110 Percent Madness 2010

The bracket is set and 110 Percent invites you to pick against our 'pros' in our third annual Pick 'em challenge. Click on 110 Percent Madness Tournament Challenge to play.

Here are the details:
Group name: 110 Percent
Group ID# 78381
Password: teameffort

This is hosted by Yahoo!, so you will need a Yahoo! ID to play.

We have a tweak to the scoring this year. In addition to the standard scoring (1 point for first round, 2 for second, 4 for third, 8-fourth, 16-fifth, 32-championship), there are also bonus points up for grabs. All you have to do is pick the upsets. For a correct upset pick, you will get bonus points equal to the difference in the seeds. For example, if you correctly pick a 10 seed over a 7 in the first round, you will get one point for the win and three bonus points for the upset (10-7).

Also, we'll do some crazy brackets like last year--coin flip, free throw percentage, that sort of thing. If you have an idea you'd like to try for a crazy bracket and have an extra email account, go ahead and give it a shot, naming the bracket appropriately (ex: Coin Flip) so we all know what brainless method is schooling us. Please, though, only one serious bracket per person--any extras will be deleted.

Good luck and let the madness begin.

110 Percent Madness 2009

The bracket is set and 110 Percent invites you to pick against our 'pros' in our third annual Pick 'em challenge. Click on 110 Percent Madness Tournament Challenge to play.

Here are the details:
Group name: 110 Percent
Group ID# 73102
Password: teameffort

This is hosted by Yahoo!, so you will need a Yahoo! ID to play.

We have a tweak to the scoring this year. In addition to the standard scoring (1 point for first round, 2 for second, 4 for third, 8-fourth, 16-fifth, 32-championship), there are also bonus points up for grabs. All you have to do is pick the upsets. For a correct upset pick, you will get bonus points equal to the difference in the seeds. For example, if you correctly pick a 10 seed over a 7 in the first round, you will get one point for the win and three bonus points for the upset (10-7).

Also, we'll do some crazy brackets like last year--coin flip, free throw percentage, that sort of thing. If you have an idea you'd like to try for a crazy bracket and have an extra email account, go ahead and give it a shot, naming the bracket appropriately (ex: Coin Flip) so we all know what brainless method is schooling us. Please, though, only one serious bracket per person--any extras will be deleted.

Good luck and let the madness begin.

Random thoughts on the tourney

After two rounds, our tournament challenge picks up right where it left off last year, with Sam's Amateur Psychic bracket at the top of the leaderboard. But Rus is tied with him, trying to salvage the integrity of the 110 Percent pros. And we aren't worried here--Sam has Memphis winning it all, when everyone knows they won't get past Texas.

If you thought you could take on three pros no problem, you might be interested to know that there is a fourth on the leaderboard. Currently in fourth place is Kevin Hayward from All on the Field. He's running a MLB preview right now; be sure to head over there and check it out.

The reigning champ might be at the top, but there are eight other teams within four points, which is the value of each game in the next round. And by the time the regional finals are over, the standings could look quite different--particularly after Memphis gets KOed.

As for the actual tournament, I've got a few observations. I'll start with this year's phenom, Michael Beasley from K-State. In a word: unimpressed. I watched the first round game between USC and K-State (thanks, CBS Sportsline!), my first game of the year. (Before you get too smug, think about how many games you watched before March. Only need one hand? That's what I thought.) I've read a lot about Beasley, but if I was an NBA GM, I'd pass. I freely admit that I can't quantify why; it's just a feeling I have, and it's only based on the one game. I think it's his attitude--he seems too cocky. Confidence is good, but Beasley looks like he thinks he's a little better than all this. He foresee a journeyman's career. Now, OJ Mayo, USC's star, I'd take. He's gonna be good.

We've got two 12s and a 10 in the Sweet Sixteen, and yet none can really be considered a Cinderella. Parity really his college baskeball this season. All of the teams seeded four to twelve would be six to eight seeds historically. The fours aren't really that good and the twelves aren't really that bad. So when number 12 Villanova "upset" Vandy, you shouldn't have really been surprised. And, yeah, number 12 Western Kentucky beat Drake in the first round, but they only had to beat 13 seed San Diego to make the Sweet Sixteen, and that doesn't qualify them as a Cinderella yet. If they beat UCLA in their next game, then we can talk.

