NCAA Tourney Pool Round 2 Day 1

NCAA TOURNAMENT POOL STANDINGS

Round 2 Day 1

My humblest of apologies.  In short, I am an idiot.  For some reason, yesterday morning as I was calculating all of the scores, I had it in my head that Wisconsin lost to Pittsburgh, when in fact they won a close-fought, horrible game.  The crazy part is that I cannot blame it on an error in score on a website, or that the newscaster said the wrong team name, because I WATCHED THAT GAME.  Yes, I was drinking some beer when I watched it, but I watched it.  Now, as anyone who watched that game can attest, that was one of the worst NCAA Tournament games of all time, and how poorly Wisconsin played is probably what made me think they lost.  That being said, there is no excuse for my mistake of calling out Jen Armstrong for picking Wisconsin, when they in fact won.  The points have been recalculated for that game as of the current standings.  For those of you that had Pittsburgh, I subtracted a point, while for those of you that correctly chose the Badgers, you received a point.

While I am confessing by tournament related sins, I believe I also mis-spelled Greg Kummerlen’s name, as well as Lee Seelig’s, which should be corrected by now.  If you see any other mistakes, please let me know.

We were going to lose at least one champion yesterday as Kentucky and Indiana were paired together, and with the Hoosiers being victorious, all those that support the Wildcats, including yours truly, will slowly sink into the abyss that is our standings. That leaves 10 remaining champions. The champions selected in this pool are:  Duke, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Miami, Michigan State, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Villanova and Virginia.  This list will remain the same throughout all of the updates, but I will remove the “bold” from teams as they lose.

We did have some entrants select Little Rock and a couple of others selected Yale to advance to the second round, and a surprising number who had Wichita State to advance to the Sweet Sixteen.  Alas, that did not occur, but one bonusable (is that even a word) game occurred yesterday with Gonzaga beating – and I mean absolutely beating – 3^rd seeded Utah.  Being the game with the most points at stake for the winner, I have to give the “Pick of the Day” award to the eleven entrants that had Gonzaga defeating Utah.  Those entries are Measha Williams 2, Jacey Fowler II, Jane Reynolds, Measha Williams 4, Jason Spuhler, Colleen Hamilton 1, Rebecca Seelig, Charli Aichele, Hershey Zdrowak, Allison Parker and Kulwadee Yung.  Three entrants had Gonzaga beating Fresno State in the second round, and although they received the two points for a correct selection, they did not receive the 5 b onus points for the upset.

I will not award any recognition for an entrant missing a very important game as the worst decision yesterday in the pool was my scoring of the Wisconsin-Pittsburgh first round game.  Because of that, I am the chump of the day.

We have a new leader, so congratulations to Debbie Nieman for taking over first place.  We also have a new leader for last place Jessica Koch.   However, do not feel sorry for Jessica as she has her entire Final Four intact, and 7 of her Elite 8, so I do not expect her to stay in the basement for long.

For the pool, we only had 1 unanimous selection – Kansas, which advanced.  More importantly for the scoring, that means some people had North Carolina and Virginia not advancing to the Sweet Sixteen.  This means you Virginia folks gained some ground.

Some important separation games today, as the entries are split on Wisconsin-Xavier, and those that have Texas A & M, Notre Dame and Maryland can all gain some ground on others who selected against those teams.  Watch those, as they are much more fun than that Duke-Yale debacle from yesterday.  During the contest I was perusing twitter and everybody was making fun of that game.  One of my favorites was, “If you think this game is bad now, CBS just announced that Coldplay will be performing at halftime”.

As always, please review the standings and double check my math, as I may have missed something, missed an upset, or just simply miscalculated.  I try to be accurate, but sometimes I do mess up.  I will listen and change things as necessary.

            Please remember to pay, if you have not.  Payment instructions are on the rule sheet, or you can make other arrangements with me as necessary.

            Good luck to everyone, and happy game watching.  Now, on to the standings.

