2020 MARCH MADNESS PICK SHEETS , UPDATES AND OCCASIONAL OPINION

MARCH 12,2020 “Today, NCAA President Mark Emmert and the Board of Governors canceled the Division I men’s and women’s 2020 basketball tournaments, as well as all remaining winter and spring NCAA championships,” the NCAA said in a statement. “This decision is based on the evolving COVID-19 public health threat, our ability to ensure the events do not contribute to spread of the pandemic, and the impracticality of hosting such events at any time during this academic year given ongoing decisions by other entities.” This marks the first year the NCAA tournament has not been played since its inception in 1939. That year, the event featured only eight teams, and Oregon beat Ohio State to win the first championship. National Championship   ]This is where you can print your “OFFICE POOL” Bracket, Check the scores, etc. Yes I will have “MY PICKS” so you can compare your picks to mine. (And Laugh or Cry)I will have A “MASTER BRACKET”,  “WHAT IF YOU CHOSE THE HIGH PICKS”  for each game.  Yes I will have MY PICKS. .An “UPSET” will be RED on “ALL HIGH PICKS”  Bracket.  GREEN indicate HIGH SEED Win What is a seed?  Merely a starting place.  Although unlikely, IT is possible for two 16 seeds to meet in the final game.  Would lets say Michigan St  were to be seeded as a number 16.  They would still have  to win all games to be CHAMPION ! SEEDING attempts to give a more favored team an easier path to the CHAMPIONSHIP.  Seeding should lead to  the best 2 teams playing in the final game.  However there  is always that upset minded team;  or  the chance that the favored team has a bad game, a stand out player is sick or injured. To  print BRACKET:  HOVER OVER SHEET.  You will see a window at bottom with an arrow pointing down (second from right).  Click this button.  It will open a new window with the bracket then click the printer icon or go to file,  and PRINT. TO Enlarge each sheet: Hover over and select the square on the far bottom RIGHT.  To return to PAGE  Repeat. MASTER BRACKET 2020 NCAA tournament schedule and locations: DATES ROUND WATCH CITY, STATE HOST(S) FACILITY March 15 Selection Sunday 6 p.m. ET on CBS N/A CBS will broadcast the Selection Show at 6 p.m. ET N/A March 17-18 First Four March Madness Live Dayton, OH University of Dayton UD Arena March 19/21 1st/2nd Rounds March Madness Live Albany, NY Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Times Union Center March 19/21 1st/2nd Rounds March Madness Live Spokane, WA University of Idaho Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena March 19/21 1st/2nd Rounds March Madness Live St. Louis, MO Missouri Valley Conference Enterprise Center March 19/21 1st/2nd Rounds March Madness Live Tampa, FL University of South Florida Amalie Arena March 20/22 1st/2nd Rounds March Madness Live Greensboro, NC Atlantic Coast Conference Greensboro Coliseum March 20/22 1st/2nd Rounds March Madness Live Omaha, NE Creighton University CenturyLink Center Omaha March 20/22 1st/2nd Rounds March Madness Live Sacramento, CA Sacramento State University Golden 1 Center March 20/22 1st/2nd Rounds March Madness Live Cleveland, OH Mid-American Conference/Cleveland State Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse March 26/28 Midwest Regional March Madness Live Indianapolis, IN Horizon League/IUPUI Lucas Oil Stadium March 26/28 West Regional March Madness Live Los Angeles, CA Pepperdine University STAPLES Center March 27/29 South Regional March Madness Live Houston, TX University of Houston Toyota Center March 27/29 East Regional March Madness Live New York, NY St. John’s University/Big East Conference Madison Square Garden April 4/6 Final Four and title game TBS/ March Madness Live Atlanta, GA Georgia Institute of Technology MASTER BRACKET ALL HIGH PICKS   MY PICKS Post Views: 85

