That’s right–in the spirit of community building, cultural appreciation, and cabin fever, The Harold Lounge is proud to announce the first annual Braggin’ Rights Bracket Competition (third really, but the first two were really pretty small–both won by the early favorite Jennifer Armendarez (Speech)).
It is free to enter and so does not constitute gambling (no ethics policy violation!). You don’t even have to know anything about basketball to win (at least in theory). All you have to do is go here, sign in (or register a new account if you’re new to this–providing them with an email and a password), and then you’ll be prompted to enter a password which is “CCC”. Then just fill out your bracket and start talking smack!
Check out the rules while you’re there, too. This year’s competition will feature the victory plus seed formula, so if you pick a 12 seed to win in the first round, and they do, you’ll get 13 points (1 + the seed number). This provides some incentive to pick some long shots.
The winner will, as in years past, get a handsome certificate awarding one year’s worth of bragging rights and a ‘Major’ prize (value <$7.99). Past prizes have included a pair of socks, white board markers, and an old bag of candy from my desk.
So get picking, people! Be sure to have your bracket finished before 11am on Thursday. Once the games start, the competition is closed…
The Harold Lounge 
Can we contribute to the ‘Major’ prize or provide minor prizes for second-place winners? I’ve got a desk to clear…
Signed,
jimmythegreek
No.
Wait…I’ll consider amending that rule if more than 20 people join and fill out brackets. Maybe we can turn winning into a form of punishment…
Crap. Serves me right for trying to enter my picks 2 minutes before the tourney starts. For the record, I had Georgetown over Nova in a classic Big East replay of the 85 final.
If you have the rest of your picks written down, put them in my mailbox. I can enter them for you.
I will, however, be suspicious if you pick all 16 Thursday games correctly…
Wow. I don’t think I’ll need to turn in my bracket, considering my pick to win it all went out in the first round.
But I did pick Washington. So I’ve got that going for me, which is nice.
Spangler, is that you?