Hey Kids! It's BUSTED BRACKET TIME!

After giving myself the day off yesterday from blogging to do some St Pat's celebrating, I had intended to spend this day railing against Tea Bag protests against health care reform....or possibly talking about the implosion at Seton Hall of the basketball program and the firing of head coach Bobby "Gonzo" Gonzalez....or of the "Day of Reckoning" cutbacks of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie....or the news of the split of Sandra Bullock with hubby Jesse James for his alleged cheating (hey Jesse..you deserve a smack on the head...she's SANDRA BULLOCK for crying out loud. Better plead insanity).

But the big news of the day- the thing that trumps everything else- is that its the first day of the NCAA men's basketball tournament. In my eyes, this is the best American sports  event because it encompasses the entire country.

So this morning I finally made out my brackets, after delaying it several days. I picked my Final Four, and my national champion, and everything else in between.

You can get a good view of my picks by clicking the bracket above .....and you'll know why I say that anyone who bets sports is out of their mind. March Madness is just that......and it didn't take long before my bracket was busted.

As a matter of fact, it was mangled  with the first result of the day.

Take a look....In the South Region I picked #2 seed Notre Dame to beat Old Dominion today...... and to win in the second round, into the Sweet Sixteen, then the Elite Eight, and on to the Final Four, and on to lose the national championship to Kansas.

Adios amigo....one game, one upset; ODU beats Notre Dame by one, 51-50. I figured Notre Dame was playing well at the end of the year, and though Luke Harangody was banged up a bit the Irish were playing some of their best basketball of the year. So I'd go with this dark horse six seed to make it all the way to Indianapolis for the championship game.

Fageddaboutit!

OK...I know, I don't know what I'm doing....but I don't think I was alone in  picking ND to win in the first round. Hats off to ODU.

For the record, of the first eight games I got  four game right (Villanova over Robert Morris, Kansas State over North Texas State, Baylor over Sam Houston State, and St. Mary's over Richmond), three wrong (ODU-ND, BYU over Florida, Murray St. over Vanderbilt) and one outcome pending as I type this....Butler (my pick) leads UTEP by 17.

The Villanova- Robert Morris game was one that I saw most of, though I did have to leave for an appointment before the OT. The Wildcats are lucky to have survived by three, 73-70 in a game where a 15 seed gave a two seed  all they can handle. Great job by Robert Morris- they can hold their heads high- thise guys played a helluva game.

Well...almost time for the Night Shift. Since I have no dog in these fights (relax, its only an expression) I'll be following the fortunes of the Ohio University Bobcats because my niece was a grad. At 7:25EDT the 14 seed Cats meet the Georgetown Hoyas, seeded #3 in the Midwest region.

If they pull this off, Athens, Ohio will have more heavy duty partying than at anytime since my niece and her friends left...(sorry Jen; its an old joke your Mom used to tell).

Update at 9:37 PM....and the Ohio U Bobcats- a 14 seed- have upset the third seeded Georgetown Hoyas 97-83!

Un....believable!!!