Well, two rounds of the NCAA Tourney are complete and it's time to take stock and see how our loyal readers (and their dogs) are doing against us, the kingpins of this debacle of a Web site.
Reminder, first prize wins the ribbon pictured to the left. We would give away Boiled Sports clothing and merchandise but our sweatshop is way behind printing I Heart SBF shirts so the ribbon'll have to do.
On the message board for the BS Tourney Page, there was some initial discussion about who had the best entry name. I was going to get to this if you kids could just hold your horses because, yes, there were some stellar names.
Jumping out at me are the following:
Selwyn Lymon's Stab Wound
obamas pastor
Keady is my Ko-Pilot
Let's Be Realistic Here (sounds like something Tim would say)
Flying Hellfish
MC Hammer Toes
Brian Cardinal's Hair
I Want 2 Lick R Williams Tears
me so horney me love you long
Feel free to comment on these wonderful names... and maybe, if I'm feeling frisky, a poll might go up for the first time in BS history.
Don't feel bad -- this handsome man had Pitt winning it all.
Now let's move along to some analysis of the picks so far. It's always fun to point and laugh at others -- after all, what's the point of the brackets being public if you can't do that?
The aforementioed Selwyn Lymon's Stab Wound entry is leading the way, tied with A WHOLE LOT OF 3'S entry (must be Stephen A Smith's entry with the screaming capital letters) and The NCAA What Now? entry. They're all at 48 points and looking good, with all three having 7 of their Elite Eight picks remaining and all four Final Fours. Well done, gentlemen. Or ladies, if you prefer.
The big news, though, is that fellow editor Boilerdowd is just three points off the pace with his entry Lutz Minnoy & Watt Are Smart. And why is he hanging around? Because he has foresight, you young lads. He knew -- he literally smelled it -- that Davidson was a Sweet 16 squad. Don't believe me? Look at his bracket and notice that he picked them to knock off G-town. Also notice that he's got all his E8 teams remaining. Solid. (He should be docked points, though, for picking against Purdue -- in the first round!) When I asked him about this pick and how he knew, his answer was the following:
Simple- they were ranked the first two weeks of the season because writers believed they were talented and veteran enough to deserve it based on last season...They lost back-to-back-to-back to Duke (ACC), Charlotte (A-10) and UCLA (Pac-10) then lost a week later to NC State (ACC)...they didn't lose again for the rest of the season. Truthfully, they probably shouldn't have been ranked at the beginning of the season, but they were and are a good team. One can't fault them for losing games against top-tier conference teams. Sadly for them, Tucker and Wisconsin will stop their run with stifling defense this week.
Good work.
Some other notable factoids...
My wife is hanging tough, still having 6 of her E8 teams and three of her Final Fours, though she has lost half her championship game matchup. Still, she's only five points out of the top spot in our league. Chew on that gents. An interesting side note is that she always wears this old UNC t-shirt around the house... it's old, faded, probably from an old boyfriend, etc. And I always like to give her a hard time about wearing that and not a Boilers shirt. She always pleads innocence saying it's just a knockaround shirt and she pays no attention to it. Yet, we look at her bracket and see.... North Carolina winning it all. Innnnnnteresting.
Another of the better halves, Mrs. Boilerdowd, is also a sleeper at this point. Sure, she's listed in only 53rd place but that's because of some poor early-round picks. But she has managed to keep all of her E8 teams alive, which means she's poised for a meteoric rise up the standings. Just like in college, she's one to keep an eye on.
Esteemed co-editor Tim is in a similar boat, though his boat has taken on even more water, landing him in 67th place. That said, though, Tim also has his Final Four teams all alive and six of his E8 teams.
(As for me, I have seven of my E8 and all Final Fours, if you're wondering. And I know you're not.)
A special Boiled Sports shout-out to entries Countarfit.....Son and Coin Toss for being true believers and having Purdue winning the whole thing. Good on you, men. We admire your kind of delusion.
And finally, worth mention are the following original thinkers, too:
Gittle Brings the Knowledge
The Heavilon Favorites
Baby Boilers
Why? Because these guys chose to eschew conventional thinking and go for the decided unconventional "no pick" for their championship choice. I suppose they're expecting the AlamoDome to collapse during the championship game or something. Hey, in one shining moment, you never know.