20050318

Tip - If your date forgets his gun in the restaurant, it's not a good sign!

What I like most is that you just went out there, you made your picks & you obviously didn't care what anyone thought about them.

You know me, dog, I always keep it most real, but your picks ... they were a little pitchy. They were just ai-ight with me.

Those picks remind me of something you might find in a third rate karaoke bar. A complete waste of $5 if you ask me.

Bada bing, college boy!

The Great American
March Madness
NCAA Basketball Pool

"Alabama ... America has voted and you're gone."

his Christmas Card list ya know .. well, until yesterday that is. It's not so much that the tournament started off nicely for Dave, but rather for his ACC bound Boston College Eagles who faced off against the University of Pennsylvania yesterday in a much anticipated 1st round match up. After starting the season something like 20-0, the Eagles hit the skids over the last month or so and a lot of folks were picking this one as their upset special (including, apparently, members of my own household I'm told!). Boston College however managed to get back on track yesterday and, to paraphrase Sonny Corleone, ended up going bada bing all over Penn's nice Ivy League suit. Boston College will now face off against the aforementioned Wisconsin-Milwaukee, who as you may have heard, I correctly predicted would win yesterday. Yeah, that's right. Biggest upset of the day and I called it (hey, I don't exactly have a lot to brag about so far and have to take what I can get, capice?)

With day #1 in the books the leader board is looking like this::

Seacrest � OUT!

We also were very fortunate to have a couple of celebrity judges volunteer to comment on some of our selections. They decided to review the picks of a randomly chosen participant, in this case my neighbor, Leah "I'm beating Jason by 1" Cadek. Here's what they had to say:

state powerhouse, Farleigh Dickinson, all the way to the Final 4 and figured he was pretty much a lock for last place. Not being satisfied with that though, at the last minute he then decided to play a SECOND sheet and has Vermont, Oakland, and LA-Lafayette in the Final Four on that one. Of course, in an obvious effort to try and replace me on Dawson's Christmas card list he picked Boston College to win it all. I think Dennis may have as much chance of winning as Robert Blake does of getting a wedding anniversary gift. (Hey, wasn't that something by the way ... Robert Blake ... back on the dating circuit again? Whodathunkit?! And what a catch he'd make, ay ladies? Absolutely to die for.)

Don't feel too bad for Dennis though. He still has his friends. Like Corinne Watterworth for instance. Oh, wait ... maybe not the best example. Sorry about that, Dennis.

Hey, on another note � guess what! The former Nigerian Minister of Finance (or something or other) emailed me the other day with this great opportunity. Appears he's heard I have a reputation for fairness and integrity and asked me to do him a favor (apparently he's unaware of "The Chuck Miller Scandal" from 1996). Seems he's come into a considerable sum of money and needs my help in making sure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands. Long story, short ... I told him I couldn't help him out, but after a few emails I convinced him to join the pool. He's going with Kansas over Wake Forrest.

Speaking of Dennis, I think he is going to be getting his money back. I had noticed initially how he was planning on riding that garden

Ya know, looking at Dennis' picks again, it reminds me ... Tom Byron points out that if Oakland ends up winning the whole thing, they'll actually finish above .500 at 19-18.

North Carolina
Illinois
Duke
Connecticut
Kentucky
Oklahoma St.
Wake Forest
Kansas
Louisville
Oklahoma
Arizona
Boston Coll.
Florida
Syracuse
Texas Tech

36
25
16
10
7
6
6
3
3
2
1
1
1
1
1

Don Goehring, Stephanie Carpenter, Tom Byron (2)
Bill Corcoran, Patrick Sinnard, Sebastian
Adam Jabs, Deb Poliquin
Vito Peraino (2)
Dennis Fardy (2)
Peter Parsons
Dave Bach
Dennis Fardy (1)

A review of the selections indicates that UNC and Illinois monopolized things garnering 51% of the vote. Interestingly, the Albuquerque region's #1 and #3 seeds, Washington and Gonzaga, didn't get a single selection. Mrs. Commish (aka my current wife) wanted to pick Gonzaga, but only because she just likes to say the name. Hey, don't laugh. I picked Southern Illinois for the same reason ... I just like to say "Salukis." Matter of fact, in a perfect world there'd be a team called the "Gonzaga Salukis." That'd be "wicked." Anyhoo, the breakdown went as follows:

Ya know, I take it back about Dennis Fardy. He's a rascally one alright. He splits his eggs between BC's and Bobby Knight's baskets. If they come through, he's sitting pretty. If they don't, he probably gets his $5 back.

Team No. Who had em?

In a day largely void of major upsets, the #5 Alabama Crimson Tide, in what was not much of a big surprise, are now "one and done," having been soundly beaten in early Thursday afternoon action by the #12 seed Wisconsin-Milwaukee. A number of big guns such as Illinois, Wake Forrest, Gonzaga, and Arizona got themselves in some trouble but all managed to pull out the "w"s. Not so for Alabama who got behind big early, tried a couple of times to make a game of it, but in the end got whooped up on pretty good. Thanks for playing, Bama, now go home. Do not pass go. Do not collect $100. Just leave. Now. The Commish called that one by the way. Not that I'm one to mention that type of thing. Oh, wait, too late.

15
14

13

Don "My brother in law" Goehring
Brian "Calvin" Klein
Frank "Mac Daddy" McGurrin #1
Kelly "Thomas More trio" Taylor
Matt "One ahead of the old man" Reitzel
Rosie Peraino
Tom "It pays to play 2 sheets" Byron #2
Tie between 31 people

The Commish is in the clubhouse with a less than stellar 11 wins. Dennis "The Menace" Fardy brings up the rear with 7 points.

Well, the tournament certainly started off nicely for longtime participant Dave ("The Canton Crusher") Dawson. Hey, I used to be on

I bet Jon Harris is glad this isn't HIS brother-in-law!

Can't imagine brother Dominick is too thrilled about this development

Pts Participant

PS - If you're looking for yesterday's update, you can find it here.