2001 PRE-NCAA CONTEST NEWSLETTER 2

Standings

The Commissioners wish to apologize for our previous Newsletter. Upon reflection, the shoddy piece was rife with understatement, omission, inaccuracy, and unfair innuendo.

Understatement

The word "disappointment" should hardly be used to describe our group inadequacy. Of the 31 conference championships, more than half of us correctly predicted the winner in only 14 conferences. Nine conferences had champions that were foreseen by fewer than 15 of us (Indiana State - 14; Eastern Illinois - 13; Temple - 13; Oklahoma - 5 (A Gatto; D Leach; Joe Mc; T Pappasergi; J Sixpack); Charlotte - 4 (Alberts; George B; Baer; B Kedson); UNCG - 2 (G Arms; B Brooks)), including 3 conference champions guessed by absolutely nobody (Northwestern State; Hawaii; & Iowa). As for at-large teams, 114 of us were convinced that Alabama would get invited, while only 48 of us considered Penn State.

An unfathomable 20 contestants chose National Champions that are not currently playing, including nine entrants whose Champion checked out before the Tournament’s first Saturday. Five chose Iowa State (DiMarco; FreeGreef; D Josephs; Tyler; R Wanger); three chose Virginia (Cardozzi; Gold; Whiteside); and of course Spitz chose uninvited Michigan. Other unfortunate Champion choices: North Carolina (8 - G Arms; B Brooks; J Gunn; G Johnson; Droopy Leach; Leeds; Ostro; T Pappasergi); Florida (2 - E Green; Lawsin); and Boston College (Bebee). Our contestants' poor taste in Final 8 and Final 4 teams will be discussed below.

Omission

We forgot to mention that the annual Wamser Award, given to the contestant who chooses a team in his or her Final 4 that is not in his or her Final 8, was earned by Rourke, who this year decided that Wisconsin would get to Minneapolis without having to bother with one of those inconvenient Regional Finals. Unfortunately for Rourke, his selection decided to go one better, and didn’t bother to win its first round game.

Inaccuracy

It turns out that it was D’Zuro, not Dr. K Sullivan, who suggested "never eat anything bigger than your head." Frankly, we’re a lot more skeptical of the advice, knowing it came from a paralegal, rather than a future Nobel laureate.

Unfair Innuendo

We are ashamed to admit that we implied that a few of the choices Spitz made on her rather costly entry (in more ways than one, apparently) might not have been wise. As it turns out, if she’d only taken Kentucky and Arizona instead of Northwestern and Rutgers, she wouldn’t even be in last place. That honor would have gone to Rourke, who has 138 points to Spitz’s 134. And if Spitz had gone just a smidgen further and also taken Florida or UCLA, instead of Kansas State or Michigan, then she’d be tied with Ostro, with 143 points, one point behind Droopy Leach and two points behind Baer.

On second thought, the Commissioners apologize for our previous apology.

Bland, who has threatened to destroy us, is doing a pretty good job of it, as he’s currently tied for third place with 200 points.

Our current leader, and winner of the $100 prize for being in first after selection of the field, is Harlan, who won the whole contest in 1993, but has been largely clueless since. She had 201 points after Selection Sunday, and has 207 points now, thanks to her wildcard, Kentucky. Hot on Harlan’s heels are Selig, who has 203 points, Bland and Whiteside, who have 200 points each. Another 23 entrants are within a Final 8 pick (ten points) of the leaders.

In an effort to inflate our contestants’ annually pitiful scores, this year we started a new Wildcard rule which gave a point to any wildcard who could manage to win a single game (not including the ridiculous play-in game). Nevertheless, twenty-five entrants failed to garner that extra point. Three contestants chose wildcards that were not even invited to play: Iorio (UConn); Conte (Tulsa); and Rugani (South Florida).

67 entrants chose either UCLA or Kentucky as their wildcard, and are therefore probably pleased with themselves. More worthy of self-congratulation are Lawsin and M Einbinder-Schatz, who each chose Temple; G Arms and Yantosh, who each chose Gonzaga; and Glowacki, who chose Cincinnati. Considering that this is Gonzaga’s third straight trip to the Sweet 16, it is perhaps thought provoking that only two of our group decided to take a chance on the Zags this year. Then again, considering our pool of "talent," it’s probably not.

Six entrants have the dubious distinction of choosing Final 8 teams that didn’t even get to play: O Brooks (Alabama); K Wanger (Alabama); Rourke (Siena); Kovolski (UConn); Spitz (Michigan); and B Brooks (Wyoming). Three of those (B Brooks; O Brooks; and Spitz) went further and took their uninvited selections into the Final 4.