As for the Final Four, I'm still confident with North Carolina, UCLA and Texas. With Georgetown getting knocked off in the Midwest, however, it looks like Kansas is going to have a hard time choking their way out of this Final Four. I'll stick with UNC over UCLA in the Final, but you know I'll be pulling for Texas. I'd be more than happy to write another article about how I love being wrong.

Bracket Key

No time to waste, so here's the picks.

Midwest
Sweet Sixteen: (1) Kansas, (2) Georgetown, (3) Wisconsin, (4) Vanderbilt
First round upset: (12) Villanova over (5) Clemson

West
Sweet Sixteen: (1) UCLA, (2) Duke, (3) Xavier, (5) Drake
First round upset: (11) Baylor over (6) Purdue

East
Sweet Sixteen: (1) North Carolina, (3) Louisville, (4) Washington State, (7) Butler
First round upset: (9) Arkansas over (8) Indiana

South
Sweet Sixteen: (1) Memphis, (2) Texas, (3) Stanford, (4) Pittsburgh
First round upset: (10) Saint Mary's over (7) Miami

Final Four
North Carolina over Georgetown
UCLA over Texas

Final
North Carolina beats UCLA 76-71

Am I the only one who is baffled by the parity of the seedings? Look at a particular pod in the East: George Mason, Notre Dame, Washington State and Winthrop. Without looking, could you correctly identify who is the 4, 5, 12 and 13 seeds? Or would you really be stunned if (1) Memphis lost to either (8) Mississippi State or (9) Oregon in the second round? Me either.

Having said that, I have a very pedestrian bracket, with only two picks lower than a four seed in the Sweet Sixteen. And one of those is a very underrated Butler, who somehow got a seven seed despite being eleventh in the most recent AP polls. Last year was a tough one for picking against the favorites; this year, it is virtually impossible.

But what's the point in picking underdogs if you're wrong?

You still have a few hours to get your bracket in, so if you haven't done so already, head over to the 110 Percent Madness Challenge to take on the 110 Percent "Pros". And if you want to have a little fun with it, you can put together a wacky bracket (see below). A few wacky brackets are in, but we can always use more. If you ever wanted to know if you would be better off picking games by uniform color, this is your chance.

But if you want to win, use the Bracket Key posted above.

Wacky brackets

Are you tired of the person in your office who doesn't know a thing about basketball winning the pool? You know, the guy (or gal) who fills out their bracket according to team colors or mascot? Well, it's time to beat them at their own game.

If you have multiple Yahoo accounts, please feel free to submit additional brackets to our 110 Percent Madness tournament, using your favorite wacky method of filling out a bracket. As the tournament proceeds, we will each be able to see how our "legit" brackets compare to the wacky brackets, and maybe even learn what's the best option for next year's pool.

To get us started, I've already done "Free throw percentage" and "Fans vs. Fans" (based on the feature of the same name in the Yahoo game) brackets. Other suggestions include:

• RPI
• Coin flip
• Tuition
• Uniforms
• Academic ranking (or perhaps reverse?)
  

Or feel free to choose your own wacky method. Please title the bracket according to the method so everyone knows what you've done. Have fun with it and good luck.

110 Percent Madness 2008

The bracket is set and 110 Percent invites you to pick against our 'pros'. If last year is any indicator, that shouldn't be too big of a challenge. The one you have to look out for is Sam, last year's winner.

Click on 110 Percent Madness Tournament Challenge to play.

Here are the details:
Group name: 110 Percent
Group ID# 69767
Password: teameffort

This is hosted by Yahoo!, so you will need a Yahoo! ID to play. Also, you can also make your bracket eligible for the Yahoo's bracket contest--first prize is ten thousand dollars, and a perfect bracket will net you five million.

Let the madness begin.

Over the last month and the greater good

It's been a while since I've posted and alot of things have happened.

*The Mavs have been playing well. In fact, they've gone 13-4 since my last post. But Devin Harris just got hurt. I'm not to worried since he's only out for 2-3 weeks. I mean the Mavs almost won 70 last year with Jason Terry at the point, so I think they can survive for a couple of weeks. Unless someone else gets hurt. Then all bets are off. It does bring up the thought of righting at least one of the wrongs of the 90s Mavericks and trading for Jason Kidd. I'll just say this. I'd do it, but ain't holding my breath.

*The Stars have been struggling at 9-9. I don't follow them as closely, but I wonder what they're going to do with Marty Turco. I keep waiting for P.J. to post his thoughts. It seems to me that a Brian St. Louis would be a pretty good haul for Turco. But I know less about hockey than just about anything else.

