There is so much stuff going on in my life right now and very little time to write about so I'm just going to ramble on for awhile. I'm going back to New York tomorrow to see my beloved UMASS Minutemen in the semifinals of the NIT. What makes this trip special is that I'll be traveling solo for the first. My parents are nervous and honestly quite upset with me but 28 seems like the right time to prove that I'm an adult. I'll be waking up at 5am packing, getting ready going to Boston on a 7:30am train and then catching a train from Boston to New York at 9:30am. It's going to be a boring morning for me and am spending a crazy amount of money but it feels great to do something for no other reason then I wanted to do it. I was also on a crazy high when I decided to do this from finally getting a job. I have to spend hours cramming for my insurance exam on April 9th but after passing that I will begin working for Aflac.
I'm still not convinced I can sell insurance but it's all commission so I have to learn quickly. After six years of looking when someone offers you a job you take and worry about the details later. It feels weird to be studying again but I've been good at cramming for test all my life so it's kind of fun to be doing it again. If you seeing me writing too much or hanging out on Twitter yell at me to study because I'm really good at putting it off.
It is sad to say goodbye to my Patriots tickets after eleven seasons. I've had been great memories at Gillette Stadium but its time to move on. The days are long and my body completely rejects cold weather at this point. I just couldn't live up to my half of the bargain, if I could have gotten a job years earlier I'd keep them for my kids but I've been hanging my Dad out to dry for far too long now.
My NCAA bracket was totally garbage again with my mother once again somehow in position to pull off an upset win. Nothing in the tournament has really surprised me and it has been void of any real drama. Kentucky should roll to the title without being seriously challenged next weekend as injuries and suspensions doomed biggest threats UNC and Syracuse. I feel great for coach Calipari but hope someone pushes his team to the buzzer and gives us one memorable game in the tournament.
Extremely excited to have Mad Men and Game of Thrones back on the air. Mad Men was decent last night and set the table nicely for the rest of the season. Lane Pryce remains the secret weapon of the show and was given some great moments in the second hour last night. Game of Thrones premieres this week and promises to be awesome so it's nice to having something to look forward to on Sundays again. I might even suffer through season two of the Killing depending on well my studying goes.
I wish I could write more and in much further detail but I have so much work to do today. I can't wait to tell you about my journey later in the week. It promises to be an adventure and it's great to see the Minutemen doing well again. I am also seeing Once on Broadway while I'm there which is one of my favorites movies and has some of my favorite songs so I'm really excited about it. I'm off to study and I'll be back to write when I return home Thursday.
Monday, March 26, 2012
Friday, March 16, 2012
No Dogs Allowed in Milville
The weather was awesome on Wednesday so I took advantage of a rare chance to get outside in the middle of the week and tried my hand at hiking. After breakfast at Lou Roc's Diner Colleen and I ventured out to Uxbridge to see how we could do on the Blackstone trail. That trail was a fairly easy and straightforward two mile walk. The only complication was a step up to a bridge that let to Stanley Mill that prevented us from totally completing the journey. I was feeling confident enough in my new found driving abilities that was decided to make the confusing eleven minute car ride to Milville to try our hand at Milville Lock.
The first sign of trouble was a low gate at the entry point that I failed horribly at ducking under. I managed to squeeze between two rocks and sped my way down the trail getting about ten feet before sinking into a pile of rocks and getting completely stuck. I am famous for not paying attention when driving but that was not the case here. I did see that there was a way to avoid the rock pile but I was convinced I could plow through it. After spinning around a couple times and having my wheels not move at all it became apparent that we were not getting out on our own. After a couple elderly gentlemen passed by with little interest in helping us I was willing to call in the voluntary Milville Police and promise never to show my face in town again.
It was at this moment that our first good samaritan appeared in the form of a 6'4 gentlemen in his forties. I was confident this guy could help pull me out but he turned out to be the weakest man in Milville. After four or five really lame attempts at yanking me out he retreated to his car to go home and get a shovel. I had no confidence that this guy could get me out with a forklift much less a shovel so I prepared myself to spend a long time at the start of Milville Lock. Two ten year old boys came flying down the trail on there bikes and offered to help. One was a little guy and the other was a chubby kid but they took one try at pulling me out and all of a sudden I was free. It was a true King Arthur moment and I feel confident that these young men will soon be ruling over the small town of Milville as they are clearly the strongest in the town. As we were getting in the car the first man returned more ashamed then relieved that we had been freed by a couple of ten year old boys.