1.         Debbie Niemann – 67

2.         Greg Kummerlen – 66

            Mango Merchant – 66

            Measha Williams 2 – 66

5.         Jacey Fowler II – 65

6.         Colleen Hamilton 1 – 64

            Jane Reynolds – 64

            Measha Williams 4 – 64

9.         Jason Spuhler – 63

10.       Jonathan Wasserman 2 – 62

11.       Kevin McAlister – 60

            Glen Merchant – 60

13.       Rebecca Seelig – 59

14.       Matt Hopps – 58

            Pepe Sosa – 58

16.       Keith Bornhorst – 57

17.       Charli Aichele – 56

18.       Michael Litsey – 55

            Kingfish Parham – 55

            Hershey Zdrowak – 55

21.       Carolyn Fowler & Jane Reynolds – 54

            Andrew Giannone – 54

            Alex King – 54

            Jacey Fowler I – 54

25.       Duncan Merchant – 53

            Kareem Montague – 53

27.       Bryan Apolinar – 52

            Eric Inge – 52

            Kline Kroesen - 52

            Ty Leatherman – 52

            Rich Samuel 2 – 52

32.       Cory Mauro – 51

            Abigail Sosa – 51

            Carolyn Fowler – 51

35.       Allison Parker – 50

            Ashley Poer 1 – 50

37.       Karen Katz – 49

            Matt Nieman – 49

            Joshua Zdrowak – 49

40.       Jen Armstrong – 48

            Kent Armstrong – 48

            Kyle Henderson – 48

            Katie Kollmeyer – 48

44.       Martha Kroesen – 47

            Anthony LaPira – 47

            Rich Samuel 1 – 47

            George Walks 2 – 47

            Katie Zdrowak – 47

49.       Kim Bancsi – 46

            Hilary Kroesen – 46

51.       Phil Doherty 1 – 45

            Vic LaPira – 45

53.       Silas Nichols 1 – 44

            Kyle Sheehan – 44

            Roxy Sheehan – 44

            Steven Usma 3 – 44

57.       Measha Williams 1 – 43

58.       Steffan Alexander – 42

            Jason Murray – 42

            Lee Seelig – 42

            Steven Usma 1 – 42

            Amy Zdrowak – 42

            Day Yi 1 – 42

64.       Stephanie Aichele – 41

            Barkley Sosa - 41

            Cheryl Spuhler – 41

            Measha Williams 3 – 41

            Kulwadee Yung – 41

69.       George Walks 3 – 40

            Justin Yung – 40

71.       Chris Kroesen – 39

            Jonathan Wasserman 1 – 39

            Hannah Sosa – 39

74.       Joshua and Katie Zdrowak – 38

75.       Silas Nichols 2 – 37

            Keith Zdrowak – 37

77.       Brent Bellinger – 36

            Colleen Hamilton 2 – 36

            Jeff Plamondon – 36

80.       Mac Kroesen – 35

            Emily Lawson – 35

            Ashley Poer 2 – 35

            Samantha Sheehan – 35

84.       Steven Usma 2 – 34

85.       Serena Davila – 33

86.       Traci Sheehan – 32

            George Walks 1 – 32

88.       Day Yi 2 – 31

89.       Phil Doherty 2 – 30

            Phil Doherty 4 – 30

91.       Phil Doherty 3 – 29

            George Walks 4 – 29

93.       Alvaro Gonzalez – 28

94.       Jessica Koch – 27

NCAA Tournament Pool Round 1 Day 2

NCAA TOURNAMENT POOL STANDINGS

Round 1 Day 2

 I hope that everybody survived the second day of round 1, as four more upsets occurred yesterday.  That means fully ¼ of the games in the first round resulted in bonus points!!!  Well, technically not ¼, as not one single person in the pool selected Middle Tennessee State over Michigan State.  Sadly, Michigan State was one of the unanimous picks from day 2, with the others being Villanova, Oregon and Oklahoma.  For those of you following closely, that means we did have one entry select a 15 over a 2, just the wrong game as Weber State could not pull off the upset over Xavier.

We lost two champions yesterday, including the aforementioned Spartans, who were the second betting favorite in Vegas, as well as the third most popular pick in our pool.  The other champion to lose was Texas.  That leaves 11 remaining champions. The champions selected in this pool are:  Duke, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Miami, Michigan State, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Villanova and Virginia.  This list will remain the same throughout all of the updates, but I will remove the “bold” from teams as they lose.

Interestingly enough, experts in sports analytics have calculated that the Middle Tennessee State victory was the third biggest upset in NCAA tournament history, so all of us that picked Michigan State were simply unlucky.  Although, I may have re-thought that selection if I knew that MTSU’s best player looks exactly like Andre 3000 from Outkast.

