A much better day for Madness

Day 2 of March Madness roars along, and I’m having a much, much better day than Thursday.

I’m currently 6-of-7 today, with Clemson’s loss to Missouri my only blemish. Overall, I’ve won 15 out of 23 games. Still not great, but I’m making progress.

You want to know how big Thursday was for CBS and the NCAA Tournament?

Well, try this on for size ... 3.4 million hours of live streaming video and audio was consumed yesterday online, according to CBS.

That’s insane. Really. You want to talk about people not working. Man ...

Here’s some other highlights, according to CBS:
—3.4 million total hours of live streaming video and audio consumed
—3 million unique visitors to the NCAA March Madness on Demand video players
—1.7 million clicks of the “Boss Button” - over 60% of the total clicks of the Boss Button for the entire 2009 tournament. (2.77 million)

That’s a lot of millions.

The most watched game online? That was the Florida-BYU double-overtime thriller, in which BYU won. More than 521,000 hours of watching and listening happened across the World Wide Web during that game.

Wanna read more? Well, here’s CBS’ release on the subject.

NCAA® MARCH MADNESS® ON DEMAND ACHIEVES RECORD BREAKING FIRST DAY OF TRAFFIC
3.4 million hours of live streaming video & audio consumed, the largest single day of traffic for a live sports event on the Internet.

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL - Mar. 19, 2010 - CBSSports.com, in partnership with CBS Sports and the NCAA, today released traffic statistics for NCAA March Madness on Demand (mmod.ncaa.com) for the first day of the first round of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship. In total, there were 3.4 million hours of live streaming video and audio consumed, over 20% growth versus 2009 figures, by 3 million unique visitors to the NCAA March Madness on Demand video players. Both figures represent the largest single day of traffic for a live sport event on the Internet.

Additionally, the NCAA March Madness on Demand “Boss Button” was clicked over 1.7 million times on the first day the first round of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship. The “Boss Button”, which was redesigned for the 2010 tournament, hides the live video action on the screen and silences the audio, replacing it with a “business-like” image. The 2010 Boss Button was designed by cartoonist Scott Adams, creator of the Dilbert comic. Click here to view the 2010 Boss Button.

The most watched game from 3/18 was the double-overtime Florida vs. BYU game with 521k hours of streaming video and audio. That’s +50% over 2009’s most watched game from the first day of the first round (Washington vs. Mississippi State) which had 348k hours of streaming.

The most watched hour yesterday was 2:00-2:59 p.m. ET with 533k streaming hours (16% of the total for the day). It peaked at 2:45 p.m. with 147k streaming hours between 2:45 and 2:59 p.m. ET.

“NCAA March Madness on Demand continues to regularly exceed our expectations,“ said Sean McManus, President, CBS News and Sports.
Boy, I’ll say.

This Internet thing might really be catching on. You think?

Looking back on my time at BW3s

Wow, what a day.

My back is still getting used to it.

Sorry for cutting out short on you guys last night. I had every intention of sticking around through the late games last night, but we were experiencing some difficulties on the technical side. So, after 9 1/2 hours I pulled the plug.

But I did hang out a while after to see Marquette lose, sticking another fork in my bracket.

Here’s how I ended up after the first day of the NCAA Tournament.

Games I won ... 1) Villanova-Bobby Mo; 2) Baylor Sam Houston State; 3) Kansas State-North Texas; 4) Butler-UTEP; 5) Northern Iowa-UNLB; 6) Kentucky-East Tennessee State; 7) Kansas-Lehigh; 8) Tennessee-San Diego State; 9) New Mexico-Montana.

Games I lost ... 1) BYU-Florida; 2) ODU-Notre Dame; 3) Murray State-Vanderbilt; 4) St. Mary’s-Richmond; 5) Ohio-Georgetown; 6) Washington-Marquette; 7) Wake Forest-Texas.

So, if you’re scoring at home, I was 9-of-16 after Day 1. That’s turrrible. Two of my Sweet 16 teams are gone ... Vandy and Georgetown.

