Hey, Forrest, can you name a team who The Commish wasn’t able to stay up to watch win last night?
Yep, that’s one of them.
Well, I *TRIED* to stay up to watch those last 2 games, but eventually had to pull the plug at about 11 PM as the Commish was struggling to keep his eyes open. Many people are saying it was heroic of me just to even make it to that point. (Jack Dennehy is not one of those people)
So, as mentioned, I woke up this morning to find #4 Alabama had knocked off #1 North Carolina. Grant Nelson lead the way for Alabama with 24 points, but none bigger than this 3 point play with 39 seconds left to give the Crimson Tide the lead in their 89-87 win.
The other late game featured #3 Illinois edging past #2 Iowa State 72-69, as the Fighting Illini secured their first Elite Eight appearance since 2005.
Waiting for Illinois will be none other than #1 UConn, who put on a clinic vs #5 San Diego State last night. The Huskies picked up right where they left off in the rematch of last year’s title game, as they rolled to an impressive 82-52 win.
The other early game saw #6 Clemson pull off the upset over #2 Arizona 77-72, with the Tigers advancing to face off against Alabama on Saturday.
Taking a look at the standings, Alex Johnson’s hold on first place was briefly interrupted by Josh Puckett at one point last night, but she’s back on top as of this morning:
Alex has a 1 point lead over Jim Pegg who, rumor has it, has promised a pizza party for his department if he wins. The pride of Grandview Heights, Leo Readey, has moved into a tie for 3rd. I was going to mention rookie Chase “10 brackets” Lancaster being in the top 10, but then he told me yesterday that he doesn’t read my blog, so to heck with that guy.
Here is today’s slate of games. Despite what the haters like Jack Dennehy will say, as it’s not a school night for the ol’ Commish, I feel pretty good about my chances of staying up to watch the 2 late games:
FYI – We still have several outstanding entry fees. The deadline for payment is Monday, April 1st, so if you have not paid yet, please do so. Otherwise, your name ends up getting listed on the wall of shame. This ends up being one of the first hits when your name gets Googled and effectively destroys your credit rating when background checks are done.
I don’t like having to do it, but you guys leave me no choice.
One participant who doesn’t need to worry about their unpaid entry fee resulting in a sit-down with Michael Corleone at Louie’s Restaurant in the Bronx (“Try the veal. It’s the best in the city.”) is Anthony Gamm. Anthony, as you may have noticed, has a somewhat notable last name. Anthony is a co-worker of mine who helped the tech-deficient Commish on several occasions last year. When I mentioned that I run a big March Madness pool, the acronym of which just happens to be his last name, Anthony advised that he too runs a big March Madness pool, coincidentally called the Gamm March Madness Pool. Well, fast forward past mutual “cease and desist” letters and a civil lawsuit where the Commish got hosed by a jury of my peers, and I’ve now been ordered to grant Mr. Gamm a free entry into my pool as part of our settlement. Hope your happy, Anthony! That’s food out of my kid’s mouths! (Okay, my kids are all adults and buy their own food, but you get the point).
Sorry. Had to get that off my chest.
Okay, where was I? Oh, entry fees. Right. So here’s my Venmo. Again.
https://account.venmo.com/u/Greg-Dennehy
And, finally, before I go, following on the heels of wishing the Assistant Commish a happy 30th birthday yesterday, please join me in wishing a happy 30th birthday to her 1 day younger cousin, and everyone’s favorite newlywed, Nora Dennehy Kendall!
The Commish and the birthday girls
Hasta manana,
The Commish