Bracke-Tyner-gy 2024

 Hello again, everyone. Well folks, we made it. Tournament time is upon us, and we get to see how our brackets will be obliterated this year. This year's bracket caused some serious headaches for some programs that felt as if they were slighted by the selection committee; Indiana State, USF, St. John's, I know that feeling. All in all, this college basketball season was mid to say the least. It seems like whoever was number 1 in the polls would lose their following game, and there were some weeks where multiple teams in the top ten of the polls would lose. 

Be that as it may, the number one seeds are defending national champion Connecticut, Houston, Purdue, and North Carolina. Of those teams, only UConn won their conference tournament. The others fell in the conference finals or semis. In the East region, three of last year's Final Four teams are in: UConn, Florida Atlantic, and San Diego State. The other one, Miami, failed to reach the tournament this year. What's interesting to note is that all three teams are in the top half of the region; FAU is seeded eighth, while SDSU is seeded fifth. This means that a rematch of last year's title game would take place in the Sweet Sixteen. I don't think it matters all that much though. The only team I see giving Connecticut any competition is Illinois, and even if they do, they have to do so in Boston. So, UConn gets the East.

(Connecticut Post)

In the West region, North Carolina is the top seed, and with the exception of their ACC Final loss to NC State, have been playing really well down the stretch. Now watch them get upended by Michigan State (who has zero business being in the tournament imho) in the second round. Beyond that, I think the best teams that could take down the Heels are Arizona, the number two seed, and Baylor, the three seed. Watch for Grand Canyon and New Mexico to pull first round upsets. My pick for the West? Arizona.

(Bleacher Report)

In the South, Houston (and Robeson County's very own Kelvin Sampson) is the top seed. I don't think they reach the Final Four though, to me, we may get a rematch of the 1992 East Regional classic between Duke and Kentucky. Potential upsets include #11 seed NC State, and #12 seed James Madison. Florida is in this region too, although I strongly doubt the get past the second round. My pick to win the South? Kentucky.

(Antonio Reeves, from AZ Central)

Finally, we have the Midwest, Purdue looks to exact revenge from the last year's tournament debacle, which is why Florida Atlantic got to the Final Four to begin with. They shouldn't have trouble this season, unless Tennessee or Creighton play out of their minds this year and pull the surprise. If any upsets come out of this region, it could be 13-seed Samford over 4-seed Kansas; the Jayhawks will be without their leading scorer for the tournament and have been sputtering down the stretch. But I think this is the year Purdue gets over the hump and reaches the Final Four.

Zach Eady

In Glendale, I have Connecticut outlasting Arizona and Purdue beating Kentucky to set up a matchup between last year's champ, UConn and the team with the best player nationally Purdue. The only other time that a top seed was knocked out in the first round was in 2018, when UMBC upset UVA, and Virginia wound up winning the whole thing the very next year. I don't think That will be the case this year, as UConn's devil magic will prevail in the end. So, my national title pick this year? The Connecticut Huskies.

Good boy!!

Bony Scribe

Flashback: March 16, 1991

 Good day, everyone, and Happy St. Paddy's Day. Hope everyone wears their green and drinks responsibly this weekend, and most importantly, stays hydrated. I of course won't be participating in the latter part, but I will be wearing green for USF men's basketball; they might win their conference tournament on and possibly clinch their first NCAA Tournament appearance in thirteen years. Tonight, I'll be watching the ACC Final between North Carolina and NC State. 

But that's tonight. For right now, albeit a day late, I thought I would give you my weekly flashback segment. This week I rolled my D20 die, and it wound up on 12, which meant I could choose between 1991 and 2011. Of course, I chose 1991. A rather interesting point in time to say the least. Personally, I was getting acclimated to a whole new school system, as my family had just relocated from Podunkville, NC to Apopka, Florida. Plus, we had just wrapped up Operation Desert Storm, in which (in a precursor to events a dozen years later) Allied forces overwhelmed Saddam Hussein and his Iraqi Army. 

Musically speaking, these were the Top 40 songs according to Billboard Magazine for the week ending March 16, 1991:

40. Deeper Shade Of Soul by Urban Dance Squad. Only hit from this outfit, which had already moved out of the R/R charts for about a month at this point.

39. Chasin' The Wind by Chicago. Last top 40 hit for these longtime chart veterans.

38. How To Dance by Bingo Boys f/ Princessa. I usually turned the radio station when this song came on.

37. Together Forever by Lisette Melendez. As I recall, this was a staple on WXXL radio in Orlando.

36. I Saw Red by Warrant. Actually, I haven't seen "Red" in over a month, but I have seen her red flags everywhere. something I should have seen from the outset...

