Amazing Lace

And just like that 48 of the 63 games that make up the NCAA College Basketball Tournament have come and gone. It is now up to all those in the sports world to analyze and break down just exactly what has transpired over the last four days, and make another round of stunningly bold predictions for this weekend, each of them having the same likelihood of being completely off the mark. We’re going to tune out the Dick Vitales, the Billy Packers, and the Clark Kelloggs for the next three days, as we know there’s nothing they can say to affect next week’s Sweet 16 action.

Well that, and none of their names is Lacey Smith.

A laid-back, low-key high school German teacher day, Lacey Smith is a fearless college hoops prognosticator by night. Aside from some love for the Philadelphia sports teams (which may or may not include her own Phantoms jersey), no one suspected Mrs. Smith of being a hero of the hardwood. Two weeks ago, we here at YAB dropped the gauntlet. We then picked up said gauntlet and threw it at family, friends, and frequenters of our little blog.

You know in Dodgeball when you catch a ball somebody threw at you, sparing yourself and ousted the thrower? Let’s just say Lacey caught the gauntlet and winged it back at our head.

According to the YAB = You’re a Bracket II Standings, not only has Lacey proven she knows far more about college basketball than the whole lot of us, she’s done it going away. Nay, she does not hold a meager 1 point lead over nearest competitors Karen Yelito and myself – that would be expected. Lacey kicked the doors in on the competition and has busted out to a 5 point lead.

The girl must eat, breathe, and sleep March Madness.

With 54 out of a possible 64 points to date, you could throw a chainsaw at Lacey’s head and she wouldn’t flinch. Hell, she’d catch the chainsaw in her teeth, use it to cut down an elm tree, and laugh maniacally as the tree landed on your car. What we have on our hands is a competitor. A take-no-prisoners, drain-the-three, rock-chalk-jayhawk kind of competitor.

Some might argue that Lacey just picked all the favorites, and to the casual eye, that may be true. But look closer, people. Like the bracketologist that she is, she called for the demise of the 8th seeded Arizona Wildcats at the hands of the merciless 9th seeded Purdue Boilermakers. Well, you know what?

She was right.

Come Saturday, Lacey was flirting with the lead for the YAB crown (and the potential free swag that may follow such a crown. *Free swag is not an actual crown.) And while Lacey was doing this, Arizona was on a plane back to Tucson. Why? Because Lacey decreed it to be so. She’s merciless.

So what’s next for the world’s greatest seer since Nostradamus? According to her Sheet of Integrity, she predicts Kansas, Georgetown, and Ohio State in the Final Four. For her fourth she actually predicted the eliminated Wisconsin Badgers, but we know what she really meant. For the fourth team, Lacey planned to take on the Florida Gators by herself and defeat them with sound perimeter shooting, an aggressive inside game, and tension-breaking giggling at the mention of A Bug’s Life.

Will her picks hold true for next weekend? Of course they will. Lacey Smith entered this tourney for two reasons: to chew bubblegum and kick ass.

And someone’s all out of bubble gum.