The Jimmy First Half Recap '08

After a weekend of thrilling finishes and stunning upsets, I find myself in uncharted territory...First Place.

That's right, I've never won the JBorhood March Madness Extravganza. In fact, in the brief history of the J.M.M.E (maybe I should just call it 'The Jimmy') my best finish is fourth place. Two years ago, I watched my title hopes die when Adam Morrison cried like a sissy girl. Last year, I hooked my title aspirations to a Texas A&M team that got obliterated at the hands of eventual Tournament runner-up, Ohio State. But this year? This year is different. This year, I've finally put all the pieces together, made the right calls and figured out the secret to success in NCAA Tournament pools:

A sexy body.

(Sorry, only kidding. My sexy body has no effect on the quality of my picks.)

The real secret is...luck.

That's right, luck. While a few participants have shown us that it's possible to lose a tournament pool with your picks (perhaps, in retrospect, picking three number one seeds to lose their first round games is not such a good idea. Then again, perhaps, in retrospect, one should explain to their wife that the #1 by the team's name means they are the top ranked team in the region), the rest of field is seperated by one good pick (West Virginia over Duke), one bad pick (USC over anybody), two lucky bounces (Villanova over Clemson, Stanford over Marquette), two fouls that weren't called (Tennessee's goaltending on Butler's second to last possession, UCLA's hack on Texas A&M's final drive) and two absurd upsets (Sienna over Vanderbilt clearing the path for Villanova, San Diego over UConn preventing UConn from a clear path to the Sweet 16).

If you change the outcome of even one of those moments, the pool would have a new leader. But that's the beauty of the tournament. An entire season comes down to 40 mintues, 40 seconds or, sometimes, .40 seconds of basketball. Sometimes the ball bounces your way and, other times, you're left crying like an eight year old girl (or Adam Morrison).

For now, I'll enjoy my time to shine and take the opportunity to lord my prognostication supremacy over my older brother (ha ha ha). By the time the weekend's over, I'm sure I'll be languishing in the bottom half of the pool, cursing, not my picks, of course, but luck.

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The opening round of the NCAA tournament provided great upsets, crushing defeats and bizarre picks. In order to recognize the great picks and the not-so-great picks, I want to recognize the Jimmy's first half award winners!

Most Improbable Championship Pick that somehow remained alive after the First Round: Jennifer (WINNAH!!!!) for her dream title matchup of Texas vs. Sienna.

Everyone but Jenn had either North Carolina or UCLA playing for a national title, but Jenn had the conviction to follow her heart and ride unheralded Sienna all the way to the national title game. Much to my chagrin, Sienna did the impossible and knocked off Vanderbilt in the first round to keep the hopes of a Sienna title game appeareance alive. Unfortunately, their dream (along with Jenn's) died in their second round loss to Villanova.

Most Improbable Final Four Pick that Somehow is Still Alive: Bob (East) for picking Michigan State in the Final Four

At first glance, Bob's brackets is quite normal. He has a title game of North Carolina versus UCLA, he picked three number one seeds to make it to the Final Four and he only picked three upset teams in the Sweet 16. But when you look at his Final Four, something jumps out at you.

Emerging from the South Bracket...Michigan State??!?!?!?!?

While the vast majority of people picked Pittsburgh to make it to the Sweet 16 and some even had Pitt in the Elite 8 or Final Four, Bob hitched his wagon to Tom Izzo and the Spartans. The best part? If they make the Final Four, Bob becomes the new favorite.

As go the Spartans, so goes Bob.

Luckiest Bracket: Me (The Almighty J)

So far, there have been eight games that came down to the final shot, eight games decided by a lucky bounce, eight games decided by one random moment, and I have been on the right side of five of them. Five out of eight? That's only slightly better then fifty percent. True, but here's where the luck really kicked in.

Only one of those two unlucky games actually damaged my bracket and the other two actually significantly aided me.

That's right. This year, even when I lose, I win.