As stated earlier, four different teams that were eligible for bonus points won yesterday:  Middle Tennessee State, Stephen F. Austin, Hawaii and Northern Iowa.  Excepting Middle Tennessee State, some people in our pool picked each of these upsets, and several entrants had 2 upsets corrects.  Interestingly, two entrants selected all 3 of the upsets correctly, and they each had their respective guarantees win as well.  For that, I give my congratulations to Debbie Nieman and Barkley Sosa for winning the illustrious “Picks of the Day” award.

A lot of entrants had Michigan State at least in the Elite 8, if not further and winning, so a number of picks were especially hurt by the Spartans’ loss.  However, the worse defeats yesterday were suffered by Abigail Sosa, Silas Nichols 1, Jen Armstrong, Karen Katz, and Phil Doherty 2, who each lost 2 of their Final Four selections.  Abigail and Karen had Michigan State and West Virginia lose, whereas Silas and Phil both had Michigan State and Texas.  Jen suffered with Michigan State and Wisconsin, which means she either really loves the Big 10 (which could be true), or she went with one of her alma maters (which is definitely true).  So for losing two of her Final Four, with one of them actually be her school, Jen Armstrong  is the hard luck bracket of the day.

We have a new leader, so congratulations to Mango Merchant for taking over first place.  We also have a new leader for last place, and he had Michigan State winning it all, so good luck Alvaro Gonzalez.

Some interesting games today, starting at 12:10 with Wichita State and Miami.  Wichita State’s seniors are 9-3 in the NCAA Tournament in their career, which is pretty remarkable.  Economists have calculated that the most expensive ticket in the entire second round is Indiana v. Kentucky in Des Moines, and the second most expensive ticket is Yale v. Duke; my own personal basketball hell.  However, it isn’t just my personal basketball hell, as Slate.com described the game thusly:

With the bad guys going 2-for-2, the stage is now set for the most irksome game in the history of America’s least irksome sporting event.  It’s George W. Bush vs. Richard Nixon.  Theo Epstein vs. Christian Laettner.  Morgan Stanley vs Deutsche Bank.  Slate vs. Wherever Duke grads work.  Catamarans v. Monohulls.  Chenille vs. Seersucker.  Connecticut vs. New Jersey.  People who couldn’t get into Harvard vs. People who couldn’t get into Yale.

Some potentially big movers today, as a couple of entrants each have Little Rock and Yale winning two games, which means that not only did they have upsets picked correctly on Thursday, they followed those upset picks with continued upsets today.  Could be big swings as most entries have Duke at least into the Sweet Sixteen.

As always, please review the standings and double check my math, as I may have missed something, missed an upset, or just simply miscalculated.  I try to be accurate, but sometimes I do mess up.  I will listen and change things as necessary.  I myself found an error in the day 1 calculations as I skipped a game pod in Rebecca Seelig’s scoring.  That has been corrected and you gained 7 points (two wins plus a Wichita State bonus of 5).

Please remember to pay, if you have not.  Payment instructions are on the rule sheet, or you can make other arrangements with me as necessary.

Good luck to everyone, and happy game watching.  Now, on to the standings.

