And the Winner is.......

Carla Parsons! Yes, my wife successfully defeated all 52 challengers to win the inaugural Six Degrees of MVNUSID bracket contest. While it is no shock to me that she won since she has now beaten me in 11 of the past 18 years, it has been very funny to watch all of my other friends and so-called experts (numerous sports information directors and other sports PR people, a sportswriter from a major newspaper, and a TV anchor) fall by the wayside to her picks this year as well.

Carla finished with a total of 1,230 points as she correctly picked Duke to win the 2010 national championship. She has been a fan of the Blue Devils for a long time now, and that loyalty paid off for her in this year's contest. One final look at her bracket (below) shows why she was able to finish in the top 3.4% of ESPN's contest as she finished 21,043rd out of 4.8 million brackets that were posted this year.


I also want to give a special shoutout to Mike Schaffer and Toby Boyce, who finished second and third with 1,120 points and 1,060 points respectively as they also both correctly picked Duke to cut down the nets in Indianapolis.

Well, if you are like me, you really enjoyed this year's tournament. From the exciting first round that included a bunch of upsets to Butler's near-miss at the buzzer in a classic national championship game between a David and a Goliath, I am hard-pressed to remember a tournament that I enjoyed more from start to finish. I also think that a large part of that enjoyment came through interacting with all of you through social media and the bracket contest, which again fits with the premise of this blog that we are all connected. It's sad to think that next year's event may get watered down with the expansion to a 96-team format, but I'm going to chose to remember this year for what it was and not fret over another bad decision by the NCAA just yet.

Thanks again for participating. I'm sorry that I don't have video of Carla's happy dance when she locked up her win, but I may be able to sneak a picture of her enjoying her winning dinner tonight before we go to the Daughtry concert in Columbus.

Opening Day...A Tradition Like No Other

The day has finally arrived.....Major League Baseball Opening Day! Yes, I know that the Yankees and Red Sox played last night in a made-for-TV matchup on ESPN. However, the true Opening Day for me is always the day that the oldest francise in baseball dating back to 1869, the Cincinnati Reds, takes the field for the first time each spring.

For years, the Reds always played the first game of the season much like the Dallas Cowboys' and Detroit Lions' tradition of both playing on Thanksgiving Day in the NFL. While the Reds' opener has been pushed aside somewhat over the past decade or so with ESPN taking over with Sunday Night Baseball, the tradition is still very much alive in Cincinnati as witnessed by the 91st Opening Day parade that took place this morning and the fact that standing room only tickets are going for $140 for a team that hasn't sniffed the playoffs since just missing out in 1999.

Nothing can compare to Opening Day. Just as the weather starts to turn from the brutal cold of winter into the sunny signs of spring, each team and their fans have the eternal optimism of what could be a magical summer with a blank slate ahead of them for 162 games. While I'm hoping that this will be the year that my Reds will break through and reach the playoffs after not being close since falling to Al Leiter and the Mets in the one-game playoff in 1999 (which I witnessed first-hand), it also gives diehard Cubs fans like my buddy, Jay Stancil, the hope that the Cubs might finally get back to the World Series for the first time since 1945 to end the curse of the billy goat. It could also be the year for the Cleveland Indians and new pitching coach (and MVNU alum) Tim Belcher to break through and bring the city its first championship in a professional sport. Or maybe, it's something a little more simple like my friend Pat Neville's team, the Pittsburgh Pirates, having a winning season for the first time after a record 17 straight losing seasons that started with Francisco Cabrera's game-winning hit in the bottom of the ninth inning of the 1992 NLCS.

Regardless of who your team is, Opening Day is the day that you always look forward to. If you are like me, you've spent the past month (or longer) getting to know the new faces on your team through spring training reports or maybe even a trip to a spring training game (which I highly recommend). All of the offseason acquisitions will now be put to the test and the hope of an injury-free season will also play a part in your team's success.

I've had the privilege of attending two Opening Day games in Cincinnati and I really enjoyed the pagentry that accompanied these long-awaited events. Unfortunately, my first Opening Day experience lasted just seven pitches when homeplate umpire John McSherry collapsed on the field and died. That was a very surreal experience and I've never heard such a hush come over 50,000 people before. After a delay of about half an hour, the game was understandably postponed. My second Opening Day experience came in 2003 when I went to the first game at Great American Ball Park after being at the final game of Cynergy Field (Riverfront Stadium) the previous year. I was hoping to possibly get to this year's game, but trying to find a last-minute ticket proved to futile. I'm jealous of my friends, Matt Hannaford and Michelle O'Malley, who along with Niki Murray will be at the Philadelphia Phillies-Washington Nationals' opener in D.C. In fact, I'm guessing that Michelle may get on TV at some point with this sign.

