Irish Trojan in Tennessee

Alex Whitfield wins men's pool

By Brendan Loy

Just call it the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

Kansas won the national championship in thrilling fashion Monday night, and Alex Whitfield -- a Nebraska fan who goes by the blog nickname "CORNHUSKERS 94 95 97" -- rode the Jayhawks' coattails to win the 13th annual Living Room Times men's basketball pool presented by the UCLA Bruins.

Whitfield, a Duke alum and resident of Brooklyn, New York, finished with 392 out of a possible 477 points, the second-highest total in Times men's pool history behind Arash Markazi's 409 points last year. Whitfield correctly predicted the entire Final Four, both finalists, and the champion. (Here's his bracket.)

It almost wasn't to be for Whitfield. Kansas trailed by 9 points with 2:12 left, and until Mario Chalmers's instant-classic three-pointer with 2.1 seconds left in regulation, it looked like Amy Greca would join her husband Tom as the first pair of spouses to each own a Times pool championship. (Tom Greca won the 2002 men's pool.) Instead, Amy Greca finished sixth in the final standings.

Dan Port, a 2004 USC alum, finished second with 379 points. N.C. State alum and Ph.D. student Chuck Wessell was third with 369 points. Ken Inadomi had 360 points to finish fourth. Rounding out the Top 5 -- all of whom picked Kansas -- is Virginia student Logan Pugh with 355 points.

Hannah McLaughlin of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, who finished 12th, is the only contestant other than Whitfield who got the entire Final Four, both finalists and the champion correct. Port and Pugh got both finalists and the champion right, plus three of the Final Four.

Complete standings here and after the jump.

Finally, a good game?

By Brendan Loy

It's halftime in the national championship game between Memphis and Kansas, and thus far, the predicted blowout (for whichever team) has failed to materialize. It's 33-28 Jayhawks at the break.

20 minutes till One Shining Moment!

P.S. If this is true, it would be the greatest "shining moment" of them all: "Nantz seemed to go out of his way to mention Packer’s 34th-straight Final Four broadcast. It does seem like this could be his last." More here.

UPDATE: OVERTIME!!! Memphis couldn't hit its free throws down the stretch (missing 4 of its last 5), opening the door for Kansas to tie it on an AWESOME three-point shot with 2.1 seconds left by Mario Chalmers. The Jayhawks finished regulation on a 12-3 run. And now the Tigers have to play OT without Joey Dorsey, who has fouled out.

UPDATE 2: Rock, Choke, Tigers?? Memphis has totally collapsed here. In addition to the free-throw woes, they haven't scored a field goal in over 5 minutes, and it's now 69-63 Kansas with 2:29 left. Poor Jay. He must be losing his mind right now. The Tigers had a national championship within their grasp -- I was already working on the "Amy Greca wins the pool" write-up -- and they let it slip away. Can they get it back?

UPDATE 3: Kansas wins!

Sorry, Jay. :(

P.S. Here's what my current list of TypePad blog posts looks like. The little pencil icon indicates a draft post.

Amy Greca wins! Dewey Defeats Truman! Heh.

P.P.S. I understand John Calipari wants to praise his players and blame himself, but um, how can he say "they did everything they could" when they missed 4 of 5 free throws in the final minute, any one of which would have been enough to win the game?

P.P.P.S. Let it be known that, after an incredibly weak start, I actually won the Loy Household Sub-Pool, thanks in large part to my correct prediction that Kansas would win the championship. (I believe that's the first time I've correctly picked the national champ since UConn won it all in '99.) The final standings were:

Brendan 266
Becky 213
Toby, Sasha & Butter 197
Loyette 194
Robbie 133

Yes, I'm bragging about doing better than my three-month-old daughter, my cats and my dog. :) Hey, when you finish tied for 122nd place in the overall pool, this is what you're reduced to!

