This KUBE is KLASSIK!

Sooooo… once again, despite all my Kvetching… it has been kwite a KUBE.  With the able assistance of 500 or so future NCAA Union Members it has been as exciting a March in recent memory.  The Dayton Flyers are this years version of Cinderella (we have suffered through some years where there was none).  Connecticut… I remember when it used to mean something to be a Huskie and perhaps it does again and Kentucky… Caliperi and his one and done Freshman finally woke up, started to play hard, gelled, and frankly looked pretty frightening when they beat a good Louisville team.  I am watching the Dayton Florida game and at the end of the firt half it would appear that Dayton just does not have the steam.  I am a long established Billy Donavan Hater, as opposed to the many Donovan haters come lately but this does look like an awfully fine team… on the other hand I would not want any of them dating my daughter.  Donavan looks to me like the product of what happens when two carreer Marine Seargants reproduce.  I don’t have anything against the Marines but I do not mean this in a complimentary way.  The Flyers on the other hand, have a lot less ink.

I am not even going to beat on the perople at the bottom of the standings.  Their shame should speak for itself… I mean, come on guys, my wife is at 87!  Let’s step it up next year.

Kwite a KUBE indeed!  Taking KASH out of the system and keeping many of you from shoving KASH at me or telling me to “kover” you has saved management a LOT of headakes and been a real winner and the website funktionality has been top knotch.  I do not know for sure but it seemed like standings were being automatikally updated as games ended rather than having to wait for The Donald or The Mangsquash to get them uploaded and that was an awesome addition.

I am assuming there will be a fabulous KUBE party at the Depot but have not confirmed that with our benevolent overlord.  Kepp tuned to this space.

As I said, Good KUBE!  The Left Coast Kukla kid (high functioning and mainstreamable were the descriptive terms the Kirkwood teachers used in parent teach konferences with his disappointed parents) but other than criticsizing this writer for his mainstream pick of Michigan (I guess he missed their abusive bitch slapping of a very good Michigan team) his writing has been klear, kogent, and dare I say it...funny.  Kudos Kukla… the mantle is passed.

ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!

Although our web master was supposed to announce it on the site there will be the regular scheduled fesitivities at Chez Kukla, the Depot, whatever you want to call it. I originally had it slated for tip off but that is not until 8:20. Doors at 7:30.

Signs Of The End Times

These are obviously painful dark days my friends and we would be foolish liars to express anything else in these hallowed pages. Up is down, bad is good, hello is goodbye. We have gone down the rabbit hole. These are days when Charles Barkley is considered a "commentator" but even the round mound of rebound is speechless at the carnage being done to Jon Becker's brackets. I was out with he and his lovely fiancee and they were already spending the money with three out of eight possible results leaving him in first. Instead, Louisville folds like a cheap deck chair and Kansas looks..."asleep"? That seems kind. The hated Ohio State is dominating like they were the team thrown together by Haskell Indian Junior College. What can you say about Ohio State other than quote our late, much revered and departed friend Hunter Thompson who pointed out..."The scum also rises." Tell it brother.

So it is second half of Kansas. Barring a miracle Jon Becker is out and KUBE is spared a scandal. The party is Monday night at tip off at Chez Kukla aka The Depot. There will be food. there will be alcohol. For now, this night is grim enough that I am afraid the vodka is coming out and Palm Sunday services are at risk. Please come to Kukla's Monday night. You have all suffered enough.

Lord knows I hate to say this but *holding my nose*...GO JAYHAWKS!

Kukla Fights Back....Alleges "Missing Post"!

KUBAGEDDON! A HUGE BASKETBALL SLAMS INTO EARTHS ATMOSHERE DESTROYING OUR BRAKKETS!

By Dan Kukla

We all do it.

The moment the first high seed falls we all proclaim our brackets to be busted. Since the vast majority of us do not run this pool and thus do not have the power to cheat our way to the top like our current leader, we spend the majority of March letting everyone else know just how much worse our picks are than theirs.

But let’s be honest. Unless you lose a finalist or multiple Final 4 teams it takes a truly disastrous first weekend to truly bust your bracket. I realize that since Mizzou just so happened to be that first big upset this year that many of you really did get knocked out on Day 2, but the general point remains.

Eventually, however, the second weekend rolls around and all hope is truly lost and that couldn’t be more true in 2012. That Ohio State!? Kansas!? Please tell me I didn’t miss the rapture because it feels a lot like the tribulation has begun. Not sure if the giant nut or the ugly made-up bird is the antichrist but I am a little shocked that the (blue) Devils and their rat mascot (or is that their coach? I can never tell) aren’t still around for all this Madness. "Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth.”

To be fair, I predicted this Armageddon in a set of Komments that were mysteriously not posted so it’s not like I didn’t see it coming. The writing was written plainly on the wall as the Marshall-less Heels struggled just to get by the lowly, scum-of-the-earth Bobcats. Their demise against a real team wasn’t exactly tough to call. Frankly I’m a little irritated that they strung me along for nearly the entire game Sunday before finally letting me know they just don’t have time to invest in a relationship.

I’m talking about basketball, I swear.

And about that mysteriously not posted set of Komments. It seems we have more than one Becker in on a conspiracy at the top. I’d move to kick them out but without Beckers the KUBE becomes The KU. A corrupt pool that combines the names of two stupid families doing stupid things is much better than a pool that combines the names of two evil, detestable and mostly annoying schools doing evil, detestable and mostly annoying things… like ruining the Final 4.

