Oh the Madness!!!

[Editor's Note: we've been having some technical difficulties with the site over the past couple of days and few things are still not back to normal. If anything appears out of the ordinary or is not working properly, we apologize. Hopefully we'll be back up a running properly soon . . . and hopefully this Link Dump works properly.]

So, Selection Sunday is right around the corner and all the major sports media outlets have there Cinder-Bracket-Bouble-Ology-Watch-Ella stories running at full speed. As always, I am uber-excited for the tournament, especially after (knock on wood) the Bruins complete their magical run to the tournament this weekend (nothing says dominant conference like your conference tournament champion getting a 14 seed). As usual, I will be spending some of the opening weekend in Las Vegas with my friends going to some shows placing bets on random five-twelve match-ups.

But as excited as I am for Selection Sunday and the start of the Tournament, there is one thing about this time of year that gets me annoyed: all the other bracket-type features websites and blogs run this time of year. I can not tell you how many emails we get around this time of year or how many links pop up on our favorite sites directing us to some bracket trying to determine "The Greatest Sports Movie of All Time" (Caddieshack), or "The College with the Hottest Chicks" (decent), or "The Best Celebrity Couple", or, of course "The Hottest Woman" (ok, I can get behind that one . . . that's what she said . . . ba-ZING). Even How I Met Your Mother had an episode based on a bracket (but that one was totally awesome, no complaints here). I mean, look, if Sports Illustrated wants to decide the "Hottest Swimsuit Photo of All Time", you are not going to see me complaining (though, let's agree to disagree on the result . . . a fair choice, but I think a little swayed by Ms. Decker's current popularity . . . plus, the bracket lost all credibility once the editors decided to leave out this picture). But why does it have to be in bracket form and why does it have to in March? Is March "Bracket Appreciation March"? Did Congress declare March "National Bracket Month"? I mean, it is only a matter of time before someone starts up "The Best Non-NCAA Tournament Bracket" bracket (hmm . . . I could be onto something, maybe I should copyright that or something . . . anyone know a good attorney?). And then, it is only a matter of time until the whole world comes to an end, which is kind of a bummer.

I do not normally say something like this, but it should let you know just how tired of this I am: please do not send me any links to brackets. I spend a decent amount of times on sports websites and blogs, so there is a good chance (read: I guarantee) I have seen it already. I know, I know, I am not one to chastise my readers, but a man can only take so much. I hope you understand where I am coming from on this one though, and can find it in your heart to stick around as a GameTime, TBD© fan. Maybe these will help:

• If you had the Hartford Courant in the "First Paper to Run Article About How NCAA Office Pool Will Turn You Into a Degenerate" pool, please collect your winnings to the right.
• I was under the impression Tiger did not have much of an image left to manage.
  
• Jim Schwartz goes all ex-boyfriend-stalker crazy to land himself a top free agent; no complaints here.
• Yes Dan, you are just an idiot.
• Lethargy rehab? Is nothing safe from rehab theses days?
• When you are used to playing in hockey hotbeds like Raleigh and Nashville, things in D.C. can be scary.
• The Canada Post puts out amber alert on hockey cards.
  
• So, about that time you had sex with your sister . . .
• I do not know what is sodder, the fact Florida State has a "Sod Cemetery" or that someone bothered to asterisk each of the vacated wins.
• The Pinstripe Bowl? Is that really something we need?
• This year's MLB pre-season "race remarks taken out of context" are brought to you by [*spins wheel*]: Torii Hunter.
• Looks like Nails has gotten himself caught in yet another [legal] pickle.
• It must be a contract year.
• Some quick math tells me that is 1,050 per prostitute for the entire event, or thirty-five per prostitute per day. Gross.

I know what you are thinking right about now: "It's the week before the NCAA tournament. Here comes the 'UCLA comeback versus Gonzaga' video clip". Do not be silly. That clip is worthy of its own post each and every year and you can rest assured that post will come next Wednesday. In the meantime, here are some crazy-entertaining non-NCAA Tournament clips for your viewing pleasure:

• Nothing says "It's baseball season" like a bench-clearing brawl with not one, but two felony assaults.
• While Jimmy Fallon might have fallen short on his Saved by the Bell reunion efforts, he certainly knocked this one out of the park.
• And then he topped off the week with this reunion.
• My Better Half and I are visiting my Bro and SIL at the end March and we plan on seeing a Boston Bruins hockey game. We better also see this.
• Real bears playing hockey. Enough said.+
• This was an inexcusable omission from last week's Link Dump. Rest assured, we have addressed the issue and "taken care of it".
• Look at that, Heidi Montag (at least I think that's Heidi Montag) did something almost funny.

Have a great weekend everyone!