The Science of Bracketology

Since it is called March Madness, how come it ain't over until April?

lotlot - it USED to be over in March - but than they spread out the final games about 12yrs ago. It was as with everything else a money making decision.   

Since the South Dakota School of Mines HardRockers are out, my team of Bracketologists (Drunken Chimps) have randomly tossed darts and selected the winner to be announced immediately after the Championship Game. Women's Nudist Camp Volleyball Finals (The Final 2) are more titillating to me and like Mr. Bradbury, "I have never listened to anyone who criticized my taste in space travel, sideshows or gorillas. When this occurs, I pack up my dinosaurs and leave the room.”

Huh?
Whats for breakfast / lunch?
Why are my knees as accurate as a barometer to forecast the weather?
Porridge with honey, I think - O yes, from yesterday - pollen allergy sufferers benefit from using local honey - first find your apiarist, they are getting scarce.
heronow~ I have a large wildlife pond in my garden, which is very froggy and toady at this time of year. A heron calls in frequently - it's a bit like being visited by a teradactyl.

Before Poindexter and his Pals decided to re-invent the world in CyberSpace ... where it is everso much easier to do ... like creating fictitious Certificates of Birth, or a Laborotory Proof Card that one is free of deadly, comminucable disease, or a Report Card that tells one that all that time studying for his Urine Test was well spent ... and shortened WEBLOG to, "BLOG" ....... a BLOG was a Mathematic Equation or Expression that used Symbols instead of Numerals; Neither Alpha nor Numeric ... "Bracketology" > the Study of Brackets > more especially, the Study of how to Translate Data that appears  in  the Bracket(s) was accomplished using a BLOG or BLOGS, as sometimes they would intersect when plotted on a Graph ... Sometimes the Data itself was changed by that intersection, and therefore the Final Result of the Equation was changed, regardless of whether or not the same Formulaic devises were employed in the Equation ...  Bear in mind that in no wise was/is Blogging to involve or even consider INTERPRETATION; Interpretation means Personal Opinion ... as there are as many diverse mechanisms in forming an Opinion as there are diversities of People forming those Opinions, and Interpretation 9.5 times out of 10 results in a Circular Argument, producing nothing but steam, sweat, myriad waste, and harsh words at fifty paces ....... Most likely, the most prevalent use of the Blog today, non-Scientific, non-Industrial ... will be found among Bookies ... Sports, Auto Racing, Boat Racing, Air Racing ... and of course, The Sport of Kings .......

HAZEL--Good morning! This is not a topic for me either. Good for you having porridge! My jeans are telling me that I have to stop having grilled cheese sandwiches for breakfast and that changing the bread and the cheese is not really "balancing" my diet.

Good morning Everyone Else! Its been a long night and Crocodile the cat and I are waiting for dawn.

Hazel and CD - it should be my topic since hubby lives and breathes sports but the thing just adds to my confusion and so, I'm with you--back to food.

Good morning all .... Should have said that first.

I just love to watch them play the games.  There have been some hellacious games so far.  These kids put the pros to shame, for them it's all about game, all about heart.

I'm quite possibly the sorriest Basketball fan on the planet.

I will only watch College Basketball, but only from final four status and down. It's great to still see athletes play for pride. I'm not naive enough to know most are on the stage doing try outs for the NBA, but still, pride is in there somewhere.

Paulo's - and maybe about the scouts watching.

I personally don't do the bracket thing.  I most often do not watch an entire game from beginning to end--I have to leave the room when things get "tense."  I'm not a fan in the strictest sense of the word--I couldn't tell one player from the other, usually, without the names on their shirts.   However,   I live in a college town.  Not just a college town, but a college town where basketball was invented (you go James Naismith!) and a college town that has a long history of winning teams.  I understand March Madness---all regular activity ceases during a game.  The only places that are actually doing business during a game are the sports bars with big TVs.  Other stores and places of activity are open but empty.  The place is like a ghost town.  If the Jayhawks are not playing, but another team in the conference is, attention is still focused on the game.  It's best to know they competition.  We all, by virtue of living here, become as mad as a March hare during March madness.  

My husband loves college basketball and is happy that his Badgers are still in the game. He has no hope that they will make it to the championship, but it a loyal follower.  A colleague of mine puts together a bracket pool every year, and we pay our $10 and sign up.  This year we picked Duke to win.  Since they were eliminated in the first round, interest has waned considerably. I don't watch basketball--it's too fast for me. I prefer the pace of baseball or golf. But so many of my friends and colleagues are fans, I put up a happy face when it is all being discussed.  Just don't make me watch the games!  I go to another TV and watch NCIS or Masterpiece reruns...