Taking A Break From Hockey....

Soooooo.... what is up with the Kukla Kid? He lives in the desert. I attach for your review a map of the Division I Ice Hockey Programs in the US. The closest is about 578 miles from where young Kukla lives. http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/gutcheck/2010/03/fish_fry_frenzy_week_5_our_lady_of_guadalupe.php
I mean.... what is wrong with this kid? Posting about hockey suggests at best a chemical imbalance in the brain and at worst a "drug problem". Testing is in order. It is March Madness and as such.... back to basketbalL.

HATE THE JAYHAWK! DON'T HATE THE GAME!

Obviously scandal has rocked the KUBE Nation with new webmaster extraordinaire, Jon Becker, suddenly, out of nowhere taking the lead with his "Random" bracket. While I do not mean to be coarse (it is so unlike me), random my ass! The kid is a cheater from a family of cheaters and whomever put someone like Jon in charge should likely be shot...or worse. The kid is bad news and though he does not obsess over college ice hockey, this attempt at stealing the KUBE might be worse. KUBE has taken 1/2 of the prize money and hired the accounting firm of KPMG to conduct a komprehensive audit. We will get to the bottom of this.

After today's games we will know our Final Four. Right now we have Louisville, and the HATED, Ohio State University. I am going to start telling people I graduated from THE Texas Christian University and was summarily removed from THE Valparaiso University. We will see who or whom is delivered to us today to round out the Kontest. Kentucky and North Karolina remain the only two 1 seed still alive.

Now a quick review of the standings. Observations:
1. Jon Becker being in the lead makes me question the existence of a just and loving God.
2. Jay Vance? In Second? Jay has been playing the KUBE from Omaha for years but we were considering developing a "special" brakket for kids like Jay who have, through their KUBE picks shown themselves to be.... somewhat impaired.
3. We have already kommented on Max Shapiro and absent an apocalypse the kid looks done, having pick Syracuse, but he fought the good fight and he likely needs to fly to norther New York and question some registrars about how you manage to not keep one of the best athletes in the nation academically eligible. How does that happen?
4. I am very concerned about Zac Hahn. I do not know him but for lack of a better term he is currently lurking in 8th with Ohio HATED State.
5. If Baylor comes up big lookout fro Afghan Diplomacy rocketing up from 80th place.
6. No one has Louisville that I could find in a quick scan of brakkets.

I just watched Kentucky shred poor Baylor. So much for Afghan Diplomacy. lets see what the KU Game has to offer. We still hate the Jayhawks.

Kookla Takes Us To Hockey Town...Again. (Does Kukla Understand That The KUBE Is A Basketball Tournament?

With Apologies To The Seer From The Sagebrush...this was posted timely in the St. Louis Diner Review but was sloppily tagged by the editor of same. My life is an alphabet of WOE!

By Dan Kukla

Habitually heartbreaking.

That is how my friend Ian Callon described the Miami hockey team. He couldn't be more wrong.

Miami isn't just habitually heartbreaking. That doesn't even begin to describe what it is like to be a RedHawk hockey fan. Going from one of the last teams in the tournament to a two goal lead over the top seed with a minute left in the national championship to losing in overtime on a puck bouncing off your own player making the right play is not heartbreaking. Especially not when you add in the history of Miami always - and I mean always - losing to Boston College in previous tournaments and the losing to another Boston team soon after the Eagles' elimination.

Cruel. Unusual. Punishment. Those are the words that come to my mind, at least, and those same word came flooding back in Friday night.

I could have dealt with a 3-0 blow out loss. Not at all what I hoped for or expected from my heavily favored 'Hawks, but when you get out played you curse and you move on. At its worst, that is heartbreaking.

But no, Miami staged an epic comeback with three goals in the third (and final, for all you hockey illiterates out there) period, starting with two goals in a 14-second span. That's the team's largest comeback since 2002 and quickest pair of goals since 2005 when it scored the infamous 2-in-22 to beat Western Michigan - promtly sending me onto the back of my friend Dave D'Amore.

With all the momentum, Miami then went on a five-minute power play (opponent is penalized and plays with one less skater - usually for two minutes) to end regulation. The quality scoring chances were too many to count. The power play carried over into overtime. Still no goal.

Then the puck rolls over our goalie's arm on what felt like UMass-Lowell's first rush on net since the second period. Not quite a deflection over his shoulder, but darn close enough. You can't make this stuff up and I wish God would stop making this stuff up.

Cruel. Unusual. Punishment.

I told you the NCAA hockey tournament takes the drama of March Madness to a new extreme. This is just one of the rare occaisions I hate being right -- kind of like earlier this month when Missouri lost.

Now that was heartbreaking.

When Miami's game ended with my Tar Heels winning by just one late in the second half, a UNC loss to Miami's arch rival Ohio seemed to be a lock. On a half-court hail Mary, sure, why not. They survived but watching a tournament favorite squeak by a 13 seeded mid major is hardly a pick-me-up, especially when an Axis of Evil looms in the Elite 8 ready to dismantle the Marshall-less Heels.

One of my favoirte writers, ESPN's Bill Simmons, once wrote a column called "Levels of Losing" in which he quantifies sports pain (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/020528). I'm sure he would argue this but for me the 2009 NCAA Hockey National Championship was "That Game", Simmons' highest level of losing that "actually combines The Guillotine and The Stomach Punch" (for him, a die hard Boston fan, he uses Game 6 of the 1986 World Series -- i.e. Bill Buckner). Friday's loss wasn't that high on this scale but it came in as a solid "Stomach Punch," just one level behind. Here's his explination of what I am feeling.