Most people know that overcrowding is a problem in many urban areas. What is perhaps less well-publicized is a similar problem in NCAA contests. Going into the Tournament, ten contestants had three of their Final 4 in one region: Huffnagle (South); Fitch (Midwest); Domino Leach (South); Leeds (South); E Green (South); G Kedson (South); Connell (Midwest); M Josephs (South); Mazeffa (South); and R Wanger (East). Two others had two of their Final 4 in each of two Regions: Joe Mc (East and Midwest) and Tyler (South and West). Twenty three contestants have four of their Final 8 in one Region, all in the South except Fitch (Midwest); Bebee (Midwest); and R Wanger (East).

While not nearly as condensed, Rourke’s selections seem just as likely to succeed, with Syracuse and Wisconsin in his Final 4, and Syracuse, Notre Dame, Boston College, St. Joseph’s, and Siena in his Final 8. B Brooks went wild with Wyoming, Wake Forest, and North Carolina in his Final 4, as well as Boston College and Arkansas in his Final 8 (he also took Georgetown in his Final 8, but that one may actually work out).

But this year’s most fabulous Final Four folly belongs to E Green. It’s hard to imagine taking three teams in one Region and having none left after the first weekend, but that’s just what E Green did. He selected Florida, Oklahoma, Virginia, and Iowa State, and has exactly zero (0) Final 4 teams still playing. Five contestants have just one (1) Final 4 team remaining (Linton; Droopy Leach; B Brooks; Tyler; Baumgarten). 35 entrants have lost 2 of their Final 4.

In some ways even more impressive is D Simon, who has somehow managed to have only two (2) of his Final 8 still alive after the first weekend of the Tournament, having taken Boston College, Iowa State, North Carolina, St. Joe’s, Virginia, and Wisconsin. Other pathetic Final 8 efforts include Bill Acchione; Gold; Huffnagle; D Koufax; Rourke; C Dallas; P Lombardi; and B Brooks, each of whom has only three (3) Final 8 teams remaining.

The vast majority of us (96 entrants) chose second-round loser North Carolina into the Final 8, and more than half of us (57) took the hapless Heels into the Final 4.

Other astute Final 4 selections include first-round losers Iowa State (34 entrants); Virginia (12); Oklahoma (5 - Cardozzi; Connell; A Gatto; E Green; D Koufax; Domino Leach); Tennessee (3 - Grande; J Greene; J Gunn); Wake Forest (B Brooks; N Joseph); Wisconsin (Rourke); Xavier (Morrison); Ohio State (J Einbinder-Schatz); Texas (D’Zuro); and Wyoming (B Brooks). Futile Final 4 preferences of second-round washouts include North Carolina (57); Florida (21); Virginia (12); Boston College (3 - Bebee; Crane; C Dallas); Notre Dame (3 - Bebee; Connell; Warmbier); and Syracuse (2 - Joe Mc; Rourke). 79 of us took Iowa State and 61 took Florida into the Final 8.

On the other side of the coin were the few bold selections that may actually help the selectors: Mississippi into the Final 8 (O Brooks; J Donadio, Sr.; S Hanson; Kleiman; Linton; Peloso; Yantosh) or Final 4 (O Brooks); Georgetown into the Final 8 (B Brooks; Morrison); Cincinnati into the Final 8 (Droopy Leach); Kansas into the Final 4 (Cardozzi; Fitch; Joe Mc; Morrison; Quattro); and Maryland into the Final 4 (Burger; J Gunn; P Joseph; R Simon).

J Donadio, Sr., still has seven of his Final 8 alive and well. Twenty-three others still have six of eight. Surprisingly, 19 players still have all four Final 4 teams standing: Hurrell; Peloso; K Wanger; Broder; J Joseph; J Sixpack; Brady; D Kedson; B Kedson; Bosse; Clark; P Joseph; P Kedson; Shaffer; Ide; Claude; Fitch; Nowakowski; and S Smith. Another 54 have three out of four remaining.

TAG TEAM COMPETITION

As always, the Tag Team competition is fierce. This year, the rejuvenated Nova Gang (Butch Acchione; Bill Acchione; Young; DiMarco; Yantosh), with an average score of 180.60 has a slight lead over Team Atlas (180.00) (G Arms; Naugle; Thorpe), the Hoss Group (the artists formerly known as "the Friends of JJ") (179.86) (J Joseph; N Joseph; P Joseph; J Donadio, Jr.; J Donadio, Sr.; ME Donadio; Warmbier), and Arnie’s Army of Bridge Playing Stock Brokers who have at least once in their lives met Arnold (177.50) (Brady; Clark; Connelly; Hurrell; M Josephs; D Josephs; O Brooks; B Brooks; Ostro; Selig). But, bursting onto the scene this year is the Koufax Syndicate, with ten players (D Koufax; Crane; P Lombardi; C Dallas; Connell; Tyler; Quattro; Bebee; Cardozzi; E Green), a 190.70 average, and a more than ten point lead over the second place Nova Gang. As usual, the Leach Gang (E Leach; P Leach; Domino Leach; Droopy Leach; Perez; Lawsin) is bringing up the rear, at 170.67.