After taking a couple of minutes to collect ourselves I decided never to return to Milville. We made yet another pass through Uxbridge to try to find Blackstone Gorge. After several minutes of GPS confusion we made it to the town of Blackstone. The Gorge served as a good photo opportunity and as made our way back up to the car I temporarily got stuck in the sand. At this point we swore off outdoor activities for the day although we did make a quick pass through Purgatory Chasm quickly realizing there was no way that was going to happen.
The rest of the night was spend more in our comfort zone shopping and going to dinner. I enjoyed trying "hiking" since we are always looking for outdoor activities to do. I will give it another shot in the near future but probably won't pass through Milville. There tiny adult male population is just too weak and I get stuck in enough figurative ruts to have to worry about getting caught in actual ones. While the town's future looks bright based on the capabilities of its young children for now I am slapping Milville with the "No Dogs Allowed" tag which will become a running feature in the blog. If you have any ideas of things you want me to try pass them along and I will write about it and see if it passes the accessibility test.
The first sign of trouble was a low gate at the entry point that I failed horribly at ducking under. I managed to squeeze between two rocks and sped my way down the trail getting about ten feet before sinking into a pile of rocks and getting completely stuck. I am famous for not paying attention when driving but that was not the case here. I did see that there was a way to avoid the rock pile but I was convinced I could plow through it. After spinning around a couple times and having my wheels not move at all it became apparent that we were not getting out on our own. After a couple elderly gentlemen passed by with little interest in helping us I was willing to call in the voluntary Milville Police and promise never to show my face in town again.
It was at this moment that our first good samaritan appeared in the form of a 6'4 gentlemen in his forties. I was confident this guy could help pull me out but he turned out to be the weakest man in Milville. After four or five really lame attempts at yanking me out he retreated to his car to go home and get a shovel. I had no confidence that this guy could get me out with a forklift much less a shovel so I prepared myself to spend a long time at the start of Milville Lock. Two ten year old boys came flying down the trail on there bikes and offered to help. One was a little guy and the other was a chubby kid but they took one try at pulling me out and all of a sudden I was free. It was a true King Arthur moment and I feel confident that these young men will soon be ruling over the small town of Milville as they are clearly the strongest in the town. As we were getting in the car the first man returned more ashamed then relieved that we had been freed by a couple of ten year old boys.
After taking a couple of minutes to collect ourselves I decided never to return to Milville. We made yet another pass through Uxbridge to try to find Blackstone Gorge. After several minutes of GPS confusion we made it to the town of Blackstone. The Gorge served as a good photo opportunity and as made our way back up to the car I temporarily got stuck in the sand. At this point we swore off outdoor activities for the day although we did make a quick pass through Purgatory Chasm quickly realizing there was no way that was going to happen.
The rest of the night was spend more in our comfort zone shopping and going to dinner. I enjoyed trying "hiking" since we are always looking for outdoor activities to do. I will give it another shot in the near future but probably won't pass through Milville. There tiny adult male population is just too weak and I get stuck in enough figurative ruts to have to worry about getting caught in actual ones. While the town's future looks bright based on the capabilities of its young children for now I am slapping Milville with the "No Dogs Allowed" tag which will become a running feature in the blog. If you have any ideas of things you want me to try pass them along and I will write about it and see if it passes the accessibility test.
Monday, March 12, 2012
New York State of Mind
I am having a very tough time readjusting to being home after a wonderful trip to New York. I enjoyed very second of my time there and got to do many great things. It was great to see basketball at Madison Square Garden, a terrific show on Broadway and places like the Empire State Building and Central Park. While all of these things were great what I loved most about the city was the freedom. The idea that you could go anywhere at anytime. Our hotel was centrally located on 29th street and we were never more then a few blocks away from something great going on and many interesting people. As someone who never used to walk anywhere I also took great pride in traveling 12.5 miles in the chair during the day Friday.