35. I Like The Way (The Kissing Game) by Hi-Five. No, your guy never has played a kissing game with a woman, all my "relationships" have never gotten to that point.

34. Just The Way It Is, Baby by The Rembrandts. Thier much lesser-known hit before they sang the theme to an iconic sitcom later on in the decade.

 33. If You Needed Somebody by Bad Company. A favorite of mine that stands the test of time, if only radio stations that specialize in old music would play it.

32. My Side Of The Bed by Susanna Hoffs. Her maiden solo effort, and a nice video to boot. 😉

31. Something In My Heart by Michel'le. I honestly do not remember this song at all.

30. Joyride by Roxette. After taking most of 1990 off, they returned with this song in early 1991.

29. Cry For Help by Rick Astley. When this video came out, we wondered what had happened to Rick because he no longer had the Howdy-Doody haircut (it was significantly longer). In any event I would hear this all the time at the Winn-Dixie I worked at in Pine Hills.

28. The First Tine by Surface. True story, the first days I rode the bus to Apopka High, there was this one girl who had really bad acne. I mean HELLA bad. And unfortunately, a couple of times she wound up sitting beside me, so I (to myself) changed the lyrics to this song to "the first time I saw your face I barfed." 

27. Baby Baby by Amy Grant. Speaking of barfing...

26. Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)/I Want You by Robert Palmer. The other radio station to in Orlando I religiously listened to at the time, WOMX, would play this a LOT.

25. The Star-Spangled Banner by Whitney Houston. Recorded before Super Bowl XXV in Tampa, Florida.

24. I'll Do For You by Father MC. A rather humorous ending to the song, as the female singer asks, "am I finished?"

23. Wicked Game by Chris Isaak. Excuse me for a second...

I hope that picture triggers some adolescent memories for the guys out there...you're welcome.

22. Rico Suave by Gerardo

21. I'll Be By Your Side by Stevie B

20. Round And Round by Tevin Campbell. As I recall, I think Prince had a hand not only in launching Tevin's career, but also with this particular track.

19. Sadness by Enigma. An all-time favorite of mine that reminds me of the "Pure Moods" CD that was advertised all over TV in the 90s.

18. Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now) by C+C Music Factory. Wanna feel old? If anyone has watched any part of ESPN's Champ Week coverage (which includes the ACC Tournament), you undoubtedly have heard THIS song. In 2024. 

17. Iesha by Another Bad Creation. This group was formed (IIRC) by Bell Biv Devoe, who of course would also launch the career of Boyz II Men.

16. Signs by Tesla. Unfortunately, I don't have this song on Spotify because I can't seem to find the edited for radio version.

15. I've Been Thinking About You by Londonbeat. But you haven't been thinking about me. Story of my life, buddy.

14. You're In Love by Wilson Phillips. Oh really??? I don't think so.

13. Waiting For Love by Alias. How long have I been waiting for love??

12. Around The Way Girl by LL Cool J

11. Madonna. I liked this song more than I did "Justify My Love."

10. Hold You Tight by Tara Kemp. Had a couple of bangers in 1991 then faded into Bolivia...

  9. Where Does My Heart Beat Now by Celine Dion. Long before "My Heart Will Go On," she debuted with this hi

  8. Get Here by Oleta Adams. Part of the reason why I think this song was so popular was because of Desert Storm, which I mentioned earlier in this entry had just wrapped up. This was also used by Trailways Bus Service, when they were still in existence.

  7. All The Man That I Need by Whitney Houston

  6. This House by Tracie Spencer. A few years ago, Tampa Bay's (s)hit music channel, WFLZ, used part of this song on a loop as bumper music. Otherwise, this song has been largely forgotten.

  5. All This Time by Sting. I'm a little surprised in retrospect that this song charted this high.

  4. Coming Out Of The Dark by Gloria Estefan. Remember when she had that near-fatal bus accident in 1990? This was her triumphant comeback from it.

  3. Show Me The Way by Styx. Their biggest hit since "Mr. Roboto" eight years earlier.

  2. One More Try by Timmy T. Pretty song, it would hit number one the following week, which at the time was the first song from an indy label since Lionel Richie's "Truly" in 1982 to reach the top spot. And I don't think she'll get another try if she decides to do so.

...and the number one song this date 33 years ago was...

  1. Someday by Mariah Carey. Featured in the music video was a drummer who was featured in a Levi's commercial the year before, who didn't have a drum set, but a pair of sticks and a bucket.

