NCAA Pre-Tournament Contest Newsletter

2000 PRE-NCAA CONTEST NEWSLETTER 3

Standings
All-Name Teams
Mascot Trivia

Well, the smoke has finally cleared, and boy does it look ugly. Nobody got more than half of the Final Eight or more than half of the Final Four. Only 19 entrants got as many as three of the Final Eight (and in most years we’d be making fun of them). Fifty-one got two of eight. Forty-nine got a measly one (1) of the Final Eight (8). And, in a pool first, seven entrants failed to accurately predict a single Final Eight team: Ubaldini; Tiger; Silverman; Warmbier; January Man; Wanger; and R Karpp. Just one person, Baumgarten, got as many as four of the Final Eight. And lest you think that Baumgarten, who was also the leader going into the Tournament, knows something that the rest of us do not, we are obligated to report that Baumgarten got zero (0) of the Final Four, and has been eliminated from contention.

Only three contestants got as many as two of the Final Four: Gorman; Fitch; and FREG. Sixty-two entrants got only one of four correct, and an unbelievable 61 entrants were unable to get a single Final Four team right.

Only sixteen entrants still have their Champion involved (all with Michigan State: Geo B; Corrin; Cowboy, J Donadio, Jr.; Fitch; Golino; Huffnagle; B Joseph; Kasprzak; G Kedson; JV Kedson; P Leach; Mahalko; McGarrigel; McMoose; Shaw), although six lucky contestants have North Carolina as their Wild Card (Byrnes, DREG, Gordon, P Joseph, E Leach, S&R).

Our average score, 192.75, is more than 77 points worse than last year’s average score. Unless Carolina wins it all, this year’s pool champion will have the fewest points of any winner in pool history (no winner has had fewer than 308 points). And to add irony to insult, unless Michigan State wins, the pool champion will be an acronym (S&R). If Michigan State does win, we will have the first 1st place tie in pool history, between J Donadio, Jr. and Mahalko. And since S&R can be no more than one point ahead of second place hopeful P Joseph, we are assured our closest race ever.

Winners, depending on National Champion, are as follows:

Florida or Wisconsin		Michigan State		North Carolina
S&R	252	J Donadio, Jr.	274 (tie)	S&R	327
P Joseph	251	Mahalko	274 (tie)	P Joseph	326
FREG	246	Fitch	264	Gordon	317
$50 winner:
S&R (tie)		J Donadio, Jr.		S&R (tie)
P Joseph (tie)				P Joseph (tie)

In almost as tight a race, Ubaldini has finished last, with 144 points, barely edging Silverman and Rourke, who each have 146 points.

As this year could easily be considered the year of the upset, it is perhaps only fitting that in the battle of the sexes, men came out on top of women, 192.91 to 191.72. Even more upsetting (at least to the adult population), children averaged 216.25, more than 24 points better than adults of either gender.

Among species, mutants (219.75) have proven their genetic superiority over fish (194.00), humans (193.02), and residents of New Jersey (190.11). Felines (187.67) are apparently indifferent that they finished only 3½ points better than bottom-dwelling lawyers (183.31).

Urban Philadelphians (186.60) finished significantly behind Pennsylvania suburbanites (193.72) but comfortably ahead of New Jersey suburbanites (182.77). This year’s best region for pool-picking was apparently the Baltimore/Washington area (210.50), which easily outdistanced Western PA (204.11), New England (202.67), and the Deep South (190.75). North Jersey (199.63) beat South Jersey (182.77). And just about everyone beat New Yorkers, with Upstate New York (181.00) proving slightly better than the New York City area (178.75).

Upstart area code 610 (191.21) enjoyed a razor thin margin over 215 (191.11), but 609 (184.33) came back to show 856 (174.40) who’s boss (among area codes, anyway).

In the Tag Team competition, despite its heavy recruiting efforts, Arnie’s Army of Bridge Players and Stock Brokers (200.43) just can’t seem to win. This year, the Friends of JJ (202.10) emerged from the pack, slamming the embattled bridge boys (and girls). And in what undoubtedly is a bigger upset than Wisconsin making the Final Four, the Leach Clan (194.17) actually finished ahead of someone, with the ignominious honor going to the once-proud Nova Gang (181.25). Among people related to one of the commissioners, the Shaid/Kedson contingent (186.88) trounced the Natalini Group (180.00). We hesitate to even mention the Karpp/Disbrow crowd (158.67).

Within the Friends of JJ, the Joseph family (226.67) had such a big lead over the Donadios (197.00) and the Papalias (196.00) that perhaps JJ ought to find some new friends.

