Peanut butter disproves evolution

Sorry, only a few games left and my chance to impart important information.

I was just innocently sitting here eating peanut butter on Ritz crackers - how could I have foreseen what this meant for all of mankind.

http://scienceblogs.com/mikethemadbiologist/2007/03/creationist_sez_peanut_butter.php

Pompoms, Pyramids and Peril

Just something to keep in mind, as we cheer our teams to victory.

From NY Times
Emergency room visits for cheerleading injuries nationwide have more than doubled since the early 1990s, and the rate of life-threatening injuries has startled researchers.

How startled are they, really?

Meathead all the way!

As I see it, I've got as much chance winning rootin' for the Meathead Supermans as for my first picks.

Who picked whom? In basketball. In the pool. You know, this weekend? Final Four?

Dear Multitudes,

Sorry, I've been a little absent this week. Very little hoop chatter. I gather everyone's gearing up for the Final Four with beer, pizza, chili and loose fitting jeans. Every year about this time I promise to send out a list of the Final Four picks. I usually neglect (or forget) to actually do so. Not this year, brothers and sisters. Remember that semifinal games are worth 8 points, picking the champ gets you 10. It's a wide open field, as the picks table will show you. Here 'tis:

	Player	R4 Totals	Runner Up	Champ
1.	Bill	98	UCLA	OSU
2.	Matt	86	UCLA	Gtown
2.	Silet	86	Gtown	Florida
4.	Knott	84	Florida	Gtown
6.	Liz	80	Florida	Gtown
7.	Mike	78	Florida	OSU
8.	Hank	76	Oregon	UNC
8.	John	76	UNC	Florida
8.	Kate	76	Florida	OSU
11.	DaveW	74	Florida	Gtown
11.	Gena	74	UCLA	Memphis
11.	Ruth	74	Memphis	Florida
14.	DavidP	73	Florida	OSU
15.	Calvino	71	OSU	Kansas
15.	Henry	71	Gtown	Kansas
17.	Dayle	69	Memphis	Florida
17.	Dykes	69	TX A&M	Florida
19.	Steve	67	OSU	Florida
20.	Alexander	57	OSU	Old Dom.
20.	Dana	57	UVA	UCLA
22.	Sarah	55	Wash. St	Pitt
23.	Rosalie	50	Kansas	Penn
24.	Maggi	45	Kansas	UNC
25.	Acy	44	UNC	Maryland
26.	Willow	35	USC	Kansas

Good luck out there.

Poolmeister

Jack and Dick

For what it's worth - Nixon was born January 9th. Me? The 8th along with Elvis.

Liz, Bill and Knott sandbagged by the Grey Lady

OK, so the three supergeniuses who picked all of the Final Four teams correctly wake up this morning feeling pretty good about themselves. Leaping Liz Ramblin' Rambeau, Billy Bob Limey-pants Lafcadio O'Hearn, and Chris "Stud among horses, man among mice" Knott wander down to their respective breakfast tables for a quick bite and a glance at the front page of the New York Times, when their eyes, disbelieving, fall on this piece of journalistic crap:

SO YOU PICKED THE FINAL FOUR? JOIN THE CLUB

Well, bite me, New York Times. Here's the link.


I shouldn't have to put up with this. I'm not going to win the pool, for once in my stinking life I picked all the Final Four teams, and now I have the NYT mocking me. The NYT!!! They wouldn't know sports if sports bit them in the underwear, and now they have the temerity to mock me? (I mean, of course, us.)

Sheesh, I may have to reconsider my subscription. First, no comics, now this. What's up, Sulzberger?

C

Standing after the regional finals

Dear cavaliers and roundheads,

So, the Final Four is set. Three of us (Liz, Bill and yours truly) picked all four teams correctly. Aren't you embarrassed? Bill is now a limey, living in England, no access to American hoop. I am a skirt-wearing, damp-eyed nancy-boy who knows the names of more dead Polish mezzo-sopranos than tournament point guards. Liz picks games based on strength of English Department, quality of novels set in each school's state, and architectural interest of campus buildings. What I'm saying here is that the people who know the most about hoop didn't get the Final Four right, and the three of us hackers did. Shame on you.

Anyway, the Silet threat seems to have passed, Favs is out of the tournament, Bill is crushing the field, and Maggi has been mathematically eliminated from any chance of finishing better than me. It's a funny old world.