Andy ~ I am certain there is some of that but most of these kids know they have a slim chance of going pro.  Being "watched" won't incite them to perform at the levels they play the game and will not cause the tears to flow when they walk off after a tough one point loss.  These are still mostly kids in grown men's bodies and they play with a lot of emotion and pride. I know college sports have become jaded by the dollar, it seems all once good things have...religion, government, scholastics, music...everything but the EYE, it seems, everything but the EYE.

March Madness
Smelly armpits, sweat and stinky sneekers!

Hazel - I know a GBH will wreak havoc in a pond, once discovered. My cousin had a regular visitor in her pond last year. It took almost all the fish. Even so, we forgive them...
Chef Deb, bebe, Mooseloop and Park4, your kind welcome is much appreciated. Looks to me like this is going to be fun!

Just for the record. I am tickled that there is a matchup
between Cincinnati and Ohio State and a rematch between Kentucky and Indiana.

I’d be even more elated to see a rematch between Cincinnati
and Xavier, Cincinnati and Louisville or Kentucky and Louisville.

Unfortunately the only way any of these can happen will be
in the final four or the championship games.

Who knows? That’s why they play the games. 

Even more than the Olympics, the World Series or the Super Bowl,
this tournament invokes for me the true image of a tournament with jousting
knights and the last man standing…in squeaky shoes.

All right, ladies,  I am done.  Y'all can go ahead
and talk about food (as if you need my nod of the head) and doilies for cripes
sakes!  

Stoney ~ Maybe you will appreciate this.  I went to Merriam Webster.com and a Kory
Stamper video started playing.  For some
reason the audio portion of the feed wasn’t working but I sat and watched
anyway in an attempt to read her lips, after a few seconds of watching I forgot
why I first thought I was watching.

Heronow ~ It may look like fun now, but for one of us, this
is hard work.

Rings 90 ~ This is
for you. BTW how is that new gig working out?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQiEJk-o5WA&feature=ymg

Paolos----I went to the link you posted and--it is the Madness of March-- commentary from a Tarheels game was running right through the whole thing!!

Both my wife and I are sports fans , me more basketball ,her more football but we do watch games together on TV  'but enjoy going to horse races even more when we ocassionaly go.  A couple of friends ,he is a Notre Dame grad so is really into football and to a degree ,other sports while his wife is not interested. Her defination of basketball is "a bunch of tall guys in shorts that dribble on the floor and football is a bunch of big guys that put on funny costumes,  pat each other on the butt, hug each other a lot and roll around on the ground together".

Paolos, thank you for your kind words. I thought of you as I hoisted the Xavier Musketeers battle flag up the mast in my yard this morning.

All I know is that I like both Tiffany silver and Wedgewood.  

Basketball...is that what this is all about?  And I thought we were talking about a Sotheby auction. (joking)  Oh bore.  Enjoy the beautiful weather people...you'd be mad if you stay inside to talk about tall men bouncing orange balls on a gym floor....  Now if you want to talk football and Manning, I'll meet up with you later in thesepia club car, last table on the left, the one with the view...

Yes Park4, I agree on the Tiffany and Wedgwood!  I think I lean more towards Wedgwood.  Mainly because my dad collected some of the blue jasper pieces--a lot from the Queen Elizabeth coronation and silver jubilee. Also an Edward VIII tea set! That is the really deep, cobalt blue jasper. I have them now and I think of him when I look at them.

This is too funny not to share:

Did ya hear about the Denver Bronco's?

They will be the first team in football history to sacrifice a virgin in an attempt to win the Superbowl.

(Sorry Mr. TEBOW, I really like you.)

then there is this one...

sorry, sometimes I think I'm on fb.  See the picture I just uploaded.

ummgawa! - That was really funny!...and so true....but just a little mean....You know he is dating Taylor Swift and they are said to be the "wholesome twosome!" I think we have to give them some credit for having high standards!! Isn't it odd that being celibate should be considered odd??!

Paolos - I totally agree with you about the college athletes having more heart and soul into the play! I enjoy watching the collegiate games, but never have cared for the NBA. The pros are hired and play like hired hands most of the time, plus, they can get so physical in elbowing and charging, which I don't like to watch. We follow FSU in the ACC, and were happy for their victory over their conference,but they fell to Cincinatti in the playoffs.... Otherwise, it is usually good to see Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina or UNLV fight it out in the Final Four. Since Cincinatti beat our Seminoles, we'd just as soon see them go all the way.

My own college was Stetson Univ. and they used to be a good basketball school, even playing Ga Tech, a much larger school....and they are still in the mix with schools of 2,000 or fewer colleges. They are bringing back football next yr., too, as are many of the smaller colleges.

The little university, Reinhardt U. here in Waleska, GA will have football next yr!! More brackets, more games to watch. I follow the high school brackets and playoffs since I was connected to Tucker High, Redan High, and the Cherokee County high schools in my teaching career. I'd say I am a fair fan, and do enjoy the excellent plays in any sport (except shooting the Bambis).

