Day 360: My March Madness Bracket Blows Up.

There was a time when I felt pretty good about my March Madness bracket. Even though I didn't have any money involved, it was nice to see some of my picks turning out as well as they did—at one point I had 27 wins and only 7 losses... not bad, right? I managed to pick a few upsets correctly which helped, but then we got to the Sweet Sixteen, shit just fell apart.

If you remember correctly from my last March Madness post, my final four consisted of Michigan State, Syracuse, Wichita State and Creighton... yeah, now you know what happened. I basically have one team left in my final four—Michigan State—and I definitely didn't have them in the final, let alone winning it all.

I knew I was in trouble when Syracuse lost to Dayton. There's always that team that goes a little further into the tournament than they're supposed to and this year, it's Dayton. The #11 seed upset #6 Ohio State in the first round, then they sent #3 Syracuse packing in the next round, thereby killing one half of my final two. So now #11 Dayton will play #10 Stanford for a trip to the Elite Eight. But I love an upset so much that I don't even care if it blows up my bracket.

And then there's Wichita State. The #1 seed had quite a season and entered their game against #8 Kentucky at an impressive 35-0. But this tournament isn't called March Madness for nothing. Kentucky beat Wichita State 78-76 to shock the Shockers and force them to realize they're not in Kansas anymore. I will say that the Wichita State pick to win it all was a bold one, but it had to be done. There's no place like home.

Since my final two matchup was Syracuse and Wichita State, my bracket is officially nothing more than a shit catcher in a bird cage. Once I heard the Shockers lost, I immediately stopped watching. Although I'm sure once the basketball comes back on this week, I'll get sucked in again. I'll continue to root for the underdogs but in the end, I just want a great game—one that preferably comes down to the final fraction of a second.

Three of the four #1 seeds are still left in the tournament... I just happened to pick the one that couldn't pull out the win! *sigh*

Day 355: They Don't Call it March Madness for Nothing.

Every year I claim that I won't give two minutes to March Madness. I don't like basketball and I don't care about this tournament. I say I won't fill out a bracket or enter a pool. Come mid, March, I plan to shun all things college hoops. I don't watch it during the regular season and I know nothing about any of the teams, so why would I watch now?

But I was just fooling myself.

Like several millions of other crazies, I got sucked into that stupid Billion Dollar Bracket Challenge on Yahoo. I foolishly thought I had a chance of winning Warren Buffett's $1 billion prize. (Ok... I didn't really, but a girl can dream, right?) I'm not going to lie, I didn't spend more than two or three minutes filling out the bracket—since I have no idea about any of the teams, it was all a great big crapshoot. But obviously, that first loss stung... my dreams of being a billionaire were dashed by Ohio State. Jerks.

So now... I'm obsessed. But I'm obsessed with watching just the last two minutes of the games. Since I'm not really a fan of the game of basketball, the thought of watching a game early in the first half when the score still sits in the single digits, makes me sort of want to kill myself. I'm happy if I can turn it on with two minutes or less in the game—and it's even better if the game is close. At this moment, the Cal Poly vs. Wichita State game is on and boy is it booooo-ring. It's not even a wee bit close. Guess I'll switch over to North Carolina vs. Providence match up...

I've had some moments that have been lucky guesses, perhaps. I did pick Harvard to beat Cincinnati and Stanford over New Mexico. That Mercer win over Duke this afternoon was awesome—even though I didn't pick them. Duke is annoying. And with Tennessee's commanding win over UMass, well, that bracket is pretty much blown and can only be rescued by Michigan.

My final four: Syracuse vs. Michigan State AND Wichita State vs. Creighton

My final two: Syracuse vs. Wichita State

My National Champion: Wichita State

Let's see how this all shakes out. I have absolutely no chance at winning any money and usually, the only way you can get me to watch basketball is to dangle cash in front of my face, so I'm not sure what's wrong with me! It's MAD I tell you!