"Now we've moved into rarefied territory, any roller-coaster game that ends with A) an opponent making a pivotal (sometimes improbable) play, or B) one of your guys failing in the clutch ... usually ends with fans filing out after the game in stunned disbelief, if they can even move at all ... always haunting, sometimes scarring ..."

Because I wasn't at the game and because it was only the first round, I am able to take this one in stride. I wasn't so fortunate in 2009 when I literally did not move for an entire 45-minute tram ride back to the house we were staying at in DC.

For the neutral fan, this is why I so adamantly endorsed the hockey version of March Madness, which can still be seen on ESPNU Saturday and Sunday. For me, however, I will not be emotionally stable enough to watch any more college hockey this weekend (although I hope to recover by the Frozen 4) so it's back to basketball -- where I will most likely receive the "Level VI: Full-Fledged Butt-Kicking" against Kansas.

Kommentary: THE ROAD TO PITTSBURGH!

By Dan Kukla... back from wandering the desert and ready to watch the Tar Heels stomp the hated Bobcats
Upsets. Drama. Teams from the middle of nowhere.
This is why we love March. This is why we love the NCAA Hockey tournament.
Yup, hockey.
It’s March Madness… on steroids… on ice. It’s everything you enjoy about the basketball tournament plus huge hit after huge hit… minus a few teeth.
The upsets are more shocking and frequent. The weird names are even harder to pronounce. The random-school Cinderellas are more obscure. The hated teams are eviler and the tournament darlings are more adorable.
Most importantly, it starts Friday... as in tomorrow. Set your DVR’s now because basketball can wait. You NEED to watch this. You need it like Prince Fielder needs cheeseburgers.
You give me 15 seeds Norfolk State and Lehigh in the Round of 32 with upsets over 2s Mizzou and Duke? I raise you No. 15 Bemidji State (told you they were obscure… and to think it was originally founded under the name Bemidji State “Normal School”… you can’t make this stuff up) in the Frozen Four and No. 14 Miami (OH) in the championship, seconds away from its first national title. Down in their wake? Top seeds Notre Dame (2 overall) and Denver (3 overall) with No. 1 Boston U on the ropes needing two goals in the final minute of regulation just to force overtime.
You think Duke, Ohio State and Kansas are evil? How about the BU Terriers, who after completing that devastating comeback in 2009 then admitted to drawing their inspiration from Spanish Conquistadors that burned their boats during invasions to eliminate retreat as an option for their pawn soldiers.
And that darling Cinderella caught in the flames? Well the RedHawks just valued being a family called “The Brotherhood” that draws its inspiration from loyalty and sacrifice.
As for those weird names, you say Ali Farokhmanesh, sure, but I know you can’t say Scott Czarnowczan.
This year three of the four 1 seeds are of the evil variety (Boston College, Michigan and North Dakota) while the rest of the field is just dripping with darlings ready to knock them off (except for BU, checking in as a 3 and just as evil as ever).
The fourth 1 (3 overall) is Union, making only its second tournament appearance in school history. Same goes for No. 6 Ferris State. No. 14 Western Michigan makes only its fifth tourney appearance after dwelling in the CCHA (hockey equivalent of basketball’s Big 10) basement for the past decade. The UMass Lowell River Hawks earned their fourth ever bid and will face the aforementioned RedHawks (No. 5) in a first-round battle of fictional birds of prey.
All Round 1-2 games can be seen on ESPNU Friday-Sunday. Whether you get caught in the real March Madness hook, line and sinker like me or just watch it during basketball commercial breaks, do yourself a huge favor and make sure to check it out. It would be Madness not to.

LONG SHOT AWARD WINNER ANNOUNCED!

There has been a lot of talk about the Long Shot Award this year. Maybe too much talk. The Long Shot Award Winner for the KUBE 2012 is MAX Shaprio! We do not, however know how much he has won because (and this is a shocker) Kukla is on vacation on Arizona and the cash and Pay Pal money is mysteriously with him and he needs some time to "reconcile" the accounts. In regard to Max as i said earlier he is a long tim player of the KUBE but based on his facebook pictures KUBE will once again be in instituting random drug tests for participants. I am NOT saying that Max is doping. It would belittle the kontest to do so but as St. Ronald told us in regard to the Russians...."trust, but verify". Sage advice indeed.

I don't know where Dan Kukla's observations have been lately. There was some discussion of his donning some animal fur and grabbing some honey and wandering in the desert for a while when he heard of the North carolina injury. We need you back Dan! I can blather but people have come to expect...kontent...without typos.

I am working with KUBE Management and our Phoenix office as well as our web partner BOOMREACTIVE.com (go there now) in order to publish a dead beat list. Kukla was careful to advise that "Max has paid". That makes him different than a lot of you mokes. My plans are as follows:
1. Publish a list of late payees.
2. Call your parents (if living, use a Quija Board if not) and advise that their child is a deadbeat.
3. Go to your kids school and heckle them regarding your failure to pay.
4. Report you to the credit reporting agencies.
5. Destroy your life.
Get your money in people. No time like the present.

Congratulations MAX!