In this, the Year of the Upset, it is perhaps not surprising that the leader in the struggle among the species is the lawyer (182.88) who lead humans (180.41) by more than two points. Not too far behind humans are mutants (178.50) and felines (172.67). Whatever relationship they have to "man," canines are clearly not a bookie’s best friend, as they distantly trail the pack at 144.00.

However, even in the Year of the Upset, the 16 seed never beats the 1 seed. In the battle of the sexes, females still lead males, 180.85 to 180.03. Of course, children are dominating both genders, with a 192.25 average.

In the name game, the average Joe (189.67) (Glowacki; J Mc; Sixpack) is anything but, almost ten points ahead of our overall average of 180.03. Jeff/Geoff (186.67) (Clark; G Johnson; Connell) may have to rob Peter (186.75) (O’Brien; Young; Bebee; Hastings) to pay Paul (185.67) (Rugani; Naugle; Brady), or something like that. Solidly in the middle are Bob (182.25) (Peloso; Huffnagle; RC Natalini; D’Zuro), John/Jon (182.00) (J Donadio, Jr.; J Donadio, Sr.; J Joseph; Broder), and David (180.60) (Harvie; D Kedson; D Josephs; Simon; Ide). Struggling for respectability are Chris (176.67) (Hurrell; Nowakowski; Kovolski), Bill (176.17) (Acchione; Arrowman; Rourke; Thorpe; B; Tyler), and Rick (174.25) (Schlegel; Morrison; Warmbier; Simon). And, to be blunt, if your name is Mike (168.40) (M Einbinder-Schatz; Coach Doc; M Mc; Perez; Baer), change it.

Among families, the D’Zuros (187.00) have a comfortable lead over the Natalini household (183.75), the Donadios (181.33), and the J Joseph family (180.33). The only thing keeping the Kedson crowd (175.33) from complete embarrassment are the Leaches (173.25).

Occupationally, accountants seem to be controlling the numbers, averaging 188.17. Still bullish are those in the financial industry (185.33) who enjoy a small margin over engineers (185.25) and practicing attorneys (184.67). Those in the computer industry (179.50) at least lead those who’ve retired (177.40). As usual, students (177.22) lead teachers (177.00), although students at Syracuse (172.67) appear to have been studying that passive zone for far too long. Bringing up the rear are salespeople (164.00), perhaps confirming that it’s difficult both to sell and to make good pool choices during an economic downturn.

And speaking of economics, paying contestants (180.85) are beating the shirts off non-paying contestants (174.88).

Among employers (with at least 3 entries), T. Rowe Price (190.00) leads the way. Vibroplating and PennDOT are tied for second, with 184.00, followed by "Self" (182.86) and Urban Engineering (182.00). Distantly trailing is the Salusless Delaware Investment Group (175.60). (Did you really think a newsletter would go by without at least a scant and skimpy Salus sally?)

Regionally, the Deep South (187.67) is comfortably ahead of Western Pennsylvania (184.89) and the Washington/Baltimore Beltway area (182.50). Among New Jersey locales, Central Jersey (181.33) is leading both South Jersey (180.67) and North Jersey (180.33). The Philadelphia Suburbs (179.10) lead the Philadelphia Urbs (178.00). Quite cold are the New York City metropolitan area (175.50) and New England (174.00), while Upstate New York (164.00) is downright frigid.

Next newsletter will contain Mascot trivia and All-Name teams. And speaking of names, we’d like to close with the question: what would happen if Joe Sixpack (179) met Warmbier (174)?

