Sickie

I share a little too well around here.  I got rather sick early in February, and passed it on to my mom and dad.  I *thought* I had some type of allergy problem on Wednesday, except I had body aches which I attributed to my attempt at a stationary bike at the Y the day before and was switching from reallllllly hot to realllllllly cold.  Seriously, one moment I was sweating, the next my fingertips were blue...whaaa?  When I got home that evening, I went straight to bed...didn't hardly even say hi to my parents!  The only contact I had was with my mom when she handed me some Sprite and tucked me into bed (Yeah, I have a pretty fantastical mom, I know :-)  ).  Well, as it turns out, my dad came home from work early yesterday with...headache, body aches, and chills, all of which I had, though I also had sinus pressure/congestion/drainage and a cough which I don't think he had, or if he did he didn't have that part of things nearly as severely.  This morning my cough appeared to have settled nicely into my lungs, just like when I was sick in February, so it was decided I should stay home today. 

I'd like to say I've been productive, but when it feels like my entire sinus cavity is filled with no sign of relief, it's hard to stay focused on anything worth while for very long.  I've definitely broken my Lenten resolution of "Waste no time! No silly things on the computer!  Do purposeful things first before silly things of that sort!" today.  Mea culpa...?

Anywho, so that's me right now...sickie.  With not a ton to do...and yet several tiny little projects I know I should focus on.  I *did* fill out my NCAA bracket.  No worries, I don't go in for guts and glory.  I pair up the mascots and decide who I think would win in a mascot show down.  I think I maybe get a little carried away in my reasoning a bit.  Since I'm sickie and have all the time in the world at the moment, I can even tell you...

South 1st Round: Gators vs Great Danes...Gators are definitely going to win against a dog, sorry...
                             Buffaloes vs Panthers...Panthers are stealthier
                             Rams vs Lumberjacks...Lumberjacks can use their axes to sweep the rams out of the way of the trees they need to get to
                             Bruins vs Golden Hurricane...I think my reasoning this morning was that a bear can hunker down against a storm and wait for it to pass
                             Buckeyes vs Flyers...Flyers can swoop up in the sky and dive bomb
                             Orange vs Broncos...is there even a competition there?  Bronco will tear through the oranges!
                             Lobos (wolf) vs cardinal...wolf tears bird to shreds (I promise I'm not usually such a violent-minded person....just when it comes to this)
                             Jayhawks vs Colonal:  The jayhawk is technically a mythical bird, so I don't think a Colonal would know what to do with himself.
East 1st Round:  Cavaliers vs Chanticleers...I respect Coastal Carolina for choosing a mascot from classic literature....but in this case, the Cavalier is going to win.
                            Tiger vs Colonials:  Colonials haven't seen a tiger in their lifetime.  They wouldn't know what to do, and muskets are awful for aiming (I told you, I spend a tad too much time thinking this through)
                            Bearcats vs Crimson:  Bearcats are stealthier
                            Spartans vs Blue Hens (seriously?  a blue hen?)...THIS IS SPARTA!!!
                            Tar Heels vs Friars...Friars with their awesome friarness win this round
                            Cyclones vs Eagles...Cyclones can pull an eagle out of the air
                            Huskies vs Hawks...Huskies can pounce
                            Wildcats (Villanova) vs Panthers...ok, a *little* bit of my K-State bias may be coming out here...Wildcats win
West 1st Round:  Wildcats (Arizona) vs Wildcats (Weber St.)...What do I do in a case where the mascots are the same?  I'm so glad you asked...base it on favorite colors between the two schools, of course!  And since Weber State comes fairly close, Weber St. Wildcats it is.
                            Bulldogs vs Cowboys...cowboys can lasso and ride in circles around the bulldogs
                            Sooners vs Bison...it's match-ups like these that make doing the bracket in this way so fun...when the mascots actually probably were matched up against each other at some point or another.  Sooners killed the bison.
                            Aztecs vs Aggies...Sadly, the Aztecs just plain had more primitive weaponry
                           Bears vs Cornhuskers...dear Matt's family...I still really like you and want to be part of this family...but bears would probably just run right through a corn field and eat everything...including the husker...
                            Blue Jays vs Cajuns...I feel like back porch blue jay shooting might fit in a cajun's evening schedule (man, I'm an awful person...please don't take any of this seriously.  Please.)
                          Ducks vs Cougars...Ducks didn't stand a chance...they just can't waddle away fast enough
                          Badgers vs Eagles...Eagles can be quite stealthy and predatory, and badgers just don't come across to me as being as aggresive.
Midwest 1st Round:  Shockers vs Mustangs...I'm very proud of the Shockers, and again you have to take this with a grain of sand...but mustangs would buck their way through a wheat field, and possibly buck a harvester too...
                                  Wildcats (Kentucky) vs  Wildcats (Kansas State)...I just can't help it...EMAW!  Go State!
                                  Bilikens vs Wolfpack...for as long as I've been trying to ask people from St. Louis what a Biliken is, *they* can't answer me straight...but I think in any case, a wolfpack would win
                                  Cardinals vs Jaspers...Jaspers, only because it was a really cool dude that the mascot is based on...
                                 Minutemen vs Volunteers...in this case I had to look up both mascots to take a look and see...the mascot for Tennessee is technically a coon hound...a minutemen would be giving orders to a hound...
                                Blue Devils vs Bears...I very rarely let a devil mascot win...Bears it is.
                                Longhorns vs Sun Devils...case in point, Longhorns win
                                Wolverines vs Terriers...Wolverines are more ferocious

