Glutton for punishment?

The MATH+1 Sweet 16 pool is here:

http://marchmania.usatoday.com

Pool name = mathplus1

-- Anonymous, March 19, 2002

Answers

Might as well get my ass kicked some more. Every pool needs its bottom dwellers.

-- Anonymous, March 19, 2002

I signed up. I picked the teams completely out of my ass, but it'll give me something to care about when the Friend watches the games on my couch.

-- Anonymous, March 19, 2002

I entered, because being last in one pool isn't enough.

Sara, my Friend spent the whole time I was watching the games on his sofa reading music magazines. Maybe he should join the pool to fuel interest, too.

-- Anonymous, March 19, 2002

I'm in. Gramm and I spent the weekend watching the tournament and I received some edumacation on the round ball and the whole shebang.

How come I can't see anyone else's picks? did I do it incorrectly?

-- Anonymous, March 19, 2002

You can't see everyone else's picks until after the deadline. Then, all will be revealed.

That's so y'all can't be cheatin' and lookin' at my picks in advance.

Not that you'd want to...

-- Anonymous, March 19, 2002

We all picked Maryland, right?

-- Anonymous, March 19, 2002

Picked Maryland to lose to Kentucky? Why yes, yes we did.

(Mike's going to kill me for failing to fear the turtle, isn't he?)

-- Anonymous, March 19, 2002

I'm happy you're not jinxing them, as you did Utah and USC.

-- Anonymous, March 19, 2002

I pretty much just went against my earlier picks, and in the cases of my earlier picks being knocked out, I chose the team that upset them. Which is why I have Mizzou in the Final 4. (Ohio Staaaaaaaaaaaate)

-- Anonymous, March 19, 2002

ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK!!!!!!!!!!

GO KU!!!!

-- Anonymous, March 19, 2002

We have one KU grad in the office, a diehard basketball fan, and we were worried that she'd throw herself off a moving subway train if they'd lost that nailbiter to Holy Cross.

But they looked damn good against Stanford. CBS switched us off that game after the first five minutes.

-- Anonymous, March 20, 2002

All I can say is...

Devil in the blue dress, blue dress, blue dress..devil with the blue dress on. GO DUKE!

I am smiting Maryland because they beat my beloved Bucky Badgers and I feel as though I should be somewhat loyal to the home state and root to avenge the Terrapins.

-- Anonymous, March 21, 2002

Well, count me in on the party too.

-- Anonymous, March 21, 2002

I think I completely used that word incorrectly. What I had meant was... well, I don't even know anymore. It translates to something like "I have a big bucket of spite saved up just for Maryland and thus, I will not root for them." Because, you know, where my alliance falls will totally mold the outcome. Heh.

-- Anonymous, March 21, 2002

Oh my GOD, what the hell just happened?!?

INDIANA?

-- Anonymous, March 21, 2002

God Bless America.

Good for Mike Davis. Maybe now the Bob Knight fans will get off his back.

-- Anonymous, March 21, 2002

That may have been the best thing I ever saw in all of basketball. Good ol' Mike Davis, 'Bama grad that he is.

Well, I am totally out of the pools. I picked Duke to win it all. Serves me right for going against the Terps.

Beware the Turtle!

-- Anonymous, March 21, 2002

That's exactly right. I can't believe you would pick Duke to win it all. Of course, I picked them to lose to Maryland in the Finals, so you can just disregard my losing ass.

I like Indiana. That's where my favorite crazy flopping boy Reggie Miller lives and plays, so they're all right with me.

-- Anonymous, March 22, 2002

I believe I am now officially Mike and Dawn's bitch. That's what I get for leaving the country.

-- Anonymous, March 22, 2002

So, wait. Arizona lost too?

Let me see if I get this straight: all four of the games yesterday were upsets, if you go strictly on seeds. And I am now represented solely in my family pool by UConn and Oregon. Damn.

We could conceivably have a 10, a 12, an 11, and a 6 in the Final Four. That's just crazy.

-- Anonymous, March 22, 2002

Completely unreal. Wow.

-- Anonymous, March 22, 2002

"Let me see if I get this straight: all four of the games yesterday were upsets, if you go strictly on seeds."

almost. oklahoma is a #2 and arizona was a #3.

