Happy Birthday, Diana Ross!

Diana Ross, who first became prominent as the lead singer of the Motown girl group the Supremes, was born in Detroit on March 26, 1944. As a teenager, she sang with other girls who also lived in the housing project where she lived. They formed a group, the Primettes, which later evolved into the Supremes. Originally, group member Florence "Flo" Ballard sang lead, while Diana Ross and Mary Wilson sang backup. But after they signed with Motown, label head Berry Gordy, Jr., decided that Diana would sing lead.

After a few minor hits, the group scored its first #1 record, "Where Did Our Love Go".

Starting with "Where Did Our Love Go", 10 out of 13 singles released by the group reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and 12 of them reached the Top 10. Two of my favorite came in the second half of 1966. Collectively, I call them the "Yuke" songs: "You Can't Hurry Love"

and "You Keep Me Hangin' On".

Suddenly, I am 14 years old again, a tough time in my life, but these two songs were bright spots for me. Both have been hits by other artists since then. The most notable remake of "You Can't Hurry Love" was a hit by Phil Collins that reached the Billboard Top 10 in 1983. Other hit remakes of "You Keep Me Hangin' On" include a Top 10 hit by Vanilla Fudge in 1967 and a Number 1 hit by Kim Wilde in 1986.

Flo Ballard left the Supremes and was replaced by Cindy Birdsong in 1967. At that point the group name became Diana Ross and the Supremes. The group's records began to peak at lower positions. In 1969, it was announced that Diana Ross would be leaving the group at the end of the year to pursue a solo career. Her last single with the group, "Someday We'll be Together", was only their second Billboard #1 since her name was made part of the group's. I have read that Mary and Cindy didn't even sing on this record. Instead, Diana was backed by a Motown studio girl group, the Andantes. Here's the song:

After Diana Ross left the Supremes, she continued to be a successful recording and performing artist for many years. She also pursued a career as a film star, appearing in such movies as Lady Sings the Blues (for which she received Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress), Mahogany, and The Wiz. Her first hit single as a solo artist was "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)":

Her first #1 solo hit was "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", which is not one of my favorite hits of hers. (I much prefer the version by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell.) But I do love her second #1, "Touch Me in the Morning". Yes, another song about touching! Here it is:

In addition to her solo hits, Diana Ross has had duet hits with Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Julio Iglesias, Al B. Sure!, and Rod Stewart.

Instead of "The Most Splendid Time in Sport", Let's Play The Birthday Game!

In the May 11, 1981, issue of Time, the following lines appeared in the article "Happy Playing Billyball", written by staff sportswriter B.J. Phillips:

In the beginning, there was no baseball. But ever since, there have been few beginnings as good as the start of a new baseball season. It is the most splendid time in sport, in part because baseball is about the only sport left—now that football players report to training camp before the Fourth of July, and hockey players start skating in Indian summer—that still has a time and is true to it.

While we're waiting for "the most splendid time" to get underway, whenever that will be, I want to share a research project I did last year on the 25-man Opening Day rosters for each team. I used a mathematical principle that states:

In a room of just 23 people, there’s a 50-50 chance of at least two people having the same birthday.

This is not a math blog, so I won't get into the details right now. You can read more about it on sites such as Better Explained and Wikipedia. But I figured that with 25 men on each roster, the odds were good that at least 15 of the 30 teams would have at least two players with the same birthday. In fact, 17 teams had such pairs, and some even had multiple pairs. One team even had three players with the same birthday!

Here are the teams and the players involved. Some of the players are no longer with the teams with whom they're listed here.

