The Final Recap

With 2.1 seconds remaining in regulation, Super Mario Chalmers rose up from the top of the key, a buried what could be the biggest shot in University of Kansas history. His bomb tied the game up a 63-63 and forced overtime in the National Championship game for the first time since 1997.

When that shot went down, the National Weather Service recorded a 5.0 on the Richter Scale coming from the Atallian residence. Assembled for the first time this tournament, the family and I were pulling hard for the Jayhawks. The standings clearly reflect why. A Jayhawk win would mean that I take first place, Big Mike takes second, and The Dennis runs away with third. So you can imagine the eruption coming from the family room at approximately 11:30 PM EST. We were back on our way to a clean sweep.

With 2:12 remaining, The Dennis noted that there were some heavy chins in the room as the Jayhawks were down 9. Things looked bleak. I had gone from champ to losing 2nd place on a stupid tiebreaker to Jenna. I was so pissed thinking about having to write a recap blog in which I lost to Jenna. Big Mike was seen with his face buried in his hands. $50 for a 14 year old is a ton of money. It was so close, and yet it seemed so far away. Somehow, we rallied the troops and knocked off the poor free throw shooting Tigers in a classic comeback victory.

I would like to congratulate Tom Tight Real Tight on a tremendous effort this year. It's amazing how quickly you can turn your back on a team in the NCAAs. Saturday night, you're going nuts because KU is dominating UNC. 48 hours later, you're cursing their comeback. I wish I could offer you some kind of consolation prize, but you tumbled all the way down to 5th place. I am still waiting for a response to my text message that informed you of not placing in the top 3. To add insult to injury, Romano passed you to take 4th place.

Romano of all people! Every year, he lives and dies by Memphis. He was the only person to have them in the final, and it worked. Only you fell one spot short of a cash prize and you still lost to Big Mike. It still has to feel like a success despite those two facts.

I also want to congratulate the Dennis and Big Mike for their outstanding brackets. Picking the champ is not an easy thing to do. Especially with me preaching Kansas since the beginning of November. The Dennis claims he was brainwashed into picking KU, but I don't expect any complains from him now. Also, his winnings were spent on a new bottle of celebratory Sambuca. The old bottle was polished off after KU sealed the victory.

If you guys think I cheated for whatever reason, I'll be more than happy to show everyone's bracket to you for proof. I'll even send them to PriceWaterhouseCoopers for an independent audit. I feel bad for winning the ABC for the 2nd time in 3 years, but there's nothing I can do. You guys just need to step your game up next year. Maybe I'll rename it Anyone But UJ, but it doesn't have the same ring as Cro.

For those of you who failed to beat Cro, shame on you. He had a terrible year this year with his champ not even making it out of the Sweet 16. That's a prime opportunity guys!! It's like missing 4 out of 5 foul shots down the stretch to blow a lead in the final minute of the National Championship game.

There will still be Cro hating going on between now and next March. I'll be adding some Cro stories here and there. I'll also be keeping tabs on Cro's Fantasy Baseball team and letting you know how he's doing there. Key baseball players to hate this year are Brian McCann and Prince Fielder. I don't care who wins the baseball league, as long as its not Cro. His team currently sits 10th out of 12.

Anyway, here are the final standings for the 5th Annual Anyone But Cro Invitational. Thanks again to everyone for participating. See you all next March!

Sincerely yours,
Matthew Atallian-Chalmers

Matt Atallian 141
BIG MIKE 136
The Dennis 133
Justin Romano 127
Tom Moffa 118
Jenna Lawall 116
Sports Illustrated 113
Chris Fusco 112
Michelle Folkerts 111
Pat Shields 108
Ken Zuroick 101
EEB SON 99
Adam Tatz 98
D-Weeze 96
Brandon Gravett 94
Nico Tennant 93
Chris Woody 88
CRO 87
Mike Smith 84
Ryan Fontana 84
Fritz Abalo 81
A.C Billz IV 80
Boy Pierce 75
Phil Imbesi 72
Derek Fuhrmann 70
Amanda Short 66
King Chaz 52