Day 349: A Most Incredible Buzzer Beater

For those of you who have been loyal readers of Balls of All Sizes, you know I'm not a big basketball fan, so it must have been pretty damn cool for me to want to write about it. So here's something you just have to see to believe. Two high schools in Michigan squared off for their Class D regional final and what transpired could be the best buzzer beater I've ever seen. I dare you to watch it just once!!

With just 0.8 seconds left on the clock, the Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart team was down by one with almost no chance to pull out the win. And I'm sure the opposing team, Middleton Fulton High was thinking they just needed to get a finger on that ball to ensure their victory—surely nothing crazy could happen with less than a second on the clock. But oh how wrong that assumption would be.

Just the in-bound throw was impressive enough, so for the whole play to work without a hitch was pretty freaking amazing.

If you're not quite sure what you just witnessed, here's a recap. The player inbounding the ball fired it towards the backboard where it ricocheted off the glass, bounced once off the floor falling right into the hands of one of his teammates who waited just beyond the 3-point line. He grabbed the ball and immediately fired up a hail Mary that just barely went in. Mt. Pleasant wins 49-47.

And the crowd goes bananas!

Day 241: Amazing Game-Winning College Basketball Shot

On this eve of Thanksgiving, I'm incredibly exhausted.... I've been cleaning literally all freaking day and I barely have the energy to chew my dinner. My brain has completely shut down and the probability of me actually coming up with a witty or intuitive post tonight is pretty low. Maybe I've been breathing in too many cleaning chemicals today or maybe I'm just lazy, but tonight you get to watch a video of a really amazing game-winning basketball shot.

Remember in school when there was a substitute teacher? Remember how often times that sub would push in the TV cart and cue up a movie? Well think of me as a sub and I'm offering up a (really super short) movie tonight instead of clever sports banter.

The scenario: Huntington University vs. Marian University. A game that had no meaning except to the two teams playing. With one second left on the clock, Marian sunk two free throws to take a one point lead. Huntington would need a miracle to win the game... with just one tick on the clock.

That was some shot... and some miracle!

Safe travels as you head to wherever it is that you plan to eat your weight in food on Thanksgiving! Gobble, gobble.

Day 82: It's Been a Wicked Wild Week in Sports

First of all... TGIF! Second of all... it's late and I may or may not have had a few beers. And third of all... holy cow, it has been a wild and wacky week in the world of sports. And with all that's happened, the Red Sox, who should be our focus this time of year, barely even make a blip on the sports news radar. Except their closer who has been stinking up the joint lately.

So without further ado, here's your wild weekly wrap up:

• Aaron Hernandez is a dumb ass. Do I really need to say any more? Expect him to be arrested any minute on obstruction of justice charges. And depending on what evidence they find—you know, evidence that Hernandez didn't destroy—it could be the difference between jail and, well, jail. Dumb. Ass. Can you even imagine how absolutely pissed off Robert Kraft, Bill Belichick and Tom Brady must be right now? 

• The Miami Heat are the NBA Champions. Yawn. I don't like basketball and I don't care about Lebron James or the stupid Heat. Theoretically, if I liked this sport, I would've been obnoxiously rooting for the Spurs. This is the least exciting thing for me that has happened this week. 

• B-R-U-I-N-S. As much as I would've have loved to be up three games to one right now, it just didn't work out that way. The Bruins and Blackhawks are all square at two game a piece as the series shifts back to the Windy City. I'd be a freakin' liar if I said I wasn't worried. Especially after the six goals the Hawks scored in game four. But as long as the defense shows up for the next game, they should be ok. I hope. I'm getting anxiety just thinking about the game tomorrow night. 

• The Danny-Doc-KG saga. So Doc Rivers decides he may want to entertain the idea of coaching the LA Clippers. Oh and by the way, he's taking Kevin Garnett with him. And then he's not going. But then he might. Oh wait, now the deal is dead. The latest is Doc will take the weekend to decide his fate with the Celtics. I wish I cared. I don't. 