Here's where we are:

--------------Sat---Sun--Total

1.	Bill	86	12	98
2.	Matt	74	12	86
2.	Silet	74	12	86
4.	Knott	72	12	84
5.	Favs	76	6	82
6.	Liz	68	12	80
7.	Mike	72	6	78
8.	Hank	76	0	76
8.	John	70	6	76
8.	Kate	70	6	76
11.	DaveW	62	12	74
11.	Gena	74	0	74
11.	Ruth	62	12	74
14.	DavidP	67	6	73
15.	Calvino	65	6	71
15.	Henry	59	12	71
17.	Dayle	63	6	69
17.	Dykes	63	6	69
19.	Steve	61	6	67
20.	Alexander	51	6	57
20.	Dana	57	0	57
22.	Sarah	55	0	55
23.	Rosalie	44	6	50
24.	Maggi	45	0	45
25.	Acy	44	0	44
26.	Willow	35	0	35

Anyone still interested? In the tournament, I mean? (The pool never pales, of course.) I don't really care who wins the championship, I'm ashamed to say. I wish I did, but I feel as though I don't really have any emotional tie to any of these teams. I'll watch the last three games, but I probably won't yell myself hoarse as I have in some years past. Maybe I'm just getting old.

Don't send congrats to Bill just yet. There are a few ways in which someone could overtake him. Keep your eye on Mr. Liz, Matt Peterson, our most Kennedyesque entrant. He's sitting nicely in second, and is poised to snatch the lead from Bill, who may or may not be our most Nixonesque entrant. I'll send around a message outlining who picked whom when I get a second.

Behave yourselves.

C

Mike Hunt's dentist located in West Haven, CT

Our mighty Jayhawks vanquished, or, rather, mine, since S went to a somewhat tonier school...and unable to find any 3.2 beer, we went shopping in beautiful West Haven.

(S now harassing me for using 'vanquished.' Similar to harassment I received last night for playing 'Wings over America' at high volume after R and W had gone to sleep.)

OBGYN love

Steve and I received a bottle opener where a Bushism is released every time you open a beer. But this I just could n't believe really happened, but, yes, sadly yes.

Oh yeah, go UNLV!

Sunday's picks

Friends,

I'm going quickly here. I'm on my own with Alexander, who loves to bang on the laptop keyboard. Acy is in a play today (she's awesome, by the way) and Maggi's in the audience. Wish me luck here.

Two games today. Let's see who picked whom:


1. Florida - Everybody and his brother
3. Oregon - Gena, Hank, Sarah
------------------------------

2. Wisconsin - Maggi, Willow
7. UNLV - Dana
4. Maryland - Acy
12 Old Dominion - Alexander


1. UNC - Maggi, John, Hank, Calvino, Kate, Mike, Acy, Gena, Favs
2. GTown - Knott, Acy, Scott, Bill, DaveW, Liz, Matt, Ruth, Henry
---------------------------------------------------------------
3. Washington State - Steve, Sarah
8. Marquette - Dana
4. Texas - Dykes, DavidP
7. BC - Rosalie
5. USC - Willow


Whew, I made it. Of course, he's in a heap, bawling his eyes out, but at least I've finished Pool business for a while. First things first, right? Now, more Elmo.

C

Results and standings after Saturday's games

Folks,

We're getting down to it, and the wheat is starting to get firmly separated from us chaff. Yesterday, there were only two games, with UCLA and Ohio State making it out of their regions and into the Final Four. Remember that regional final picks are worth 6 points each, national semifinal games worth 8 and picking the champ right gets you 10. Based on that, yesterday's games were worth a total of 12 points. 5 of us got both of them right; Bill (now crushing the field), Liz, Hank, The Wrinkler and, well, little old me. Aw, shucks.

Here's where we are after yesterday:

-------------R3-----Sat---Total

1.	Bill	74	12	86
2.	Favs	70	6	76
2.	Hank	64	12	76
4.	Gena	68	6	74
4.	Matt	68	6	74
4.	Silet	74	0	74
7.	Knott	60	12	72
7.	Mike	60	12	72
9.	John	70	0	70
9.	Kate	64	6	70
11.	Liz	56	12	68
12.	DavidP	61	6	67
13.	Calvino	59	6	65
14.	Dayle	63	0	63
14.	Dykes	57	6	63
16.	DaveW	56	6	62
16.	Ruth	62	0	62
18.	Steve	55	6	61
19.	Henry	59	0	59
20.	Dana	51	6	57
21.	Sarah	49	6	55
22.	Alexander	45	6	51
23.	Maggi	45	0	45
24.	Acy	44	0	44
24.	Rosalie	44	0	44
26.	Willow	35	0	35

Today's picks will be out as soon as I can peel the dumb baby off me. Don't hold your collective breaths.

C

Saturday's picks

Guys and dolls,

Only two games today, Kansas v. UCLA and OSU v. Memphis. (When did Memphis College become Memphis State University, and when did Memphis State University become University of Memphis? Read your Paul Fussell if you want to know why it happened.) We're pretty evenly split on these games, so expect some movement in the standings.

