Crowded at the Top

...and so it begins!  The 11^th annual family pool has started with congestion at the top of the leaderboard.  We have a 4-way tie for first place and a 10-way tie for fifth place.  So, at this time, there is only one game separating 14 of us.  Trust me…that won’t last.  Some of you are bound for self-destruction.  You can help it.  You do it every year.  Let’s take “Momma Graves” for example.  She is currently one of the folks sitting in the 10-way tie for fifth place…only one game out of first place.  Does that sound right to you?  Of course not.  Do you think she’s be able to advance…or even just hang around?  Of course not.  Do you think she will quickly begin to experience a slow and agonizing spin towards the bottom.  Yes.  Yes.  Yes.  It is inevitable.  She belongs at the bottom of our pool.  Over the years, she has made a nice home there.  She’s comfortable there.  We like her there.  “Momma Graves,” I am glad to see you rubbing shoulders with the elite players in our pool.  Don’t forget to say goodbye when you take off for the back of the back. J

“Mr. Card34” (…where do people come up with these names?).  How does it feel to be tied for first place after one day?  Must me a surprise for you considering you finished last year’s tournament in 21^st place. Oh…you probably forgot about that.  Sorry, I didn’t.  We both know you can sustain yourself at the top of the leaderboard.  Picture a man in the ocean struggling not to go under.  That’s you.

“Sweet n Sassy”…well…I don’t have much to say about you.  You’re one of our more consistently good players.  You always give us a run for our money.  Good to see you playing again this year.  Good luck!

“Jodi” and “Cam Jae” round out the 4-way tie for first…  Something smells fishy ‘bout this.  I can’t quite put my finger on it…yet.  But I’ll be watching the two of you.

One of the early disappointments is “Don’t Mess With Tex” who is currently sitting in a 2-way tie for 22^nd place with “Xavier Nation.”  Come on, Tex!  You beat “Xavier Nation!”  Concentrate!  Focus!  Take 22^nd place all for yourself!

…and last but not least (…well, actually, in this case, last IS least) “Corbin Jake Jake” is bringing up the rear.  Dead last after Day 1 (...or should we say 25th place?)  Now my adult instincts tell me to cut this guy some slack since he is only 5 years old.  But I will ignore those instincts and tell him to SUCK IT UP!  LIFE IS HARD!  Sometimes you finish last!  Hang in there Little Buddy.  “Momma Graves” is on the way!

The Commissioner!

Kentucky Wins! zip em up wins!

The 10th annual family pool has come to an end. zip em up is the 2012 champion! Congratulations, Shelbi. Good job. Look for the trophy next month.

kgraves (2-time champion) finished in 2nd for the second year in a row. Good effort once again.

Alice The Great, you almost had this. Kansas let you down. Better luck next year.

The Duge Master hovered around the top for the entire tournament. Congratulations on your top 4 finish!

ill21will, my man…congrats on 5th place this year. I have always considered you to be a joke. I’ve even thought about charging you an entry fee as a way to discourage you from participating. My bad… This year you showed us you have a little something something left in the tank. Look forward to seeing you next year.

Eazy E, Morganbee, UNC#32, Sassy S, and MommaGraves72 round out the top 10. Congrats to all! Especially you, MommaGraves72. You’ve never finished this high. You’re probably suffering from altitude sickness right about now. If you feel dizzy, SIT DOWN…and put your feet up. You’ll be ok.

One of the shockers this year includes yours truly…The Commissioner!, finishing in 19th place. Oh well, it happens. I’ll be back next year! I’m coming for you kgraves (aka Smack Talker Extraordinaire) !!!!

Jimmy Graves Jr., the star athlete of the family, had a horrible showing in his first tournament. Just horrible... I guess you realize (now) that this ain’t no joke. You need to step back and re-group. If you’re man enough to compete next year, you gotta come correct!

Holla At Ya Boy! 1. Hummmmmmm…. To be honest, I can’t “holla” that loud. You’re so far back, we all need megaphones to “holla” at you. I hope none of your readers and followers get wind of this. Twenty-fourth place out of 26 participants. Really? Sad…and pathetic. Check yourself. You need to completely revamp your game before next year. Actually, we may have to put you on the bench for a season. Maybe you can join us for the 2014 tournament. Let me think about it and get back to you.

Last but not least…well, actually, last and least…The Guinea Pig Twins. You two are officially suspended from play. Unless I receive an official letter of apology for your performance this year, you are out! Perhaps I can use an assistant or two in the commissioner’s office. Would you be interested in that? At some point, you’ll have to realize you need to find something else to do with your lives. I’m willing to help you. Call me.

The Commissioner!

Final results below:


1 zip em up
2 kgraves766 1
3 Alice The Great
4 The DUGE master 1
5 ill21will 1
6 Eazy E
7 Morganbee
8 UNC#32
9 Sassy S
10 MommaGraves72 1
11 BIG TEX
11 Cam Jae
13 manuel_larue 1
14 Jimmy Graves Sr 1
14 Jodi
14 Corbin Jake Jake
17 Kdadams
18 Jerome "Bone"
19 drjohngraves 1
20 Carl
21 Jimmy Graves Jr.
22 KeenanDaGreat 1
23 starrmitchell 1
24 Holla At Ya Boy 1
25 Jordan (Guinea Pig Twin 1)
26 jernie (Guinea Pig Twin 2)

Alice The Great vs. zip em up

Well, we’re down to two…Kansas vs. Kentucky…Alice The Great vs. zip em up. The odds are with Kentucky and zip em up but only time will tell. Good luck to our final two competitors!

The Commissioner!

Put logic aside...

Yes, the Duge master is still beating up on everyone. Good job, Duge master. Blah, blah, blah… Who cares? Today, there’s a little more at stake than our brackets. Today, IU has a shot at moving on.