I was on the right side of Villanova / Clemson, Duke / Belmont, UCLA / Texas A&M, Standford / Marquette, Tennessee / Butler and, while I was on the wrong end of Davidson / Georgetown, San Diego/UConn, and Western Kentucky over Drake, only the Drake loss hurt my bracket, since I had them in the Sweet 16. The UConn loss knocked UConn (who most people picked to get to the Sweet 16) out of an easy second round matchup with Western Kentucky and the Georgetown loss destroyed over half the brackets in the pool, while providing a much easier road for my Elite 8 pick, Wisconsin.

Best Outside Chance to Make a Miraculous Comeback and Win: Shaun (WWTCD -- What Would Timmy Chang Do?, for those of you who don't know)

Right now, Shaun is in 15th place. He's ahead of only four people, two of whom picked multiple number one seeds to lose on the first day, while the other two failed to even submit their picks. In fact, barring a concerted effort to make bad picks, it would be hard to make worse selections then Shuan did up until now.

But don't cry for him, Argentina. Shaun's hopes for a title hinge on one thing and one thing only: Kansas winning the title.

If Kansas wins, Shaun wins. It's that simple.

So laugh while you can, but if the Jayhawks cut down the nets, it's Shaun who'll be having the last laugh.

Best Upset Pick: Jenn (WINNAH) for picking Sienna (who???) to knock off Vanderbilt.

It appears that Jenn saw something in Sienna that no one else did. In fact, she picked them to make it to the National Title game. While that gutsy pick fell a tad short of realization, Sienna did keep those hopes and dreams alive after the first day.

Nice work, Jenn. May we all have such faith in our convictions.

Best "Almost" Upset Pick: Tori (TrickPix) for her gutsy upset pick of Belmont over Duke.

Technically, this might not count as an upset pick, since she didn't realize that the "2" by Duke's name indicated that they were the second seeded team in the West Region (oops), and since she also picked three number one seeds to lose on the first day it was more of an upset pick via "shotgun" then anything else, but almost making a historical upset pick still deserves credit.

Worst Trendy Upset Pick: USC to the Sweet 16

Six of the 15 submitted entries had USC in the Sweet 16, two of them had USC in the Final Four and one person had USC in the championship games. Rarely do tournament dreams die so hard, so fast. Unfortuantely, USC forgot to get the memo, effectively crushing two brackets on the second day of the tournament and rendering a majority of others cursing the name, O.J. Mayo.

Most Crushing Defeat: Georgetown falling to Davidson

The loss heard round the world.

As would be expected in a primarily family driven NCAA tournament pool where one family member attends Georgetown, A LOT of people had Georgetown making a deep run into the tournament. In fact, outside of UCLA and North Carolina, more people had Georgetown in the Final Four then any other team. Nine brackets had GTown in the Elite 8, six had the Hoyas making a run to the final four and two people picked the house that Ewing built to cut down the championship nets.

All in all, this loss completely killed the title hopes of two people and put the brackets of at least six other people on life support. Something tells me we're going to have a lot of people rooting for Davidson to make a run to the Final Four and completely destroy everyone else's brackets. Which leads me to...

Everyone's New Favorite Team: North Carolina, Davidson (tie)

As mentioned above, if Davidson can somehow continue their ridiculous run through the tournament, they can screw up the brackets of everyone else in the pool and level the playing field. Likewise, if North Carolina can continue to steamroll their way to the Final Four, it will open the door for everyone else to knock my bracket out of the top spot.

Suffice to say, I'm cheering for Washington State and Wisconsin this weekend. Who's with me? No one? Really?

Dr. Jecky / Mr. Hyde Award for Most Volatile Bracket: Trenton (UCLA! Fight! Fight! Fight!)

It looks like Trenton took his time, did some research and filled out half his bracket then went out, drank a 12 pack and took 14 Jager shots before filling out the second half. In the East and South Region, Trenton correctly identified all eight, Sweet 16 teams. In fact, he only missed two games in both regions. COMBINED.

Unfortunately for him, those Jager shots came back to bite him in the Midwest and the West. (Maybe it's a geography thing. He does live in New York...) In those regions, he only picked two of the eight, Sweet 16 teams and incorrectly picked a whopping 14 of 24 total games.

Next year Trenton, for your sake, may I suggest picks first, Jager second?

