I thought I was perfect!

Just like the other 300 million people in our country who participated in an NCAA pool, I'm assuming that every person who lives in this country fills out a bracket.

I filled out 3 different brackets. In one, I took all the favorites. In the second one, I took the underdogs. It's the 3rd one that I really got excited about. This was the one that I spent hours watching game films of all 65 teams. I broke down each team's wins/losses, and I took into account the quality of their opponent and how they did outside their region. I also took into account what the weather would be like on the dates they played, and what they might eat on the road. I even consulted "Carnac the Magnificent" (see Johnny Carson).

I was ready! As I started to fill out the brackets I felt a rush like something I never felt before, and I took teams like Northern Iowa, Cornell and St. Mary's to the Sweet 16; teams like Michigan State and Butler going to the Final Four with Duke and West Virginia. I won't tell you how the rest played out in my bracket, because it would not be fair to those who are going to watch the games and want to be surprised by the outcome. The casinos would lose lots and lots of cash.

I will tell you that I discovered a problem with my computer last night when I checked my bracket. It must have been a bracket virus, because it changed my bracket. Yes, it did! For some godawful reason it changed all my picks and I ended up with a Final Four of Kansas, Cuse, Baylor and Kentucky. It made me feel sick. Really sick! I thought, "Why in the world would I pick those four teams and Kentucky over Kansas in the Championship?" There are things that happen that can't be explained ... NC State over Houston, Villanova over Georgetown, and the reason that this virus picked me to change my brackets. We may never know these answers, but the saving grace is that all of my family and friends know that I am still perfect with my "bracket" and that is all I care about.

Wise Guy