• And then we have the Red Sox. What can I say about the Red Sox? Well, they did take two of three from the Rays... and they've split the first two games of a four game series with the Tigers. Tonight's win coming on the back of a four-hit, five RBI game from Shane Victorino. But my real takeaway from this week: Andrew Bailey sucks. Three blown saves in five appearances. Sucks. The Sox need to find a new closer. The end.

See? Crazy week. I'm exhausted. Must rest up for the big Bruins game tomorrow night.

Day 32: A Boston Strong Trio of Wins

I have a love-hate relationship with nights like last night—it's complete sensory overload for sports fans. The Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics all graced the airwaves and if you live in the northeast, your thumb got a real workout on the remote control. I didn't have a choice since I happened to be sitting in a bar with the Bruins on one tiny TV and the Celts on the other. I basically relied on my phone for score updates since I was too far away to see the scores! Not the best night to go out.

Remember that Tuesday night last week when the Sox got crushed by the A's 13-0, the Bruins fell to the Flyers 5-2, and the Celts dropped game #2 of their series with the Knicks, 87-71? Yeah, that didn't happen last night. Last night was the complete opposite and everyone was victorious!

The Red Sox beat the Blue Jays 10-1 giving Clay Buchholz his major league-leading 6th win of the season. He tossed seven innings of two-hit, shutout ball and struck out eight—his ERA now at a scant 1.01. The Sox offense exploded for 15 hits, five of those homeruns and two of those off the bat of Mike Napoli. Daniel Nava, Mike Carp and Stephen Drew (what?) hit the other three.

The Bruins also faced a team from Toronto as they took on the Maple Leafs in the first game of the playoffs at the Garden and taught them one important lesson—Don't Poke the Bear! After an early goal by the Leafs, the B's buttoned it up and Tuukka Rask stopped the next 19 shots on goal to preserve the 4-1 win. Wade Redden, Nathan Horton, David Krejci and Johnny Boychuk scored for the Bruins giving them a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

I'll admit, I'm a big pink hat when it comes to the Celtics in the post season. They dropped the first three games to the Knicks to dig themselves a hole no other NBA team has been able to get out of. And last night, the Knicks made a key mistake—they all brought black clothing for game 5. The plan: win the game to eliminate the Celts and wear all black to mimic a funeral. Poor taste considering recent events in Boston, but they also completely jinxed themselves. HA! The boys in green won the game 92-86 and has NY shaking in their high tops.

Phew, what a night!

Day 9: Congratulations, Louisville! Now Let's Get Back to Regularly Scheduled Programming...

If there's one sport I really don't enjoy, it's basketball—so this is probably the only post you'll see about the big orange ball. Watching a NBA game might be more torture for me than, well, actual torture. I do, however, enjoy the NCAA tournament. March Madness keeps me sane occupied while anxiously awaiting the Opening Day of baseball season. I found out this year, the tournament is much more fun if you've filled out your brackets. I totally forgot to do that this year...

Let's clarify what I actually mean by "enjoy" when I talk about NCAA basketball... it's turning on a game to find there are three minutes left in the game and the score is veeerrry close. If I come across a game still in its early stages, I turn it off. Weird, I know. If my brackets have completely crapped out, I will always root for the underdog. [Go Shockers!] A #1 seed winning the whole thing... boooooo-ring! Sorry, Mr. Pitino.

So now it's over and Louisville won. You kinda had to know they would win, especially with that gruesome injury to Kevin Ware. It was meant to be. Ask Wichita State... Was I the only one who got a little nervous seeing the replay of Ware cutting down the net? Yeah, send the guy with one good leg up the ladder with scissors. Sounds like a recipe for disaster.

Can we just get on with our regularly scheduled programs now? I'm having Blue Bloods withdrawal.