Dallas Sports: Texas Rangers News Dallas Cowboys News Dallas Mavericks News Dallas Stars News InsideCorner Blog D Magazine » NCAA Basketball

NCAA Tourney: Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner

Eric Celeste — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 20:42:47 +0000

First place was taken by D Empire’s own Jennifer Mosley. For her stellar efforts, she’ll get nothing and like it. I ended up at 323rd, and I was just happy I beat Tim, who finished 350th. FBvians who placed 1-2-3, and their prizes:

1. my turn ($200 gift certificate to M Crowd restaurant)

2. billyhefner (a case of Duvel beer)

3. High Low (sports-watchin’ snacks from O Organics!)

Email me at ericc@dmagazine.com to claim your prizes, folks. And congratulations.

NCAA Tourney Update

Tim Rogers — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 04:37:47 +0000

I’m tied for 173 (Adam’s Hat), clearly showing that Eric (Tim’s Roids Problem) knows more about basketball than I do (he’s tied for 53). Not sure what Evan’s bracket name is (in our office pool, he’s in dead last). Finally, I thought I’d draw attention to my favorite bracket name (that tried) in the worst position, which is: John Wiley Price’s Bird Poop. Go, Dr Pepper!

NCAA Tourney Is Full

Eric Celeste — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 15:06:31 +0000

We’ve got 500 teams, which is apparently all Yahoo can handle.

Given the huge number of participants, I’m going to see if we can get some more prizes for 2nd and 3rd place. Maybe a gag gift for last place. Hold, please.

Selecting the NCAA Selection Committee

Jeff Miller — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 21:03:37 +0000

Jay Bilas has made it clear he wants more members of the tournament selection committee to have basketball backgrounds, specifying more former coaches. Here is a link to the bios of this year’s 10 members (it appears four were basketball players/coaches). I talked with the only member from a Texas school – who happens to be the only female on the committee and only the second ever on it – Lynn Hickey, athletic director at UT-San Antonio. She said she could talk about the process in general but not about any particular school’s circumstances.

Hickey was an All-American player at Ouachita Baptist in Arkansas. She coached 15 years combined at Kansas State and Texas A&M. She said committee members Tivo games and watch 4-6 hours of basketball a day during the season and get to as many games as possible. I met her in late January at a SWAC game, Prairie View A&M hosting then-league leader Alabama State (which won the league and lost Tuesday night’s play-in game). She was there after watching Texas A&M play Oklahoma State that afternoon in College Station. ”You give part of your life away,” she said. She just finished the second year of her five-year term.

“There are a lot of people sitting there that know basketball, that have been in the collegiate world and hired coaches and running programs for a long time,” Hickey said. “I don’t think that’s a room of people that do not have expertise. It’s a group of people who are extremely dilligent.”

As for Bilas’ call for a greater presence of ex-coaches, the ex-coach said, “Coaches are always going to want coaches unless it’s someone that they coached against. The game and the tournament are in the hands of some very, very good people.”

So when Mississippi State comes out of third place in the SEC West, beats Western winner LSU in the semifinals and then edges Eastern co-champ Tennessee to steal the league’s automatic bid on selection day, do the committee members groan, roll their eyes and hit their foreheads because they must cite another at-large contender that won’t get in? “You’re prepared the whole time. It’s not like you just knew only 30 minutes before the game that could happen. You have contingencies built in. We try to think ahead.”

Now the hard part of the job. Her first-round “assignment” is to attend the weekend’s games in Miami.

“I don’t make that determination,” she said.

Let’s Continue This: The InsideCorner NCAA Tournament Bracket Fill It Out and Win Tournament Contest

Eric Celeste — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 14:56:24 +0000

I think we had about 200 people compete in last year’s D Empire tourney. We’re already up to 184 as of 9:46 this morning. Let’s try to top last year’s mark by noon.

Remember: The winner will receive a $200 gift certificate to any M Crowd restaurant: Taco Diner, Mi Cocina, The Mercury, or Mercury Chophouse.

Update: Turns out we only had about 120 or so last year. We’re already at 222 in this year’s group. Let’s keep ‘em coming.

Double Update [From Evan G.]: I’m in. Boom goes Celeste.

Let’s Do This: It’s the InsideCorner NCAA Tournament Bracket Fill It Out and Win Tournament Contest

Eric Celeste — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 14:49:26 +0000

Last year, the winner received a $200 gift certificate to Texas de Brazil. This year, the winner will win something very cool, too, the exact nature of which will be determined once I can track down our marketing director and go through her prize drawer. (Not a euphemism.) Rules are simple: Go here and fill out a bracket. (You’ll need a Yahoo account, which is free. The group ID number is 152189. The group name is Bailout Call.) Keep the names clean enough to print on InsideCorner and FrontBurner. D Empire employees cannot win the prize, although we will play for bragging rights. Go. Now.

UPDATE: The winner will receive a $200 gift certificate to any M Crowd restaurant: Taco Diner, Mi Cocina, The Mercury, or Mercury Chophouse. Four words: Suh. Weet. Giddy. Up.