1.         Mango Merchant – 57

2.         Debbie Niemann – 54

3.         Greg Kummerlen – 51

            Jonathan Wasserman 2 – 51

5.         Measha Williams 2 – 50

6.         Kevin McAlister – 49

            Pepe Sosa – 49

8.         Kingfish Parham – 48

9.         Keith Bornhorst – 46

            Jacey Fowler II – 46

            Jane Reynolds – 46

            Measha Williams 4 – 46

13.       Carolyn Fowler – 45

            Eric Inge – 45

            Alex King – 45

            Jason Spuhler – 45

17.       Jacey Fowler I – 44

            Colleen Hamilton 1 – 44

            Duncan Merchant – 44

20.       Carolyn Fowler & Jane Reynolds – 43

            Andrew Giannone – 43

            Matt Hopps – 43

            Ashley Poer 1 – 43

            Rebecca Seelig – 43

25.       Glen Merchant – 42

            Matt Nieman – 42

27.       Bryan Apolinar – 41

            Hilary Kroesen – 41

29.       Charli Aichele – 40

            Michael Litsey – 40

            Cory Mauro – 40

            Kareem Montague – 40

            Abigail Sosa – 40

34.       Jen Armstrong – 39

            Kyle Henderson – 39

            Kline Kroesen – 39

            Ty Leatherman – 39

            Hershey Zdrowak – 39

39.       Martha Kroesen – 38

            Anthony LaPira – 38

            Vic LaPira – 38

            George Walks 2 – 38

            Katie Zdrowak – 38

44.       Katie Kollmeyer – 37

            Rich Samuel 2 – 37

            Day Yi 1 – 37

47.       Rich Samuel 1 – 36

            Joshua Zdrowak – 36

49.       Kent Armstrong – 35

            Karen Katz – 35

            Silas Nichols 1 – 35

            Amy Zdrowak – 35

53.       Phil Doherty 1 – 34

            Barkley Sosa - 34

            Cheryl Spuhler – 34

56.       Kim Bancsi – 33

            Jason Murray – 33

            Kyle Sheehan – 33

            Roxy Sheehan – 33

            George Walks 3 – 33

            Joshua and Katie Zdrowak – 33

62.       Stephanie Aichele – 32

            Allison Parker – 32

            Measha Williams 3 – 32

65.       Steffan Alexander – 31

            Lee Selig – 31

            Steven Usma 1 – 31

            Steven Usma 3 – 31

            Justin Yung – 31

70.       Chris Kroesen – 30

            Mac Kroesen – 30

            Ashley Poer 2 – 30

            Jonathan Wasserman 1 – 30

            Measha Williams 1 – 30

            Keith Zdrowak – 30

76.       Brent Bellinger – 29

            Hannah Sosa – 29

            Kulwadee Yung – 29

79.       Emily Lawson – 28

            Silas Nichols 2 – 28

81.       Jeff Plamondon – 27

            Steven Usma 2 – 27

83.       Samantha Sheehan – 26

            Day Yi 2 – 26

            Colleen Hamilton 2 – 26

86.       Traci Sheehan – 25

87.       George Walks 1 – 23

88.       George Walks 4 – 22

89.       Phil Doherty 2 – 21

            Phil Doherty 4 – 21

91.       Phil Doherty 3 – 20

            Jessica Koch – 20

            Serena Davila – 20

            Alvaro Gonzalez – 19

NCAA Tournament Pool Standings; Round 1, Day 1

NCAA TOURNAMENT POOL STANDINGS

Round 1 Day 1

             AHOY and welcome to my NCAA Tournament Pool – 2016 edition.  For those of you that are returning participants, thank you very much and welcome back.  For those of you that are new to this pool, a hearty welcome, and I sincerely hope that you enjoy the tournament, and the pool.  I would especially like to welcome two lovely newcomers, Kline Kroesen and Samantha Sheehan, who are both participating in their first year of eligibility, and by that I mean they are less than 1 year old.  And this year has really gone to the dogs, literally as our four-legged friends have several entries.

             I say this every year, so I should stop being amazed at how many people fail to follow the rules.  For you newbies, I will cut you a break because the rules – especially those surrounding the bonus points for correct upset picks – are different.  You veterans however, sigh.  The entire Merchant clan, consisting of Glen Merchant, Mango Merchant and Duncan Merchant, all neglected to even put their name on their bracket; and the same with Silas Nichols 1 and 2.  I guess I will just have to rib him while he and I (along with Matt Hopps) are overseeing the Final Four in Houston to make sure that the entire tournament is not fixed – thus upholding the integrity of this pool.

             Right now we have 95 entrants.  As you will see from the standings below, there are only 94 entrants listed.  However, one entry has stated that he mailed his bracket to me, and I expect to receive it today.  So long as it is postmarked before yesterday, Jack Henderson will be accepted into the pool.

            We have 13 different champions selected in this tournament, and nobody has lost their champion as of yesterday.  This is different, as last year two entrants lost their champion on the very first day.  The champions selected in this pool are:  Duke, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Miami, Michigan State, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Villanova and Virginia.  This list will remain the same throughout all of the updates, but I will remove the “bold” from teams as they lose.

            For yesterday’s games we only had 3 unanimous picks consisting of all the number 1 seeds.  Kansas, North Carolina and Virginia all coasted through.  That means for each of the other 13 games, we had entries that selected different teams in each of those games.