NCAA Sunday Knight Knews & Knotes

Sooooooooo....Sunday night. I have had some bad Sunday nights in March. returning from Vegas after the first few days. Feeling broke. being broke. Brackets broke. Heart...broke. So I am reasonable comfortable with March Madness Desolation Effect (MMDE) though it has hit me pretty hard this year. MMDE is an insidious disease with no known cure. It manifests itself with depression and exhaustion and a general loss of a will to live. For many who play the KUBE Brackets, sadly these symptoms cannot be distinguished from your every day life but many (several) of the 400 plus KUBE players are reasonable high functioning, non-drooling, in school or have jobs and (arguably) productive members of society. For them seeing their brackets burn (and I just finally did actually burn mine) is devastating.

For me this year has been a very difficult one and today particularly cruel. The initial Mizzou loss was a disaster but it was cleaned up for me by Duke and Notre Dame losing coupled with a Billiken win. I thought I had something going perhaps with Vandy and the future while not being bright was at least not a the relentless, vast wasteland of turnovers, airballs and the steady, inexorable advance of the hated number 1 seeds. This situation not being bad enough it is exacerbated by the asinine, insufferable and unjustifiable Miller 64 commercials. I would rather watch Charlie Sheen hit 3 pointers all day long for Ohio State and I hate Charlie Sheen and hate Ohio State.

When I woke up this morning my 5 brackets (three wantonbeckers, a big boy and one for mom (Doris Mae though I misspelled her name) were merely a disaster. My average on those 5... wait for it...298! My wife was in at 217 and my daughter, though she picked Mizzou was at 10. But, I thought, perhaps today would be better....NOT! not a lot of upsets. I guess I am heartened for Ohio since they are not Ohio State. My Billiken loss was really crushing and to see Majerus rearing up was a little bit of a nightmare. Not sure how much more I can stand this evening.

My advice for you, my fellow KUBITES is to make sure you are not alone. Dring a few solid glasses of bourbon. Soak in a hot tub. If you have any weed you definitely need to smoke it. Grab Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged", use it to balance the wobbly table in the kitchen, and go to bed.

I will leave you with an excerpt from Bernie who quoted a teary Conklin (very hard to watch): "Coach has done so much," Conklin said. "Being his first recruiting class, he told me that we were going to help him build something special here. And it felt like this year it really came together. We were able to take what Coach taught us.
"He’s a great coach. I couldn’t imagine playing for a better coach, a better person. He doesn’t just teach you about basketball; it’s about life. And he’s a great figure for the community and for the city, and he’s really brought St. Louis basketball to where it is right now, bringing in great guys.
"We all love each other in that locker room. And he just knows how to read a person and he brings us all together and we buy into his system because it works, and it brought us this far this year. And you know they’ve got a great nucleus coming back next year and they’re going to be a really tough team."


Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/miklasz-billikens-make-majerus-proud/article_2fcf3fd2-715e-11e1-b339-001a4bcf6878.html#ixzz1pWTaPIlA

The King Of Karlsbad!

By Dan Kukla

So there’s this girl.

At work. Her desk is just two down from mine.

I can’t stop thinking about her.

Last year she picked Connecticut as her March Madness champion and won every pool she was in. A girl like that is a rare find so this year I finally worked up the courage to ask her out to the KUBE. She accepted… via facebook. Man I’m smooth.

Now she’s got Indiana all the way. I must admit holding in laughter when I saw that pick. A team that relies completely on the fickle art of three-point shooting? That can only win at home? That hasn’t made the Sweet 16 in a decade?

To win it all?

Now she’s tied for 43rd after Day 3 while my brackets are busy leading the bottom half of the pool. Who’s laughing now?

But this is why I can’t stop thinking about her. I must know her secret. How does she come up with these dark horse champions?

“I just go with my heart,” she says. Done: Homer Derby checking in at 284. That clearly can’t be the full explanation. Or maybe I just need a new heart.

When Matlin Smith told me about picking Indiana as her champion I remembered what happened last year and went back to see if I should change my thinking on the Hoosiers. I just didn’t see it. In fact, I didn’t even see them making it out of the first weekend. I loved both VCU and Wichita state as Sweet 16 picks and all “just going with my heart” aside, I legitimately thought New Mexico State would pull off the upset over Indiana anyway.

THEY DON’T WIN AWAY FROM ASSEMBLY HALL! THEY ONLY SHOOT 3’s! It screams of an obvious early exit, especially when paired with three beautiful Cinderellas.

So Matlin’s UConn pick in 2011 was discarded as fluke luck and I moved forward with my much wiser selections.

As the only KUBE entrant with Indiana on the final line and now a strong point base to build from, just an appearance in the championship (and maybe even just a Final 4 run) from the No. 4 seeded Hoosiers will put her in contention. If Indiana wins it all she is virtually guaranteed to do the same.

Let’s be clear. This is not your average girl that wins pools by selecting her favorite color schemes, mascots and shopping towns when filling out a bracket. Matlin actually watches basketball and picks teams she thinks will win.

Saturday she told me she wakes up every morning thinking about her pick Indiana. Who are they playing? Will they win? How much money will I steal from all these losers this year? (OK, I made that last one up).

While the Hoosiers were busy pulling off a Houdini act against VCU to prevent another “Shaka,” Matlin told me that she is not allowed to watch because it makes her teams lose. She finished her work and promptly rushed out of the office right after Indiana took a late lead and right before they later snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.

Really? VCU misses two free throws that would have put them up 5 with a minute left? Indiana converts a three-point play at the other end to tie and then wins after a blocked shot bounces right to an open Hoosier on the baseline – a player who then made his only shot of the second half? VCU misses an open 3 at the buzzer?

