BIG WEEK FOR THE ENJOYMENT OF LIFE

The Iran War is plodding along, and President Donald Trumped is getting pissed about European and Asian countries not immediately joining the USA to take control of the Strait of Hormuz.  There are some winners in this conflict, like Russia (their oil is now out of quarantine, and they are getting $30/barrel more today), oil companies and others I'll get into, maybe tomorrow.  Ukraine, for example, is in demand because they have found a way to "cheaply" intercept drones.

Today I'll focus on what is happening right in front of you if you have a television set.  97% of American homes do, and this coverage is 79% worldwide.  Of course, more than 90% of adults in the USA also have a smartphone, and this percentage is getting close to 80% globally.

I'll start with the Academy Awards, bestowed last night.  You can watch 8 of the 10 for free on a streaming channel, and the other two at a small cost (compared to the price of a theater seat, plus the popcorn, gasoline, safety, COVID and so forth):

Best Picture Nominees Streaming on Subscription Services:

• Frankenstein: Streaming on Netflix.
• Train Dreams: Streaming on Netflix.
• Bugonia: Streaming on Peacock.
• Hamnet: Streaming on Peacock.
• One Battle After Another: Streaming on HBO Max.
• Sinners: Streaming on HBO Max.
• The Secret Agent: Streaming on Hulu.
• F1: Streaming on Apple TV+. 

Other Nominees (Available to Rent/Purchase):

• Sentimental Value: Digital rent/purchase.
• Marty Supreme: Digital rent/purchase. 

Whoopie......I can watch ALL of the free ones because I now have all of those stations, for free.  Incidentally, you can go to streamable.com and get all the ceremony details.  You can read this Time magazine article for The Best, Worst, and Most Memorable Moments of the 2026 Oscars.  Well, one more.  Conan O'Brien did fine and will no doubt return next year for the third time.  He is 62 years old.

I've enjoyed the World Baseball Classic more than I ever thought I would.  

• One reason is that those other teams are better than I expected.
• When the USA played the Dominican Republic yesterday, I was astounded about the batting lineup of this country in the Caribbean with 11.6 million people.  Here were the starters.

Dominican Republic Starting Lineup vs. USA (March 15, 2026)

• RF: Fernando Tatis Jr.
• 2B: Ketel Marte
• LF: Juan Soto
• 1B: Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
• 3B: Manny Machado
• DH: Junior Caminero
• CF: Julio Rodríguez
• C: Austin Wells
• SS: Geraldo Perdomo
• SP: Luis Severino 

USA Starting Lineup vs. Dominican Republic (March 15, 2026) 

• SS: Bobby Witt Jr.
• 1B: Bryce Harper
• RF: Aaron Judge
• DH: Kyle Schwarber
• 3B: Gunnar Henderson
• C: Will Smith
• LF: Roman Anthony
• 2B: Brice Turang
• CF: Pete Crow-Armstrong
• SP: Paul Skenes 

• 
  The DR hitters were more awesome.  The U.S. barely won, 2-1, because of our pitching.
• Japan is out because they lost to Venezuela, which today plays Italy, a team that earlier beat the USA.  The winner goes on to the final game on March 17 on FOX at 8PM EDT against the USA.

The Big Dance of March Madness begins with four play-in games on March 17 and 18.  For the neophyte, this is for the NCAA basketball championship.  68 teams vie to become #1.

• Selection Sunday: March 15, 2026
• First Four: March 17 & 18 (Dayton, OH)
• First Round: March 19 & 20
• Second Round: March 21 & 22

• 
  Sweet 16: March 26 & 27
• Elite Eight: March 28 & 29
• Final Four: April 4 & 6 (Indianapolis, IN - Lucas Oil Stadium) 

You can get involved by filling out a bracket or two or more.

• The first four games do not count.
•  CBS has a FREE contest to fill out your brackets. 
• Read the rules.  (Actually, don't bother...go straight to your picks).
• You can begin to sign up from February 17, but no later than 5 minutes prior to the start of the first round game on February 20, which is 11:30AM EDT.
• You have a limit to fill out ONLY up to three brackets.
• The Grand Prize will be awarded at random of participants amongst the top 10% of the point count scorers.  
• This individual will receive 4 tickets to the Final Four games of next year, 2027, plus $6000 for travel expenses for 4 people.  Approximate retail value is $10,000.
• The drawing will be held on or around 7April2026.
• Fill out Women's Bracket.
• Fill out Men's Bracket.

Don't be too crushed if you don't get a perfect bracket. The odds for you guessing all 63 games correctly are 1 in 9.2 quintillion, that's 10 to the 18th power.  

• They say if you have good knowledge of college baseball, your odds are still 1 in 120.2 billion.
• No one in history has gotten a perfect score.
• The longest a verified bracket has ever stayed perfect is 49 games, set in 2019.
• Out of all the submissions, only 0.001% of brackets submitted remain perfect after the first 32 games.
• So you have 63 teams.  The winning person in that 10% best group usually has around 50-55 correct games.

My life of joy continues this weekend when we leave on another adventure:  Honolulu to Las Vegas, stop in Denver, river boat cruise from Memphis to New Orleans, Viking cruise from New York City to Toronto and 10-day rain trip from Toronto to Vancouver, stopping by overnight or all day in places like Lake Louise.  I bet I will see a rainbow today from 15 Craigside  Tomorrow, the world honors me:  St. Patrick's Day.  About that title above, hope it also will apply to you, if you don't live in the eastern part of the USA.

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