I’m hoping today will much, much better.

And in case you were wondering, the Busy Girl was 7-of-16 on Thursday. Only two games up after one day does not make me very confident in my bracket.

Again, I want to think Buffalo Wild Wings for putting up with me yesterday, especially Sarah and Sean, and my servers Trish and Jamie. It was a great time.

I’ll check back in later today to see how much more of my bracket is lost.

Tipoff time at Buffalo Wild Wings ...

Are you ready for some BASKETBALL!

I know I am. As I told you guys yesterday, I’m going to be here at Buffalo Wild Wings for the entire day today, watching the first day of the NCAA Tournament, talking to folks who are on their lunch breaks (or just skipping work entirely) to watch the games. I’ll also, hopefully, have some photos and video to share with you guys.

I also might eat ... a lot.

Speaking of food, I need your help. What should I eat for lunch?

The voting closes around noon, or whenever I start to feel light-headed.

Here’s our new poll. What song should I play on the jukebox?

You can follow along with the blog right here. I’m just going to be updating this blog entry all day. So come back to this entry often, or just stay on it and keep hitting the refresh button.

While we’re at it, I’ve got to give a big shout-out to my peeps here at BW3s ... my awesome server, Trish. Also Sean and Sarah, you guys rock.

We’re just mere minutes from the first tip of the day.

It’s going to be AWESOME with a capital A, baby. Sorry, I just had to say that.

By the way, here’s my bracket.

And here’s the Busy Girl’s.

11:30 a.m.—OK, so we’ve got three games going on right now ... Florida vs. BYU, Notre Dame vs. ODU and VIllanova vs. Bobby Mo (or Robert Morris, if you prefer).

I’ve already had one lady say to me “that a way, pretend that your working,“ when she saw me here with my laptop. When I told her that I actually was working, she laughed. When I told her I was serious, she stopped laughing. Ah, I love my job.

11:40 a.m.—I read a story this week about how researchers say about $1.8 BILLION dollars will be lost in workforce productivity, while employees are filling out brackets, watching games and standing around the water cooler talking about who they have in the Final Four.

The best thing about it? I am not one of those people. I actually get paid to do this. Paid to fill out brackets. Paid to watch hoops. Paid to do exactly what I’m doing.

It makes me feel good, actually, that I’m not costing my company money.

12:01 p.m.—OK, I’m nervous for two reasons.
First, Bobby Mo is beating Villanova, 17-11 with 7 minutes left in the first half. I know it’s still only the first half. But a 15 beating a 2 seed was not in my bracket. Especially, since I have Villanova making it to the Elite Eight.

Second, my laptop battery is dying a very slow death. Hopefully I can find an outlet to plug this bad boy in soon.

12:10 p.m.—Halftime on the ODU-Notre Dame game. Like I picked, the Irish is winning, 28-22.

It’s also halftime of the Florida-BYU game. The Cougars are winning 35-33, which I did not predict. But, the Gators are a second-half team. I hope.

Bobby Mo is still up on Villanova, and looking good doing it. The lead is 8 with 4:36 left in the first half.

We’re only an hour into the games, and I’m already getting an ulcer.

12:20 p.m.—BW3s is not the only place to watch the games today and Friday. You can go to Hooters, too. They’re actually encouraging people to “play hooky” from work and head to their establishment instead. They’re even handing out doctor’s notes. Ha!

Here’s an excerpt from the press release I received the other day:

Hooters is encouraging guests to play hooky from work and head to Hooters to watch the championship basketball games. That Thursday and Friday the Hooters Girls will be handing out doctor’s notes to customers and the first 100,000 guests to download a coupon from http://www.hootershookyday.com will get a free appetizer.

“We are hoping for an epidemic of Hoops Fever,“ said Mike McNeil, Vice President of Marketing for Hooters of America, Inc.

