N.Y. Times' experts explain it all -Navigating the Bracket: Which teams have the makeup to go all the way, and which teams are potential upset picks?

New York Times video: Navigating the Bracket
Which teams have the makeup to go all the way, and which teams are potential upset picks? NYT sports reporter Pete Thamel and NYT political analyst Nate Silver of Five Thirty Eight blog give their take. Produced by Justin Sablich, Tamir Elterman.
http://video.nytimes.com/video/2011/03/14/sports/ncaabasketball/100000000725879/navigating-the-bracket.html

See also:

Chicago Tribune
Obama talks chalk with NCAA picks
By Michael A. Memoli, Washington Bureau
6:34 p.m. CDT, March 16, 2011
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/obama/ct-talk-obama-ncaa-picks-0317-20110316,0,3277711.story

At IU, we had a name for someone like President Obama who picks all the top-ranked teams to make it to the Elite 8: a butt-kissing corporate shill.


Who’s No. 1? Investigating the Mathematics of Rankings
By Patrick Honner amd Holly Epstein Ojalvo
March 14, 2011, 3:02 pm
http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/14/whos-no-1e-investigating-the-mathematics-of-rankings/


Five Thirty Eight blog
When 15th Is Better Than 8th: The Math Shows the Bracket Is Backward
By Nate Silver
March 15, 2011, 11:40 pm

Suppose that, lucky you, you’re the coach of a team given a No. 8 seed in the N.C.A.A. tournament bracket.

This is a less-than-ideal position: provided that you win your first-round game, you’re due to face the No. 1 seed in the second round.

Read the rest of the post at:
http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/15/when-15th-is-better-than-8th-the-math-shows-the-bracket-is-backward/

For more info:
http://ncaabracket.nytimes.com/2011/bracket/men/
http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/t/pete_thamel/index.html
http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheNewYorkTimes

Say hello to Lacey Myers, one of "The World's Richest Teenagers" as seen on Channel 4 (U.K.) and MTV's Lacey Land. C'est la vie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwWulWyLLXE
Mark Dolan embarks on a quest to find the world's richest teenagers.
Is the silver-spoon life such a wonderful thing after all?

Above, Dolan with the then-17-year old Lacey Myers, of Ashland, Ohio, who as you'll see from the clip's I've assembled here, is living EXTRA LARGE, as a result of how much Americans spend annually on their pets via Pet Brands, Inc., an American company with excellent products, great client services and a very good reputation. Lacey's father, Martin "Marty" Myers, is the company CEO.

Just further proof, as if needed, that if you give people a quality product they need at a price they can afford, you can make some money, too.
There's nothing mysterious about it and certainly no need to apologize for that success.

And really, is Lacey's ability to genuinely enjoy herself, as a result of her father's hard work, really all that different than depictions of how the rich lived in turn-of-the-century New York in real life, or as depicted in well-known novels by novelist Edith Wharton, with extravagant yachts, summers in old castles in Europe with royalty... and no personal income tax?
There just wasn't any incriminating video, 24/7 Internet or TMZ back then, is all.

C'est la vie.

The World's Richest Teenager | Who's to Blame? More with Lacey.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyYrzurRisY

Catch up on 4oD: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-worlds-and-me/4od

For more information on this TV show, see:
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-worlds-and-me and
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-worlds-and-me/pictures/richest-teenager/6a986ac8-d7c6-42d2-8666-837c527f4962


Here's an earlier story on Lacey from a few years ago getting the MTV My Super Sweet 16 treatment. Her only regret was that "she couldn't keep the party going."
http://www.times-gazette.com/news/article/3204672

She was only 16 then, and to my mind, at least, sounds like about a million or so teenage girls in cities all across the country, ESPECIALLY here in South Florida, so what are you going to do, put her on trial for enjoying herself, rather than being frugal or a bookworm?

Or am I the only person still alive who remembers the many over-the-top stories on local Miami TV stations in the 1970's and '80's, with giddy TV reporters going on-and-on about well-to-do South Florida parents renting out the Orange Bowl for their son's bar mitzvah?

Frankly, it was actually starting to become a fairly regular thing, and while I remember thinking at the time as as a kid growing-up down here that it seemed a bit over-the-top, and not something anyone I knew might do, I suppose if I'd been a friend of the birthday boy and been invited, I'd have have been pretty psyched, so who's to judge these things, anyhow?

Besides, it wasn't my money, after all, so why should I begrudge someone else doing what they want to do, or what their parents want to do, and enjoy vicariously?

If any part of the country should understand Lacey Myers, it's here in South Florida.
Older versions of fun-loving Lacey keep its hotels and night clubs busy and turning a profit in very uncertain economic times.

Welcome to the full episode of the Lacey Land fantasy bash from January 28, 2008.
http://www.mtv.com/videos/my-super-sweet-16-season-6-ep-8-lacey-lacey-land-party/1580256/playlist.jhtml

My Super Sweet 16 - MTV Shows

When I last watched it, this video featured the recent Cotton Fabric of Our Lives TV ads I recently posted about featuring singers Leona Lewis and Colbie Caillat, but it may change by the time you watch it.

See other Fabric of Our Lives commercials from the series at:
http://www.youtube.com/user/CottonFabricOfMyLife

The World's Richest Teenager - High Flyer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neZ65AKMrZE


http://www.channel4.com/news/

Last I heard, Lacey had left for Syracuse University, alma mater of one of my former housemates in Arlington, Peter Gaudioso, who was then an intern for Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist, and a future Seton Hall Law School grad.

Peter, a devout fan of the Orange, was one of my housemates in Arlington when my IU Hoosiers beat Syracuse on a last-second Keith Smart shot in the 1991 NCAA Basketball title game, and is now a practicing attorney in New Jersey, and can no doubt still weave a Thomas Jefferson quote or anecdote into a conversation better than anyone north of Charlottesville and UVA.

From a distance, I suppose it would be too much to hope that Lacey turns out to be a Syracuse Lacrosse fan, and will actually be showing-up for their games that will be televised by ESPNU in the spring.
Still, it would be nice to see her up in the stands showing her support during a telecast.

Unless that happens, though, I suspect that we've all seen the last of Lacey for a while, as she'll probably be living a more below-the-radar existence, living the college life she's probably looked forward to enjoying for years while growing-up in Ohio, just like I and all my friends did as well here in South Florida once upon a time, eager to leave the Sunshine State in the rear view mirror and get on with our lives.
In my case, the beautiful rolling hills of Bloomington, Indiana.