When I decided to do this series, it was to give me a justification for tracking game scores (and perhaps watching some of the games) at work. I didn't really think things through that well, however -- writing up stuff after each round means writing on the weekend as well. Doh! Compounding the unpleasantness is that today's round of bracket picks performed much more poorly, particularly in the Midwest, where I got hammered.

Politician Forgets Email + Racist Remarks = Resignation
You'd think that elected officials would have figured out by now that sending inappropriate emails does not end well. (I was going to include a link to another case there, but a search of the words "elected official email resigned" brought up so many examples that I couldn't decide.) However, Georgia city councilman John Dowdy had to learn it the hard way. Game Politics reports that minority employees in his office recently filed a civil rights lawsuit; among the charges is the allegation that Dowdy sent out an email with a link to the online game Border Patrol, which includes a number of racial slurs against Hispanics. Dowdy has since resigned his position.

If you've not yet succumbed to the phenomenon that is Peggle, then...well, we don't really understand how you've resisted for so long. However, if it's been because of the cost, then you're in luck -- from now through March 31, you can pick up the game on PopCap's site for 75 percent off the usual $20 price. That's just $5, which is less than the cost of a fancy coffee drink and pastry -- and we promise that the delights of Peggle will last much longer than the caffeine and sugar will (not that we don't also love our caffeine and sugar).

It's a big week for fans of genres outside the norm of the traditional music game lineup; we've got some funk, lots of classic rock, and a heaping helping of artists virtually unknown in the U.S. Here's what all the big players have on offer this week:

If you're a PC gamer, Xbox 360 gamer, or PlayStation 3 gamer, you have exactly one option for a new retail game this week: Wheelman. While PSP gamers get a little more love (with three new titles), it's Nintendo gamers who get the most new releases. It's a particularly good week for DS gamers, with big games like Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, Pokemon Platinum, and Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure in stores. So what else is out this week?

Coming into this, I feel pretty darn good about my chances against NCAA 09 -- as warm-up, I simulated last year's tournament, and the final four the game came up with was Xavier, Pitt, North Carolina, and Virginia University, which was only 25 percent correct. Plus they had 2nd-seeded Duke losing in the first round to 15th-seeded Belmont -- don't get me wrong, I would have danced around the block laughing like a hyena if Duke had been knocked out that early, but the chances of it happening were pretty nil (and not shockingly, it didn't happen). Apparently the AI doesn't look at seeds so much as stats.

Like most people -- and like all sane people -- when I'm given the choice between lazing on the couch and exercising, my couch will win out every time. The only thing I like about exercise is having finished it. Sadly, however, fitness is one of those unavoidable evils, and I'm facing the reality that I need to get back in shape. Now the biggest question is how I'm going to accomplish this.

Between ongoing spring training and the World Baseball Classic, not to mention the impending start to the regular Major League Baseball season, chances are many of you are stricken with hardcore baseball fever. I know I am! Those of us looking to marry our love of baseball with that of gaming have a couple of new high profile releases -- Major League Baseball 2K9 and MLB 09: The Show -- to consider, but both fall pretty definitely into the realm of realistic simulations.

I'm not much of a sports fan, which is probably somewhat of a backlash against having grown up in a place where sports was such a huge part of the popular culture (at the expense of everything else). And while I enjoy attending the occasional baseball game, that has as much to do with the hot dogs and beer as it does the action on the field.

The one exception to my sports agnosticism is March Madness.

Like glowing, neon poker chips scattered haphazardly around a honeycomb board, the colorful, round discs in Magnet Towers are practically screaming to be stacked and organized. Building towers of like-colored pieces may sound a little too simple for some tastes, but you just might find yourself playing through this game’s eight levels over and over again. It’s hard to resist the glow. Must…look…away.