*The Rangers fortified their starting rotation with the addition of Jason Jennings, who is probably going to fit in well with the Rangers rotation. As an Astros and Rangers fan, I am really really underwhelmed. Hopefully, he is over the health issues that plagued him in his only year as an Astros. But he sucked last year and it was especially bad in light of what the Astros gave up for him. Maybe he turns it around and pitches well this year. But the real problem is that he is another in a long line of pitchers signed to one year "make good" deals who end up sucking, like Pedro Astacio, Ismael Valdez, and Mark Clark. Plus the idea of bringing him and then, if he's any good, trading him ticks me off because I hold dreams (or hallucinations) of a competitive Ranger team that should not be trading off players at the end of the year. But in addition to Jennings, the Rangers also brought in pitchers Eddie Guardado and Kazuo Fukimori and toyed around with trading Marlon Byrd for Matt Murton (which I'd probably do). But overall, each of these moves are met with a collective *yawn*. I have written on my calender that pitchers and catchers report on Feb 14. Can't happen a moment too soon.

*In college sports, Texas won the Holiday Bowl. Which is fine, but really, I expect so much more from Texas. I like what Mack Brown has done so far: hiring Will Muschamp to coordinate the defense and bringing Major Applewhite home. Still don't think Colt McCoy is good enough to take this team to the national championship. Texas Tech won an exciting bowl game, and Texas A&M lost a bowl game. College basketball looks good for Texas, A&M, and Baylor. I don't pay attention to college basketball until March anyway.

*The Titans made the playoffs, but lost a tough first round game to the Chargers. Vince Young has a new offensive coordinator, but I think the real question is is he willing to do what it takes to be a great NFL quarterback. Merrill Hoge not withstanding, everyone thinks that he's got all the talent in the world and is going to be great, but he's gotta want it. Is he going to work on his passing game? Also, are the Titans going to surround him with the talent he needs at WR? In the two years that I've followed the Titans, it seems that Bud Adams, the owner, is cheap. They invested a #3 pick and millions of dollars on their quarterback, but last year completely failed to improve their receiving corp.

*Something else happened in Dallas sports over the last month, but I forgot what it was. I may be repressing memories.

*Anyway, about the greater good that I referenced in the title. With the Super Bowl coming up, the question for football fans everywhere is who to root for. Usually, if I don't have an interest, I root for the underdog. But this year, I hate almost equally both teams. I'm so beaten by the Pats and their "quest for perfection." You'd think after the whole spy thing, the arrogance, the jerkiness of Belichek, the football gods would wake up and kick them in the shorts. But the thing is the Giants aren't a love able team either. Michael Strahan just beats me. Every time I see him, I turn off the TV. In fact, to be honest, I've watched so little of ESPN and quit listening to sports talk radio over the last couple of weeks, they could have called the whole thing off and I may not have heard about it.
But beyond all this: the Super Bowl is further proof that the sports universe revolves around New York and Boston and as a New York and Boston sports hater, this is hell. But in the grand scheme of things, the Boston sports fan must be stopped! First, the Red Sox, now, the Patriots, and coming soon, the Celtics. Even the New England Revolution made the MLS championship! (Full disclosure: I had to look that up. I just guessed that the Rev (as I'm sure they're called) would have been any good this year.) I'm surprised the Bruins aren't kicking butt in the NHL. For the greater good of sports and the rest of the nation. Down with the Pats! Go Giants! (I think I'm gonna be sick).

And another thing on Imus...

Don Imus has been ripped for his racist comments and has paid for it. But there is another suggestion in his comments that I haven't heard being mentioned that I also find disturbing.

Imus referred to the Tennessee team as 'cute' and the Rutgers team as, well, you know what he said. This seems to imply that Imus thinks women's athletics exists purely to be eye candy. This shows a blatant disrespect for the women on both teams, who were playing for the national championship.

Unfortunately, Imus is not alone in this opinion. There are many sports fans who were disgusted by the racist aspect of his comments, but feel the same way regarding women in athletics. Here are a few other examples of female athletes not being taken seriously:

• Anna Kournikova got attention despite never winning a tournament.
• Jennie Finch was a winner, but got much more attention for her looks.
• Some players on the LPGA feel the need to 'sell sex' to promote their tour.
• How often have you heard about Playboy offering a female athlete X dollars to pose?
• Sports news websites occasionally run lists or contests for the 'Sexiest Woman in the _______'.

