A New Haiku

Kansas plays asleep.
Farukmanesh chucks daggers.
Brackets all deflate!!!


So much devastation. So very, very funny.

"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders! The biggest is to get involved in a land war in Asia. Only slightly less well known is to never go against a Sicilian when death is on the line!!! And last...Never, I repeat never, pick the Jayhawks when they are a one seed. Five or higher is ok, but one? Never!!"
Vizzini the Sicilian, "The Princess Bride"


I told you all when Georgetown destroyed my bracket. The Kansas Jayhawks are the biggest chokers of all chokers. Somewhere, Danny Manning is puking into a hotel garbage can.

Oh, please. Let it be a state thing! Let the Wildcats follow their state bretheren into bracket obscurity!

PS, Villanova and the Big Least weren't at all over rated, were they?

Chasing Tricycle Motors

I suppose that the writer of the "Destroying Angels" blog should not be stunned by the capabilities of a three year old. And yet...my nephew's miraculous run continues to astound. Thanks to my "brilliant" idea of granting an "Upset Special" bonus for the first round, we are still chasing a tricycle motor to glory.

Beckett managed to pull ten out of sixteen games, which is one less than his first day efforts but is still respectable enough for him to start wearing a plaid sports coat while appearing on ESPN "the Ocho" in commercials encouraging viewers to "Call my number right now to get my patented 'Diamond plated, five star, iron-clad' lock of the week! Only $29.99 a minute!"

I, myself had a better than respectable day, going 13 for 16. You can add the Pac 10 to the list of things I hate about the tourney. Two wins for a conference that sucked out loud during the season? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!!Thanks a heap Cal and Washington. My flier on Sienna also cost me, but none of them beyond the next round.

Didn't matter though, as the bonus points relegated my view to only the back of Beckett's curly head. I cut his lead over me from 24 to 13, but the kid has a gift and we'll all be lucky to catch him. I'm really sweating my BYU pick this morning.

At least the "Upset" bonus is off.

Brian Beebe had perhaps the best day of anyone, going from 9 picks and 47 points to 23 correct for 129 points. That's 14 out of 16 correct for a Beckett-like 82 points. 14 out of 16? Really? Are you sure you didn't let your son make your picks?

Puzilla's method of straight underdogs paid off handsomely in the first round. Even though only 10 of 32 games were won by 'dogs, the bonus points blasted her into a tie for fifth.

Squizzle, on the other hand, stuck to the favorites and got a hefty 22 correct (not bad for a kid who drools and can only say "numm!"), but his complete lack of bonus points relegated him to the middle of the pack. He's tied for 14th.

It will be very interesting to see how the lack of bonus points and the usual trend for fewer upsets in the later rounds will affect these two in the standings.

A quick shout to my sister-in-law, who continues to shine in a very respectable fifth place, despite her amateur standing. And to my cousin Holly. She may be in 25th place, but she is still killing her bum brothers by a whopping 17 correct picks. Way to go Holly! Tell them they can expect a "visit" from Vince and Jerry at any time.

Speaking of Vince and Jerry...Corbin, Jason, and Jess; you are all still getting whooped by your significant others. I would not be pandering to my target demographic if I didn't call you out for some public humiliation (insert smiley face here). Perhaps we can offer a pair of cards good for free combo meals at the golden arches for any wife who drops a hammer on her hubby? We can call it "The Boss Bonus". I'll put up a poll.

Here's the full rundown of the first two days.

Standings after the First Round

R Team Points Correct
1 Dawnell Moon (2) 150 21
2 Fatdaddy 137 24
3 Brian Beebe 129 23
4 Moe 120 23
5 Jil Bircher (1) 119 18
5 Puzey 119 10
7 Mandy Kelly 118 22
8 Jason Anderson 116 22
9 Anne Taylor 115 22
9 Jen Clark 115 22
11 Jil Bircher (3) 112 20
12 Peff 110 16
13 Dawnell Moon (1) 108 22
14 Kevin Kelly (2) 105 21
14 Squizzles 105 22
16 Corbin Taylor 104 21
17 The Boss 103 20
18 Jil Bircher (2) 102 19
18 Kevin Kelly (1) 102 20
18 Kevin Kelly (3) 102 21
21 Jess Clark 100 20
22 Haggis 97 18
23 Mike Kelly 94 20
24 Tim kelly 85 18
25 Hollie Downs 82 17

Good luck to everyone for today, and Go Cougars!!!

