Dear Subscriber,

Michael. Larry. LeBron. Kobe. Magic. Shaq.

If you haven't heard of these names they aren't the latest in a string of people the SEC have nabbed for crooked investment schemes. They are giants in their game.....of basketball.

Unfortunately, we at Reinsurance Towers aren't giving you the chance to meet Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, LeBron James, Kobe Bryand, Magic Johnson or Shaquille O'Neal if you take a subscription to the brilliant and incisive Reinsurance Magazine, but we can assure you that all six guys will be thinking about exactly the same thing on Sunday....the NCAA Tournament.

You see Sunday - known as 'Selection Sunday' - is when the NCAA's rulers decide on who should be in this year's three-week tournament, and who's out.

For those of who can't understand what we're on about, let me explain. Basically, it's an excuse to watch 64 teams of college kids run around throwing a ball into a basket, and after a streak of wins, the last team standing wins the title. It's called 'March Madness'. If you're a CEO and you advertise for a job right now, the hurricane of CVs flying into your inbox seems crazy. March Madness - as it is known - is that times about a million.

Why? Because in the same way that the underwriters took a bet (albeit a somewhat more educated one!) that a hurricane wouldn't hit Miami in 2008, everyone in the USA's taking a bet on who's going to win when the fifth seed plays the 12th seed (hint: generally always one fifth seed loses to 'a twelve' at March Madness time) via the brackets and pools - played everywhere in the Land of The Free from Silicon Valley to Skid Row.

And if you're involved in some sort of betting pool or another, then either your office doesn't care about sports, or it's been banned because there are only three of you left in the office. And if you're an ex-pat reading this and don't know what the fuss is about, gently enquire to your American boss why everybody's going to be off from Thursday for the next three weeks for no good reason.

Speaking of pools, Reinsurance Magazine is in the mood to win its own one. After last year's runaway victory in its pool with his friends, we firmly believe we can beat the pants off anyone. If we were betting money, we'd put money on it (but this being a recession, we won't!).

If you want to get involved, email us at Alexander.Ferguson@incisivemedia.com for league and password details for our group (hosted on ESPN.com - you'll need a password (it takes two seconds)), and we'll have everything set up on Monday morning.....we promise.

See you on the (proverbial court), with the rattle of good news - if any of you are reading this on Friday week!