NCAA MARCH MADNESS 2017

You will see scores here when I am away from the computer Gonzaga 65  NORTH CAROLINA 71 North Carolina came from behind with a 9-2 run. To become your 2017 NCAA MENS BASKETBALL CHAMPIONS !! This is number 6 for the Tarheels.  And number 3 under Coach Roy Williams. Congratulations to the LADIES of South Carolina on becoming the 2017 NCAA Womens Basketball CHAMPIONS !!! The table is set. Two number One Seeds will face off tor the 2017 version of the NCCA 2017  Campionship Jump ball set to begin at 9pm (EST), Monday April 3rd, On CBS As I pointed out earlier; this will be GONZAGA’S 19th,consecutive tournament appearance. (It will be their 20th appearance counting their one and done, in 1995).  Could this be their year?  As I previously pointed out If they could score more than 62 points in that crucial  (for them), 4th game.  They would have a really good chance of winning their FIRST EVER Men’s NCAA  BASKETBAL  TITLE. I must admit the Gonzaga Bulldogs, if not considered a Cinderella team ; THEY have to be a SENTIMENTAL favorite.   Good luck to both teams.  Although I will be rooting for my sentimental favorite and SPIKES Favorite, GONZAGA.  (For those of you who didn’t  know, SPIKE is the name of Gonzaga’s mascot). North Carolina ended Oregon’s run, edging them out by a single point 77-76. Gonzaga, (a mid major college), withstood a 16-0 charge by South Carolina to eliminate South by 4 points. 77-73 Does it say anything that both finalist scored the same (77), number of points.  In their respective Semi-Final games,  Wouldn’t it be a great game if after 40 minutes the two teams were tied 77-77.  WOW! USA Today appeared a mite bias today.  I counted four headlines regarding the North Carolina game and zero regarding Gonzagas game.  If they had any I missed them. HOW about those Musketeers!  From an eleven seed to Elite Eight berth.  Of course I will still root for my TEAM, or any of its fellow conference members, as long as they last. It would be nice to see an eleven seed win it all. Gonzaga is  a sentimental favorite.  Having made the tournament EVERY year sine 1999.  Amassing 25 wins in the prior  17 year span.  Their best years were 1999 and 2015 with 3 wins advancing to to the Regional Final.  In 1999 they were ousted 67-62 by UCONN.   2015 saw the Zags Return to the regional final only to be defeated 66-62 by Duke.  Seems if they reach the Regional Final again and can score more than 62 points, They just might win their region. I really hate to add this item at this time.  But I Think it is relevant.  The Biggest Tourney the NCAA has.  is now going on.     The NCAA is trying to exert their  power of  FINANCIAL GAIN to the CITIES, and STATES.  Example is the  threat to North Carolina.  Change your STATE LAW: regarding restroom use OR…ELSE !!    No hosting of  NCAA Events.  They did this with College mascots…and got by with it.  NOW!  They are pressuring States to…  DO AS WE TELL YOU.  NOT WHAT YOUR RESIDENTS WANT.  It seems to me the NCAA has outgrown their britches and either needs to be ousted or NEW leadership that does what the organization was set up to do, and not overstep their bounds. I don’t know how to fight this.  We could boycott all NCAA events.  But that would also hurt the Schools, its Athlete, and punish the FAN BASE.  The only real answer is for the colleges,and universities to withdraw from the NCAA and set up a new organization to oversee the SPORTS, and leave it at that.  But that will never happen.  They apparently can not see where the NCAA is leading them. It appears North Carolinians have bowed to the almighty    dollar.  NCAA money apparently speaks louder than the  citizens voice.  North Carolina ceded to the GIANT  NCAA to  repeal their bathroom bill.    While I am on my stump.  There is all this talk of  “Student Athletes”  being paid to play.   THEY ARE BEING PAID, They are getting an education,  for all intents and purposes FREE.  ONE other thing I will inject here, (like it or not).  Enough of these athletes going to school, (basically free), then abandoning their education, for the big bucks of  PROFESSIONAL SPORTS.  I have no problem with them jumping for the big money they are offered.  BUT!!!  They have taken  scholarship money from students who really need it to get an education.  I PROPOSE.  Any student athlete, not completing school, (to go pro),  should REPAY the scholarship money.  OR The Professional Team/Organization, employing them should Repay the scholarship.  These Professional teams USE College/Universities as a “MINOR LEAGUE” to develop players.  Not so much Baseball, Hockey, or other sports, HOWEVER, it seems FOOTBALL, and Basketball are the big offenders of this use. As always this is just my opinion.  That Is The Way I See It. NORTHWESTERN WINS FIRST NCAA MARCH MADNESS GAME EVER.  Defeating Vanderbilt 68 to 66.  Congratulations NORTHWESTERN WELCOME TO OUR 2017 MARCH MADNESS.  I am not sure How many years we have been doing this.  I will have to look it up.  I do know all totaled I have been having this same POOL since, 1991.  Just not sure how many years I have posted on this blog.   Two years in a row I had a female player win my pool.  When I asked her method that made this result possible , her reply was, “I just pick the team with the best looking coach”.  So everybody has their own way and reasoning of picking the winner. This is where you can print your “OFFICE POOL” Bracket, Check the scores, etc. I will have these… “MASTER BRACKET”,  “What if you chose all  HIGH PICKS”  for each game.  An “UPSET BRACKET”  (if the favored team wins it will be in Green, if it is an… Continue reading NCAA MARCH MADNESS 2017

