Sweet 16 (2012) Round 5

Rock Chalk!

Here's the spreadsheet in all its updated glory:

Notes:

• Of course, nothing has changed in that Kyle is mathematically unbeatable.  Congrats, buddy.
• If Kentucky wins, Kyle will have 385 points out of a possible 477.  Not bad, really, considering the upsets this year.  Last year the winner only had 322 and the average was in the 280's.  In a year with fewer upsets (like 2008), the scores can be in low 400's.
• If Kansas wins, Richard and Zach will tie for second place.  If Kentucky wins, Zach will claim second by one point.

Random Thoughts 3/28/12

• According to a recent survey, 51% of American households have at least one Apple product; the average is 1.6 devices per home.  Counting phones, computers, iPods, etc., we're a little north of that number.
• The NFL has released the official, final draft order that includes all the compensatory and forfeited picks.  The Chiefs alternate between the 11th and the 12th pick of each round with an extra pick from the Patriots in the seventh round (for a total of 8 picks).  The draft begins Thursday night, April 26.
• Last year my dad gave us the mower I've always wanted.  A medium-sized relatively new-ish John Deere riding mower.  Awesome.  Then we moved.  So instead of mowing a large flat yard, we now are mowing a smaller, uber-landscaped and crowded, steeply-sloped hillside.  Trying to maneuver the riding mower in those tight spaces without sliding down the hill is nearly impossible – Shannon said it was like swatting a fly with a bazooka – so I did the unthinkable and asked to borrow Dad's push mower.  With a push mower, the job's done in no time with a fraction of the effort expended.  So we're going to sell the riding mower and look at push mowers; is anybody interested in buying a riding mower?
• I'm still trying to wrap my mind around KU making the Final Four this year.  That's some rebuilding year!  It's such an over-achievement that I'm not too worried about the outcome.
• I preached on Sodom and Gomorrah last week.  It was one of those long sermons where I was terribly distracted but even if I'd been on my A-game I'm not sure that would have made a difference with some folks.  As a culture we've wholeheartedly embraced homosexuality and calling it a sin sounds pretty barbaric these days.  Oh, well.  I've never been good at the whole popularity thing anyway.  At least I don't go to jail for that kind of talk… yet.
• Tim Tebow to the Jets?  Why would he and his agent even agree to that?  Why would the Jets want him?  Did he not get any other offers?  What in the world?!  I almost hope he gets traded during the draft; there are a few teams out there where he would fit.
• And does Peyton Manning really believe the Broncos are one QB away from greatness?  I don't know if he's overestimating the Broncos or himself or both.
• Frank Martin.  Grrrr…  I'm not even that big of a K-State fan, but c'mon.  Hopefully the Wildcats get someone more loyal even better.

Random Thoughts 3/26/12

• An elderly woman is suing Apple for $1 million because she walked into a glass wall at an Apple Store and broke her nose.  My gut instinct is to feel bad for the woman but $1 million?!  Really?
• Rock Chalk, Jayhawk!  I can't believe that after losing all of those starters from last season, in what should have been a rebuilding year, that the Jayhawks made the Final Four!  Bill Self is simply one of the best coaches ever.  

• It's also interesting to watch North Carolina and not feel any bitterness whatsoever toward Roy Williams.  I actually felt bad for them as they began missing shots and the refs missed some calls; North Carolina is a great team.  Time heals all wounds (except for those pro-slavery terrorists in Missouri that burned Lawrence.  Never forget!!!).
• Biggest disappointment on TV this season: "Alcatraz."  A very cool concept that has been really poorly executed.  Speaking of execution, what's the running body count in the SFPD for that show?  It seems the cheap way of creating tension for those writers is to kill a two or three police officers… every episode!  Meh.
• Frank Martin, don't go to South Carolina!  C'mon!
• Here's an interesting post about the 173rd Airborne jumping into Iraq nine years ago today.
• Here are 10 clothing tricks in 60 seconds.  [from LifeHacker]

Sweet 16 (2012) Round 4

And here are the numbers:

• It's all academic at this point.  The way the system works, Kyle is far enough ahead that he can't be caught.  To his credit, Kyle had three of the final four teams in his top three slots.  The rest of us at least two in the top five but that won't be enough to catch up to Kyle; in fact, in most scenarios, Kyle's lead will grow.
• Kyle has 338 points out of a possible 430.
• Jared, Richard, and Kyle had all four final four teams in their list.  The deciding factor was the inclusion of Louisville.  Mike and Chad only had two.
• Everyone has Kentucky in one of their top two slots.

Sweet 16 (2012) Round 3

Here are the numbers again:

• Kyle is still out in front with 291 points (out of a possible 372), with five of the six of us within 25 points of him.  That said, Kyle is the only one with his top three picks intact.
• Kyle, Jared, and Richard correctly picked seven of the elite eight in their sixteen picks, but…
• …Zach has six of his top eight teams alive.
• No one in the group selected Florida at all, let alone to make the elite eight.

