Bracket Mania

Zag means "any sharp turn from a straight course" according to my Webster's dictionary. That does not bode well for the Zags of Gonzaga who want to continue a straight course to ultimate victory in the NCAA basketball tournament which continues today.

Doesn't matter to me since I do not have the Zags making my final four. I have Duke winning it all. The four members of Big Dave T's immediate family each have an on-line bracket. Our group on ESPN.com includes my brother, his two boys, and another cousin.

So far number one son Greg is in first place, while my "Bloggetman Blue" entry is fourth. My other son Scott, a Michigan State student, fittingly used the on-line alias "Teargas Tolerant," a reference to MSU's riotous celebration after making last year's Final Four.

Maybe it's a good thing that MSU bowed out in the first round this year. That hurt wife Wendy, alias "Lefty Lou", who had the Spartans going all the way to the championship game. Obviously, she had not been watching the prognosticators of ESPN.

Knowing RPI ratings, free throw shooting percentages or coaching records is not necessarily going to supercharge your crystal ball, however. Greg says that a co-ed entering last year's hoops bracket challenge at Central Michigan based her picks on which mascots and team colors she liked best. She won.

Meanwhile, my nephew Vic is the true basketball nut, having played in numerous tournaments and leagues. He knows basketball from all angles. He's also dead last in our on-line group. And has been from the start.

Greg entered another on-line bracket in a contest sponsored by a local radio station. First prize is a vending machine full of beer. He's currently in fifth place. He's a veteran of these annual bracket challenges. So is Scott.

Even when high school students, I remember one or both of the boys bringing home an elaborate spreadsheet print-out of 50 or so bracket entries in a winner-take-all contest organized by a fellow student and budding bookie.

What better way to get our youth excited about sports. Gambling and booze. It's the American way.