20050317

Stuff you
really needed to know BEFORE now

Fate (center) prepares to give The Commish (right) "the business,"

Huh?

"Baby, if you've ever wondered,
Wondered whatever became of me,
I'm living on the air in Cincinnati,
Cincinnati, WKRP"

WKRP's Nessman: collected News Hawks like they were candy

The Great American
March Madness
NCAA Basketball Pool

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know what you're thinking. The guy takes a year off and when he comes back he's still using sitcom theme songs from 25 years ago? It seems that, well, my arsenal of cutting edge cultural references ended in the 80's sometime. Also appears I have become what they call "old." Or so my kids tell me. But hey, you do have to admit though that that WKRP quote is kinda appropriate to open this years pool, no? What with the old Commish resurfacing this year, and in Cincinnati of all places? And best of all, it's also an excuse for me to trot out my archive photo of Les Nessman, three time winner of the much coveted "Buckeye News Hawk Award."

Considering that I did take a year off last year, I think we came back pretty strong with an impressive 119 total entries. And at $5 a shot, the total pot this year stands at $595. And as we've always done, payouts will be made on the following basis:

1st Place

2nd Place

3rd Place

Last Place

Best 1st Rd

$339

$169.50

$56.50

$5 refund

$25

- Opening theme, "WKRP In Cincinnati"

(60%)

(30%)

(10%)

to win the whole thing. That would be great if he wanted Arkansas, but they were in the NIT that year. Turns out he wanted ARIZONA of all teams! Yes, somebody from THE MAILROOM got the postal abbreviation for Arizona wrong (pssst! it's "Az"). And no, Windsor people, it wasn't Bill Fleming. Or how could I forget that one year when all those folks put down "MS" on their sheets for the winner of that first round matchup between Mississippi State and McNeese State?
Yep, that one's always been my personal favorite. So yeah, basically, CBS Sportsline rocks. Click on some of the links up top and you can poke around over there a bit. You can access any

they've got the guards, they play their regional in Chicago, they've got the whole karma thing working for them � in the end I just couldn't pick 'em. For starters, they're a Big 10 team for crying out loud! I mean, come on!! And hey, lets be honest here � it seems like every year they disappear from the tournament about as fast as Hurley's bag of in-flight pretzel's did on "Lost." Now, for those who don't watch "Lost," it's a show about a group of survivors of a plane crash who are marooned on this really bizarre, almost deserted, tropical island. So think Gilligan meets "X Files" and you kinda get the picture. Well, Hurley is this rather, um, "calorically challenged" individual (to put it tactfully) who even though they've been on that island for 18 episodes already (18 EPISODES!!!), he STILL hasn't lost any weight. My mom (aka The Widow Dennehy) insists he's actually GAINING weight. I think she may be onto something there. I predict it turns out he's got a secret stash of Twinkies somewhere on that island. That's what I think.

comes to the first round. Mrs. Commish and 10 year old daughter Lauren have combined to lead after the first round on three separate occasions over the years (losing two on tiebreakers though). And yours truly actually recorded the 3rd highest 1st round score in pool history in 2000 when I correctly nailed 30 out of 32. Only problem of course was that the two highest 1st round scores in pool history also came THAT SAME YEAR! Matter of fact, that's part of a pattern you'll notice with me in this thing. Every year the fickle hand of fate reaches out and brings me oh so tantalizingly close to victory and then ... WHAM! It gives me a Three Stooges poke in the eye at the very last minute. I think it's part of a curse really. "The Curse of The Commish" if you will. But ya know, now that the evil Red Sox have cast off their curse, maybe I'll be able to finally do the same. Yeah, that's got to be it. It's one of those "whatever doesn't kill ya only makes ya stronger" type of things. I think I might be like a team of destiny or something this year.

4-8-15-16-23-42

Marooned castaway Hurley:
"Dude ... I've just got a slow metabolism, okay?"

So with that in mind, like I said, I'm going with North Carolina over Illinois in the finals, with Louisville and Syracuse (or "Cuse" as Sean Farrelly would put it) rounding out the Final Four. And in the interest of full disclosure, the rest of my, and my immediate family's, selections at press time were as follows:

Final 4

Champ

Biggest
First
Round
Upsets?

