March Madness Anti-Picks, Round 3

OK, first things first:

Record, Round 1: 14-9
Total Outlay, Round 1: $1,750.00
Total Winnings, Round 1: $2,607.95
Gain, Round 1: $857.95

Record, Round 2 (Saturday): 0-6
Total Outlay, Round 2 (Saturday): $425.00
Total Winnings, Round 2 (Saturday): $0
Loss, Round 2 (Saturday): $425.00

Record, Round 2 (Sunday): 6-12
Total Outlay, Round 2 (Sunday): $1,550.00
Total Winnings, Round 2 (Sunday): $1,186.49
Loss, Round 2 (Sunday): $363.51

Overall Record: 20-27
Overall Gain: $69.44

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OK, I see what I did wrong there.  I assumed that I did awful in Round 1, so I overcompensated ... not by whipping it out on Saturday, but by blowing my wad on Sunday.  There was so much carnage on Friday's Round 1 (2-seed Michigan St., 3-seed West Virginia and 4-seed Cal all lost on the same day, the first time a 2-, a 3- and a 4- have all been eliminated in said way), that led me to believe that that roll would continue Sunday, and so I tripled the number of my Anti-Picks compared to Saturday.

Those Sunday upsets did not come through, however.  There was only one upset by seed, Wisconsin over Xavier, and luckily I got that both Against The Spread and Moneyline, but the rest were all misses, and so that's why I wound up being so bad.  Though not as bad as Saturday; I swung and missed on the meager sextet of hypothetical wagers then.  That's why I was so damn lucky that the first round this year was so rife with upsets.  Not only did I not lose my shirt in the first round, I did resoundingly well -- so well, in fact, that it more than made up for the shit day I had Saturday and the wild losses I committed myself to on Sunday.  Of course, if I had the time to tabulate how well I did in Round 1 (including nailing the Stephen F. Austin/VCU parlay) I would have pulled the reins for Round 2.  Still to be better in the black than in the red.

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By the way, even though I lost on nearly all the underdogs, a lot of them came close: SFA, VCU, St. Joseph's ... and Northern Iowa.  Which I have to tell you a quick story about.  Even though I Anti-Picked the Panthers, I have Texas A&M in this pool I annually enter as one of my Final Four picks.  My bracket, just like everyone else's, has gone to shit.  And really, that 1-2-3 sucker punch I suffered Friday has soured me for this tournament and, I'll come out and say it, for the tournament in general.  Like, I hate #MarchMadness now -- more like #MarchSadness.  I didn't feel the masochistic thrill of seeing Cinderella defeat David, and I was not happy to once again be wrong with more than half of my picks, be they dogs, favorites, buzzer-beaters, blowouts, what have you.  I'm pissed, righteously so, and I think this is the first time I really thought, "Why the hell am I betting on this if I always lose?  I'm over this bullshit."

I was at the Urban Bean Sunday night listening to Northern Iowa slapping dick-smacking A&M on satellite radio.  There was no way I was going to win anything this year, and I got so disgusted I said "Fuck this" and listened to music on SiriusXM the rest of my night at the coffeehouse.  And I was so depressed and bitter that I swore off looking at any sports websites like ESPN, or the sports segments on the local news, or even the Facebook status updates of my sports-leaning friends, until Wednesday night when I had to post my Anti-Picks for the Sweet 16.  Maybe by then, I thought, I would be able to swallow the Aggies loss and just deal.

Well, I'll say this: I checked Facebook one last time and say one of my friends, who was gambling in Reno, Nev. last weekend, that Texas A&M actually finished the second half on a 14-2 run to erase the debt at which I turned off the game and force Overtime.  I told my friend, "They're gonna lose" because that's just my luck.  Well, I had heard rumblings up to now, but only now did I discover that the Aggies actually won the fucking game.  Oh, they WON?!?!?!  So ... yay, me ... ! ... ?

So, you think I need to apologize?  I don't think I do.  I mean, I have a right to be bitter, no?

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Should I pick Texas A&M this time?

1) Miami +4 $50

2) Oregon -3 $100

3) Texas A&M +2 1/2 $100

4) Texas A&M M/L +130 $50

5) North Carolina-Indiana Over 158.5 $50

6) Wisconsin +1 $200

7) Virginia -5 $100

8) Wisconsin M/L +18 $100

9) Parlay 2), 6) and 7); they're the ones with, respectively, Duke, Notre Dame and Iowa St. for opponents.  All three hover are, respectively, 109th, 172nd and 94th in Ken Pomeroy's Defensive Efficiency category.  They've got to go down this round, right?  Parlay them for $50.

Good luck!