NCAA March Madness 2016

What a thrilling ending to the 2016 edition of MARCH MADNESS. North Carolina probably wishing the could have waited a couple of seconds for their final shot.  I didn’t do so well.  I DID however pick a number two seed to win (Michigan State); BUT it was a number two seed which won.  So I have to give myself  a half credit (?). It has been FUN.  I  plan to do this again next year.  Despite my troubles with CHROME.  It gave me fits in updating.  I would spend sometimes an hour updating just one bracket sheet.  Finally learned I had to clear my cache every time before I attempted to update anything. Be sure to check back regularly.  I don’t have any idea what I will write about….. NO! wait I have some idea.  Maybe some racing history. (If I can find the notes I made a couple years ago.  Also…. who knows. WELCOME TO OUR 2016 MARCH MADNESS.  I am not sure How many years we have been doing this.  I will have to look it up.   This is where you can print your “OFFICE POOL” Bracket, Check the scores, etc. I will have this “MASTER BRACKET”,  “WHAT IF YOU CHOSE THE HIGH PICKS”  for each game.  An “UPSET BRACKET”  (if the favored team wins it will be in Green, if it is an upset it will be listed in RED”.  And, Yes I will have my picks so you can compare your picks to mine. (And Laugh or Cry)  What is a seed?  Merely a starting place.  Although unlikely, IT is possible for two 16 seeds to meet in the final game.  Would lets say Michigan St  were to be seeded as a number 16.  They would still have  to win all games to be CHAMPION !    SEEDING attempts to give a more favored team an easier path to the CHAMPIONSHIP.  Seeding should lead to  the best 2 teams playing in the final game.  However there  is always that upset minded team;  or  the chance that the favored team has a bad game, a stand out player is sick or injured.  I am reminded of one year in our STATE High School WRESTLING Tournament.  The Athletic Assn.  decided to go with a draw, rather than seeding.  The Result?  Two wrestlers with one defeat each faced each other in the first match.  Loser of a first round match goes home.  It was a 3 OT match.  One of these wrestlers went home, while wrestlers with more losses during the season advanced.  The winner of this match had no competition left.  Easy wins.  He won the CHAMPIONSHIP  that first match.  Not much excitement. Reportedly there is a TEENAGE GIRL in Indiana who has only missed 3 games in this years bracket. She picked Texas over Northern Iowa.  California over Hawaii. Final game she had Syracuse over North Carolina.  Her Champion pick is……VILLANOVA. She says she does not follow Basketball regularly and has only attended a game or two at her high school.      Maybe this is proof the rest of us over think some things To  print BRACKET: Click on PRINT PDF button at top and select page with the bracket you want to print. ( If you do not see the “PRINT PDF” button.  Please go to the The Title “NCAA March Madness 2016”  and click to advance to the full post).  MASTER BRACKET ALL HIGH PICKS UPSETS MY PICKS       Post Views: 83

