!mbaugh [45+] Stefany D=ese [30-45] Thomas McD0w (x2) [45+] Todd Ke!thley [30-45] Will McD0w [30-45]

The Eight-Team Pool

Obviously I'm rooting for the University of Washington and, as I did last year with WSU, I now provide you all with some home-state photography (this is the UW campus). So I wound up entering four pools, which is a lot for a guy who won't watch any games at all (our TV gets no reception). The office pool, the courthouse pool, the Audacity of Hoops, and an unusual pool run by med school friends, "the eight-team pool." In the eight-team pool, you pick eight teams and every time one wins, you earn the number of points corresponding to that team's rank. So if you pick UNC, you'll probably receive 4 or 5 points total, 1 point for each win. Whereas if you picked Maryland, you already would have 10 points in the bag... but you'd have run the risk of zero points from that team. One strategy would be to try to pick the likeliest upsets (Maryland, Texas A&M, USC, Tennessee) and hope you're right on all of them and win 80 or 90 points. If you think the winner is sure to be someone who just happens to make amazingly lucky picks, then your only hope of winning is to try to be that amazingly lucky person. In other words, to generate a score high enough to win, you're forced to bet on risky outcomes. My hope is that there are not enough people in the pool for someone to get lucky on every single pick. So I went for a blended approach, with some "sure thing" bets and some stretches, hoping that some better-than-expected performances will net me an average of eight points from each of my eight teams. My picks were: Kansas, Wake Forest, West Virginia, USC, Duke, UCLA, Texas, Clemson. Thoughts? I see now that if Duke and Texas both win, they would play each other the next round, so that was a dumb move.

Blogging Ain't Easy for an Oldtimer

Each year I have to relearn this stuff. My first check of my bracket and my dream of the perfect bracket is deferred until next year. Never bet on Texas A&M because they are part military college and part civilian with the worst aspects of both. Memphis survived though Will tried to scare me. I have them going all the way because Mary Ann is from Memphis and they will be hungry to prove themselves since the Big East committee didn't favor them with a number one seed. If New Jersey ain't yankee, then why don't they serve grits for breakfast? I never got around to a specialty bracket, but had I done one it would have been entitled "The Big Least Bracket." It would have bet on no Big East team past the second round except we would give Syracuse one more win for that great game last Thursday night and also for our deep affection for Piers. They should have named this the Big East Invitational because of the NCAA's long standing prejudice in favor of the Big East which is almost but not quite matched by their love of the ACC and the Big Ten. The Big Ten no longer consists of ten teams which leads one to wonder if they have gotten around to admitting which of them is no longer big. I would also not give much weight to Big 12 schools on the theory that only conferences with a poor self image would feel compelled to include "big" in their name. We seem to have a good group entered this year but I didn't see Thomas's entry. He could have entered a bracket based on the highest average SAT score. Is there anyone out there who doesn't wish Davidson was in this year? They have a great team, a great coach and one of the best and most exciting player in college basketball. If I hear one more commentator talk about the "full body of work," as if that means anything, I may have to puke all over myself. I was trying to think of a more dignified expression but need to get back to work. Good luck and may all of your teams win unless I failed to pick them. For those on the road to Rock Hill I am looking forward to seeing you and your children. Have safe travels. Clarkson

Upset watch - Memphis

#2 seed (and one of my final four teams) is in a nail biter with Cal St Northridge late in the second half. And reports emerging that Jim Calhoun will not coach UConn today due to illness. Back to work. (Kinda.)

When idols collide

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/03/18/coack-k-disses-obamas-basketball-picks/ Where are Will's loyalties in this?

A Couple of Annotated Brackets

Liner notes on Jonah's and Felix's brackets... Wake: Nate's mom went there Duke: We're going to North Carolina for vacation Connecticut: It's close to New Hampshire Siena: We drive one. Also, it sounds like Ruben Sierra Minnesota: The Twins play there Boston College: Red Sox, baby! Maryland: Our state Also, J & F would like to engage in a little younger-generation smalk talk: "Hey, Silas, your dad is even balder than ours." (There is a back story here. It involves me selling Todd down the river.)

