St. Patrick's Day brings out a bracket-busting leprechaun

Posted on Tue Mar 18, 2008 at 10:24:15 AM EST in College
More on: March Madness, NCAA, college basketball, brackets (all tags)

Now, we know that some people get pretty desperate around tournament time, but are you seriously going to fill out your bracket based on the input of some guy named Spaz? We didn't think so. What if he was in a leprechaun outfit?

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March Madness still costs ton of money for those who hire b-ball junkies

Posted on Thu Mar 13, 2008 at 11:51:33 AM EST in College
More on: March Madness, NCAA, college basketball, money, tournament (all tags)

It's almost NCAA Tournament time which means it's time to hear about how much money your employer will lose this year as you surf the net looking for scores and secretly watch the games on the mini-television you have hidden under your desk.

This year's final numbers indicate that $1.7 billion will be lost in productivity. But, hey, who cares as long as you get to see No. 14 seed knock off a No. 3 seed on a last second buzzer-beater.

The figure is based on the 37.3 million workers expected to participate in office pools during the NCAA men's tournament, and the 1.5 million expected to watch games online from their desks. ...

"Those who insist there will be no impact are kidding themselves," Challenger said in a statement. "The key for companies is finding a way to maximize the positive aspects of March Madness so that they outweigh the negatives."

For every 10 minutes workers spend on basketball, companies will lose about $109 million, Challenger said. That figure is based on the current average hourly wage for all American workers, which the Bureau of Labor Statistics pegs at $17.50.

Look, you can either lose $1.7 billion or we can all call in sick for a month. Your choice.

Links:
[SignOnSanDiego.com]: March Madness cost companies mad money

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Get a vasectomy in order to watch March Madness? The ball's in your court

Posted on Mon Mar 10, 2008 at 10:14:46 AM EST in College
More on: vasectomy, March Madness, college basketball, TV, ad, funny (all tags)

If you ask us, there is no good time to have vasectomy. However, the Oregon Urology Institute might be on to something with its latest ad campaign. After all, the only thing worse than getting snipped is getting snipped and having to flip back-and-forth between reruns of Family Matters and Dear John all day long.

When March Madness approaches you need an excuse . . . to stay at home in front of the big screen," says the ad on Eugene's sports radio AM 1320, aka The Score. "Get your vasectomy at Oregon Urology Institute the day before the tournament starts.

And if you're not sold on the idea yet, just get a `load' of the other perks that come along with getting neutered.

To help sell the idea, The Score promised to send each fixed fan a "recovery kit" that includes sports magazines, free pizza delivery and a bag of frozen peas.

"The frozen peas are malleable enough that you can get them right in there and get the swelling down," [institute administrator Terry] FitzPatrick said.

Links:
[OregonLive.com]: Springfield urologists offer new excuse to view March Madness

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Free March Madness basketball! Get your free March Madness basketball here!

Posted on Thu Jan 24, 2008 at 10:59:45 AM EST in College
More on: NCAA, college basketball, free, online, March Madness (all tags)

If you are anything like us then it is NEVER too early to start getting ready for March Madness. Unfortunately, stupid commitments like work or school used to get in the way of spending countless hours on the couch, eating Fritos and bean dip, chugging Yuengling by the case and watching hoops, hoops and nothing but hoops. Well, we can't help you with the pigging out, getting blitzed or slothing around all March, but we can help you get your b-ball fix during the big tourney. Actually, the fellas at NCAASports.com are responsible, but we'll still take the credit.

NCAA March Madness® on Demand allows you to watch LIVE game broadcasts of CBS Sports television Coverage of the NCAA Championship on your computer for FREE!

* NCAA March Madness on Demand is 100% free
* Live games streaming on your broadband-connected computer
* Enjoy championship highlights, recaps, and archived video

SIGN UP NOW BEFORE VIP PASSES RUN OUT
Avoid the lines! Sign up now for a free VIP pass. VIP members gain access to the games faster than General Admission members.

