Despite the valiant efforts of Mike Chambliss, Chamberpot was unable to salvage its preliminary-round matchup with its unnamed opponent.
With a shrine dedicated to the nearly 6-foot Chambliss adorning the sideline, Chamberpot kept the game with Team 532 competitive early.
The 12-by-18 photo encased in a golden frame pictured Chambliss with a full beard outside his home on Mark Street in South Bend.
"You can't put a price on something like that," fan Amy Kern said.
Chambliss devotee Kate Brady was among the most vocal of the Chambliss crowd.
"Look at him - he's a star," she said. "He's only playing here because he's way too good for the [varsity] basketball team."
Despite playing for the losing team, Chambliss stole the show with his brazen style of basket-hanging and mid-game cigarette smoking.
"I was afraid I was going to get burnt," said Joe Mousinho of Team 532.
Fortunately for him, he got burnt neither by fire nor by Chambliss. Team 532 held Chambliss scoreless.
But, Mousinho offered praise for his opponents.
"We were pretty privileged to play against some of those players," he said, not specifying which players.
Chamberpot kept the game close early, as Team 532 led by just three at the half. But after that, fatigue set in for the "potters," and Team 532 took control.
"I think we had the fastness [at the end]," Mousinho said.
Team 532 expressed utter joy with the win.
"This means that we're in the top 512, and no one can argue that," 532'er Tom "Cheese" Blanchette said.
Straight Cash Homey 21,
The Freshman 35 8
In the first coed game of the 2005 Bookstore Basketball tournament, the guys were "clearly outmatched in size and talent" but "worked together better as a team," Straight Cash Homey's Ray Jarosz said.
That collaboration led to a convincing 21-8 win over The Freshman 35.
Playing with only four members, Straight Cash Homey got off to a rocky start, falling behind 1-0 early.
Rome Acosta of Straight Cash Homey blamed the team's absent fifth man for its poor start, as did Jarosz.
"Juan Mendoza didn't show up for us - that was a killer," Jarosz said.
Furthermore, "L. Bradley was killing us from long range," he said of The Freshman 35's Laura Bradley.
However, Jarosz and company were able to recover from the early deficit to beat their fierce competitors.
The Homeys began scoring points on the fast break with their rich style of play.
Kenny Cushing attributed the team's pullaway to its players' lifestyle.
"We're so rich and conceited that we don't have to write checks when we pay fines," he said. "They had the height advantage on us," sophomore Homey Chris Chase said, but "we won."
Team 537 21,
Golden Dragon 5
In a game much more competitive than the final score indicates, Team 537 came away with a hard-fought victory over Golden Dragon.
In fact, the game was so hard-fought that members of Golden Dragon were seeking some reasons why the team lost.
Sophomore Dragon Kevin Curran said, "Clearly, the wind played a factor. That's no doubt."
Others found different, yet equally plausible explanations.
Team coach Jean Nguyen argued that "our dragon didn't have enough fire."
Whatever the reason, Team 537 won by 16 points.
Each Golden Dragon team member wore a gold T-shirt with his numbers on the sleeve and a unique dish from the similarly-titled South Bend Chinese food restaurant on his back.
"We used astrological signs, and we used dice and tarot cards to figure out [the numbers]," Curran said. Curran wore the phrase "Lobster Sauce" on his back.
Teammate Alan Rodriguez wore brilliant red sneakers to symbolize "the power of the chicken," matching the dish on his back.
Team 537 had no such conformity, wearing an eclectic mix of blues, browns and grays.
Despite the apparent lack of unity, under the tutelage of Dan "Viking" Leszkowicz, Team 537 took an 11-4 lead at halftime. They then allowed just a single basket for Golden Dragon the remainder of the game.
Nguyen and her men were disappointed but hopeful for future years.
"Wait for the year of the dragon," she said.
After a brief consultation, none of the team members were able to identify when the next year of the dragon would occur.
The next year of the dragon is slated to begin in 2012.
March Badness 21,
Channel 4 Action News 15
In one of the slowest games in recent Bookstore memory, March Badness outlasted Channel 4 Action News in an unremarkable 68-minute contest.
By the end of the game, even the fans were sick of the action.
"Thank God it's over," March Badness aficionado Steve Przywara said.
The game could have gone on even longer if not for Eddie O'Brien. He made his final three shots of the night - and March Badness' final three points - to conclude the game.
While each team shot less than 20 percent on the night, O'Brien showed an ability to hit the big shot from outside.
However, shots from behind the arc count only as one point in Bookstore rules, and the two teams' reliance on the outside jumper brought the game's pace to a painful crawl.
Craig Panzica, O'Brien's teammate, blamed the weather for his team's and his own poor shooting.
"The wind was definitely an issue," he said. "My personal skill had nothing to do with my shooting performance this afternoon into tonight. It was all the weather."
After a 30-plus-minute first half that began in full sunlight, the teams were ready to begin a second half that would end in complete darkness save court floodlights.
That second half saw the blossoming of Badness member Hamilton "Magic" Marx into a fan favorite and self-confident star.
"Magic Marx quotes himself as saying, 'I am the second coming of Magic Johnson,'" Panzica said of his teammate.
Magic may have to work some magic Saturday when his team faces Alchemist Anonymous in the round of 512.