-- Anonymous, March 22, 2002

When Hannah checks in and sees she's in first place in the Sweet 16 pool...? She is going to freak.

It's like we're in an alternate universe.

-- Anonymous, March 22, 2002

I am such a fair weather fan, but how about my alma mater? Go Hoosiers! The first thing my husband said after they won was, "Damn. I wish I would have put some money on that game."

-- Anonymous, March 22, 2002

Thanks for the correction, droogie. Somehow I mentally had Oklahoma as a #4.

Did you know Patrick Vieria is swearing up and down that he won't leave Arsenal and no one is believing him? Especially after Arsenal played a suck-ass game against Juventus and didn't make it to the Champions League quarterfinal? Uh-huh. That's the sports news I'm getting. And it's getting all mixed up in my poor little brain. Little brain cannot cross the ocean when basketball is on . . . little brain is friiiiiiiiiiiiiiied . . .

-- Anonymous, March 22, 2002

Will you laugh at me when you find that I cried last night? Cried, y'all.

-- Anonymous, March 22, 2002

It was quite the odd feeling for me last night watching Duke go down. Ordinarily I HATE them (going back to Danny Ferry and then Laettner & that vampire Hurley), but since I had them picked I was pulling for them.

I'm just glad there weren't any sharp objects around IU's coach when Williams got fouled on that 3.

-- Anonymous, March 22, 2002

Droogie, you better go over to the other thread and accept Robyn's hand in marriage, so she can defend you when I come ready to kick your ass.

(Or just get you to explain. Vampire? Because he was pale? Bobby the Vampire Point Guard? Hmm. That would make Billy McCaffrey Willow, wouldn't it? And Christian Laettner could be Harmony. Actually, yeah, I can live with that.)

-- Anonymous, March 22, 2002

"Hurley dribbles up the left side, crosses over to the top of the key...HOLY SHIT, WHAT WAS THAT?! HE'S...IS HE DOING WHAT I THINK HE'S....OH GOD, HE'S SUCKING HIS BLOOD! OH SWEET LORD! FISHER IS DESPERATELY TRYING TO CALL A TIME-OUT!"

Yeah, because he's pale and gaunt-looking. And once i saw him get out of a coffin before they played Kentucky.

I'm surprised Bobby the Vampire Point Guard isn't a show on Fox.

-- Anonymous, March 22, 2002

"Of course, I picked them to lose to Maryland in the Finals, so you can just disregard my losing ass."

Yeah, me too, AB. But, true fan that I am, I had Texas in the Final Four.

-- Anonymous, March 25, 2002

After a brief absence from this discussion thread, I am happy to return with these sentiments:

1) 3/21/02 - And Duke goes DOWN, BABY!!!! I am crying fat tears of joy and my back hurts from the succession of back flips I just completed like I was Mary Lou Retton andwhatnot!

2) 3/22/02 - Did anyone else hear what Mike Davis said in his press conference about the coaches meeting on Wednesday? For those that did not see it, he said that during the meeting, a Duke assistant coach asked when Duke was scheduled to play on Saturday and where their press conference would be held. Of course, in order to play and have a press conference on Saturday, they would have had to beat Indiana on Thursday. Mike Davis said he looked around trying to figure out whether they even knew that he was in the room. Luckily, the man was smart enough to go back and let his players know what happened during that meeting and use it as a motivating factor. Also, Mike Davis contacted Dan Dickerson from Maryland prior to Thursday's game and Dickerson provided Davis with a game plan for beating Duke.

3) 3/24/02 - My boyfriend just called from the Sweet Sixteen in Syracuse screaming like a girl. I am still shaking from the strain of a game of that magnitude being so close. Lonny Baxter is my hero, and I am glad we named our dog after him.

4) 3/26/02 - It still has not totally sunk in. I am going on a mission this evening to find a Final Four roadside stand so I can buy the 2002 paraphernalia and start believing that the Terps are playing in their 2nd Final Four in 2 years.

-- Anonymous, March 26, 2002

Go Indiana! This is the problem with betting against yourself. I'm sort of screwed on both sides. And since I picked Ohio State in one pool (uh...) and Kentucky to beat Indiana in the other, I think it's safe to say that I'm out. But at least I'm not in last place.