What kind of black magic is this? Matlin not only has superstitions but they actually work! Told you this lady is a rare find.

After giving this some serious thought, her success can only be attributed to one thing: her company’s superior sports department. The Current-Argus is clearly where she gets all her sports information and this has to be her edge. No else picked Indiana so she must have come up with the Hoosiers as her champion by reading a publication no one else reads – or at least respects.

As such, Matlin Smith’s entry will from now on be referred to as the Current-Argus entry. Any and all winnings will be shared accordingly.

Go Hoosiers!

I Am Really Starting To Hate This Kid

By Dan Kukla

I told you sooooooooooooooooooooooooo...

Yes, even you Becker.

We just needed one giant to fall to bust this thing wide open. Unfortunately that one happened to be our beloved Mizzou but the resulting mayhem was sure worth it.

Down goes Duke, giving us the first tournament with two 2s out in the Round of 64 (never to be referred to as the second round). Down goes Michigan, giving us the first tournament with three teams seeded 13+ with wins on the same day. Down goes all of our brackets.

Wow, Missouri really does love company (ducking to avoid projectiles being hurled at my head).

Come on. Don't let that grumpy old man running this blog fool you. Missouri's loss restored order by creating complete disorder. While there's no evidence that any one game in the tournament affects outcomes in any others, it sure did feel that way Friday. Shortly after sulking off to work following that Missour-able loss (OK, I'll stop) I was treated to leftover pizza while I clicked back and forth between a trio of upsets. Puke was busy choking hard against Le High (oh, wait, that was a college team?) while St. Louis made us all proud by knocking off Memphis. As Ohio represented my MAC well with an upset of Michigan, I just couldn't click fast enough to keep up with it all.

Ah yes, the Madeness was back. Leftover pizza and flipping through upsets of evils is what makes this time of year pure bliss. It's what I craved (dreamed is probably more accurate... considering my slumberous state) all day Thursday and Friday morning.

And wouldn't you know, my brackets actually aren't all that tarnished afterall... if you look at them from the right angle in the right lighting. My "Axis of Evil" picks are still perfect in the East region. I have only once picked a perfect region all the way to Final 4 so I can at least continue to pull for that. My coin toss still has its entire Final 4 alive and correctly picked Ohio, Lehigh and Norfolk State while shooting exactly 50% in the first round. As for my "Homer Derby" well at least I didn't yet have to scratch off SLU or New Mexico. Who knows, if the Lobos run to the Elite 8 and the Billikens knock of Izzo just maybe that will earn enough points to put me back in the mix.

If you can't get enough of this glass-half-overflowing outlook on life I encourage you once again to check out my beautiful bride's new blog: www.meg4christ33.blogspot.com. If you're one of Becker's ogre-ish types, well then maybe you need a click on that link more than anyone else.

Go Lobos! Go SLU! Down with "that" Ohio State and Kansas!

Enjoy the last two days of the first weekend. There's nothing else like it.

Well, that's just the facts.

(PS I appologize for the many errors in my last post. I suspect corruption at the top behind this as sabotage in this point/counter point format that I was completely unaware of but I'll just blame my still fragile frame of mind after a devastating loss. It's the only possible explination for why I would blindy send work into a Becker, expecting someone to be responsible at the other end).

First Round Analysis: Kube-Ku

Dave Kowert 412
Jon Becker 411
Music to my ears

Kube-KU

Bracketology
Billikens win, Tigers lose
On to Saturday

Please submit your Kube-Kus to wantonbecker@mac.com

***
Soooooo....that was quite day. Two epic upsets within three hours. The heart of the nation in fly over country shattered and the basketball elites of Carolina humbled. But enough of the bad. These bracket busters are personal but have no effect on the over all standings of this fine kontest. No one, in the nearly six thousand people playing the KUBE this year had Mizzou losing and only one person had Lehigh winning. Her name escapes me and we will have to give her props later but with the mentally ill that can be enabling so we need to be careful.

Lets not focus on the bad. Our beautiful St. Louis University Billikens (they are of course a Catholic Institution, "Our Lady of the Elegant Mascot) won. They won a pretty solid match up against a physically superior Memphis squad. I had one eye witness at the Columbus Arena who said the first half was "boring" but that is because the Billikens have the 8th best defense in the Country. You have to love Rich Majerus. He recruited kids he could coach and has coached them to play great team basketball. I don't kid myself that they can knock off a powerhouse like Michigan State. I am sure Lehigh and Norfolk State didn't kid themselves either. Sometimes hard work and good coaching win the day. We will see. One thing we did see was that Mizzou's Haith was not ready for prime time. Deer in the headlights. No answers when faced with the puzzle of phyicality, rebounding and suddenly poor shot selection. Next year will be a real test. Fortunately it will be in that new patsy conference.

Notre Dame lost. Happy.

Temple lost. Sad. I wanted to pull out John Cheney's ghost though I am hoping he is still alive.

I need a Boheim stumble and a Vandy surge. On to Saturday!

get those haikus in now!

The Sage of The Desert

I don't like these posts. They lack typos, lack spelling errors and have content. We turn over the KUBE pages to the Voice from The Kavern, the King of Karlsbad...Dan Kukla:

By Dan Kukla
Wake me up when something happens.
I hate saying this about my favorite sporting event but Day 1 was, in a word, one big fat giant yawn. I literally fell asleep while watch games Thursday.

