20070316

K Diddy one minute Coach K-Fed the next?

SELECTION BREAKDOWN

Ohio St.
Florida
N. Carolina
Kansas
Georgetown
UCLA
Texas
Texas A&M
Oregon
Wisconsin (both by Jim Kelley)
Louisville (Mookie)
Memphis (Mark Braun)
Marquette (Pam Kobin)
Pittsburgh (Jim Barile)
Virginia (Dave Dawson)
BC (Corinne)
C. Conn. St. (Corinne)

The Great American
March Madness
NCAA Basketball Pool

I'LL VCingU LATER!

I have a saying. Yes, you heard correct: I have a saying. Everyone should have one really when ya think about it, kinda like Nascar drivers. In any event, my saying goes a little something like this: 'A bad day for Duke is a good day for America!" Isn't that a good saying? Thanks, I think so too.

So day #1 didn't exactly start out as one for the ages. Through the afternoon and into the early evening there were no buzzer beaters. No upsets. No Cinderellas. No shocking surprises. And then *it* happened. The Evil Empire, #6 seed Duke, suddenly found themselves in a life and death struggle last night against the upstart #11 VCU Rams. VCU hung around for awhile, with Duke just not able to put them away but when the Blue Devils

Buckeye nation hoping to exorcise their BCS demons?

12:15 PM
12:25 PM
12:30 PM
2:35 PM
2:35 PM
2:45 PM
2:50 PM
4:50 PM
7:10 PM
7:20 PM
7:25 PM
9:30 PM
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9:40 PM
9:45 PM

Albany #13
Georgia Tech #10
North Texas #15
Winthrop #11
Long Beach St. #12
Tex. A&M-CC #15
Creighton #10
Miami (Ohio) #14
Illinois #12
Purdue #9
New Mexico St. #13
Villanova #9
Holy Cross #13
Jackson St. #16
Arkansas #12

Virginia #4
UNLV #7
Memphis #2
Notre Dame #6
Tennessee #5
Wisconsin #2
Nevada #7
Oregon #3
Virginia Tech #5
Arizona #8
Texas #4
Kentucky #8
Southern Ill. #4
Florida #1
USC #5

knotted things with just over 10 seconds to go, you dared not get your hopes up. And then VCU's Eric Maynor, in a moment that will live in his school's history forever, took the inbounds pass and calmly drove down the floor before nailing a jumper with 1.8 seconds left to win it. And for a lifelong Duke hatah, like myself, it was ohhhhhhhh so sweet. The only thing that would have made it better would have been to see Coach K fall to the floor crying like that figure skater from Gonzaga last year, Adam Morrison.

Last night's first round loss was Duke's first since 1996 and also marks the first time since 1997 that Duke has failed to reach the Sweet 16. It also marks the third consecutive year that they've failed to reach the Elite Eight. Now, I don't think Coach K needs to worry about having to flip burgers or anything just yet, ala Kevin Federline, but like the commercial says, coach, "life comes at ya fast":

vs
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vs

After all was said and done, leading the way after day #1 is none other than PLLS' very own Pat Sinnard, who correctly nailed all 16 games yesterday. Following close on his heals though were 11 folks with 15 out of 16. The leader board shapes up as follows thus far:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13

Patrick Sinnard
Deb McGuigan
Jim Barile
John Dennehy
Lisa McClain
Mark Braun
Mookie (2)
Nora Dennehy
Sean Hayes (1)
Sean Hayes (2)
Sean Hayes (3)
Tony Paolucci (2)
35 way tie

16
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
14

52
44
32
23
22
14
8
6
3
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Tried to get to this yesterday, but CBS Sportsline was late in making everyone's selections public. As you can see from the "Selection Breakdown" box, exit polling of this year's pool participants shows a sharply divided electorate, with a whopping 17 different team receiving votes. This makes sense to

Jim's got a lot of faith in the Badgers

Some things just speak for themselves

some degree given the way teams have slipped in and out of the #1 spot in the rankings all season long. Couple this with the fact that perennial fan favorite Duke had an off year (HA!) while UConn's program tailspinned out of control faster than Britney Spears on spring break, and well, it left for a wide open field. Of the 213 entries submitted this year, THE Ohio State University lead the way with 52 votes. They were followed by the Florida Gators (who I believe also play football, OSU fans?) with 44 votes. Carolina, Kansas, and UCLA also picked up considerable support as well. A couple of surprising things I think were the Wisconsin Badgers only getting 2 votes (and BOTH from Jim Kelley!). The #2 seeded Memphis Tigers, who haven't lost since December 20th 2006, only got ONE vote. That pick represents some nice bang for Mark Braun's buck I think. As for Mark's and my boss, Pam Kobin, she had the misfortune of picking Marquette to win the whole shebang. Following their first round elimination to Michigan State (THIS IS SPARTA!), Pam's $5 charitable donation is now tax deductible. Speaking of Michigan State, I guess we can make that: Watterworth: 300, Spartans: 1

Games resume again this afternoon at 12:15 with #13 Albany facing off against
the #4 Virginia Cavaliers. Today's schedule can be found below. Please check local listings for time and channel in your viewing area

Thanks for
playing, Pam!

I could actually hear Marty Chamberlin sigh last night when he saw this.

2001 Champion

My nephew. Lead the U-12 category last year

They're actually saying "Moooovers"

John's sister

I'll just never understand you 'multi sheeter' types

Angie says one of these is her, but she's a little fuzzy on which one

Blue Devils are "one n' done!"
America rejoices in celebration!
Dancing in the streets!

As an FYI, I will be out of town on business from Sunday through Wednesday. I will try and shoot something out this weekend, but no promises. "Best First Round" money will be distributed upon my return. Also, on another matter, it seems that there was a glitch with CBS Sportsline failing to record people's "Total Points" for the Championship Game. Several folks contacted me throughout the week to let me know about this. Accordingly, I have made the executive decision to allow those individuals who do not have a number showing to submit it to me now and I will re-enter it. That is the best solution I could come up with to the situation. If you disagree with my decision, then please click here.

Have a good (St. Patrick's Day) weekend.

The Commish

PS - Missed an update? Click here.