National League East:

Philadelphia Phillies - Rhys Hoskins and Jean Segura, March 17

Washington Nationals - Patrick Corbin and Yan Gomes, June 30

National League Central:

St. Louis Cardinals - Andrew Miller and Matt Wieters, May 21

Cincinnati Reds - Raisel Iglesias and Michael Lorenzen, January 4; Kyle Farmer and Jesse Winker, August 17; Eugenio Suarez and Derek Dietrich, July 18

National League West:

Colorado Rockies - Daniel Murphy and David Dahl, April 1

Los Angeles Dodgers - Ross Stripling and Justin Turner, November 23

San Diego Padres - Phil Maton and Kirby Yates, March 25

American League East:

Boston Red Sox - Ryan Brasier and David Price, August 26; Christian Vazquez and J.D. Martinez, August 21

New York Yankees - Adam Ottavino and Austin Romine, November 22

American League Central:

Cleveland Indians - Adam Cimber and Oliver Perez, August 15; Roberto Perez and Hanley Ramirez, December 23

Minnesota Twins - Ryne Harper and Jake Odorizzi, March 27

Chicago White Sox - Alex Colome and Kelvin Herrera, December 31

Kansas City Royals - Tim Hill, Jorge Lopez, and Alex Gordon, February 10; Brad Keller and Adalberto Mondesi, July 27 (both in 1995)

American League West:

Houston Astros - Chris Devenski and Wade Miley, November 13; Alex Bregman and Jake Marisnick, March 30

Los Angeles Angels - Ty Buttrey and Peter Bourjos, March 31

Seattle Mariners - Chasen Bradford and Domingo Santana, August 5

Texas Rangers - Kyle Dowdy and Rougned Odor, February 3; Shawn Kelley and Nomar Mazara, April 26

The Atlanta Braves, Miami Marlins, New York Mets, Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Arizona Diamondbacks, San Francisco Giants, Baltimore Orioles, Tampa Bay Rays, Toronto Blue Jays, Detroit Tigers, and Oakland Athletics had none.

I did this exercise in 2017, and exactly half of the 30 teams had matches. One highlight from that one: the Blue Jays had two players born on 19 October and two exactly a week later on 26 October.

2019 American League Rookie of the Year Yordan Alvarez of the Houston Astros did not debut until June 9, 2019, but even if he had started the season with the Astros or any other team, he would not have had a matching birthday on the team. No players born on his birthday of June 27 were on any 25-man Opening Day rosters in 2019. Stefan Crichton, who appeared with the Diamondbacks but was not on the team's 25-man Opening Day roster, was the only major leaguer born on February 29 to appear in the majors in 2019, so he wouldn't have had a match, either.

Happy Birthday, Elton and Aretha!

Ah! Here are two all-time greats for whom I just need to give a first name, and immediately, those who are familiar with the field know to whom I am referring. Elton John and Aretha Franklin share the same birthday, March 25. (Another person born on March 25 who has had a major effect on my life is writer and activist Gloria Steinem.)

Elton John was born with the name Reginald Kenneth Dwight on March 25, 1947, in Pinner, Middlesex, England. At a young age, he formed a group called Bluesology, for which he played piano. He took his stage name from the names of two members of the group, saxophonist Elton Dean and vocalist Long John Baldry. The 2019 movie about him, Rocketman, incorrectly implies that John came from John Lennon of the Beatles. He also adopted the middle name Hercules.

Aretha Franklin was born in Memphis on March 25, 1942, but lived much of her life in Detroit, where she died on August 16, 2018. (August 16! I didn't even realize until I typed it just now that Aretha died on the same day of the year as Elvis and The Babe, who most people who follow rock music and baseball, respectively, would know just by those names. In case you don't know, I mean Elvis Presley and baseball great Babe Ruth. And as for people who became famous only by one name, it is also Madonna's birthday.) One thing I love about Aretha is that for almost every song I've ever heard her sing that I also know by another artist, I think that her version is better.

Let's put this to the test. Here's Elton singing "Border Song", which he wrote with his long-time singing partner, Bernie Taupin:

And here is Aretha's version:

Personally, I think that both are great, and I love them both about equally. But I love the organ instrumental break in Aretha's, which puts it over the top for her.

And to conclude this birthday celebration for the two of them, here is a live duet of this song by Elton and Aretha:

What If Elvis Presley Hadn't Died Until Today, March 24, 2020?

What if Elvis Presley had lived until today? What would he have done with the rest of his career, and how would his death today have affected people?

The first thing I want to explain is why I picked March 24, 2020, as the date for Elvis to die after living a good, long life to the age of 85. I could have gone with his 100th birthday, January 8, 2035, or the date in the year in which he would have turned 100 that was the same one on which he died, August 16, 2035.

