Villanova is out
Day 3 resulted in the departure of the first #1 seed as the Villanova Wildcats were upset by the Wolfpack of N.C. State. Later in the evening Laura was forced to suffer (which I’m guessing involved Bourbon?) through another nail biter as the Irish needed OT to survive Butler. I slept through this game. I used to be able to stay up and watch all of the games, but nowadays Sam, Ellie, and Julia have a way of tiring me out. So the Irish and hopefully Laura survive and they dance on to face the winner of today’s game between Kansas and Wichita State.
In the Radcliffe Invitational Ellie has been displaced on the leader board by new leader Marcia Milam. It has been a strong RI showing for the Milam family thus far, but if you’ve followed the RI in the past you know the Milam brackets always come down to how far Wisconsin can advance. They have the chance to go far this year, but will they do it? Time will tell if this is the year of the Badger and the Milams.
Just back of Marcia we have a group that includes Jason Dzikowicz, Joel Shilliday, JoAnn Welch, Heather Carkuff, Joshua Hubbard, William Hagy, Jesse Fales, and Warren Wood. It’s all about you Joel. Enjoy your moment in the spotlight. Josh is looking to join his brother Jer in the RI Hall of Champions. JoAnn is looking to join her daughter Amy in the prestigious Hall and to add to the Welch Dynasty which includes past championships by Amy, Jenna, and Mary Beth Welch, although a Welch hasn’t taken home the mystery prize since 2011 so they might be getting a little antsy. Heather won’t be able to enjoy her place in the RI top 10 until Duke hopefully secures a win later today against San Diego State. Jesse is still hanging in there despite the Wyoming loss. Will is enjoying a strong RI debut. And maybe Warren finally stands a chance in this thing now that Syracuse is in a post season ban.
The Death Blow
Rounding out the top ten, tied for 10th, we have Emily Kund, Tim Macinta, Richard Era, and Celia Milam, although Emily’s bracket may have suffered a death blow as she had Villanova winning it all. Suffering a similar fate were the brackets of Melissa Radcliffe, Chad Redmer, and former champ Stephanie Alexander. I don’t know how the rest of the group feels about this, but my wife was less than happy at this turn of events. I didn’t realize prior to the tournament tip-off that she had picked Villanova to win it all. Perhaps I could have steered her clear of this pick since, although I didn’t watch much basketball this year, I was aware of the fact that Villanova played a close game against Bucknell back in November. Sure, a lot can change from November to March, but a 7 point win over Bucknell (as awesome as the Bison are) could have perhaps been seen as a sign of vulnerability.
Some of the Rest
Jeremy Testa — A strong tourney thus far for Jeremy who’s hoping his Duke bracket will continue to ascend.
Roy Heisler — A loyal RI participant Roy has one top 10 finish on his resume, but he’s still looking for his breakthrough moment.
Emily Vlahovich — Your bracket is hanging in there Emily, but you need to cast a petronus charm is your bracket is going to catch and past Will’s bracket to give you relationship bragging rights. Okay, I’m not quite as up on Harry Potter and petronus charms as you probably are…did I use it right?
Justin Dougherty — Justin has been pining since the start of the tournament waiting for me to give recognition to his “Wichita-kin ‘Bout Willis?” bracket name. Nicely done Justin, nicely done. For Justin, the naming of his bracket is clearly much more important than the correctness of his picks.
Rebeccca Fox — I hope you had a good half marathon today Rebecca! That sounds like a long distance to me, but Rebecca runs a lot. And swims. And bikes. Basically, she rocks. Her bracket is way down the leader board at this point, but she still has a high # of possible points so it may yet rise.
Lynne Loverich — Oh Lynne, you only filled out one region of your bracket! Boo! Next year Lynne, get it all filled out. I need my favorite people in the RI field with full brackets.
Kentucky is over rated
Great for Kentucky if they pull of a perfect season, but I’ll be rooting for the underdog. Make no mistake College Athletics are a business. You get the best players on the teams with the most resources, the most money, and more often than not those teams are going to be the most ‘successful’. If you measure success by wins and losses. But I don’t want my kids to strive to be like the Kentucky’s of the world, I want them to be like the Climax-Fisher High School Lady Knights. You keep playing. You keep getting better. You realize that ‘failure’, as the world calls it, is just an opportunity for growth and often WAY more valuable then ‘success’, as the world calls it. And you will improve. And your victories will come.
Quote of the Day
I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work. -Thomas Edison
Jam of the Day
Cheers,
Greg