If we expand the field a bit, to include all immediate family, we get:

Ginny 310
Ted 290
Leanna 287
Brendan 266
Soren 257
Becky 213
Toby, Sasha & Butter 197
Joe 195
Loyette 194
Jen 174
Robbie 133
Casey 35

Congrats to Ginny! And to Casey! :)

Tonight: Alex Whitfield vs. Amy Greca

By Brendan Loy

It's a battle of the sexes tonight in the 13th annual Living Room Times men's basketball pool presented by the UCLA Bruins, as Alex Whitfield, a lifelong Nebraska fan who goes by the blog nickname "CORNHUSKERS 94 95 97," goes head-to-head with Amy Greca, a Newington, Connecticut resident who professes to "know absolutely nothing about basketball."

If Kansas wins the national championship, Whitfield will win the pool, rewarding his faith in the Big 12's best team. If Memphis prevails, Greca will win; the bracket that she put together "in probably less than 2 minutes" will be the best of the pool's 245 entries.

Whitfield lives in Brooklyn, New York, is a Duke alum, and has been an Irish Trojan blog reader since Hurricane Katrina. Greca, originally of Farmington, Connecticut, is married to Tom Greca, a high-school classmate of pool administrator Brendan Loy and the designer of this year's pool logo. Tom Greca has been competing in Times pools since their inception, and he won the seventh annual men's pool in 2002; if Memphis wins tonight, the Grecas would be the first-ever husband & wife pair to each win a Times pool championship.

Whitfield finished tied for 19th out of 263 in last year's men's pool; Greca finished tied for 97th. Whitfield finished 49th out of 104 in last year's women's pool.

Brennan on the Moor

By Brendan Loy

I linked yesterday to a YouTube clip of Tommy Makem and Liam Clancy singing "Rambles of Spring." That's just one of a whole new treasure trove of Clancy/Makem video clips that have been recently uploaded to YouTube. You might recall that I posted a bunch of clips last August, after Makem's death, but a lot of new videos have appeared since then. Here's another one, a real oldie but goodie, showing a much younger foursome singing "Brennan on the Moor" in 1963:

That, incidentally, is -- like the Kingston Trio's "M.T.A." -- one of my favorite songs to sing to Loyette. Hey, just because I'm a lawyer doesn't mean I can't teach my daughter a "good, healthy disrespect for law!" Hee hee. Actually, I just like singing it to her because it's fun, bouncy and repetitive. No doubt I'll regret this when she gets a little older and, just like I did when I was little, starts bursting out in bawdy Irish songs at inappropriate moments. :) History repeats itself in the new generation...

Quote of the day

By Brendan Loy

Spike Lee: "The Clintons, man, they would lie on a stack of Bibles. Snipers? That’s not misspeaking; that’s some pure bulls***. I voted for Clinton twice, but that’s over with."

He went on to refer to the former president as "Massuh Clinton" -- as in, a slave master -- and to mock "old black politicians" for obsequious loyalty to him. Cue someone from Hillary's campaign calling on Obama to "personally repudiate" those remarks in 5... 4... 3...

USC freshman found dead in dorm room

By Brendan Loy

A tragedy at 'SC: "A USC freshman was found dead in his New/North dorm room around noon Wednesday, after suffering from what appears to be an accidental drug overdose, USC Department of Public Safety officials said." (Hat tip: Becky.)

The student's name is Michael Weiss. His death reportedly follows on the heels of a "series of incidents involving substance abuse" at New/North, "prompting a mass e-mail to residents warning of a new zero tolerance drug use policy."

So sad. May he rest in peace.

CNN Breaking News

By CNN

Coroner's jury rules Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed unlawfully killed; blames reckless actions of her driver and paparazzi.

It's Vaca vs. Freeze in women's pool

By Brendan Loy

Rachel Wetherill was 0.7 seconds away from clinching victory in the 11th annual Living Room Times women's basketball pool -- and putting a UCLA stamp on both of this year's NCAA pools.

Instead, the Bruin alum was mathematically eliminated when Tennessee's Alexis Hornbuckle hit a putback with 0.7 ticks left on the clock, knocking out Wetherill's predicted national champion, LSU. That sets up a "Battle of the Jeffs" in the pool, dependent on the result of Tuesday's title game between Tennessee and Stanford.

Jeff Vaca, a 1982 Cal alum who now lives in Elk Grove, California, will win the pool if his alma mater's archrival, Stanford, wins the championship. Jeff Freeze, a 1992 Indiana alum who now lives in Portage, Indiana, will win the pool if Tennessee repeats as champs.