ISIFOTBOYSTTD 2008: This Time, It's Annual

Can you smell the excitement? Can you hear the cheering? Can you taste the sportsmanship? Can you feel the human emotions of joy or despair? Can you see the italics?

Can you tell that it's time for the Second Annual Idiom Savant Invitational Fill Out Those Brackets On Yahoo Sports Thingit Type Deal? Because it totally is that time.

To whom is this merry diversion open? The entire Idiom Savant community. Which means you, if you're reading this... which you are.

What actions must one perform to enter? Just go here. The password is "idiomsavant," if anybody asks. If that doesn't work, go here (group ID: 73439, password: idiomsavant).  You may need to set up a Yahoo! account, if you don't already have one. Once there, the site will ask you to name and create a bracket. It's pretty straightforward; it should work just like it did last year. You've got until tipoff on Thursday afternoon to get your picks in.

Isn't this all pointless, really, since Minty is bound to win again this year? Although Ms. Von Minterson's victory in the inaugural ISIFOTBOYSTTD* was decisive, it is by no means a foregone conclusion that she will enjoy a two-peat. No, the true reason that this is pointless is that there's no material wealth at stake -- plus, in a few thousand years, entropy will inevitably lead to the heat death of the universe.

So, once again, America, I ask... we doin' this?

Oh, yeah.  We doin' this.

*(I still haven't sold the naming rights to the ISIFOTBOYSTTD. The sponsorship deal with Neese's Liver Pudding fell through, but I've put some calls in to the folks at Junior Johnson's Salt and Vinegar Pork Cracklin's.) 

Comments

[Phil]

Okeydokey -- I'm in. No "shoot-the-moon" baloney for me -- I'm in it to win it.

Oh, and thanks for the reminder about Jenna Fischer. I've watched maybe a half-episode ever of The Office, but dayum, that's some fine looking woman. Now unmarried. Etc. etc. And gosh, from the statement released after her separation, she (and her now-ex-husband, for all y'all ladies who are interested) both seem like very nice people.

Then again, "very nice people" who get divorced... I have to say that makes me worry about the scenario in which one person thinks their relationship is going just fine, then suddenly the other person says, "I think I have to break things off". For no apparent reason other s/he just doesn't feel right anymore. And you have absolutely no idea what's going on.

Hmm... this feels like the kind of worrying/imaginative comment that Elrond would come up with. I'm just saying.

[Judy]

I'm in it for a new experience. (I missed last year.)
So what do i do now?
I just hope I'll have beginner's luck. I like to win.
Judy

[Jerry]

Judy: If you've made your picks for all the games, there is nothing left to do... but wait. Once the games start on Thursday, we'll all be scored on how accurately we predicted the outcomes. You can go back to the site every once in a while to see how we're all doing, and I'll post updates, probably, and a wrap-up after it's all over, maybe.

[Fikri]

OK then, I'm in.

This time I am not going with an all-upset bracket, or even an all-coin-flip bracket. To use the vernacular, I am "bringing it" this time...

[Phil]

With mixed feelings, I was just now cheering for Belmont. Those guys seriously rock. But not quite enough tonight.

[Phil]

Jerry -- how does one go back to the site to see how we're doing? The earlier links you provided seem to only take us to the "sign up" page. Can you point my lost self to the "how YOU doin'?" page?

[Jerry]

Try going here -- or just click on the "TOURNEY PICK'EM 'O8" banner from the error page you're getting to. That should take you to the main contest page, and if THAT page doesn't show you a link to the "idiomsavant" group, sign in to your Yahoo! account, and try again.

Failing that, try this. But that link probably won't work unless you're signed in to Yahoo!

[Phil]

Thanks for the links. And for the consolation congrats for picking the KState game. I'm still in frickin' last place! I'm psyched for Marianne's current first place without a system, though. Dang.

[Elrond Hubbard]

Hey, where do I sign up?

Sorry for not chiming in until now. I've been wasting my time on the My Heroes Ability app on Facebook.

Phil -- "worrying/imaginative"? Glad I could help!

[Beth Ann]

If you are looking for a sponsor, I can't recommend enough Bob and Ray's old sponsors: Monongahela Metal Foundry ("Casting steel ingots with the housewife in mind"), Einbinder Flypaper ("The brand you've gradually grown to trust over the course of three generations") The Croftweiler Industrial Cartel ("Makers of all sorts of stuff, made out of everything"), and Grime, "the magic shortening that spreads like lard."

They're all great, but I do have a special fondness for the ingots.

[...ly Ballou]

Beth Ann: I've been trying to line up something with Bob & Ray's Overstocked Warehouse, but I can't get any of their alert uniformed attendants on the phone.

(And thanks for the reference to two of my comedic heroes.)

[Phil]

And... Jerry gets the job done. Congrats, Jerry. Dammit.

[Jerry]

I'm not sure I agree with you one hundred percent on your police work there, Phil. It looks like you won, not me. (If the current point totals on the page are correct, that is. None of us can possibly earn any more points, since nobody picked either Memphis or Kansas to win.) So, congratulations, Phil.

We'll get 'em next year, Heels.

[Jerry]

Okay, well, looking at the standings now, it seems like I won after all. Although out of the 62 games, Fikri picked the most winners (43), I got the most points (109) for my 42 correct picks. You may look at it as Fikri winning the popular vote and me winning the electoral college. Look forward to the next 8 years of my inept and corrupt administration!

Still, I would trade all of this non-existent money and fame for UNC to still be alive to play Memphis on Monday.

I'll post a formal post-game wrapup soon. Until then, thanks for playing.

[Judy]

Thank you, Jerry. It was a blast even if I came out near the bottom. (Although six is my lucky number.) And interestingly enough (for me, that is), I picked the most correct for the East, and the least for the West. East was random, and West I thought about it. Which proves once again?

[minty]

Dude, I didn't even know I was being talked about over at Idiom Savant! And frankly I didn't remember that I won your pool last year--apparently I only remember things like that if there is money involved. Anyway, I thought I had you in my RSS feeds in case you ever posted again, but apparently I gave up on you last year or something because I sure hadn't seen these last several posts. Anyway as you know I did participate and I most certainly did NOT two-peat or whatever the proper term is. Um...repeat? Yeah, I think that's it. But it was a damn good time anyway.

Also, Jenna Fischer got unhitched? Man, I've been missing so much important news over here. I'm putting you back in my RSS feeds RIGHT NOW.

[I Zimbra]

I miss you, Jerry. Please tell us what you're up to.

[I Zimbra]

I miss you, Jerry. Please tell us what you're up to.

[Judy]

The Jerry is Dead. Long Live The Jerry.