            Four different teams that were eligible for bonus points won yesterday.  Those teams are Wichita State, Yale (UGH!), Arkansas – Little Rock, and Gonzaga.  Nobody selected all four of those games correctly, but we did have 6 entries that selected 3 of the 4 upsets, and won their guaranty.  To find out who they are, they are the Top 6 in the standings.  That being said, I know how hard it must have been for one of those participants to select his arch-rival, so for that, (and getting 3 of the 4 upsets correct), the “Pick of the Day” goes to Kareem Montague.  A special mention goes to Kingfish Parham as he has starting very strongly this year in defense of his title from last year’s pool.

            On that note, my personal basketball hell will occur tomorrow as Duke plays Yale.  I will address that game then, but boy do I wish I didn’t have to do that.

            Nobody was hurt too bad from yesterday’s picks, but 5 entries did lose a Final Four team.  Four entrants had Baylor in the Final Four, and one entrant had Purdue going so far as the Final Four.  For that reason, Kulwadee Yung is the hard-luck performer of yesterday.
           Just so everyone knows, I sent out via e-mail, the four entries from my household to 10 different members of this pool, most of which do not necessarily know each other.  I did this before noon yesterday.  I did this as a check on the four "Sosa" brackets, so that if anybody ever wants to check on my brackets, those that received the brackets before the tournament began can vouch for the picks.  Not that anyone has every accused me of cheating in this pool before, but this keeps me and the pool honest.

            As always, please review the standings and double check my math, as I may have missed something, missed an upset, or just simply miscalculated.  I try to be accurate, but sometimes I do mess up.  I will listen and change things as necessary.

            Please remember to pay, if you have not.  Payment instructions are on the rule sheet, or you can make other arrangements with me as necessary.

            Now, on to the standings.  Ties, for now, are listed alphabetically.

 

