And you thought I forgot!

For the first time ever, we have a tie!  Not counting the play-in games, which we don't count, there were 63 games in the tournament. Collin Challis and Dan Jackson both called 52 of them correctly, including all of the the Final Four and Finals. Impressive! The tie breaker was the total points scored in the finals.

Florida won 65-63 for a total of 128. Low scoring game. Collin was a bit more optimistic, predicting a total of 150. Dan apparently thought this game was being played in 1945 as he expected only 104 points in the final. We don't use Price Is Right rules, so Collin wins (150-128=22 < 128-104=24, almost as simple as the fancy new tariff calculation!).

Justin Yazigi right behind with 51.

Then a three-way tie at 50 among: Mark Rossi, Robert Pierce (that's my Dad!) and Don Brown. It'd be great to have a drink with you guys to celebrate! I pulled out a protractor and evidently the place that is equal driving for all of us is Ketchuptown, South Carolina. Which has nothing to do with the tomato-based condiment. It's a pun on the fact that farmers used to gather there to "catch up" on the news (not making that up because I am not capable of coming up with a pun that bad).

Collin, my friend, I hope you are ready. Because the first place prize this year is an all-expense paid weekend in Gainesville, Florida! Home of the national champion Gators! 

Gainesville is named for Army general Edmund Pendelton Gaines, who is famous for arresting Aaron Burr in 1807 on treason charges. Incorporated in 1854, Gainesville was a sleepy little wide spot in the road until 1906 when the University of Florida was re-located there. 60,000 undergraduate students eventually descended on the north Florida campus to study everything from turfgrass science to bowling industry management and technology to enology (because when you think of wine, you think Florida!).

We booked you a room at the Penny Farthing Inn, which has nine rooms only one of which is "super haunted".

So much to see in Gainesville. Literally #1 on the list is the 34th Street Wall, a retaining wall to prevent erosion on the University of Florida golf course. There's graffiti!

April 7 is Andrea's day. She respectfully asks that March Madness stay in its lane. Despite the famous name, the Final Four and Finals are always played in April although rarely as late as April 7. I can tell you exactly the last time it occurred. In Spring 2011, Andrea and I were dating and I mentioned that I may have a little hobby focused on college basketball. By March 2012, we were living together and I was dropping some pretty big hints that the amount of basketball I was about to consume with fingers poised above my laptop was beyond what any reasonable human should expect. The favorite that year? My Wildcats, led by Anthony Davis. The finals were April 7: Kentucky vs Kansas. Oh lord. 

We got through it. Andrea didn't love eating her birthday dinner at early bird special time, but tolerated it. And I wasn't expecting visitors at game time, including an eight-year old from Chile who was interested in the rules of this game that I was so fascinated with, preferably in Spanish. Kentucky won and, inspired, I wrote one of my favorite Notes posts ever long past midnight.

This time around, we took a late afternoon stroll through Longwood gardens and dined at Parc on Rittenhouse. Mrs Notes did not invite over guests (we had friends and family over on Sunday) and even joined me for the last game of the season. Everyone went to bed happy. Thanks for putting up with being a "March Madness Widow" every year, sweetheart. You are a very patient and accommodating partner. And more lovely that a field of Spring flowers.