POTUS AND ME

Well I finally have something in common with our Commander in Chief, The Big Kahuna, The Prez, Mr. POTUS himself.

We've picked the same NCAA Basketball Tournament bracket. And we're tied. Precisely.  We're in the 72.9% percentile of  winning brackets, which is tantamount to 37th places losers.  Our rank? 3,131,506.

I feel so proud.  Hail to the Chief.

MADNESS

The Madness has begun. And if, for some reason, you don't know what I'm talking about, just keep surfing. Something will attract your wandering eye eventually.


This year, I've filled out EIGHT March Madness brackets,simply because that's how many I found by noon on Thursday. I'm hoping to do somewhat better than our Commander-in-Chief (that's Barack Obama, if you're still not sure what's going on here), who I think picked a fairly safe bracket with few if any upsets or surprises.

Here is one of my brackets, on the CBS Sports website for the bracket games:


http://freebracketchallenge.1.mayhem.cbssports.com/brackets


We'll just see, now, won't we?

I LOVE this time of year.

Bracketology, Part 3: Over and Out

It's all over for yours truly. Michigan State, U Conn, Villanova and North Carolina will continue, but not I. None of my Final Four picks have made it. As Jim Rome says almost every day at show's end, I am out.

The "final" numbers:

Rich Pawlak's MasterBlast

PTS 740

PCT(%) 43.18%

RNK 2630851

PPR 0

And good luck to the 2,630,850 folks ahead of me (including The Pres, 3 percentage points and 169,005 slots ahead of me). It was a blast. I need a beer.

Bracketology, Pt. 2

Now we're sinking like a stone. And ironically doing better.

So far, with just the North Carolina-Oklahoma game winner to be determined (NC is ahead at the half, 32-23), all of my Final Four picks have gone down to defeat; no Memphis, no Pittsburgh, and sweet Jesus, no Louisville! And of course I picked THEM to win it all. Living in the Philadelphia area, I'm happy for Villanova, but I only now wish I'd picked them!

In the twist of irony that assures me that many many others have far far worse brackets than mine, my ranking and winning percentage on ESPN.com bracket contest has actually improved dramatically:

Rich Pawlak's MasterBlast

PTS 740

PCT(%) 63.41%

RNK 1694254

PPR 80


Prior to last night's games, I had been in the middle of the pack (with over 5.5 MILLION people playing's ESPN.com's bracket contest, with a winning percentage below 50%. Go figger. President Obama is doing even worse, nearly in 3 millionth place in the pack, with a 35.5% winning percentage. We had virtually the same Final Four picks, save one, and that is the very winner of the remaining game. He picked Carolina for the final slot, and to win it all. I've picked Oklahoma. Fingers crossed. OU is down by 12 as I write this.

BRACKETOLOGY, Part 1

Down in flames.


I was quite optimistic after Thursday night's end of play, because at that time, I was PERFECT.

It only took three more days of tournament play to shatter that bubble of confidence. By end of play tonight, I'm below the middle of the pack:


Rich Pawlak's MasterBlast

PTS 460

PCT(%) 43.69%

RNK 2607257

PPR 1240


And yes, that third column, is RANK, and my ranking on ESPN's Bracket Challenge, one of seven brackets I'm playing, has me at 2,607,257, which 439,967 slots behind President Obama. Over 5 MILLION people are playing on the ESPN website. Unbelievable.