Among conjugal couples, the male half of the population managed to win exactly half the time (Men: B D’Zuro over K Sullivan; J Donadio, Sr. over ME Donadio; Claude over Hanson; D Kedson over S Shaid. Women: B Joseph over J Joseph; M Kedson over G Kedson; Disbrow over R Karpp; and Abrams over Rosen). And in quite a sad story, Rosen (the only two-time champion in pool history) not only lost to his wife by 45 points, but couldn’t even beat his pet fish.

In families with children, the kids spanked their parents in 9 of 15 contests (Children: Adams over Coach Doc; B D’Zuro over L D’Zuro; Bill & Bud Acchione over Butch Acchione; Claude over RC Natalini; Walker over Seidel; P Joseph over B Joseph & J Joseph; M Josephs over D Josephs; J Donadio, Jr. over J Donadio, Sr. & ME Donadio; and McMoose over Joe Mc. Parents: Disbrow & R Karpp over S Karpp; E Leach over P Leach; M Kedson & G Kedson over D Kedson; Peter O’Brien over Pat O’Brien; B Shaid over S Shaid).

In the name game, Johnny came marching home, as the Johns (or Jons) (201.50) crushed the Mr. Bills (196.60) (oh no). The early leader Marks were off (195.75) but still finished ahead of the Bobs (190.14) and the Mikes (188.11). The Susans (184.33) made a big comeback, finishing slightly ahead of the below-average Joes (184.00) and Brians (181.33). The Ricks (170.67) were so far behind the next highest name that they ought to seriously consider pseudonyms (we understand SirValiant is available).

Teachers (208.50) apparently know more than students (199.17), who know slightly more than practicing attorneys (199.00). Retirement (191.73) leads to wisdom, at least compared to working as an Engineer (191.50), Accountant (182.78), or Computer guy (181.00). Would you buy a used widget from a Salesperson (176.71) who was more than 15 points below average? Well, maybe you would if you got advice from a Consultant (171.33), who’s more than 5 points worse than that.

Last year’s top employer, T. Rowe Price (210.50) almost did it again, but went down before Vibroplating (211.00). Self employed individuals (194.29) were next. PaDOT (191.88) managed a victory over Urban Engineering (191.50). Hopefully, the Delaware Investment Group (186.67) is better at financial management than they are at picking pools.

Mascot Trivia and All-Name Teams follow. As always, it’s been fun running the pool.

Back to Top

ALL NAME TEAMS

As always, the commissioners have spent more time than can reasonably be accounted for by mere quirkiness assembling "All-Name" teams. So, here goes:

ROYALTY/HERALDRY TEAM	RELIGIOUS FIGURE TEAM
SirValiant Brown (GW)	Bishop Ravenal (Wofford)
Majestic Mapp (UVa)	Brian Cardinal (Purdue)
Commander King (N Ariz)	JR Christ (Cal-Irvine)
Prince Ogbogu (Columbia)	Vidal Massiah (St. Bon)
Chevalier Harris (SC St)	David Messiah Capers (St. Bon)
	(how many Messiahs can there be on one team?
	Coach: God Shammgod (former Prov)

GEOGRAPHY TEAM	ALLITERATIVE/RHYMING/REPETITIVE
Paris London (Memphis St)	Duany Duany (Wisconsin)
Taiwan Holmes (Navy)	Nyambi Nyambi (Bucknell)
Yuanta Holland (Dayton)	Ajou Ajou Deng (UConn)
Arthur Ireland (Denver)	DeWy DeWitt (Ariz St)
Vegas Davis (Tennessee)	Ivica Perica (Charleston So)
Roman Brown (Ark-L-R)	Ruben Boumtje Boumtje (G-town)
Mars Melish (Manhattan)
Coach: Orlando "Tubby" Smith (Ken)

IN NCAA TOURNEY
Souleymane Wane (UConn)	unpronouncable sixth man:
Stromile Swift (LSU)	Nnandubem Gabe Muoneke (Texas)
Mateen Cleaves (Mich St)	Best Brothers (other than Taylor Bro):
Major Parker (Florida)	Majestic Mapp has a brother named "Scientific"
Axel Dench (Gonzaga)	SirValiant Brown has a brother whose middle name is SirLancelot

NOT IN NCAA TOURNEY (short names)	NOT IN NCAA TOURNEY (long names)
Da'Mann Sanders (Oral Roberts)	Sunday Eniojuken (Fairfield)
Alphah East (Quinnipiac)	D'Quarious Stewart (C Fla)
Taylor Bro (W Mich)	Zebulon Reid (W Carolina)
Fab Fisher (Fla Int'l)	Sah-U-Ra Brown (Lehigh)
Pritt Liver (St Fran NY)	Quilninious Randall (G Mason)

