My March Madness Bracket, the Perils of Trying to Be Clever, and the Perils of Not Actually Being That Clever (But Still Trying to Save Face and Probably Doing a Fine Job at That, All Things Considered)

I did something I don’t love doing: I reread something I wrote hastily and unenthusiastically a year ago. 11 months ago, actually. Two days after the 2022 NCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship Game.

I woke up that day with the idea and burped it out in about 20 minutes. If I think about…