Saturday's results and standings

All and sundry,

Well, that was a weird day, no? After all the close games, the only lower seed to advance in the 8 games yesterday was Purdue, a 5 seed. Boring. A whopping 10 of you, nearly a third of the field, got all 8 games right. That's no way for a tournament to go. Maybe I'm just bitter because I'm mired in 21st place with Sarah Prown. Great company, sure, but a lousy piece of real estate down there near the bottom of the ladder. Maybe today will be more interesting.

Let's have a little chatter out there, people. And please, have a safe Day Four.

His Pooliness,

Chrissypoo

	Player	Round 1	R2D2	Total
1	John	27	16	43
1	Katie/Justin	27	16	43
3	Cal	26	16	42
3	Maggi	26	16	42
3	Steve	26	16	42
6	Sophie	25	16	41
7	Calvin	26	14	40
7	Ruth	26	14	40
9	Liz	23	16	39
9	Scott	25	14	39
9	Tim	25	14	39
9	Willow	25	14	39
13	Kate	22	16	38
14	Sarah B.	25	12	37
15	Bill	20	16	36
15	Dykes	26	10	36
15	Favs	22	14	36
15	Michael	20	16	36
19	Gena	23	12	35
19	Matt	25	10	35
21	Knott	22	12	34
21	Sarah P.	24	10	34
23	Dayle	21	12	33
24	Ben	20	12	32
24	Hadiya	20	12	32
24	Jonathan	22	10	32
27	Henry	23	8	31
28	Acy	22	8	30
28	Rosalie	24	6	30
30	Alexander	25	2	27
31	Dana	22	4	26
32	Harry	18	6	24

Day Two results and Round One standings

Poolies,

I know you don't care about my problems, but I'm currently tied for 22nd place, which simply will not do. May I pick again?

Big day yesterday, lots of upsets and tight games. I picked them all wrong, but some of you did very well. Nobody picked Cleveland State to beat Wake Forest, but too many people picked the other upsets to list here. I was surprised by the faith in (and the performance of) a mediocre Wisconsin team. I still can't believe they won. Oh well.

Big geniuses yesterday were my brother Jonathan (who rebounded nicely after a disastrous Day One) and his favorite (only) nephew, my boy Alexander. These two bigheads scored 15 points each. Congrats to both of you.

The leaders at this point are the perennial list-topper John Coleman (Connecticut's finest artist/IT guy/Nebraska native/Prown-marryer) and the Katie and Justin Tomola team entry (Katie, the former Katie Bell, is Maggi's groovy cousin. Justin is her groovy husband. They are both seriously sleep deprived because of Marcus, their baby boy, who is, one assumes, groovy.) John and Katie/Justin each have 27 points. Good luck to you both, but for some reason the phrase "reversion to the mean" keeps popping into my head. Not that I'm wishing you ill or anything...

So, here we go. Here are the Day Two results and the standings after Round One:

	Player	Day 1	Day 2	Total
1	John	15	12	27
1	Katie/Justin	14	13	27
3	Cal	13	13	26
3	Calvin	16	10	26
3	Dykes	12	14	26
3	Maggi	14	12	26
3	Ruth	13	13	26
3	Steve	13	13	26
9	Alexander	10	15	25
9	Matt	11	14	25
9	Sarah B.	13	12	25
9	Scott	13	12	25
9	Sophie	13	12	25
9	Tim	12	13	25
9	Willow	13	12	25
16	Rosalie	13	11	24
16	Sarah P.	12	12	24
18	Gena	12	11	23
18	Henry	11	12	23
18	Liz	13	10	23
21	Acy	11	11	22
21	Dana	12	10	22
21	Favs	12	10	22
21	Jonathan	7	15	22
21	Kate	12	10	22
21	Knott	11	11	22
27	Dayle	11	10	21
28	Ben	10	10	20
29	Bill	12	8	20
29	Hadiya	11	9	20
29	Michael	12	8	20
32	Harry	9	9	18

Standings after Day One

Dear ones,

Sorry for the crazy delay, but today has been one of those days; pinheads as far as the eye can see. Enough of my problems, though, let's talk about hoop.

First, I'm way down in the standings, which I hate. It doesn't help that I'm losing to Maggi, which is a little slice of hell on earth, believe me. The bet this year, involving Maggi, Acy and me, is that the winner gets to pick the evening's entertainment for two solid weeks. Scrabble, opera, Herman's Head reruns from Netflix, whatever the winner wants. Awesome and terrifying, all at once. Wish me luck.

Second, aside from some pretty close games, it was a pretty tame Day One, upset-wise. Two of three 10 seeds won, but the only biggie was the Western Kentucky win, a two pointer (since they're a 12 seed, see your rulebook for clarification of all pool scoring conventions and protocols) picked correctly by about a third of the field. Congrats to those who got it right, thanks a million Illinois from the rest of us.

Finally, a word about who's who. I'll try to straighten it out later for all of you, but we have over thirty entrants again this year. I see a 29th place finish for myself, which will free up a little of free time I would've spent gloating and doing victory dances around the house. Sigh.