1.         Greg Kummerlin – 35

            Jonathan Wasserman 2 – 35

3.         Charli Aichele – 34

            Mango Merchant – 34

5.         Kareem Montague – 33

            Kingfish Parham – 33

7.         Keith Bornhorst – 29

            Carolyn Fowler – 29

            Jacey Fowler II – 29

            Katie Kollmeyer – 29

            Jane Reynolds – 29

            Jason Spuhler – 29

            Hershey Zdrowak – 29

14.       Carolyn Fowler & Jane Reynolds – 28

            Jacey Fowler I – 28

            Kyle Henderson – 28

            Matt Hopps – 28

            Martha Kroesen – 28

            Anthony LaPira – 28

            Michael Litsey – 28

            Kevin McAlister – 28

            Abigail Sosa – 28

            Measha Williams 2 – 28

            Measha Williams 4 – 28

25.       Bryan Apolinar – 27

            Hilary Kroesen – 27

            Duncan Merchant – 27

            Pepe Sosa – 27

29.       Matt Nieman – 26

30.       Silas Nichols – 25

31.       Andrew Giannone – 24

32.       Stephanie Aichele – 23

            Kim Bancsi – 23

            Eric Inge – 23

            Cory Mauro – 23

            Debbie Niemann – 23

            Allison Parker – 23

            Rich Samuel 1 – 23

            Lee Selig – 23

            Kyle Sheehan – 23

            Roxy Sheehan – 23

            Steven Usma 3 – 23

            Joshua and Katie Zdrowak – 23

44.       Steffan Alexander – 22

            Jen Armstrong – 22

            Colleen Hamilton 1 – 22

            Glen Merchant – 22

            Rebecca Seelig – 22

            Steven Usma 1 – 22

            George Walks 3 – 22

            Justin Yung – 22

            Joshua Zdrowak – 22

53.       Ashley Poer 1 – 21

            Jeff Plamondon – 21

            Hannah Sosa – 21

            Day Yi 1 – 21

57.       Karen Katz – 20

            Kulwadee Yung – 20

59.       Brent Bellinger – 18

            Colleen Hamilton – 18

            Steven Usma 2 – 18

            Day Yi 2 – 18

63.       Alex King – 17

            Emily Lawson – 17

            Ty Leatherman – 17

            Rich Samuel 2 – 17

            Traci Sheehan – 17

68.       Kline Kroesen – 16

            Vic LaPira – 16

70.       Chris Kroesen – 15

71.       Ashley Poer 2 – 14

            Silas Nichols 2 – 14

73.       Samantha Sheehan – 13

74.       Phil Doherty 1 – 12

            Phil Doherty 2 – 12

            Cheryl Spuhler – 12

            George Walks 1 – 12

            Jonathan Wasserman 1 – 12

            Measha Williams 3 – 12

80.       Phil Doherty 4 – 11

            Jessica Koch – 11

            Jason Murray – 11

            George Walks 2 – 11

            George Walks 4 – 11

            Katie Zdrowak – 11

            Keith Zdrowak – 11

87.       Kent Armstrong – 10

            Serena Davila – 10

            Mac Kroesen – 10

            Measha Williams 1 – 10

91.       Phil Doherty 3 – 9

            Alvaro Gonzalez – 9

            Amy Zdrowak – 9

94.       Barkley Sosa - 8

SUPER BOWL ROUNDTABLE

It is Super Bowl Sunday, and we are glad that you were able to stop by WeMakeItRain where you will hear/read analysis about the game that you cannot get anywhere else.  Joining me today is Sinickal and Hopps, so the whole crew is here.  Joining us are our special guests, Audio and none other than our Patron Saint - Adam "Pacman" Jones himself.

Pepster:  OK guys, let's get the boring stuff out of the way.  Who wins this game?

Sinickal, Hopps and Audio:  HaHaHaHa.  This is funny.

Pepster:  Good point.

Hopps:  Even "Goodfellas" money couldn't stop this line from moving and taking sucker bets of Denver money.

PacMan Jones:  I bet $81,000 in small bills on the Panthers.  In fact, I just walked into the casino and threw the money into the air.  I am assuming the proper bet was made.

Hopps:  This game is over by the end of the first quarter.

Pepster:  Ok, now that that is out of the way, before we get into our normal discussion, we have to address the quarterback situation.  Since this might be Peyton Manning's last game, does a second Super Bowl victory - along with all of his other stats - vault him to the title of best quarterback of all time?

Sinickal, Hopps, Audio, PacMan:  HaHaHaHaHa!  You are killing us.

Tom Brady, Joe Montana, Dan Marino, John Elway:  That Pepster guy is funny!

Sinickal:  Peyton was a great quarterback - not the greatest of all time - but he WAS great.  Now, he is not even close to being remotely average.  In fact, I think that a wide receiver for the Broncos will be decapitated due to a Manning wounded duck.

Audio:  I will put $100 down for a decapitation.

Hopps: *Nods in agreement*  And after that decapitation, I predict that Brock Osweiler will take snaps in this game.  Let's talk about the real story in this game.  Cam Newton.  He is the MVP this year, and at 6'5", 245, he is only one inch shorter and 12 pounds lighter than Rob Gronkowski.  Newton is a beast.  I think he will dab at least 4 times.

Sinickal:  Cam will dab so much, that even Phil Simms will try to dab.  But, we know the NFL, and they will try to put as much emphasis into the Peyton Manning story as much as possible.  In fact, I predict that someone will report that Tom Brady bought Al-Jazeera and ordered the HGH report.

Hopps:  Why can't you all just leave my Patriots alone?

Pepster/Sinickal:  Because they cheat!

Pepster:  Let's get to the real story of this game, and to a statistic pointed out to me by my friend Wass (as reported by Tim Reynolds).  Carolina tight end Greg Olsen has the opportunity to become the first member of the Seventh Floor Crew to win the Super Bowl, with Brandon Merriweather and Tavares Gooden losing in their lone Super Bowl appearances.

Sinickal:  I love that this game has initiated a huge resurgence for the greatest 1-hit wonder group of all time.

Pepster:  Even bigger than Toni Basil, who until 2005 had the greatest 1 hit wonder with "Mickey".  The 7th Floor Crew is also easily the most misogynistic song to ever come out of Miami.

Sinickal:  The Miami sound came with its own G-string and a minimum dimension for ass size.

Pepster:  The most misogynistic song to come out of Miami.  Think about THAT for a minute.

Hopps:  *Tears*

PacMan Jones:  The greatest songs of all time came out of Miami.  Every Two Live Crew song is a must to be played at the strip club.

