March Madness

Unless you've been living under a rock, you all know that March Madness is in full effect and the brackets have been released. Aside from neglecting responsibilities such as work, school, and anything else you would normally occupy your day with to watch these intense college basketball games, many of you will be filling out your own brackets for various pools or groups or bets or whatever. Now, filling out brackets isn't necessarily considered a fantasy sport, but shouldn't it be? When you think about it, it's almost the same thing with the exception of you're picking teams instead of players. A lot of online platforms score your picks, just like you would get scored in a regular fantasy game. And in most cases, the winner is usually rewarded somehow and is talking major trash until next year. Sounds like a fantasy sport to me.

Brackets are interesting because they're so unpredictable, it's very difficult to predict a perfect bracket. The brackets are broken down into four tiers of 17 teams and the higher ranked teams play the lower ranked teams. The tournament is single elimination, so once you lose, you're out. There are always upsets and these games are the ones that can screw up anyone's bracket, including those experts who sometimes refer to themselves as bracketologists.  Most people usually put their marbles on the #5 vs. #12 game as that has been where the most upsets have occurred, but it can happen anywhere within the brackets. They usually call these underdog teams the "Cinderella Team," presumably because that team was invited to the "Big Dance," but wasn't expected to do anything.

This year most people including myself are running with Kentucky to take it all. The Wildcats are undefeated and victory should be certain, but for some reason it doesn't seem like it's guaranteed. I was watching SportsCenter this morning and my two dudes Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless were talking about how Kentucky should take it because there aren't any other teams who are on Kentucky's level. I agree, but keep in mind what I was talking about earlier with the whole upset situation. There aren't many teams who can pull off this kind of upset, and it won't really get interesting until the Final Four. Depending on how you pick your brackets, you probably have Kentucky, Wisconsin, Duke, Virginia, Arizona, Gonzaga, or maybe even Oklahoma going to the Final Four. All of these teams are very efficient on offense, but what separates Kentucky from this group is their immaculate defense. They have tall, athletic guys that has bought into the team concept of defend first. As we all know defense wins championships, but if anyone is going to take out Kentucky, it'll probably be one of these teams.

Even though I am a UCLA fan, I'm kind of confused how they got in. They did not have a great season but they got in as a #11 seed. They were on the bubble and in the Pac-12 tournament they lost to Arizona in the semifinals. For the first time ever, I did not pick UCLA to get out of the first round. With my luck, UCLA will be the one who scores the upset, but I doubt that. They're playing SMU and I have them going to Sweet Sixteen. Also, don't sleep on Northern Iowa. They have a #5 seed and even though that's considered a decent rank, should they win people are going to throw the Cinderella tag on them because they are not from a powerhouse conference. Interesting people got them going as far as the Final Four. I have them losing to Villanova in the Sweet Sixteen.

I'm not going to sit here and tell you who to pick because as I said earlier, the brackets are so unpredictable. That's why they call it March Madness, anything can happen at any moment. John Calipari, coach of Kentucky, is already talking about how they could lose, but it's very unlikely. I do know one thing, my friend +Stephanie Smallsen picked Duke to win. Good pick but not good enough my friend. Stephanie and I have our brackets on ESPN.com and we would love if you joined our group. Click this to join: LA to BC Worldwide. The password is champions.

SportsSteez

Around here at PhantasySteez, I like to say that PhantasySteez is getting better everyday. This post is prime example of that statement as this post is not about fantasy sports. No my friend, this post is about real sports. You see, I was proposed by one of my blogging buddies +G. T. Niña to create this segment so that she could appear to know what she's talking about when she goes to barbecues. We kind of tossed around ideas as to what to call it such as "Sports for Dummies" and "Sports for Girls," but when I shared the idea with some of my Facebook fans the ladies didn't really like the idea. While I took their opinion into consideration, I decided I would still do the segment. I haven't really decided on the title yet, but I dig the concept.

Today, March 15, 2015, is one of the most important days of the NCAA Men's Basketball Season... SELECTION SUNDAY. Selection Sunday is the day when the NCAA committee selects 68 teams that will play in the infamous March Madness Tournament, or The Big Dance (I could've swore it was 65 or 66 teams, but it's like the let more teams in every year). The winner of this tournament wins the coveted NCAA National Championship. This year is interesting because there is one team, Kentucky, who is going for a perfect 40-0 undefeated season. I think they have a good chance, I have been watching college basketball all week and they have the most complete team from top to bottom. Any team can be beaten though, and if any team has a chance I would say that it is probably Wisconsin, Arizona, or Duke. Also, don't sleep on Northern Iowa University and SMU. I haven't seen much of Northern Iowa, but SMU is solid and their coach Larry Brown is known as the Godfather of Basketball. Anyone who knows me on a personal level knows I can never count out a true Don. Sidebar, +Stephanie Smallsen my bracket is coming for YOU!!!!!!!!!

Hasn't this year's NFL Free Agency been crazy? Who would've thought DeMarco Murray would end up with the division rival Philadelphia Eagles? Who would've thought Patrick Willis would retire from the San Francisco 49ers? Who would've thought the 49ers would get Reggie Bush. Let's talk about that for a minute because I thought Bush would end up with my New England Patriots, but instead he's going going, back back, to CALI CALI. This kind of fits because I believe that Carlos Hyde will be the feature back but Reggie Bush will come in and do what Reggie Bush do; catch the ball out of the backfield and make people miss. This should be interesting as I can't recall the last time the Niners had such a player. This will definitely help out Colin Kaepernick as he won't have to make so many ill decisions, he could just dump the ball off the Bush!

In the NBA, it's all about Steph Curry. Curry is the man. He makes shooting 3s look like a walk in the park. His game on Saturday was prime example as it was his birthday and he was doing what Steph Curry does best; making it rain. Curry is probably going to win the MVP over LeBron James and James Harden aka The Beard. I've always been a low key Curry fan ever since he played his college hoops at Davidson. His shot has always been incredibly wet and he doesn't just shoot jump shots, he can take you to the hole too. It looks like this could be the year for the Golden State Warriors as long as Curry stays healthy. The have the best record in the West right now, but you never know because anything can happen in the wild wild west.

Well, that's enough for now, I gotta write another post soon before the NCAA tournament begins. This was fun though, but I gotta think of a legit name for this segment. I would love your feedback on this, I'm not scared of negative critism. Hit me up, comment on my blog, hit me up on Google+, or Twitter @donofalldons.