MASCOT TRIVIA

After learning of the commissioners’ penchant for "All-Name" teams, a group studying abnormal psychology recently approached the commissioners hoping to include them in an upcoming study. After learning of the commissioners’ taste for mascot trivia, however, the group dismissed the commissioners from the study, labeling them "too abnormal." This year’s questions are:

(1) Name all teams in the tournament with nicknames that neither include a color nor end in ‘s’ (20 points for each correct answer)
(2) Name the most popular nickname (most teams) in the NCAA Tournament field (5 points)
(3) Among Cats, Dogs, Birds, and all other animals combined (non-human), which has the most teams in the field? (5 points)
(4) Name all colors that appear as part of the nickname of more than one of the teams in the field (5 points each)
(5) Name all nicknames that appear more than once in the field (2 points for each correct answer)
(6) Name the teams that fit into each of the following categories (1 point for each correct answer):
(a) Felines (7 teams)
(b) Canines (6 teams)
(c) Threatening Birds (3 teams)
(d) Threatening People (3 teams)
(e) Threatening Weather (4 teams)
(f) Non-threatening Birds (6 teams)
(g) Other Carnivorous Animals (3 teams)
(h) Azure Underworlders (3 teams)
(i) Trees and those who work with them (3 teams)
(j) Originally from Europe (4 teams)
(k) Originally from Asia (1 team)
(l) Runners, Climbers, and Aviators (5 teams)
(m) Might be found on a North American Dinner Table (4 teams)
(n) Water or found in or around Water (6 teams)
(o) Principal Characters in most 1940s Westerns (2 teams)
(p) Pacifists, People who give their time to Charities, Uplifting Film Titles, and People who track mud through the house (4 teams)
(q) Dolls, Marbles, Adjectives, Alcoholic Beverages, Ambulatory Citrus Fruit, and 19th Century Real Estate Developers (6 teams)

Note: We counted five teams twice, and one team three times.
Also, the commissioners continue to disagree on whether the Stanford Cardinal is a color, an individual bird, or a member of the Catholic Church Hierarchy, and thus "Stanford" will not be considered a correct answer to any question, ever.

TRIVIA ANSWERS

(1) Illinois Fighting Illini, Hofstra Flying Dutchmen
(2) Bulldogs, with 5 (Fresno St., Gonzaga, Samford, Butler, and South Carolina St.)
(3) Birds, with 9. There are 7 Cats, 6 Dogs, and 7 other (non-human) animals.
(4) Just Blue, with 4 teams.
(5) Bulldogs (5, see above), Tigers (4, Jackson St.; LSU; Auburn; Missouri), Cardinals (3, Louisville, Ball St., Lamar), Wildcats (2, Arizona; Kentucky), and Blue Devils (2, Duke; Central Connecticut St.)
(6)
(a) Kentucky Wildcats; Arizona Wildcats; Jackson St. Tigers; LSU Tigers; Auburn Tigers; Missouri Tigers; Lafayette Leopards.
(b) UConn Huskies; Samford Bulldogs; Gonzaga Bulldogs; Fresno St. Bulldogs; Butler Bulldogs; South Carolina St. Bulldogs.
(c) Winthrop Eagles; Kansas Jayhawks; UNCW Seahawks.
(d) Illinois Fighting Illini; Seton Hall Pirates; Louisiana-Lafayette Rajin’ Cajuns.
(e) St. John’s Red Storm; Iowa St. Cyclones; Miami Hurricanes; Tulsa Golden Hurricane.
(f) Louisville Cardinals; Ball St. Cardinals; Lamar Cardinals; Creighton Blue Jays; .Oregon Ducks; Temple Owls.
(g) Wisconsin Badgers; UCLA Bruins; Florida Gators.
(h) Duke Blue Devils; Central Connecticut St. Blue Devils; DePaul Blue Demons.
(i) Indiana St. Sycamores; Ohio St. Buckeyes; Northern Arizona Lumberjacks.
(j) Hofstra Flying Dutchmen; Iona Gaels; Michigan St. Spartans; Valparaiso Crusaders.
(k) Cincinnati Bearcats (a Bearcat is also known as a Lesser Panda, and is indigenous to Asia).
(l) Utah Runnin’ Utes; ULNV Runnin’ Rebels; Appalachian St. Mountaineers; Dayton Flyers; Hofstra Flying Dutchmen.
(m) Texas Longhorns (beef); Arkansas Razorbacks (pork); Oregon Ducks; Maryland Terrapins (an edible sea-turtle).
(n) Pepperdine Waves; Maryland Terrapins; Florida Gators; Oregon Ducks; Seton Hall Pirates; UNCW Seahawks.
(o) Oklahoma St. Cowboys and Southeast Missouri St. Indians.
(p) Pennsylvania Quakers; Tennessee Volunteers; Indiana Hoosiers; North Carolina Tar Heels.
(q) St. Louis Billikins; Utah St. Aggies; St. Bonaventure Bonnies; Purdue Boilermakers; Syracuse Orangemen; Oklahoma Sooners.