12:35 p.m.—The people have spoken ... WINGS IT IS! 19 of you voted (about 14 more than I thought would, so thanks!). 11 of you picked wings. Thank you again.

Four of you voted for a wrap, three for burgers and one for a sandwich.

Thanks for everyone who’s voted. We’ll have a new poll up shortly.

I’m going to take a break for a minute and try to stuff my face and not get any wing sauce on my computer. The odd of that happening, though are better than 85 percent.

1:20 p.m.—Well, I’m 0-for-1 in my bracket. ODU outlasts Notre Dame to make it so. It’s OK, I had Notre Dame losing in the next round anyway. At least that’s what I tell myself to make me feel better.

By the way, Florida and BYU are tied with 18.8 seconds left. I need Florida to win. It’s the only time in my life I think I’ve ever cheered for the Gators.

See, the NCAA Tournament will do crazy things to you.

1:23 p.m.—Overtime in the Florida-BYU game.

And this just in, Villanova is closing the gap on Bobby Mo. Which is a good thing, I know a lot of folks who had Nova in the Final Four.

1:49 p.m.—The wings are done, and, my, they were tasty. Spicy garlic is the only way to go. Trust me.

And, I didn’t spill any on the computer. But, my pants? Well that’s a different story.

Looks like BYU is going to beat Florida, which will make me 0-for-2 today. The Gators had two chances—in regulation and in the first overtime—to beat BYU and couldn’t do it.

Also, Villanova and Bobby Mo are headed to overtime. Three games, two OTs. Parity, boyeee!!!

2:10 p.m.—This Villanova-Bobby Mo game is one of the best I can remember seeing this early in the tournament. Can you think of another one in the last few years.

Bobby Mo is looking to become just the second 15 seed to knock off a 2 seed.

Can it happen? We’ve got 35.5 seconds to find out.

2:17 p.m.—The first three games are now all done.

Villanova came back to beat Bobby Mo in overtime, saving EVERYONE from just lighting their brackets on fire.

So far, three games in, I’m 1-for-3. Yeah, I know. But, it’s a long day, and I can only get better. Right? Again, that’s what I’ll continue to tell myself.

Right now we’ve got Sam Houston State-Baylor and Vanderbilt-Murray State on the big screens.

2:36 p.m.—The lunch crowd here at Buffalo Wild Wings has thinned out a little bit. About an hour ago, this place was full. I saw a lot of guys in ties and ladies in business suits. They looked important, but maybe not too important, because they were her for a really long time.

I just talked to Sarah, the assistant general manager, and she says they’re expecting an even bigger crowd for dinner.

Let’s see how many people “leave work early” today.

2:51 p.m.—Well, we have our first “left early” crew that just strolled in. And they must be regulars, because one of the guys didn’t even sit down, and my girl Trish already started pouring him a beer.

I think I heard someone yell “Norm!“

3 p.m.—Vandy needs to get it together, as does Baylor. I’ve got both of those teams going a lot deeper than the first round.

Also, check out the video at the top of the page. I tried to ask Sarah off camera where they button was to send games into overtime, like you see in all those Buffalo Wild Wings commercials, and she didn’t tell me. I think they’ve got to keep that sort of thing top secret. You wouldn’t want it falling into the wrong hands.

3:35 p.m.—Vandebilt is going to make the rest of my hair fall out. Wait, too late.

Vandy is currently trailing Murray State by 1 with under a minute to play. I’ve got Vandy going to the Sweet 16. This would not be good if the Dores lose. I’m just going to put that out there right now.

3:44 p.m.—I’m going to go outside and torch my bracket right now. Murray State’s buzzer beater to beat Vandy, 66-65, hurts. Badly

To make it worse, Baylor (one of my Final Four teams) is in a dogfight with Sam Houston State. If Baylor loses, it’s over for me.

Man, now I know what they call it March Madness, because I’m not happy.

4 p.m.—OK, I’m better now.

Baylor beat Sam Houston State, 68-59. Was there ever a doubt? Yes. Yes there was.

