Here we go, folks. The Sweet 16 kicks off today with four regional semifinal games on tap:
- 2:40 pm – (8) Loyola Chicago vs. (12) Oregon St (CBS)
- 5:15 pm – (1) Baylor vs. (5) Villanova (CBS)
- 7:25 pm – (3) Arkansas vs. (15) Oral Roberts (TBS)
- 9:55 pm – (2) Houston vs. (11) Syracuse (TBS)
Supposed to be sunny and 70 here in Cincinnati, so your beloved Commish is gonna have to get his yardwork out of the way early so I can reserve my spot on the couch.
A look at Great American March Madness Central Command (aka GAMM-Com) on day #1 of the tourney. And yes, those are Batman socks, you jealous bastards.
Speaking of getting things out of the way early, congratulations of a sort are in order for rookie participant Katie Nesbitt, who has already locked up the “Nancy Burns Award,” given annually to the participant who finishes in last place. Katie, with a stunning 12 points, had cemented her “victory” (so-called) by the middle of the 2nd round, which GAMM researchers believe is the earliest in pool history. Frankly, it’s a mystery how she ended up in last place. I mean, here’s a screenshot of her bracket:
Hartford? Look, Vin Baker’s not walking through that door, guys …
Katie, a co-worker of daughter/Asst. Commish Lauren Dennehy at Alba Salon & Spa (“The Best Salon in Cincinnati”), went with what is believed to be the never-before-seen strategy of picking all of the #16 seeds to make it to the Final Four.
NARRATOR: It did not pay off
Not sure if Katie thought the higher the number, the better … ? In any event, as the winner of the “Nancy Burns Award” for finishing in last place, we’ll be Venmo’ing you your $5 refund. Don’t spend it all in one place, Katie!
Okay, that GIF is a tad harsh, but I love “Ted Lasso” so much and have been looking for a spot to use that one, and besides, Lauren assures me Katie’s got a great sense of humor, so I went with it. And, if you haven’t watched “Ted Lasso” yet on Apple TV+, you need to do so asap. It’s the most enjoyable, feel good show I can remember.
Hey, you know how I’ve been bitching non-stop about the changes to CBS Sports’ bracket website? Well, they finally responded and were able to send me a spreadsheet of all of the pool’s participants. I was able to drop that into a spreadsheet in order to help track the status of everyone’s payments and, as we go to press this morning, there are only 7 outstanding entry fees. All parties have been advised of the looming deadline, so we’ll see what happens.
CBS also advised that they’ll be working on fixing some of the many problems with the new site that I (and I’m sure countless others) have brought to their attention, including not being able to compile a list of participant emails. The impact of that on my blog has been substantial this year. I’m able to track all of the “hits” that my site gets, and web traffic is down significantly from year’s past, which I attribute to not being able to directly email links to all of you, and is not due in any way whatsoever to the fact, as youngest son Matthew claims, that I’m just not that funny this year.
Ya know, speaking of “funny,” it’s kind of funny though that the most web traffic I’ve ever had on my site was last year when there was no tournament. When the NCAA cancelled things, I actually went ahead with my own “March Madness” of sorts. Numerous people were reaching out to me, pleading for me to come up with something to fill the void left by the lack of sports going on in the world. Okay, when I say “numerous people,” what I really mean is that it was just Brett VanCauwenbergh. Regardless, being the customer service oriented individual that I am, GAMM Senior Management (i.e. – me and favorite daughter/Assistant Commish Lauren) got together and came up with “Disney March Madness.” We ended up creating an entire 68 team bracket, pitting the greatest animated Disney movies of all-time against each other in a multi-week tournament with “The Lion King” knocking off “Finding Nemo” in the Finals.
Team Captain Rafiki lifting the Stanley Cup
Disney March Madness proved to be a nice little diversion and all, and it actually went a little viral with people from all over the world participating, but I’m glad to have the real thing back this year. To this day though, I still get tons of “hits” on my blog for people searching for “Disney March Madness,” and even now, in the midst of the NCAA Tournament, every day my most clicked on link is the Disney bracket that I made.
Speaking of stuff I made, one of the few benefits of not being able to go anywhere or do anything last Spring was that it allowed me time to hone my video editing skills. So, for those who missed it, here, my friends, is the fruit of my labor … a “One Shining Moment” video that I put together last year for the Disney March Madness Championship Game:
To be honest, I was a little disappointed that I got snubbed at The People’s Choice Awards. Whatever though. It is what it is, I guess.
Okay, that’s a wrap for today folks.
