Happy Friday The 13th!

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March Madness Recap: The Quest To Beat My Wife

So now that the NCAA Tournament is over, I’m sure some are wondering who prevailed in the bet between my wife and I.  The terms were simple: Winner picks the location of our next dinner date.  Would I find myself repeating last year’s win or would I be wearing a shirt with buttons in a “grown-up restaurant?” Let’s find out.

Because the tournament’s round of 64 games are only worth 10 points, neither of us was able to establish any kind of dominant lead.  When all 32 games had finished, I found myself with a mere one game advantage over my wife.  However, I easily took the biggest first round blow as Missouri (one of my final four picks) was eliminated. Score after Round of 64: James 220 Jackie 210.

The next round gave me a little more breathing room as I was able to correctly pick four more games correctly than Jackie.  And on top of that, she also lost one of her final four (Florida St.).   It’s safe to say I started to feel like I had this one in the bag.  Score after Round of 32: James 420 Jackie 330

I managed to open up even more of a lead in the Sweet 16 round, correctly guessing six of the eight games.  Jackie, on the other hand, only picked half the games correctly and lost another of her final four (Michigan St.).  Score after Sweet 16: James 660 Jackie 490

As the Elite 8 round began, I was fairly sure I would wrap it up here.  I was easily one or two key wins away from making it mathematically impossible for Jackie to win.  Unfortunately for me this round saw me taking the most brutal hits of the whole tournament.  With Syracuse’s defeat, I lost not only one of my final four but also one of picks for the championship game.  Jackie was able to keep pace with me through the round and match the 160 points I put up.  Though I came out of the Elite 8 maintaining my 170 point lead, Jackie was going into the Final Four with both of her championship teams alive.  It was time to start worrying. Score after Elite 8: James 820 Jackie 650

As the Final Four began, it became very clear what I needed to happen.  A Kansas loss would end it all and give me the win.  But just like Wisconsin, Indiana, and Michigan St; the Big 10 just couldn’t get it done.  Ohio State fell to the Jayhawks and gave Jackie a perfect 320 point round.  I was able to get one game right and found myself heading into the championship with the same lead I had after the first round.  I knew I was done for.  Score after Final Four: James 980 Jackie 970

After 62 games, our brackets came down to the championship.  And seeing as we all already know that Kentucky won, the question is “Who picked them?”  The answer can be simply put in two words:

I did! (Final Score: James 1300 Jackie 970)

 Dave & Buster’s here we come!!! (Pictures coming soon)