We’ve got two more game to finish up in the “first session” of games—St. Mary’s vs. Richmond. I’ve got the Spiders in this one. They currently trail, 43-42.
We’ve also got North Texas vs. Kansas State. The Wildcats are up big.

4:27 p.m.—The best thing about West Coast games? There’s no “dinner” break. Well, at least not here. Just when one session ends, another one begins, because of the time difference.

It’s perfect, really. This is what God had in mind when he created time zones.

4:42 p.m.—I won my third game of the day—Kansas State beating North Texas, 82-62.

Interesting note here. With North Texas’ loss, Auburn can now interview Mean Green head coach Johnny Jones for the Tigers vacancy. That’s if Jones is on “the list.“ Which, I don’t know for sure, but if I had to guess, he would be.

Just sayin.

4:50 p.m.—Lost another one. St. Mary’s—a 10 seed—knocks off Richmond, 80-71. With seven games in the books, I’ve won just three.

That’s turrrible.

And here I thought this was my year.

Man ...

5 p.m.—It’s quittin’ time (not for me, but for everyone with a real job), and you can tell.

BW3s is starting to get packed as everyone is starting to get off work. And they’ve got their brackets. Lots of them.

Remember that song?

Well, that “somewhere” is Buffalo Wild Wings.

5:21 p.m.—I’m multi-tasking here at B-Dubbs. I just did a radio interview with Max Howell in Tupelo, Miss.

We talked about Jeff Lebo, Auburn basketball, prospective head coaches and, of course, football.

Hey, did you know there is sun outside? Stepping out to do the radio show was the first time I had been outside in like seven hours. Man, it was nice.

5:54 p.m.—With 7 minutes to play in the Butler-UTEP game, looks like I’m going to get my fourth win of the day.

Whoooo!

It’s not been a good day for the SEC or for potential Auburn head coaching candidates.

So far, they’re both 0-fer. Florida and Vandy lost, as did North Texas’ Johnny Jones and—if it stays this way - UTEP’s Tony Barbee.

Again, just saying’

6:06 p.m.—Seven hours in, and still going strong.

Let’s do a little inventory of my time here at Buffalo Wild Wings, shall we.

So far we’ve seen ... A lot of brackets being thrown, drinks being spilled or just knocked over, Murray State breaking my heard (and my bracket), six really big glasses of water, five bathroom breaks, one radio show, 12 spicy garlic wings, 100 french fries and just four wins.

8:42 p.m. TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES ...Due to something that I can’t explain, everything I’ve blogged past 6:06 p.m. has been lost.
Don’t ask me how or why, it just has.

But you know I’ve been blogging since, you’ve read it. I’ve written it.

Since it’s gone, let’s recap a little.

First, Ohio knocked out my second Sweet 16 pick—Georgetown. My other one was Vandy, which got bounced by Murray State.

Second, I ate dinner. Wings again. My, they were yummy.

Third, Northern Iowa won, making me 5-for-10 on the day. But more importantly, the Busy Girl’s Cinderella team is still alive.

Fourth, this guy is ecstatic.

Fifth, I can’t remember. Oh, Kentucky beat the tar out of East Tennessee State (did anyone doubt that?)

Sixth, I’m not too happy about losing two and a half hours of blogging, especially since I’ve been here for going on 10 hours.

Seventh, All we need is for Marquette to win for me to go above .500 for the day.

Eighth, since these issues are keeping me from continuing to blog efficiently, I’m going to call it a night.

At 8:46 p.m. ... exactly 9 1/2 hours after I started here at Buffalo Wild Wings, the Lazy Blog is signing off.

Thanks for everyone who participated in the blog today. I’ll come back tomorrow and do a run down of how I finished up the first day of the tournament and where we go from here.

Again, thanks for hanging out. It’s been a blast.

March Madness: It’s On!

Welcome everyone to March Madness!