Pepster:  Because of the resurgence of interest in the 7th Floor Crew, I went back and read some old stories about the group.  One blog listed every lyric from the song that was appropriate to print.  The author wrote, "Is this thing on?  Good."

Hopps:  *More tears*

Pepster:  I predict that I will make at least 17 7th Floor Crew references.  Being a University of Miami fan, Let's give some football credit to G-Reg.  Who honestly thought that the Panthers would have any type of passing game this year once Kelvin Benjamin went out?  Everyone not related to Greg Olsen please put your hands down.  You too Ted Ginn, Jr.

Hopps:  Well, I think Ted Ginn, Jr. will make a sideline ....

Sinickal:  A sideline what?

Hopps:  I don't know.  I was going to say a sideline catch, but then I lost my train of thought thinking about how sick the Miami Dolphins fans were when they drafted Ted Ginn, Jr. instead of Brady Quinn or Amobi Okoye.  That's funny.

Pepster:  That was funny.  What is even funnier is that Ginn has ultimately turned out better than both Quinn and Okoye.  Patrick Willis, Marshawn Lynch and Darrelle Revis were both drafted after Ted Ginn, Jr.

Pepster:  So, anybody have any sure-fire predictions that they want to make that might be a little unusual?

Hopps:  The halftime show will suck.

Pepster:  We already know that.  It's Coldplay.  That prediction isn't even on the board in Vegas it is so obvious.

Audio:  I have one, I predict at least 2 defensive touchdowns.

PacMan:  I would have one of those if I was able to play against Peyton.  He is horrible.  I wish that we had Andy Dalton for our playoff run.  Damn Steelers.

Audio:  Black and yellow; black and yellow.

Sinickal:  I have two; one football related and one non-football related.  First, Von Miller will try to prevent Cam from giving away a football to a kid.

Pepster:  Do they even allow kids at the Super Bowl anymore?

Sinickal:  And more importantly, the hottest woman shown on television will be a Carolina fan!

Hopps:  Now that is a good pick.

PacMan:  I am sure that is true.  I have played in both cities before.

Pepster:  Now that bet, I like.  I am going to say that Stephen Curry is shown on television at least twice, and he will be wearing something Carolina Panthers-related.

Hopps:  Leave it to the NBA to try to outshine the NFL at the Super Bowl.

Sinickal:  All I know is that I am going to a golf show in the morning, so I am certain that I will buy a new driver.

Pepster:  I am also certain that we will hear several references to Michael Lewis's The Blind Side since Michael Oher starts for the Panthers.

Sinickal:  How can we have this entire conversation without addressing the star defenders in this game, Thomas Davis, Luke Kuechly, Kawann Short, Star Lotuleilei, Von Miller, DeMarcus Ware, etc., etc., etc.

Pepster:  Because that topic would be actual analysis.  Onward to my picks.

As  a reminder, each pick is using the spread (straight up is for wussies), and the betting line is from the same website each week as of the time of typing the entry. I keep a running tally of my record, plus my winnings/losses. We will "pretend" that I bet $100 on each game, with one game each week going for $250. Winnings/Losses will be calculated including a 10% vig, which just makes the math that much simpler. Now, on to the picks.

WINNERS

Carolina Panthers

AGAINST THE SPREAD

Carolina Panthers -5 v. Denver Broncos
Denver has no real offense.  Carolina has offense and defense.  Peyton Manning may feel like he "needs" this.  Cam Newton "wants" this.  Want wins.

OVER/UNDER

Carolina Panthers v. Denver Broncos 43 1/2 - OVER

Carolina will get to 30 plus on their own.  I just need 2 touchdowns from Denver.

RANDOM BET

At least 5 total sacks and 1 interception.

No big bet this week because there are only four bets made total.

Last Week's Winners:  1-1
Playoff Winners to Date:  6-4
Last Week's Record:  3-3
Playoff Record:  11-14

Year-to-Date Record: 139-130-5
Big Bet Last Week: 0-1
Big Bet Year-to-Date: 13-7
Winnings/(Losses) Last Week: ($195)
Winnings (Losses) Year-to-Date: $395

Picks of the Week

Very mediocre week last week.  This week seems pretty easy for me.  As only two games are being played, I will pick the winner, against the spread, and the over/under for each.

