McNamara's Band, The Tourney, and My Picks

Today is the start of one of the best days in sports!  With it also being St. Patty's Day, the official song today honors the celtic holiday and one of Syracuse's most beloved players, Gerry "We Wouldn't Have Won Ten F&%$ing Games This Year" McNamara.



Of course, Gerry will always be remembered for shooting the eyes out of the ball when we beat Kansas for the the Nat'l Championship in '03followed by his historic run in the 2006 BET (only to be rivaled by Kemba Walker in this year's BET), but one of my favorite memories of Gerry was in his curtain call to the '03 title during the the opening round of the '04 tournament against BYU.

Gerry drops 43 against BYU in the first game of 2004 Tourney

As for this year's picks, I have a lot of chalk and as always I have Syracuse going farther then they probably will in reality.  Some specifics from my bracket:

• Opening Round Upsets: Richmond, Florida State, Michigan State (How the hell do you pick against Tom Izzo in March?)
• My Final Four: Syracuse, Duke, Kansas, and Pitt (Jamie Dixon finally gets there -- the easiest bracket helps)
• Championship: Kansas (81) over Duke (78)
• The only person with more chalk than me is President Obama (which reminds me -- come see the all new First Impressions!)

Blinded By My Own Loyalty

I finally did my Final Four brackets. A few years ago, based on my boy Matt Troha, I decided to only fill out one bracket and use that in all my pools. I know, I know, it limits my changes -- but I want to win big or not win at all.

This year, I went with my heart and my Orange. AO or not, I think they have what it takes. I based my FF on the "Melo Theory." Basically, what team has the best stud with a really, really, really ridiculously good supporting cast -- just like Carmelo et. al in '03. With that being said, my picks:

- Ohio State (Turner is a beast)

- Kentucky (Ditto for Wall)

- Nova (Scottie has something to prove after a poor regular season finish -- plus their bracket sucks)

- Syracuse (All-America and Big East POY Wes!)

Final: Syracuse over Kentucky 81-78. NB Ever since 2003, I always use 81-78 as my score. Sappy, but I don't care.

PS -- Follow Otto's Army if you aren't already.

Orange and Blue

This article analyzes the colors in movie posters and discovered that orange and blue are used a ton. The article mentions that this trend is seen a lot since "orange/blue just so happens to be the most common set of complementary colors because blue is 'cool' and orange is 'enthusiastic' and 'energetic.'" Being a Cuse fan, I love this. It's right up there with ole Blue eyes saying "orange is the happiest color."

Now, if only the football team could get it's act together like their hoops counterpart.....