So that's your flashback for this week. I might have another entry come late Sunday or early Monday concerning the upcoming 2024 NCAA basketball tournaments. One other very important note before I sign off for now, even though I highly doubt she'll see this, but I wanted to wish my daughter Kaylee a very happy 25th birthday tomorrow.

this was taken before her senior year of high school

Until later, take care...

BonyScribe

Not Doing That Again...

 Good morning. Monday, I tried to get back what I tried to set out to do a month ago in properly celebrating my 50th birthday, which was ruined by one grifter robbing me and a bartender acting all stuck up like I didn't even exist even though I've done much for her. Oh, and her worthless (now) husband being a total tool. So, I went to another establishment in the area to drown my sorrows, but wound up getting virtually punched in the stomach, then literally sick. The woman I was talking to wound up being the unintended recipient of a nice gift I got the aforementioned tender for Christmas this past year (after showing her what I got for her and explaining to her why I was drowning my sorrows). So, I guess I was chopped liver to her (tender) after all. But then after about two hours of drinking, I felt ill...REALLY ill. 

Call it Montezuma's revenge, or call it me being dumb, but I wound up hurling my sorrows into the toilet. I was so sick, that the manager of the establishment wound up calling an ambulance. I wound up getting admitted to Trinity HCA Hospital to be treated for dehydration (and thankfully not alcohol poisoning). After about four-five hours, I was released and able to go home. 

That ordeal alone was a wake-up call to me. I wound up out $90 for an ER visit (thankfully I have Aetna), and I really didn't get anything accomplished, other than almost hitting rock-bottom. Suffice to say I think after Monday, my drinking days are done and over with. I'm 50 years old for crying out loud, and I know I don't have much time left on this planet, why should I waste it on getting drunk and not able to enjoy life? Maybe it's the fact that I didn't start until I was 38, and I may have been making up for lost time, which seems to be a recurring theme for me. But this took nearly three days to fully recover from, and that's something I really can't afford to have happen going forward.

So, as of March 12, 2024, my drinking dyas are done and over with. So long, Fireball.

BonyScribe

Flashback: March 6, 2009

 Hello, everyone. I was going to have more content for you but as usual, my computer started acting up...again. So instead of me ranting about an old man yelling into a cloud, and a crisis actress doing some lame interpretive dance routine afterwards, so instead you get a weekly flashback. This week we're going back all of fifteen years to the year I thought I was going to move to a quieter part of Florida, and possibly meet up with a lady from Germany (it wound up being a trap anyway), 2009. I believe if memory serves me correctly that this is the latest date I've ever done a flashback on. So, here were the top 40 songs for the week of March 6, 2009, loosely based off data from Mediabase 24/7.

40. If I Were A Boy by Beyonce. Well Beyonce, in 2024 it's totally plausible that you can be a boy, if you should choose to do so...

39. Day N Nite by Kid Cudi

38. 18 Days by Saving Abel. The lesser-known follow-up to "Addicted."

37. If You See(k) Amy by Britney Spears. Radio stations rreally had to dance around the actual title of this song, for obvious reasons. 

36. Second Chance by Shinedown

35. Come On Get Higher by Matt Nathanson

34. Halo by Beyonce

33. Turnin' Me On by Keri Hilson f/ Lil' Wayne

32. Angels On The Moon by Thriving Ivory

31. Love Lockdown by Kanye West. Probably my favorite track from Ye.

30. Light On by David Cook

29. The Climb by Miley Cyrus. Just after "Party In the USA." It took fifteen years, but Miley finally got her Grammy. Don't worry about getting her flowers though, she said she can buy her own.

28. Candle (Sick and Tired) by White Tie Affair

27. Right Now (Na Na Na) by Akon. Another favorite of mine.

26. Gotta Be Somebody by Nickelback. I am somebody, too bad some people can't acknowledge that fact, right "Vixon"???

25. I Will Be by Leona Lewis

24. Kiss Me Thru The Phone by Soulja Boy. I wonder if the phone number that was mentioned in that song still works.

23. Crack A Bottle by Eminem/Dr. Dre/50 Cent. Until the other day, I felt like cracking a bottle upside someone's head. Not worth it though, I'll let karma work it's magic.

22. Womanizer by Britney Spears

21. How Do You Sleep? by Jesse McCartney. Quite well actually. It's the time that I sleep that's problematic.

20. Green Light by John Legend f/Andre 3000. I waited for that green light, but got thrown a sudden stop sign, then a detour. Dammit.