After Day One, then, here's where we stand:

	Player	Day 1
1	Calvin	16
2	John	15
3	Katie/Justin	14
3	Maggi	14
5	Cal	13
5	Liz	13
5	Rosalie	13
5	Ruth	13
5	Sarah B.	13
5	Scott	13
5	Sophie	13
5	Steve	13
5	Willow	13
14	Bill	12
14	Dana	12
14	Dykes	12
14	Favs	12
14	Gena	12
14	Kate	12
14	Michael	12
14	Sarah P.	12
14	Tim	12
23	Acy	11
23	Dayle	11
23	Hadiya	11
23	Henry	11
23	Knott	11
23	Matt	11
29	Alexander	10
29	Ben	10
31	Harry	9
32	Jonathan	7

Death, Taxes and...

Bob Huggins exiting in round one.

Day One results coming soon(ish)

Gang,

Sorry, meetings, meetings, meetings. All getting in the way of hoop, which is inexcusable. I'll get the Day One results tabulated and posted asap.

Now, off to a meeting, believe it or not.

Meister

Let There Be Hoop

The Honor and the Glory

After years of my lackluster prognostication, in 2008 the pool trophy landed in my grubby hands, and now resides near Lost City, Oklahoma. It's a magnificent object, useful for intimidating those in its presence, and when mounted on my tractor hood, useful for keeping furrows straight.

May your picks be precise, but not as precise as mine.

Dykes

Happy St. Patty's Day

OK, which one of you jokers sent me the FanIQ website. I'm the biggest fanique there ever was!

Rules Committee Report

Badges, we don't need no stinking badges!

The Champion's Reward

Poolies,

OK, so, months late, and after years of promising, the Poolmeister and the rest of the Jackson/Knotts have finally gotten off their collective duffs to deliver something long promised: the Champion's Trophy.

Our 2008 Pool Champion, in case you've forgotten, is our own Chris Dykes, dubbed "The Fainting Goat" for reasons explained in earlier blog posts (and which I've forgotten and am far too lazy to scroll down to discover.) He has the trophy in his sweaty hands, and I'm hoping for a picture of the trophy in situ at Clear Creek Rancho Lavendero, way down there in Oklahoma. In case that doesn't happen, I'm adding two photos of the trophy before it left our shores for its trip down south.

We've decided not to make it a traveling trophy. Each year's winner will get his or her own trophy to keep in perpetuity. Forever, people.

I'm already thinking about next March.

Hugs and kisses,

C

Victory, sweet victory

Wow, I was sure I was going to pull a Bill Buckner and choke in the final rounds. And thanks to the meister's Hitchcockian suspenseful silence I didn't know where everyone stood.

All of the past winners have been sending SWAG (stuff winners all get) that I didn't know existed -- I'll have to keep it all a secret, of course, because it's only revealed once one comes out on top. I can though, I think, thank Dana for sharing the grapes.

OK, I have work to do. Specifically, weeding 4 rows of lavender with Amy Winehouse blaring from the barn, while the monastery next door does their Gregorian chants.

Take care,
Dykes

Dykes! Dykes! Dykes!

No, it's not a promo for the latest Fox Network reality tv show, it's our pool champ. Congrats (and real ones, not the typically phony congratulations I grudgingly slop out when I'm bummed that someone beat me) to our own Chris Dykes, Oklahoma's Finest. He walked away from the field in the late rounds by picking every dang game right, which is a good strategy. (For the record, the only other Poolie to get a Kansas over Memphis final was H Dayle Kendall Zelenka - kudos to you as well, sir.)

A beautiful trophy will be on its way to Senor Dykes soon. Maybe. (This year, I might even have one made. I'm feeling ambitious. But don't hold your breath, Chris.)

As for the rest of us, well, we stink. I should offer another congrats to the J-Hawk faithful out there, whether born (John Coleman - anyone else a Kansan by birth?) or by transplantation (all of the Dewitts, now luxuriating in a balmy Lawrence April. I was so sick (better now, thanks) that I fell asleep by halftime, so I didn't get to watch Memphis brick their way out of championship. As you have no doubt heard me rant before (skip ahead if you're in a hurry or anything) bad team free throw shooting is the damn coach's fault, and that's all there is to it. So bwa ha ha ha for losing because your coach is too lazy to make you practice free throws.

Enough of Knott's Basketball Strategy Camp. The Final Standings are:

	Name	Final Four	Semis	Final	Total
1	Chris Dykes	77	10	6	93
2	David Prown	71	5	6	82
2	Ruth Dewitt	77	5	0	82
2	Sarah Bowman	72	10	0	82
5	Willow Coleman	67	5	6	78
6	Cal Dewitt	66	5	6	77
6	Dayle Zelenka	61	10	6	77
6	Jonathan Knott	72	5	0	77
9	Kate Lewis	76	0	0	76
9	Mike Winkler	71	5	0	76
11	Tim Bowman	69	5	0	74
12	Henry Dewitt	62	5	6	73
13	Bill O'Hearn	66	5	0	71
13	Calvin Dewitt	66	5	0	71
13	Favorites	71	0	0	71
16	John Coleman	58	5	6	69
16	Steve Backs	69	0	0	69
18	Matt Peterson	66	0	0	66
19	Chris Knott	65	0	0	65
19	Liz Rambeau	60	5	0	65
21	Sarah Prown	64	0	0	64
22	Scott Silet	63	0	0	63
23	Hank Zelenka	62	0	0	62
23	Maggi Jackson	62	0	0	62
25	Harrison Lewis	55	0	0	55
25	Sophie Peterson	55	0	0	55
27	Dana Duffy	49	0	0	49
28	Acy Jackson	48	0	0	48
29	Gena Zelenka	45	0	0	45
30	Ned/Kate O'Hearn	37	0	0	37
31	Rosalie Coleman	33	0	0	33
32	Ellie/Ben Peterson	32	0	0	32
33	Alexander Knott	26	0	0	26

