World Cup - Russia 2018

So the second round of group play is complete, meaning that all 32 have played two of their three group games.  Although a few teams have qualified for the knockout stages, and a few teams are eliminated, most are still in contention.The below is a ranking of how the teams have looked so far, taking into account both games played.

A couple of notes as to the standings: (1) The teams that have earned the most points are all ranked higher than teams that have earned less points.  Even though a team with two draws may look better than a team with one win and one loss, the team with one win will be ranked ahead; (2) My rankings come only based upon how I think each team has looked so far, taking into account their opponent - prior rankings of the teams do not factor into these rankings; and (3) Score can be a factor in how a team performed, but if a team won by 5 it doesn't necessarily mean they are ranked higher than a team that may have won by 2 goals.

On to the rankings ...

6 Points (2 Victories)

1.  Belgium - Two big wins against lesser opponents, but Belgium dominated both Panama and Tunisia, whereas other favorites have not looked so great.  Romelu Lukaku stands tied for second in the golden boot standings.

2.  Mexico - Scored the win of the tournament to date in defeating Germany.  Had a solid victory over South Korea.

3.  Croatia - They followed up a 2-0 victory over Nigeria with an impressive 3-0 victory over Argentina, that just might have knocked Messi out of the tournament.

4.  England - A 6-1 thrashing of Panama has the Three Lions ranked ahead of some of the other undefeated's.  Harry Kane's hat trick over Panama follows up his brace against Tunisia to lead the golden boot standings.

5.  Russia - The host squad has looked great so far, but its toughest group challenge lies ahead of them.  Have already advanced to the knockout round.

6.  France - Have looked underwhelming in their 2 victories against Australia and Peru, but still have 2 victories.

7.  Uruguay - Have not dominated the two lesser opponents in their group - Saudi Arabia and Egypt.  Can rise substantially if they handle Russia.

4 Points (1 Win/1Draw)

8.  Spain - After the exciting draw with Portugal, went on to easily defeat Iran 1-0.  Diego Costa tied for fourth in the golden boot standings.

9.  Portugal - After the exciting draw with Spain, went on to easily defeat Morocco 1-0.  Cristiano Ronaldo tied for second in the golden boot standings.

10.  Senegal - They might be the fastest team in the tournament.  Could not hold on to 1-0 and 2-1 leads against Japan.  Will lead to an interesting matchup with Colombia, with the winner advancing to the knockout stages.

11.  Switzerland - A great performance against Serbia (2-1 win) on the heels of the draw with Brazil.

12.  Brazil - Won 2-0 against Costa Rica, but still does not yet look like they are clicking.  Tough matchup against Serbia looming.

13.  Japan - Looked really gutsy in comeback draw against Senegal.  Sits atop their group (with Senegal) with last match against lowly Poland.

14.  Denmark - Sits in second place in its group (behind France) after a 1-0 win over Peru and a 1-1 draw with Australia.  A draw against France or a close loss against France and a close win by Australia over Peru allows Denmark to advance.

3 Points (1 Win/1 Loss)

15.  Serbia - Looked decent in a win over Costa Rica, but looked overwhelmed by Switzerland.  Can still advance with a good result over Brazil.

16.  Nigeria - As lackluster as they looked in their first matchup against Croatia is how good they looked against Iceland.  They have the pre-tourney group favorites tomorrow in Argentina.

17.  Colombia - Oh how different things could be without a red card in the third minute of game 1.

18.  Germany - Rose from the dead against Sweden in gaining an extra time goal by Toni Kroos to not only stay alive, but take over second place in the group, with doormat South Korea next.

19.  Sweden - Simply tired against Germany and could not hold the lead, or draw.  Can still advance with a win over Mexico depending upon the Germany - South Korea outcome.

20.  Iran - A boring 1-0 win over Morocco gives them a chance to advance if they can stun Portugal.

1 Point (1 Draw/1 Loss)

21.  Australia - A close loss to France in which they played up to the level of the French, but could only manage a draw with Denmark.  Still have the opportunity to advance, but they must beat Peru and hope France beats Denmark.

22.  Iceland - The feel good story of qualifying followed up their dramatic tie with Argentina with a 2-0 loss to Nigeria.  Can still advance, but that task is daunting with Croatia up next.

