Selection Sunday

A few years ago I noticed some coworkers talking about their “brackets.” I didn’t think they were that into hardware so I inquired. They told me about the NCAA basketball tournament. I was clueless because I mostly watched football growing up and didn’t go to college at a big “sports” school. My coworkers kindly gave me my own bracket to fill out. I was completely intimidated and just went by the little numbers in front of the team name. I don’t remember how I did that year. There was no money involved anyway; it was just for fun.
Fast forward to the present and I’m anxiously awaiting Selection Sunday! I went on the NCAA’s website to find out more about it and that started me thinking about the tournament. I did a little research (though not on NCAA’s page; I could find little information on the history of the tournament there and got very frustrated) onArticlesbase.com and Collegehoopsnet.com.
The NCAA tournament began in 1939 with 8 teams. They first began seeding the teams in 1979 (I’m thankful that they did. I’d be lost without those numbers!) when the tournament expanded to 40 teams. Today’s 65-team format began in 2001. There has been talk of expanding the tournament to 96 teams.
I don’t know about you, but in March I carry my bracket around with me practically everywhere. Last year, I was at my cousin’s house for Easter dinner. We were all having a nice time getting caught up. When someone turned the TV on and switched it to ESPN, my cousin took out his bracket. Then my other cousin and my cousin’s daughter’s boyfriend and finally myself had brackets in hand! We were all watching the scores to find out how we were doing. I don’t think 96 teams would fit on one piece of paper! Of course, they have online brackets now (I filled one out for the first time last year) but it just won’t be same!
I depend on the seeds, but after the first few rounds I can’t pick based solely on the seeding. I have a very scientific and knowledgeable way of choosing in close situations:

1. Do I know the team’s name (like Tar Heels or Orangemen)
2. Is the school in close proximity to somewhere I like to visit (like Boston or Chicago)
3. Is the school in close proximity to somewhere I have relatives

Of course this didn’t help much in 2008 with the 8 verses 9 round. I picked two 8s and two 9s and I got every game wrong! So my solution in 2009 was to pick all 8’s. This would have gotten me half right the year before, but this year only got me 1 right!
Last year I did quite well with my bracket (see Mad about March), but the year before, I got 3 of the final 4 but neither of the final 2! The point being that you never really know, but it’s fun to try. I can't wait to fill out my 2010 braket!
This year I’m rooting for Syracuse. Go Orangemen!

Vested Interest

Baseball season has begun! Ok, so technically it is only the preseason games that have begun, but we know that the regular season is not far away. Even though the games don't count, it is nice to hear the crack of the bat again!
I root for the Red Sox (and whoever is playing the Yankees) but this year I'll be keeping my eye on Justin Duschucherer, Jason Nix, Jeff Bailey, and Aaron Bates. Are they on my fantasy team? No. (I tried fantasy baseball last year and failed miserably and I'm not sure I'll bother again this year.) I keep my eye on these players because I want to see them do well. My concern for their careers is not out of the goodness of my heart, however. I have a vested interest in each of these guys.
Justin Duchscherer and Jason Nix
I collect baseball cards. Through the luck of the draw, I've ended up with four different Justin Duchscherer cards with doubles of one and triples of another. I have also ended up with two different Jason Nix rookie cards and his card for this year. I'm rooting for these guys to become the next Cy Young and Bobby Doerr, respectively. Who doesn't dream about one of your ordinary cards becoming really valuable!
Jeff Bailey
Red Sox fans know Bailey has moved on to Arizona Diamondbacks where he will be playing in the majors. I'm rooting for the guy not just because he worked so many years in the Sox minor league system, but also because I saw him in the minors where he got two home runs in one game against the Rochester Red Wings. (Random fact: Rochester is the oldest minor league team.) I'd love for Bailey to become the next Hank Aaron so that I could say I saw him hit a home run in person. That would be a great story to tell the grandkids!
Aaron Bates
At a July 7, 2009 game in Boston, Bates had been pulled up from the minors. Bates went hitless that day, but he did get a walk. Ever since then I have been dreaming of the day when he sets some record for career walks and I can say I saw him get his first big-league walk! I also saw Bates play first base in a minor league game where I sat in the second row right by the bag. He was probably ten feet away! (Bonus random fact: the longest recorded game was 33 innings long played by the Rochester Red Wings verses the Pawtucket Red Sox.)
Maybe I'll go sign up for a fantasy baseball team after all. I love this game!

Happy Birthday, Mike Lowell

I think it absolutely sucks that we get to watch him in Spring Training knowing that we’re going to lose him soon. (It kind of reminds me of watching the Eddie House thank you video at the Celtics vs. Knicks game last night.) Why do I get so attached? I’m just a girl I guess. I know that sports is a business: a form of entertainment. But after a while it feels like the players are your family/friends, despite the fact that you don’t even know them. I know you shouldn't use mushy words like "feel" or "friend" in reference to sports, but I do anyway.
I saw Mike Lowell play third base at my first game at Fenway Park last year. A ball came screaming down the third base line and I expected to see it continue into the outfield, but it stopped when it got to him because he had snagged it. I still can’t believe he got it! It was a great play to watch even from my far away seats in Grandstand 6!
I had a special place in my heart for Lowell after watching his great performance in the 2007 World Series. (I had also been rooting for him in 2003 with the Marlins.) He always seemed to have a great at bat if he got a ball first. When he came to the plate, I called him “Scary Lowell” because he looked like he could kick your butt if he wanted to, but he’s the nicest guy. (His autobiography is a great read and made me like the guy even more.) That’s why losing him is so hard.
It's one thing to lose a jerk like Manny Ramirez who quit on the team. Or a traitor like Johnny Damon. But a class-act and a wonderful hitter like Mike Lowell should be someone a team hangs onto for dear life.
So, Happy Birthday, Mike Lowell. You will be missed.