Allow me to contrast this for a second with being home. I can guarantee you that I won't travel 12.5 miles in the chair during the next 60 days. Living on a dirt road with no sidewalks for miles there is no safe way to get around to get around the neighborhood. Back to being home alone all day and having no way to exit my own house it guarantees that during a 70 degree weather week I will be locked in the house between the hours of 8-4 everyday. This is what I struggle the idea that there is a world of endless possibilities that I thrive in and then in my daily life I am stuck in an empty with TV reruns even though I have no real world responsibilities. It is different when your older have a job, family and other stuff going on but I am stuck in this daily monotony solely because of my disability and that sucks.
What draws me to places like New York is not the bright lights but the idea that possibility is around every corner. After being there it is impossible to believe that anybody is supposed to live out there days on a dirt road left only to ponder the world around them. I miss the walks to get food and getting yelled at for not crossing the street fast enough more then anything else. That just doesn't happen here and don't thinking it's asking a lot to want that.
Now that you have allowed me to complain let me go on about the details of my trip. I left with Jackson from Providence on the 6:15 Amtrax train. It was an easy three and half ride that we passed by him kicking my ass in Scrabble. We arrived at Penn Station around 10 and had to wait half an hour for a ramp to get off the train. It usually doesn't take that long but the people there only heard wheelchair and brought up an actual wheelchair rather then a ramp. Penn Station is really big and hard to figure out so it took us awhile to figure out how to exit on street level. It was a quick two block walk to the hotel the Holiday Inn express where we waited for Matt to come and take us out. He arrived around 11pm and took us to the "Flying Puck" a bar right down the street. I downed two beer felt drunk already and got hit on by a Georgetown fan in a suit. He was giving Matt crap for being a Syracuse fan and really enjoyed touching my leg for some reason. Good to know I can draw attention if I ever have to switch teams and an interesting welcome to the city. We were feeling tired by the travel and left around 1:30 to unpack and get some sleep.
Thursday was Big East Tournament day with the marquee match up being Syracuse-Uconn at noon. Knowing that we made the short walk to Madison Square Garden to trade out the tickets I got on Stubhub. Sadly no one know where to send us because MSG was not in charge of handling tickets to the event. We were assured we would have no problems and went to grab a quick breakfast. We returned at 11:15 and were sent to guest services on the 6th floor who sent us to the 5th floor courtside entrance which got us really excited. The 5th floor guy looked at our tickets and basically laughed at us while sending us to the 9th floor nose bled section. The usher there had no idea where to send us and called for a supervisor. There was a wheelchair section in the 400s and we were sent there as the game was starting. The sight lines were pretty good up there similar to being in the roof boxes at a Red Sox game, but I was disappointed I couldn't pull off my seating upgrade magic.
The game was a good back and forth game that Syracuse pulled out in the last four minutes. They did not shoot great and as usual didn't rebound so it was no surprise to me when they lost the next day to Cincy. The arena was 70% percent Syracuse fans and we enjoyed making fun of the guys in front of us for swearing at the refs all game even though they did it a good job. The energy in the building kind of died for the second game with a good chunk of Syracuse fans leaving. Being in the 400's we had to take an elevator to try to find a bathroom. When we got off the elevator Jackson pointed out Pat Riley was right next to us. I wanted to talk to him but he was tied up in conversation and Jackson was having none of it. Apparently he has a personal code where he doesn't like bothering famous people. The second game was running past 4:30 and we were trying to meet Colleen for dinner before having to return for the night games. Georgetown was up 11 with 7:00 minutes left and made the executive decision to leave. We met up with Colleen a block later and she took us to a Cuban place Havana Central where Matt and her boyfriend John would meet us. We got there just as the game was going into overtime but the food and drinks were good so we didn't care that we missed it. After a very enjoyable dinner we headed back to the Garden.
We enjoyed the Marquette-Louisville game that Louisville won going away and decided to skip the USF-Notre Dame to go out with Matt. We decided to go to a basement comedy show at HA Comedy Club. I was very disappointed no one made a cripple joke since I was a foot in front of the stage and they made fun of the very ten people in the room. They were mostly drunk and foreign people but the best exchanges came from the last comedian putting a very drunk housewife heckler in her place. We left there after 2 and headed back to the hotel.
