the madness, oh! the madness.

Dear Ben Hansbrough and Notre Dame,

You have severely ruined my bracket since I had you in the

championship game (losing to Ohio St, but still!) ...

and losing to Florida State?!?  You are KILLING ME!

Love,

Your Sister-in-law,

Katherine.

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OK ...    [[ btw -- Tabor, you can probably skip over this post. ]]

So by now most of the madness is over ...48 of the 63 games have been played, and yet we’re still just getting started. As this weekend’s games indicated, the differences between teams is often super-thin, and we see plays (and referee calls, depending on your team loyalties) from the usual to the ridiculous, and everywhere in between. The Madness never disappoints, even when the soul-crushing disappointments arrive. (see note above)

There is a lot still to come -- Duke and their cakewalk seeding ... Kansas's side of bracket opened WIDE up ... and you got Marquette, Butler and other underdogs who are coming out of nowhere. Basically, America’s bracket looks fairly intact on the left side of the page, but the right side is a BLOODBATH.  It’s the Madness, I tell you!

Our bracket pool consists of the Low Maintenance (LM) and the High Maintenance (HM) pools ... all overseen by Da Commish ... you may have multiple LM entries (all picks at once,locked in) and only one HM entry (which means you make your picks round by round) -- its an intricate system with upset bonus points, percentages, we get lists with live picks we still have based on who got knocked out ... there is a whole lot of method to this madness!! (no pun intended)

I mean -- here is my score for my HM: Katherine Mann    161 [60], 34/48, 2/6, 5 UBP.

I know, right ?! I just look to see how many people are above me and below me in the standings.

We receive e-mail updates with standings, scores, comments, trash talk, insight and yes, even some opinion from Da Commish and anyone who chooses to pipe in. With this being my first year in the pools, I'm keeping quiet ... and hoping not to look like an idiot since I picked most of my winners based off of school mascots and team colors ... and by basic hatred for Dook.

Here's basically what I'm lookin at:

I had 2 LMs... which Da Commish so eloquently titled as "Ben H" and "Tyler H" (is that a sign?!) and also took a stab at HM bracket as well.

Ben H bracket is my real bracket ... with Ohio St def. Notre Dame (ouch, that still hurts) and I put a little more time and effort into my thought process besides eenie-meenie-miney-moe. I'm hanging in there ... and there's still a lot more to play. I'm hanging out in the middle ... it's any body's game.

my Tyler H bracket is my "ideal bracket...but not so realistic" with Carolina taking down Ohio St ... getting a rematch against Texas... then we take the National Championship over none-other-than - Kansas. However; with Texas already out ... and the as for the  rest of my picks: I went either the opposite of my Ben bracket or stuck with whatever mascot I liked ... Temple Owls? I had more faith in you. I'm in dead last with this one right now.

Katherine Mann – Ben H.                   32 (6/8) [OSU]   
Katherine Mann – Tyler H.                 28 (5/8) [UNC]


In NEITHER bracket did I have Dook advancing to the final four ... I just couldn't do it. If Hampton had beaten them, it would have ruined my brackets for sure -- but I would have been okay with it.

My HM is going okay, its easier going round by round... of course as the games get harder ... and less chances to even out ... it's only going to get more intense.


to give you a little taste of what we go through, here's the blurb about my picks from the most recent email:

Perhaps #50 (that’s Tyler Hansbrough, for those not inside the inside joke) didn’t understand that the Race to the Bottom only applies to the HM, not the LM. However, let’s watch those Pitt entries sit in the breakdown lane while the rest of us stay in the passing lane! Kudos to brother Ben H. (but really, I mean Katherine), Catherine, and Bob, for still having six cracks at the Elite Eight. Despite Zach Dougherty’s impressive early showing, there’s still a long way to go!


HOPE EVERYONE ELSE'S BRACKETS ARE STILL GOING STRONG!!! GO HEELS!!!!