23.  Argentina - Looked miserable against Croatia.  Amazingly enough - still have a chance to advance.

0 Points (2 Losses)

24.  Peru - Tough defensive-minded team that has yet to score a goal (along with 3 others).

25.  South Korea - Close losses to Sweden and Mexico are pretty respectable, but just lacks any threat going forward.

26.  Tunisia - Handled fairly easily by England and Belgium.

27.  Costa Rica - Another team that has yet to score a goal in the tournament.

28.  Egypt - Even with the great Mohammed Saleh, lost 2 matches to Uruguay and Russia, although playing Uruguay tight until the 88th minute.

29.  Morocco - The third team to have failed to score a goal throughout the tournament, although both losses were only 1-0.

30.  Poland - A team with Robert Lewandowski up front should have more of a scoring threat, but alas, only 1 goal and no other real threats for Poland.

31.  Panama - The only saving grace to yesterday's 6-1 thrashing is that Panama scored its first ever World Cup goal.  And, a 6-1 defeat to England is better than a 5-0 loss to Russia (see below).

32.  Saudi Arabia - Through 2 rounds, the Saudis are easily the worst team in the tournament, losing 5-0 to Russia and 1-0 to Uruguay.

World Cup - Russia 2018

So the first round games of the world's largest sporting event is complete, meaning that all 32 have played one of their three group games.  Although it is far from determined as to who all will advance to the bracket, several teams made strong statements, and several proved they are just lucky to be in the World Cup.  The below is a ranking of how the teams have looked so far.

A couple of notes as to the standings: (1) The teams that won are all listed ahead of any teams that drew, even if the the latter looked better; (2) My rankings come only based upon how I think each team has looked so far, taking into account their opponent - prior rankings of the teams do not factor into these rankings; and (3) Score can be a factor in how a team performed, but if a team won by 5 it doesn't necessarily mean they are ranked higher than a team that may have won by 2 goals.

Winners

1.  Belgium - The number three ranked team in the world looked every bit that good as they dismantled Panama behind a brace from Romelu Lukaku and a gorgeous volley from Dries Mertens (who is one of the best players so far in this tournament).

2.  Mexico - El Tri beat the vaunted Germans 1-0, but seemed to control large portions of the game.  The midfielders controlled possession and were not afraid in close possession against the team most select to win the entire tournament.

3.  Russia - The hosts decimated Saudi Arabia 5-0 behind a brace from Denis Cheryshev.  Although Saudi Arabia is likely the worst team in the tournament, Russia did exactly what it was supposed to do.

4.  Senegal - Probably the best dark horse in the tournament, Senegal proved that they are possibly the fastest overall team in Russia.  A late concession made the game closer in score than it was on the pitch.

5.  Croatia - Defeated Nigeria 2-0 and seemed in control most of the match.

6.  England - A brace by Harry Kane, including an extra time header to win, in a solid performance over Tunisia.  Late substitute Ruben Loftus-Cheek put a lot of offensive pressure on Tunisia, and we should look for him to start next match.

7.  Sweden - A solid if unspectacular win over South Korea.

8.  France - Lucky to have defeated Australia 2-1 in a match in which France played well below their talent level.

9.  Serbia - Defeated a defensive-oriented, but non-spectacular Costa Rican team.

10.  Uruguay - Took an 89th minute goal to defeat Egypt.

11.  Japan - Took advantage of a third minute red card for an intentional handball in the box to defeat Colombia 2-1.  Without the dismissal, Japan likely loses.

12.  Denmark - They won a game in which Peru often looked like the better squad.

13.  Iran - A 90+5th minute goal to defeat Morocco 1-0 and to snatch 3 points from an otherwise deadlocked match.

Ties

14.  Spain - Tied Iberian rivals Portugal in a 3-3 stunner, coming back from deficits of 1-0 and 2-1 and losing the win on an 88th free kick by Ronaldo.  Diego Costa with a brace.

15.  Portugal - Tied on a stunning free kick by Cristiano Ronaldo in the 88th minute to complete his hat trick.  Only behind Spain because the last foul Ronaldo drew might have been a bit of a flop.

16.  Brazil - Really controlled most of the game against Switzerland, but one defensive breakdown allowed the Swiss to draw against the pre-tournament co-favorites.

17.  Argentina - Also controlled their match against Iceland, for the most part, and Messi had an attempt to take the lead on a penalty, but the penalty was saved by Hannes bor Halldorsson.

