MARCH MADNESS PLUS

Before mostly basketball and some baseball, a couple of news items of the day:

• Donald Trump will talk on the phone to Vladimir Putin tomorrow, and probably announce some sort of cease fire regarding the Ukraine-Russia War.  Whatever eventually occurs, it will not be particularly favorable for Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Ukraine.
• Donald Trump's popularity is below 50%, but only 27% of voters have a positive view of the Democratic Party.
• 
  I unabashedly brag about how great Hawaii is.  Well, from station KHON, Hawaii is the #10 least desirable state in the USA.
• Skyrocketing cost of living.
• Poor employment prospects.
• People here don't like outsiders.  Not only newcomers, but visitors, too.  Those who work in the tourist industry appear to be nice, but are told to do so.
• West Virginia was the most undesirable, Mississippi second worst, then Louisiana and Alaska.

NCAA basketball March Madness begins tomorrow, March 18, for men and 19 for women.  Here is a surprise. from the New York Times.

The men's finals were mostly drawing more than 25 million TV viewers in 90's, while the women drew under 5 million.  Then, last year, for the first time, women games went up to 18.9 million to men only 14.8 million.  I suspect much of this was because Caitlin Clark of the Iowa Hawkeyes, spurred by her rivalry with Angel Reese of the LSU Tigers.

Both the men's and women's brackets have 68 finalists, with two games of mens bubble teams on Tuesday, November 18, and two teams on Wednesday 19, while the women's tournament first four contests will be on March 19 and 20.  The women final two games will be held on April 6 in the Amalie Arena, Tampa, Florida, and men's on April 7 in the Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas.

Women's tournament odds via BetMGM as of March 15:

• South Carolina (+275)  (26.67% probability)
• UConn (+280)
• UCLA (+500)
• USC (+525)
• Texas (+600)
• Notre Dame (+600)
• NC State (+4000)
• LSU (+6600)
• Duke (+10000)
• Tennessee (+10000) (one chance in a hundred or 1% probability)

Worst teams:

• California (+50000)
• Oregon (+50000)
• Washington (+50000)
• Oklahoma State (+50000) (one chance in 500 or 0.20% probability)

On the men's side, the favorites are:  

• Florida +350  (22% probability)
• Duke +360
• Auburn +400
• Houston +600
• Alabama +1200
• Tennesse +1400
• Michigan State +2200
• St. John's +2200
• Iowa State +3000
• Texas Tech +3500 (2.78% probability)

The worst teams are:

• Akron +100000
• Norfolk State +100000
• Alabama State TBA
• Mount Saint Mary's +200000 (one chance in 2000 or 0.05% probability)

If you plan to watch any games, might as well enter one or more entries to various contests.

• CBSSports  2025 NCAA Men's Bracket Games.  
• Click on this page.
• No cost.
• You can sign up for as many as 3 Men's Challenge.
• Rules.
• Deadline:  12 noon ET, Thursday, March 20
• Grand Prize

The Men's Bracket Challenge Grand Prize (the "Men's Bracket Challenge Grand Prize") for the Men's Challenge will consist of four (4) tickets* to the Final Four®games of the 2026 NCAA® Division I Men's College Basketball Tournament*, which include entry into the Semi-Finals and Final games Approximate Retail Value ("ARV") of Four Thousand Dollars (US $4,000.00), and Six Thousand Dollars (US$6,000.00) in cash toward hotel accommodations and transportation to the 2026 tournament host city

• 
  CBSSports 2025 NCAA Women't Bracket Games.
• Click on this page.
• Rest of details same as Men's Challenge, except that the deadline for Women's Challenge is 11:30AM ET on March 21.
• CBS Sports Men's Bracket Challenge and CBS Sports Women's Bracket Challenge Combined Grand Prize
  Participants that that enter both the Men's Challenge and the Women's Bracket Challenge game and meet all eligibility requirements will be entered into a random drawing to win the combined grand prize ("Combined Grand Prize") which consists of one (1) 2025 Nissan Armada®* Hero Pro4x (ARV $75,750), along with the following additional upgrades and features, Premium Paint (ARV $425), Two Tone Paint ARV ($595), OR Two Tone with Premium Paint (ARV $990), Spare Tire Package (ARV $1,356), and Delivery and Handling (ARV $1,390), and which will also include a corporate check solely to be used to offset the taxes, fees or other costs associated with the delivery and initial ownership of the vehicle prize to the Winner, in an amount not to exceed $20,000, dependent upon actual taxes, fees and costs, with a combined total Combined Grand Prize ARV of Ninety Nine Thousand Four Hundred Eighty Six Dollars ($99,486.00).

• 
  ESPN Men's Tournament Challenge.
• Click on this page.
• No cost, but you need to be a registered ESPN.com member.
• You can sign up up for as many as 25 brackets.
• Rules.
• Deadline:  12:15PM ET, Thursday, March 20.
• Prizes
• ESPN Women's Tournament Challenge.

Twenty (20) $5,000 GRAND PRIZES + Twenty Five (25) $1,000 FIRST PRIZES + One $10,000 GROUP CREATOR PRIZE

• There are many other free contests, and some that charge money.

Major League Baseball begins play tomorrow:

• From Tokyo, Japan, Los Angeles Dodgers vs Chicago Cubs at 6:10AM on FOX and your Dodger channel.  
• Then the full opening will occur on March 27. 

Got to mention this, for how many of reading this have a day named after you.  Happy St. Patrick's Day.

• Honolulu has a real parade, and a bash in the evening Downtown.
• But this is nothing like what people do in places like Washington, D.C. do after work.  I spent three years there.  Even President Donald Trump's White House fountain is green.

• 
  Chicago dyed the Riverfront on Saturday, hosted by the plumbers union.  The green dye actually is orange when tossed into the river.  The tradition first started in 1961.
• 
  The first recorded St. Patrick's Day observance in America occurred in St. Augustine, Spanish Florida way back in 1600.
• Lot of early St. Pat doings in Boston.
• One of the largest parade in the world occurred in New York City on 17March1848, and typically today, there are 150,000 marchers.
• While the East Coast had the original Irish immigrants, some of them moved west, and Butte, Montana has the highest percentage of Irish population on any city in the U.S., including Boston, and has quite a celebration, sometimes rowdy.
• 
  Enterprise, Alabama has the World's Smallest Saint Patrick's Day Parade, Hot Springs, Arkansas has the shortest, Henderson, Nevada has a 3-day festival, and there is one, of course, in Dublin, California.
• 
  Of course Dublin, Ireland has a parade, with half a million parade watchers.  Said to be the #1 St Paddy's Day celebration in the world.
• #2?  London, England.
• #3 New York City, #4 Chicago, #5 Buenos Aires, #6 Padua (Italy) and #7 Tokyo.
• 
  Sydney Opera House turns green.
• Top ten strangest St. Patrick's Day traditions.
• A day for wearing green, and consuming corned beef, green beer and Irish whisky.  Exactly what I will do today.

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