Shining moments? BAH!

Previously on Sweaty Men Endeavors:

"... after the first day of games, I'm doing pretty well, going 13-3 with my picks, tying me for first place with Complete Sports."

"Along with Boston College, I have UCLA, Iowa (Is that a homer pick, now that I'm living in Michigan?), and Connecticut..."

"But things can change, of course, and change fast."

Well, so much for that. How's your bracket looking right now? Are your Final Four picks still intact?

It's a good thing yesterday was St. Patrick's Day, and there was beer easily on hand. After Jermaine Wallace's fadeaway baseline 3-point prayer went in with 0.5 seconds left to send "my" Hawkeyes to an embarrassing first-round defeat vs. a #14 seed, I curled up in the bathtub for almost an hour while the shower washed away my pain.

Wallace had his visions before the game. I'll be having visions for months after the game. And the clock's already running on the Steve-Alford-to-Indiana countdown.

I didn't even watch college basketball for the rest of the night. It was too painful. And, um, I zonked out early in the evening. So, of course, I was very surprised to see Michigan State go home, too. A 10-point loss to George Mason? Oooh, I bet nobody sat near Coach Izzo on the team bus afterwards.

Didn't I learn enough about karma from My Name is Earl? Don't go bragging about picks after the first day of the tournament, when all of the opening-round games haven't even been played yet.

On the bright side, I can now just sit back, watch the games, and enjoy them, rather than fret about how the outcomes will affect my bracket and chances of winning a pool. That's what I'll tell myself, anyway, as the taunting phone calls and e-mails pour in.