Hello all

We Leonhardts are ready to go. Jonah and Felix watched 5 minutes of one game this year, in an auto dealership, while Laura, Eva and I were checking out minivans. That's the sum total of our family's 2008-9 NCAA knowledge. But we're ready to do battle nonetheless, proudly standing with our local American University Eagles (for one round, at least). Depending on how tomorrow morning goes, Jonah and Felix may be contributing their own bracket, too. Thanks for having us.

Method Brackets

Don't forget to enter a "joke" or "method" bracket if you like. I've now entered one, though relatively uninspired: BigEastDream. It picks Big East Teams, or the better Big East Team, to win -- and otherwise picks other big conference teams (from the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC, and Pac-10) to lose. Where two smaller conference teams play each other, it picks the better team to win. Where I had to pick between two evenly-matched, non-Big East but big conference teams, I let my prejudices guide me. -------- And here's a reminder of happier (and more melodramatic) times in Rock Hill:

Gamecocks Cooked with Curry

An early (NIT) tourney split in the Durham McDow household gives the early bragging rights to Wildcat grad Leslie.  While Davidson tried to give the game to USC, the 'cocks where polite hosts and insisted Davidson win.

Clarkson, on the bright side, at least now you won't be distracted from your smack talk by any affections for teams left in the Dance.  Onward to Thursday.

Will

Loyalty

Boston College is at the dance (again) this year which is great for me.  I can talk a whole lot of smack - for at least one round - about my school.  But since I haven't seen a single basketball game since the 2007 tourny (if even then), loyalty will be the only muse I have.

I'm looking forward to seeing most of you this weekend in Rock Hill, and following the SMACKDOWN here-

MC

ESPN Group is Live

Despite Georgia getting no teams in the Tourney and SC only getting the Tigercubs dancing, we will hold the annual McDowHoops smack down.  Those from Georgia can plead sleep deprivation and just post pictures of their kid.

I'll send a link tomorrow, but for those who can't wait, the group name McDowHoops has been created on ESPN Tourney challenge website.

The password is the McDow hometown, all lowercases, no spaces.

Will

Teams?

Can someone remind me what teams are McDowHoops ones? Here's my recollection (tell me what I'm forgetting): IN: Boston College Syracuse Duke Tennessee Pittsburgh OUT: Winthrop South Carolina George Washington George Mason Roanoke Georgia Tech Citadel Davidson Washington State Yale Does MA have a Memphis connection? What else is there? Will the South Carolinians support Clemson? :) Seems like a tough year on the school loyalty front. Personal note: this year I'll also be pulling a little bit for Ohio State (Abby and I are taking up jobs there next fall), Binghamton (central New York connection), and Portland State (they offered me a job).

Impending Madness

I'm ready for y'all. I've been studiously avoiding watching anything but Pitt games so that I will have an excuse for losing again this year. Go Panthers!

Coming soon: McDow Hoops 2009

Stay tuned...

I missed it!

I missed the exciting final, unfortunately, due to time zone issues. Sounded like a great game. I have received several emails from students expressing their state of depression after UNC's collapse. Even worse, Dick Vitale was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame. I liked the blog, as you could probably tell. But others should chime in about next year... maybe with an email to me or Will (as Dodie suggests). Thanks for the memories!

Postmortem

Will and Piers, thanks for spearheading this friendly competition. I thought the blog was great, and hope others did too. And by "others," I mean the people who didn't post. Email is more accessible for some folks, but I think the tradeoffs are probably worth it. Will and Piers, you might want to poll the non-posters to get their thoughts. It'd be great to have a few more voices talking smack next year. Some final thoughts: 1. Congratulations to Maggie Lou for beating Abby! 2. I'm feeling charitable this morning, so I'm not going to issue final grades. Sorry, Mook. Or, if you want, consider everyone to have received an "A." Even Ole, Sarah, and the Mysterious Crawford. However, ask yourselves: if you enter a bragging rights pool and never brag, did you really enter? 3. In the bragging-rights pool run by our Goucher friends, the winner is referred to as "Sir" for the rest of the year. "Sir Jay" is handing the title this year to "Sir Natalie." I think that is pretty funny. Much as I shudder at the thought of a "Sir Raskin," we should consider a similar award for coming in first place in McDow Hoops. (But you're too late for "Sir Clarkson" this year... Clarkson.) 4. Lauren's top five: Dode, D. McDow 1129 Will, karma stinks, M. Gumbinner 1103 Hipster Pickster, C. McDow 1102 Jim Goff, W. McDow 1100 Will_McDow, W. McDow 1075 The actual top five: Hipster Pickster, C. McDow 1110 Frank Maguire was right!, J. Gumbinner 1090 Leslie McDow, W. McDow 1070 RPI or RIP?, C. McDow 1060 Dode, D. McDow 990 5. What the heck was Frank Maguire or McGuire right about?