Most Important Remaining Game: North Carolina vs. Tennessee

I know, I know. Don't your chickens before they're hatched. By the time Sunday rolls around, we could be looking at a match up between Washington State and Louisville. But, you know what? It doesn't matter. What really matters is whether North Carolina or Tennessee get to the Final Four. If Tennessee gets to the Final Four, the pool is, for all intents and purposes, over. It would eliminate everyone except for me (The Almighty J) and Shaun (WWTCD) from contention for the title. On the other hand, if North Carolina makes it to the Final Four, all bets are off. Almost half of the pool would still have a chance to win. So cheer for Davidson. Root for Texas. Rally around UCLA.

Best Chance to Cause Irreparable Harm to the Future of the Jimmy: Sandy (ArtStar) or Juan (Juan's Bracket) winning the title

Between the two of them, Sandy and Juan picked two (that's right, two) seeds lower then a four to make it the Sweet 16. If one of them wins, it might lead to a future of copy cats foregoing chance and upsets and playing pick by numbers. Anyone can pick the top seeds to make it through the tournament, but that takes all the magic out of March. Come on, underdogs.

Win for God!
Win for country!
Win for the JBorhood!
YES WE CAN!

Good luck in the second half, everyone!

JBorhood March Madness Extravaganza Watch 2008

Aloha friends and J-bors. A few users suffered technical difficulties and a few others didn't submit their brackets in time, but we still have a record turn out! Thank you for continuing to make the JBorhood and other various loosely affiliated J-Borhood events a rousing success!

You can follow all the madness here (Note: You must be a member of the group and logged in to your Yahoo account to view the results. If anyone else wants to know what's going on, email me at jborhood@gmail.com and I'll provide you access):

JBorhood March Madness Extravaganza Watch 2008

The winner of this year's pool gets to suggest a blog topic of their choosing to appear the week following the NCAA Tournament.

I can feel the excitement building from here... :)

JBorhood March Madness Extravaganza 2008

As the ides of March approach and the Guiness Draught flows freely through the streets, we convene once again for that sacred rite of March...

THE JBORHOOD MARCH MADNESS EXTRAVAGANZA.

That's right. Everyone's favorite NCAA Tournament pool is back! Where we prove, one and for all, that an in-depth understanding of college basketball (not to mention good looks and charm) is no match for blind luck. I look forward to losing in grand fashion yet again. To sign up, click on the following link:

Sign-up for the JBorhood March Madness Extravaganza Here

NOTE: The sign-up process requires a Yahoo ID. When you click on the link, Yahoo will ask you to log-in to your account. If you do not have a Yahoo account, click on the "Sign Up" link to one. Once you have signed in, Yahoo will ask you to select a "Bracket Name". This refers to the name of your entry in the league. Enter the name you would like others to see when looking at your name in the standings. Creativity is admired, but not required. Email me at jborhood@gmail.com if you have any problems.

For reference sake, here is the group information (note, if you sign-up using the link, you should not have to enter this information):
Group ID#: 114483
Password: jborhood

Bursting the Bubble

Take it like a man, St. Mary's.

I don't want to hear it, Syracuse.

Cry me a river, Maryland.

Stop whining, Villanova.

Too bad, Arizona State.

So sad, Florida.

You officially lost the right to complain.

Every year, the media bombards us with coverage of so-called "Bubble Teams": teams that failed to distinguish themselves as one of the best 64 teams in the country over the course of the season. Each one of these teams had the opportunity to assure their spot in the NCAA tournament and each one blew it. They did little over the course of the season to assert their claim as one of the elite teams in the country and failed to win the most important game of their season while facing the prospects of elimination in their conference tournament. Now they're left to argue and squabble over which of them most deserves the opportunity to lose a first round game in the NCAA tournament.

Spare me.

As ESPN radio personality Colin Cowherd put it, "if, after 35 games, you can't prove that you're one of the best 64 teams in the country...go away. I don't want to hear about it."