And A Little Child Shall Lead Them

Standings

Thanks to a BRUTAL day of upsets, most of us took somewhat of a beating. And just like I told you, the winners for the day were those who tossed sports acumen out the window and went with what they liked.

And the result...

The winner on the first day is a three year old who managed to tag 11 out of 16 games including Old Dominion, St Mary's and the Murray State upsets. And before you laugh, it could have been worse. If Villanova hadn't managed a last second Heimlich maneuver to prevent itself from choking to death and San "Go" Diego "Go" had hit their desperation three at the buzzer, my three year old nephew would have popped 13 of 16 games and been whipping us all by a landslide too steep to think about. Congratulations Beckett. We bow before thy prognostication prowess!!

I imagine your old man will be pointing this one out to the boys at the office, huh?

It gets better.

The top five is a who's who of college basketball neophytes. In second place is my seven year old daughter Puzilla; who picked nothing but underdogs for the whole tournament. While she only got 7 of 16 right (which is a pretty amazing cover for the 'dogs) the "upset special" bonus for the first round has her sitting just one point back of Beckett. Peff sits next in third, with ten correct picks and an 81. Astonishing results for a child who based most of his picks on which mascot was capable of eating the other one.

In fourth place is my sister in law who based her picks on what she could remember of basketball from when she was at Utah State in the 90's. Hence she did take a shot to the bracket when UNLV got punched in the face, but is still doing quite well for someone who hasn't even watched a game since Tark the Shark was piling up NCAA violations to go with his championship. She picked ten of sixteen for 74 points.

Yours truly was feeling quite good about himself, calling the Old Dominion smack down of Notre Dame, hitting a much needed BYU triumph (was JFred the man or what?), and then...and then the proverbial excrement went into the oscillator.

Thank you ever so much, Georgetown. I have always hated your crummy university and your arrogant, classless ball teams; but I saw you play on TV the other day, and you looked soooo good and no one could stop talking about you and your first round game was against a team the was a nine seed in their CONFERENCE tournament, and...and...and you were in the same bracket as Kansas. The worst chokers in the history of all chokers. You had a walk to the Final Four! How in the name of all that is decent on earth could you look ever so good a week ago and today....AGHHH!!!

Allow me to express my downfall in the form of a Haiku:

'Zo was a Hoya
Ewing and AI were too.
I still hate them all!!!

Or as Captain George Taylor so memorably puts it in "Planet of the Apes"(and I really think he was talking about my bracket here):

"You Maniacs! You Blew it up! Oh, Damn you! Damn you all to hell!"

I still got 11 for 16 (tied for most with Beckett), but my 61 points has me well off the pace, and now one whole side of my bracket has been laid waste.

"Let the name of Georgetown be stricken from every temple, monument and obelisk. Let no man speak the name lest they be taken in treason. Let no one ever pick them again. Place no trust in their seeding. Have no faith in their bracket. So let it be written...So let it be done!"
Pharaoh Fatdaddy the First

We shan't mention the bottom dwellers at this juncture; today is another day, with upset specials galore. Though for honor sake, it should be mentioned that several husbands should probably be cooking dinner for their much better halves tonight. I'd like to be a fly on the dining room wall in a few places when these scores get posted!