Now six games into Friday and Day 2 doesn’t look like it will be much better.
Where are the upsets? Where are the buzzer beaters? The comebacks, the collapses, the players with funny names and faces making shots you don’t even practice in horse?
WHERE IS THE MADNESS?

You see, I have this system. I don’t touch my brackets for an entire day once they come out. Selection Sunday is reserved for watching Dicky V scream about all the No. 1 seeds he is picking to win and Jay Billas yell about how much more terrible this year’s field is than any other. It’s for watching Bracketology and just taking it all in, getting familiar with the draw, scouting the lay of the land.

Monday is research day. What style does each team play? Who’s hot? Who’s not? Who’s just cute like an animal shelter puppy you like playing with but would never actually take home?

Then comes recycling day. I usually make three trips to the printer on Tuesday, each time picking up around eight fresh brackets to destroy. I start feeling out just how far Cinderella is willing to go.

Wednesday I panic. None of my brackets are anywhere near completion so I just fall back on the basics: pick a champion, pick a Final Four, pick 8-10 first round upsets and blindly fill in the rest while making sure Duke, Kansas and Ohio State lose as early as possible.

Did you catch that? 8-10 upsets. As in way more than two on Day 1 and way more than three by 4:30 p.m. EST on Day 2.
We can’t even get cheap 9 over 8 upsets this year. And it’s not like VCU, Colorado and NC State were really upsets at all. I never saw any lines but it would not surprise me one bit if all three of our so-called Cinderellas were actually favorites.
It would be at least tolerable if we could get some good games but no, just blow out after blow out. Watching Syracuse, Jim Boeheim and his way-too-young-for-him wife sweat it out against UNC Ashville was fun. The Lobos tried their hardest to lose early again. Colorado remembered it now plays in the Pac-12 just a little too late and Cincinnati almost went back to putting the UC in suck after messing with Texas. But those results are usually our average to boring games at this point, not the best.
Right now the Bonnies have a five-point second half lead over Florida State. I’m willing to sacrifice one of my Final 4 teams for a true upset and hopefully a kick start to the tournament as a whole. UNC and Mizzou are both nearing tip time though so maybe I should be careful what I wish for.

I don’t care if my selection system is more flawed then the teams I end up picking. For me all that over analyzing is what makes the week fun. Then the games start and finding out that I picked all the wrong upsets is what makes the tournament fun. Why? Because that means there are upsets. All these chalky blow outs just ruins everything.

I’ll stay awake for this next set of games while two of my rooting interests compete but then it’s back to sleep. Well, actually work. Then sleep. Then then the NCAA Hockey tournament next week for some real March Madness.

Please let me be watching actual sports this Sunday instead of another selection show. I’m sounding the alarm on this tournament. Lehigh, Detroit, Ohio (yes, Miami’s arch rival Ohio; that is how desperate things are)… heck even you too St. Louis as a 9… I’m looking at you to open the blinds, tear off the covers and get this March moving.
Don’t let Duke, Kansas and Michigan hit the snooze.

Brakket Knotes Friday Morning Edition!

Looking at the KUBE Stats this desolate but balmy Friday morning in the Lou, one is filled with a sense of awe (in my case aw shit). My best bracket is currently tied for 123rd and my worst weighs in at 399...barely on the board at all. Every year at this time I kick myself for not having advertised an option to have yourself removed from the kontestant list for an additional 10 bucks. In my case, right now, money well spent.

As the KUBE has grown to it’s kurrent unsustainable size we have ended up with people KUBE management is either totally unfamiliar with or because of alzheimers, booze and drugs we have forgotten who (or whom) they are. Such is the case with our initial standings (after one day). Brooke Sanders or Sanders Brooke as we know her is in the lead tied with Kristopher (with a k, perfect) Eubanks. If you are in the lead after Friday please submit full biographical sketch and advise as to how you entered the KUBE, divined your picks and... tell us if you were a tree, what kind of tree you would be.

The first familiar name to this writer is Andi Emke in at 6. For some reason she did NOT pick Missouri to win it all. Wait till I tell her father of this betrayal. Jane Heine (the brains behind a couple of guys at Moneta) along with Tom (the old one) O Meara represent for our favorite planning empire. For all I know there are several more on the list but since the restraining order Don got against me I am not longer allowed within 500 yards of the building. Awkward. A lot of people question exactly why that happened but there was an incident on Don’s balcony with... well let’s just...mistakes were made.

Celebrity Catholic and sometimes Presidential Candidate Rick Santorum came in at 31. Good job Ricky!

Henry the Cat in at 22.

The formerly big deal “Blue Horshoe” only entered once this year and is currently punished at 105th place.

The Kissam Family... perenial contenders are well represented in the top 100. Not so much for Papa Luke...limping in at 137.

Kube Kommentator extraordinaire...Dan Kukla komes in at 175 on day one proving that there is not always a lot to be said for a prophet in the desert.

Afghani Diplomaci at 234 (yes that will work out)

In the cat fight of the century the KUBE wives are going head to head for the first time with Sandy Becker tied at 245 and Maria...stomping her currently at 65th place.

Former Champ Adam Reed at 73. Long way home from there.

In a surprise from the grave the late Lowell George of the Band Little Feat is at 253!

And finally...tied for last...Winstroer (the family that coined the phrases “I don’t mid if I do” and the klassik, “Sure I will have another” and Laura (yes I married poorly and yes DON IS OUT OF TOWN AGAIN!) Hessel.