SCORING:

1 - More than we expected.
2-20 - More than we hoped.
21-50 - More than you should admit.
51-135 - The team of Abnormal Psychologists wishes to contact you.

Standings Going into Final Four Back to Top

Name	Score	Conf Champs	Wild Card	Champion
S&R	252	11	North Carolina	Stanford	2	1
Phoebe Joseph	251	12	North Carolina	Temple	2	1
FREG	246	13	Purdue	Duke	2	2
Jeff Clark	244	14	Purdue	Temple	3	1
Ellen Gordon	242	11	North Carolina	Cincinnati	1	1
Marc Reider	239	18	Illinois	Duke	3	1
DREG	236	13	North Carolina	Cincinnati	2
John Donadio, Jr.	234	12	Purdue	Michigan St	3	1
Ed Leach	234	12	North Carolina	Cincinnati	2
Nick Mahalko	234	14	Purdue	Michigan St	2	1
Bill Byrnes	228	11	North Carolina	Cincinnati	1
Mike Papalia	228	14	Purdue	Duke	2	1
Sarah Adams	227	15	Illinois	Stanford	3	1
Bill Gorman	227	10	Seton Hall	Cincinnati	3	2
P2E2R2G2	227	12	Purdue	Stanford	2	1
Colin Fitch	224	8	Illinois	Michigan St	3	2
Neil Baumgarten	222	16	Virginia	Cincinnati	4
Coach Doc	222	11	Purdue	Stanford	2	1
Peter O'Brien	222	11	Purdue	Duke	2	1
Leo L.	220	13	Purdue	Duke	2	1
Betsy Joseph	219	11	Purdue	Michigan St	2	1
McMoose	219	16	St. John's	Michigan St	2	1
GRED	216	13	Purdue	Stanford	1	1
Matt Josephs	216	14	St. John's	Arizona	3	1
Bob D'Zuro	214	13	St. John's	Duke	3	1
Bob Shaw	214	12	Purdue	Michigan St	1	1
AJOB	213	13	Purdue	Cincinnati	1	1
Justin Kestner	213	13	St. John's	Cincinnati	2	1
Susan Abrams	212	11	Purdue	Cincinnati	3
Arrowman	212	14	Louisville	Arizona	2	1
Dodger	212	9	Purdue	Duke	2	1
Al Alberts	211	12	Purdue	Duke	1	1
John Joseph	210	13	St. John's	Cincinnati	2	1
Andy Kennedy	210	14	Seton Hall	Duke	1	1
Ed Leeds	209	12	St. John's	Stanford	3	1
Brian Corrin	208	15	Illinois	Michigan St	2	1
Mom Kedson	207	12	Seton Hall	Stanford	2	1
Chris Dean	205	9	Seton Hall	Stanford	3	1
Frank Conte	204	8	Purdue	Cincinnati	2	1
Grandpa Kedson	202	12	St. John's	Michigan St	2	1
David Josephs	201	11	Illinois	Stanford	3	1
Matt Mazeffa	201	13	St. John's	Cincinnati	2	1
Cuz Papalia	201	10		Cincinnati	2	1
FeVeCeRe	199	14	St. John's	Cincinnati	1	1
Jack Vincent Kedson	199	12	St. John's	Michigan St	2	1
Perry Leach	199	10	St. John's	Michigan St	3	1
Patrick O'Brien	199	11	Purdue	Duke	2
Kate Sullivan	199	11	Purdue	Cincinnati	2
Bill McGarrigel	198	13	St. John's	Michigan St	2	1
Paul Brady	197	13	Missouri	Cincinnati	3
John Donadio, Sr.	197	11	St. John's	Cincinnati	2	1
Kevin Grande	197	11	St. John's	Stanford	2	1
Chris Nowakowski	197	12	Purdue	Stanford	1
Bobbie Shaid	196	17	Seton Hall	Temple	1
Donnell Sheppard	196	14	St. John's	Temple	1	1
Tom Golino	195	13	St. John's	Michigan St	2	1
David Kedson	195	10	DePaul	Duke	2	1
Domino Leach	195	9	Purdue	Duke	2
Audrey Kohart	194	13	St. John's	Stanford	1	1
