Ya think, Roy?
Wow, what a start to things. Waves of upsets on the 1st day of play have thrown the tournament, and our pool, into chaos. Chief among them, no doubt, was the South Region’s #15 seed Oral Roberts’ shocking overtime win over #2 seed Ohio State. Oh, sorry … over THE Ohio State. My bad, guys. I can’t imagine Buckeye Nation slept too well last night after all these golden looks they had at the potential game-tying 3 in the waning seconds of overtime:
Ouch! Ya know, Roy is right … that’s GOT to sting.
The ending of the OSU – Oral Roberts game created a bit of an awkward situation yesterday for daughter / Assistant Commish, Lauren Dennehy, She and a number of her co-workers from Alba Salon & Spa (“The best salon in Cincinnati”) were out at a local establishment enjoying some adult beverages while watching the game. As you can imagine, there was a heavy Buckeye influence in the crowd, and when OSU’s final game tying attempt clanged harmlessly away ending the Buckeye’s title hopes, the life was sucked out of the room. Well, except for one person, that is. Lauren, ever the champion of the underdog, let out a huge cheer only to be greeted in return by the icy stares of her fellow patrons, who apparently don’t love a good underdog story as much as she does. For old people, like me, it was straight out of the classic 1970’s “Schoolhouse Rock” video about “interjections” …
“♫ Interjections! Show excitement! Or emotion! They’re generally set apart from a sentence by an exclamation point, Or by a comma when the feeling’s not as strong.♫”
Lauren, yesterday afternoon
I told you, it’s an old people thing, kids. You won’t get it.
By the way, shoutout to Lauren’s co-worker at Alba (“The best salon in Cincinnati”), Chelsie Jackson, who may have been the only person out of 500 entries to correctly pick that game, given she had the only perfect bracket at that point.
Hey, do you guys remember years ago when I came up with my now iconic Commish catchphrase of “A bad day for Duke is a good day for America” ™ and even printed shirts? Well, good news! We’re adding some new items to our Spring line in the GAMM Cyber Store this year!
Enter promo code “Commish” for 15% off! Also, free shipping to that state up north!
Not to be outdone by their BIG 10 brothers, the Purdue Boilermakers, the South Region’s #4 seed, also went down in a stunning upset at the hands of the region’s #13 seed, North Texas. Not quite the same shockwaves as a #15 seed winning, but still an impressive feat by the Mean Green!
Oh, hey, do you guys remember yesterday when I told you if you didn’t take a #12 seed, you didn’t fill out your bracket right?
*cough*
After all the day one carnage, a peak at the standings shows a two-way tie for first place between Chris Miliano and Hayden Horner numero dos, followed by a 10 way tie for 3rd place, and a familiar, beloved name leading the way in 13th place.
Chris and Hayden’s 14 points ensure that Andy Marquart and Marc Pine will remain the GAMM record holders for most 1st round points with 31, set back in 2000 (your beloved Commish had 30 that year, not to brag).
Look, I know I’ve gone off on CBS quite a bit in the last few days, and I don’t want to make this a daily part of the discussion, but man oh man, did they ever create an absolute cluster**** with their website makeover. As you may have noticed in trying to check the standings, you can no longer sort by any of the columns, including people’s picks for tournament champion. As a result, I have absolutely no idea how many people had Ohio State, or Purdue, etc. Historically, I’d spend a good chunk of my day #2 blog analyzing the breakdown of how many people selected the various teams to win the championship. I have no idea how many people went with my pick, Illinois, for instance, or how many took a flyer on a Texas Southern or some other improbable long shot to win the whole thing. Nope, I’m basically flying blind here.
Was face-timing with Dicky V about it last night, matter of fact. Says the new format is stressing him out, as well.
Try a little Ginger Ale too, Mr. Vitale. Will help settle the stomach a bit.
Okay, here’s today’s TV schedule, folks. So clear some space on the couch and get ready to settle in for the day:
TIME (ET) MATCHUP TV
- 12:15 PM (12) Georgetown vs. (5) Colorado (CBS)
- 12:45 PM (13) UNC Greensboro vs. (4) Florida State (truTV)
- 1:15 PM (14) Eastern Washington vs. (3) Kansas (TBS)
- 1:45 PM (9) St. Bonaventure vs. (8) LSU (TNT)
- 3:00 PM (16) Texas Southern vs. (1) Michigan (CBS)
- 3:30 PM (12) UC Santa Barbara vs. (5) Creighton (truTV)
- 4:00 PM (15) Iona vs. (2) Alabama (TBS)
- 4:30 PM (11) Drake vs. (6) USC (TNT)
- 6:25 PM (15) Grand Canyon vs. (2) Iowa (TBS)
- 7:10 PM (10) Maryland vs. (7) UConn (CBS)
- 7:15 PM (13) Ohio vs. (4) Virginia (truTV)
- 7:25 PM (9) Missouri vs. (8) Oklahoma (TNT)
- 9:20 PM (16) Norfolk St. vs. (1) Gonzaga (TBS)
- 9:40 PM (11) UCLA vs. (6) BYU (CBS)
- 9:50 PM (14) Abilene Christian vs. (3) Texas (truTV)
- 9:57 PM (10) VCU vs. (7) Oregon (TNT)
And finally, before I go, I need to throw the spotlight on my buddy, Shawn Mather. Shawn, a 2nd generation GAMM participant, came through in the clutch for me not too long ago, answering the bat signal when your beloved Commish needed some last minute, emergency help moving furniture for my in-laws. In exchange, he said he didn’t want any money (I paid him anyways), he just wanted a shout out on the March Madness blog. My man!
That’s Shawn on the right, with his dad and mom, Mike and Kelly, who, fun fact, were the real life inspirations for the “Pauly D” and “Snooki” characters on “Jersey Shore.”
Commish out!
PS – Keep those entry fees coming in!
