Name:	MartiniMan -	Reply
Subject:	March Madness Sadness
Date:	3/31/2021 8:17:54 AM

As a brief respite from politics I thought I would mention the crazy NCAA Men's BBall tourney.  And crazy it has been with all the upsets and the west coast teams doing amazingly well while most of the usual suspects are long gone....some not even making it in.  So out of the millions of brackets entered into cBS Sports March Madness website, only around 120 were perfect after the first round.  After the second round it went to a solid zero.  As for my bracket at work, suffice it to say that as of right now I have a solid 54 points and am still in 4th place.  And I am down to one Final Four team (Baylor) as my others (Alabama, Iowa and Illinois) are toast.  The funny thing is I can still win if Baylor wins it all which is telling as to the wild year it has been.

Note to self, when playing a tourney in the middle of weird times pick upsets, lots of upsets.  I had Baylor and Alabama in the final game so the best I can do is get one in and still get the winner.  Two west coast teams and two Texas teams....what a year.  And given my track record I will make no predictions other than to say it seems to me that Gonzaga has the easier path with an 11 seed (UCLA).  At least in the other bracket we have a #1 and #2 seed in the Final Four.  Here's hoping Baylor can survive Houston.

Name:	lakngulf -	Reply
Subject:	March Madness Sadness
Date:	3/31/2021 8:38:27 AM

I was toast early with Illinois as my winner.  My grandson uses his chocolate lab and treats to pick winners and has me beat!!

Name:	MartiniMan -	Reply
Subject:	March Madness Sadness
Date:	3/31/2021 10:28:57 AM

They were a big disappointment to me as well.  Their big man faded to oblivion and they didn't have the guards to drop the 3 pointers to keep them alive.  The 3-point shot has really changed the game a lot.  An unbalanced team can be successful if they hit a lot of 3's.  Don't need as many points in the paint or rebounds when your canning 3's left and right.

Name:	GoneFishin -	Reply
Subject:	March Madness Sadness
Date:	3/31/2021 11:42:14 AM

Gonzaga is untouchable both on offense and defense. I don't ever remember a team so dominate. It would be nice if they were in a close game rather than double digit wins. They don't seem to work that hard...and just score. Every coach should show film to their team to show how to keep moving and cutting for easy layups.

There is Alabama in football and everyone else and the same with Gonzaga. 

Name:	MartiniMan -	Reply
Subject:	March Madness Sadness
Date:	3/31/2021 1:01:37 PM

Maybe a little over the top with the Alabama comparison.  They are very good but they are also in the WAC, not exactly a perennial powerhouse.  And they have never won a national championship despite being highly seeded on a regular basis amnd having a screaming good regular season record. 

In a normal year I'm not sure they would have made it to the Final Four, but this is not a normal year.  While I agree their odds of winning are better than the rest, I also don't think they have encountered a defense like Baylor's.  Either way, there is no comparison between them and Alabama football.  They would need to actually win a national championship, then win again and again to earn that spot.  

Name:	CRD -	Reply
Subject:	March Madness Sadness
Date:	3/31/2021 1:40:15 PM

Lethal Weapon 3 would have gone a long way in this year's tourney.  Even may have been a favorite against the Zags.

Name:	MartiniMan -	Reply
Subject:	March Madness Sadness
Date:	3/31/2021 4:21:14 PM

Hah!  What a weird year.  Teams that should have done well tanked and teams that normally exited early made a run.  Makes me wish my Dayton Flyers from last year were in this tournament.  Timing is everything.