Here's why. There were 15,561 days between the day on which Elvis was born, January 8, 1935, and the day on which he died, August 16, 1977. And there were 15,561 days between August 16, 1977, and today, March 24, 2020. Since all of these dates were Tuesdays, the weeks between them don't include fractions: 2,223 weeks.

Enough of the math stuff. Let's speculate what Elvis would have continued to do.

Elvis would have continued making records for a very long time, maybe even up to the present time. Maybe he had a new album ready to go that would have been even more anticipated because it was now going to be his last one. At some point, his contract with RCA would have been up. Even if his sales had been in decline, he'd still likely have attracted a decent contract with a label, either RCA or another one.

He would have also continued his live performances on tours and in places like Las Vegas for a few more decades. Maybe at some point in the 2000s, an Elvis Farewell Tour would have drawn fans eager to see him one last time, as well as some first timers who wanted the chance to say that they had seen Elvis Presley perform live. Even after this tour, he may have taken up residence in Las Vegas, Branson, or some other entertainment hotspot and just done shows there.

Elvis hadn't made a movie for eight years at the time of his death. His movies were often done quickly, with thin plots. In the case of It Happened at the World's Fair, for example, what sane parent would trust their young child with a complete stranger (played by Elvis) these days? But some of his best-known hit songs came from his movies, including "Love Me Tender", "Jailhouse Rock", and "Can't Help Falling In Love". That said, it wouldn't have surprised me to have seen Elvis get back into movies with the proper but solid plot and some great songs. One person who may have made a great costar with Elvis is Dolly Parton. Dolly's own film career didn't take off until about three years after Elvis died. Her new cinematic star power may have boosted Elvis' reborn one and vice versa.

Elvis did not perform duets with other singers, unless you count his backup group the Jordanaires. Within a couple of years after his death, duets of singers who didn't normally sing together became an "in" thing. And one of the first singers to be involved in such a recording was the man sometimes called "The Jewish Elvis", Neil Diamond, when he sang "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" with Barbra Streisand, which went all the way to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Streisand continued in this vein with hit duets with artists like Donna Summer and Barry Gibb (of the BeeGees) and eventually released an album of duets. Frank Sinatra, who was as big an artist in his day as Elvis was in his, did two albums of duets in his later years. Elton John, who also is as big an artist in his day as Elvis (early birthday greetings Elton!), has done one. And Kenny Rogers, who really did die in the past week at the age of 81, had duet hits with at least four other artists, including Dolly Parton, and probably more, since I stopped following the hits of the day after around 1988. With Elvis actively recording during those years, I'm sure there would have been many artists, male and female, young and old, who would have loved to have done one or more with Elvis. Elvis duets albums, especially one of love songs or rock and roll hits, would not have been inconceivable.

In fact, some posthumous duets involving dubbing have been made, both officially and unofficially. I remember hearing a version of Linda Ronstadt and Elvis performing "Love Me Tender" on the radio not long after he died. An album of Christmas duets was released in 2008.

Elvis' late 1960s comeback started with a television special aired in November 1968. Elvis would have continued to use TV and videos to keep his career going. While he would probably not have been in regular rotation on MTV or even VH1, he would have had periodic specials, perhaps at Christmas, and direct-to-consumer releases (first on VHS, then on DVD/Blu-Ray, and finally on streaming sources).

The industry that grew up around Elvis after his death would not have happened like it did, at least not in such a large-scale manner. Graceland would still be his home, so it would not have been the tourist attraction that it is today. Sun Studios, where Elvis recorded his early hits, is also a tourist attraction in Memphis. In fact, when I was in Memphis when I should have been home watching the start of the 2008 World Series, I toured Sun Studios but not Graceland. Since it had not been in use for a long time, and it is also famous for early recording sessions by singers such as Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Roy Orbison, this would have still been a tourist stop in Memphis even with Elvis still alive and living there.

There would still be Elvis imitators and tribute acts. You only have to look as far to see that Neil Diamond, who is still alive and was performing live as recently as 2017, who has spawned a good number of such acts through the past 25 or 30 years. Elvis would have done the same.