Those Tigers Have No Charity Stripes

The Memphis Tigers might practice their free throws in the off
season. Their poor shooting from the line killed them.

Holy cow!

Amazing shot from Kansas. A three-pointer with 2.1 seconds to go. We're going to OT!!!

Halftime Enchiladas Finished; ready for second half

Having been absent for most of the tourney, I might not have much standing to ask, "Where is everyone?"  Just 20 minutes of smack left.

Who's not rooting for the school where you can beat your feet in the mud?

Hillary scores!

Congrats to the Hipster!

Clarkson shares his top picks with none other than Hillary Clinton, who has Kansas and Memphis in the championship, with Memphis winning it all.

In the last few contests, Clinton managed to outpace Obama, 870 to 780, with 160 PPR (to Obama's zero PPR -- he had UNC beating UCLA in the championship).

It remains to be seen what mileage her campaign will get out of this. Is there a metaphor here? Could she pull off a similar upset with the superdelegates?

And the Winner Is??

The post claiming victory said it was from Will. I got confused when Clarkson didn't sign his name (though I should have recognized his writing style). Congrats to Clarkson! -Mook

From Nell

I agree wholeheartedly with Mary Croom.  We have really funny and witty people in this family and extended family. I am sorry that I did not get more involved with the blogging, but unlike Clarkson, I don’t have a nifty blackberry to stay on top of communication where ever I am.  In fact the state of South Carolina mistakenly thinks that this blogging thing is just a social activity and has blocked the site from our office network.  How am I supposed to stay cutting edge sharp and competitive??  So I know both my bracket scores and blogging grade are not up to McDow standards.  There’s always next year.

And isn’t it Clarkson claiming victory?

Nell

Honorable Mention

I realize that there is still another game to be played before the tournament is over. But Will has already claimed victory, so I thought it time to start in with the Honorable Mentions. We have A LOT of funny people on this blog but by far, I found Stew-Baller's post on March 30th to be the funniest: Of course, I'd probably be inclined to skip class too if my Professor kept pausing his lecture to blog about his losing bracket. So Todd, as you are working on the final grades, I'd like to put in a good word for my funny cousin. -Mook

Yowzer

I'll just say Clarkson deserves everything he gets. I'm in Heathrow Airport and thought I'd check in. This is great! Way to go underdogs! Go Memphis!

We Have a Winner!

Memphis by 2?  UNC by 3?  Don't listen to a bunch of gamblers when the  sage advice of the Hipster Pickster is available.   Many of you wrote me off. I will let Lauren be the final word on the math but I must respectfully suggest that we have a winner and it is yours truly. Only four of us have our chosen campion in the final game. One of those is Maggie Lou. 
      The mysterious Crawford couldn't keep up after a blistering start. His parents should have read him the story of the tortoise and the hare.
         I am deeply humbled by my victory and I could not have done it without my team mates.  I took it one game at a time and played within myself. As they say when the going gets tough the tough get going. The game is not over until the fat lady sings and she sang for UNC early tonight though they attepted a come back. To all UNC fans: which North Carolina school gave Kansas the best game?
      Piers should know that McDow is a Scottish name.  That picture looked a little like the forming of the food line at Thanksgiving.
       The Memphis-Kansas game should be a good one. If anyone wants to learn more about bracetology,  I would be willing to trad some picking tips for some blogging lessons.
       I still think Davidson was the story of the tournament. They did great and I am sorry they weren't playing tonight. Next year The Citadel will break their long streak and make it to the Big Dance.
--------------------------
Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld

PPR = Zero; Smack Talk = Zero

I find, oddly, that with my PPR now being nothing, I have nothing to offer for smack... -Mook

Pee-yu

I am glad that UNC was playing in San Antonio. They stunk it up so
bad I'd be worried about the our dear residents of Carrboro and
Durham being gassed by the noxious vapor. And Psycho T was psycho,
thinking somehow at the end that he could win the game solo.