Standings As of March 19, 2001
 Back to Top

NameScoreConf ChampsWild CardChampion
Laura Harlan20718KentuckyDuke
Arnold Selig20319KentuckyDuke
Calvin Bland20016UCLADuke
Curt Whiteside20016UCLAVirginia
Peter Bebee19716KentuckyBoston College
Elliot Green19716KentuckyFlorida
B Kedson19716KentuckyDuke
Jon Broder19617KentuckyStanford
Joe Glowacki19617CincinnatiDuke
Perry Leach19614UCLAStanford
Haklar19515KentuckyUCLA
Phoebe Joseph19516St. Joseph'sStanford
Ed Leach19515KentuckyDuke
Sarah Adams19416KentuckyDuke
Colin Fitch19416KentuckyDuke
Joe Mc19419UCLAKansas
William Tyler19416KentuckyIowa State
David Simon19314KentuckyDuke
Paul Brady19215KentuckyArizona
Claude19215KentuckyMichigan St
Robert C. Natalini19116KentuckyDuke
Albert Alberts19014UCLAArizona
Jay Cardozzi19014KentuckyVirginia
Cowboy Dallas19015St. Joseph'sDuke
Geoffrey Johnson19017UCLANorth Carolina
Josh Lichtman19014KentuckyDuke
Marc Reider19014UCLAStanford
Jeff Connell18915UCLAIllinois
Simon Crane18915KentuckyArizona
Bob D'Zuro18915UCLAIllinois
MaryEllen Donadio18915KentuckyStanford
Mario Quattro18915UCLAKansas
Polly Shaffer18916St. Joseph'sDuke
Audrey Kohart18816CreightonDuke
Todd Pappasergi18816UCLANorth Carolina
David Josephs18714UCLAIowa State
Dodger Koufax18715St. Joseph'sMichigan St
Bruno Pappasergi18714KentuckyDuke
Adam Waldbaum18714KentuckyStanford
Bill Acchione18615UCLADuke
Kevin Kasprzak18615CreightonIllinois
Randy Wanger18615Iowa State
John Donadio Sr.18513UCLAStanford
Peter Hastings18516ProvidenceMichigan St
Packer Lombardi18514St. Joseph'sStanford
Peter O'Brien18513UCLAStanford
Paul Rugani18516South FloridaDuke
Brett Connelly18414TexasDuke
Bruce DiMarco18415St. Joseph'sIowa State
FREGRED ERGEF18414KentuckyStanford
Phyllis Linda Kedson18414UCLADuke
Matt Mazeffa18414UCLADuke
Bill B18315UCLADuke
Joshua Einbinder-Schatz18313St. Joseph'sStanford
Marshall Linton18315ProvidenceStanford
Steve Smith18315ProvidenceDuke
Grandpa Kedson18213KentuckyDuke
Ed Leeds18213KentuckyNorth Carolina
Bob Peloso18213UCLADuke
Grover Arms18114GonzagaNorth Carolina
Jeff Clark18114Western KyArizona
Coach Doc18012UCLAStanford
DS Harvie18015UCLADuke
Matt Josephs18012KentuckyIllinois
Mike Mc18012KentuckyMichigan St
Paul Naugle18015CaliforniaDuke
Pete Young18015ProvidenceDuke
Chris Hurrell17913TexasDuke
Nick Mahalko17913Oklahoma StStanford
Rick Schlegel17913UCLADuke
Joe Sixpack17916TexasMichigan St
Bill Thorpe17914St. Joseph'sDuke
Jay Yantosh17913GonzagaStanford
Brett Bosse17814KentuckyStanford
Ken Gold17811KentuckyVirginia
Arrowman Bill17715UCLADuke
Michael Einbinder-Schatz17712TempleDuke
John Joseph17713St. Joseph'sDuke
Jack Vincent Rourke Kedson17712UCLADuke
Marc Kleiman17715UCLADuke
Kate Sullivan17712KentuckyStanford
Neil Baumgarten17613UCLADuke
Frank Conte17613TulsaDuke
Susan Hanson17613UCLAStanford
Chris Nowakowski17613UCLAArizona
Rick Simon17613KentuckyDuke
Brian Corrin17511UCLAStanford
Christopher Kovolski17514ProvidenceUCLA
S&R17514Stanford
Butch Acchione17412UCLAStanford
David Kedson17412KentuckyDuke
Rich Warmbier17415TexasStanford
George B17313Ohio StateIllinois
Oliver Brooks17313UCLADuke
GREEFREG FREEGREEF17310UCLAIowa State
Kevin Grande17313ProvidenceDuke
Ryan Peters17112UCLADuke
John Donadio Jr.17010KentuckyDuke
Winnie Lawsin17010TempleFlorida
David Ide16914ProvidenceDuke
Naomi Joseph16911UCLADuke
Ashley Gatto16812Georgia TechMichigan St
Rick Morrison16816St. Joseph'sDuke
Bob Huffnagle16710KentuckyDuke
Jimmy Gunn16113North Carolina
Miguel Perez16110TexasMichigan St
Jason Iorio16014UConnDuke
Kelly Wanger16012St. Joseph'sDuke
Domino Leach15810GeorgiaIllinois
Philip Burger15711CreightonDuke
Byron Brooks15310St. Joseph'sNorth Carolina
Jim Greene14910Illinois
Mike Baer1449ProvidenceStanford
Droopy Leach1447St. Joseph'sNorth Carolina
Jerry Ostro1438St. Joseph'sNorth Carolina
Bill Rourke13812Duke
Barbara Spitz13411St. Joseph'sMichigan