NFL Playoff Wild Card Confidence Picks Week 1 Jan.3-4,2015

I must say I was somewhat surprised by my own results this week. Just in:  Buffalo Bills coach DOUG MARRONE has opted out of his contract.  The out clause was activated by he sale of the team.     Could a short hop to the N.Y. Jets be in order? Now we are at the CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES.  “SUPER BOWL”. Last weeks HIGHLIGHTS: Houston’s  J.J. Watt, became the only 2 time player to record 20 sacks in a season.  To top it off his 20th sack also scored a SAFETY. Tampa Bay Buccaneers “won”  the first pick for next years draft.  Both Tennessee Titans, and Tampa Bay tied with a 2-14 record.  HOWEVER the tie breaker ( whichever team whose opponents had the lowest winning percentage) favored the Bucs.   Miami Dolphins Lamar Miller carried the ball from the 3 yd.  line for a 97  yard TD.  and cap 1000 yard season.   Longest run was in 1983 when Cowboy TONY DORSETT, ran 99 yds.  Following Dorsett is Green Bay Packers’ RB Ahman Green.  Green ran a 98 yd. TD in 2003.  In 1939 Packer Andy Urham also ran a 97 yd. TD.   As of this writing,  we know of 4 coaches who have been relieved of duty.  First is the Jets’ Rex Ryan.  Ryan has not finished above 500 the last 4 seasons.   Will he land at Chicago?     Atlanta Coach Mike Smith is looking for another job.  Smith went 10-22 the last 2 seasons, and was 1-4 in post season.    Chicago Bears’ Coach Marc Trestman, with a 5-11 season is out.  So is Bears’ GM Phil Emery.  I think this is a much needed move.  I think,  there should be more releases up the ladder.   Jay Cutler took the blame much of the season for the Bears poor performance.  However in all the games I watched the ENTIRE TEAM,   Seemed somewhat amiss.  I saw no real heart in their actions on the field.   I’m not saying Cutler is the caliber player he is being paid as…. BUT I would most likely give him another year under new leadership.   Then we come to San Francisco 49’ers.  Will they be able to replace Jim Harbaugh.  Probably not.   But, the way I see it.  Winning is secondary to 49’ers  management.  Much like the Indianapolis Colts when Jim Irsay took over.  Irsay wanted to tell the coaches who to play what plays to run, etc. etc.  It wasn’t until he learned to trust his coaching staff that the Colts started to do any good.  I believe San Francisco’s management staff have yet to learn that lesson.  AND we all know JIM HARBAUGH is no YES MAN!   GOOD LUCK AT MICHIGAN COACH HARBAUGH.   One last note.  WHAT TEAM FINISHED THE SEASON WITHOUT A TD  BY A WR?  ….Kansas City Chiefs.  Of course.   Looking Ahead NFL Divisional Playoffs Saturday, Jan. 10 AFC: 4:35 p.m. (ET) Baltimore at New England (NBC) NFC: 8:15 p.m. (ET) Carolina at Seattle (FOX) Sunday, Jan. 11 NFC: 1:05 p.m. (ET) Dallas at Green Bay (FOX) AFC: 4:40 p.m. (ET) Indianapolis at Denver (CBS)   For those of you who do not know how confidence ranking goes, let me explain If we were playing an office pool,(which we ARE NOT).  The object is to score the most points. To obtain the score YOU rank the teams by how confident you are a team will win its game.  EXAMPLE:  Say this week we have 17 games.  The team you are most confident will win you would assign the number 17 and follow down to the team you are least confident in and assign that number 1.   We use the Monday night game as a TIE BREAKER.  The tie is broken by the closest to the total (that is the COMBINED score of the two participating teams) final score, without going over. If we were playing this is how my sheet would look;  My pick will be in bold Capital letters.  you can use circling, underlining, or highlighting.  I will show my correct points in Bold   This year I am making a change in the scoring.  YOU can adopt the new scoring or continue to use the old scoring. This year we get a negative score for missed games.  We will continue to get a positive score for correct predictions.  EXAMPLE:  LAST YEAR if you scored 1 pt on the first game and you had 15 pt on the second game and was wrong you would still have a Positive 1.  HOWEVER. this year the same scenario would result with a -14 score. I will fill in my picks Friday.  Until then feel free to: Just copy and paste for your own Fun Pool Use.  Or to see if you can beat me. IF YOU SEE I MADE A MIS COPY OF THE GAMES AND TIMES FEEL  FREE TO EMAIL ME AND TELL ME I GOOFED. All Times EST GAME VISITOR SCORE   HOME SCORE CONFIDENCE RUNNING SCORE SATURDAY  01/03/15 16:35   1 Ariz. Cardinals 16  @ CAR. PANTHERS 27 3 3/3 SATURDAY 01/03/15 20:15 2 Bal. Ravens 30 @ PIT. STEELERS  17  1 2/3   SUNDAY 01/04/15 13:05  3 Cincy Bengals 10  @ INDY COLTS  26  2 4/5   SUNDAY 01/04/15 16:40   4 Det. Lions 20  @ DAL. COWBOYS 24  4 8/9  Tie Breaker  (Sunday  2 team total) 48 GAME 4 Actual Score  44 Points Off  -4 Possible Points  10 80%/90% Post Views: 80

