Let's talk boring things, but only briefly.

Boring Thing 1: My NCAA Tournament Bracket
I picked Tennessee over Texas in the final. I added Kansas and UCLA to the Final Four. I'm happy with these picks.

I picked Tennessee because I want Tennessee to win. For a long time, I didn't like Bruce Pearl at all. He's slimy, right? (I mean, he looks slimy, really.) But, as it turns out, it seems like he's a good dude. And he believes that basketball is most fun played ultra-fast, a fun enough sentiment.

I just kind of made picks - didn't think too much, except when it came to over-emphasizing home court-like advantages, which is why I dropped UCLA and Texas in the Final Four. I added Kansas to the Final Four not because I think they're great-great-great, but because I picked Davidson over K-State in Sweet 16 Round in that bracket, and Kansas will probably beat either of those teams, right. (For the record, Davidson was the only non-#1/#2 that I put in my round of 8, which is boring.)

I miss Flax's pool, just a bit. Mostly because I got hourly updates, rather than round-ly updates. I'm not in any pools managed online, so I just track my bracket and wait for the score update email.

In the Rud family pool, success seems to be contingent on UCLA and Xavier, a pretty good contingency plan. I lost Clemson early, but I didn't have faith in them anyway, and I'm excited about what Davidson might be able to do for me. Louisville and Washington State have potential, too. Really, a pretty good draw, but those things happen when you get 12 out of 64. What a system!

NCAA Tournament Saturday pisses me off so much, for three reasons:
1) Why do we wait until 2 EDT to start, after starting at noon on Thursday and Friday?
2) Why is there only one game at 2 EDT?
3) Why do I forget this every year?

Boring Thing #2: My Fantasy Baseball Team
I made a few misjudgments on draft day, I fear, and one prior to draft day, I fear. We're in an OBP league, and I chose to keep Nick Swisher over Joe Mauer. Yes, I understand that catcher is a weak position, and that Mauer is uniquely talented, and that I rode buses with Mauer six years ago, but I just think Swisher is a better hitter. Turns out, I probably could've gotten Swisher in the draft with the 11th pick (that is, the 11th pick of the sixth round), while Mauer went fifth or sixth overall. (For that matter, I probably could've kept both Swisher and Mauer and not kept Travis Hafner, but Hafner can take a walk and hit the ball a mile. I've got Dunn, Swisher, and Hafner. That's an awesome slow-pitch softball team.)

Instead, I drafted Torii Hunter as the best player available in that spot, and even I don't like Torii Hunter so much. But, as consolation, I got Geo-Soto later in the draft. Geo-Soto is a) A Cub, and b) Awesome.

I made a terrible miscalculation on the shortstop position. First, I didn't draft Tulowitzki with my first pick of the draft, hoping to nab him with my second pick, three picks later. The guy behind me already had Hanley Ramirez, and a weaker outfield, but he still took Tulowitzki (which might be a bad pick...we'll see.) So I missed my shortstop. And I waited and waited and waited and was satisfied that I would get either Khalil Greene or Jhonny Peralta as my option. So Greene went, about round ten, leaving me as the only team without a starting shortstop. So I decided to keep waiting, taking a couple of pitching options I was happy about (Bonderman and Joba) and letting the snake go through two more rounds. Nobody needed a shortstop, after all. And then, the pick before the one I was about to grab Peralta, the guy who had just grabbed Greene grabbed Peralta, too. And my shortstop is Julio Lugo.

I've just picked up Jeff Keppinger as a potential option. Baseball Prospectus likes him.

Still, I should be okay. Kazmir-Cain-Lackey-Bonderman-Santana should give me four good options every week, and I like Putz-Lidge. Lugo's my only weakness, and I've got freakin' Miguel Cabrera. Hermida could be huge.

28 is old. Thanks for the calls, if you knew.