PITTSBURGH - So how are your brackets?
The great thing about NCAA Tournament pools is when the first-round upset sinks you, it's a chance to play your own game of basketball.
You crumple up your sheet and arc it into the nearest wastebasket.
The Tournament has become a huge deal in the last 20 years. One of the reasons is there's a participation element to it.
People who aren't avid basketball fans can still enjoy getting into an office pool and trying their luck.
It's a bit like the Super Bowl in that way. There are a lot of people who don't know a punt from a blitz, but they'll buy a couple of squares and keep track of their investment during the game.
Some people approach the NCAA Tournament as science, others pick teams because they like their names.
Whatever the case, it's a good time for as long as the brackets hold up.
To think there was once a time when the NCAA Tournament was seen as secondary to the NIT.
Due diligence
Is the NHL dragging its feet on hits to the head?
No doubt, given that the recent general managers' meetings concluded with no firm resolution on the issue.
That's because there's no easy answer.
Some shots to the head are not deliberate. The player being hit is a moving target and a well-intentioned legal hit can turn bad in the split second that a player twists or turns.
Not all concussions are the result of an opponent's blow to the head. Players fall on the ice, they bang into the boards, they get hit by pucks.
Zero tolerance of hits above the shoulders does not mean concussions also disappear.
Deliberate head-hunting has already been addressed by Rule 48.
Usually "blue ribbon committees" are a way of making an issue go away, but give the NHL some slack on the panel it has assembled.
The topic requires some thought and isn't something that can be solved in a brief meeting of GMs.
Snell quits
Ian Snell was sent to minor league camp by the St. Louis Cardinals the other day, and he decided to take it a step further.
Snell announced he was retiring from baseball at age 29.
It was a radical decision, but maybe not that unexpected for people who have been around Snell.
He's a unique personality.
He has plenty of talent, and he's teased with it in the past. He looked like a solid starter for the Pirates, then things fell apart.
They gave him away in a trade to Seattle, and he soon disappointed the Mariners, too.
Snell may have a change of heart and give baseball another chance.
Or he may disappear.
He's that unpredictable.
Mehno can be reached at: johnmehnocolumn@gmail.com.
