Coaches, Moms, and Hot Dogs

My mom loves hot dogs and M&Ms.

What's that got to do with The Shamrock?  Let me tell you.

One of the my favorite parts of coaching was the friendships I made with other coaches. And, within those friendships, I always appreciated how well opposing coaches treated my mom. Especially when her devotion to the Rebels made Johnny Most & Tommy Heinsohn seem impartial about the Celtics in comparison.

There was the time she showed up at my Super Bowl party.  Paul Pecor introduced himself.  She frowned and muttered "i know who are you" as she walked away.

During a game at Essex, I noticed my brother hop up and, with a look of panic on his face, sprint towards the Hornets bench.  Not much makes Patrick panic.  I looked down and there was my mom, on the bench, giving Jeff Goodrich an earful.

Yet, how did things turn out?  Whenever we played Rice or Essex over the final few seasons that I coached, Paul and Jeff would have hot dogs and M&Ms delivered to my mom in the stands.

I know we're only halfway thru the first round.  But, mom, if THIS keeps up, let's just say it's a good thing your new condo is so close to both McGillicudy's and the Hornets Nest Pub.

Enjoy Day 2, especially all you Shamrock fans who are at the 20th Annual Keg Day celebration!

The Picks in Pictures

1 seed

Kansas	39
North Carolina	12
Virginia	7
Oregon	1

2 seed

Villanova	6
Xavier	1
Michigan State	43
Okahoma	9

3 seed

Miami	16
West Virginia	20
Utah	3
Texas A&M	20

4 seed

Cal	5
Kentucky	39
Iowa State	8
Duke	7

5 seed

Maryland	13
Indiana	7
Purdue	21
Baylor	18

6 seed

Arizona	14
Notre Dame	17
Seton Hall	18
Texas	10

7 seed

Iowa	20
Wisconsin	28
Dayton	5
Oregon State	6

8 seed

Colorado	9
USC	7
Texas Tech	9
St. Joe's	34

9 seed

UCONN	17
Providence	17
Butler	13
Cincinnati	12

10 seed

Temple	13
Pitt	20
Syracuse	10
VCU	16

11 seed

Winner Vanderbilt/Wichita State	14
Winner Michigan/Tulsa	8
Gonzaga	24
Northern Iowa	13

12 seed

South Dakota State	18
Chattanooga	14
Arkansas Little Rock	8
Yale	19

13 seed

Hawaii	25
Stoney Brook	5
Iona	21
UNC Wilmington	8

14 seed

Buffalo	9
SF Austin	19
Fresno State	25
Green Bay	6

15 seed

UNC Asheville	10
Weber State	37
Middle Tennessee	6
Cal State Bakersfield	6

16 seed

21:37:27

I bet there was a night when Larry Bird didn't come out for warm-ups. It was pre-social media, so nobody knew what was up.  An uneasy anticipation permeating the Garden.....is Larry sick? Injured?  I spent this month's rent and he's not even fucking playing!?!?

I bet the opposing players felt it.  Curious at first, but not getting their hopes up.  Then, 8 minutes left to tip-ff...6 minutes...2.  He's not here! He's not playing!  We've got a shot!!!!

Then the roar.....as #33 jogged to the court.

He probably casually drained a single warm-up shot, an imperceptible nod to KC signalling "i'm ready."  The moment sapping the opposing team's will, with Bird's toughest task choosing whether to emasculate Isaiah or to play left handed, for the hell of it, and drop 47.

Well folks, something similar happened tonight.  And it happened here. 

Entries were rolling in. Sure, a lot of them. But you felt good. And why wouldn't you?  After all, there was no sign of him.

Still, the tournament doesn't start until the day after tomorrow.  So you didn't get your hopes up.   But...still...you let it creep into your head....."he's not here.  I've got a shot!"

The time-stamp says 21:37:27. Did you feel a wrinkle in the force? I bet you did.  Because that's when Stan submitted his entry.

Stan who?

How about Stan Williams?  Winner of the inaugural Shamrock, the Bird in this Garden.  Now you know how those hapless Pistons felt.

He's here folks.  And, like Bird's old running mate Bill Walton, our chances just went up in smoke.

Wow!

Entries are rolling in!

Two father/son combos.

Aunts and uncles.  (and not mine!)

Coaches, programmers, PA announcers, restaurant owners, jewelers, salesmen, coders, vintners, and whatever people who work with injection molding are called.

Basketball players from (at least) Essex, South Burlington, Burlington, Rice, and Colchester.

Point guards & power forwards.  A bunch of shooters, not many makers.

So far, 65 of the 68 teams have been chosen at least once.  The exceptions: a 1 seed, a 3 seed, and a 4 seed.

Get in!

SHAMROCK16

Welcome to Shamrock16

As a Red Sox fan, I'm leery.  Stan Williams won Shamrock14.  Gino Riffle took Shamrock15.

CVU soccer & basketball.

Rice hockey.

Must be a Yankee fan will win this year.

An entry form is on the "rules" page. It makes things very easy, for you and for me.  If you don't understand the rules, or if you've decided to sneak your way to the title by picking Kansas, UNC, and Virginia, well, please take a look at Stan's winning sheet from 2014.  It shows how to pick 1 team from each seed line.

Good luck!

Riffle Skates to Shamrock15 Title

A hockey guy clobbered us.  Three weeks ago, the idea that a hockey guy would capture the most coveted title in basketball seemed as preposterous as the idea that a team called the Omaha Mavericks would make college hockey's Frozen Four.  Turns out, it's not so preposterous.

Congrats to Gino Riffle, winner of The Shamrock15!

In case you haven't heard, Duke won the national championship.  I assume this pleased Yankee fans, Canadien fans, and people who rooted for England in the Revolutionary War.

Thank you all for playing.  I received $470 in entry fees.  Those in the money:

1st:  Gino Riffle
2nd:  Eric Johnson
3rd:  Julie Trono
4th:  Evan Chadwick
5th:  Derek Trono
6th: Jamie Rubin
7th: Tim Perrin
8th: Tom Lewis

Leader after first weekend:  Gino Riffle

Lucky 17th place:  Pat Camp

St. Paddy's Prize: (best score by seeds 3,1,7)  Matt Villemaire.   Matt had Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Michigan State.  So did Gino.  The first St. Paddy's tiebreaker is "not otherwise in the money."

If you're in the money, send me your address or let me know where I can meet you to pay you.

WOW!

Now that's what I'm talking about!

Wisconsin trailed at the half and gave up 45 in the second.  And they won by 10.

Why?  Dekker's Dagger!  Oh, and Frank Kaminsky was okay too.

Wisconsin vs. Notre Dame should be an unreal Final Four game.

Wait, what?  Notre Dame lost?  But, Auguste & Vasturia made every big play.  A 6'5 kid had 9 rebounds.  Stringer Bell's son answered yet another Andrew Harrison tournament bomb with one of his own.  They didn't win?

No, they didn't.  Because Kentucky had Karl-Anthony Towns.

Wow, what a fantastic day of games.

And it leaves us with a national semi-final featuring Ashley Judd v. Olivia Munn.

By the way, how did the tourney champs from the SEC, ACC, Big 10, and Pac 12 end up on the same side of the bracket?