Bracket-Mology....What Is It?

--Have you heard about the Miami Heat's amazing win streak? If not, tune into ESPN and you might hear about it. What was seen last night was Queen James taunting poor Jason Terry after a run-of-the-mill alley oop dunk and then preening like second-rate punt returner after hitting a fadeaway jumper over Jeff Green to seal the Boston Celtics' meltdown. The Queen still reigns.

--As Nebraska baseball idles in neutral for what looks to be another meaningless season, we are presented with another of the many reasons why Mike Anderson should have been fired three years earlier than he was. We are glad Tom Osborne was busy building new arenas and stadium sections for losing and mediocre teams, rather than focusing on the product that plays in those facilities. We're fine.

--Who does everyone have in their NCAA bracket? Baylor? Notre Dame? Oh wait, let's focus on the men's side, where picking your Final Four is now an excercise in futility, borne from the fact that none of the teams are any good and the 'definitive' overall number-one seed is a team that lost four times in conference and three of the last six times it played.

So, put that bracket away and gamble on the games like a real man. Drink enough to forget how bad the players are, and enjoy a few buzzer beaters that are enough to make the commentators on all eight networks dub this a 'tournament for the ages.'

--The World Baseball Classic is so exciting. It's almost as exciting as Olympic hockey, where players are pulled out of their regular seasons for a tournament meant for 'amateurs' in the most corrupt event in sporting history. The result is the same as both Olympic hockey and baseball and basketball (and the Ryder Cup), with the Americans fizzling out and losing to countries whose players still had heart and really cared about the result. At least we can all take solace in the fact that the USA still dominates the half pipe at the X Games that ESPN televises every two months.

We are out for now. Stay tuned for weekend updates covering the first two rounds of the NCAA basketball tournament. We refuse to call it rounds two and three, just because a few scrub teams played earlier in the week in Dayton. This, of course, poses two questions: 1. Why the hell are these play-in games in Dayton every fucking year  --AND-- 2. Why do some of the play-in game victors come in as 11 and 13 seeds?? The shittiest eight teams should play in these games with the winners being 16 seeds. Bottom line.

That said, fearless PYB prediction: A one seed will lose in the first round for the first time in tournament history in the next two seasons. Mark it down.

See ya...