19. Beautiful by Akon

18. Thinking Of You by Katy Perry. Not anymore, I'm not.

17. Let It Rock by Kevin Rudolf f/Lil' Wayne

16. Live Your Life by T.I. f/Rihanna

15. Untouched by The Veronicas

14. Poker Face by Lady Gaga. It wasn't until a few years ago that Gaga would admit that she let a vulgar word slip into the chorus.

13. Mad by Ne-Yo

12. I Hate This Part by The Pussycat Dolls

11. Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) by Beyonce. In the fifteen years since this song came out, I have put two rings on two females. Neither worked out.

10. Dead And Gone by Justin Timberlake f/T.I. 

  9. You Fond Me by The Fray

  8. Right Round by Flo Rida f/Kesha

  7. Just Dance by Lady Gaga f/Colby O'Donis

  6. My Life Would Suck Without You by Kelly Clarkson. The aforementioned woman from Germany tried dedicating that song to me one time. It aged like warm milk.

  5. Love Story by Taylor Swift. No, I don't think she knew of Travis Kelce at the time. In fact, I don't think anyone outside of Ohio had heard of EITHER of the Kelce brothers this time fifteen years ago.

  4. Sober by P!nk. I've been sober for a month now, which means I better get to a bar next week. No, not THAT one...

  3. Heartless by Kanye West. Somewhat relatable due to recent events.

  2. Circus by Britney Spears

...and the number one song fifteen years ago this week was...

  1. Gives You Hell by The All-American Rejects. Enough said...

Well, if my POS computer doesn't give me yet another blue screen of death, I hope to have more content for y'all this weekend. 

BonyScribe

Flashback: March 2, 2001

 Hello, everyone. My computer appears to be working, for now. I have my Spotify app closed so hopefully it helps (UPDATE: it didn't). As long as I can get my 'puter to stay on for once and not crash, I'm golden. Last week, I ran back 1994, this week, we're taking a look back to just before our lives would all change forever.

With that said, here were the top 40 songs per Radio & Records Magazine for March 2, 2001, with some memories and random thoughts sprinkled in. Can you believe it's been 23 years already?!

40. Broken Promises by Tonya Mitchell. As I recall, she was a singer from Tennessee that allegedly was the one Justin Timberlake cheated on Britney Spears with. After this single, which was her breakthrough, her father died, and Mitchell left the music industry not long afterwards.

39. Loser by Three Doors Down. Gee, with the way my mental and emotional health has been lately, I feel like one, but I'm not.

38. Liquid Dreams by O-Town. Did we REALLY need another Orlando, Florida-based boy band? If Backstreet was Coca-Cola and *NSYNC was Pepsi, I guess this group was RC Cola, and much like RC Cola, they're still around, just not very relevant.

37. E. I. by Nelly. To this day, I don't know what "E.I." stands for. Looking at Wiki, it apparently is code for something I'd rather not discuss on this blog, but if you're curious, go ahead. For those who don't want to click on the link, think of the term "butter face."

36. Too Little Too Late by The Barenaked Ladies. This song kinda reminds me of the classic rant from "Animal House."

35. Stutter by Joe f/Mystikal. Joe also released a smoother R&B sounding version of this song, but it didn't get any play on FLZ.

34. My Everything by 98 Degrees

33. Ooh It's Kinda Crazy by Soul Decision. You mean how my February went? You can say that. 

32. I Wish by R. Kelly. I bet he wishes he didn't fool around with underage girls back in the day.

31. Beautiful Day by U2. There was a rather forgettable commercial for a Tampa-area car dealership back in the early 2000's that utilized a poorly sung version of this song. I don't think they increased their business from those ads, and they were probably even more annoying than the dude for Spectrum that cosplays Vincent Van Gogh yelling, "$29.99!!"

30. I'm Like A Bird by Nelly Furtado. Had it not have been for Timabland, Nelly would have been known as the singer that sang the bird song, which was feature in a State Farm ad about a decade ago. "I only fly awayyyyy."

29. I Hope You Dance by Lee Ann Womack. Rare country crossover hit. As I recall, there were two versions of this tune, one for contemporary radio and one for country. I think only the country version is available on Spotify.

28. Southside by Moby f/Gwen Stefani. A favorite of mine from that era, unfortunately for me, the version with Gwen is not available on Spotify. Dammit man...

27. Breathless by The Corrs

26. Best I Ever Had (Grey Sky Morning) by Vertical Horizon. If memory serves me correct, this was their final Top 40 hit. Quite strange considering they had the most (over)played song of the year 2000.