South 2nd Round:  Gators vs Panthers...Panthers would be able to run around a gator, it would also be stealthier
                               Lumberjacks vs Bruins...bears are bigger, more intimidating
                               Flyers vs Broncos...Flyers can once again swoop up and dive bomb
                               Lobos vs Jayhawks...Lobos just look plain ferocious...sorry birdie
East 2nd Round:  Cavaliers vs Tigers...A cavalier wouldn't know what to do with a tiger...
                             Bearcat vs Spartans...THIS IS SPARTA!!!
                             Friars vs Cyclones...Friars are cool, but they're human and can get swept up in a cyclone.
                              Huskies vs Wildcats (Villanova)...Wildcats sound like more ferocious creatures
West 2nd Round:  Wildcats (Weber St.) vs Cowboys...Wildcats would eat up the cowboys in their sleep
                              Sooners vs Aggies...oooooh verrrry similar match up here, but in this case I chose to stick with closer to home, so the Sooners take it
                              Bears vs Cajuns...Bears are stronger, more intimidating
                              Cougars vs Eagles...I can imagine a cougar winning a fight in the end
Midwest 2nd Round:  Mustangs vs Wildcats (Kansas State)...perhaps a little bias again...EMAW!
                                    Wolfpack vs Jaspers...Wolfpack would surround the poor guy
                                    Minutemen vs Bears...Bears are bigger
                                    Longhorns vs Wolverines...wolverines would sneak up and surround the slower moving cattle
South Sweet Sixteen:  Panthers vs Bruins...Bears have thicker skin, can crush the panthers if they're big enough
                                    Flyers vs Lobos...the Flyers have had air on their side up until now, but Lobos are also a little maniacal, so they jump on the wings of the planes, and well, Lobos win
East Sweet Sixteen:  Tigers vs Spartans...THIS IS SPARTA!!!
                                 Cyclones vs Wildcats...yes, even poor wildcats lose to the weather...
West Sweet Sixteen:  Wildcats (Weber St.) vs Sooners...The wildcats sneak up and surround the sooners at night
                                   Bears vs Cougars...Bears are stronger, can crush the cougars
Midwest Sweet Sixteen:  Wildcats (Kansas State) vs Wolfpack...yup, clearly bias.  EMAW!
                                         Bears vs Wolverines...obviously I think a great deal of bears' strength.  Bears will crush the smaller wolverines
South Elite Eight:  Bruins vs Lobos...Wait, what?!  A bear team has been taken down!  By those crazy Lobos...
East Elite Eight:  Spartans vs Cyclones...THIS IS...wait, the Spartans don't have basements!  Cyclones swoop up the Spartans.
West Elite Eight:  Wildcats (Weber St.) vs Bears...Wildcats...I just can't help it...
Midwest Elite Eight:  Wildcats (Kansas State) vs Bears...Wildcats...EMAW!
Final Four:  Lobos vs Cyclones...Cyclones swoop up the crazy lobos
                    Wildcats (Weber St.) vs Wildcats (Kansas St.)...K-State, all the way!
Championship game:  Cyclones vs Wildcats (Kansas St.)...Willie is too quick for that cyclone ;-)  He's used to the Kansas weather.