NCAA Tourney

Sorry all my dedicated readers (both of you) but for the next month this will be the home of the Sullivan Family Bracket Challenge. Hope you can bear with us until March Madness is over. But here is the first installment.

Welcome all you hardwood hacks, to the Third Annual Sullivan Family Bracket Challenge. Queen Kris is back in the mix after a year long reign and is putting her title on the line. But until someone knocks her off, we must continue to bow. Let’s do it!

The first round was one of thrill and major upsets. All the number one seeds moved on, but the two’s and three’s were not so lucky. UCLA and Memphis go down in the first round, both by missing free throws in crunch time. And how about Arkansas? USC jumped out to an early lead with their star players, Cherie and Rob. But in the end, off a missed jumper by Trojan forward Kris, Razorback center Mema collects the rebound with ten seconds left. She pushed it ahead to sophomore guard Carol, who penetrated and dished to fifth year senior Kevin on the wing. Kevin, with Abe’s hand in his face, releases and buries the three and the hopes of the Trojan picking traitors. ……Wouldn’t that have been nice?

Well, what can I say about the Hogs in reality? We’re consistent. One and done. I think I could just cut and paste last year’s first paragraph, but that would be too generous. Let’s see, what went well for us last night? The tip-off was nice. Then there’s the fact that we didn’t lose by 18. And that’s about it. The Stan Heath bullet has been loaded and the hammer is cocked, we’ll soon see if lame duck Frankie pulls the trigger. Let’s move on before I start crying like that little girl I bit on the playground in first grade.

As I mentioned before, this is the third year of our little bracket challenge, and it has seen healthy progressive growth. Here’s this year’s line-up, in reverse alphabetical order:

1. Tracee – thinks she has the right ingredients this year
2. Robert – he has the time, the experience, and the ‘stache, he ought to win
3. Pepa – hope he picks winners better than he shoots ducks
4. Monkey – he’s an imaginary figment, and he’ll probably beat you
5. Mike – looking for his first win, aren’t we all (be quiet Kelly S. and Kris)
6. Michelle – she ain’t no cupcake, this rookie’s looking to make statement
7. Mema – Mema’s statement: “I believe in Arkansas, and I shouldn’t”
8. Queen Kris – trying to be the first back to back champ
9. Kevin – previous winners were Kelly S. and Kris, Kevin hopes he’s the next ‘K’
10. Kelly S. – looking to avenge his unsuccessful title defense
11. Kelly G. – Please Kansas, just win one!
12. Drew – Drew? Who? You may know soon.
13. Chuck – Prater head of house who red-shirted last year, but is back in form
14. Chris G. – teases people and then runs and hides
15. Cherie – tee’n em up, and drivin’ em long
16. Carol – gonna set the skeptics straight
17. Abe – not gonna set the skeptics straight

Abe, for the newcomers, is a bracket populated by Abraham Lincoln. No, we didn't dig him up, but we did flip a penny for each game. As you can see, it's not the desirable way to win a bracket pool. The Monkey, is the bracket that we let Mike fill out. Just kidding, it's a bracket that is filled out based entirely on favorites. The favorite is always the winner. With all #1's in the final four, the teams are ranked 1Florida, 2North Carolina, 3Ohio State, 4Kansas. This is to see how you stack up against the selection committee. I call it the Monkey, because even a monkey can pick favorites. I know, that in reality, the monkey probably would have eaten the bracket and then thrown some feces at me, but just humor me.

The point awarding system is the same as always, 1 for a first round win, 2 for a second, 4 third, 8 fourth, 16 fifth, and 32 for a champion. This is the official way of scoring, the other two systems are just for fun. The Upset scoring gives you points for selecting upsets. You get points equaling the seed number of your winner. If you pick a 12 seed, and they win, you get 12 points. If Florida wins, you get 1. The Games Won method is, well, come on, if you can't figure it out, ask Mema.

Here’s what you’ve been waiting for:
First Round Results
Rank / Name / Points / Games won / Upset score
1 Rob / 29 / 29 / 129
2 Kris / 28 / 28 / 119
3 Monkey / 27 / 27 / 108
4 Cherie / 26 / 26 / 105
5 Chris / 25 / 25 / 98
5 Michelle / 25 / 25 / 103
5 Mike / 25 / 25 / 110
8 Carol / 24 / 24 / 90
8 Kelly G / 24 / 24 / 99
8 Kelly S / 24 / 24 / 101
8 Kevin / 24 / 24 / 96
12 Chuck / 23 / 23 / 84
12 Pepa / 23 / 23 / 83
14 Mema / 21 / 21 / 75
14 Tracee / 21 / 21 / 81
16 Drew / 20 / 20 / 74
17 Abe / 16 / 16 / 69

As you can see, it pays to be a hater, as the top four all picked USC over Arkansas. Well, so did Abe, but he’s a coin, he has no emotion or sense of treason. One thing’s for certain Abe would never put his own self interests over those of his state.

Anyway, I’ll post on the web a list of all the teams that were chosen by you to make it to the final four, the teams chosen to win the tourney, and the people who have lost a final four team already. And there is more than one person with a final four team lost. The website is http://rulerman.blogspot.com. Or on MySpace it’s http://www.myspace.com/cmglaze, and hit the blog link. Anyway, good luck today, and look for another email Sunday night or Monday afternoon.

Chris
Bracket Operations Manager (I’m the Bom)

Kelly G
Bom’s Assistant for Bracket Examination (she’s the Babe)