Joe Rogers	194	13	St. John's	Arizona	1	1
Kona Rosen	194	13	St. John's	Stanford	1	1
Geo. B.	193	11	Illinois	Michigan St	1	1
Brett Connelly	192	12	Missouri	Stanford	3
Richard McGuire	191	10	Seton Hall	Cincinnati	2	1
Kevin Kasprzak	189	12	St. John's	Michigan St	1	1
Arnold Selig	189	10	Virginia	Duke	2	1
Clinton Walker	189	11	Purdue	Cincinnati	1
Oliver W. Brooks	188	9	Seton Hall	Stanford	1	1
Bob Huffnagle	187	10	Seton Hall	Michigan St	1	1
Mark Piccirillo	187	11		Cincinnati	1	1
Buddy Acchione	186	12	Illinois	Oklahoma St	3
Lou C.	186	12	Illinois	Temple	3
Joe Mc	186	12	Dayton	Duke	1	1
Bob Peloso	186	12	St. John's	Stanford	1	1
Michael Donnelly	185	8	St. John's	Duke	2	1
Bill Acchione	184	13	St. John's	Duke	2
Claude	184	13	St. John's	Temple	2
Eesara Kedson	184	11	St. John's	Temple	1	1
Manny Pogach	184	14	Seton Hall	Cincinnati	1
Troy Kane	183	10	Seton Hall	Duke	2
Bruno Pappasergi	183	12	St. John's	Cincinnati	1	1
Cowboy	182	8	Missouri	Michigan St	2	1
Laura Harlan	182	14	Illinois	Cincinnati	1
Rick Schlegel	182	12	St. John's	Duke	2
Mark Tiger	182	11	Purdue	Stanford
Michael Baer	181	11		Duke	1	1
GREF	181	13	St. John's	Duke	2
Marshall Linton	181	13	St. John's	Stanford	2
Jack Henderson	180	8	Purdue	Duke	1
Brian Creelman	178	15	DePaul	Temple	1
Todd Pappasergi	178	15	St. John's	Duke	1
Rob McMullen	177	9	Dayton	Stanford	3
Susan Hanson	175	10	St. John's	Stanford	2
Marc Kleiman	175	10		Duke	2
Michael Einbinder-Schatz	174	11	St. John's	Temple	2
Rick Simon	173	10	Seton Hall	Duke	1
Joe Glowacki	172	10	Navy	Duke	2
Jay Yantosh	172	13	DePaul	Stanford	2
Mike Scott	171	13	St. John's	Cincinnati	1
Manute	169	12	St. John's	Stanford	1
Longin D'Zuro	167	11	St. John's	Stanford	1
Ken Gold	167	7	North Carolina St	Temple	1	1
Packer	167	8	Seton Hall	Arizona	2
Norm Rosen	167	11	St. John's	Temple	1
Sandy Disbrow	166	12	St. John's	Cincinnati	1
Barry Gladstein	166	9	Illinois	Ohio State	1
Susan Shaid	166	7	St. John's	Stanford	2
Jon Broder	165	13	St. John's	Temple	1
Randy Wanger	165	12	Illinois	Duke
Jim Budwell	163	9	St. John's	Cincinnati	1
Mash Leach	162	8	Illinois	Stanford	2
Rich Warmbier	162	12	St. John's	Duke
Butch Acchione	160	9	Louisville	Cincinnati	1
Mary Ellen Donadio	160	9	St. John's	Stanford	1
January Man	160	14	Kent	Cincinnati
Richard Salus	160	9	Villanova	Stanford	1
Chico Papalia	159	8	Dayton	Temple	2
Brian Pinheiro	158	11	St. John's	Cincinnati	1
Barbara Spitz	158	11	St. John's	Duke	1
Russell Karpp	157	11	St. John's	Stanford
Robert C. Natalini	157	9	St. John's	Cincinnati	1
Richard Seidel	156	10	St. John's	Duke	1
Sam Karpp	153	7	Hofstra	Temple	1
Bill Rourke	146	10	Seton Hall	Cincinnati	1
Paula Silverman	146	10		Cincinnati
Michael Ubaldini	144	9		Stanford