Group Standings
R Team Score Correct
1 Dawnell Moon (2) 85 11
2 Puzey 84 7
3 Peff 81 10
4 Jil Bircher (1) 74 10
5 Fatdaddy 61 11
6 Jil Bircher (3) 60 10
7 Anne Taylor 56 10
8 Kevin Kelly (2) 54 10
9 Jen Clark 53 10
9 Jil Bircher (2) 53 9
11 Jason Anderson 50 10
12 Dawnell Moon (1)49 10
12 Moe 49 10
14 Brian Beebe 47 9
15 The Boss 46 9
16 Hollie Downs 43 8
16 Kevin Kelly (3) 43 9
16 Mike Kelly 43 9
19 Haggis 39 8
19 Squizzles 39 9
21 Jess Clark 37 8
22 Kevin Kelly (1) 36 8
23 Mandy Kelly 32 8
24 Corbin Taylor 31 8
25 tim kelly 26 7


PS I really don't mind that Georgetown blew up my bracket. It was worth it to see those pompous cretins get popped in the schnozz. If only Robert Morris could have held on....

What Time Is It?

It's Game Time, Baby!!!

There are very few days each year when I feel blessed to be a worthless layabout. Usually I am wracked with guilt and angst that my wife is doing all the bread winning, while I play with four year olds.

Today...Not so much. I am a football guy through and through. I'll watch any football that comes on TV, NFL, College, High school, Indoor, Canadian, Pee-wee, whatever. Since I spent winters barricaded in a wrestling room for the first half of my life, Basketball (to me) was mostly the sport for kids that didn't have the guts to go out for wrestling.

I'll watch Jazz games if they are on, but if it isn't Utah, I'll just catch the scores later. Beyond the way the results affect the Jazz, I could care less about the rest of the NBA. Kobe and LeBron could collide at mid court and implode into a Charles Barkley clone, and I'd never know unless they showed it during a Jazz game.

But NCAA? I like the madness. I love watching underdogs take down the big timers. I think it's because I like fair play and I think that hard work pays better than a sense of entitlement. So it's fun to see some self-important, media darling program like North Carolina miss the tourney altogether, while Middle Tennessee State gets in.

When I think how wonderful a March Madness style tournament could be for football, it warms my heart. But there, the self-important, media darling teams have hijacked the game away from the NCAA and it galls me. For my money, it is the only point that Basketball wins over football.

So for a couple of days, I am glad to be a stay at home, bum of a husband. Because I get to watch the games.

As for the Challenge, a couple of things. First, I love my cousin Holly, but I can't believe her brothers are going to let her take down their house championship without filling out a bracket. I'm going to send Holly an email full of taunts, teases, and insulting heckles that she can use to make fun of you two. And Holly...I always did like you best(insert smiley face here).

Second, Squizzle is really smart, so his bracket is the test for what happens when you pick only the favorite according to seed. Puzilla is the champion of the underdog, so her bracket is the test for what happens should the lower seed always win,

Thanks to everyone who has entered, I will try to get some kind of prize for each of you, be it a Redbox rental, or a combo meal coupon, or something similar.

I'll post some updates later in the day, Happy Madness!

Happy Saint Patricks Day!

Top o' the mornin' to ya! Everybody got their green on? Good. Fatdaddy has great affinity for Saint Patricks Day; for reasons that may be clearer to some than others. It's a day where everyone can feel as lucky as the Irish. Here's a few of my favorite Irish jokes to make your day a little greener. (Relax,PC police. I'm mostly Irish with a little bit of Scot and Dane mixed in so I'm allowed to make fun of my self)

Whats the difference between an Irish wedding and an Irish Wake?
There's one less drunk at the Wake.

Why did God create Whiskey?
So the Irish wouldn't take over the universe.

An Irishman goes to Switzerland to climb the Matterhorn. He and the guide get caught in an avalanche and are buried up to their waists in snow and ice. The Swiss guide tells the Irishman not to worry, and then blows a small whistle hanging from his coat. After a few minutes, a huge Saint Bernard comes running up the hill with the traditional keg of brandy tied around his neck.
"Now, that is truly man's best friend!" says the guide.
"Yep" says the Irishman. "and can ya believe the size of the dog that they have deliverin' it?"