While today is just one of 162 game days during the MLB season, I would argue with anyone that it is the best day as every fan has the childhood hope and enthusiasm of an 8-year-old going to their very first game. Good luck to all of your teams today - except yours, Brad Taylor, since your Cardinals are playing my Reds. Well, former Reds broadcaster (and Hall of Fame MC) George Grande just threw out the ceremonial first pitch to Johnny Bench, so I have to go as the season is about to get under way. Play ball!

And Then There Were Three...

Yes, I know that if you have been following this blog for the past couple of weeks as we've traversed through the madness that has been March and the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament you are thinking to yourself that I must not have passed my basic math classes.

The Final Four is now set in Indianapolis this coming Saturday with the likes of perennial powers Duke and Michigan State welcoming a long-awaited return trip from West Virginia and new kid on the block Butler, the hometown favorite who will be playing just 19 miles from its campus.

The journey from 65 to 4 has been a fun one to watch along the way and I would love to read your comments as to what your favorite memories have been so far and also what clips you expect to see in the new version of One Shining Moment when the 2010 champion is crowned on Monday night.

One thing that has made this year's tournament a lot of fun for me personally is having the Six Degrees of MVNUSID bracket contest in full effect with 52 of my friends and colleagues along for the ride. It has actually been the ideal way for me to kick off my blog and the premise behind it as I've introduced you to some of the people in my life using the avenue of sports to do it. The $25 gift card prize is a small price to pay to bring people from all walks of my life together.

Speaking of the bracket contest standings (and relating them back to the title of this blog entry), we are now down to three possible scenarios to determine the winner.

Before we get to scenarios, though, here is a quick look at the leaderboard. My wife, Carla (above with our two girls), is not only beating me handily...she is on top in the standings with 750 total points. She was one of three people to correctly pick two of the Final Four teams along with Eric Smith and Stacey Deal. She currently holds a 20-point lead over both Stacey and Sara Williams, who sit at 730 points. Alex Connell is a close fourth at 720 points.

Now, on to the scenarios. The only teams anyone in our bracket contest has remaining are Duke and West Virginia, who will play each other on Saturday night in the national semifinals. If Duke wins that game, then Carla (see her bracket below) will win the bracket contest regardless of who wins the national championship game on Monday since she picked Duke to be the national champion. Several other people picked Duke to win the national title, but none of them can catch Carla in total points.


If West Virginia beats Duke, that opens the door for either Stacey (Stacey's bracket) or Julie Burke (Julie's bracket) to win the overall title. For Stacey to win, she needs West Virginia to lose in the national championship game, while a Mountaineer national title would not only send West Virginia native Julie into a couch-burning tizzy, but also would provide her with some restaurant eating options courtesy of the $25 gift card since she picked WVU to cut down the nets. Michael MacEachern also picked West Virginia to win the title, but he would finish 10 points behind Julie in second place if that happens.

So, while most of us can now throw our brackets out and root for our favorite team left in the tournament, there is still some excitement left as we head into the final weekend of college hoops action. It's been a great journey and I'm glad that each of you has been along for the ride.

Halfway Down the Road to the Final Four

The first two teams advanced to the Final Four in this year's NCAA men's basketball tournament on Saturday night. No. 5 Butler extended its winning streak to 24 straight games and punch its first ever ticket to the Final Four by holding off No. 2 Kansas State to earn the right to play basically at home in Indianapolis. Then, No. 2 West Virginia held off No. 1 Kentucky to lock up its first trip to the Final Four in 51 years. The final two spots will be filled on Sunday when No. 1 Duke squares off with No. 3 Baylor and No. 5 Michigan State takes on No. 6 Tennessee. Both games should be a lot of fun to watch.

With the Kentucky and Kansas State losses, only five people out of 53 in the Six Degrees of MVNUSID bracket contest have their predicted national champion left. Julie Burke and Michael MacEachern both went with West Virginia, while Mike Schaffer, Toby Boyce, and my wife, Carla, each selected Duke.

Speaking of the bracket contest, Alex Connell (pictured above) has regained the lead in the standings with 720 points despite the fact that he lost his national champion pick when Kansas State went down. In his bracket below, you will see that he picked Baylor to upset Duke on Sunday and West Virginia to advance all the way to the national title game.


