Checking in on the BS Bracketgasm
Well, hello there. We’ve been a bit delinquent in providing observations and witty commentary on the BS Bracketgasm. Well, it’s Saturday now, we’re down to the Elite Eight and up is down, left is right, cats and dogs are living together… and several 1s and 2s have politely stepped out of the path of Kentucky because, really, why make their path difficult? Let’s just hand it to them, right everyone? And before I get into our smart readers and their picks (actually not being sarcastic there), let me just vent on something. Can we stop using dancing expressions and terms with regard to the NCAA Tournament? It’s kind of… lame. Some bozo on Twitter mocked Purdue after their first round loss by saying that “at least IU is still dancing,” despite the fact that IU was only alive for another day because they hadn’t yet played. But the point here is… can you really feel like a badass trash talker if you’re talking about….dancing?
This is a sports media epidemic. When other facets of everyday life feature expressions or phrases that wind up overused, the cool among the general population make an adjustment. Terms that are unique to the early-adapter, cool crowd, or only to a particular demographic (whether it be age, race, geographical locale, etc.), fade away once Facebook Moms start using them. Like when some out of touch radio personality or old comedian like Lewis Black rips Twitter… it just shows you don’t get it or are out of touch.
Yet stupid, lazy sportswriting clichés absolutely refuse to die. This is the fault of fat, lazy sportswriters in most cases. If a team is going to the Tournament, they’ve punched their ticket…to the BIG DANCE. (Al McGuire coined this term supposedly and that’s about all you need to know about how cool it is.) If the New Orleans Saints advance in the playoffs, every single headline will be about Saints March Into NFC Championship. If a pitcher gets an RBI, he’s helping his own cause. There are tons more, but you know what I’m saying… just be more clever people. Dancing is weak. This isn’t Footloose, we don’t need to break free of dance restrictions.
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As for the BS Bracketgasm, there were over 140 entries, which is another indictor that even though a lot of people fill out brackets in this country, this whole “Let’s do a bracket challenge together” thing is beginning to run its course. Five years ago we had 500+ entries. Of course, back then we gave away $10,000 to the winner, so maybe that’s it.
We have quite a few entrants in the 90+ percentiles, which shows just how brilliant our readers are. Our current leader as of Saturday morning is MarkRoberts1789, who is in the 99.2 percentile – damn impressive. Of course, Mark is looking longingly at his bracket and asking himself why, oh why, did I choose Villanova as my champion?
Mrs. Boilerdowd is in the 70th percentile overall and 40th in the BS challenge. She has Arizona winning it, which if it happens will surely launch her towards the top of the standings.
However, currently in second place is Kelsey Barlow (welcome, Kelsey!), who also has ‘Zona winning it all. One has to think things will shake out well for Kelsey if the Cats pull it off (those Cats, not those Cats).
A shout out goes to Hammond to the NBA (No, I don’t know who “Hammond” is, either) and dkboilerfan88 2 who both have entries in 22nd place (85th percentile overall nationally) that have Purdue winning it all (dkboilerfan hedged his bets by also picking UK to win in another one but hilariously, his Purdue winning bracket is currently ahead). Their point gathering will end soon, but good on you, boys.
BS resident west coaster, therailroadtie is currently in the 40th percentile overall but does have Kentucky winning. So if that happens… he probably won’t move much.
BS’s king of managed expectations, the Swamy, checks in at the 60th percentile, also showing common sense and having Kentucky winning it all.
Dave, aka zlionsfan, BS’s resident TV-watcher and seer of all things basketball-related, has also landed with a thud in the 25th percentile.
Travis from H&R checks in just slightly over ten millionth place overall (10th percentile). And yet, T has three of his Final Four teams remaining, including his champion… which is kind of amazing.
As for me… don’t worry about where I am.
Boilerdowd was apparently drunk as he made a number of entries, including for each of his children… and then he has two of his own both named “Matty’s Chapstick,” both of which are…not doing well. One has Purdue winning it all – the other has Robert Morris.
So there you have it. Games resume today and by the end of tomorrow the Final Four will be decided, likely including a program or two that Purdue has zero excuse not to compete with.
