“When I was your age, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes, I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” – Lewis Carroll
It Seems As If I’ve Seen This Movie Before
I was just looking over last year’s commentary for this same night of the tournament, and the circumstances were strikingly similar. For one, as I was then, so I am now here typing the commentary less than three hours before I’m off to the airport to head home from Florida. (Before you get too jealous, the weather was honestly brutal, at least by Florida standards, and certainly for golfing.) But wait, there’s more. Did you know that this time last year there also was an 11 seed in position to advance to the Final Four? That’s right, a year ago it was #11 Xavier hoping to beat #1 Gonzaga to be just the fourth #11 seed to advance to the Final Four. That didn’t work out, obviously. This year, it is #11 Loyola-Chicago hoping to advance by beating another South region Cinderella surprise, #9 Kansas State, who won the battle of the Wildcats with their victory over Kentucky. That South region has caused many a bracket to go south in a hurry. In other news…
- Bonus Points Aplenty – Of the four games played tonight, three were won by the lower seed, i.e., the underdog. Those of you who had Loyola-Chicago or Florida State cashed in not only on upset bonus points, but Scategories bonus points as well.
- Always Wear Your Sunscreen – I’m pretty religious about avoiding sunburn, but this year presented a strange set of circumstances. The last two days of the golf trip treated us to morning temperatures in the 50s. Not only that, but yesterday we had winds gusting up to 40 MPH! The weather conditions prompted me to wear long pants and long sleeves, thus leaving very little exposed skin, making sunscreen something of an afterthought. Today I remembered to apply some sunscreen to my face, but alas, I forgot one important body part – my left ear. With a cloudless sky and many holes played into the setting sun this afternoon, being a right-handed golfer, my left ear got the brunt of the UVs and now looks like a slice of tomato on your BLT.
- The B1G Wins Big – The surprising tournament juggernaut #3 Michigan absolutely pasted Texas A&M this evening. Was that really the same A&M squad that beat North Carolina by 20? I would say that Michigan is now the heavy favorite to advance not only to the Final Four, but to the national championship game given that the left side of the bracket now has two 9’s and an 11 along with #3 Michigan, but the way this tournament is going, I’m not making any more predictions.
- Injuries Hurt…both literally and figuratively. Gonzaga’s loss of Killian Tilly to injury really hurt them (pun intended) against Florida State. Without their stretch 4, the Seminoles killed them on the inside. It didn’t help that they couldn’t shoot a three or make a free throw, but I saw an interesting stat on the Twitter feed of the March Madness Live website. Gonzaga shot 26 layups, but Florida State contested some outrageously high number of them – something like 20. Of the 26 layups Gonzaga shot, they made 9, I think. (I don’t remember the exact numbers, but you get the point.) You just can’t win a game that way. And as a totally random aside, is anyone besides me sick to death of that Florida State fight song or chant or whatever it is?
Quick Awards
I need a power nap before heading to the airport, so I only have a handful of awards for tonight.
- The You’re Breaking My Heart award goes to my baby girl, Ashlyn Little, who sent me a text with a screen shot of her busted bracket. Sorry kiddo, but join the millions who are in the same sinking boat. Better luck next year.
- The Four For Four award goes to two contestants whose judicious use of re-picks allowed them to get all four games correct tonight: Bradley Geistwhite and Andrew Bolin.
- The Trifecta award goes to three contestants who picked three out of four of tonight’s games correctly with original picks: Julie Bowen, Paula Novak, and Jane Gomez. Incredibly, Paula picked the three upsets and scored a boatload of bonus points!
That’s it for tonight, minions. My tank is empty. More to come tomorrow night.
The Wizard of Whiteland