First post in a while.  Since the tourney began, I guess.  Sure enough, I should have stuck with my first picks.  Look down below and re-read my post from Sunday March 11, Selection Sunday.  In that post, I made my initial picks of Florida, UCLA, Georgetown and Ohio State.  Of course, I then out-smarted myself because I thought those picks (two 1-seeds and two 2-seeds) were too bland.  So I changed from Ohio State to Texas A&M.  Well, we now know how that one worked out.

 

Still, getting 3 out of 4 isn't bad.  This marks the second year in a row that I got 3 of 4, but I have still never gotten the elusive 4 for 4.  Oh well.  Maybe next year...

 

As for the upcoming Final Four games, I think the Gators will have a tough time repeating, but I do think it's doable.  This year features a quartet of really good teams.  UCLA is better than they were a year ago, and it will not be an easy game for UF next Saturday.  Unlike last year when the Gators just steamrolled past everyone, this year they are hanging around with teams before finally... slowly... pulling away.  Can they do the same against UCLA?  Sure, why not.  My pick before the tournament was UF beating Georgetown in the championship, and I see no reason to change that pick now.  We shall find out, a week from tomorrow.

 

I'm sure many of my loyal readers have been wondering if there is any update on Maggie and the baby.  And the answer is: No, there isn't.  Not much going on now.  Maggie still has some bouts of the "morning sickness", but they aren't nearly as severe or as often as they used to be.  So it's not gone, but it's better.  And that's a good thing.  Overall, the pregnancy seems to be going just fine so far.  Keep your fingers crossed for her...

 

And finally, some running news.  (It's been a while since we've posted any of that).  I completed a 19.5 mile run on Saturday in a 9 minute pace (see Running Log, link at left).  Since that distance isn't far away from a marathon, I am pretty confident that I will finally be able to break that four hour mark at the Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnatti in 6 weeks.  And actually, there is more running news.  Some people think that running one marathon is crazy.  Running more marathons at six month intervals (which is approximately what I've been doing) is even crazier.  Well, now I'm topping that.  I have now registered for the Vermont City Marathon in Burlington VT, which is just three weeks after Cincinnatti.  I will certainly not be at my best that soon after another race, but I will not be doing this one for speed.  I want to see how well my body handles that level of punishment.  Some day I may want to attempt an ultramarathon, or even {gulp} an Ironman Triathlon.  If I ever do attempt one of those, I will need to do things a lot more crazy than two marathons three weeks apart.  We'll see how this goes...

After thinking about it for a few days, I made just a couple changes to my initial picks.  Yes, it's often best to go with the first impression, and maybe these changes will come back to bite me in the butt.  We shall see.

 

To reach the Final Four, I've got Florida beating Oregon, UCLA beating Kansas, Georgetown beating Texas, and Texas A&M beating Ohio State.  So the outcome of the A&M-OSU game is the one I changed.  Looking at these picks now, I still tend to think they are too bland.  Of my Elite Eight teams, I've got nothing lower than a 4-seed (Texas).  You just know that some low-seed is going to crash that party.  Oh well, I just don't see who it is. 

 

When I first made the decision to go with A&M, I thought I was going out on a limb.  But now I've seen plenty of media types make the same pick.  Oh well, I guess I am just not very original at all this year.  Last year I did go against the grain quite a bit, and I got three of the Final Four correct (UF, LSU and UCLA).  Heck, if UConn hadn't been so terrible all tournament long, I might have had all four correct.  So be it. 

 

As for the first-round upsets that I went with... Well, many of the ones I indicated in my last post are being picked by many others as well.  Once again, I fail to be original.  The first one that had jumped out at me on Sunday night was Old Dominion over Butler.  But now so many people are picking that "upset" that I'm not sure it can even qualify as an upset any more.  And so many people are picking it, that I will try to be original by picking Butler to win.  So nyah! 

 

Here are the lower-seeded teams that I am picking in the first round: #11 Winthrop over #6 Notre Dame (why the heck not?), #10 Georgia Tech over #7 UNLV (not a stretch), #9 Villanova over #8 Kentucky (not a stretch at all), #10 Gonzaga over #7 Indiana (ho hum), #12 Arkansas over #5 USC (needed a 12-seed somewhere), #9 Xavier over #8 BYU (yawn), #10 Creighton over #7 Nevada (snore), and then my one really ballsy pick: #13 Albany over #4 Virginia.  I have not seen this one picked by many people.  I've got to be original somewhere.

 

Lastly, I've got Florida beating Georgetown in the title game.  Yes, I am picking the Gators to repeat.  And that would be three championships in a row in the two big sports.  Wouldn't that be something?  Hey, the Gators look as good as anyone, so why not?