Moving into second place with 670 points is my wife, Carla. She is also tied for second place with the most points remaining at 560 with Mike Schaffer and Toby Boyce. Michael MacEachern, the sports information director at Savannah College of Art and Design, has the best chance to win the whole thing as he still has 720 possible points remaining.

Of the 53 people who entered my contest, 35 have now been eliminated from having a shot at the $25 gift card including myself. However, I'm still holding out hope for bragging rights in my own house. For me, it simply comes down to one game tomorrow: Baylor versus Duke. If Baylor can send the final No. 1 seed packing, then I will beat Carla by 10 points. However, if Duke wins, then Carla will make it 11 wins in 18 years in our own personal contest AND she will still have a shot at the overall prize.

On a final note, I have a great opportunity to work at the NCAA women's regional at the University of Dayton on Sunday. Nate Okuley and I are heading down early in the morning and will get to see the machine known as the UCONN women try to extend their record-setting 74-game winning streak against Iowa State and then watch Florida State take on Mississippi State. If you watch the games on the ESPN family of networks, you might just see us working courtside.

Sweet Sixteen is in the Books

The NCAA Tournament continues to march on and the Sweet Sixteen is now in the books after the final four teams advanced to the Elite Eight. St. Mary's and Northern Iowa both saw their Cinderalla runs come to an end with losses to Baylor and Michigan State respectively. Duke downed Purdue in a low-scoring game, and Tennessee used a balanced team attack to sneak by Ohio State, which relied way too heavily on the Evan Turner show to try to get to the next round.

Speaking of the Buckeye game, I'm going to digress for a moment. Yes, I'm a Buckeye fan. It was hard to watch them get out-hustled and out-worked by Tennessee, but I'll give credit where credit is due and say that Tennessee deserved to win that game more than Ohio State did based on those two traits and more importantly better team play. While Evan Turner is a great player and one of the two top candidates for national Player of the Year honors, it takes a team to win a title and last night showed that.

One other comment I would like to make about last night's game is the fact that I really appreciate all the 'congratulatory' texts, tweets, and e-mails on Ohio State's loss. I always find it humorous that people love to rub in the loss of my team despite the fact that their team wasn't even playing in the game or in some cases didn't even qualify for the tournament. I'm not one to talk smack about other teams - I just try to be a fan of my own. I'm always quick to give credit where credit is due (see above for example), and I try not to pile on my friends' misery when one of their teams lose because we'll all be in those shoes more often than not. Oh well, I guess they have to find some way to get their frustration out since their team is no longer playing.

OK, now that I have that off my chest, let's take a quick look at the updated Six Degrees of MVNUSID bracket contest. Sara Williams (pictured above in full character) has regained her 10-point lead over Alex Connell after both of them along with six other people got five of the eight teams correct advancing to the Elite Eight. Sara, whose bracket is below, now has 650 points, while Alex is right behind with 640 points. Mark Colachico is also a close third with 630 points in what is shaping up to be a great race to the finish. Alex has the best chance to win with 880 possible points remaining, while Jay Stancil and Michael MacEachern who are both well back in the standings right now both have 800 possible points remaining and could make a late surge to the title.


We have also reached the point in the contest where we have our first three entrants to be eliminated from title contention based on possible points remaining and their current score. I wanted to give a special shoutout to Nate Okuley, an admissions counselor at Mount Vernon Nazarene University and one of my former student workers, Rodney Yoder, an assistant coach for the Mount Vernon Nazarene University women's basketball team, and Rob Oller. a sports writer for the Columbus Dispatch. I wish I had great parting gifts for you, but thank you for your part in making this contest a lot of fun to follow.

Oh, and I almost forgot....you need to check the leaderboard and compare my point total with that of my wife. That's all I'm saying. Enjoy today's Elite Eight games and see if Gus Johnson gets to call another buzzer beater.

March Madness....and then there were 12

Well, if you are like me, you did not get a lot of sleep last night because you were glued to the action as the first day of play in the Sweet Sixteen got under way. No. 5 Butler began the day by sending No. 1 Syracuse packing in a great game and the day concluded with No. 2 Kansas State surviving in double overtime against No. 6 Xavier in an instant classic. Throw in wins by No. 1 Kentucky and No. 2 West Virginia and half of the Elite Eight field is set.