Friday was sightseeing day with Colleen and we met her at 10am for a walk to the Empire State Building. After getting our tickets we headed up to the 86th floor which really popped our ears. We let a nice family with Ginger Twins cut the line with us and headed out to see the fantastic view. While all this was going on we apparently missed a marriage proposal going on at the opposite side of the building. That would have been awesome to see so I was disappointed to miss it. We left about 45 minutes later and headed to Times Square Visitors Center to get a listing of Broadway shows. We went through the listing carefully we me pushing hard for "Once" and Jackson hoping for "Spiderman." We spent an hour making a list of 10-12 acceptable shows and headed out to look for tickets. Sadly "No Dogs Allowed" at our top 3 choices including "Once" and the "Lion King". When Memphis was pet friendly (cripple) and could give us four seats close together we pounced. After grabbing lunch at an Irish Pub, we then made the long journey to and through Central Park failing in our attempt to find worthy street artists. I really wanted to feed the ducks but apparently that is frowned upon. My chair was low on the power and would force us back to the hotel before going to the show. It was already 4:30 and we were an hour walk away so we lucky to find a bus I could get on to get us back to Midtown. While charging the chair we failed at several attempts of ordering Pizza before sending Jackson and fresh out of work Matt to go get it. After eating quickly Jackson Colleen and I headed out to meet John at the theater while Matt stayed behind to take a nap.
I encountered a broken foot plate on the way over but still made it with 10 minutes to spare. "Memphis" is a story of disc jockey Huey Calhoun who was first white guy to play black music in Memphis. He was a hard character to root for but the actor had good comic timing and the actress playing his black singer girlfriend was a really good performer. It was a funny show with good musical performances and served as a great introduction to Broadway for me. I highly enjoyed it and look forward to going back again. The show ended at 10:30 said goodbye to Colleen and John who had a parade in the morning and headed back to the hotel. We found Matt half asleep unaware of how longs plays were and not in the mood to go out. Jackson and I headed out to Upright Citizens Brigade Theater but "No Dogs Allowed". By now it was really cold and after searching one block in each direction for something to do we stopped for more pizza and headed back to the room shortly after 1am.
Saturday we had breakfast at the New Yorker Hotel before taking off for Penn Station to go home. I have already made plans to go back again when my mom goes for a few hours on April 7th. Jackson and I really enjoyed everything besides my kicking and snoring at night apparently. I did a get job controlling myself because I had to drive long distances and there were no major disasters. I've caught the big city bug and I'm bound to get in trouble because Worcester is not enough for me anymore. As I seat on the doorstep of 28 I am determined to start exploring it and New York was a great place to start. As Boston people we grow up hating New York but there's an awful lot to love about it and I would be lucky to end up there in the future.
Allow me to contrast this for a second with being home. I can guarantee you that I won't travel 12.5 miles in the chair during the next 60 days. Living on a dirt road with no sidewalks for miles there is no safe way to get around to get around the neighborhood. Back to being home alone all day and having no way to exit my own house it guarantees that during a 70 degree weather week I will be locked in the house between the hours of 8-4 everyday. This is what I struggle the idea that there is a world of endless possibilities that I thrive in and then in my daily life I am stuck in an empty with TV reruns even though I have no real world responsibilities. It is different when your older have a job, family and other stuff going on but I am stuck in this daily monotony solely because of my disability and that sucks.
What draws me to places like New York is not the bright lights but the idea that possibility is around every corner. After being there it is impossible to believe that anybody is supposed to live out there days on a dirt road left only to ponder the world around them. I miss the walks to get food and getting yelled at for not crossing the street fast enough more then anything else. That just doesn't happen here and don't thinking it's asking a lot to want that.