But we're going to hear about it. In fact, all we are going to hear from this now until Selection Sunday is who deserves to get in and who should go home. I am here to say that, frankly, it's irrelevant. You can argue whether Arizona State and their .500 conference record deserves a spot more then a St. Mary's team that plays in a conference dominated by pudgy white kids all you want, but it won't change the fact that, at the end of the day, UCLA, Memphis, Kansas and North Carolina will play in the Final Four. (Author's Note: This is NOT my actual Final Four, so don't try and use this to get a leg up on me in our March Madness pool. In fact, if you pick the four #1 seeds to make the Final Four, I think you should be disqualified from the tournament for being a douche. I'm just saying...)

Granted, I feel bad for St. Mary's. A trip to the NCAA tournament would mean A LOT to a school like St. Mary's. When you are a school with an enrollment of 2500 students, your nickname is the Gaels and your defining athletic achievement is a women's soccer team ranked 5th in the nation by an online soccer magazine named "Soccer Buzz" (don't take my word for it) back in 2001, you'll take what you can get. To put the poor state of their athletic department in perspective, in 2001, Duke won twice as many games in the NCAA Tournament (4), as the Gaels won the entire season (2, for those of you with embarrassingly bad math skills). St. Mary's winning a first round game in the NCAA tournament would be like Duke winning the national championship. 10 years in a row. If St. Mary's does not make it to the NCAA tournament, their fan base would be justifiably crushed. But that still does not give them the right to complain. If you want to play with the big boys and you want to be taken seriously, you can't lose the biggest game of your season to the only team in Division I basketball with a worse nickname then yours (The San Diego Toreros? Really? Did the school move from Juarez?).

To put it simply, if you want to play in the round of 64, don't lose in the round of 256.

At least I can understand a school like St. Mary's pleading their case for inclusion in the NCAA tournament. It drives me crazy listening to a school like Syracuse argue their case. What's the point? You play in the Big East. You're a perennial power. You won a national championship FIVE YEARS AGO! Does anyone really care if whether you lose in the first round of the NCAA tournament or the third round of the NIT? Are students clamoring for first round tickets to watch the Oranges thrilling first round loss? Is there a horde of people ready to buy 2008 Syracuse NCAA tournament participant hats? Will fans remember the 2008 team's pedestrian loss at the hands of a mid-major? If you play in a major conference, have made a trip to the NCAA tournament in the last ten years, or have EVER won a national championship, the NCAA should revoke your bubble privileges. Watching the Maryland's and Syracuse's of the world pander for attention is just embarrassing.

We love the NCAA tournament for two reasons:

1. Improbable upsets of the early rounds
2. Great teams playing win or go home games in the later rounds

The problem with bubble teams is that they don't qualify for either category. If they win their early round match-ups, it's not a huge upset since they're primarily established basketball powers anyway. It would certainly be a surprise if Florida knocked off Stanford, but it wouldn't be that big a deal. If they win, Florida fans aren't going to rush the floor and Billy Donovan isn't going to go all Homer Drew and carry his point guard off the floor and have a seizure on the sidelines. Likewise, if a bubble team somehow makes it to the Sweet 16, the games don't carry the same amount of drama as watching UCLA and Texas square off in a clash of the Titans.

Bubble teams are just good enough to be boring, but not good enough to be relevant.

So if St. Mary's, Syracuse, Maryland, Villanova, Arizona State or Florida ends up making the tournament, good for them. They're all quality teams and most deserving of a shot at the post-season. Just don't expect me to shed a tear if I don't hear their names on Selection Sunday.

A Bittersweet Farewell

It's a bittersweet day in the JBorhood.

The Brett Favre era has finally come to an end.

"Bittersweet?", you ask.

I know, I know. The greatest source of sports anguish in my life is finally hanging up his cleats and walking into the sunset. It feels like I am waking up from a twenty year long nightmare. My first inclination is to strip naked, paint myself blue and orange and run through the streets singing "Ding Dong, the Witch is Dead". I should be popping open a bottle of Dom with my Dad and launching into a two-week bender to celebrate the best thing to happen to the Chicago Bears franchise since the Super Bowl Shuffle (with apologies to Devin Hester, of course). But I can't shake this empty feeling in the pit of my stomach. Something does not feel right.