So, what the heck are you waiting for?! Sign up already!!

Links:
[NCAASports.com]: March Madness on Demand

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Odds and Ends: Geddy Lee kicks fantasy baseball ass

Posted on Thu Mar 29, 2007 at 04:36:10 PM EST in MLB
More on: fantasy baseball, music, March Madness, Tigers, Odds and Ends (all tags)

Nice kimono, Neil

Last week, we wondered why Geddy Lee made a random appearance in the ESPN Fantasy Baseball commercial. Well, this pretty much explains everything. Not only is Geddy a huge baseball fan, he has been doing fantasy baseball since the 80s, which was before they invented the telephone and myspace. And if you think your league is hard, he plays in a total points keeper league with 40-man rosters.

I like the league because the rules are complex, yet they replicate much of a player's real-life skills. If you draft a middle infielder, you not only want him to be a great hitter, you want points for double plays turned. It's like building a real team. If you have a good combination of a strong catcher, center fielder and middle infielders, you will have a good team.

On top of that, they draft minor leaguers too. Jesus, we care barely decide whether a good pitcher on a bad team is worth a high draft pick. The most underrated lead singer of all time is a fantasy baseball junkie. Who knew? Hey Geddy, wanna join a 45-man roster Fantasy Football league?

In other news...

[Sporting News]: Lynn University student get credit for Final Four field trip

[Sports Law Blog]: Rethinking Contact Between NBA Executives and Parents of College Players

[NBC30]: Maradona enters rehab for drinking and eating too much. We are shocked.

[The Big Lead]: Curtis Granderson talks to the Big Lead

[The Wizard of Odds]: Something about Tim Tebow or something... but picture goodness

And finally, a video about the effects of drugs on spiders. No seriously.

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Correctly picked the Final Four this year? New York Times says BFD

Posted on Mon Mar 26, 2007 at 12:18:10 PM EST in College
More on: college basketball, March Madness, cup of STFU (all tags)

You know that annoying guy in your office or the blogger who is flexing his muscles this morning because he correctly picked all four teams in the Final Four? Show them this little article from the New York Times.

Last year, of the 3.1 million entries in the ESPN bracket pool, only 4 people had the correct Final Four teams, this year, with 3.3 million entries, 161,869 have it right. (Roughly the same number of people as had sex with Paris Hilton.) Picking last year's Final Four was either genius or stupidity. Picking this year's Final Four is just boring.

So when someone brags today about their awesome picking prowess, just tell them so did your grandmother. (We're a little bitter this morning because there is no way Florida should have covered 7 points against the Ducks. The end of the game was absolutely fixed for points. Damn you Adam Zahn, damn you to hell. )

Links:
[NY Times]: So You Picked the Final Four? Join the Club

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You thought North Carolina choked? Check out Winona State

Posted on Mon Mar 26, 2007 at 10:31:21 AM EST in College
More on: college basketball, March Madness, tournament, video, chokes, comebacks (all tags)

We have no idea where Barton or Winona State is but they provided an incredible finish to the NCAA Div II basketball championships yesterday. If the D1 boys could pull off a finish like this, we'd be talking about it forever.

Not only did they come back from being down 7 points with 45 seconds left, Barton ended Winona State's 57 game winning streak that spanned 2 years. Anthony Atkinson is the man of the hour after scoring 10 points in the final 39 secs. We haven't seen that kind of one man show since Reggie Miller did it to the Knicks in the 1995 playoffs.

Links:
[West Coast Tribune]: Winona State falls to Barton in title game

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Leave The Guessing Up To The Experts

Posted on Wed Mar 14, 2007 at 07:05:11 PM EST in College
More on: March Madness, celebrities, Dick Vitale, college basketball (all tags)

I'm unbiased baby!