The Commish

Illinois over Louisville
North Carolina over Syracuse

North Carolina over Illinois

#14 Utah St over Arizona
#12 Wis-Milwaukee over Alabama
#10 NC State over Charlotte
#10 Iowa over Cincinnati

other entrant's selections, the pool standings, the rules, etc. You can also click on "Pool History" if the ol' nostalgia bug hits ya, and you can go back and witness all of my failed attempts at NCAA glory. And feel free to post any thoughts or comments about the pool or the tournament on the message board as well. (please note my comments in the "Rules" about the email notification option!)

Well, things have obviously changed since our last pool. For starters, we're online now with our selections. So no more having to deal with collecting sheets, deciphering handwriting, tallying scores, yada, yada, yada. And best of all, no more "stupid abbreviations" such as "Cuse" (for Syracuse) or the almost as memorable "Oak" (for Oklahoma). Or the time one of the guys in the mailroom put "Ar" down

Speaking of predictions (oh, look at that segue!) those who have already checked out the "Pool History" section will no doubt be struck by the uncanny, Nostradamus-like ability of the Dennehy family when it

A month ago I thought this year's tourney looked pretty clear-cut. Illinois and North Carolina had both pretty much separated themselves from the rest of the field and it seemed there would be no stopping their eventual matchup in the championship game. But then Illinois wrecked their perfect season losing to THE Ohio State and UNC inexplicably got whacked by Georgia Tech in the ACC Tourney. And suddenly things were a little fuzzy, a notion seemingly borne out by the diverse selections made by our participants. A number of schools received their fair share of support but I was particularly surprised however by the LACK of support shown for UConn given our pool's sizeable representation from Husky Nation. I would have thought the UConn faithful would have been banking on the defending champs pulling off a little "d�j� vu all over again" ... to paraphrase Yogi (note to Corinne - that's Berra, not Bear).

And can somebody please explain to me what is up with Washington getting a #1 seed over Louisville? Or Wake Forrest for that matter? You have GOT to be kidding me! Even Rick Neuheisel has them losing early this year on his sheet!

Personally, I ended up going with both of the original favorites, North Carolina and Illinois, to go to the finals, with the Tar Heels eventually winning the whole thing. Even though I think Illinois is clearly the team to beat .. they've got depth, they play great defense,

Mrs Commish

Wake Forrest over Oklahoma State
North Carolina over Kentucky

North Carolina over Wake Forrest

#13 Pennsylvania over Boston College
#12 George Washington over Ga Tech
#12 New Mexico over Villanova
#12 Old Dominion over Michigan St

Since going to a 64 team field in 1985, the Final Four has NEVER consisted of all four #1 seeds.

In the 19 years since then, there have been 34 instances of teams seeded #13 or lower knocking off their 1st round opponent.

A #12 seed has advanced in 13 of the last 15 years.

Well, so much for getting a Christmas card from the Dawson family this year.

That's a wrap for today. Check back tomorrow for the next update. And oh ... Happy St Patrick's Day. I believe it's tradition for Irish basketball pool commissioners to receive free beer from their pool participants on this day, no? (I'm looking at you, Dan Sheedy!)

Final 4

Champ

Biggest
First
Round
Upsets?

Lauren Dennehy

Georgia Tech over Oklahoma St.
Kentucky over North Carolina

Kentucky over Georgia Tech

#14 Utah St over Arizona
#14 Winthrop over Gonzaga
#12 Wis-Milwaukee over Alabama

Jack Dennehy

Illinois over Louisville
Duke over North Carolina

Duke over Illinois

#13 Pennsylvania over Boston College
#10 St. Marys over So. Illinois

Oh, we are SOOOO not getting a Christmas card!

Best regards,

The Commish

Mrs Commish #2

Wake Forrest over Oklahoma State
Kentucky over North Carolina

Kentucky over Wake Forrest

#13 Pennsylvania over Boston College
#12 New Mexico over Villanova
#12 Old Dominion over Michigan St

PS - *sigh*
The wife at the 11th hour has now decided to play a second sheet

Final 4

Champ

Biggest
First
Round
Upsets?

More salt in Dawson's wound