-- Anonymous, March 31, 2002

Oh. My. God. I still cannot get it through my head that we are in the National Championship....the National freakin' Championship! Come on, Maryland, just one more game BABY!!!!!

-- Anonymous, April 01, 2002

Congratulations, y'all.

I bawled my little heart out during One Shining Moment. Saddest tournament ever.

-- Anonymous, April 02, 2002

From the Orange Bowl to the National Men's Basketball Championship, I could not be more proud to be a longtime fan of the University of Maryland. It was a long time coming.

-- Anonymous, April 02, 2002

So Maryland won. (And I finished fourth in our pool, by some fluke.) Truly the Turtle is fearsome. I bow.

By my count, the last couple weeks, between certain things involving diamonds and the Triumph of the Turtle, this should've been among the most satisfying two weeks in the Life of Berman. But do his readers get to hear about it? Even a peep? His readers go unloved, forlorn. Sometimes in the night you can hear their pitiful cries -- "Berman! Berrrrrrrrrrrrrrrmannnnnnnnn!" -- echo in the distance; and then, after a few sobs of despair, cowering in the shadow of the mighty Turtle, they retreat yet again.

-- Anonymous, April 02, 2002

I know. I suck.

I would update to the notify now, but I'm just so exhausted. Why, you ask? Because I flew down for the game at 6:20 am yesterday, and flew back at 6 am today.

Tomorrow. I swear. And this time, I mean it.

Whoooooo-Hoooooooooo!

And Hannah, I know you're a Duke fan, but you had to at least be a little happy for Juan Dixon, right? That guy's our Battier, except without that funky-looking forehead.

-- Anonymous, April 02, 2002

Mike, you were there in person? If so, I am jealous and happy for you at the same time. How sweet it is!

M-A-R-Y-L-A-N-D, Maryland will win...dum dum dum da dee dum dum...GO MARYLAND!

Okay, enough of my singing, time for me to go out and get me some souviners!

-- Anonymous, April 02, 2002

All those long, painful years I spent cheering for the Terps when they were the laughingstock of the league...it all seems worth it now.

You know, it just occurred to me that in addition to being national champions, we were #1 in the ACC in both football and basketball this year. When's the last time one school pulled that off? Maybe it happens more often than I think, but I don't know - it seems like a pretty big deal to me.

And how on earth did I manage to win the pool? Wow. Usually, I think about it too much when I'm making my picks and end up in last place.

-- Anonymous, April 03, 2002

Yep, went into Downtown Baltimore yesterday for the Terps Big Red Rally to congratulate them on being the Kings of the World. One of the announcers was the president of the Baltimore City Council, Shiela Dixon, who also happens to be Juan Dixon's aunt. Apparently, being the president of the City Council does not automatically make you a good public speaker.

(Music Pounding...Crowd Cheering in Anticipation...)

Shiela: And now, I would like to introduce to you.....(big buildup, music really in overdrive now, crowd going nuts)....OUR NAACP NATIONAL BASEBALL CHAMPIONS!!!!!!

Y'all, this is Juan Dixon's Freaking Aunt!! NAACP??? Baseball??? Oh, and she said NAACP, not once but twice. I was waiting for her to introduce the special guests, Kweisi Mfume and Cal Ripken. Just shameful.

-- Anonymous, April 12, 2002

I had to read that like, five times because it is so odd. Possible explanations: She partied way too hard beforehand, or she's just totally clueless.

I got a good laugh out of it!

-- Anonymous, April 12, 2002

I had to read that like, five times because it is so odd. Possible explanations: She partied way too hard beforehand, or she's just totally clueless.

I got a good laugh out of it!

What did you get for souvenirs?

-- Anonymous, April 12, 2002

We pratically had to take out a second mortgage on our house for all the freakin' souvenirs we bought. Everything from car flags and magnets to 4 different styles of baseball hats to t-shirts and banners. I know it sounds excessive but DAMN, we have been waiting our whole lives for this! The sad thing is that we already own a wealth of just general Terps gear but, NOOOOO...we had to have the Terps gear that said "Champions".

-- Anonymous, April 15, 2002