By the way, among the notable absences from the pool this year I did want to particularly call out Big Calvin, Cal Dewitt. His wife Ruth, and sons Henry and Calvino are steaming through the field. But where's Cal? Here's my theory; concomitant with his leftward political drift has come increased fecklessness, flip-floppery and wobbly-kneed weakness similar to his new political allies. Welcome to the left, Cal. What we have here, in short, is that Col. DeWitt has cut and run from the pool. Next thing you know, he'll be watching basketball with John Murtha, Jane Fonda and John Kerry. We lefties are pleased to have you, and let me know if you need to know where to find Air America on your radio dial.

Here are the picks:

1. Kansas - Maggi, Ruth, Calvino, Henry, Rosalie, Willow, John, DavidP, Kate, Scott, Favs
2. UCLA - Knott, Gena, Dana, Dykes, Wrinkler, Bill, Liz, Matt, Hank

---------------------------------------------
3. Pitt - Steve, DaveW, Sarah
6. Duke - Acy (homer pick)
10. Gonzaga - Alexander (I think Z is his favorite letter).
4. Southern Illinois - Dayle



1. Ohio State - Thirteen of us
2. Memphis - Gena, Acy, Ruth, Dayle, John
-----------------------------------------------------------------
9. XU - Maggi
4. UVA - Dana
3. TX A&M - Dykes, Scott, Matt, Henry (the He-man's club with their He-man team)
14. Penn - Rosalie, Willow

And there you have it. All I care about now is finishing ahead of my bride. Keep your fingers crossed for me, please.

C

Results and standings after Round Three

Dudes and dudettes,

Round three is over, and what a weird outcome; 4 1-seeds, 3 2-seeds and a 3-seed. I'm too lazy to find out, even though I'm sitting at the computer, but can anyone remember a result like this? Makes picking a little strange, and skews the results in the sense that Favs is way up at the top.

Bill, Scott, John, Gena, Hank and The Wrinkler all picked all four of yesterday's games correctly. That's amazing for this late in the tourney. As you can see, Bill and Scott remain deadlocked at the top. John is in an epic battle with Favs (Favs disappears after tomorrow, of course), so John's looking good. I'll have to go back to review what the Rules Committee decided about late round points, but the thing to remember is there's lots of room for movement still, so don't concede anything to your spouse, friend, child, parent, etc. There's plenty of play left in the game.

So, after 56/63 of the tourney has passed, here's where we stand:

------------Thu----Fri--- R3

1.	Bill	62	12	74
1.	Silet	62	12	74
3.	Favs	61	9	70
3.	John	58	12	70
5.	Gena	56	12	68
5.	Matt	59	9	68
7.	Hank	52	12	64
7.	Kate	55	9	64
9.	Dayle	57	6	63
10.	Ruth	53	9	62
11.	DavidP	55	6	61
12.	Knott	51	9	60
12.	Mike	48	12	60
14.	Calvino	50	9	59
14.	Henry	50	9	59
16.	Dykes	51	6	57
17.	DaveW	47	9	56
17.	Liz	47	9	56
19.	Steve	52	3	55
20.	Dana	48	3	51
21.	Sarah	46	3	49
22.	Alexander	42	3	45
22.	Maggi	39	6	45
24.	Acy	38	6	44
24.	Rosalie	38	6	44
26.	Willow	32	3	35

Today's picks coming soon.

xoxox,

C

translation, please

What exactly does it mean when the commentators say with delirious excitement:

"Now that shows the importance of dribble penetration!"

At the wall....

After your rant Chris it seemed that a visual of some sort is in order to add a little flavour....

Der Pikens auf der Freitag (how's that?)

Meine Gute Freundes (I learned German from Hogan's Heroes, you know),

Ah, Friday, what is so rare as a lazy Friday in the office, knowing there are 4 potentially interesting tournament games to look forward to? OK, so not all of them are likely to be interesting, but at least the potential is there. I have opened up a little distance between myself and the estimable Maggi Jackson, and the mockery may be soon to begin, another beautiful beautiful thing to look forward to. Egad, the world's all lovely sometimes.

Back to bidness. Who picked whom? Well, sisters and brothers, see below:

Let's have a safe Round Three out there.

C


1. Florida - The multitudes
5. Butler - Nobody. Zip. Nada squata potata.

--------------------------------------
4. Maryland - Maggi, Acy, Sarah
12. Old Dominion - Alexander (he's 16 months old. What does he know?)



