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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
March 17, 2011     Shelton Mason County Journal
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March 17, 2011
 
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Brackets become best friends or brutal enemies during madness Dean Siemon Only four games have taken place and while I doubt basketball fans read- ing this have torn up their brackets, it will happen soon enough. This is a sports fan's fa- vorite time of the year - the NCAA Division I men's col- lege basketball tournament, or March Madness. It is probably the most talked about championship in offices nationwide - more so than the Super Bowl, Stanley Cup and World Se- ries combined. Admit it. You are carry- ing a bracket at home, your desk and in your car, aren't you? At the Journal office, we have a number of staff members participating in a bracket challenge. While there is no money in a pool, bragging rights are on the line. There are even bracket applications on Facebook and on mobile phones, so everyone can try to predict which teams advance to the Final Four and which ones will come out of the gate stumbling. I know for a fact that televisions will be tuned in on the four networks carry- ing all the games today and tomorrow (16 played each). The reason we watch is to see who this year's Cin- derella story is going to be - a team that comes from nowhere, a school 99 per- cent of the nation has never heard of and defeats some of the nation's top tier teams. Can you tell me what the nickname for Bucknell University is (without using Google)? Of course not. Analysts are paid to break down each of the 67 games that will take place in this tournament, while none of them will have a perfect bracket when it's all said and done. Neither will anyone reading this. Did anybody expect in 1998 that 13th-seed Val- paraiso University, a small Northwest Indiana Luther- an university and my alma mater, would toss the ball full court and have it tipped to Bryce Drew, the coach's son, for the the game-win- ning three from the wing to beat fourth-seed Ole Miss? That same tournament, Valparaiso was defeated in the Sweet 16 round by another surprise team in Rhode Island University. Name one person that expected George Mason University, a small Virginia school in the Colonial Ath- letic Association, to advance to the NCAA Final Four in 2006. In last season's tourna- ment, 14th-seed Ohio Uni- versity upset third-seed Georgetown in the opening round. Add that upset to 13th- seed Murray State Univer- sity defeating Vanderbilt and 12th-seed Cornell Uni- versity upsetting fifth-seed Temple, it was just another year where the first round showed anyone can win at anytime. Even when you feel you know who the best team is, you don't. While I don't have any mid-majors in my Final Four, or any major Cinder- ella upsets, my bracket sits at my desk, along with oth- ers in the office who feel as confident about their picks as I do. Whoever ends up with the most correct picks, it's up to sheer luck. Basketball fans can only watch and ex- pect the unexpected. Journal office Final Four picks - National Champion pick in bold. Dean Siemon - North Carolina, Duke, Notre Dame and Pittsburgh. Dave Pierek - North Carolina, Duke, George- town and UCLA. Mat Taylor - Washing- ton, Arizona, USC and Gon- zaga. Jesse Mullen - Ohio State, UConn, Kansas and Florida. Natalie Johnson - Wash- ington, Duke, Purdue and Pittsburgh. Kevan Moore - Ohio State, San Diego State, Notre Dame and Pitts- burgh. Rick Kennedy - Ken- tucky, Duke, Kansas and BYU. Journal photo by Dean Sienron A view of the entire baseball field at North Mason High School in Belfair, which now has new dugouts, bullpens and infield thanks to help from various local businesses. baseball field "eceives facelift Dy community businesses Since early June 2010, many local Belfair and Bremerton businesses, as well as parents, have been work- ing together to improve the status of the boys baseball field at North Mason High School in Belfair. Old plywood dugouts have been replaced by split-faced block ones. The bullpends have been complete- ly overhauled with new soil, grass and astro turf and concrete slabs. n the infield, more than 90 tons of new drt was brought in to lev- el the base paths with the infield grass. New gravel surrounds the dug- outs and backstop, which was once weeds and dirt. The outfield fence has a new green wind screen covering it with more than 25 four-by-eight foot vi- nyl signs showing local sponsors on the fence. Surrounding areas have been weeded and cleaned up, as well as all old surrounding buildings de- molished. There was a day where the three biggest Belfair trucking companies (Allen Shearer, Ace Paving and Peninsula Topsoil) were all on the field working together and in some cases, bringing in material from each others' plants. In a time when the school has been facing budget cuts, it was won- derful to see the community step up and work together and help North Mason High School improve their sports field during hard times. The following businesses contrib- uted to this project: Masonry Associates, Inc., Hard Rock, Inc., Mitchell Lumber, Ron Phipps Construction, Jessfield Con- struction, Koenig Construction, Hood Canal Concrete, Frank Dav- enport Demolishing Crew, Ace Pav- ing, Allen Shearer Trucking, Penin- sula Topsoil, Hoyt's Hyrdroseeding, Green's Landscaping, Scott McLen- do's' Hardware, Kurt's Septic and Plumbing, Green Mountain Elec- tric, Washington Cedar and Supply, Valley Feed, Viking Fence Compa- ny and C&C Custom Concrete. 1 Shelton-Mason County 11| m e,r ...... Look in. my bi-weekly se00c00ion called 514ason County C'utafoors! Shelton-Mason County Journal - Thursday, March 17,2011 - Page C-5 A