I picked UNC to win it all, and they almost came back tonight, but
their first half was horrible. Not much else to say.

The Line

Just checked the betting lines: Memphis to win by 2 UNC to win by 3 Looks like the professional gamblers think UNC is far more evenly matched than the sMaCkDOWn poll would lead you to believe.

Are the McDows Scottish?

It just occurred to me that my trip to Scotland could be a McDowHoops pilgrimage of sorts. Minimal research suggests that the McDow clan was a basketball powerhouse during the reign of James VI. Known as sore losers but excellent marksmen, their strategy was to intimidate their opponents into forfeiting. Below is a picture of the McDow clan after a rare loss.

I'm not totally sure, but I think Clarkson may have just jinxed both Memphis and Kansas

Good thing I'm off to Scotland from Saturday until next Wednesday, so I won't have to watch one of those perennial powerhouses UNC or UCLA win it all. Yawn.

Of course, with the internet broadcast, maybe I'll be up at 2AM watching the final.

I think there may be some haggis in my near future! Will and Leslie just let me know if you want me to bring some back for you.

"Don't look back. Somebody might be gaining of you."

For those of you who have long since counted me out, I have done some math as they taught me at Central Elementary School in Rock Hill. Lauren and Georgia Tech math could prove me wrong, and it would not be the first time, but the Hipster Pickster is still alive and well at least until the first game is played on Saturday. I have three teams left in the final four and picked Memphis and Kansas to win Saturday with Memphis winning the championship. No one ahead of me has this deadly duo in the finals nor do they have Memphis winning it all. Therefore, if I am correct for these three games, I pick up 400 points and finish with 1270. Jeff would pick up 120 and finish a distant second. Leslie and my RPI method pick would also pick up 120 and finish behind me. None of the other leaders, including the Mysterios Crawford, would get any additional points. No team this year has beaten Davidson this year and then lost their next game. So Kansas is a shoe into the finals. Memphis is the place I was married and where Will and other famous personages were born. How can they lose? Only if they eat too many ribs from the Rendezvous waiting for the game to start could they possible lose. Therefore, my bracket is much alive and well. I am not sure if anyone can win if they lose any of the remaining games so my chances are as good as anyone's.

Half explanation

Todd, your chair throwing insight only captures part of Dodie's picture. What about the "plus" sign? I think that Dodie is trying to say that Bob Knight's throwing chairs has been a positive thing for basketball. Unless the "plus" sign is really a cross, in which case Dodie's point must be that Knight has been unfairly crucified for his throwing chairs, by those who don't understand him. Unless the "plus" sign is really a stylized tree in winter, in which case Dodie's point is that chairs are made from trees. Cricket in NYC. Just another sign that we need to tighten up our immigration policy! Looks like UNC is the favorite among our crowd. I also take it that means we'll all be rooting against them!

Without citing sMaCkDOWn, NYC Schools add Cricket League

City adds sport; suggest new al-time best player.

On Wednesday, the Department of Education inaugurated cricket as its newest league sport, with about 600 high school students playing on 14 teams during a 12-game season. The first matches, held in Queens, featured teams from John Adams, Richmond Hill, Aviation and Newcomers High Schools.

The Department of Education said New York is the only public school system in the nation to offer competitive cricket.

“The grass-roots American kids who are not 6-foot-10 and 300 pounds can play this,” he said. He pointed out that perhaps the best cricket player in history, Donald Bradman, who played for Australia in the 1930s and 1940s, was 5-foot-7.

I don't get it.

Someone (Dodie?) explain the chair to me. Is the plus sign supposed to be there? It shows up in Firefox but only half of it appears on Explorer. 10:34 update: Wait a sec. Bobby Knight throws chairs. Right? Right? Hey, does this guy know basketball or what!

For Clarkson, from Piers's Post Below

+

Because everyone needs some encouragement

HRC Wants to Bowl Against Obama

http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=865c05efa09d24cd3235ef937af596a63a55fff2 (I'm somewhere between Piers and Clarkson in blogging. I'm not sure how to put the video in here.)

"This isn't Nam. This is bowling."

Piers, could it be that you are posting in an attempt to move this photo lower and lower on the blog?

The best bowlers ever, in my book:

No Piers, *this* is the best bowler ever:

Where is everybody?