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You are not going to win!
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Kentucky comes into the tournament a prohibitive favorite.
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Hatboro, PA (Sports Network) -
Resign yourself to it. Why do you think
one major site ran a contest for someone to win $1,000,000 if they selected
all the correct winners and the next prizes in line were a TV set and a box of
Cocoa Krispies Cereal? How about tossing in use of the homes of Derek Jeter
and Tiger Woods in Florida on alternate weekends?
How tough could it have been to select Kentucky, Syracuse (okay, it was
close), Kansas State, Vanderbilt, Wisconsin, Ohio State, NC State, Cincy and a
few others? Big sport that you are, you gave some of the same teams to your
wife's entry and then chose a few outlandish "might happen with significant
prayer" choices for her just in case. However, when it does not and she
questions you about it only to receive a double talking fumbling response
laced with coulda, woulda, mighta, shoulda and how no one else did it so why
not be way ahead of the pack if and when, make sure that the sheets on the bed
in the guestroom have been changed recently.
The evils of gambling do not cover the brackets that are printed out
everywhere from the White House to Wall Street, New York to L.A., Canada to
Mexico. It is a zany time for college hoops. One misstep for the better
teams and it is a lonely trip home. For the others of lesser
quality...Lehigh, LIU (Brooklyn - is there any other?), Saint Louis, Harvard,
St. Bonaventure, Loyola (MD), Lamar, Belmont, Detroit...did they really show
up with serious belief in their respective coaches speeches about how they can
win if they play their best and "they put their uniforms on the same we do"
impassioned pleas? The problem is that those uniforms in the other locker
room go on stronger, taller, more experienced bodies.
This time around it definitely looks like Duke, Kentucky, Michigan State and
Missouri are going to push on together with a hesitant and teetering Syracuse,
Ohio State, North Carolina and Kansas. Yes, of course, one or more
(unlikely) might be upset but these are the pick of the litter. It does not
take incredible expertise to make that statement. But, but, but...you are
starting to sound like Mel Tillis. Of course, there can be an upset, maybe
more than one but this year, more than any other in recent history, does not
look like the place for underdogs to gather and do victory dances before
cutting the net down.
I always wondered why they cut the net down when it can simple be unhooked
from the rim and remain in one piece...with greater ease I might add. Oh
well...apparently a ladder, scissor and shredded net adds more drama to the
eventual victory.
Enter the average bracket and you find that all those check marks, teams
highlighted early on by a magic marker are meaningless. The points start in
elite eight and final four, down to the championship and the total
points/final score tie-breaker. So, hang in there Snoopy. Let the
aggravation settle in 'cause winners in the first and second rounds just come
with some bragging rights aside from the expected victors. Like all of you
that went to UNLV thinking of what they were years ago and never having seen
Colorado play figuring if it wasn't something on skis how good could they be?
I am not sure that it is lunacy run by the unbalanced (well, maybe if you
include the selection committee), wackiness or fodder for those with delusions
of grandeur for two of their choices going down to the championship game and
then, in the midst of proclamations made to one and all via voluminous e-
mails, the absurdity of declarations of knowing more about college basketball
than anyone in the land because your team donned the shirts and doffed the
caps as the final buzzer sounded and the fans that made the trip to New
Orleans make Bourbon Street worthy of its reputation.
This is it troops, it is underway and has our attention right up to April 2nd.
No, I do not see Florida State playing Michigan State in the final game but
Roz, my wife, does. Do you? Or do most of you have Kentucky, Duke, North
Carolina, Ohio State, Kansas clawing their way into the last few?
Face it, one upset and you are out of it! One errant pass, one lucky shot or
stupid foul committed and you become a TV fan. But, your "pool" was not going
to settle the college education debt so enjoy the games, root for your teams,
grab a lucky break now and then and who knows?
You want to know who I have in the Final Two? The Final Four?
You gotta be kidding!
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