Towards the end of the game, our late (in internet terms), lamented friend Wheelhouse Jerry offered this comment, "If the game ends at this score, I'm prepared to designate this the most outstanding achievement in the history of the internet."
The game, my friends, ended at that score. Florida 31, Alabama 20. Mark and I are linked throughout history by our brilliance and vision.
I didn't think I'd ever do anything to even get close to matching that accomplishment. But life's a funny thing. It's like, unpredictable and stuff.
Allow me to explain.
For a while now, I've been part of an email thread with a group of CAA superfans and media members who represent teams from across the league (and some that aren't even in the league any longer). They all know a lot more about hoops than I do, but they let me slum with them because I think they like the W&M cache. I get a ton of inside skinny about what's happening across the league, and we exchange good-natured banter about how sketchy JMU's athletic administration is.
On February 27, I sent this email to the group:
Elon was the hottest team in the league at the end of this weird season, and I really did think they'd get past both Towson and JMU. The Dukes had only played once since February 14, and they were missing CAA POY Matt Lewis due to injury. Drexel was the six seed, but they were ranked as high as anyone else in KenPom and other metrics. It was a tossed-off prediction, but it wasn't made without logic. (Ignore the Hofstra over Drexel pick in the first round - I obviously meant Delaware. Bygones.)
Nailed every game of the CAA Tournament, including only the second 8 over 1 upset in league history. Only thing I got wrong was the length of the final, but I hedged that by dropping a sawbuck on Drexel -3.5 in advance of the game.
I'm pretty good at this stuff, once every 13 years or so. Like a prognosticating cicada.
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