What's long and green and sways back and forth?
The Saint Patrick's Day Parade

An old Irish dad calls his son in prison and says, "What shall I do? With you and your brother in English Prisons, I've no one to spade the garden this year and I'll have no potatoes."
The son replies "Geez, Da'! Ya know ya can't be diggin' up the garden! That's where we hid the guns!"
The next day, English soldiers surround the house and spend all day digging up the garden with heavy equipment. Finding nothing, the finally give up and leave after searching the house and likewise, finding nothing.
The Da calls his son again and says "What was all that about guns in the garden? The English spent all day digging up the yard and they didn't find a thing."
"I know Da. Now shut up and plant yer potatoes."


An Irish-American Judge has been getting drunk every night for weeks. His wife tells him that if he gets drunk one more time, she's going to leave him. He promises to stay sober, and life goes on. But then comes Saint Paddy's day. The Judges friends all expect him to go out and knock down a few, but the wife has her foot firmly down. Luckily, the wife's sister calls her from out of town on the day before Saint Paddy's and asks for a few days of help. The wife agrees to go but tells the judge, "Remember, no more drinking. If you do, I'll divorce you and tell the press what a lousy drunk you are."
As soon as she leaves, the judge is out the door.
After an indeterminate amount of barhopping passes, the judge wakes to find that it is seven thirty on the day after the holiday and he is due in court in less than half an hour.
He looks at himself and wonders what he had been doing while drinking because he is in full court regalia, and covered in vomit. He strips down, showers, shaves, gets dressed, and grabs a fresh black robe from the closet. In his car, he realizes that he has forgotten to wash his soiled clothes and they are still sitting in a filthy pile on the bathroom floor. He has no time to turn around and the wife will be home before he is done with work.
Panicked, he concocts a brilliant alibi.
When the wife calls at noon, the Judge calls a recess and goes to his chambers. The wife is screaming bloody murder from the moment he picks up the phone,
"You lousy drunk! I saw your clothes! It's over between us, I can't trust you at all!"
Calmly the judge spins his alibi.
"Sweetheart. Please don't be upset with me, I wasn't drinking. You see, the first case on my docket this morning, as it usually is on the day after Saint Patrick's Day, was for public intoxication. The man was clearly still inebriated, and just before I could sentence him to a fine, he ran toward the bench and vomited all over me and my desk. So I came home and changed clothes, but didn't have time to wash the dirty ones. You'll be pleased to know that I changed his sentence and gave him thirty days."
The wife pauses for a moment and says "Oh. I didn't know that. But tell me, dear. How much more time is he going to get when you realize that he messed your drawers as well?"

And last, my personal favorite...
An Irishman, an Englishman and an American are walking down a country road near Galway. It's a dry, dusty day and they decide they need to stop for a drink at the next pub they come to.

Sadly, the next pub is a rundown, filthy hut that is hardly more than a barn. In desperate need of a drink, the three go in and order a pint. The barkeep, who looks to be a thousand years old, slowly fills three glasses and sets them on the warped and stained board that serves as a bar. They pay and the American picks up his glass to drink.

"What the...There is a FLY IN MY BEER!!" he roars. He tips his glass over, spilling beer and fly all over the bar and loudly demands a fresh beer in a clean glass.

The Englishman is appalled by his friend's lack of tact and manners, yet he, too, finds a fly swimming in his glass. In an attempt to show some dignity, he casually reaches into the cup with his thumb and forefinger and plucks the fly from his barley water and sets it gently on the counter. As the fly shakes off the beer and takes off, the Englishman picks up the warm, flyless beverage and drinks.

Having seen the conditions of his two friends' drinks, the Irishman is already on full alert. He picks up his glass, and sure enough, finds a fly happily floating in the beer.

Enraged, the Irishman's face turns red, and his whole body begins to shake. With trembling hands, he slowly reaches into the glass and snatches the fly out by the wings. Muttering profanity under his breath the Irishman grabs the fly's legs with his other hand and screams, "Spit it out you little B@$#!@%!!! That's mine, and if you drink another drop, I'll pull your lousy wings off, you freebooter!"

Ok, enough. Happy Saint Patrick's day to all of you. Don't forget that you still have time to fill out a bracket for the Fatdaddy Bracket Challenge. Just don't wait much longer, the deadline in tomorrow at 9 am mountain time. No experience is necessary. I have one bracket that predicts BYU versus the Woofie dogs (Wofford) and another that is "B" is for Beckett (Baylor) versus "go Diego, go" (San Diego State). Usually the winner is someone who just guesses blindly.

