Sports Nerds - Unite!

Apparently the first round of the NHL Playoffs is now over, so if you joined the Sports As Life hockey pool - that means it's time to make your picks for Round 2.

Go through the same song and dance as you did for Round 1, and do it by Thursday at 7pm Mountain Time.

Don't forget - or you will be mercilessly mocked. Actually that's not true because you'll probably still beat me.

Congratulations, You Didn't Win! Unless of Course You Did, In Which Case - Congratulations!

Congratulations to commenter 'Walks' for his victory in this year's Sports As Life Lousy Smarch Madness pool. As a reward for his good guessing well-reasoned picks and pool victory, we here at Sports As Life are pleased to announce his prize of a complimentary Sport As Life t-shirt.

These shirts are great for lining rabbit cages, tourniquets, mulch or hiding in the back of closets. So Walks, if you happen to read this, please choose your shirt from the T-Shirt store link on the side and let me know which one and size and all those details. I should warn you though, there will be some new T-shirt designs up later this week - so you might want to hold off on making your selection for a couple of days.

If you didn't win this coveted prize, are you now gritting your teeth in rage? FEAR NOT! Playoff hockey is right around the corner and this means another chance to win some lovely prizes.

Remember that Sportsnet username you thought you'd never use again? Ha - you can use it again right now! Sports As Life is proud to once again present the Hockey Playoffs? Don't Talk About Hockey Playoffs - Are You Kidding Me? Pool.

Here's what you have to do. Follow this link:

http://fantasy.sportsnet.ca/sportsnet/hkplayoff09/promo

Sign up for the contest using the same username you used for the Smarch Madness pool - unless of course you want to pick a new one.

Then join the group called, Sports As Life and use the password: hockey

The hockey pool is going to require some more attention than did the March Madness one. What you need to do is pick a team of 3 forwards, 2 defenceman and 1 goalie from each the Western and Eastern Conference. You have the ability to do this before the 2nd and 3rd rounds as well, so if it's going to be something you're going to forget about or stop caring about, maybe this pool isn't for you. But if you were a part of the pool in past years, you know what the story is.

You can join now and start to enter your picks, but make sure the players you pick actually make the playoffs. As of Sunday night, the playoff teams will be decided and you'll know for sure who is eligible to be picked. The deadline to enter your picks is 7pm eastern on Wednesday the 15th.

So join now!

Don't Forget - Lousy Smarch Madness On Now

That's right boys and girls, yesterday was Selection Sunday which means your productivity at work this week should be absolutely zero. And just to prove I do care, I've already got your work week planned out for you:

Monday: First draft of your bracket, as you ponder the existence of a school named Cleveland State.

Tuesday: Second crack at your bracket, as your wonder how Robert Morris and Stephen F. Austin made the tournament - those dudes must be awesome!

Wednesday: Finalize your bracket, even as you curse yourself for picking North Dakota State University over Kansas.

Thursday: Log on to CBS.com's tournament website as soon as you get to work, so as to get in the hours long queue. Keep the volume down or off on your computer and try not to use up every drop of bandwidth your company uses. Curse your terrible picks.

Friday: File for unemployment.

With all that excitement in mind, make sure to sign up for the Sports As Life Lousy Smarch Madness pool. Here are the details again:

Log on to this site.

Sign yourself up with a fancy new username, or use your old, rusted one if you've been here before.

Click the Group Membership tab and join the group titled Sports As Life, the password is madness.

And as always, if you accidentally create a new group I will destroy you.

Sign up now! Good seats still available.

The Ol' Charley Horse One-Two

One in the breadbasket, one in the kisser.

And with that, the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs are over. So that means that if you entered the Sports As Life Stanley Cup Playoffs Pool Party it's time to make your picks for the second round. Make sure you do, or you'll be golfing with the Calgary Flames.

One programming note - I'll be live-blogging the NFL Draft on Saturday afternoon. So if you want to check in on that (for some reason), it'll be starting around 1pm. I'll be drinking so much Red Bull that I'll be legally blind by 3pm. I don't think you want to miss that.

Super Collider? I Barely Even Knew Her!

Well this March "It Makes Me So" Mad-ness is nearing its end - thankfully for those of us occupying the cellar in the Sports As Life March Madness Pool Party.

But take heart cellar dwellers! Your chance for redemption exists as the Sports As Life NHL Playoff Pool Party. It's going to be part of the Sportsnet.ca Fantasy Games, just as the March Madness Pool Party was - so you will be able to use your same account for the NHL Pool Party.

Simply click on the following link:

http://www.sportsnet.ca/fantasy_and_games/

Then click on the link for the Fantasy Hockey Playoff Pool and get yourself signed up.

The group info is the same as well. The group name is: Sports As Life and the password is: sportsaslife - and the same rules as before, if you screw up and start a new group accidentally I will crush you.

So get yourself signed up soon as the playoffs start on Wednesday I believe. Anyway, the deadline for the first round selections is 5pm Saskatchewan time on Wednesday. You are able to reselect your team after the second and third rounds, but the deadlines for that will be later.

All you have to do is pick 3 forwards, 2 defencemen and 1 goalie from each conference to make up your teams. And that's it.

And I know what your asking yourself - yes, there will be a prize for this Pool Party too. And yes, it's going to be another shirt. And no, it's not going to be a used T-shirt - although I do have some pretty good ones.

Have a look at the links on the side or go here and here to check out the available shirt options. The winner will get to pick whichever one he/she wants and we'll get it out to them - where ever they are.

There are probably going to be some new shirt designs added over the next little while, as the NHL playoffs don't actually end until September I think, so check back from time to time. Maybe the new "Brad Wall Doesn't Care About Poor People" design will be ready in time for this Pool Party's winner.

Oh settle down - that wasn't a shot for no reason - just a take-off on this classic clip.

And this:

It's nice to be right about people from time to time isn't it? But seriously, Brad's got no problem with you... as long as you're not Roy Romanow, Eastern European, taller than 5'6", a snazzy dresser or poor...

If you don't hear from me for a couple of days it's because Kathy Young bombed the Sports As Life Headquarters... and possibly the Sports As Life International Headquarters in Karachi.

Don't know what I mean - take a look at the transcript: http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/pdfs/Transcript.pdf (bottom of page 5, top of page 6)

Or, just have a watch for yourself right here.

And you know what, after watching that video again - I don't think Brad Wall is doing an Eastern European accent, I just think he's doing a really, really bad Randy Savage Impression.

OH YEAH!!