Slow Starter

Man, I was staring down the barrel of a 4-3 start and the very real possibility that my bracket was toast on day 1. I've never had that feeling before, always been in it with at least a small chance to take home some money at least into the sweet 16. But yesterday was just a horrible feeling. If BC had lost I might have just torn up the bracket and thrown it away. But somehow they came back, fighting to the end and picked up the W. And with them I fought back as well, going 9-0 after that 4-3 start to rally back into the game. The 3 online pools I'm in have me sitting in 1st, 2nd and 3rd, at most only 2 games back. Not sure about the 4th pool, I gave some money to a guy at bowling. I hope he didn't use it to buy more pot...

I'm glad Washington won their first game. Maybe some of those nay-sayers will get off their back now. Sure they lost to Washington State... twice. But Dick Bennet has brought down a lot of better teams in his day (remember Wisconsin's final 4 run in 2000?). That said, I have them losing to Illinois next. Why do I do that? I hate Illinois and I love the Huskies, yet I pick opposite.

Today's first game is Wisconsin/Arizona at 11:30 CST. Looks like Ray Nixon will be playing after all. He sprained his ankle Monday in practice. I'll be leaving at 11 to go watch it at the bar with a friend or two or three... It is my half day after all. :)
I don't think they're going to win but I had to pick them to win one game so I could cheer them on. Nothing worse than picking against your team and then being torn whether to root for or against them. You know, the old "come on!" and then "well, it wouldn't be horrible if they lost". I hate that...

And now for something completely different.
I'm trying to decide if I want to replace my current phone with a new Blackberry 8700c from Cingular. It's gonna cost me a pretty penny but the upfront cost doesn't bother me, it's the $45/month on top of that for blackberry services that scares me. Is it really worth it? Any of you have one (besides you n1ce, I already know you have one)? I think I might be able to write it off as a business expense. A little help here, please.