Yeah, the NCAA tournament is a lot of fun, as long as you aren't a University of Kentucky fan. I can't recall the last year the Wildcats weren't in the Big Dance. Folks are moping about in my hometown, trying to make themselves into Louisville fans at this late date. But rooting for your favorite team doesn't hold a candle to participating in tournaments. Three online tournaments that have nothing whatsoever to do with basketball will be determined by your votes.
Tournament of Genius
Mental Floss' Tournament of Genius pits 64 of history's greatest minds against each other. Some of the matchups seem very lopsided (as an elimination round should be) such as William Shakespeare vs. Matt Drudge. Others make you think of apples and oranges, such as Stephen Colbert vs. JK Rowling, or Mark Twain vs. Yogi Berra. Some only make sense if you overthink them, like Harland Sanders vs. Douglas McArthur -who more successfully conquered the world? Yet others are real battles, like Marie Curie vs. Linus Pauling. Vote in the first round matchups at mental_floss. The champion will be crowned on April 6th.
Name of the Year
Name of the Year is a tournament we've followed before. Who can resist these names that supposedly come from real people? Who will prevail, Crystal Metheny, Chastity Clapp, Glorious Johnson, Jazzario Barrios, Velvet Milkman, Shot Kleen, Chuck Fugger, or Brooklyn Pope, or one of the other in the field of 64 world class names? It's all up to you. First-round voting in the Bulltron Regional is going on now.
Douchebag of the Year
Holy Taco is hosting the Douchebag of the Year tournament. The four grand divisions are sports, entertainment, politics, and business. Anyone want to take bets that the business division winner will take the overall crown? The number one and two seeds are Bernie Madoff and AIG -what a competition that will be! Number one and two seeds in politics are Rush Limbaugh and Rod Blagojevich. Top seeds in entertainment are Chris Brown and Joaquin Phoenix. In sports, it's Alex Rodriquez and Barry Bonds. What a bunch of douchebags. Round one voting is now in session.
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1991 was the last year Kentucky was not in the tournament.
/sports nerd
Side note to exemplify just how Basketball-crazed Kentucky is ...
Our local H.S. basketball team made it to the State 'Sweet 16' tournament this year; held at Rupp Arena. They won their first game and are playing today for a place in the state semi-final game. We are a fairly small school ... usually the only teams left playing at this point are the traditional and city powerhouse teams.
Why is this a big deal? Because things are so nuts here that they closed the entire county school system today due to the high school basketball game this afternoon. An entire county of working parents had to find babysitters for their children on one day's notice.
THAT is March Madness!
Jeebus, we won!
I'll have to watch and see if the local banks will start handing out stipends or something.
Next game, state semi-final tomorrow afternoon.