What an evening. Xavier fans, you have much to be proud of. Texas A&M fans, you too have much to be proud of. Really, we’ve all got something to be proud of over here. Let’s give ourselves a hand. FOOOOOORRRRRRRR….
He’s a jolly good fellow, for he’s a jolly good fellow, for he’s a jolly good fell-ow!!!!!!!! Which nobody can deny! Which nobody can deny, which nobody can deny!
*we all laugh a little and slap each other on the back as we trail off*
Whew, that was fun. Always a good time with that song.
Anyway, some congratulations are in order. BUT FIRST! If you’d like to read this year’s One Shining MomeNIT, here it is. The ghosts of MSG, man. What an evening for them.
Now, our three top finishers.
In *drum roll* third place, with a cumulative score of SIXTY points *drum roll intensifies* UTAGGIEMAN!!!!
*raucous applause*
In *drum roll* second place, with a cumulative score of SIXTY-TWO points *drum roll intensifies* MUSKIES WILL BE BACK!!!!
*even more raucous applause*
And our *drum roll* champion, with a cumulative score of SIXTY-FIVE points, MIGHT BE an NIT BRACKET CHALLENGE RECORD (haven’t checked, drum roll intensifies further, that drummer we hired is just f***in’ wailing on that thing)…
PETE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well done to our prize winners, and to all who played. It was an honor to have you each involved.
The final standings can be found here. On the celebrity side, Joe Stunardi did end up on top, which is a relief for us. Always good to have it look like you have someone who knows what’s going on. In tiebreaker land, there were 21 foul-outs, I consumed 10 frozen pizzas over the course of the tournament, and 2 vice presidential birthplaces can be found here in Texas, the state of the runner up: Lyndon B. Johnson’s, of course, over in Johnson City (which my parents recently visited when they came down here for a visit and thought was well-done and a strong opening to a lovely two days in Hill Country), and that of John “Cactus Jack” Gardner, who was born up near the Oklahoma state line, in Red River County. The bracket named Gueye for NIT MVP was correct on the first two, but missed the third. Still a heck of a performance.
To our three prizewinners: I’ll be in touch shortly to begin negotiations on your rewards. To the rest of you: Thank you one more time for being here. I hope you had half as much fun as we did. Exactly half. If you had more fun than that, we’re a little concerned. Less fun than that? Bummer, but not “concerning,” per se. We’ll see you next NIT, and if you’re looking for us over the months between now and then, we can be found at www.thebarkingcrow.com, where we’ll share every bit of NIT news that comes our way. Godspeed, and may Al McGuire and all of the fates smile kindly on your paths.
Your friend,
NIT Stu