Sweet 16 (2012) Round 2

Here are the numbers:

Notes:

• Kyle is leading us with 218 points (out of 272 possible) with five of us right behind him with scores between 200-208.  Chad gambled but put himself in a hole with just 188 points and two of his top four teams eliminated.
• Zach has the most remaining teams with 11 out of 16.  That's pretty good because as a group we only predicted 13 out of 16 (we missed Florida, Ohio, and Xavier).  Mike and Chad only have seven teams remaining.
• Everybody still has their 16-point team.
• Both Mike and Chad have lost their bottom five teams.
• Kyle still has his top six teams intact and nine of his top ten, putting him in the strongest position to win the contest.

Sweet 16 (2012) Round 1

After one round, Kansas is still alive while Missouri and Duke are not.  Who knew?

As for our contest, we're all about even with scores between 108 and 118.  Everybody lost at least three teams (we all had Mizzou and Duke) while Bryan and Chad lost five teams from their lists.  Dad lost his 15-pointer and Chad and Zach both lost their 14-pointers.  Mike is the only one with the top half of his list intact.

Sweet 16 (2012) Prelim

Ok, we have seven guys who made the deadline, picking 27 different teams to make the top 16.  I'll update after each round, so the next update will be late Friday or early Saturday.

Check for errors; good luck!

Singing God's Praise

Here's the kind of thing that connects with me.  It's Louie Giglio speaking last year about the universe singing God's praise.  Point well made.



[Thanks Mark M.]

Read That Again Slowly

I found these going through my shower stuff this morning. 

What's the difference, again?  One says "original" and the other is the oxymoron, "new legendary classic."  How is something a new classic?  Wouldn't classic be about the same as original?  Well, not according to the website; they say "classic" is closer to the smell of the original bar soap than the regular original liquid soap.  So the liquid original wasn't like the bar original, rather it was itself original (unique) and thus a "new classic" was needed to be more like the original (first).

Now it makes sense.

Awkward!

Don't you hate it when you text the wrong person by mistake? 

I saw something just like this online and couldn't resist messing with my friend.

Sweet 16 Contest (2012)

The NCAA tourney starts Thursday (play-in games won't count for this contest) and people everywhere are filling out their brackets.

But instead of filling out a bracket, try my "Sweet 16" contest we've been playing the last few years. Instead of predicting almost 70 games, we pick the best sixteen teams in the tournament and rank them best to worst. The best team will get 16 points for each win, the second team will get 15 points and so on until you get to the 16th team which gets one point per win. If you put them in the correct order, your maximum score would be 477 points.


Last year was a train wreck for me, coming in last, while Bryan C. won again.  None of us were very close, though, with several upsets last year.

If you want to play along, just post your list of of sixteen, in order, in the comments section and I'll keep a running tally as we go along. The cutoff is Thursday morning.

Oh, and what does the winner get? As always, the satisfaction of a job well done.

Brotherly Love in Gatorland

History repeats itself at Gatorland in Orlando:

Brothers Elijah and Graham in 2012…

…and Jared and Dustin, probably about 28 years earlier.

Random Thoughts 3/7/12

• Whew!  We're back from vacation and had a perfect time.  The itinerary worked perfectly, including the scheduled spontaneity.  The weather was perfect (70's and 80's) with a little rain while we were at church.  The crowds at Disney were small and we had close parking, short to non-existent lines, and plenty of time to do almost everything we wanted.
• I'll add some pictures soon (busy with work right now).
• Will the Chiefs sign Peyton Manning?  Nah, he ought to go to Houston but will probably have his remaining years wasted at a place like Miami.
• We visited church with our friends in Jacksonville, but it only made me miss my church family back home.  I just kept thinking of person after person that I really love and wished I was worshiping with them.
• Rock Chalk, Jayhawk.  Complete dominance, even in our "off years."  I proudly wore my Jayhawk hat down in SEC country.
• Failed prophet Harold Camping has called his inaccurate predictions of the end of the world "sin."  I was calling it that a year ago.
• I was shocked to hear that conservative commentator Andrew Breitbart dropped dead at age 43.  Yikes.  The official cause of death may not be issued for a few weeks.
• More new Apple products were announced today, including a third version of the iPad.
• There's another video blog from Peter Jackson out on facebook about The Hobbit.  It's so cool.  Brennan finished the seventh Harry Potter book while on vacation, so he'll be reading The Hobbit soon.
• Both Brennan and Tanner read hundreds of pages in their books while we were on vacation.  They read while we were in airport, traveling from Tampa to Orlando to Jacksonville and back, and even before bed each night.