I am not sure about you, but this is a very big deal for me. I went to IU. I studied at IU. I pledged at IU. I worked at IU. I played at IU. I fell in love at IU (a bunch of times). :-) I graduated from IU…3 times. I guest lectured at IU. I recruited from IU. Two of my brothers graduated from IU. My sister graduated from IU. Most of my friends are... from IU. Indiana University is a BIG deal for me.

I was at IU when IU was a basketball school. We won consistently. When we beat Syracuse and won the national title in ’87, I remember taking a step back and trying to soak it all in. …trying to savor the moment. …trying to burn it into my memory so I would never forget the feeling. I remember being happy for fellas on the team…my good friends (Keith Smart, Dean Garret, Ricky Calloway, Daryl Thomas and others). I remember the moment I realized things like that (winning a national title) don’t happen all the time. It was IU’s 5th championship…but I realized it needed to be cherished. I realized it might never happen again.

It’s been 25 years since we won the championship. In those 25 years, lots of things have happened. We made a couple of runs in the 90’s but fell short. In 2002, we upset no.1, undefeated Duke and went on to play for the national title against Maryland. I remember talking to my buddies (IU guys watching the game with me) about how this doesn’t happen all the time….about how lucky we were to be in the championship…about how many students, alums, fans, etc., never get to experience a championship or even playing for a championship. It’s special…and it doesn’t happen for everyone.

In the last 25 years, we (IU) have had a number of seasons when we did not even make the tournament. We were not one of the top 64 teams in the country. Yes, we WERE a basketball school…a long time ago…but not anymore. Now we may be better known for our music department. So, when I saw my Hoosiers playing well early this season, I wondered... I wondered if they had it in them. I wondered if they could beat a team that was good. Then I watched them beat no. 1 ranked, undefeated Kentucky. …and I, like everyone else, screamed with joy. Then I quietly thought to myself, “We’re back.” I then watched that same team beat the no. 2 ranked team and the no. 5 ranked team. I (also) watched our losses to lesser opponents like Nebraska and Minnesota…but I remained hopeful.

Once we entered this year’s tournament, I filled out my bracket. I guessed IU would win 2 games. They’ve done that. Thank you IU…and congratulations. You have met my expectations and you’ve probably exceeded the expectations of a lot of folks. Good job. Even though logic tells me Kentucky will beat my Hoosiers tonight, it is difficult to wrap my brain around that. I always say, “pick logically…but cheer emotionally." Well, today, I am full of emotions. Logic has not factored in. Go IU! Beat Kentucky…again!

The Commissioner!

Ps. I am at Chevron (my client) today. I am the only one sitting in this very corporate environment wearing a t-shirt. …and my t-shirt says INDIANA!!!!!!!

The Dilemma

Well, the first weekend is over. The Hoosiers survived…Duke lost. Who would have thought?

The Duge master sits alone in first place. Congratulations, Duge master…but it ain’t over ‘til it’s over. Lots of basketball still left to be played. Lots! …and who is that standing right behind you in 2nd place? That’s right…it’s me, The Commissioner! The other two guys who are tied for 2nd are on a very slow downward spiral. They’ll continue to fall. Just wait and see.

As we all know, you make your picks logically but you cheer, emotionally. I think we can all agree on that. Right? So, it does not surprise me that many of you have chosen Kentucky to win the whole thing. Logical choice… The dilemma is that Kentucky plays Indiana on Friday. Hummmmmmmm… Interesting. We all want Indiana to win…but at what cost? :-) I love it. If Indiana can upset Kentucky again (and it is possible), then not only will I be happy for my Hoosiers but 10 of you will fall to pieces with shattered brackets. I can hear those brackets crumbling now. :-)

I know what your brackets say…but come on and do the right thing: CHEER for the Hoosiers! You didn’t really expect to win this pool anyway…did you?

Go IU!

The Commissioner!

Indiana Moves On...

“Indiana, our Indiana
Indiana, we're all for you!
We will fight for the cream and crimson
For the glory of old IU
Never daunted, we cannot falter
In the battle, we're tried and true
Indiana, our Indiana,
Indiana we're all for you! I-U!”

Congratulations to my HOOSIERS!

The DUGE master and Jimmy Graves Sr. are at the top of our pool. manuel_larue is in 3rd. Yours truly, the Commissioner, is in 4th place today...sticking distance!

Come on Indiana! Beat Kentucky...again! …that will take care of 10 brackets for me. :-)

The Commissioner!

Madness!!!!

Missouri…out! Duke…out! Gotta love it! This is why we watch the tournament.

Jimmy Graves, Sr. is in sole possession of first place. Looking good Big Jim…

The Duge Master and Carl are in second. Carl, I don’t think you’ve ever been up this high. You're probably feeling the effects of the altitude. How are you? Are you nervous? Maybe a little nauseous? Don’t worry. I’m sure you’re drop pretty soon…and then things will be back to normal. Trust me. You don't have staying power.

Cam Jae, manuel_larue and ill21will are hoovering around the top. Will, I’m happy for you. You’ve been trying for years…and you have sucked for years. Good job so far this year. I know we’re still in the first weekend, but so far so good.

Cam, did you really complete your own bracket. I always have a question mark around your participation in this pool. I may launch an investigation to find to what’s really happening here. If there is anything you want to tell me, please do so immediately. I know you're only 7 years old but once the investigation starts I can’t help you.

Before the tournament began, I received at least two e-mails from kgraves766. I guess talkin’ smack before the first game can come back to bite you. How does 22 place feel?

Speaking of 22nd place, hello Jerome Bone and Big Tex! I hope you guys realize the only ones you’re beating are the Guinea Pig twins. Sad.

Go HOOSIERS!!

The Commissioner!