Now I'm gonna go take some Nyquil and try not to cough up a lung.

Away From the Things of Man- Day 3- Off At Sea

It has been warming up considerably here for the last few days and Spring is on it's way. I personally prefer winter (I can always put on a jacket or get a blanket but there are only so many clothes a guy like me can remove before someone calls the cops), but spring is nice.

Nice...except for the rotten allergies. And yesterday I knew I was in trouble. I figured whatever it was I was reacting to was something pretty awful because I downed some allergy pills and did nothing for the symptoms but did manage to make me dizzy (alright...dizzier) and somewhat incoherent (OK, OK)...more incoherent than usuall. Happy now? Smart alec readers.....

Not to be graphic, but usually a runny nose does not actually run. I gave up trying to dab at it with tissues and just stuffed some tissues up my nose and started mouth-breathing. The kids thought it was hilarious but the Boss was less than impressed with my homeade remedy. At least my nose doesn't feel like it has been dragged over asphault from constantly wiping with tissues. Remind me to be a little more patient next time Squizz needs his face washed and he's not cooperative...

I still feel pretty crappy. My sinuses have packed up and left their posts, my throat feels like I swallowed battery acid and my face feels like a half inflated helium ballon, but I will soldier on in the name of the blog.

Time for more happy vacation memories!!! I can almost taste the non-alcoholic fruity umbrella drinks. Mmmmm....

Day three was a sea day. We woke up at our accustomed time but waking up at six thirty Mountain time is eight thirty Eastern time, so it felt like we slept in (sort of).

When we had gone to bed, the water depth was about 600 feet and when we woke up, the bottom had fallen out of the ocean. 11,000 feet. That is a LOT of water. The map showed us passing some little islands, but we never did catch sight of them.




We went up for breakfast at the lido deck buffet. I had hashbrowns, bacon, ham, and a Bagel with OJ to drink. The Boss had French toast, eggs, ham, bacon and OJ. It was typical buffet food, tasty, but nothing I'd call gourmet. After breakfast, we went out and wandered around the deck. The temperature had shot up at least ten degrees overnight and though it was warm, the skies were overcast and the wind was ABLOWIN'! We went out to the nose of the ship and shot some pictures.





As we got toward the front, I was got a picture of the wheelhouse, though the "action" seemed to be on the other side, where the curtains were drawn.


The wind was blowing between 25 and 35 mph all day long so not many people were hitting the pool, though the hot tubs were usually full. We just walked around snapping pictures and noticing the change in the water color from Galeveston. When we left the water was the color of clay, but here in the middle of the Gulf it was a very dark blue that seemed to sparkle or even glow turquoise when it was rolled up in the ship's wake. We went out to the little deck that looked like a snubbed off wing and found a gyroscope and a compass, as well as a very nice view along the side of the boat. It seemed like we were just above the water surface from this spot, but when you look at the pictures I took from off the boat in port, you can see that it is really about five or six stories up.







After a nice long walk and half an hour in the deck chairs with a smoothie or two, we decided it was too windy to stay out on deck trying to read. We had lunch in our room because if room service is free, you use it. I had a steak and brie sandwich on a french roll and it was not nearly as good as it sounds. The boss had a portabello sandwich with mozzarrella that she said was pretty good. Choclate cake was dessert, and it was far and away the very best part of the meal.

I had wanted to surprise the Boss with a little something from the spa, but the only appointment she could get for her pedicure was at three o'clock, right in the middle of the Coke sponsored slot turnament. So after lunch she went to get her feet rubbed and I went to the casino to sign up. When I got there I found out that they had a hundred and fifty people there to play and only five machines so they were making appointments to come back and play at a later time. I talked to the travel agent who was running the show and asked if I could sign up for myself and the Boss to come back together. Not knowing how long a pedicure takes, I signed us up for the last time available before the finals at six.