I don't want to speculate on Elvis' personal life. At the time of his death, his girlfriend was Ginger Alden. Maybe they eventually married, maybe they didn't, and if they did, were they still together? I don't think he would have been too happy when his daughter Lisa Marie married Michael Jackson and would have been relieved when they split.

As for cause of death, I'm going to say that it was not that thing that's going around. He would have likely been reclusive at the end and would not have been exposed to it. More likely, the cause would have been a longer term illness or medical condition, such as dementia, cancer, or heart disease. Because of that thing going around, he would have had a quiet burial at Graceland next to both of his parents, with fan gatherings happening later.

Happy Birthday, Neil Sedaka!

He's only my second favorite singer named Neil who graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School in Brooklyn. But Neil Sedaka, born on March 13, 1939 (not a Friday, but a Monday), has written and sung a lot of great songs. He is another one who should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, if not as a performer, then as a songwriter.

His best-known song is probably "Breaking Up is Hard to Do":

Another of his hits, "Oh! Carol", was written for his friend Carole King, who also became a famous songwriter and singer:

Carole then sang an answer song, "Oh, Neil":

When the British Invasion and other new music styles came along starting in the mid-1960s, Sedaka went through a period in which he didn't have any U.S. hits. But in 1974, with the help of Elton John, he began having hits again. The first one was "Laughter in the Rain":

Neil Sedaka's main songwriting partner in the early part of his career was Howard Greenfield. Later, he wrote songs with Phil Cody. Other artists also had hits with songs he wrote. The second best known one is likely "Where the Boys Are" by Connie Francis, written with Greenfield:

The best known one is likely "Love Will Keep Us Together" by The Captain and Tennille, also written with Greenfield:

Finally, a birthday song, in which both Neils from Abraham Lincoln High School, Sedaka and Diamond, sing one of Sedaka's hits, "Happy Birthday, Sweet Sixteen":

Happy birthday, sweet 81, Neil Sedaka!

Change of Oasis for Now

Instead of this blog being an oasis from March Madness, as promised earlier, it will instead be an oasis from anything having to do with, well, you know what. I will not be posting about, well, you know what.

But I am really upset over the delay of the baseball season and this unbalanced scheduling from canceled games that will result once (if) the season gets underway! See 1972 and 1995 for examples of this.

I just went to look up the correct spelling of canceled or cancelled. It turns out that the single 'l' is the one that is used in U.S. English. I hope I remember to spell it correctly from now on.

If you thought this was going to be about the rock group Oasis, I'm sorry to disappoint you. I don't know any of their songs.

Happy Birthday, James Taylor!

Happy birthday to James Taylor, who was born on March 12, 1948. I have never been as much of a James Taylor fan as I've been of Neil Diamond, but he has done a lot of enjoyable songs.

What a lot of people might not know is that James Taylor recorded for the Beatles' Apple label before achieving success after signing with the Warner Bros. label. He released an album and a few singles on Apple. His best-known song from this period is "Carolina on my Mind", on which he was joined by Paul McCartney on bass and George Harrison on uncredited background vocals.

His first big hit record was "Fire and Rain":

James Taylor was married to fellow singer Carly Simon from 1972-1983 and sang a few duets with her, including "Mockingbird" (considered to be a Simon recording with Taylor as a guest):

For a while in the late 1970s, James Taylor had hits with remakes of earlier hits. In fact, "Mockingbird" is such a song, having been a hit for Inez and Charlie Foxx in 1963. One such song was a remake of the Drifters' 1963 hit "Up on the Roof", which was written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King. This was not the first James Taylor hit that was written by Carole King. She also wrote his 1971 #1 hit "You've Got a Friend". "Up on the Roof" is the only song I know of that was recorded by both James Taylor and Neil Diamond, although I see that Taylor has done the now-obligatory Christmas album. Chances are good that, unless all of the songs on it are originals (doubtful), there's at least one song and probably more on it that Neil Diamond has also done.