I should clarify that "2,000" and explain that I meant schools/colleges/universities with 2,000 or fewer students. We had about 1,300 population at Stetson when I attended --eons ago in the early 60's.

Paula, I'll talk QBs with you anytime. See ya later Southside.

Hudson 3

I hadn't heard that Taylor Swift and tim Tebow are dating. I hope its true. I admire them both.

The ball is big and brown, and the tall ones hand it into a basket, except when a small one gets in the way, right? They do it with computers, now?

OH! Tim Tebow plays it??

I thought he ran Prayer Attack?

I actually started to gossip about Taylor Swift, but I remembered where I am. Poor Huskies, Connecticut's claim to fame.

I want to be clear: I admire Mr. Tebow. Holding tight to one's faith in the jungle he's in is quite remarkable. It's exceptional to see such a great role model for young folks to look up to.

and rare I might add.

Did someone say T Bone?
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5ibSvOWAMg I'll have mine mediun rare.

Yes, Tim Tebow is rare in the NFL....can you say," a gem among rock "??
I also admire his religious stance and his good role model.....perhaps it is going to do some good, but it is sooo rare that the thug mentality will run him out and perhaps even the NFL will laugh him out.....

He is to be admired for standing up for his beliefs....If he can hang on to his uber morality and also be a successful quarterback, then he will change things!! I do believe the evil of the money-only mentality will wear him down.....I hope he can stand tall and be a beacon for what is right......the idea of being celibate until his wedding night is pretty out of date, you have to admit....although it was ok when I married int he early 60's!!

"rocks..."

GH- When Taylor Swift moved south to start her career, her parents bought a house at the end of my street. They still live there. You know she's in town when a security guard is posted in the drive. She went to high school here before her career blossomed. She has given a lot back to this community especially after the floods. I will always admire her for that. That was the thing I liked about Johnny Cash as well. You would see him around town. He was a cool guy and wrote about the average guy or gal. You lose touch on a Lear Jet.

Love the new political ad- A Conservative, A Liberal, and a Moderate walk into a bar. It was Mitt Romney.

Isn't someone out there going to toot that Badger horn? And how about those
Golden Eagles?

ChefDeb ~ That would be the Huskies AND the Dog Watch claiming the
Connecticut fame.

Hudson John:  thank god for you...let's talk pigskin stuff. Like da Bears could have used TT or how about Eli Manning, but NO, cheapskate McCaskey Family just cannot manage to pry open their great big gold plated wallet.  I knew they wouldn't but it's fun to dream, isn't it? Let's go on an adventure, Southsider...you up for it? I hear the whistle blow....c'mon ...

He's a man for all seasons TT,except not for the current one we're stuck in, the Obama Spring.  I'm shutting up now because I like I Marjorie and Jane....;)

When I was involved with QB Legends cigars, Kenny Stabler came to town and we put on a helluva Smoker. He handed me his Superbowl Ring to wear and it was like Green Lantern's ring full of magic. I won't forget it. To win a Championship is a big hairy deal and the caliber of play at the Collegiate and Professional levels in any sport is "très magnifique". I got a Mickey Mantle Rookie Card and looking in his eyes is uncanny. I like and respect Gandhi, Moses, the Buddha, and a bunch of different philosophers including Rumi but Jesus is my best bud & has been since I was knee high to a grasshopper. No reason to be ashamed of that I reckon whether throwing a football or staring up at the heavens. But it is a personal and beautiful thing that requires neither groupies with wristbands or political correctness crybabies yelping foul.

Ubetcha Park.... Count me in.

Da Bears dispd land some good players...as long as they stay on their meds. I don't think TT is a Chicago kinda guy.

They need to open their wallets on Matt Forte for starters.....

See ya kid
HU3

Howdy: Keep your eyes on the NC STATE Wolfpack. My crew are loyal believers and fans
Duke and UNC...not so much.

Rock Chalk, JAYHAWK!! Go KU!!!!!!!!!

Ditto that Capt. Neptune, if they can only get past those pesky Jayhawks.

Miss MooseLoop ~ Stetson U, is that where they send y'all to learn how to make those fine hats?

I Marjorie ~ I just now found your photo...funny stuff!  For those who missed it...

 
http://www.petermanseye.com/photos/588121

Following the advice of Billy Packer, I once had four teams in the final eight… period.

TommyTypical ~
Right you are as usual, no need to be ashamed but one: "My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ," per press conference, would get the point across.
I actually thought God's favorite QB would have looked good in green and gold wearing something in the high eighties.

paolos ~
I was forced to choose thousands of summer clad young woman in Madison over Kory's moving face. Tough duty.
The guys must all have been in class or too short to see.
We watched our granddaughter skate, had a nice dinner and took her shopping at Trader Joe's.
Home by dark… almost.