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Pandemonium’s Playground is Open
A tornado unlike anything you’ve ever seen before is coming…
No, not that one. Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! will premiere on July 22nd at 9 p.m. ET on the Syfy network.
This tornado is filled with colossal upsets, trending dunks, dancing mascots and buzzer-beaters is finally touching ground in basketball arenas all across the United States today. March Madness, the wildest sports tournament in existence, is tipping off for the final 64 teams after a few teams were required to take an entrance exam for admittance earlier this week. From coast-to-coast, American companies will experience its lowest output for the year.
However, employee excitement levels will be off the charts.
Nobody has figured out an algorithm that is perfectly compatible for this tournament during any given year. That’s probably why sports fans anxiously await this momentous occasion. Any person has a shot at predicting correctly. The rationales for picking Team X or Team Y between Person A and Person B can see a variance as gaping as the Grand Canyon. And more surprising is that logic can and will only determine some of the results. The nature of March Madness is exactly that: madness. Therefore, each person’s bracket needs to have a few major upsets. There should probably be a Cinderella run by a mid-major. Mascot superiority and jersey colors will be determining factors. A few top teams will play exactly as expected. A 16-seed will never win.
As crazy as it reads, I strongly believe that a 16-seeded David will slay a Goliath sometime in the next few to several years. When this happens, the tournament will be deemed certifiably mad.
For some fun, listed below are a few highlights from my bracket:
- Every Iowa school (#7 Iowa, #3 Iowa State, #5 Northern Iowa) will win at least its first round game
- #11 The Dayton Flyers will see good fortune playing in Ohio, specifically in nearby Columbus
- #1 Duke and #2 UVA will meet in the Final Four for an epic ACC clash
- #7 Wichita State will shock the world and bring the entire state of Kentucky to tears en route to another Final Four
- #1 Wisconsin v #4 UNC will be must-see television
- The Arizona Wildcats will officially return to the college basketball summit by winning the 2015 National Championship with Sandra Bullock (“that wildcat behind the wheel”) sitting court side
Jim Nantz: You’re on.
Happy Monday!
The Killers killed it.
Last year’s March Madness song came courtesy of the hit, “Shot at the Night” from the Las Vegas rock quartet. It was perfect. And after last night’s exciting bracket reveal, the Killers’ pump-up video from 2014 still holds today for its motivational and inspirational qualities. Before this tournament’s song is debuted in a matter of days, let’s start this magical week with a look back at an instant classic.
Take a Crazy Shot This Week!
Crafting a Role Model
Ohio State’s Aaron Craft is everything that’s great about college basketball. Scratch that: Ohio State’s Aaron Craft is everything that’s great about basketball in general.
In the age of showboating, multimillion dollar contracts, vulgar trash talking and tattoos, Craft is a pleasant and welcomed anomaly from the days of John Wooden, as ESPN’s Rick Reilly put it recently. He hustles, bustles and flexes his muscles on the hardwood and in the classroom for athletic and academic records every single student dreams of having (at Ohio State and around the country) and every single parent hopes to see their child achieve.
He’s a role model. Not just for young kids running around and cheering in Buckeye jerseys with #4 stitched in Scarlet and Gray, but also for his classmates and contemporaries and their parents alike. His effort is as relentless as his honesty in post-game interviews, which underscores the metaphorical significance of sports to life.
In Craft’s case, it’s basketball.
You won’t win every game or ace every test, but you need to prepare as if you will and should. In college basketball, there are only 40 minutes. That’s it. Craft is a prime example of an athlete (and student) who wants the opportunity to win and excel and will do whatever he has to in order to earn those opportunities. Not a guarantee at victory, but the opportunity for victory, just as in life.
If you’ve watched him carefully throughout the past 4 years, he’s undeniably one of the most opportunistic basketball players around, which is what separates him from the rest.
As The Ohio State Buckeyes prepare to battle the Dayton Flyers in Buffalo, New York today, everyone in Scarlet and Gray will need to rise to the level of their relentless senior point guard if they want the opportunity to continue a journey towards repeating a championship moment in Buckeye history from the days of short shorts and $.10 popcorn.
If this were a movie, it might be called, The Human Rubik’s Cube Rises.
Happy March Madness!
March Madness tips-off and takes flight today in Dayton, Ohio. This is the annual event when we acknowledge and celebrate the most unproductive few weeks in the United States of America (thank goodness for “the boss button,” right!).
And who knew a song about rich boy meets poor girl from a chance encounter in a busy crosswalk in Sin City and a stunningly beautiful spare dress for a quintessential Las Vegas night out would provide the perfect theme song for college basketball’s biggest stage?
Actually, the title says it all. But the original meaning of the song is not about basketball, though it sure does rise to the occasion like Ohio State’s Sam Thompson on an alley-oop.
What teams will play with that killer, championship-caliber instinct?
Make your picks and take your own shot at glory!
Jimmy's Daily Planet 