Thursday ThumbTubes & YouNails: 3-19-09

The third Thursday in March used to mean something to me. I remember getting excited for the NCAA tournament and doing brackets some 20 years ago, and at the time, it was pretty novel because only myself and like three other friends would do one. It seemed as if we couldn't recruit people to participate. Well, like everything else sports/media related, the science of bracketology has just plain gotten out of hand. It's been a number of years now that we've had to adapt to the fact that women are participating in brackets, and allow me to remind you to back up a solid 5000 yards if they win one. Those victories are equated to the second coming of the Messiah. But Christ, I caught a significant portion of Rome today, and it seems like that was all he talked about: bracket updates (with obnoxious air-raid siren), and e-mails from bracketers, and tips on how to get away with watching the games at work. He skipped out on several stories he "wanted to get to," like, oh, I dunno, Jay Cutler. Sure. I'm still into the Madness, but come on.

Now this is the moment where I invite you past the jump to look at some stuff. And yes, some of said some stuff has to do with brackets. Sigh.

The House of Georges affinity for Team America has



taken a shot to the ball of yard. And with that open wound comes a hefty dose of salt.



"The desperation defensive deployment backfired Wednesday night in the World Baseball Classic when Dunn made a wild throw that led to four unearned runs, and Venezuela won Group 2 by beating the Americans 10-6 to conclude second-round play in Miami...Both teams had already qualified for the semifinals this weekend in Los Angeles. Injury-plagued Team USA is expected to make several roster moves before then."

At least the club can take solace in the fact that they have qualified for the next round, and, well, there's this:



which makes us feel good knowing that there aren't any gays on the roster.

In news of the slightly less comforting, it's HoG noteworthy that there is Royalty in Kansas City.



Let's hope his latest stop can contain appropriate behavior and good production.

Speaking of good, our old pals over at Bugs & Cranks have an interesting series going. They've also graced us with this:



And quickly abandoning such an impressive theme, onto the White House and brackets, courtesy of Awful Announcing:



And since we're in the neighborhood, you've got to see this if you haven't already:



Jumping from the hardwood to the ice, Hugging Harold Reynolds takes us to Total Pro Sports, who put together this piece



on the newest all-time winningest goaltender in the NHL: Marty Brodeur.

And we'd be off-kilter if we didn't touch more on Jay Cutler. To keep the kilter balanced, however, we've got to include a Chief story, even if it's about a former Chief becoming a Chief again.

That's gonna wrap 'er up for the Tubes and Nails today. Same time, same place next week. We'll be the ones typing.