Now that you have allowed me to complain let me go on about the details of my trip. I left with Jackson from Providence on the 6:15 Amtrax train. It was an easy three and half ride that we passed by him kicking my ass in Scrabble. We arrived at Penn Station around 10 and had to wait half an hour for a ramp to get off the train. It usually doesn't take that long but the people there only heard wheelchair and brought up an actual wheelchair rather then a ramp. Penn Station is really big and hard to figure out so it took us awhile to figure out how to exit on street level. It was a quick two block walk to the hotel the Holiday Inn express where we waited for Matt to come and take us out. He arrived around 11pm and took us to the "Flying Puck" a bar right down the street. I downed two beer felt drunk already and got hit on by a Georgetown fan in a suit. He was giving Matt crap for being a Syracuse fan and really enjoyed touching my leg for some reason. Good to know I can draw attention if I ever have to switch teams and an interesting welcome to the city. We were feeling tired by the travel and left around 1:30 to unpack and get some sleep.
Thursday was Big East Tournament day with the marquee match up being Syracuse-Uconn at noon. Knowing that we made the short walk to Madison Square Garden to trade out the tickets I got on Stubhub. Sadly no one know where to send us because MSG was not in charge of handling tickets to the event. We were assured we would have no problems and went to grab a quick breakfast. We returned at 11:15 and were sent to guest services on the 6th floor who sent us to the 5th floor courtside entrance which got us really excited. The 5th floor guy looked at our tickets and basically laughed at us while sending us to the 9th floor nose bled section. The usher there had no idea where to send us and called for a supervisor. There was a wheelchair section in the 400s and we were sent there as the game was starting. The sight lines were pretty good up there similar to being in the roof boxes at a Red Sox game, but I was disappointed I couldn't pull off my seating upgrade magic.
The game was a good back and forth game that Syracuse pulled out in the last four minutes. They did not shoot great and as usual didn't rebound so it was no surprise to me when they lost the next day to Cincy. The arena was 70% percent Syracuse fans and we enjoyed making fun of the guys in front of us for swearing at the refs all game even though they did it a good job. The energy in the building kind of died for the second game with a good chunk of Syracuse fans leaving. Being in the 400's we had to take an elevator to try to find a bathroom. When we got off the elevator Jackson pointed out Pat Riley was right next to us. I wanted to talk to him but he was tied up in conversation and Jackson was having none of it. Apparently he has a personal code where he doesn't like bothering famous people. The second game was running past 4:30 and we were trying to meet Colleen for dinner before having to return for the night games. Georgetown was up 11 with 7:00 minutes left and made the executive decision to leave. We met up with Colleen a block later and she took us to a Cuban place Havana Central where Matt and her boyfriend John would meet us. We got there just as the game was going into overtime but the food and drinks were good so we didn't care that we missed it. After a very enjoyable dinner we headed back to the Garden.
We enjoyed the Marquette-Louisville game that Louisville won going away and decided to skip the USF-Notre Dame to go out with Matt. We decided to go to a basement comedy show at HA Comedy Club. I was very disappointed no one made a cripple joke since I was a foot in front of the stage and they made fun of the very ten people in the room. They were mostly drunk and foreign people but the best exchanges came from the last comedian putting a very drunk housewife heckler in her place. We left there after 2 and headed back to the hotel.
Friday was sightseeing day with Colleen and we met her at 10am for a walk to the Empire State Building. After getting our tickets we headed up to the 86th floor which really popped our ears. We let a nice family with Ginger Twins cut the line with us and headed out to see the fantastic view. While all this was going on we apparently missed a marriage proposal going on at the opposite side of the building. That would have been awesome to see so I was disappointed to miss it. We left about 45 minutes later and headed to Times Square Visitors Center to get a listing of Broadway shows. We went through the listing carefully we me pushing hard for "Once" and Jackson hoping for "Spiderman." We spent an hour making a list of 10-12 acceptable shows and headed out to look for tickets. Sadly "No Dogs Allowed" at our top 3 choices including "Once" and the "Lion King". When Memphis was pet friendly (cripple) and could give us four seats close together we pounced. After grabbing lunch at an Irish Pub, we then made the long journey to and through Central Park failing in our attempt to find worthy street artists. I really wanted to feed the ducks but apparently that is frowned upon. My chair was low on the power and would force us back to the hotel before going to the show. It was already 4:30 and we were an hour walk away so we lucky to find a bus I could get on to get us back to Midtown. While charging the chair we failed at several attempts of ordering Pizza before sending Jackson and fresh out of work Matt to go get it. After eating quickly Jackson Colleen and I headed out to meet John at the theater while Matt stayed behind to take a nap.