Here at the Lazy Blog, we take our NCAA Tournament very, very seriously. It’s a holiday here, right up there with Flag Day and St. Patrick’s Day. Which, by the way, Happy St. Patty’s Day to everyone.

This year, I’m taking my bracket pool to another level. I’m going to win it this year. That’s right, I’m throwing down the gauntlet and putting everyone on notice that this is my year.

So much so, that I’m making my bracket available for everyone to see (and make fun of). It’s right here ...

LAZY BOY BRACKET

Also, I enlisted the Busy Girl, and asked her to fill out a bracket, as well. She obliged and you can view hers here.

BUSY GIRL BRACKET

And since we are taking March Madness to another level this year, I’m going to spend the entire first day of the NCAA Tournament at Buffalo Wild Wings in TigerTown, watching games and talking to those who call in sick ... er, come in on their lunch breaks.

It’s going to be awesome. I’ll be blogging all day—from the first tip at 11:30 a.m. till the final buzzer, or until I pass out. Whichever comes first.

If you are around BW3s, please stop in, pull up a chair and say hello.

If your boss won’t let you leave, tell him your house is on fire or that your dog ate your car keys. If that doesn’t work, you can follow the blog right here, all day. I’ll be updating it with game scores and highlights, along with interviews and conversations. I might even eat a chicken wing or 25.

Who should Auburn hire to replace Lebo? I have a suggestion ...

And it’s this guy ...

No, not Larry Bird. The guy shooting over Bird. That’s right, Chuck Person. The Rifleman.

Why?

Well, here’s the beginning of my column that will be in the Opelika-Auburn News. It will give you a couple reasons.

Enjoy.

When Jay Jacobs hired Gene Chizik, one point the Auburn athletic director kept coming back to was that Chizik was the best “fit” to lead the Tigers.

Chizik had the drive, the respect of players and a love for Auburn. As far as Jacobs was concerned, it was a no-brainer.

Well, here’s another one: Hire Chuck Person to replace Jeff Lebo.

You want to talk about a good “fit” for Auburn – for its basketball program? It’s Person. The Rifleman himself.

It just makes sense.

He’s an Auburn legend, who loves the university. His No. 45 jersey is one of just five hanging in the rafters of Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum. Soon it will move over to the new Auburn Arena.

And Person should be there in person to see it unveiled … as Auburn’s head coach.

And why not?

Think about it. What two things does the Auburn basketball program need more than anything? Players and excitement.

Sure, I can understand some might be hesitant, because there’s no proof of how Person would do as a recruiter. He’s been in the NBA for so long. Could he adapt to the college world?

In a word: yes. I don’t think that would be a problem.

As a player, coach and executive in the NBA for 25 years, my guess is he can evaluate talent. I’m quite sure he knows a good player when he sees one.

Also, I don’t think it’d be very hard to get a recruit excited about playing for him. I mean, this guy knows basketball. And he knows what it takes to make it in the NBA – which is the goal for anyone who can dribble.

He’s currently a special assistant on the L.A. Lakers staff, learning under one of the best coaches ever in Phil Jackson and helping coach a player like Kobe Bryant.

That’s pretty good experience right there. Don’t you think?

To top it all off, he’d have the new arena to sell. It’s pretty nice over there, you know?

And that brings us to the “excitement.”

Person would pump it in by the truckload. This guy is one of the best to ever wear an Auburn uniform. He’s the Tigers’ all-time leading scorer for a career (2,311 points) and for a season (747).

When he came back to be honored a few weeks ago with the rest of the 1985 team that won the SEC Tournament – taking four games in four days –Person received the loudest ovation out of anyone.

After that halftime ceremony, everyone wanted an autograph or to have their photo taken with him. He was like the mayor of BEMC or something.

Imagine the Tigers’ first game in the Auburn Arena. All the glitz and glamour, all the hype and hoopla, and in the middle of it all, here comes Chuck Person leading the team out of the locker room. 

Talk about excitement. The Brantley native comes home to lead the program he helped build out of the doldrums.

The roof might come off that place on the first night.