18.  Switzerland - Not a superb effort, but enough offense to draw with Brazil.

19.  Iceland - Like Switzerland, but with less offense and much better defense.  A Messi missed penalty was the difference.

Losers

20.  Peru - The one losing team that actually looked like it controlled the game.  Lost 1-0 to Denmark, but that game easily could have gone the other way.

21.  Germany - Although Mexico deserved the win, Germany played fairly well.  I don't foresee the Germans being this far down the list after round 2.

22.  Australia - Really gave France a game.  Les Blues were lucky to come out of that game with the full 3 points as Australia earned/deserved a draw.

23.  Colombia - Played galliantly with only 10 men for the last 87 minutes plus extra time.  Probably deserved to be ranked higher, but the 2-1 loss to Japan will be hard to stomach.  Still likely to escape the group stage, but it is much harder of a job now.

24.  Poland - Managed a late goal to make their 2-1 loss against Sengal interesting, but looked slow throughout.

25.  South Korea - Lost 1-0 in a close match against Sweden, but looked sluggish as this was one of the least interesting games of the first round of the group stage.

26.  Nigeria - Did not put up too much of a fight in the 2-0 loss to Croatia.

27.  Egypt -Played Uruguay tough, only giving up a late goal to lose, but looks powerless with Mohammed Salah on the pitch.  Next round should look much different.

28.  Costa Rica - Lost 1-0 to Serbia, but doesn't look like it has much firepower at all. It'll be a feat to score a goal in the tournament.

29.  Morocco - Played a fairly good defensive game in the loss to Iran.  Not dangerous on the ball at all.  Only ranked this high because the three teams below looked so putrid.

30.  Tunisia - Lost to England 2-1, and in fact, actually made the English squad look good, despite holding onto the draw until Harry Kane's header in extra time.

31.  Panama - Looked fairly good defensively for a half, and even took some - not much but some - offensive chances.  Second half was a whole different game.

32.  Saudi Arabia - Lost 5-0 to the hosts, Russia.

Final Four Chronicles - The Finals

The Finals are here, and we all expect Villanova to run right through Michigan.  Michigan just doesn't have enough people that can score for them, and Villanova has those players, everywhere, even on the bench.  Here is our the route we took to the final game.

8:55 - Everyone is awake.

9:28 - Hopps and Pepster head to the store/coffee shop for well, coffee and breakfast.  Three doors down there is a gentlemen outside his house (decrepit with a weed-ridden yard) pointing at things and discussing with a woman who looked like she was a neighbor walking down the sidewalk before he stopped her.  Hopps says, "Is he trying to convince her that his house is nice?"  We were pretty sure that he was hitting on her.

10:07 - Hopps pulls into the Church's Fried Chicken parking lot as the sign on the door says they open at 10.  (Yes, there was a Church's in our neighborhood).  Hopps goes to the door, but it is locked.  Waits for several minutes until he sees someone inside and goes back to the door.  It turns out the sign says open at 10:30.  Hopps blames his glaucoma.

Entire morning - We do work.  It is a Monday after all.

12:20 - Uber downtown.

12:28 - We pass the Texas Liver Institute, conveniently located within blocks of the Riverwalk.

12:31 - Strong opening presence for Villanova.

12:36 - At MadDogs for lunch.

12:45 - 8 ladies in Villanova garb sit down at the table near us and immediately order shots of Jameson's.  We take bets as to whether they will make it to the game or not.

13:13 - This bar serves Coors Lite or water in tins that resemble large solo cups.  The cans are Coors Lite swag given to the bar.  Sinickal asks the bartender if he can have his water in a regular cup and his Bud Light in the tin.  The bartender tells him that it would feel like lying if he did that since the cups were from Coors Lite, and then continues, "I only lie to girls."  The other bartender has no such qualms.

14:10 - Finish lunch and go to the Alamo.  This is the quickest academic trip any of us have ever taken.

15:00 - Some homeless guys on the Riverwalk go to toast us because they also have "energy drinks".  The toast ends with them saying, "And don't forget to, uh ... uh ... well ... just be careful tonight."

15:25 - At Durty Nelly's on Riverwalk.  As we approach the bar a piano player is playing Country Roads.  Pepster remarks that "If he really liked country roads, he wouldn't have flown his own airplane!"