Imus got what he deserved, but perhaps there are plenty of others who need to thing about how they view female athletes.

Finally, a confession of sorts: Before this situation, I had never heard of Don Imus. Maybe I've lived a sheltered life. I'm pretty sure I was happier not knowing him.

Dancing Lessons

In just a few hours, Maryland and Davidson tip off in the first game of the NCAA Tournament. This is your last chance to make those corrections in your bracket, but you've got to move fast— I'd hate to say 'I told you so' in a few days.

Midwest
Sweet Sixteen: (1) Florida, (4) Maryland, (6) Notre Dame, (10) Georgia Tech
First round upset: (10) Georgia Tech over (7) UNLV

West
Sweet Sixteen: (1) Kansas, (2) UCLA, (3) Pittsburgh, (4) Southern Illinois
First round upset: (10) Gonzaga over (7) Indiana

East
Sweet Sixteen: (1) North Carolina, (2) Georgetown, (4) Texas, (6) Vanderbilt
First round upset: (12) Arkansas over (5) USC

South
Sweet Sixteen: (1) Ohio State, (2) Memphis, (3) Texas A&M, (5) Tennessee
First round upset: (9) Xavier over (8) BYU

Final Four
UCLA over Florida
North Carolina over Texas A&M

Final
UCLA beats North Carolina 74-68

A few things to point out. First of all, there is no George Mason this year. There isn't a dominant team, but there are a lot of really good teams, and a George Mason-type isn't getting by all of them this year.

Next, the Fear the MAC Rule. The MAC has made some noise the last few years, most noticably with Kent State and Central Michigan. Disregard this rule this year. (14) Miami (OH) isn't scaring anybody.

Now for the (12) Seed Rule. There is always at least one, and this year it will be Arkansas with a first round win over USC.

Finally, and this is personal, the Texas Rule. I always pick Texas exactly one round too far, and even though I know this, I still do it every year. This year is no exception. My heart says Texas gets to the Sweet Sixteen before losing to North Carolina. My head says to back up one round and pick them to lose to Arkansas. I know this happens every year, and I still can't do it.

110 Percent Madness

The bracket is set and 110 Percent invites you to pick against the 'pros'. That's us. No, really.

Click on 110 Percent Madness Tournament Challenge to play.

Here are the details:
Group name: 110 Percent
Group ID# 64589
Password: teameffort

This is hosted by Yahoo!, so you will need a Yahoo! ID to play. Also, you can also make your bracket eligible for the Yahoo! Maddest Bracket contest--first prize is one million dollars.

Let the madness begin.

Tourney play-in games are a joke

March Madness is just around the corner. The small conference tournaments are wrapping up and automatic bids are being claimed. Congratulations go out to my alma mater, the University of North Texas. The Mean Green are dancing for the first time since 1988.

Now this raises a question in my mind: What will UNT be seeded? They have had a good year, winning 23 games, but were only the five seed in the Sun Belt conference tournament. I would be shocked if they were seeded higher than fifteen in the Big Dance. I can only hope that they avoid the play-in game.

I hate the play-in. This is just another tool used so the major conferences can pretend they are throwing a bone to the small conferences, when in fact, the extra place in the tourney goes to another big conference also-ran. All the low seeds only got in by winning their conference tournament--number 65 isn't going to be the Sun Belt runner-up. Having the play-in game simply allows the seventh or eighth best team from, say, the SEC say they made the Big Dance. Who really cares? When the bracket is announced, look for the play-in teams. Chances are, they won't even be properly named, but instead called 'Play-in Winner'. It's second class citizen treatment.

You like the play-in because it gives one low seed the opportunity to win a tournament game? Garbage. They have an opportunity: it's called the 1-16 game. That's their chance. Anything else is an insult. No one considers the play-in a real tournament game and there is no real satisfaction in winning it. One day, a sixteen will beat a one seed and that will be a historic celebration. Just remember you heard it here first.

And if you like the play-in game, why is there only one? That makes no sense at all. If you have to have it, there should be four play-in games: one in each region. At least then it wouldn't be entirely stupid. Just logically stupid. Or somesuch.

But the best solution would be to lose the play-in. Of course, this will never happen. Major athletics, whether pro or collegiate, do not go small. NHL seasons won't get shorter, NBA rosters won't get smaller, NFL preseason games are here to stay, forget MLB contraction and the NCAA Tourney play-in won't go away, no matter how much sense it would make.