At some point every year, college hoops fans come to a crossroads when it comes to filling out their tournament brackets. Whether it's in the first round or the Final Four, there are always those toss-up games that will drive you to the brink of insanity. Well, now you don't have to frantically scan through all the menial stats and scenarios because celebrities like Doogie Howser, Lauren Holly, and Dicky V (actually stay away from Dick's picks, his bracket has Coach K's kids winning it every year) have already done all the hard work for you. And if you think that all their predictions suck then you can rely on the national popular opinion. But, why do that when it's so much more fun to ridicule individuals for your own mistakes.

Neil Patrick Harris, Jeff Probst, Tony Kornheiser, Sam Hornish Jr., Lauren Holly, Seth Davis, Dick Vitale, Clark Kellogg, ESPN Experts, National Bracket

It looks like an overwhelming number of votes are being cast for the Gators to make it through the entire field win a second consecutive championship. That's just fine with us, as long as we can see a repeat performance of Joakim Noah's spastic boogey.

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New School Bracketology

Posted on Tue Mar 13, 2007 at 06:11:23 PM EST in College
More on: March Madness, video games, college basketball (all tags)

Every year sports dorks from around the country can't wait for the selection show to end so that they can run over to their X-Box and meticulously enter the entire field into their favorite NCAA hoops game and fill out their brackets according to the random crap that the simulations spit out. Kinda sounds like the BCS. But regardless, the game has pull when it comes to some office pools so here are the results from NCAA March Madness 07 and College Hoops 2K7.

In March Madness 07, No. 2 Wisconsin defeated No. 3 seed Pittsburgh, 90-72, on the left side of the bracket to set up a championship game against No. 4 Texas after the Longhorns defeated No. 1 seed Ohio State, 76-73, in a battle of freshman phenoms. In the final game, Kevin Durant's 27.5 point per game average throughout the tournament was simply too much for the Badgers to overcome as Texas takes the title with an 87-64 victory.

2K7 comes up with a totally different scenario. Their Final Four consist of Maryland, Kansas, North Carolina and Texas A&M. In the semis, No. 4 Maryland upsets the top seeded Jayhawks by three, 64-61, while North Carolina narrowly avoided the third seed Aggies, 77-73. In the end, the Tarheels cut down the nets as Tyler Hansbrough led North Carolina to an 83-80 victory over the Terps.

Wonder how far George Mason made it in March Madness 06?

Links:
[IGN.com]: MARCH MADNESS PREDICTIONS

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So You're Telling Me There's A Chance

Posted on Tue Mar 13, 2007 at 04:38:54 PM EST in College
More on: college basketball, March Madness, gambling (all tags)

We're all degenerate gamblers at heart, so what better time to cut loose and let your inner Pete Rose come out than March Madness. After all, who doesn't love to place a bet on a Cinderella school? Usually, they'll get bounced in the first or second round but, hope was given to small schools across the country when the March magic carried George Mason all the way to the Final Four in last year's tournament. Not too shabby considering that they opened the tourney with 400 to 1 odds.

Here are some of the lines for this year's tournament, starting with the favorites to win it all.

#1 Seeds: Florida 7/2, Kansas 4/1, North Carolina 5/1, Ohio St. 6/1

#2 Seeds: Georgetown 8/1, UCLA 9/1, Wisconsin 15/1, Memphis 20/1,

Notables: Texas A&M 10/1, Texas 12/1, Maryland 25/1, Pittsburgh 25/1, Butler 35/1, Oregon 35/1, Washington St. 35/1, Arizona 40/1, Louisville 40/1, S. Illinois 40/1,Virginia Tech 45/1, Duke 50/1

Long Shots: Texas Tech 125/1, BYU 150/1, Gonzaga 150/1, Arkansas 200/1, Illinois 200/1, Purdue 200/1, Stanford 200/1

Don't see any action that you like? Well, your odds are still better than trying to fill out a perfect bracket, 9,223,372,036,854,775,808 to 1, but the payoff isn't nearly as good.

Links:
[Bodog]: ODDS TO WIN 2007 NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

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