15:32 - See a lady walking wearing a "Michigan Alumna" shirt.  Pepster applaudes her because it says "alumna" where all the rest of the shirts say "alumni", and this annoys admittedly way more than it should.

15:40 - As we sit at the outside patio tables at Durty Nelly's, gusts of wind blow all types of "things" off the trees on the Riverwalk.  Hopps is annoyed (go figure).  Hopps responds that, "In Quincy [MA} the trash is on the streets."  Sinickal reminds  him that "In Quincy, the trash walks the streets!"

15:41 - Pepster just responds to Hopps (about something different from the above statement), "Really Hopps?  We are in public!"

15:43 - After a random discussion, Sinickal mentions that, "We party so hard we brought our lawyer.".  Lady sitting alone at the table next to Hopps and Pepster and across from Tony and Sinickal finally laughs.  It should be noted that she is alone because her husband has been out of the restaurant on the phone for about 20 minutes.  She has been trying to ignore us, but this line brought her into the conversation.

15:45 - Sinickal decides that next year we all share our phones with each other's location finders because "Racsan always turns right".  Racsan in this situation is Hopps, and it is Nascar spelled backwards.  (For those that don't understand, the Nascar races on ovals, or most of the races, only include left turns.  This is not the first nickname for Hopps (See "K-Fed" 2007; See also De Angelo Russell 2016).

15:46 - The husband of the lady at the table next to us returns from phone calls and texts.  It turns out he is just like us, travelling to as many final fours as possible.  This is also his fourth in a row, just as it is for Pepster, Sinickal and Tony.  It's Hopps's third out of four years.  We tentatively make plans to meet in Minneapolis.

15:48 - It is becoming increasingly hot outside.  Sinickal wants to find some air conditioner, at states, "We need some shade."  Hopps responds that "I have been trying to throw shade for 4 days!"

16:00 - We meet Mike and Larissa at The River's Edge.  Mike is a fellow member at Sinickal's golf club in the D.C. area.

16:00 - 18:00 - Mostly radio silence as we try to make Hopps behave in front of Mike and Larissa.

18:22 - While discussing a memorial golf tourney in honor of Dr. Hopps, which will be in D.C. later this year, Sinickal tells Mike that "This is something that you want to be a part of",  Mike, grasping his beer for another sip says, "Thing is, I don't drink."

18:41 - We seea young girl walking on a stone wall on the Riverwalk near her parents but not really paying attention to her surroundings.  She hits a tree, causing her to fall onto the wall and then onto the sidewalk.  We think she is OK.

As an aside, we have no idea how more people don't fall into the river at the Riverwalk.  The walkways are narrow, made mostly of uneven stone, with no guardrails of any kind, with too many people, and lots of beverages.  It is a good thing the river is only about 5 feet wide and 3 feet deep.

19:00 - We notice that at the table next to us is Tubby Smith, Lute Olson, and their respective wives.  Go Cats!

19:02 - Hopps actually takes a picture with Tubby Smith, but Hopps doesn't share.

19:34 - After finally getting our tab (boy is service generally bad here), we head to the Alamodome.

20:01 - In the concourse, see 3 of 8 Villanova girls that had the early Jameson shot at lunch.  I guess some of them were able to make the game.

20:08 - In seats for the championship game.

20:12 - 20:14 - After watching Michigan's dapmaster, we determine that a dapmaster is somebody that everyone should recruit for their team!

20:20 - Tipoff.  Mostly radio silence.

21:47 - Villanova's band plays Carry On My Wayward Son by Kansas.  After destroying Kansas in the semi-finals, this is funny.

22:30 - Villanova Wildcats - YOUR NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!!!

As a side note on the game, despite jumping out to a lead, the Wolverines never had a chance, especially once Mo Wagner caught a personal and a double foul on the same play early in the second half.  He was legitimately the only scoring threat on Michigan's team, and he had to monitor his play in the second half to keep from getting an early fourth.  This is coincidentally when Donte DiVincenzo went on his second run of the game.  We glossed him "Donny Buckets!"

22:45 - Villanova's band plays All I Do Is Win" by DJ Khaled.

22:52 - One Shining Moment!  The pinnacle of the Final Four.

