And the Winner Is,

Apparently, the guy who hosts the new Family Feud made a mistake and announced the wrong winner at the Miss Universe Pageant. It might have been last year, I didn't see it happen, but it was so widely reported that it had to be true. Then, someone announced the wrong film as winning the Oscar for best film, again, I didn't see it happen, but it seems to be accurate. Except for the complete humiliation of the presenter and the terrible heartbreak of the person, or in the case of the Academy Award the people, no real damage was done.

In fact, it might have been better to just move on. I don't know how the cat got out of the bag in either case, but what is the worst thing that could have happened had the beans not been spilled. (Please note the two metaphors meaning the same thing in one paragraph, it shows you are reading a quality blog.)

Sure, we would have had a phony Miss Universe, but it isn't like the other, almost Miss Universe would have been a terrible choice, she was so close. Do you think anybody outside a very tight circle would have been any wiser, things would have been any different. Can you imagine some case where somebody, probably chomping a burnt out, cheap cigar, says. "You know, this would have been a lot better with a different Miss Universe. I just don't like the cut of her jib."

"Aye, Captain, shes not fit to swab the poop deck, that one. Were it only like the old days, when Miss Universe could run a mutineer clean through the liver, and gizzards with her cutlass. We've not had a decent one in a..." You get the idea.

Let's just say that is difficult to imagine. Yes, it is important to have things work out the way they should, once in a while. But common decency should factor in there somewhere.

Both of the films in the great Best Film fiasco were fine, fine movies. Though, I don't know what they are, have seen neither of them, and am completely unfit to make any comparisons, or evaluations. But, to get that close, they must be worthy. The makers of one film were thrilled, the other crestfallen. That will always be the case. Do we have to add false hope?

Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and sometimes you do both at once.

Who knows, this may have been going on for years. It probably has. We just never knew it before,
Why all of the sudden two high profile cases? It could have, at times, even been intentional. "I hate Guatemala, they are not getting Miss Universe, not on my watch." and he picked Luxembourg. And we never knew. Or, "I thought that movie sucked, my ass it's getting best picture." It was invisible to us.

Now, I don't know what to believe, if the Oscars are false is anything real. Life was better when we were all kept in the dark. I miss those days.

NCAA tournament, picks, and more picks,

If you are a basketball fan this is a great time.  Tournaments, championships, the NCAA selection show, the tournament, all piled up in a wild stretch of round ball insanity.  A fan's dream.  Nonstop basketball, "bracketology," March Madness, preceded by the "the road to the Final Four," "the journey to the tourney."

Of course, not all schools follow these successful paths to the post season, some schools travel the more leisurely "avenue to mediocrity," or "boulevard to the bottom."  These roads take much less effort, and a more manageable investment of time and resources.   Many of the teams I watch, and for whom I root follow these paths almost yearly.

But, I still manage to find a team to pick to win the tournament every year.   Normally they don't.  It doesn't really matter who I think is going to win, I have to pick a team that I like.  "Don't bet with your heart, bet with your head," was the constant advice from the owner of the Hub Bar.  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Here is the problem.  There are three options, I can pick a team I hate, and have to root for them to win.  No thanks.  I can not pick a team at all, and be on the outside looking in, as it were, that is not really appealing.  Or, I can pick a team that I want to win, and root for them, hoping for a miracle, pulling for the long shot underdog.

Isn't that really the America way, isn't really the American dream?  A dark horse, coming from the back of the pack, flying past the middle of the pack, driving hard down the home stretch and leaving all of the basketball aristocracy behind,  wondering who these upstarts with the fresh, pimply faces and the unfamiliar uniforms are, isn't that what the tournament is all about?  Isn't that what America is all about?

So, if you know people who ridicule your picks, if you have "experts," or "bracketologists" who question your choices, tell them, "anybody can pick the winner.  Try picking losers for a while, then come see me."