Worst. Game. Ever.

In what was the worst game ever played, UCONN beat Butler to win the National Championship. Why do I have to post this you ask? Because Jeremy gets more points. Blah.

Final standings on the right...

Jeremy clinches 2011 Young Family Bracket Challenge!

Well, UCONN beat Kentucky by 1 point in the Final Four and Jeremy clinched the 2011 Young Family Bracket Challenge title for the first time.

The National Championship is between UCONN and Butler but we don't have a winner yet because Jeremy was very impatient about the blog posting showing that he won. Also, since this is the case, it's possible that these point totals are not final. Thanks Jeremy, for making sure there will be one more blog post. Lame.

So we give a cold congratulations to Jeremy for winning the challenge even though I should have won.

Coming in second is Mom (Jo) in easily her best performance ever. Following her is Heather, Nathaniel, and Eric to round out the top 5, respectively.

Final (Possibly) Standings:

1.	Jeremy	140 points
2.	Mom (Jo)	154.5 points
3.	Heather	147 points
4.	Nathaniel	137 points
5.	Eric	130.5 points
6.	Brad	128.5 points
7.	Melissa	126.5 points
8.	Allison	120.5 points
9.	Jacob	106 points
10.	Beth	98.5 points
11.	Robert	94 points
12.	Teresa	70 points
13.	Lindsey	39 points

So everybody send Jeremy $5 even though he didn't deserve it!

Checks made payable to Beth Jeremy Bird
7741 Grandwind Dr.
Lorton, VA 22079

He will also be getting the traveling trophy from Jacob. So I guess congratulations?

Final Four set... It's down to two for the Challenge title!

The Final Four is set: Kentucky, Connecticut, VCU, and Butler are heading to Houston in the weirdest Final Four I've ever seen, but to top that off, two unexpected people are going head to head for the Young Family Bracket Challenge: Mom (Jo) and Jeremy.

Mom (Jo), Heather and Jeremy are the only people who can still get points, but since Heather and Mom (Jo) both have Kentucky advancing to the championship game and no further, Mom (Jo) will automatically beat Heather in points since she currently sits in first place.

Jeremy, however, has UCONN heading to the Championship game, and winning the championship, so he can win if UCONN beats Kentucky, regardless of whether or not UCONN wins it all.

Current Standings:

1.	Mom (Jo)	154.5 points
2.	Heather	147 points
3.	Jeremy	140 points
4.	Nathaniel	137 points
5.	Eric	130.5 points
6.	Brad	128.5 points
7.	Melissa	126.5 points
8.	Allison	120.5 points
9.	Jacob	106 points
10.	Beth	98.5 points
11.	Robert	94 points
12.	Teresa	70 points
13.	Lindsey	39 points

So it's almost over folks. Saturday night in Houston will tell the tale. If UCONN beats Kentucky, Jeremy wins. If Kentucky beats UCONN, Mom (Jo) wins... either way, they both suck and I should be winning it. Blah!

Keep Juanita Abbott in your prayers...

As most of you know, Matt's mom, Juanita, is in the hospital.

She was recently transferred to Ohio State University's Medical Center in Columbus and are unsure of when she'll go home.

If you didn't get a chance to meet Juanita, she is truly a great person. Every time I visited Heather she always welcomed me into her home and treated me like family!

Please keep her and their family in your prayers.

We love you guys -

Jeremy takes the lead as UCONN heads to the Final Four!

Well, Jeremy went with UCONN (again...), but for the first time ever, it seems to have paid off!

UCONN dropped Arizona to punch its ticket to Houston for the Final Four, pushing Jeremy to the top spot in the bracket challenge. Only he, Bradley and Mom (Jo) picked UCONN to make it to the Final Four. With those picks, Mom (Jo) moved up to 3rd place while Brad is in 5th.

"The one year I don't pick UCONN..." was all his loving wife, Beth, could muster.

Butler surprised everyone again this year and made it to its second consecutive Final Four. Nobody picked Butler to make it to the Final Four. They withstood the Florida Gators in an overtime thriller.

Tomorrow will show the last two teams punch their tickets to the Final Four as Kentucky takes on North Carolina (GO HEELS!) and Kansas takes on surprise contender VCU.