Burning Super Bowl Questions

As you know, I am a Bills fan and have therefore endured four years of Super Bowl futility. Despite these painful memories, I continue to watch the big game every year. This year is Super Bowl 44. I have been watching since #25 so that makes this my 20th Super Bowl! This fact starts to make me feel old until my parents point out that they have watched every single Super Bowl that has ever been played!
Thinking about the big game brought some questions to my mind. This is New Orleans’ first appearance. How many possible combinations of Super Bowl new comers are there? There are only 3 possible ways to have a new comer versus another new comer (the Lions versus either the Texans, Browns, or Jaguars). There are 64 ways to have one new comer versus a team that has already appeared.
The media (and fans) love a feel-good story. How much would they love it if two teams who have never won played each other? There would be a happy ending for one fan base. How many combinations of no win vs. no win are there? Not that New Orleans has won, there are 12 teams who have never won (7 NFC: Eagles, Lions, Vikings, Cardinals, Seahawks, Panthers, and Falcons; 5 AFC: Bills, Browns, Jaguars, Texans, and Chargers) so that makes 35 possible combinations.
The ultimate emotional story would be teams who have only lost, but never won a Super Bowl meeting. The Eagles, Vikings, Cardinals, Seahawks, Panthers, Falcons, Bills, Titans, and Chargers have appeared but never won. That makes 18 possible combinations of losers. The most intriguing of these would have to be Minnesota versus Buffalo as both teams have lost four Super Bowls. The Bills have the added benefit of losing theirs consecutively. Go Buffalo!
How many different combinations of Super Bowls are there? There could be 256 different match-ups, but 40 have already been played. Why isn’t it 44 since there have been 44 Super Bowls? Well, Buffalo played Dallas twice (sadly with the same result) and Pittsburgh played Dallas three times (winning one) and the Jets can’t play Indianapolis any longer. So that leaves 216 unique combinations.
This got me thinking of other interesting Super Bowl match-ups.

The Pirate Bowl: Tampa Bay vs. Oakland - I didn’t make this one up; we saw it just seven years ago. Too bad Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom didn’t perform the half time show.

The Purple Bowl: Minnesota vs. Baltimore - I’m a girl so I care about things like uniform colors (though Paul Lucas of Uni Watch does too). Not that there is anything wrong with men in purple, I just always thought it was a strange color choice. Though I do like how the Ravens have paired it with black.

The New Jersey Bowl: New York Giants vs. New York Jets - I say the winner should get its team name on the stadium for all games, by both teams.

The They-Used-to-Play-in-Boston Bowl: Washington vs. New England - I’m sure most people know that the Patriots used to play in Boston but were moved to Foxoboro, just 40 minutes south. But lesser known is the fact that the Redskins also called Beantown home back in 1932-1936.

The Not-In-LA-Anymore Bowl: St. Louis vs. Oakland - I was a kid when these teams moved out of La La Land. It was very strange to me that teams could just leave town. (I was only 2 when the Colts moved.) As an adult, the fact that relocation happens is an everyday concern for a Bills fan!

The Next-Door-Neighbor Bowl: San Francisco vs. Oakland - This is the closest two Super Bowl teams could be as the current National and American Conferences are arranged, other than the afore mentioned New Jersey Bowl.

The Home-Field-Advantage Bowl: It could happen, couldn’t it? What would the NFL do if a team ended up playing the Super Bowl at home???


I don’t go to my grandparents’ house in Buffalo to watch the games any more, but I always do watch. Not just the commercials, either. Football is the only sport I love enough to watch when I have no rooting interest.

How long will the party in New Orleans?

No School After the Super Bowl? Been There. Done That.

Some schools in New Orleans are going to close on the Monday after the Super Bowl. That got me thinking...

What do you think of when the Super Bowl comes around each year? Expensive commercials? The Vince Lombardi Trophy? Half-time shows? Wardrobe malfunctions? For me it will always be: no school on Monday.

On the evening of Super Bowl XXV I was a bright-eyed, happy 9 year-old girl sitting on my grandparents’ couch in Buffalo, NY. OK, I lied. I’ve never been bright-eyed, but you get the idea. I was young. I was naive. I really thought that kick would be good. By the end of the night I was hiding in the bathroom pretending I wasn’t crying. I had become a Bills fan.

I had been coming to Buffalo to visit my mother’s side of the family my entire life. I had watched my share of football games on TV. Sometimes the announcers wouldn’t be to my grandfather’s liking, so he would turn the sound down and turn the radio up. If the Bills’ opponent was the Miami Dolphins the Buffalo News would have “Squish the Fish” signs in the Sunday paper.

After the missed field goal that lead to the loss on January 27, 1991, the Bills returned to the Super Bowl year, after year, after year. No other team in NFL history has gone to four consecutive Super Bowls. Every year was the same. We would be excited. We would gather around the TV with a stuffed brown buffalo. We would have food and lots of it. (Yes, of course we had Buffalo wings!) We would watch the game, the half-time show, the commercials. And then the game would be over. The Bills lost again. We knew the game wouldn’t get done until late, so we would have planned to stay over night. I didn’t go to school on Monday. I would tell my classmates on Tuesday that I had been in morning. They were a little jealous of the day off. All I knew was that a day off from school is good. A day off from school after a Bills’ victory would have been better.

I hope the kids in New Orleans can enjoy their day off from school.