This turned out to be a bad idea. I went back to the room and read until the Boss got done. We went up to the Casino and found that the tournament was already closed. They had gotten to the last people in line and not thought to check the later sign up times and forgot we were coming at six. I was disappointed but the gal in charge felt really bad about it and promised that she'd find us something to make up for it. She was more than slightly toasted though and completely forgot about it.

I cried and cried and cried. Here I was stuck on this giant boat with nothing but free fruity umbrella drinks and free food whenever you wanted it and nothing to do but go to dance clubs (OK, not really my cup of tea) and bingo games and a casino and shows and pools...and I couldn't play in a slots tournament. I was SO upset. It completely ruined my trip.

I've gone blind, my brother got killed, I'm broke as a two bit watch, and my college degree is as useless as a two legged hunting dog. But the worst thing that has ever happened to me was missing that slot tournament.

I may never recover.

The Boss helped me start the process by taking me over to a penny machine and throwing in twenty bucks. I took a picture of the machine because as soon as I saw it, I thought of my cousin Traci, who is another "Great Scot". So this one is for her.



It had sheep and floppy hats and golf clubs and bagpipes that would shoot sheep out of them if they lined up as a winner. If you got three Loch Ness monsters on a pay line, you got to go to the bonus where you could choose which monsters to take pictures of. Depending on the monster and the number of pictures you won, you got paid big bucks.

****Editor's Note
Keep in mind, it's a penny machine. You hit a really big bonus and you win ten dollars. I like to play but I'm not much of a gambler. I don't have the money. But there is something to be said for jumping up and down and hollering like your ship came in at a casino. People think you just won hundreds or thousands, and all you really got was ten bucks. You cheer and holler and carry on, and even if you lose, you can play on a penny machine for practically ever on twenty bucks. That's not much more than you'd pay to see a movie. Think of it like this...if you went to a grocery store you expect to hand them money and so you aren't sad if you do. But if someone said "You just chose the right aisle to walk down, here's ten bucks!" would you walk away sad? Didn't think so. Ten bucks is worth cheering about.
****

I have to admit that my heritage and cultural pride was stung a little. I saw that there was a Great Scot Machine and a Leprechaun Luck machine. This was OK by me. Celebrate the stereotypes that are me; says I.

But the fact that between the two was a "filthy rich little piggies" machine made me wonder.

Irish, Scots, and Filthy Piggies? Just what, exactly were they trying to say here?
I was really offended until the Boss lined up Nessie and we walked away up fifty five bucks. Not bad for an hours work. Fifty bucks an hour is more than I've ever made. As long as they kept doubling my money, they could make whatever disparaging remarks about my heritage that they wanted. I was the one laughing.

Well, as much as I'd like to finish today, I've got to go get ready for class, so the formal dinner will have to wait till later.

Stupid Technology, Stupid Eyes, Stupid Fatdaddy

Ok, so along with being visually impaired, apparently I am technologically impaired as well. The link I had previously posted was not working. Hopefully now that the Boss came home from work, did some editing, and added a new link, we will be in business.

You can use the updated url in the post below or click on the link now posted on the sidebar under ncaa brackets. All other instructions still apply and the group password is still maggie42.

If you have any other problems or questions let me know. If all else fails you can email me your picks and I will add you as an offline player.

I will try to keep a leader board updated throughout out the tourney so you all know when to cheer really hard for that upset.

Thanks again for playing. I hope you all have a great time!

Fatdaddy's Madness!!!

Welcome to "Fatdaddy's Bracket Challenge".

Below is a link that will take you to the group's homepage on CBS sportsline. Their bracket manager is free, pretty easy to fill out and follow, and should work for what we need. You will have to create a user for the site, but all they want is a username (make sure I can tell who you are, or you won't get the prizes), and a valid e-mail.

It will let you fill out up to three brackets per account so your spouse, kids or whoever can also play on one e-mail but I'd like to keep it to one bracket per person. If you have more than three people that want to play, you'll have to set up another CBS account under a different email to get another three brackets. We tried to allow more so a whole family could have a bracket on just one email, but three was the max allowable. Sorry if this makes it more difficult.