25. Thank You For Loving Me by Bon Jovi

24. Hanging By A Moment by Lifehouse. The song that just wouldn't go away. I think it was still in the top 10 when 9/11 hit (Update: after a quick check, it was). 

23. Follow Me by Uncle Kracker

22. Hemorrhage (In My Hands) by Fuel. Casey Kasem on his countdown show never said the actual title on his countdown shows. I never realized that "hemorrhage" was taboo to say over the airwaves, but maybe to some listeners they found it offensive. Then again, those same people would get offended if someone picked their nose.

21. Free by Mya

20. No More (Baby I'ma Do Right) by 3LW. A one-hit wonder for this group.

19. Case Of The Ex (Whatcha Gonna Do) by Mya. This was her biggest solo effort, her biggest hits were "Getto Supastar" and "Lady Marmalade" which were collaborations.

18. Never Had A Dream Come True by S Club 7. I'm still waiting for mine, and I'm getting closer.

17. The Call by The Backstreet Boys. There was one call I wish I had made in 2004, but I didn't, and that's probably why I'm single now.

16. It Wasn't Me by Shaggy f/Rik Rok. The whole premise of this song is hilarious. Dude gets caught red-handed cheating on his woman, and Shaggy tells him to say it wasn't him. Now unless there was an identical twin that the woman had zero idea about, how on Earth could this POSSIBLY work?

15. Thankyou by Dido. Yes, I had to watch how I spelled Dido. Anyway, this took off thanks to Eminem who sampled this in his hit, "Stan." Which is also where we get the GenZ term "stan" (meaning fanatic of) from. Thanks, Marshall!

14. Ms. Jackson by OutKast. Iconic song that launched OutKast into the mainstream. Hold on, we're getting reaction now from Mr. Jackson, and it doesn't look good for Andre and Big Boi:

13. Around The World (A La La La La La) by ATC

12. You Make Me Sick by P!nk. Her third hit from "Can't Take Me Home." I wonder if she still does songs from this era on tour right now? And does she fly through the air on a trapeze-like device doing so?

11. Independent Women Part I by Destiny's Child. First off, congratulations are in order to Beyonce for becoming the first female artist of African descent to score a #1 country song, which is also the number one song on this week's Hot 100 ("Texas Hold 'Em"). Secondly, since this song was from the movie "Charlie's Angels," I should state that I had such a crush on Drew Barrymore back in the day. 

10. If You're Gone by Matchbox Twenty. Low-key a favorite of mine and an underrated hit in my opinion.

  9. Jaded by Aerosmith. Their Super Bowl appearance that year (along with Britney and NSYNC) undoubtedly propelled this chart hit, which I think was their final top ten.

  8. Nobody Wants To Be Lonely by Ricky Martin with Christina Aguilera. I really thought this would take off big time, but it only got to #7 the following week, then fell off. A pretty good song actually.

  7. He Loves U Not by Dream. Dream was supposedly the female version of BSB. I wonder what happened to them? Whoa, here's something I didn't know until now, group member Melissa Shuman accused Nick Carter of rape in 2002.

  6. Butterfly by Crazy Town. Crazy town, perfectly describes about any town in Florida. That or Lumberton, NC.

  5. Don't Tell Me by Madonna. FLZ played the fast tempo version of this song (which I hated) while their butt-ugly sister station Star 95.7 (now extinct) played the regular version. In fact, there was a lot of things I hated about FLZ at the time. Now I just hate them for being an iHate Local Radio iHeart Media station.

  4. Crazy by K-Ci and JoJo. Yeah, thinking about has just about driven me crazy...

  3. Angel by Shaggy f/Rayvon. An updated version of Merilee Rush's 1968 song "Angel Of The Morning," which was remade by Juice Newton in 1981.

  2. Again by Lenny Kravitz. Great song, only a matter of time until it reaches a "new" oldies station, which I'm surprised hasn't happened yet that I am aware of.

...and the number one song twenty-three years ago this week was...

  1. Love Don't Cost A Thing by Jennifer Lopez. Wrong. It actually does cost something eventually. Either that or I have become jaded with relationships to the point that true love does not exist. 

That puts a wrap on this week's flashback feature. I'm formulating ideas in my mind on how I want to expand the BonyScribe brand further. More entries on this blog would help at first, but stay tuned. I want to do something more online in the coming months, that is if I ever get my depression somewhat resolved. Until next time, have a good weekend!

BonyScribe