I encountered a broken foot plate on the way over but still made it with 10 minutes to spare. "Memphis" is a story of disc jockey Huey Calhoun who was first white guy to play black music in Memphis. He was a hard character to root for but the actor had good comic timing and the actress playing his black singer girlfriend was a really good performer. It was a funny show with good musical performances and served as a great introduction to Broadway for me. I highly enjoyed it and look forward to going back again. The show ended at 10:30 said goodbye to Colleen and John who had a parade in the morning and headed back to the hotel. We found Matt half asleep unaware of how longs plays were and not in the mood to go out. Jackson and I headed out to Upright Citizens Brigade Theater but "No Dogs Allowed". By now it was really cold and after searching one block in each direction for something to do we stopped for more pizza and headed back to the room shortly after 1am.
Saturday we had breakfast at the New Yorker Hotel before taking off for Penn Station to go home. I have already made plans to go back again when my mom goes for a few hours on April 7th. Jackson and I really enjoyed everything besides my kicking and snoring at night apparently. I did a get job controlling myself because I had to drive long distances and there were no major disasters. I've caught the big city bug and I'm bound to get in trouble because Worcester is not enough for me anymore. As I seat on the doorstep of 28 I am determined to start exploring it and New York was a great place to start. As Boston people we grow up hating New York but there's an awful lot to love about it and I would be lucky to end up there in the future.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
NCCA Tournament Picks Guide and Preview
Here's my thoughts on the NCAA Tournament as I use this as an exercise to help me fill out my bracket. You guys can use it to win some money by going against all of my picks. I'm going to go through it region by region and try to help some novice fans out.
South Bracket: Kentucky is the #1 seed and clear favorite to make out of this region but this is the toughest region out of the four. It features the best game of the first round #5 seeded Wichita State against #12 seeded VCU. Wichita State has been the best mid-major team all year and has Final Four talent. VCU made the Final Four last year as an #11 seed and has won 16 games in a row. The winner of this game would face Indiana who has already beaten Kentucky this year. Defending champion UCONN would be Kentucky's second round opponent. Duke is the weakest of the #2 seeds and is unlikely to get past #3 seeded Baylor in the Sweet 16.
Bracket Winner:Kentucky
1st round upset: #10 Xavier Over #7 Notre Dame
Team that could ruin your bracket: Wichita State
West Bracket: I could this the second hardest bracket to forecast. I consider #2 seed Missouri the favorite in the region over #1 seed Michigan State. This is mostly because red hot #8 seed Memphis looms as a very dangerous second round opponent for MSU. The middle of this bracket is full of possible upsets #12 Long Beach over #5 New Mexico and #13 seeded Davidson over #4 seeded Louisville. If the higher seeded teams survive those games they are always capable of beating Michigan State. Louisville is coming off a big win in the Big East Conference Tournament but didn't impress me much in person. The first round game I am most excited about in this region is a possible Iona Marquette battle which would probably be the highest scoring game in the tournament. Missouri's road would include Florida and Marquette who play similar style and can't take advantage of their lack of height inside.
Bracket Winner:Missouri
1st round Upset:Long Beach over New Mexico
Team that could ruin your bracket:Murray State
East Bracket: Syracuse is #1 seed this bracket and while it has a decent draw is too risky to pick to make the Final Four. Possible second round opponent Kansas State can take advantage of their lack of rebounding and possible third round opponent Vandy can shoot over the top of their famous 2-3 zone. #2 seeded Ohio State is the safer pick because they should cruise through the first two rounds before a showdown with Florida State. Harvard in the tournament for the first time since 1946 was unlucky to draw SEC champion Vandy but should put up a good fight. Gonzaga vs West Virgina is the best 1st round game in the bracket.
Bracket Winner:Ohio State
1st round upset:Montana over Wisconsin
Team that could ruin your bracket:Kansas State
Midwest Bracket: This bracket is all about the showdown that looms between #1 seed North Carolina and #2 seeded Kansas. They have seemingly easy roads to face each other as #3 seeded Georgetown and #4 seeded Michigan are very shaky teams. The last team to make the field NC State has a real chance to win two rounds and I predict that the two biggest upsets in the tournament will come from this bracket. I see #13 seed Ohio beating Michigan and #14 seed Belmont beating Georgetown. Creighton vs Alabama is the best first round game in this bracket.