This is quite a group and it was a heck of a first day with top seeds holding up in 14 of the 16 games. More today. If there is anyone you would like us to pick on...please advise by emailing wantobecker@mac.com.

Selektion Sunday!

Soooooooeeeeeeeelection Suuuuuuuunnnndayyyyyyyy!

Not that I am excited. My first bracket entry hit the web site and I got the confirming email and it feel like Kristmas! Here is a cheklist for good Kubies!
1. Go to Facebook and find the KUBE home page.
2. Add 100 of your friends.
3. Go to your Twitter account and follow Kubeklassik.
4. Enter at least twice
5. Get everyone in your office to play.
6. Get everyone in your family to play.
7. Open a Pay Pal account if you do not have one already to make payment easier.
8. Go to the Boomreactive.com site and learn what they can do for your web presence and social media marketing!
Do it now!

It really does look like a great tournament this year. Other than all my favorite teams get lumped into the Western Region. Some of the games are in Columbus, that is kind of west...west of Cleveland anyway. As always when I did my brackets I ended up with 1 and 2 seeds in the final 4. I always disappoint me which gives me a feeling similar to how everyone else must feel when they deal with me.

Go Vandy!

But seriously. I want to blow the KUBE up this year. I am hoping to have Komments from Dan Kukla starting as soon as possible. Dan can actually write. He can spell, conjugate verbs. and what not. Jon Becker is handling the uploading and downloading and all web related promulgations on our SWEET new website. It will be even more serious if we can crush that 500 entry threshold at which time we likely need to get listed on the NYC. All entries are getting invested in lottery tickets but there has been some talk of KUBEWAY! A multi level marketing opportunity (scam) in which we can have tiers and trails and mailbox money coming in and you can create a second income and work from HOME! More on that later.

In the mean time...enter early and enter often! Look out for Norfolk State!

Join the stupid, love the stupid, be the stupid.

KUBE, Stupid People Doing Stupid Things...for a long time!

Selection Friday

Sooooo.... it is Friday before Selection Sunday and KUBE MADNESS! Much craziness. I am sitting at home with my daughter on Friday night and instead of watching basketball I am watching “The Help”. I am missing action and I am probably missing some key insights into the goings on in the Big Ten, SEC, Big 12 and what not. Perhaps after the movie I can catch a little Pac 10 or 12 or whatever they are now. It is so rare that they really matter out there west of Lawrence.

Of course it is exciting to have Mizzou and SLU in the mix this year. SLU was handling La Salle when I got out of my car but not having Charter I do not even have the option to watch. I am bitter. On the other hand I am learning from watching “The Help” that I is smart, I is kind and I is important. I am not sure exactly how that relates but perhaps I will pull it together later. I was very excited yesterday when one Carence J. Molgerman...of the Troy Missouri Molgerman clan became the first to turn in his money. I had our webmaster, Jon Becker of Boomreactive.com immediately put a picture of it on the web. Molgerman unfortunately had to flee the jurisdiction and will be “wintering” in El Salvador but says he will be making his picks by way of the internets. I have no confidence that they have that there and KUBE is looking for someone who can decipher his entries in Spanish... “El Syracuso?”

So you have lots of options to get money to the KUBE and to make our goal of 500 entries this year. We are looking to see if we can get Kukla and Becker arrested as racketeers. It will require a buzz to be generated by the KUBE faithful. I am looking for a lot of hard work. We need more than the normal mix of financial advisers, bankers, lawyers, malcontents, serial killers, Democrats and what not. I would like some respectable people playing this year. Republicans, kickboxers, illegal immigrants and perhaps even some legal immigrants.

It is predicted the Atlantic 10 will have 3 teams in which will mean the idiot who argued with me at a Super Bowl party and told me “you know nothing about college basketball” might be right. That will be galling. I plan on winning this year. Last years winner Adam Reed is in prison due to numerous traffic violations so unless he can find a “mule” to sneak his entries out, we should not have to worry about him. We are looking at the regular cast of losers from Blue Horshoe (TM)
and I would like to see a resurgance of Dogs and we are considering opening up a CAT BRACKET for Kukla’s Cat Ozzie and Henry David Thoreau who currently lives with one Lydia Schaftenaar.

In any case. Tomorrow conference games look action packed. KUBE will be on it. See if you can do some stupid things all on your own in preparation. If you are reading this we have high confidence in you.

Lenten KUBE Preparation: St. Cecelia's

Sooooooo....we find ourselves in another Lent but it is not our typical St. Louis Lenten season. The weather has been mild and temeratures being more moderate have moderated our spirits as we enter the season. Lutherans, Catholics, Christians everywhere with our Jewish and even our Muslim brothers share this special season where we prepare our hearts and minds for the coming of...The NCAA Tournament!

Wait, that is probably not right. Lent is when we humbly prepare our self for the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is said that “Lutherans Love Lent” by Lutherans and the intimation is that we love to be miserable. We like to file bad. Whether because of our German roots or just a general morose spirit we like to out Catholic the Catholics and grab Lent as out own from Ash Wednesday to Easter. We go to Church every Wednesday and put away our alleluias as we travel through the season. But lets face it, what is Lent without the Catholic parish fish fry? Pretty damn sad is the answer.