As  a reminder, each pick is using the spread (straight up is for wussies), and the betting line is from the same website each week as of the time of typing the entry. I keep a running tally of my record, plus my winnings/losses. We will "pretend" that I bet $100 on each game, with one game each week going for $250. Winnings/Losses will be calculated including a 10% vig, which just makes the math that much simpler. Now, on to the picks.

WINNERS

New England Patriots at Denver Broncos
To quote my boy Hopps, "I've seen this show before".  This seems a bit obvious to me for some reason.

Carolina Panthers v. Arizona Cardinals
Carolina, despite what happened in the second half, thoroughly dominated the Seattle Seahawks, who might be the third or fourth best team in the entire league.  Carolina wins this game, despite the fact that everyone thinks that Carson Palmer, along with Larry Fitzgerald, Michael Floyd and John Brown can take advantage of Carolina's secondary.  Who, is going to take care of Cam Newton?  Really tough year to have gotten rid of Darnell Dockett, Arizona.

AGAINST THE SPREAD

New England Patriots -3 at Denver Broncos
I know what you are saying, "Pepster, why would you take a road favorite in the playoffs?"  Here is why.  New England took Denver into overtime earlier this year without Julian Edelman, the single most important player for New England not named "Tom Brady".  Why is Edelman that important?  Because he gets himself open immediately off the line of scrimmage, which allows Tom Brady to throw those short passes which keeps the defensive pass rush from hitting him.  If the team bunches up against Edelman, then Gronkowski then becomes open.  And to quote Dan Lebatard, "Gronkowski is not human.  Bill Belichick just found a polar bear and taught him how to catch things".  Plus, Peyton Manning did not play in the earlier game, and Peyton is more of a detriment to the Broncos given that he is basically a shell of his former self.  His play actually gives an extra 6 points to New England, in my opinion.

Carolina Panthers -3 v. Arizona Cardinals
The Cardinals have had a great year, and are perhaps the second best team in the NFL, unfortunately, they are playing the best team in the NFL.  Luke Kuechly and Thomas Davis are the best linebacker combination in the NFL.  I WILL NOT ARGUE THIS POINT!!!  They have a phenomenal running game, led by Cam Newton, for whom Arizona's defense just cannot account.  If Arizona is going to have a chance, they are going to have to win an absolute shootout, which brings Greg Olsen - the second best tight end in the league this year behind Gronk and highly touted member of the Seventh Floor Crew, into importance - which is not what Arizona wants to do.  If Arizona can make it a shootout, Carson Palmer will have to keep his interceptions down to 0 or 1, which can be tough.

OVER/UNDER

New England Patriots at Denver Broncos 45 - OVER
The Patriots with Gronkowski and Edelman is good for at least 30 themselves, despite the talent on Denver's defense.  The quick passing game will not allow the Broncos' defense to hit Brady with any regularity, and thus, he will pick them apart little by little.  Denver - in order to win - is going to have to rely heavily on its inconsistent running game, which Belichick will gameplan against.  They will tempt Manning to beat them, which he cannot do.

Arizona Cardinals at Carolina Panthers 47 1/2 - OVER
Lots and lots of points to be scored today, although I feel the over won't be hit until late in the fourth quarter, when a rallying Arizona Cardinals team scores a touchdown with around 2 minutes to go, just before they fail to recover the onside kick.  One note about the Panthers courtesy of Bomani Jones and his producer.  While discussing that Patrick Peterson could cover Ted Ginn, Jr. man-to-man in order to take him out of the game, Jones's producer states that Corey Jones and Jerricho Cotchery will have to have big games.  Bomani Jones's response is simple.  "It's 2016 and we are talking about Jerricho Cotchery".  Now you may think that quote would lead me to pick Arizona, but that goes to show how great Cam Newton and Greg Olsen have been this year - Carolina is winning with Ted Ginn and Jerricho Cotchery.

Big Bet Game of the Week
New England Patriots at Denver Broncos
Going back to my boy Hopps, "I've seen this show before".

Last Week's Winners:  2-2
Playoff Winners to Date:  5-3
Last Week's Record:  4-4
Playoff Record:  8-11

Year-to-Date Record: 136-127-5
Big Bet Last Week: 0-1
Big Bet Year-to-Date: 13-6
Winnings/(Losses) Last Week: ($205)
Winnings (Losses) Year-to-Date: $590