Hello Everybody, and welcome to our tournament pool. This year we are 143 strong!!! A note, so that you don't get too confused, there is another pool - a Squares Format - running on this blog as well. You should be able to tell the two apart. One of them is a little more verbose than the other. (Hint, that is this one.)
We welcome back all three of the finalists from last year, Measha Williams, Paul Cummings, and Steve Usma. Good luck on repeating.
Also welcome back our last place contestant, Barkley Sosa, whose method of selecting all of the dog mascots - and against every cat mascot - was not successful last year, but was OH SO CLOSE in the first round yesterday in her pick of Siena over Duke.
James Garvin of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, was the first entry submitted this year, but the first to pay was Chris Simmons of Boynton Beach, Florida/Park City, Utah. I only mention this because he wanted me to mention it, and I wanted to add that he did not put his name, e-mail address, or any contact information whatsoever on his bracket.
The tournament started off with a bang yesterday, as the first game ended with Ohio State taking a last second shot against TCU, but it missed, sending the Horned Frogs - and Landman lovers everywhere - into the second round. It also gave Michigan fans something to crow about, like former Wolverine Hooper Jalen Rose.
We have a wide variety of champions selected this year, which I will continuously post here. Remaining champions will always be capitalized and in bold. This year, our collective champion selections are: ALABAMA, ARIZONA, CONNECTICUT, DUKE, FLORIDA, HOUSTON, ILLINOIS, IOWA STATE, KANSAS, KENTUCKY, MICHIGAN, MICHIGAN STATE, North Carolina, PURDUE, and VIRGINIA.
Yes, you read that correctly. We have already lost a champion. Jacey Fowler of Greenacres, Florida was the unlikely recipient of that L yesterday.
On the flip side of that, we had three major upsets, with High Point defeating Wisconsin (more on that later), Virginia Commonwealth beating North Carolina (also more on that later), and Texas winning against BYU. All told, we have 6 brackets with all 3 of those upset selections. Jonathan Cox of Palm Beach Gardens, Crew Ferguson of Raleigh, North Carolina and Day Yi of Forest Hill, New York. Those 3, however, did not have any of those upsets as the guarantee. Day did, however, go 15-1, which would ordinarily be enough for the pick of the day. But that honor goes to the one of the entries with all 3 upsets picked correctly AND one of those being their guarantee. Max Macon 2 of Jupiter, Florida and Rich Samuels of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida fit the bill, but only Jason Spuhler of Acworth, Georgia qualifies under that scenario AND went 15-1, losing only the TCU-Ohio State game. Congratulations Jason, you are the pick of the Day!
And we received our first big upset of the tournament when High Point came back to defeat the Wisconsin Badgers. A note from the post-game press conference:
Reporter: "What happened Wisconsin?"
Wisconsin: "I was going to go to the second round, but then I got High .... Point."
Sums it up. By the way, did anybody follow the Afroman trial? (For those that don't know, Afroman was the artist that performed But I Got High). A couple of years ago, sheriff's deputies, acting on a no-knock warrant based solely upon (ultimately determined to be) made up statements from a confidential information, raided Afroman's house, destroyed his door and other parts of his house, took evidence and money, but ultimately finding nothing. The District Attorney did not file any charges, and Afroman's stuff was returned, except the money that was returned was less than the amount catalogued by the authorities on site. Afroman, who had a security system including cameras inside his house, took the footage and made videos about what happened, including this hilarious song Lemon Pound Cake. Seven officers sued Afroman for defamation and false light, and on Wednesday evening, after a couple of days of absolutely hilarious testimony, the jury returned a verdict in Afroman's favor. Who knew that in my lifetime the three biggest free speech cases would be about flag-burning, Afroman, and Two Live Crew!!! Amazing.
Anyway, back to the games, High Point finished off Wisconsin behind one of the more remarkable stats in NCAA Tournament history. Which brings me to the biggest stats from yesterday's actions.
Stats of the Day
3. Virginia Commonwealth erased a 19-point deficit to defeat North Carolina.
2. All 5 of Siena's starters played all 40 minutes of the game against Duke!!! Not one sub.
1. Chase Johnston of High Point scored a breakaway layup with 11 seconds left for the final points of the 83-82 win. This was Johnston's FIRST TWO-POINT BASKET OF THE SEASON!!! That's right, he did not hit a two-pointer all year!!!