22:57 - Sarah Spain tweats, "Is it better to be on One Shining Moment crying, or not on One Shining Moment.  We all agree the former.

As an aside, watching a game like this while simultaneously monitoring social media - especially twitter - is AMAZING!!!! (Assuming your follow sports writers and commentators).

23:18 - Off the Alamodome campus.

23:31 - Meet up with Hopps at Durty Nelly's.  (Hopps left before the end of the game to beat the rush).

00:38 - Order Uber home.  The drive that picks us up is the same driver that took us to Riverwalk.

00:40 - We try to calculate the percentage likelihood that this would happen.  Driver reminds us that only 30% of Uber vehicles classify as "Uber XL".

00:56 - Go to sleep.  Pepster has to leave at 5:00 to go to the airport in the morning.

00:57 - Immediately start planning to go to Minneapolis 2019.

NCAA Tournament Pool - Final Results

No real analysis out, because frankly, I am basketballed out!  Been a long, but great tournament.  I will say congratulations to our winner Day Yi 2 of New York City, who had Villanova as his champion and Michigan in the Final Four.  Congratulations to our second place entry of Carolyn Fowler and Jane Reynolds (joint entry) of Wellington, Florida, who rode Villanova to their second place finish.

For the first time in the history of my pool, I have had to employ the tiebreaker.  Losing the tiebreaker and finishing out of the money is Thomas Bean 1 of Palm Beach Gardens, who also had Villanova as his champion.  He lost due to the tiebreaker of first round games correct, and in that round Thomas went 22-10.

Before I announce the third place winner of our tiebreaker, I want to explain why I have the tiebreaker the way I do.  First off, total points for the finals seem a bit off for me, as everyone is guesstimating the totals based upon their projected finalists, who may not even be in the game.  Second, people who select a lot of games correctly often fall behind early in the standings to those that pick more upsets correctly because of the bonus point structure.  This tiebreaker makes people at least think about which upsets they pick instead of just picking as many as possible to get the bonus points.  Nevertheless, our third place winner went 23-9, only one game better than Thomas Bean 1.  She also had a finals matchup of Villanova over Michigan - the only person in the pool to have both games correct.  Congratulations to Arlene Amo Hopps of Quincy, Massachussetts.

Also congratulations to me for being the highest ranking Sosa, and to all of you that finished the highest in your family/friends group so that you having bragging rights for the next year.

A little special recognition to Dan Barsky of Miami Beach, who amassed the highest point total without correctly having the champion.  Dan finishes in 10th place.

I will be sending out payments shortly, as SOME PEOPLE STILL NEED TO PAY!!!  I could be cordial and just hope you see this statement and pay me quickly, or, I could be rude and post everyone who did not pay to publicly shame them.  Or I suppose I could contact you privately.  Guess which type of person I am?!

If you paypaled me, I can paypal your winnings back.  If you paid by cash, check or in person, let me know how you would like to receive your payments.

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL - AND THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR PLAYING!!!!