So we opened the season with our favorite fish fry and St. Cecelias. St. Cecelias is in a south city neighborhood that is doing anything but gentrifying. It is finding equilibrium with a brand new mix of lower income white, Latinos and blacks and it is finding it’s way. St. Cecilias has done the right and very difficult job of not just surviving but providing the engine of stability for this survival and their ministry in their school and their church is a testimony to the good that can come from organized religion and the catholic church. We all should be paying attention to what they are doing in their parish.

But we come not to speak of serious matter but to celebrate their Lenten tradition. I would guess that the parish picks up a significant portion of it’s annual budget through these fish fries. They are fund raisers and at any one time I would guess they have at least 50 people, students, old people, teachers, Priests and administrators working the event. The first time we went we had to stand out in the rain for a ½ hour before we ever even got into the place. This year we showed up around 6 and were able to walk right into the auditorium where the line snakes around the gym. There are immediately tables that allow you to invest in their ministry. T-Shirts and tchotchkes are available and then at the next table you can buy a beer while you stand in line for $2.00. Tecata, Corona and Corona Lite or pitchers of Bud Light. Then a table where you can by chips and pico de gallo for another couple of bucks to munch on while you wind your way to the back of the gym. You go behind a 1 foot raised stage about 10x10 where they have entertainment in the form of dancers from the school, mariachi bands and sometimes just little kids dancing as they music from south of the border.

It is festive and you reach the far corner of the gym there is another stand where you can buy another beer, at this station there was Tecate, Bud and Busch (so you know it is a nice event). You then go down the far side and eventually end up at the front where a Priest with a large hand held STOP sign directs traffic to the ordering lines and people with trays full of food deliver it to the folks anxiously waiting at the tables. The menu is pretty straight forward. Cod in Mrs Pauls shaped squares, Jack Salmon (on the bone), Fried Shrimp, Chilli Rellenos. That is it I think. Then you get to pick your sides from french fries, macaroni, rice and I don’t remember what else. There is a cart rolling around where you can buy tamales but because of lent they do not have meat. Good masa but unsatisfying.

So you order and they give you a number and you sit. You squeeze in among the people at the tables. The crowd is incredibly diverse. All ages and nationalities and everyone is having a good time talking, drinking and taking in the scene and it is a scene. It is noisy. It is bustling. it is cramped and everyone is bumping into you. There are hipsters there. There are moms and dads. There are folks like us who don’t belong but you don’t feel like you don’t belong because every Friday they build up their own community and it is really a beautiful thing. It really is. You wait a long time for the food because they have a small kitchen and a small deep frier and they are over worked. The chilli rellenos is consistently good and although it always just strikes me as a meatless stuffed pepper it is well done and works well in this type of food service. The cod wqas actually excellent and we lucked out getting some right out of the deep fryer. The shrimp was passable but what do you expect from fried shrimp and the jack salmon (which can be good at local bars) is best avoided. The beer is cold. ll meals are served with a side of home made verde and the green sauce is spicy and satisfying on everything they serve.

But the food really is secondary. Come on down. Plan on spending at least an hour and a half and make an evening of it. Support a great parish and have some fun during this blessed time of preparation... for the NCAA’s. Go Billikens!

Soooooo.....

The blood was in the water and in one of the worst NCAA finals ever... the Butler Bulldogs brought...nothing. And Konnectikut played just well enough to win. On the other hand... Adam Reed is the winner of the 2011 KUBE and from KUBE management and the KUBE nation (other than Rob Kukla), Kongratulations. Right now, other that thinking of Butlers shooting %...I really got nothing else. God Bless the Bulldogs and their fans. It is a great story. Tomorrow people will be talking on FOX News about how their coach...just cant seem to win the big one. Screw em. Great story, great team...really bad game.

KUBE FIANLE!

Sooooo.... The Donald and Mrs. The Donald have promised an opulent spread tomorrow for the annual KUBE Bankwet. Last year we had over 200 Kontestants at Chez Kukla and the merriment was a palpable, tangible thing. It really was. People are still talking about DavidKowert and Johnny (Chico) Winstroer leg wrestling on the foosball table in the basement of the Kukla depot. Tonight we did a dry run of the buffet, making sure it laid out the way we wanted. It is pictured above. the best chefs were flown in from Europe and Togo and tomorrow evening should be a bacchanalia of truly epik proportions. Here is a short lift of just some of the items on the Buffet being prepared by The Mrs. Donald:
Steamship Roast Beef
Standing Rib Road
Prime Rib
Rump Roast
Chuck Roast
Filet Mignon
Strip Steaks
Skirt Steak
Flank Steak
Pot Roast
Hambugers
Beef Pot Pies
Beef Stew
AND LOBSTER!
And potato chips!
It should be a hoot.
If Konnektikut wins than we have a tie between Abam Reed and Rob (the bod) Kukla which will go to a tie breaker. It does not matter whether you are over or under on your final point total. Closest wins. If Butler wins...than Rob Kukla takes it all. If you are Kurious, Rob is the Donalds older, better looking brother. Adam Reed our other potential winner is a former member of Glendale Lutheran Church, Mizzou graduate and he married a woman much better looking than he is. Some other people are also in the hunt for 2nd and 3rd but no one cares about losers in the KUBE. No matter who finishes first they will have 250 more points than Michalak, Hunter. Good job there. I think four different people had Konnentikut winning it all but Adam Reed is the leader and his 92 point jump will vault him to first. Everyone else is...maxxed out.

Soooooo....Chez Kukla...The Depot! Tomorrow night. 7:30.

I will do my best to make even Stupider than in the past.