Bracket Winner:North Carolina
1st round Upsets: Belmont over Georgetown, Ohio over Michigan, Cal over Temple
Team that could ruin your bracket: NC State
Final Four: I have listed Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio State and UNC as my Final Four and if it goes that way I don't see Kentucky losing. I see the majority of people filling out brackets picking Kentucky, UNC or Syracuse. If your in a poll make smart picks to get to the Final Four but pick someone like Missouri, Kansas or Ohio State to win it to gain extra points to separate you from the field. Overall I see a pool of 11 teams capable of making the Final Four: Kentucky, Baylor, Duke in the South. Missouri and Michigan State in the West. Syracuse, Florida State Ohio State, Vandy in the East. North Carolina and Kansas in the Midwest.
Title Contenders: Kentucky, UNC, MSU, OSU, Kansas, Missouri
I hope this helps you feel out your brackets. My Mom won a pool last year so sometimes it's just dumb luck but hopefully this help you make some educated guesses. Good Luck everybody helpfully over 23 years filling out brackets this is my year!
South Bracket: Kentucky is the #1 seed and clear favorite to make out of this region but this is the toughest region out of the four. It features the best game of the first round #5 seeded Wichita State against #12 seeded VCU. Wichita State has been the best mid-major team all year and has Final Four talent. VCU made the Final Four last year as an #11 seed and has won 16 games in a row. The winner of this game would face Indiana who has already beaten Kentucky this year. Defending champion UCONN would be Kentucky's second round opponent. Duke is the weakest of the #2 seeds and is unlikely to get past #3 seeded Baylor in the Sweet 16.
Bracket Winner:Kentucky
1st round upset: #10 Xavier Over #7 Notre Dame
Team that could ruin your bracket: Wichita State
West Bracket: I could this the second hardest bracket to forecast. I consider #2 seed Missouri the favorite in the region over #1 seed Michigan State. This is mostly because red hot #8 seed Memphis looms as a very dangerous second round opponent for MSU. The middle of this bracket is full of possible upsets #12 Long Beach over #5 New Mexico and #13 seeded Davidson over #4 seeded Louisville. If the higher seeded teams survive those games they are always capable of beating Michigan State. Louisville is coming off a big win in the Big East Conference Tournament but didn't impress me much in person. The first round game I am most excited about in this region is a possible Iona Marquette battle which would probably be the highest scoring game in the tournament. Missouri's road would include Florida and Marquette who play similar style and can't take advantage of their lack of height inside.
Bracket Winner:Missouri
1st round Upset:Long Beach over New Mexico
Team that could ruin your bracket:Murray State
East Bracket: Syracuse is #1 seed this bracket and while it has a decent draw is too risky to pick to make the Final Four. Possible second round opponent Kansas State can take advantage of their lack of rebounding and possible third round opponent Vandy can shoot over the top of their famous 2-3 zone. #2 seeded Ohio State is the safer pick because they should cruise through the first two rounds before a showdown with Florida State. Harvard in the tournament for the first time since 1946 was unlucky to draw SEC champion Vandy but should put up a good fight. Gonzaga vs West Virgina is the best 1st round game in the bracket.
Bracket Winner:Ohio State
1st round upset:Montana over Wisconsin
Team that could ruin your bracket:Kansas State
Midwest Bracket: This bracket is all about the showdown that looms between #1 seed North Carolina and #2 seeded Kansas. They have seemingly easy roads to face each other as #3 seeded Georgetown and #4 seeded Michigan are very shaky teams. The last team to make the field NC State has a real chance to win two rounds and I predict that the two biggest upsets in the tournament will come from this bracket. I see #13 seed Ohio beating Michigan and #14 seed Belmont beating Georgetown. Creighton vs Alabama is the best first round game in this bracket.