In what I can only explain as a bizarre case of Stockholm Syndrome, I am somewhat disappointed to see Brett Favre retire. I haven't exactly sunk to the level of Champ from Anchorman -- I do not miss his scent, nor do I miss his musk -- I just do not know how to prepare for a football season without my arch nemesis. I feel like a Yankee fan who just found out that the Red Sox were contracted. A football season without Brett Favre is like Cinemax without soft core porn (What? You expected peanut butter without jelly?). You'll still watch, you just might not pay for the premium package. Let me put it this way: prior to this year, if my friend asked me to be the best man at his wedding, which happened to fall on the same day as a Bears-Packers game, he'd be looking for a new best man. This year, I'd at least think about it (before saying no).

For Bears fans, the regular season schedule revolved around the two games against Green Bay. An early season win against the Packers provided positive momentum and the late season clash decided playoff rankings or (more often) provided one last chance chance to salvage an otherwise forgettable season. Occasionally, if the Lions or Vikings were good, those games took on an added excitement, but no matter the circumstance, they could not come close to the intensity of the Bears-Packers rivalry. Favre's departure does not destroy the rivalry, it just takes away some of its luster. Brett Favre wasn't a part of the Bears-Packers rivalry, Brett Favre was the Bears-Packers rivalry.

For example, historically, when the Dodgers traveled to San Francisco to play the Giants, the Giants fans would chant, "Dodgers Suck!" Whenever, the Giants went to LA, the Dodger fans would chant, "Giants Sucks!" But, somewhere during Barry Bonds tainted run, as he grabbed all the headlines and became the face, heart and soul of the Giants (or perhaps, more appropriately, sucked the heart and soul out of the Giants), the Dodgers fans collective hatred for the Giants morphed into a collective hatred for Barry Bonds. They no longer cheered "Giants Suck!", they chanted "Barry Sucks!"

The same thing happened in Chicago. Somewhere along the way, we Bears fans stopped hating the Packers and we started hating Brett Favre. Actually, let me rephrase that, we still hate the Packers, but we despise Brett Favre. I'm not sure if it was the continual beatings at the hands Favre and the Packers or the long procession of god awful Bears quarterbacks (Take a deep breath...Henry Burris, Chris Chandler, Will Furrer, Brian Griese, Rex Grossman, Jim Harbaugh, Chad Hutchinson, Erik Kramer, Craig Krenzel, Dave Krieg, Shane Matthews, Cade McNown, Jim Miller, Rick Mirer, Moses Moreno, Kyle Orton, Jonathan Quinn, Steve Stenstrom, Kordell Stewart, Steve Walsh, Peter Tom Willis), but at some point, we snapped. During the Packers hey day I would not have shed a tear if I found out that Brett Favre had been hit by a bus. While being eaten by a polar bear. With rabies.

But, during the last few years, something changed. I don't know if it was the back to back NFC North Championships in 2005 and 2006, the Super Bowl appearance, the 6-2 record vs. the Packers during the Lovie Smith era, or the gradual onset of maturity (wait, that can't be right), but somehow, someway, I stopped hating Brett Favre. What's worse, I even started to like him. It's hard not to like a guy who enjoys playing football as much as Brett Favre.

He doesn't cry about his contract.

He doesn't whine about playing time.

He doesn't complain about his teammates.

He doesn't fight with his coaching staff.

He just laughs, smiles and wins. More then any quarterback in the history of the NFL.

All you need to know about Brett Favre happened within 30 seconds during the Packers first round playoff game versus the Seahawks this year. The Packers had the ball in the red zone and called a short slant pattern, designed to hit Greg Jennings for a quick touchdown strike over the middle. Due to the snow and wind, the play completely broke down and it looked like the Seahawks had Favre wrapped up for a sack. But Favre juked one man, spun around to his right, sprinted toward the sideline, jumped forward and flipped the ball to Greg Jennings for a miraculous touchdown. Without skipping a beat, Favre took off his helmet, laughed and started throwing snowballs at his teammates. For just a moment, they weren't professional football players. They were a group of guys, doing what they love the most. The moment was truly Favrian. In fact, no other word could truly describe the moment. It was vintage Favre.

It is with that in mind that I bid a fond JBorhood farewell to Brett Favre.

I hate you Brett Favre, I hate you. But gosh darn it, do I respect you.