The Final Four

APRIL 9, 2013 We have come to the conclusion of this year’s  installment of  MARCH MADNESS.  The new Champion is  LOUISVILLE!  From what I could tell from the bits and pieces i was able wake up and catch it seemed to be a truly good competition.   Michigan started out strong.  Then Louisville made their charge.  Nip and tuck til the end.  The game could have gone anyway.  But it was Michigan which found itself on the short end in the closing minutes.  Which meant they were forced to foul to extend the game.  As happens in this situation, more often than not,  The team trying to catch up gets beat,  and that is what happened here. Per my definition of  being beat or losing.  I see no loser here.  I see a strong team that got    BEAT.  NO LOSERS.   We should have also learned a valuable lesson.  Kevin Ware,  who proved during the season to be a star player for the Cardinals was unfortunately injured during tournament play, could only supply moral support to his team most of the tournament games.  The players rallyed around his injury.  But as good as Kevin Ware is,  the team from Louisville proved they were not a one man team.  Many teams would have been lost without a player of his caliber.  But they showed that they could all, every player, be a key member to the team. When I was  coaching I always told the boys ‘Be ready.  We have no set starting team.  It depends on the team we are playing, what skills are needed.  Each player has a different set of skills”.  As a player I preferred not to start.  As this took pressure off me.  (Everyone expects more out of starters than subs).  I usually sat for the first minute.  Then finished the game.    Great tournament,  many upsets, and the overalll number one seed emerges the victor. Although not as bad as many the celebrating fans tarnished the schools win with their irresponsible after game behavior.  That is all I have to say about this.  See your newspapers for details.  If they dare to put the story in without whitewashing it. PROGRAM NOTE: APRIL 8,2013 As Much as we would love to see the game tonight.  We will be unable to BECAUSE of the lateness of the start time.  You see we live in the Central Time Zone.  However our illustrious state leadership has decided in its INFINITE wisdom we must observe ATLANTIC TIME,   They call it Daylight Saving Time.  But there is just so much daylight in a 24 hour day.  So no one has been able to save any.    Putting us TWO hours ahead of the sun.   So The game should be on  at 7 pm instead of 10 pm.    So to all of you lucky people who get to see the game ENJOY.  4 am comes pretty early when you are two hours ahead of  the sun.   UPDATE APRIL 7, 2013 And then there were TWO.  LOUISVILLE, and  MICHIGAN. The stage is set..I am looking for a close game.  One that will keep all fans on the edge of their seats.  As you know I have said Michigan will be the new NCAA Basketball Champion.  Good Luck to both teams. I must hope that the end of this game and season is not marred by in inappropriate action by the ones who consider themselves fan, yet take away from the the pride of their teams by rioting and tearing things up.  Both teams deserve better.  These outlaw demonstrations SUBTRACT. from the dignity of the respected teams.  REJOICE IN THEIR FEATS. UPDATE: We nearly had another upset.  A well played game by both Witchita St. and Louisville. Now we must see if Michigan can overcome the Syracuse Press. Usually I give a lot of trivia here but this year I won’t.  Suffice it to say this has been one heck of a tournament.  So many upsets.  Made a tournament season worthy of watching.  I Still stand by my original conviction that all four final teams should have come from the Big Ten.  Regardless of what my old NEMESIS  Sir Charles thinks. (which was always a little far out).  The Big Ten had its best shot at an ALL FINAL FOUR shootout.  Only team that really let me down was WISCONSIN.  They truly had the best shot bur as noted they also have the spells of non-concentration, of which they fell victim.  Did they get beat by a better team?  NO!  They LOST because they did not give their all.  As I have said before and will say again.  You only get BEAT if you give it all you have and  and still end up on the short end of the score.  But you LOSE if you don’t leave it all on the court.  Granted somedays you may not have as much to give as other days.  But Wisconsin just completely melted down.  I really don’t feel they respected their opponent.  ENOUGH. Locally I find we have one person who had 4 of  the final 8.  And believe it or not has 2 of the final four.  Some of you may have done better.  I don’t see how. As much as I would like to see another upset.  Odds are really against it so as it stands I see Louisville Vs Michigan in the final game with MICHIGAN the Champions. Both teams are really good. But it will come to MENTAL and PHYSICAL Toughness.   I think both team are pretty equal in the MENTAL toughness…. But Physical toughness?  Again you have to go back to their conferences.  Big Ten definitely the most physical Conference in the country.  Michigan has proved they have this PHYSICAL toughness throughout the Big Ten season.  Scale tips to Michigan. RESULTS FAVORITES MY PICKS WHY? Because….  I really don’t know.  Just a glutton for punishment, I guess Post Views: 95