Please don't feel that you have to have some knowledge of college hoops to play. My kids usually kick my butt and they have some pretty odd ways of picking winners. Peff goes with knicknames he likes; and of course, BYU wins it all on his bracket every year because they are his team. Thanks to the Sunday school song "I Love to See the Temple", he had a real dilemma when he was forced to choose between BYU and Temple this year, and he better hope that Wofford plays out of their heads, because he has the "woofies" going to the final four.

The girls will pick based on uniform color, mascot,or funny school name, and The Boss watches press conferences to see what coaches are criers, and then picks against them. However you pick, please play because I think it is much more fun with heavy participation. The winner will receive ten free passwords for Redbox DVD rentals, or if you live in an area without Redboxes, We'll find a suitable replacement prize.


Here's how it will score:

1st round is worth one point per game for each correct pick, plus a little twist. For the first round games only, we will have an "Upset Special" bonus score. If you have the guts to pick an underdog in the opening round, you will win not only the one point for the correct pick, but also bonus points that equal the seed of the winning team. For instance, if you pick a 12 seed team to upset a 5 seed, you will earn 1 point for the win plus 12 points for the seed of the winner, for a total of 13points. This means that even if you blow a whole day, one or two good upsets can keep you in the running.

2nd round worth two points per win

3rd round worth four points per win

4th round worth eight points per win

Semi-finals worth 16 points per win

Picking the Champion is worth 32 points

Any ties will be settled by the closest guess at the combined total score of the Championship game.

All picks must be made by 9:00 AM, Mountain Daylight Time on THIS THURSDAY, in order to participate! Don't delay!

Here's the link to our page, and the password. Once you are signed in, pick your bracket and just click on a team you think will win.

http://fdangels.mayhem.cbssports.com/e

The group password is maggie42

I'm still running some tests to make sure everything works, so if you can't sign up right away let me know in the comments and I'll see if I can fix it up!

Happy Picking, and good luck!

Squizzle the Bluebeard

Morning, everyone!

I know I promised a Saturday posting and then failed to deliver. You can skip paying your subscription fee for a month to make up for it (where, again, is one of them smiley faces when I need one?).

The reason is that senor Squizzle has gone on a major developmental tear over the last few days and is causing a good deal of chaos.

For starters, he has developed his first verbal communication skill. "Nummmm". Which I am one hundred percent sure translates into "give me something to stuff in my mouth as soon as possible. And while your at it, is it too much to ask for a little snack? And get me some cheerios, I'm starving!"

I know, that seems like a lot of meaning for a single, monosyllabic tone; but the child has his Mother's good looks and his Old Man's gift of tongues.

But the reason I didn't post Saturday is that his motor skills have finally caught up with his curiosity, which pretty much means that he or I am a dead man. He was into EVERYTHING!!!

He tried to unload the dishwasher while I was loading it, resulting in something akin to a "Three Stooges" routine. Then he tried to eat dishwasher soap. Then he tried to play in the toilet (raise your hands if you've dealt with THAT one before; moms!). Then he figured out how to open the disc tray on the XBOX, but only after he decided that it made an acceptable substitute for a drum.

I was not pleased with any of these milestones, and spent a good portion of Saturday toddler proofing the house (again). I also moved my favorite toy to higher ground before it went the way of the dodo.

During the course of these chores, Squizzle said "Nummm" several times, one of which resulted in his big brother providing a delicious delicacy. Peff gave Squizz one of those blue, candy coated, robin's egg's that the Easter Bunny leaves every year.

Yes, I am aware that the Bunny has not made his trip yet, but the Boss, bless her heart, brought some home from work. They lasted slightly longer than my intentions to write a post on Saturday, but not long enough for me to get one. Looks like the boy enjoyed his though.

Lastly, Today I am going to start the First Annual "Fatdaddy's Destroying Angel Bracket Contest". It will be free to enter, and the grand prize will be ten free "Redbox" DVD rental codes. Check back later this morning for more information.

Well, gotta go, Squizzles is wandering around the kitchen chanting "Nummm!!" at the top of his lungs. I'm gonna need to get more groceries.