Fantasy: NCAA March Madness brackets.

The standings look awfully close, this has to be one of the best NCAA tournaments ever. George Mason just beat UConn to go to the Final Four, what a Cinderella story. What a game! Too bad I didnt get in the pool this year, my plate has been beyond full lately but hopefully things will be normal again soon and I can hang out with you guys again. I see Gibbsy leading the pack, even with Bucknell long gone.

As it looks right now, I am the only one who can still make up some points, if UCLA makes it to the championship game. Here are the standings after this past weekend-

1 RidgeRunner 77
2 Sir 76
3 Gibbs Baby!!! 67
4 Average Joes 63
5 Snake Eyes 60
6 TRD 58
7 Speedy 54
7 Appalachain Mountaineers 54
9 AegisFang 51
10 Genetic Jackhammers 49

BTW, major props to the Patriots of George Mason, they are showing the selection committee that they were a good choice...

Wait a minute! You don't have me up there? I had all four of the men's teams that made the Final Four!

Did you not get my picks in time? I foresaw all of this, including--of course--George Mason's victories over all those overhyped, overrated teams.

:tum: :party-smiley-018:

While I think it's awesome that George Mason made it to the Finale Four, and would like to see them win it all... Am I the only one that is getting annoyed with how much they are covering them on ESPN? Seemed like at least half of SportsCenter was on it, and same for Around the Horn and PTI. I like when teams to the unthinkable, but I hate it when they over-do the story.

Dear Giants Fan [and, due to a change in mid-email, Dear Everyone Else, Too],

I agree, across the board. They have already done the "unthinkable," and more than once. In fact, they are only 5.5- point underdogs to Florida next Saturday, which seems ridiculous to me. If I were still betting on sports, I would bet a large amount on Florida, because I think G.M.'s had their incredible, greatest-Cindarella-story-in-tourney-history run, but it's over.

And yeah, I know there was another #11 seed, but you can hardly compare the LSU team of Dale Brown--a major conference team that had been having an off year--to this "oh my god, how the hell did THIS happen?!?" story. I mean, maybe there has been an equivalent shocker to make the Women's Final Four, though I really doubt it because there is so much less parity on their side and even having a #7 or #8 make the Final Four would be a stunner.

But in any event, yeah, I agree exactly: It's a tremendous story. Those of us who watched it unfold--and especially who saw that preposterous overtime game yesterday--will never forget it. And now the media have gone overboard with it, as is their wont. It's almost like they think the First Amendment gives them a duty to take any great story and run it into the ground. I'm thinking now of great baseball comebacks or upsets in the past:

(1) The "miracle Braves" and their 4-0 sweep of the 1914 A's, in the only series the Braves franchise won in the first half of the century;

(2) The 1926 Cards' winning their franchise's first title by taking Games 6 and 7 in Yankee Stadium, with 39-year-old Grover Cleveland Alexander pitching a masterpiece in Game 6, then coming on in baseball's most famous relief appearance in Game 7, striking out Lazzeri with the bags loaded in the 7th inning, and holding it from there;

(3) The huge underdog 1954 Giants' sweeping the 111-43 Indians, a series which turned in Game 1 on Willie Mays' immortal catch, just as the 1988 series turned in Game 1 when the underdog Dodgers snatched victory from the jaws of defeat on Kirk Gibson's impossible HR; and

(4) The Giants' scoring 4 runs in the bottom of the 9th, the last 3 on Bobby Thompson's HR, to win the 1951 pennant.

If Sports Illustrated, ESPN, The Sports Channel, etc., had existed back then, they'd have run those wonderful stories so hard into the ground that their magic would have been lost.

It would take an enormous amount to take the George Mason story's magic away, but they're trying. And since we all know George Mason is not going to win it all--sorry, but I'll say it now, and if the inconceivable happens, y'all can laugh at me for years--it's not like they're seriously hyping a prospect for the national title. Scoresandodds.com doesn't even have money lines posted for the four teams, and it's not hard to figure out which of the four teams is the reason why.

Well, strike me down dead!!! I will finish this post without editing what I just wrote. I just now found another site, and it DOES have money lines for the Final Four teams. Obviously George Mason is the longshot, but not nearly as long as I would make them, obviously because the sports books expect a lot of bettors to bet with their hearts. Here are the posted odds:


1. Florida: 8 to 5

2. L.S.U.: 9 to 2

3. UCLA: 3 to 1

4. G.M.U. 6 to 1


I've made no secret of the fact I don't know hoops near as well as football, and I know baseball 100 times better than I know football, but still....

Does anyone think UCLA has only twice as good a chance of going all the way as George Mason has? 3 to 1 odds are the odds of a coin flip team... i.e., a team that needs to win two coin flips, or two 50% propositions, meaning UCLA is par for this Final Four field.

Would anyone seriously like to say G.M.U. is 1/2 as good as such a team? I will only say this:

If George Mason wins this tourney, it will be the greatest sporting upset OF MY LIFE. Far more shocking than Ali's upset of Liston or Foreman, and substantially more shocking than the Jets' winning the third Super Bowl. Far more shocking than any surprising World Series or NBA Championship Series outcome. Far more shocking than Villanova's 1985 Championship, and THAT was a shocker. Indeed, I would go so far as to say that, of the three major American sports, it would be the greatest championship surprise of all time. Period.

Any debates?

B.H.N.

Sorry BHN, I missed the memo on your final four picks...

Greatest upset ever? Since this is an amatuer event, you'd have to consider the 1980 US OPlympic team there, too. Of course, hockey probably wasn't one of your 3 major American sports, which can get you shot in certain parts of this web page.

As far as the odds go, in reality, they all have a 25% chance to win this thing, right? That's the peotry of the NCAA tournament, the one strike you're out rule. A significant injury, a hot hand, a cold hand, lots of variables that can change the games from what everyone expects.

That being said, I expect UCLA to be champs. But that's because they are the only team that I have left in my bracket...

It's officially over, and I'm claiming victory. Yeah me.

My famous friend is in Indianapolis. He is pretty giddy after last night's massacre. I hope he feels the same way after Monday night's game, but I doubt they'll maul Florida the way they mauled that pitiful looking LSU team. So does he.

Scoresandodds.com has the game at Florida -2, which I believe is about like making them a 6 to 5 favorite. Then again, the O/U is 127.5, so they're expecting some scoring.... And I'll admit I'm no expert on converting point spreads to money lines, so let's just say they have Florida as a slight favorite, but only by something like an 11 to 9 margin--i.e., the familiar $1.20/pick.

B.H.N.

Whats the league standings?

1 Gibbs Baby!!! 83
2 RidgeRunner 77
3 Sir 76
4 Average Joes 63
5 Snake Eyes 60
6 TRD 58
7 Speedy 54
7 Appalachain Mountaineers 54
9 AegisFang 51
10 Genetic Jackhammers 49


No one can score anymore points in this, so that's our final...