Incidentally, I much prefer James Taylor's version of "Up on the Roof" over Neil Diamond's, but I prefer the original hit by the Drifters over both of them. Here are the two James Taylor songs at least partially written by Carole King I mentioned above. First, "You've Got a Friend":

Second, "Up on the Roof":

James Taylor was raised in the Chapel Hill, NC, area. In 2009, I visited relatives who lived in the area. As I drove on U.S. 15 south of town, I noticed a bridge called the James Taylor Bridge. I figured it was named for some politician who had obtained funding for it, but then remembering the singer James Taylor's roots, I wondered if it was named for him. I researched this online after I got home and saw that it was indeed named for him.

Happy Birthday, Mark Lindsay!

Mark Lindsay was the lead singer of the rock band Paul Revere and the Raiders, who had a lot of hit records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Their music often featured a hard rocking beat, but sometimes they sang softer songs.

The Raiders are a group that needs to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but they're not. Like the Monkees, they may have been denied this honor because, in their prime, they appealed to an early and pre-teen audience. Mark in particular appealed to girls. I've felt for several years that there is some sexism involved with Rock Hall of Fame selection, not so much the artists (although I think there is some there, too) but with artists that primarily appealed to female fans being ignored in the voting.

The Raiders' earliest hits were usually covers or remakes of other artists' songs or ones written by notable songwriters of the time such as Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. Mann and Weil wrote one of their best-known hits, "Kicks":

Another song they did around this time was one written by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart that was also recorded by the Monkees, "I'm Not Your Stepping Stone":

Later, Mark Lindsay and group leader and keyboard player Paul Revere began writing most of their songs. Sometimes record producer Terry Melcher (Doris Day's son) collaborated in the songwriting. Here is one of the Lindsay-Melcher songs, "Him or Me - What's It Gonna Be":

Starting in 1969, Mark Lindsay made some solo recordings while remaining a member of the Raiders. The biggest hit among these was "Arizona":

A lesser-known one was "And the Grass Won't Pay No Mind", a song that Elvis Presley also recorded, as well as the guy who wrote it, Neil Diamond:

Finally, in 1971, the Raiders had their biggest hit record, "Indian Reservation (The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian)". It was their only single to go to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. By the 1970s, the Raiders were doing a lot of songs by outside songwriters again. This one was written by John D. Loudermilk. I will probably do a blog post about his songs one of these days because I think he was underappreciated.

Neil Diamond Singing "I'm a Believer"

As you have read or can read in my other blog post today, Neil Diamond wrote the Monkees' hit record "I'm a Believer". He has also recorded his own version of this song multiple times.

His first version of this song was practically a duplication of the Monkees' hit, possibly even a fleshing-out of his demo version of the song. It was first released on his 1967 album Just for You and has appeared on multiple compilation albums from him since then.

He then recorded a new version with an updated arrangement and some new lyrics that was released on his 1980 album September Morn.

Most recently, he released a slow version on his 2010 album Dreams.

During his 2012 concert tour, he sang both the slow version and the traditional uptempo one back-to-back.

The Monkees recorded three other songs that Neil Diamond wrote. Davy Jones sang lead on the other three, "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You", "(Look Out) Here Comes Tomorrow", and "Love To Love". I have seen Micky Dolenz perform "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You" in concert; he has also done other songs that originally featured another Monkee singing lead. Of these three, Neil has only recorded "Love to Love". It was on his first album, The Feel of Neil Diamond, released in 1966, and was never available on CD until the 2011 release, The Bang Masters: 1966-1968. He performed "(Look Out) Here Comes Tomorrow" during his 2005 concert tour and "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You" in some late 1960s shows in places such as New York City's Bitter End.

Happy Birthday, Micky Dolenz!

Last week, I posted on the anniversary of Monkee Davy Jones' death. Today, let's observe the birthday of fellow Monkee Micky Dolenz, who is one of the two surviving Monkees (along with Michael Nesmith, following the death last year of Peter Tork).

Micky Dolenz was born George Michael Dolenz, Jr., in Los Angeles on March 8, 1945. He had a career as a child actor in the 1950s, starring in a show called Circus Boy. My mother told me that I watched this show, but I don't remember it. I was only 4 and 5 years old at the time. Dolenz' stage name at the time was Micky Braddock. By the time he tried out for the Monkees almost ten years later, he had gone back to the Dolenz name.

