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'What Went Wrong' - Dan Roche's Bracket Bungle

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Mar 24, 2009 6:11 am US/Eastern

'What Went Wrong' - Dan Roche's Bracket Bungle

Check: WBZ Personalities' Brackets
Visit: Tournament Central

Reporting
Dan Roche

BOSTON (WBZ) ―

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I don't have an answer for you.

I take my job very seriously here at WBZ. I basically have two things in my life. My family and my job. That's it. Nothing else. My friends have given up trying to get in touch with me. No more phone calls. No more "hey, I know it's been a while, but let's do something soon....". Nothing. They have severed ties. And, I completely understand.

So with that said, I watch as much sports as I can. And, this year I managed to watch a good amount of college basketball. Went over to Boston College for a few games, etc. Loved "tournament week" on ESPN. Watched many games.

And then for the NCAA Tournament I spent hours preparing my bracket. I poured over numbers. I made sure I grabbed the special section in the USA Today that comes out on Monday after the brackets are announced. I looked for senior-laden teams, etc.

I watched all the experts making their picks and soaked that in.

And, then I read all the "stat geeks". Looked at possible upset choices.

I was as prepared as I've ever been to make my picks. Better than when I was at Syracuse University when I lived and breathed Orangemen and college hoops.

And what happened? I fell flat on my face. I am living in shame. I'm afraid to interact with other people right now for fear of them bringing up the question, "Hey, how you doing in your NCAA brackets?". I am fearing having to do my sportscasts Friday from the CBS Scene in Foxboro.

There are 1,557 Bracket Challenge entries on this website. I rank 1,301. 16-percentile. It brings me back to my SAT days!!!!!!! Horrible.

What's made it worse? I still don't know where I went wrong.

I knew the Big East was strong, so I rode those teams. I still have Pittsburgh, Louisville, Syracuse, Villanova and UConn alive. North Carolina? Yep, still got'em.

Final Four teams? Yep, all four still alive.

So, I must have just whiffed on every other team in the tournament. For instance, after round one, Louisville and Siena were the only teams I still had alive in the entire Midwest bracket. I simply whiffed.

So, go ahead. I'm ready for the abuse. I can take it. If the lady who picks nothing but "mascots" wants to ridicule me...go ahead take your shots. You picked on which school colors you liked....go ahead fire away.

I deserve it. I live with a paper bag over my head. I am ashamed.