Jim O'Donnell: Chasing the brackets - 4 steps to a perfect Final Four
YES, OPRAH DID a marvelous job with Meghan and Harry.
But she failed to ask the Brexiting royals for their NCAA men's selections.
Because it's that weekend again.
It's when Mitt Romney outpicks Barack Obama.
Master bracketologists come out of their hyper-computerized coves for an annual 48 hours of limelight.
And 12-year-olds can make TV experts look like "The Masked Singer" at the Grammys.
In truth, from the teaser-and-firecat file, here's a bold prediction:
Freshman lightning bug Andre Curbelo will be involved in the single most important play of the Fightin' Illini's postseason!
(Don't ask why - just go with it.)
In truth, from the same mind that once conceived the Kentucky Derby-whipping ODage, here are four easy steps to begin solving the NCAA's 67-game jigsaw:
• Pick Final Four first;
• Include at least one No. 1 seed;
• Then, select two from a group of 11 - remaining Nos. 1, 2 and 3 seeds;
• Complete with a bomber, a No. 5 through 10 from the Big Ten, the ACC or the SEC.
Once again, very simple.
Utilizing this schematic in the last five NCAA tournaments (2015-19) would have produced 19 of the 20 teams in the Final Four.
The lone exception - dat's right, Sister Jean - was Porter Moser and Loyola (2018).
Expanding point four - the bomber - to No. 11 seeds and adding "Missouri Valley Conference" would make the formula a perfect 20-for-20.
But that would be so cheesy yet convenient.
Biggest potential bracket buster of all in a most fragile postseason remains COVID-19 and its wretched tangents.
Still, as The Daily Herald's stoic Ray Hallett once said to a bearded teammate before sweeping to victory in a "celebrity" handicapping contest at Arlington Park:
"Just pick solid horses."
Is there any other way?
SINCE THE THEME of the weekend appears to be "pro-activity," here's a most fascinating Americana/sports trivia nugget:
Name the five colleges that have produced both a President of the United States and a Super Bowl-winning QB.
(Hint: The list has expanded in the last 14 months.)
It's extremely doubtful that James Holzhauer, Bob Costas or even Malcolm Gladwell could nail this one.
Art Fleming Jr. managed only 3-of-5, whiffing on one that summoned memories of a blue December Saturday at the dank football stadium of Southern Illinois University.
Answers down below.
STREET-BEATIN': CBS/Turner has bumped Brian Anderson and Jim Jackson up to No. 2 crew - behind Jim Nantz, Bill Raftery and Grant Hill - for its coverage of March Madness. (Jackson used to throw legendary summer soirees for charities at The Clarion-on-the-Maumee in his native Toledo.) ...
No. 5 with a bullet in the CBS/Turner ranks are Carter Blackburn and Debbie Antonelli. She's crisp and informed without any of the Doris Burke Vatican seriousness. ...
Cleveland's Joe Tait - one of the greatest play-by-play men in the history of the NBA - passed this week at age 83. (He worked Bulls TV in 1982-83 while circumventing the front-office insanity of Cavs owner Ted Stepien.) ...
No surprise that WSCR-AM (670) allowed ousted White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper on to vent part of his spleen. Would an unhappy ex-Cubs coach have been afforded the same opportunity on the team's flagship? ...
Chicago-based sports media relations ace Jeff Nuich is a perfect fit for PointsBet's regional startup. (Energetic Teddy Greenstein is trying, but few know where to find his work; the outfit also needs an online site with greater wagering clarity.) ...
Final bracketeering: The last man NCAA purists want to see cutting down nets in Indianapolis is Houston's Kelvin Sampson. As a major-college coach, Sampson has one glaring flaw - he gets caught. ...
And the answers are: The Naval Academy (Jimmy Carter-Roger Staubach, DAL), Stanford (Herbert Hoover-Jim Plunkett, OAK, and John Elway, DEN), Michigan (Gerald Ford-Tom Brady, NE & TB), Miami of Ohio (Benjamin Harrison-Ben Roethlisberger, PIT) and Delaware (Joe Biden-Joe Flacco, BAL).
Biden's election expanded the list; Miami of Ohio is the crusher. Flacco and the Blue Hens beat Jerry Kill and the Salukis in a 2007 FCS semifinal at Carbondale. ...
And Josh Lewin - the veteran MLB broadcaster who Harry Caray once elbowed out of the Cubs' booth to make way for grandson Chip Caray - offered Motown-steeped reality about remote play-by-play: "Ain't nothin' like the real thing."
• Jim O'Donnell's Sports & Media column appears Thursday and Sunday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com.