What a crazy tournament... again.

Standings:

1.	Jeremy	140 points
2.	Nathaniel	137 points
3.	Mom (Jo)	134.5 points
4.	Eric	130.5 points
5.	Bradley	128.5 points
6.	Heather	127 points
7.	Melissa	126.5 points
8.	Allison	120.5 points
9.	Jacob	106 points
10.	Beth	98.5 points
11.	Robert	94 points
12.	Teresa	70 points
13.	Lindsey	39 points

Let's go Heels!

A big upset... a lot of brackets likely busted... Heather makes a big jump!

Well, Ohio State lost to Kentucky tonight and wiped away a lot, and I mean a lot, of everyone's National Champions

hip selections. Only Heather and Mom (Jo) picked Kentucky for the upset. Ugh. BUT! North Carolina is in the Elite 8 and Dook isn't, ha!

So, as I explained yesterday, most everyone's selections were the same for today, so there was little change in the standings. Except Heather jumped from 7th place to 3rd! Way to go, sis!

Standings:

1.	Nathaniel	137 points
2.	Eric	130.5 points
3.	Heather	127 points
4.	Melissa	126.5 points
5.	Allison	120.5 points
6.	Jeremy	120 points
7.	Mom (Jo)	114.5 points
8.	Bradley	108.5 points
9.	Jacob	106 points
10.	Beth	98.5 points
11.	Robert	94 points
12.	Teresa	70 points
13.	Lindsey	39 points

It's unfortunate, but there are some players who can no longer receive points because their brackets are dead. Eric, Lindsey, Robert, and Teresa are completely tapped out. They have no more selections available to them. So sad. But not really!

Those still alive:
Allison: ...has UNC and Kansas in the Final Four - UNC to win it all... (GO ALLIE!)
Beth: ...has Kansas in the Final Four
Bradley: ...has UCONN and Kansas in the Final Four - Kansas in the Championship game
Heather: ...has Kentucky and Kansas in the Final Four

and the National Championship game - Kansas to win it all...
Jacob: ...has UNC, Kansas in the Final Four - Kansas in the Championship game
Jeremy: ...has UCONN and UNC in the Final Four - UCONN winning it all
Melissa: ... has UNC, Arizona AND Kansas in the Final Four - North Carolina and Kansas in the Championship game - Kansas to win it allMom: ...has Kentucky and UCONN in the Final Four - Kentucky in the championship game
Nathaniel: ... has Kansas in the Final Four

So most everybody is out of it... but you never know! I still can't believe that Melissa still has 3 of the Final 4 still alive... way to go, Melissa... but I sent you money for the Bowl Challenge, I don't want to send it to you for basketball too!

Dook HUMILIATED! HAHAHA!

DOOK wasn't just outplayed tonight... they were absolutely HUMILIATED tonight. It. Was. Hilarious. All is right in the world tonight.

In other news: UCONN took down SDSU, Florida topped BYU in OT and Butler surprisingly punched its ticket into the Elite 8 by beating Wisconsin. Pretty much everyone got only one right tonight... except for Nathaniel, Eric and Melissa who each got 2 of the 4 correct.

And now there is only two people who have 3 of their Final Four teams still in it - Brad (OSU, UCONN, Kansas) and Melissa (UNC, Arizona, Kansas)! Melissa made a big jump in the standings, but now you have to look out for Brad now too! Bahaha!

Standings:

1.	Nathaniel	107 points
2.	Eric	100.5 points
3.	Melissa	96.5 points
4.	Allison	90.5 points
5.	Jeremy	90 points
6.	Mom (Jo)	84.5 points
7.	Heather	82 points
8.	Robert	79 points
9.	Brad	78.5 points
10.	Jacob	76 points
11.	Beth	68.5 points
12.	Teresa	55 points
13.	Lindsey	39 points

So, Nathaniel maintains the lead.

There are a few games tomorrow, too...
Marquette vs. North Carolina (GO HEELS!)
Kentucky vs. Ohio State
Richmond vs. Kansas
VCU vs. Florida State

Points are 15 per each correct selection... for the most part the standings will remain unchanged as mostly everyone has the same selections for tomorrow... boo!

HOLLA!