I will apologize for the lack of enthusiasm going into the Elite 8 – but with it being after 1 am, and still hurting from the last second loss to Houston, I am ready for some sleep.

But even if the Lunatic is tired, there are some people who deserve some praise, our Sweet 16 leaders!!!!!

In the Standard Pool, Debbe Evans has now taken a 10 point lead over Ashley Peterson. In 3rd place, Andrea Zimmerman is tied with herself only 20 points out of the lead. In 5th place, Ryan Zotti and Scott Grimes are tied – only 40 points out of the lead. And just 50 points out of the lead is a four way tie for 7th place between Kevin Busby, Joseph Laucius and both of Earl McKnight’s picks.

In the Upset Pool, Ashley Peterson is running away with 266 points. She has a 24 point lead over Scott Grimes, a 28 point lead over Debbe Evans, a 41 point lead over Jerry Caldwell and a 46 point lead over John Franklin.

In the Second Chance Pool, we had 24 people pick all 8 games correctly to be tied for first. You know what – why not – you all deserve a place in the blog.

Congratulations to Michael Cheung, Sarah Wark, Jess Klecak, Kathleen Godwin, Dan Fischer, Lehua Martin, Laurie Neitzke, TJ Acuto, Ryan Zotti, Bill Panak, Joseph Laucius, Mikayla Cole, Rusty Ahles, Chuck Brugh, Scott Grimes, Josh Lacks, Will Austin, Bill Richter, Andrew Murphy, Rob Owens, Earl McKnight, Andrea Zimmerman, Martin Poteralski and Michael Urban. While I can’t be sure, I have to believe that have 24 people correctly predict the entire Sweet 16 is a Second Chance record. I suspect it is also a Lunatic Blog record for the most people who got their name called out to celebrate their brilliant picks.

We might as well break a record if we are going to break the Lunatic’s heart. If it is any consolation (which we all know it is not), the Lunatic’s sane picks are lurking in 17th place, hoping to continue to sneak up the leaderboard.

With that, the Lunatic is going to go to sleep. With it being predicted to be 80 degrees here in Richmond, he has a tee-time in the morning. Maybe a little bit of golf will be able to cheer him up, and I should still get home in time to watch the Elite 8 games Saturday night.