Micky sang lead on the Monkees' first two hit records, "Last Train to Clarksville", written by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, and "I'm a Believer", written by Neil Diamond. Boyce and Hart wrote a whole bunch of songs that the Monkees recorded, including the theme song to their T.V. show. On the  show, he appeared as the band's drummer. When the group members won the right to play their own instruments, he continued as such, even though his initial desire was to be a guitarist.

In the late 1960s, the Monkees were not highly regarded by many of the people who wrote about rock music. I think that this was partly due to their fanbase at the time mainly being female and in their early or pre-teens. But about twenty years later, they were finally recognized as being early examples of music videos and reality TV, even though their shows were scripted. Many of their songs have become classics, including both of their "Believer" songs, the other one being "Daydream Believer", on which Davy Jones sang lead. Many have been covered by other artists over the years. "I'm a Believer" has been featured in at least two movies. The Monkees' original version was in the 1999 film Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. A remake by Smash Mouth and a partial performance of the song by Eddie Murphy's donkey character were highlights of the 2001 motion picture Shrek.

In recent years, Micky has done a lot of touring, sometimes as part of Monkees reunions, sometimes own his own, and sometimes as part of package tours, such as the Happy Together tour. In his solo and package tour shows, his finale has been "I'm a Believer". He introduces it by telling the younger audience members that he, "did it before Shrek."

But the Monkees are still not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Has their early bad press remained to haunt them?

Here are some of his most memorable Monkees songs:

"Last Train to Clarksville":

"(I'm not Your) Steppin' Stone", written by Boyce and Hart, which was the B-side of "I'm a Believer" but was also a hit record:

A solo version of "I'm a Believer" from the 21st century:

Neil Diamond has done his own version of this song. In fact, he has recorded it in three different styles. Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart had a brief period of recording success in the late 1960s building upon their work with the Monkees. Following that, the two of them toured with Davy Jones and Micky Dolenz as Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart.

Happy Birthday, Brian Hunter!

Today is the 64th day of the year. This means that today is the birthday of Brian Hunter, a veteran outfielder who was in the Philadelphia Phillies' 2001 training camp in Clearwater, FL, and who was born on the 64th day of the year.

But wait a minute! The Phillies had two veteran outfielders named Brian Hunter in training camp that year! Which one do I mean?

Well, it can be either one, depending on whether it is leap year or not.

Brian Raynold Hunter was born on March 4, 1968, the 64th day of that year, since it was a leap year. So today really is his birthday, since it's also a leap year. He debuted in the majors on May 31, 1991, for the Atlanta Braves. I used to see him on Braves games on TBS when he was with the team from 1991-1993 and again in 1999-2000. In between those two stints, he played for four other teams, although he did not play in the majors at all in 1997. He was claimed off waivers from the Braves by the Phillies in 2000. He went to spring training with them the following year but was released. That was the end of his major league career. Brian Raynold Hunter batted righthanded and threw lefthanded, which is not that common among non-pitchers.

Brian Lee Hunter was born on March 5, 1971, the 64th day of that year, since it was not a leap year. So his birthday is really tomorrow. He debuted in the majors on June 27, 1994, with the Houston Astros. (No Hall of Famers have been born on June 27, and there is no chance for one any time soon unless Jim Edmonds somehow convinces some veterans voters or Yordan Alvarez overcomes the Astros' issues and continues the promise he showed as the AL Rookie of the Year last year). Brian Lee Hunter played for the Astros in 1994-1996 and then finished his career with them in 2002-2003. In between, he played for five other teams, including the 2001 Phillies, having made the club out of spring training.

Believe it or not, I know of one other situation in which two players with the same name who were active at the same time had post-February 28 birthdays a day apart, but because the one born on the earlier date was born in a leap year, and the other wasn't, they were born on the same numbered day of the year. (During my career as a computer programmer, we called the number day of the year a "Julian date". So today is Julian date 064, or actually 20064 or 2020064.) I may make you wait until December 13 to let you know who they are, but I may tell you this sooner.

I promised no March Madness stuff on my blog, but if you want to read it elsewhere, check out A Look Back at March Madness in the 2010s.