I hereby relinquish my position as sports editor for our newspaper group of The Bartlett Express, The Collierville Independent, The Millington Star and The Shelby Sun Times. [Editor’s note — no he didn’t. *whew*]
Now Journal West 10 Carolyn Bahm will be taking over those duties. After she finished with the best bracket for the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, I must step aside. See her bracket at http://bit.ly/DaBahmBracket2019.
Her picking three of the four Final Four and getting the championship game correct has humbled me. Bahm only filled out one bracket on ESPN.com.
As the rest of the office was buzzing around creating multiple brackets, Bahm was going along with her typical Monday that March 18.
I jokingly said to her, “Hey, Ms. Carolyn, why don’t you fill out a bracket for fun. I bet it will do better than all seven I’ve done.”
“OK, when I get to a stopping point.”
Later that afternoon, Carolyn reminded me to set up my computer so she could create her bracket.
“What sport is this?” she asked me.
In the middle of March Madness, she busted out with that query. I just knew her bracket was going to be a disaster. After giving her instructions on how the bracket works and you have to pick each and every single game, “Da Bahm Bracket” came to life.
Her system and formula was comic gold. She picked Virginia to win the title, not because they are a No. 1 seed. Carolyn was inspired to crown the Cavaliers because her older daughter’s name is Virginia.
Texas Tech reached the title game in her bracket, “Because boys from Texas are tough.”
She had a good feeling about Auburn, so she put them in the Final Four. LSU was her other pick, losing to Michigan State.
Her bracket on ESPN.com is in the top 100 percent. Meanwhile my best bracket is in the 80 percent range. I even had one bracket so bad it has only 280 points.
If Carolyn wants my job, it’s all hers. How can I argue? She’s the expert now.
I don’t know what life means anymore. Carolyn knows basketball better than me. Maybe I’ll become an expert in government reporting now.
When Virginia won this year’s National title 85-77 in overtime over Texas Tech, I realized the nothing in the world is real anymore.
This outcome of our office’s brackets means two more things; first the NCAA Tournament is an inexact science. Finally, I’ve come to the conclusion being lucky is Da Bahm.
[Note from Carolyn: “I’m resting on my laurels now and leaving the sports to the pros. Shockingly, that appeared to include me for a rare moment. Back to you, Thomas!”]
