Despite my earlier grousing that my bracket was in the toilet, I am able to proclaim that thanks to a 100% final four and the glorious triumph of Memphis over UCLA, I could potentially win some money tonight. I am not very happy with UNC for losing to Kansas, and I'll admit that I said some not very kind things about Tyler Hansbrough and Sasha Kaun that I would definitely not repeat to their mothers, but I don't think either of those nice boys realized that the outcome of the game they played on Saturday directly affected whether I could win $1600 in my office pool. Nevertheless, I'm still a strong contender in a pool with my friends and the pool at The Comet, the latter of which could render me several hundred dollars richer. Which is nothing to shake a stick at.

Most of the year, the enthusiasm I attempt to feign for sporting events is rather forced and lackluster. I've been dating Cody for almost 4 years, so my personal knowledge of professional sports has been expanding, albeit at not a particularly accelerated rate. The one time a year when I get truly excited is NCAA March Madness. Part of it is that I like basketball, but have a hard time caring about the NBA, because of all the professional sports leagues, it seems like the NBA is one where playing as a team is particularly valued. Obviously, the unpredictable nature of the NCAA bracket is also a draw, where someone who doesn't know anything about the teams and doesn't go into the tournament with preconceived notions has just as good a chance of picking the winners as someone who thinks they've forseen the outcome based on past performance. Not that it has actually helped me win pools of money in any of the years I've been playing March Madness, but I appreciate the notion of an even playing field.

And thus, my bracket:
Rounds one and two are over and my bracket is feeling decidedly sickly. Specific teams that betrayed my trust were UConn, CSU Fullerton, Notre Dame and Marquette. One of the few losses sustained that I did not begrudge at all was Indiana and Arkansas. I had picked the Hoosiers, but had I known about the awesome and fantastic Steve Hill, well, I might have done something stupid and picked Arkanas to beat North Carolina. Case in point:

Um, totally sweet. Also, huge crush.

That being said, even though I'm wallowing at the bottom of all my bracket pools at the moment, all four of my Final Four picks are still viable, so I am alive. Further, I'm still feeling optimistic about Memphis, the team I picked to win it all because their superstar point guard, Derrick Rose, goes by the nickname "Pooh" and has a wizard tattoo. Yes. A tattoo of a wizard. And I think that's all I need to say about that.