Siena's performance against Duke almost made history in defeating Duke, but it is still remarkable in that its starters played the entire game, excepting a last-minute substitution to get a senior in the game. The last time this happened was in the 1979 semi-final in which DePaul's starters played the entire game against Indiana State. Let's take a look at this game.
Indiana State has some remarkable talent on the floor as none other than Larry Bird managed to score a game-high 35 points, bring down a game-high 16 rebounds, and finish off with a game-high 9 assists.
For DePaul, their 5 starters spread out the statistics pretty evenly. Star Mark Aguirre scored 19 points and added 5 rebounds, and he was helped by an additional 19 points from Gary Garland - who also had 4 rebounds and 8 assists. Curtis Wilkins and Jim Mitchem also scored in double-figures as DePaul narrowly fell to the Sycamores 76-74. Aguirre would ultimately become the number 1 overall draft pick by the Dallas Mavericks in 1981, and had a stellar NBA career. He is also a member of the College Basketball Hall of Fame.
Larry Bird would be the 6th pick in the 1979 draft by the Boston Celtics, and only fell that low because of a rule change that most owners/general managers did not understand. Indiana State went on to fall in the finals to the Michigan State Spartans 75-64, with Bird once again leading the team with 19 points and 13 rebounds. It was not enough as the Spartans, led by one Magic Johnson, scored 24 points, had 7 rebounds and dished 5 assists. He would eventually be the number 1 pick in the 1979 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Lakers, and had a storied NBA career leading to the Hall of Fame, where he was joined by Bird. Some say this 1979 NCAA championship game led to the rise of the NBA. Who's to argue that?
And speaking of stars, here are the stars from yesterday's action.
Players of the Day
Honorable Mentions to Jeremiah Wilkins of Georgia, and Joseph Pinion of South Florida, who likely would have made the Top 10 if their teams had won.
10. Pryce Sandfort, Nebraska - 23 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 7-13 from Three
9. Henri Veesaar, North Carolina - 26 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal
8. Cameron Boozer, Duke - 22 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists
7. Tyler Tanner, Vanderbilt - 26 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal
6. Morez Johnson, Michigan - 21 points, 10 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block
5. A.J. Dybantsa, BYU - 35 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assist
4. Mates Vokietius, Texas - 23 points, 16 rebounds, 1 assist (would be much higher if he didn't miss 7 free throws in a row)
3. Rob Martin, High Point - 23 points, 3 rebounds, 10 assists
2. David Mirkovic, Illinois - 29 points, 17 rebounds, 3 assists
1. Terrence Hill, VCU - 34 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 7-10 from Three, 40 minutes off the bench
Today's action should hopefully be as good or better than yesterday's, with the Santa Clara versus Kentucky having already tip-offed. But, the match-up of the day is Long Island v. Arizona.
A note about the standings. There are 141 entries listed. We have 143. One person submitted entries in a format that is not particularly usable by me. Now, I can see it, and I know the score on those 2 brackets, but I am waiting for a bracket in a format I can print out to add to my collection, the selection symbolizes dope, take a toke, but don't choke. If you do, you'll have no clue on what me and my homes Snoop Dogg came to do. But, I digress. When I have them in my hand today, they will be added.
Also, I am human and I do score everything by hand, so I will make mistakes. So if you think I have made an error with your bracket, let me know. I will re-check it. And, if I find a mistake, I will correct it. Please note that this may mean an upward correction, or a downward correction. Whatever I find.
Now, onto the standings!
