The ABC has found itself in uncharted waters this evening. After the completion of Round 2, Cro has been reduced to playing the role of bottom feeder. He certainly isn’t out of contention, but it is refreshing to see him tied with his arch-enemy EEB. Cro was seen laughing at EEB’s expense after a tough round 1, stating that EEB is always at the bottom of the table. Doesn’t look like Cro has much to say at this juncture.
After 2 days of tournament watching in Newark, the ABC crew packed up their bags and headed north to the city of brotherly love. We were on our way to the Sheraton hotel in Center City when we realized that there were games still being played in Philly, and there could be a possibility of seeing some teams at the hotel. We joked that it would be awesome if UCLA was there due to the fact that they have some of the most attractive cheerleaders/dance team in the NCAA. Sure enough, when we entered the hotel, there was UCLA stuff all over the lobby. They were actually staying at the hotel! As we stood inline to check in, the players were all standing by the elevators to return to their rooms. Alfred Aboya is huge! I tried to get an exclusive interview with some of the players and coaches for the blog, but they said the lack of a press pass prevented them from talking to me. It would have been some NCAA violation that would result in a heavy fine. I don’t know where you get one of these things, but I am getting really irritated that I don’t have one.
There was a shocking upset in Round 1 which saw Wake Forest completely man-handled by Cleveland State. They were down by 20 early, and never really came close to winning the ball game. Their point guard and “leader” Jeff Teague only took 7 shots from the floor. The kind of performance you want from a player in big time situations. I’ve been saying all year that Wake are nothing but a bunch of frauds. They went 7-6 in their last 13 games leading up to the tournament. For whatever reason, I refused to heed my own advice when filling out my bracket. I had Wake losing in the national championship game to Pitt. It makes no sense to me that I would put my bracket in such jeopardy. Now my bracket is pretty much irrelevant after one weekend. I hate myself for that pick. The only consolation could be found on the Cro bracket, as he also had Wake reaching the Final Four.
I would also like to praise the Justin Romano bracket for almost pulling off the pick of the decade. Romano had Siena penciled in to knock off Louisville in the second round. Siena had the lead late in the 2nd half, but Louisville proved to just be too much for the Saints. While most people would ridicule the pick, I think it takes tremendous guts to pencil in an upset of a #1 seed on the first weekend. Congrats to your sir.
Here are the standings after the first weekend.
Jake Hoffman 53
Mike Lambros 52
Uncle Kermit 52
Shaun Askin 52
Tony K 51
Jenna Lawall 51
Chris Fusco 51
Matt Atallian 50
Phil Imbesi 49
Adam Tatz 49
Nico T 49
Big Mike 49
Brandon Gravett 49
Fritz Ablao 49
Tom Moffa 48
Little Kermit 48
Chris Woody 48
President Obama 47
Justin Romano 46
Dosh Whye 46
Mike Y 46
Pat Shields 45
Sports Illustrated 45
Boy Pierce 45
CRO 44
EEB 44
Michelle Folkerts 43
The Dennis 41
Mike Smith 38
Drew Smith 38
Based on these standings, it looks like we have another family conspiracy on our hands. As you might recall, last year’s tournament saw the Atallian household run a clean sweep taking 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Now, the Hoffman’s are closing in a repeat of history. Son Jake and Uncle Kermit are 2 of the top 3, and Little Kermit is not far behind. Of course, Chris Fusco is in the middle of all of this. He is related to the Hoffman’s and convinced them to enter this year. I’m not sure what to make of this. Last year it was amazing to be apart of such an experience, but now that I’m on the outside looking in, I can’t help but to feel cheated.
Games will resume on Thursday night, with the headliner being the Villanova vs. Duke match up. Check the blog for updates after the Sweet 16.
Good luck and keep Cro down.
Matt
No comments:
Post a Comment