Let The Madness Begin

Tuesday officially marks the beginning of all the madness that is March, and you know what that means:  time for "bracket guys" everywhere to fill out their multiple brackets for their office pools, the number of sick days at work to suddenly spike, you'll hear such terms as bracket buster, Cinderella, glass slipper, mid-major, chalk, etc., and Dicky V will go wild after some amazing finish somewhere.

First let's start with "bracket guy."  For Jim Rome's take on "bracket guy," you can check this out after you finish reading, but I'll explain it like this:  bracket guy comes in two different versions.

First there's the wannabe Andy Katz or Joe Linardi, why he's not a college basketball analyst at ESPN is anybody's guess, but he swears by his picks, and even brags about his accuracy like it's a badge of honor.  Then there's the guy in the office pool that fills out 5-10 sheets with the hopes of getting at least one of them right.

In either case, bracket guy will coincidentally come down with a cold the week of the tournament, just so he can stay home to watch the games and keep his brackets updated.  Problem is, when you pull the same act year after year, around the same time, don't be surprised if your boss catches on and fires you!

Back to the first guy, the know-it-all expert.  That's the thing, you really are wasting time spending more than five minutes researching who to pick.  There's some art to it, some strategy, but also, a lot of luck.

Case in point: in my own pool that I've been involved in for the last 10 years or so, I've won it once.  That was the first time I did it (talk about beginners luck!)  Now I watch just as much, if not more, than anybody.  I can't tell you how many times a person has won who has no idea what they're doing.  It's some gal picking teams based on uniforms or mascots.  It's frustrating for people who actually follow the sport, and make some educated guesses.   

Some things to keep in mind when filling out your brackets...going chalk is easy, but THERE ARE ALWAYS UPSETS.  You're always gonna have a 11 beat a 5 for example.  So to keep your picks honest, mix some of those in.  The trick is guessing which one, because if you're wrong, it can hurt your bracket.  If you don't really know, and don't trust yourself, it's best to do some research then guess.  For some of the expert picks (the guys who actually get paid to watch) here's some.

With that said, best of luck to you!  I will post my picks as well, and note...I ONLY FILL OUT ONE BRACKET!  Have some balls people, hold yourself to accountable to one sheet, and one sheet only!