I'm sorry I've been so out of touch over the past few days. I've been in DC, then hosting 3 law professors and 6 students from France, then sick as a dog. All in all, it's kept me hopping. Now basketball's over, the Yankees kind of look like they're going to stink a little, and suddenly I don't know what to do with my copious free time. When's lacrosse season start? Anybody fancy a flutter?

C

So, who won the pool?

The Poolmeister is ailing. Results out soon, but first there's a nap or two to be taken. Patience, grasshopper.

Hacking and coughing,

C

There are dates.

I'm sitting down now to watch UNC/Kansas and I ask Dana, who is just coming in from the grocery,
"Any snacks?".
Answer, "No, I didn't think we needed anything. There are dates."


Yes, dates- the official Final Four snack food of people who don't know what snack food is.

Now I know where Chris learned German?

Which side are you on.....soul sister?

For Dana

Question for Miss Phila: Ms. Fishtown, two men are running for state rep. from Philadelphia. One is facing 149 charges of federal crime; the second man proudly claims he has been under indictment for 15 years. Your question is: Who would you vote for and why?

Ja Wohl, Baby

A little sing along for us, to get ready for the final 4.

Hoosierdom looking for that next Big Red coach.

IU just got turned down by a guy who's only been coaching at a "major" program for a couple years, a guy who is probably just about everything the Hoosier faithful want in a coach- squeaky clean, young, midwestern and well, Caucasian. But they couldn't land him, making the list of guys who have turned them down about twice as large as the list of guys who want to end up at IU; this once proud program has fallen that far. And the only coach who has publicly said he'd be interested is John Calipari, who of course Hoosier fans would never accept because he's shady...and from a big city. But the real news is that Sean Miller seems to be saying he's not interested either. I know talk is cheap, but god I hope this is true:

“I will be at Xavier,” Miller said after his team lost to UCLA Saturday. “I’m looking forward to coaching at Xavier and continuing on with what we’ve done for years behind me and what we’ve done this year.”

Really, I used to like IU basketball. Okay, maybe that's too strong a term. They didn't bother me, or at least their fans didn't. But after the last six years of seeing these morons parading around town in their Texas Tech sweaters, all I can say is I am a Xavier fan.

Results after Round Four - Dykes and Ruth perched atop the list

Friends,

Well, well, Round 4 is over, the Final Four is set, and for the first time ever all four 1 seeds made it in. How boring. What is a tournament without someone like a Davidson making it in the FF? Ah well, we can't ask for everything.

Chris Dykes and Ruth Dewitt, two green eyeshade wearing, fantasy ncaa hoop league playing, Vegas odds line following professional gambler types are now leading the field. Isn't clawing your way to the top of the pool by picking all four 1 seeds just a little, well, sissypants? Maybe I'm just jealous. I'm the Salieri to your Mozart, I guess.

Here are the standings after four rounds. Only three more games left:

	Name	R4D1	Sun	Total
1	Chris Dykes	69	8	77
1	Ruth Dewitt	69	8	77
3	Kate Lewis	72	4	76
4	Jonathan Knott	68	4	72
4	Sarah Bowman	64	8	72
6	David Prown	63	8	71
6	Favorites	63	8	71
6	Mike Winkler	67	4	71
9	Steve Backs	69	0	69
9	Tim Bowman	65	4	69
11	Willow Coleman	63	4	67
12	Bill O'Hearn	62	4	66
12	Cal Dewitt	62	4	66
12	Calvin Dewitt	58	8	66
12	Matt Peterson	66	0	66
16	Chris Knott	65	0	65
17	Sarah Prown	60	4	64
18	Scott Silet	59	4	63
19	Hank Zelenka	62	0	62
19	Henry Dewitt	54	8	62
19	Maggi Jackson	58	4	62
22	Dayle Zelenka	53	8	61
23	Liz Rambeau	56	4	60
24	John Coleman	54	4	58
25	Harrison Lewis	55	0	55
25	Sophie Peterson	55	0	55
27	Dana Duffy	49	0	49
28	Acy Jackson	48	0	48
29	Gena Zelenka	45	0	45
30	Ned/Kate O'Hearn	37	0	37
31	Rosalie Coleman	33	0	33
32	Ellie/Ben Peterson	32	0	32
33	Alexander Knott	26	0	26

I'll try to get out a list of who's picked what for the Final Four. That may or may not happen, but I'll do what I can.

Later,

CAK