 

But of course, as I say every year, nobody knows what's going to happen.  As I always say, a trained monkey could probably beat my picks...

The brackets are set, and it's just a few days until the tip-off of another tournament.  It always takes me a few days to make all my picks, but I wanted to chime in today with my initial thoughts. 

 

First of all... The Gators.  They didn't get the easiest draw, but not the hardest either.  I was hoping to get Memphis as the #2 in the Gators' bracket, figuring they were the weakest 2-seed.  However, I do think the other top seeds in the Midwest bracket are quite beatable: #3 Oregon, #4 Maryland and #5 Butler.  I don't think any of those teams can give UF a battle when UF is on.  And if the SEC tournament is any indication, UF is on.  Wisconsin isn't a bad team, but I think UF can handle them.  In fact, the team in this bracket that almost scares me the most is Arizona.  Still, I like the Gators' chances of reaching Atlanta.

 

Everybody is in love with Georgetown.  And with good reason.  They've been playing great lately.  However, sometimes you have to be wary when "everybody" loves a certain team.  UNC is no slouch, and frankly I think Texas has a shot at winning the East region.  I'm sure I will pick one of those three teams as my Final Four participant.  My initial thought is to pick Georgetown, and perhaps the only thing that would prevent from doing that is the "everybody factor". 

 

My initial thought is that Ohio State has the easiest road to the Final Four from among the four top seeds.  However, I think Ohio State is very beatable (even though they haven't lost in quite a while).  The South is the bracket that I would say is most likely to produce a "surprise" Final Four participant, although at this time I have no clue who it might be. 

 

UCLA has lost a couple games in a row, but they get the West regional final in California.  That gives them an advantage over the other top teams in that region: Kansas, Pitt, and Southern Illinois.  I think Kansas is the most talented team in this region, but that home-court advantage for UCLA looks really nice...

 

Potential first-round upsets that I've got my eye on...  #11 Winthrop over #6 Notre Dame, #10 Georgia Tech over #7 UNLV, #10 Texas Tech over #7 BC, and of course a couple of 5-12s, Arkansas over USC, and Old Dominion over Butler.  Low seed most likely to be "this year's George Mason".  Umm... Not sure if being a #6 from a power conference quite qualifies, but how about Louisville? 

 

First-reaction Final Four picks?  Florida, UCLA, Georgetown, Ohio St.  Sheesh, two #1s and two #2s.  Too bland.  How about Florida, Pitt, Texas and Ohio St.  Hmm.  Still don't love the OSU pick.  Well, I've got some thinking to do this week.  If nothing else, I do see myself picking the Gators to repeat.  Hey... why not?

Yes, it's time for some big news here on BobMann.net.  Maggie and I are happy to announce that we are now expecting our first child!!  Maggie is currently about 9 weeks pregnant.  We made our first visit to the obstetrician yesterday, and so far everything seems to be normal.

 

We got our first picture of our offspring -- the ultrasound at left. (Click on the image for a larger version). The baby is the white blob to the left of where the doctor wrote the word "baby".  The head is (supposedly) at the bottom-right portion of that blob.  It's so early at this point that the little one is... shall we say... somewhat indistinct.  Nonethless, this image is very special to us.

 

So yes, we are extremely early in the process.  Many couples don't make the announcement this early.  But in fact, those of you that have been around us for the last few weeks may have known for a while.  There are a couple reasons for this.  First of all, Maggie has always been terrible at keeping secrets, and there was no way she'd be able to keep news like this hidden for long.  And second, she has had some serious bouts of "morning sickness" at all hours of the day, just about every day for the last few weeks.  And there's only so much nausea that a woman can have without people putting two and two together.

 

Anyway, we have been given an expected due date of Oct 10.  That's 7 months away, but I'm sure the time will be here before we know it.  We are extremely excited, and are looking forward to becoming parents for the first time.  Keep coming back to BobMann.net, since updates will be posted here as often as necessary.  Thanks for reading...

 

A quick post for today.  I just wanted to say that I feel much better about the Gators right now than I did before this game.  UF had looked pretty terrible against Vanderbilt, LSU and Tennessee.  But today against Kentucky, things were much better.  Today, the Gators finally looked again like the defending national champs.  I think the team basically sleep-walked thru the last few games, and perhaps they have finally now woken up.  And if that's the case, I like their chances in the SEC tournament.  As for the NCAA tournament?  Well, anything can happen there.  I think the Gators' chances are as good as anyone's.  Will I pick a repeat?  I'm not sure yet.  I guess we'll see how they play this week in the SEC Tournament...