One thing that the two great games had in common on Thursday night was the fact that Gus Johnson was the play-by-play announcer for CBS. Gus, who became a trending topic on Twitter last night during the games, has become my favorite March Madness play-by-play guy over the past few years and he always seems to get the upsets or games that go right down to the wire. I'm hoping at some point to interview Gus for this blog and find out more about the man that loves to watch a Cinderalla "rise and fire" and "climb the mountain." For some Gus Johnson fun, check out www.gusjohnsongetsbaskets.com.

A quick look at the Six Degrees of MVNUSID tournament bracket contest shows that Alex Connell (pictured above courtesy of a photo my wife found for me on the internet) has opened up the biggest lead of the contest so far as he now has 600 points to take a 30-point lead on Sara Williams (570 points). Alex correctly picked all four winners along with Matt Miller last night. Sara's one miss happened to be Syracuse, who she had going on to win the national title. Alex's bracket is listed below:


As we start Friday's Sweet Sixteen action, three people with the best shot to win the contest are John White (1,040 possible points remaining), Jennifer Hamerla (1,000 ppr), and Stacey Deal (1,000 ppr), who ironically all picked Ohio State to win it all. For that trio to have a shot, the Buckeyes are going to need a great performance against Tennessee to advance to the Elite Eight.

And, one final note to my wife: Carla, I'm hot on your tail just 30 points behind. I'm going to catch up today.

March Madness Continues...Sweet Sixteen Style

Well, it's been a few days since I've updated the blog and the Six Degrees of MVNUSID bracket contest standings. I've been trying to get reacquainted with my family and also back into my normal work routine (whatever that is for an SID) after 12 days in Florida with our baseball team.

March Madness will pick back up tonight with four games in the Sweet Sixteen as half the field for the Elite Eight will be determined. There are some interesting upset possibilities with No. 12 Cornell looking to try to knock off No. 1 Kentucky and No. 11 Washington trying to figure out No. 2 West Virginia in a pair of David vs. Goliath match-ups although I won't be shocked if either underdog wins. I also think the No. 2 Kansas State-No. 6 Xavier and No. 1 Syracuse-No. 5 Butler games will be good games to watch, too.

So, back to the bracket contest. First, I need to let all of you know that there were three additional entries in the contest to get us up to 53 total. Andrea Cambern, Stacey Deal, and Sara Williams all turned brackets in to me before the start of the tournament, but just didn't get them on the ESPN.com site for one reason or another. Since I was on the road, I didn't have access to them during last week's blogs, but now that I have them in-hand I feel like I need to get them included. Amazingly, all three have had outstanding runs so far.

First, a look at Andrea's paper bracket (below) shows that she tied Kristin Adams for the best first round total with 26 correct picks out of 32 possible. When I asked Andrea (who is a news anchor at CBS affiliate WBNS Channel 10 in Columbus) what her secret was, she told me that she goes with her favorite uniform when making her choice. Not surprisingly, she has her beloved Ohio State Buckeyes going all the way to a national title. She is tied for second place currently with Alex Connell at 440 total points.


Alex, who is currently a youth pastor at High Street Church of the Nazarene in Springfield, Ohio, has managed a successful bracket so far despite as he says "being relatively uninformed" since he doesn't watch all that much college basketball since cheering on the Cougars back in his days at Mount Vernon Nazarene University. He's probably too busy planning for a wedding coming up in October. Here's a look at his bracket:


The second of the late arrivals to the contest is Stacey, who had technical difficulties trying to get a bracket submitted. Her bracket, which I've put below, was submitted online to ESPN.com and is available here, but never made it into our specific group for some reason. Stacey, who is one of my close high school friends and works for Graham & Graham law firm in Zanesville, Ohio, is not leading right now, but she has 410 total points and is poised for a big finish as she could have 7 of the 8 Elite Eight teams and still has all of her Final Four teams intact.


Finally, our leader heading into the Sweet Sixteen is Sara (pictured above with me) with 450 total points. I've listed her bracket below. After getting 25 of 32 right in the first round, she successfully went 10-for-16 in the second round. When I asked Sara (who I've dubbed my SID daughter since meeting her in San Antonio last year at CoSIDA) what her secret was, she told me it was to try to not pick with her heart. As the sports information director at Mid-America Christian University, she's a big Oklahoma State fan located right in the midst of Big 12 Conference territory. The one Big 12 team she had going to the Final Four was Kansas, but so did most of us.


And, as I wrap up, yes, my wife is still beating me handily and tied with Sara and several other people to get 10 picks right in the second round. I have already reserved myself to the fact that I'm going to lose to her in our personal contest. And, she's let me know that ever since I got back from my trip. Gotta love the smack talk!