ROUND 1/DAY 1 STANDINGS
1. Jason Spuhler - 35
2. Max Macon 2 - 33
Rich Samuels - 33
4. Day Yi 1 - 30
5. Megan Corrado - 29
Jonathan Cox - 29
Megan Cox - 29
Crew Ferguson - 29
Martha Kroesen - 29
Steve Usma 2 - 29
11. Glen Merchant - 28
Jeff Plamondon 1 - 28
13. Mitchell K (Lamb) - 27
Henry Transecki - 27
Josh Zdrowak - 27
16. Paul Kludt - 26
Ashley Poer 1 - 26
18. Stephanie Henderson - 24
David Kennedy - 24
Cheryl Spuhler - 24
Steve Usma 5 - 24
Jonathan Wasserman 2 - 24
Chuck Whitcomb - 24
Bubba Zdrowak - 24
25. Brent Bellinger B - 23
Kyle Henderson - 23
Mac Kroesen - 23
Annette Pritchard 1 - 23
Pepe Sosa 1 - 23
Measha Williams (Buddy Canes 1 Bracket) - 23
Keith Zdrowak - 23
32. Daniel Barsky 2 - 22
Brent Bellinger A - 22
Braeden Helland - 22
Mark Holbert 2 - 22
Guy Hughes - 22
Karen Katz - 22
Mango Merchant - 22
Dave Piasecki - 22
Vincent Plamondon - 22
Steve Usma 3 - 22
Justin Yung - 22
43. Jim Coleman - 21
Hazy Frank - 21
Ty Hedgpeth - 21
Shane Jernigan 2 - 21
Benny Merchant - 21
Duncan Merchant - 21
Si ("Papa Si") Nichols - 21
Brittany Sosa - 21
Pepe Sosa 2 - 21
52. Matt Hopps - 20
Amanda Staudt - 20
54. Dwayne Cushman - 19
55. Daniel Barsky 1 - 18
John Hedgpeth - 18
Rylee Montague - 18
58. Joel Chernoff - 17
Jonathan Cox 1 - 17
Blake Jackson - 17
Adam Jorgensen - 17
Karen Katz 2 - 17
Monte Lambert 1 - 17
Max Macon 1 - 17
Max Macon 4 - 17
Measha Williams (Canes 2 Bracket) - 17
Katie Zdrowak - 17
68. Floyd Fonte 1 - 16
Colleen Giamberini - 16
Marcus Jackson - 16
Quinn Jackson - 16
Shane Jernigan 1 - 16
Dawn Lamb - 16
Mike Litsey - 16
Brigadier General Kareem Montague - 16
Sasha Moon - 16
Kingfish Parham 1 - 16
William Pujals - 16
Matt Thibaut - 16
Steve Usma 1 - 16
George Walks 3 - 16
George Walks 4 - 16
Mike Wolff 1 - 16
84. Skip LaForte - 15
Kingfish Parham 2 - 15
Jeff Plamondon 2 - 15
Measha Williams (Canes #3 Bracket) - 15
88. Katie Kolllmeyer - 14
Monte Lambert 2 - 14
Silas Nichols - 14
Salvatore Plamondon - 14
Barkley Sosa - 14
93. Paul Cummings 1 - 12
Paul Cummings 3 - 12
Sean McInerney 12 - 12
Natalie Moon - 12
Chris Simmons - 12
Lily Spuhler - 12
Jasmine Tran - 12
Stacia Wilkaitis - 12
101. Trey Angus - 11
Jenna Finkelstein 2 - 11
Carolyn Fowler - 11
Carolyn Fowler & Jane Reynolds - 11
Arlene Amo Hopps - 11
Sean McInerney 2 - 11
Ashley Poer 2 - 11
George Walks 2 - 11
109. Randy Bennett - 10
Barbara Curlett - 10
Jenna Finkelstein 1 - 10
Floyd Fonte 2 - 10
Floyd Fonte 3 - 10
Gracie Fonte - 10
Jacey Fowler - 10
James Garvin - 10
Mark Holbert 1 - 10
Keith W (2) (Lamb) - 10
Sean McInerney 1 - 10
Annette Pritchard 2 - 10
Jane Reynolds - 10
Javier Rodriguez 1 - 10
Javier Rodriguez 2 - 10
Stephanie Soplop 2 - 10
Hannah Sosa - 10
Caroline Spuhler - 10
George Walks 1 - 10
Jonathan Wasserman 1 - 10
Day Yi 2 - 10
Biscuit Zdrowak - 10
131. Paul Cummings 2 - 9
Justine Frank - 9
Alyssa Hopps - 9
Keith W. 1 (Lamb) - 9
Max Macon 3 - 9
Allison Parker - 9
Stephanie Soplop - 9
Steven Usma 4 - 9
Amy Zdrowak - 9
140. Colbie (Lamb) - 8
Mike Wolff 2 - 8
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