Friday, March 17, 2006

11 out of 16 in the first round.

A 69% success rate my first go around...not too shabby. I aced the Oakland bracket (including upset Alabama over Marquette), got 3 out of 4 in the Atlanta bracket (Syracuse fucked me over for the next two rounds, had them making the Sweet 16) and split the Washington and Minneapolis brackets (thanks for nothing Utah, Seton Hall, Nevada and Oklahoma).

Gonzaga and Boston College gave me scares...having my two finalists nearly knocked out in the first round definitely makes me realize I have a long way to go with this thing.

Still, I'm satisfied so far, and I'm pleasantly surprised at how into it I am. Makes me regret not giving NCAA basketball a chance before...I won't make the same mistake again, it's great stuff.

Big big congratulations to Team Mexico for knocking the US out of the World Baseball Classic, and for pretty much ending the chances of there being another one. All you had to do was watch the games that involved Latin American or Asian teams, and then watch a USA game. The difference was striking: you could even see it on the players' faces; the Americans just didn't care. They treated these games like spring training, whereas the other nations were playing with passion and pride.

The Cuba/Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic/Venezuela games were outstanding...and at least Canada played some exciting games. The Americans were boring by comparison. If you throw away the 17-0 shellacking of South Africa, Team USA scored a measly 16 runs in 5 games...that's an average of just over 3 runs a game. That's pathetic, given their lineup. I wonder if Roger Clemens will retire now...not the way he envisioned going out I'm sure.

This tournament also confirmed that Buck Martinez is one of the worst managers in history. Seriously, this guy could coach the Harlem Globetrotters, and they would come out and lose to the Generals.

Stick with the broadcast booth, Buck...that's your bread and butter.

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