3. Oregon - Knott, Gena, Mike, Scott, Bill, DaveW, Matt, Hank, Sarah, Rosalie, John, DavidP
7. UNLV - Dana (Go Dana!!!)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Wisconsin - Maggi, Favs, Steve, Acy, Kate, Liz, Ruth, Calvino, Henry, Dayle, Willow
15. TX A&M-CC - Alexander (see comment above)
10. Georgia Tech - Dykes


1. UNC - Opie, Goober, Aunt Bea and the rest of the field
5. USC - Rosalie, Willow (what do they know that the rest of us don't?)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Texas - Knott, Steve, Dykes, DaveW, Matt, Sarah, DavidP
8. Marquette - Dana, Alexander



2. Georgetown - Most folks
6. Vanderbilt - Dayle (Go Commodores! Go Dayle!)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Washington State - Steve, Dana, Sarah, DavidP
7. BC - Rosalie, Willow


And there you have it. Don't double dip the chips tonight, and quit lipping the 40 ouncer. We all have to drink out of that.

Poolmeister

Thursday night results and standings to this point

Friends,

Good games last night, but let's face it, a boring outcome. Two 1-seeds and two 2-seeds in the regional finals? Yawn. Big genius (but with a cautionary footnote) is Bill O'Hearn, who picked all four winners corrrectly. Here's the footnote: sure, Bill, you picked all the games right. And I know, I know, a correct pick is a correct pick. Still, isn't it a little cheap to rocket into a tie for first place because you picked matching 1-2 regional finals? Don't you feel, well, dirty? Cheap? No? Just happy to be winning. Well, I guess I get that. You Etonians and your playing field ethos. It won you Waterloo and it seems likely to win you the pool. And Britons never never never shall be slaves.

I think I started ranting a little right there. Sorry, the tread on my mind's tires isn't what it used to be. I need chains or steel-belted radials to keep my mind from slipping off the road. Where we was was that I was fixing to tell you the standings. And here they is:

------------R2---Thursday--Total

1.	Bill	50	12	62
1.	Silet	56	6	62
3.	Favs	49	12	61
4.	Matt	50	9	59
5.	John	49	9	58
6.	Dayle	51	6	57
7.	Gena	47	9	56
8.	DavidP	49	6	55
8.	Kate	46	9	55
10.	Ruth	47	6	53
11.	Hank	43	9	52
11.	Steve	46	6	52
13.	Dykes	42	9	51
13.	Knott	42	9	51
15.	Calvino	41	9	50
15.	Henry	44	6	50
17.	Dana	42	6	48
17.	Mike	39	9	48
19.	DaveW	41	6	47
19.	Liz	38	9	47
21.	Sarah	40	6	46
22.	Alexander	33	9	42
23.	Maggi	36	3	39
24.	Acy	32	6	38
24.	Rosalie	32	6	38
26.	Willow	29	3	32

In a moment, I'll send out the Friday picks.

Ta,

C

My new rule

Just gotta click on the little box. You're all gonna want one.

Don't let the doorknob hit you...

Alford to New Mexico!!! My beloved Iowa Hawkeyes have received manna from heaven. Their miserable, pin-headed, loser dork of a "coach" Steve Alford, seems to have packed up his hair product and hit the road to New Mexico. What a relief. Our long national nightmare is over.

Now let's get ourselves a real coach. Less product, more production.

Breathing deep sighs of sweet relief,

Your man from Hawkeyetown

Thursday night picks

People,

Well, well, a few days of dreary workaday life have interrupted our hoopishness. But now, it's back to the good stuff, the stuff that makes life worth the bother, the stuff that dreams are made of. Hoop, even though I'm hopelessly mired in the D+ section of the class, is still better than no hoop.

So, you may be wondering how others have picked. Below please find my own artless chart showing how we've all picked tonight's games.


1. Kansas - everybody else
4. Southern Illinois - Mike, DaveW, Dayle (I picked KS, but I'd love to see SIU win this)

------------------------------------------------------------
9. Villanova - Dana, Acy


2. UCLA - Everybody else
3. Pitt - Steve, DaveW, Ruth, Dayle, Sarah
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6. Duke - Maggi, Acy, John, DavidP (Gee, I don't miss Duke, do you?)
10. Gonzaga - Alexander, Willow


1. Ohio State - Hell and sundry
5. Tennessee - Gena, Scott, Ruth, Rosalie
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. UVA - Dana, Henry
9. Xavier - Maggi, Willow


3. Texas A&M - Dykes, Scott, Kate, Matt, Calvino, Henry, Sarah, DavidP
2. Memphis - Everybody else
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6. Louisville (what happened to these bums?) - Knott, Maggi, Liz, Hank
7. Nevada - Steve (a genius pick that just didn't quite work out)
14. Penn (average SATs too high to win in tourney) - Rosalie, Willow (both smart enough to attend Penn. Me too dumb)

Well, that's that. At this point, all I care about is finishing ahead of Maggi. I'm a small person, but I have clear goals in life. I will post this message text to the blog as well, but I'm growing weary of posting in two places. If you hermits would get your bad selves hooked into the blog we could dispense with all the email. Hoping against hope, I suppose. Feh.

Yours poolily,

CAK