1.  Day Yi 2 - 121 - Villanova

2.  Carolyn Fowler and Jane Reynolds - 113 - Villanova

3.  Arlene Amo Hopps - 111 - Villanova over Michigan

     Thomas Bean 1 - 111 - Villanova

5.  Rich Samuels 2 - 110 - Villanova

6.  Jessica Samuels - 109 - Villanova

7.  Sasha Moon - 105 - Villanova

     Steven Usma 2 - 105 - Villanova

9.  Max Macon 3 - 100 - Villanova

10.  Dan Barsky - 97 - Virginia

11.  Josh and Katie Zdrowak - 96 - Villanova

12.  Katie Kollmeyer - 67 - Villanova

13.  Katie Zdrowak - 93 - Villanova

14.  Noel Martinez 2 - 92 - Villanova

15.  Chris Kroesen - 91 - Xavier

16.  James Garvin - 90 - Villanova
       Steven Usma 5 - 90 - Villanova

18.  Pepe Sosa - 89 - Villanova

      George Walks 3 - 89 - Virginia

20.  Paul Cummings - 87 - Villanova

21.  Kent Armstrong - 86 - Villanova

22.  Dan Laishley - 84 - Virginia

       Max Macon 4 - 84 - Virginia

       Glen Merchant - 84 - Villanova

25.  Jacey Fowler 1 - 83 - North Carolina

       Debbie Igdaloff Nieman - 83 - Virginia

27.  Martha Kroesen - 82 - Villanova

       Day Yi 1 - 82 - Virginia

       Joshua Zdrowak - 82 - Kansas

30.  Colleen Hamilton 2 - 80 - Villanova

       Anthony LaPira - 80 - Michigan State

       Allison Parker - 80 - Virginia

33.  Rich Samuels 1 - 79 - Kansas

       Steven Usma 3 - 79 - Michigan

35.  Col. Kareem Montague - 78 - Villanova

       Barkley Sosa - 78 - Kentucky

37.  Michael Litsey - 77 - Villanova

38.  Jeremy Spuhler - 76 - Duke

       George Walks 6 - 76 - Michigan State

40.  Bill Ganoe 2 - 75 - Virginia

41.  Greg Kummerlen - 74 - North Carolina

       Jane Reynolds - 74 - Michigan State

43.  Adam Jorgensen 2 - 72 - Michigan State

       Ty Leatherman - 72 - Virginia

       Biscuit Zdrowak - 72 - Michigan State

46.  Carolyn Fowler 71 - Kansas

       Jeff Plamodon - 71 - Virginia

       Bryan van Gorder - 71 - North Carolina

       George Walks 4 - 71 - North Carolina

50.  Matt Hopps - 70 - Virginia

       Kyle Sheehan - 70 - Duke

52.  Jen Armstrong - 69 - Michigan State

       Thomas Bean 2 - 69 - Michigan State

       Jim Coleman - 69 - Gonzaga

       Duncan Merchant - 69 - Virginia

       Brittany Sosa - 69 - Duke

57.  Alvaro Gonzalez - 68 - Michigan State

       Cheryl Spuhler - 68 - Duke

59.  Colleen Hamilton 1 - 67 - Virginia

       Adam Jorgensen 1 - 67 - Duke

       Edy Pecan - 67 - Michigan
       Wes Wiggins 1 - 67 - Arizona

63.  Albert Harper III - 66 - Michigan State

       Mango Merchant - 66 - Michigan State

65.  Silas Nichols - 65 - Arizona

66.  Abigail Sosa - 66 - Michigan State

67.  Steffan Alexander - 63 - Florida

       Bill Danner - 63 - Virginia
       Measha Williams 2 "Upset City"- 63 - Duke

70.  Steven Usma 1 - 62 - Kansas

71.  Cathy Donahue - 61 - Duke

       Steve Jorgensen - 61 - Arizona

       Max Macon 2 - 61 - Michigan State

       Justin Yung - 61 - North Carolina

75.  Hannah Sosa - 60 - Florida

       George Walks 2 - 60 - Kansas

77.  Bill Ganoe 1 - 59 - North Carolina

       Max Macon 1 - 59 - Kansas

       Noel Martinez 1 - 59 - Duke

       Traci Sheehan - 59 - Duke

       Measha Williams 3 "Spread" - 59 - Virginia

82.  Jenna Finkelstein - 58 - North Carolina

       George Walks 1 - 58 - Kansas

       Keith Zdrowak - 58 -  Duke

85.  Colleen Hamilton 3 - 57 - North Carolina

86.  Kingfish Rod Parham - 56 - Kentucky

87.  Brent Bellinger - 55 - Virginia

       Measha Williams 1 - "Gut" - 55 - Virginia

89.  Joe Carter - 54 - Virginia

       Jonathan Wasserman - 54 - Duke

    
91.  Wes Wiggins 2 - 53 - Michigan State

92.  Samantha Sheehan - 52 - Duke
       Steven Usma 4 - 52 - Duke

94.  David Peterson - 51 - Virginia

95.  Bill Foman - 48 - North Carolina

       Jacey Fowler 2 - 48 - Cincinnati

97.  Mac Kroesen - 47 - Gonzaga

98.  Carter Alexander - 46 - Florida

      Amy Zdrowak - 46 - Michigan State

100.  Karen Katz - 45 - Virginia

101.  George Walks 5 - 44 - Arizona

102.  Eric Inge - 42 - Virginia

103.  Doug Tuttle - 36 - Florida

104.  Griffey Parker - 31 - Xavier

105.  Ashley Poer - 30 - Virginia

Unknown - Matt Nieman - I still need to talk to you about my bracket question! - YES STILL!!!