Heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlying our hard hearts. – Charles Dickens, Great Expectations
Gators Get Chomped
Florida had been sailing through the South region somewhat on cruise control, dispatching lower-seeded opponents without much difficulty. Today they ran into a buzz saw called Michigan. By the time I got around to watching this game, it was already pretty much out of reach. Who would have predicted that Michigan would be the Big Ten’s representative in the Final Four? Apparently, about 135 of our contestants, that’s who.
A Decisive Win, A Fallen Teammate
My wife and I were blessed with tickets to attend today’s epic match-up between Louisville and Duke. The first half was indicative of the titanic struggle we expected it to be. With about six and a half minutes left in the first half, we were watching Louisville bring the ball back up the court after a defensive stop when suddenly and bizarrely, play just stopped, and the Louisville players collapsed to the floor as if simultaneously stricken by some sort of debilitating plague. It was truly the strangest and most surreal thing I’ve ever seen in a basketball game. We had no idea what had happened. As our eyes scanned the floor for clues, we saw Louisville’s Kevin Ware lying in obvious agony on the floor right in front of the Louisville bench, a teammate huddled right over his face and tapping him fervently on the chest. The training staff were also huddled around him so that we couldn’t really see what was going on. Confusion rapidly swept through the crowd as an eerie hush fell in the building. What happened? Why were ALL the Louisville players on their knees or backs on the floor? Where’s the replay? That’s when 21st Century savvy kicked in, and everyone whipped out their smart phones. Within a minute or two Twitter, Facebook, and ESPN.COM were abuzz with the story, and nearby fans were passing around their phones showing the video to one another. I refused to watch. The description was enough for me. Comparisons to Joe Theisman were common. As they carried Ware off on a stretcher, fans, coaches, and players in every color jersey rose to their feet and applauded. It was truly moving.
And then there was a basketball game to finish, although I’m not sure how anyone could be expected to do so after such a horrific event. As far as the game goes, my wife and I both observed that Duke’s shooting that seemed so sharp on Friday betrayed them completely tonight, even at the free throw line. In a one-and-done format such as March Madness, a bad shooting night simply cannot be afforded, especially in a regional final. As the second half wore on, the game got of Duke’s reach. Louisville looked sharp in every way, even without Ware. I cannot imagine how Wichita State will be any match for them.
No Chance For Duke
As an aside, Duke had two unchangeable principles working against them tonight. The first is the Iron Law of March Madness, i.e., no team has ever lost the opening game of its conference tournament and gone on to win a national championship. Second, this was Resurrection Sunday, and we all know the devil was defeated on Resurrection Sunday.
Round 4 Awards
Perhaps more so than any contest in recent memory, this one has really enjoyed frequent changes in the standings. Since the completion of the first day of games, we have had eight different contest leaders. I don’t keep records of such things; so, I do not know if that is any kind of record. It certainly does keep things interesting for the contest manager, though!
Before we get into the awards, there are a few items of interest to point out with regards to the contest scoring.
- There are no more upset bonuses available in the contest. The seedings only make sense in the contest of the four regions, and those now each have a champion.
- There are, however, still Scategories bonuses available. Remember, a Scategories bonus can only be earned with an original pick, not a re-pick.
- Interestingly, no matter who wins the Michigan-Syracuse match-up, some contestants will earn a Scategories bonus for that game to the tune of 48 total points!
- There are no more Scategories bonuses available for Wichita State, because no one picked them to win a national semi-final or national championship with original picks. Similarly, there are no Scategories bonuses to be earned by Louisville wins, as Louisville was a very popular pick.
And now the awards…
- The Close But No Cigar award goes to Doug Goodwin, the only person to pick 3 of the Final Four correctly with original picks. Not a soul in the contest picked all four Final Four teams correctly even with the benefit of re-picks.
- The There’s More Than Corn In Indiana award goes to four contestants who were a perfect 15-0 in the Midwest region: Darren Renier, Dotty Charlson, Ben Adams, and Matt Cohee. Winners will receive a fresh bushel of Indiana’s best.
- The Wild, Wild West award goes to four contestants who picked 10 out of 15 games correctly in the West region with original picks. Believe it or not, this was the best anyone did in that region. Congratulations to Monica Muschalik, Chelsea Goodwin, Anna Deaver, and Ethan Ables. Winners of this award will receive a free iTunes download of Will Smith’s hit single of the same name.
- The Southern Hospitality award goes to five contestants who were 13-2 with their original picks in the South region: Jeffrey Beard, Sam Randazzo, Philip Randazzo, Chris (dad) Randazzo, and Marc Ramirez. Winners will receive free tickets to a taping of Paula Deen’s Food Network show.
- The Beast of the East award goes to John Wilcox, the only contestant to go 14-1 with his original picks in the East region. John will receive a commemorative tombstone engraved with all the teams that currently make-up the now defunct Big East. May it rest in pieces.
- The Upset Stomach award sponsored by Prilosec OTC goes to 54th place contestant Paul Sopke who collected 77 upset bonus points, more than anyone else.
- The Playing It Safe award goes to 498th place contestant Chloe Zittle, the highest scoring contestant who did not pick a single upset correctly.
- The Foreigh Affairs award goes to Monica “Hong Kong Hiker” Muschalik, currently in 2nd place. She is also currently lying on a beach in the Philippines. Must be rough.
- The Would You Like Pickles And Onions With That award goes to Coleman “pass the mustard” Goodwin, currently in 6th place.
- The SEO award goes to Chris “1dayroofing.com” Johnson, currently in 96th, whom I ran into at the restaurant this afternoon. He was trying to convince me to move him up in the standings so that the shameless self-promotion of his roofing business would get more exposure.
- The Very Punny award goes to 11th place contestant Jonathan “Is holding the Cards tightly in” Hand. You and about 300 others, bro.
- And finally, the Green Jacket award for contest mastery so far goes to continued front runner, the 9-year-old phenom Tyler Drone. Can Tyler hold on through the final three games to win the contest? Tune in next weekend to find out.
I sincerely hope that you have been enjoying the contest so far, especially all you contest newcomers. Time for us to take a five-day break from the Madness as we await the Final Four. This should be enough time for you analytical types to crunch all the numbers and figure out who the possible contest winners are based on the remaining scenarios (you know who you are). As far as I’m concerned, I have to get back to mundane things like work.
Stepping back behind the curtain,
The Wizard of Whiteland