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Some of the best news to come out of 2020 was a study by Dr. Matthew Martinez, the director of Atlantic Health System Sports Cardiology at Morrison Town Center. In his study, 789 professional athletes from the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, MLS and WNBA who had tested positive for the coronavirus underwent cardiac screening. Only 30 of 789 saw additional testing and only five of 789 were diagnosed with inflammatory heart disease. That’s 0.6 %; less than one percent for all of the math nerds. Dr. Martinez’s study showed us that the prevalence of a heart-related injury related to Covid-19 is very low. Thank Goodness, now let’s get out our dancing shoes!
Last year we had a different kind of March Madness as the NCAA was forced to cancel the most popular bracket in all of sports. The $600 million-dollar loss in revenue for the NCAA in 2020 was the biggest bracket buster in tournament history. Bigger than 2016 when #1 seed UVA was upset by #16 seed University of Maryland Baltimore County. (That was the only time a #16 seed has ever upset a #1 seed in tournament history.) After a year of madness, we have learned a lot. The NCAA quickly learned that decisions have expensive consequences.
Finally, we have a national event to unify America where we can all yell and cheer as our bracket falls apart round by round. March Madness is a reminder that no one is perfect as there has never been a perfect bracket, ever. The chances of a perfect bracket are about one in 9.2 quintillion. (That’s a 1 and 18 zeros.)
March Madness narrows the field of more than 350 Division I colleges and universities down to a bracket of 68 teams. The first 32 chosen are automatic bids for the winner of each conference tournament. (This year there will only be 31teams because the Ivy League did not allow basketball to play.) The rest of the teams selected are chosen by a selection committee and there are always winners and losers who sneak in and get left out of the Big Dance.
This year the entire tournament will be played in Indiana with most of the games being played in Indianapolis. If you took off work on Thursday to watch day one of the madness, you just wasted a day off. The tournament will start the first round on Friday this year and the first two rounds will finish on Monday. (Play in games will be played on Thursday. Michigan State vs UCLA, that should be the one game worth watching.)
Duke, Kentucky and Louisville are all left out of the field of 68. The last time Duke and Kentucky both missed the Tournament was 1976. Speaking of the state of Kentucky, Ole Rick Pitino is back in the bracket coaching Iona. Pitino is the only coach to lead three different schools (Providence, Kentucky, and Louisville) to a Final Four. No one in basketball loves a good hooker scandal more than Rick Pitino.
Speaking of 1976, Coach Bobby Knight’s 1976 Indiana Hoosiers were the last team to win the Tournament undefeated. The only team in the field of 68 who remains undefeated this year is the number one overall seed, the Gonzaga Bulldogs. Fun fact, if I pick Gonzaga to win, they will lose!
The best part of the 2021 bracket is that finally, FINALLY, my mom can stop saying she is the remaining champ in the St.Clair Family bracket. Usually, this game of rubbing my mom’s win in my dad’s face would be fun. But the bracket is based on points from the entire tournament, not just picking the winner. Mom, why fill out the bracket if you just pick the winner? So technically, my dad won the 2019 bracket based on points, but my mom picked UVA to win and they did so she has declared herself the champ for the last two years.
2019 was also the year that the University of Tennessee got screwed by a turd from Purdue who kicks his foot like a cheerleader when shooting. I still believe UT’s speed with Jordan Bone would have dominated the painfully slow Cavaliers from UVA who went on to win. Yep, I’m still bitter about it and annoyed every time my mom gloats about UVA.
Get out your dancing shoes; the Tournament is back! Fill out your bracket and remember, every decision has a consequence. Choose wisely.