Bracket Winner:North Carolina
1st round Upsets: Belmont over Georgetown, Ohio over Michigan, Cal over Temple
Team that could ruin your bracket: NC State
Final Four: I have listed Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio State and UNC as my Final Four and if it goes that way I don't see Kentucky losing. I see the majority of people filling out brackets picking Kentucky, UNC or Syracuse. If your in a poll make smart picks to get to the Final Four but pick someone like Missouri, Kansas or Ohio State to win it to gain extra points to separate you from the field. Overall I see a pool of 11 teams capable of making the Final Four: Kentucky, Baylor, Duke in the South. Missouri and Michigan State in the West. Syracuse, Florida State Ohio State, Vandy in the East. North Carolina and Kansas in the Midwest.
Title Contenders: Kentucky, UNC, MSU, OSU, Kansas, Missouri
I hope this helps you feel out your brackets. My Mom won a pool last year so sometimes it's just dumb luck but hopefully this help you make some educated guesses. Good Luck everybody helpfully over 23 years filling out brackets this is my year!
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Leaving on a Slow Train
My bags are packed heavily and in a few short hours I am off to Manhattan. After a crushing first round defeat in the Districts, a slew of network television reruns on the way and an ice cold job market I can't get out of here fast enough. The official reason for the trip is the Big East Tournament Quarterfinals, but they are merely an expensive to get into the city for a few days. I have 50 short hours of fun that pretty much has to get me through the next six months of extreme boredom. I've been pretty good at finding a way to get away on "Spring Break" every March and this trip promises to avoid the sunburns of Fort Lauderdale, the frost bite of Montreal and the straight up debacle that was Foxwoods. It will feature public intoxication, overeating, getting lost on subways and a ton of smiles.
I will try not to work Jackson too hard but there won't be a lot of sleeping on this trip. The only promise I make him is that I'll hold my liquor like a good Irish boy and avoid puking. We get in kind of late tonight 9:30 or so but that gives us more then a few hours to hit the bars. Thanks to the folks at Stubhub we have a marathon day of four games tomorrow at Madison Square Garden. I can't wait to see "the world's most famous arena and we'll see what there handicapped upgrade policy is because we have nose bleed seats. It will be nice to see Matt who has been working hard for the corporate man and turned into a real penny counter. (just kidding city terribly expensive) We don't want to collide his Worcester and Brooklyn too much it would ruin the new mythology I've given him. Colleen is also in the city this week and is taking us sightseeing on Friday and I promise to not to jump off the Empire State Building. Jackson and I are really bad at documenting thinks but I'm sure some drunken pictures of me will be popping up on the internet ruining my chances to run for public office.
I have a solid two weeks of clothes packed for a short trip so if Jackson comes back alone Saturday I've gone rogue and do not want to be found. I have the greatest of expectations for the next few days so hopefully things go smoothly and even if they don't it will make for a great adventure. With my birthday, the NCCAs and Saint Patrick's Day next week I should be able to manage my post vacation depression fairly well but there will be plenty of time to deal with that after 50 hours of LEGENDARY Fun!
I will try not to work Jackson too hard but there won't be a lot of sleeping on this trip. The only promise I make him is that I'll hold my liquor like a good Irish boy and avoid puking. We get in kind of late tonight 9:30 or so but that gives us more then a few hours to hit the bars. Thanks to the folks at Stubhub we have a marathon day of four games tomorrow at Madison Square Garden. I can't wait to see "the world's most famous arena and we'll see what there handicapped upgrade policy is because we have nose bleed seats. It will be nice to see Matt who has been working hard for the corporate man and turned into a real penny counter. (just kidding city terribly expensive) We don't want to collide his Worcester and Brooklyn too much it would ruin the new mythology I've given him. Colleen is also in the city this week and is taking us sightseeing on Friday and I promise to not to jump off the Empire State Building. Jackson and I are really bad at documenting thinks but I'm sure some drunken pictures of me will be popping up on the internet ruining my chances to run for public office.
I have a solid two weeks of clothes packed for a short trip so if Jackson comes back alone Saturday I've gone rogue and do not want to be found. I have the greatest of expectations for the next few days so hopefully things go smoothly and even if they don't it will make for a great adventure. With my birthday, the NCCAs and Saint Patrick's Day next week I should be able to manage my post vacation depression fairly well but there will be plenty of time to deal with that after 50 hours of LEGENDARY Fun!
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