NCAA Pre-Tournament Contest Newsletter

2001 PRE-NCAA CONTEST NEWSLETTER 3

Standings
All-Name Teams
Mascot Trivia

In a year where two #1 seeds, a #2 seed, and a #3 seed made the Final Four, you’d think that lots of people would have eligible champions, wouldn’t you? Well, I suppose you wouldn’t if you had any familiarity with our contestants. While it’s true that 51 entrants chose Duke as National Champion, only seven chose Michigan State (Claude; A Gatto; P Hastings; Koufax; Mike Mc; Perez; Sixpack), only five selected Arizona (Alberts, Brady, Clark, Crane, Nowakowski), and nobody chose Maryland.

So, we guess it makes sense that our leader is still in diapers. Yes, one month old infant Brandon Kedson is currently in first place, with 307 points. But, don’t cheer too loudly – he’s currently sleeping. Breathing down B Kedson’s tiny little neck is P Joseph, with 305, and Brady with 302.

Speaking of Brady, our all-time record holder for most points (379) is one of three contestants who might become repeat money winners. In the first eleven years of the contest, only two-time champion Rosen and a pair of alliterative Acchiones (Butch and Bill, who each have finished third twice, once tied with each other) have managed to finish in the top three on more than one occasion. But this year, Brady (1st in 1996), Harlan (1st in 1993) and Alberts (2nd in 1996) are all threatening to imply that success in our contest is not random. Yikes.

All money winners, depending on National Champion, are as follows:

Duke		Michigan State		Maryland		Arizona
B Kedson	347	Claude	312	B Kedson	307	Brady	342
Harlan	337 (tie)	B Kedson	307	P Joseph	305	Clark	331
B Pappasergi	337 (tie)	P Joseph	305 (tie)	Brady	302	Alberts	330
		P Hastings	305 (tie)

If Michigan State wins, then for the second straight year, an altruistic non-paying entrant would have won some money had he or she just forked over the tenspot. This year, P Hastings took the high road, and he’ll be poorer for it. Since P Hastings didn’t pay the fee, then if Michigan State wins the full third-place share will go to P Joseph.

At the bottom, Stanford’s untimely demise dashed Spitz’s dreams of 3rd-to-last place. As it is, she finished last, with 184 points, but had the Cardinal triumphed, she would have hopped ahead of Rourke (188 points) and B Brooks (193), and would have tied with Droopy Leach (204). She would not have caught Baer (204) because he also chose Stanford (not that Baer’s 5th-to-last place finish is anything to write home or anywhere else about). In Rourke’s defense, if Duke wins, he’ll jump out of 2nd-to-last place and into mediocrity.

Bland self-destructed, and is currently tied for 39th place.

The best Wildcard performances were turned in by Lawsin and M Einbinder-Schatz, both of whom chose Temple. Unfortunately, that astute pick did absolutely nothing to enhance their overall chances of winning.

Two contestants (Alberts and J Joseph) got six of the Final 8 correct. Lawsin also got six, counting wildcard Temple. 35 others got five of eight, 23 guessers got only three of eight, and four entrants (Huffnagle; Joe Mc; D Simon; and B Brooks) had the misfortune to correctly select only two of the Final 8.

The efficiency award goes to Burger, who can boast three of his Final 4, but correctly selected only those same three in his Final 8. Altogether, twelve lucky entrants were correct on three of their Final 4 (Burger; K Wanger; Perez; Nowakowski; P Joseph; J Kedson; D Kedson; B Kedson; Brady; Clark; Rugani; and B Pappasergi).

The good-news-bad-news award goes to Haklar and D’Zuro, both of whom got five (5) of the Final 8, but zero (0) of the Final 4. Including Haklar and D’Zuro, six unfortunate ones managed the goose-egg in the Final 4 (Haklar, D’Zuro; Linton; Tyler; J Einbinder-Schatz; and E Green).

Among species, lawyers (with an average score of 259.13) continue to strive for the upset of the year, currently leading humans (253.61), felines (242.67), and mutants (238.50). And frankly, with an average score of 204.00, the musical question really ought to be, "who let the dogs in?"

Women (258.54) have expanded their lead over men (252.07), but we hope parents of all genders will accept our advice: don’t bet with the kids – children (271.60) own a commanding lead over their adult counterparts. Our overall average score is 253.03.

In the last newsletter, we suggested that someone was robbing Peter to pay Paul. Well, Paul (282.33) must have charged plenty, because that name leads the second place name, Jeff/Geoff (266.67) by almost 16 points. Next are the dear Johns (264.50) and the Davids (260.60). The poor Peters (259.25) have been relegated to the middle of the pack, jockeying for position with the Chris’s (256.67), the Bobs (252.25) and the Mikes (250.40). The below-average Joes (246.33) at least won’t have to pay the Bills (241.17), and the Ricks (236.75) have somehow managed to be in dead last without the susceptible assistance of the seemingly superfluous Salus.

In a departure from the norm (and we don’t mean two-time winner Norm Rosen), former winners of the pool are actually doing better than most, averaging 270.33, while former second place winners average 255.50 and former third place winners average 251.75. Paying entries (253.23) were filled out slightly better than non-paying ones (251.75).

The Tag Team tallies have tightened. Currently the Hoss Group (259.86) owns a slight lead over Team Atlas (256.67), Arnie’s Army of Stock Brokering Bridge Players (254.50), and the Nova Gang (248.60). The Koufax Syndicate (245.70), which debuted in such promising fashion, has sunk so low that it leads the Leach Gang (245.67) by only 3 one-hundredths of a point.

Among families, the J Joseph family (277.00) clearly eats a better brand of Wheaties, almost ten points ahead of their nearest competitor, the Kedson crowd (268.67), who at least own a slight lead over the Natalini household (263.75). The Donadios (251.33) are clearly basking in the reflected glory of their relationship with JJ, and the once proud D’Zuros (240.33) are saved from ignominy only by the existence of the Leaches (233.25).

For the second straight year, Vibroplating (284.00) is tops among employers, T. Rowe Price (266.67) is second, and "Self" (258.60) is third. Bucking the two-year trend, the Delaware Investment Group (255.60) staged a small comeback, beating out Urban Engineering (248.67) and PennDOT (240.67).

Occupationally speaking, computer people (274.50) are apparently pressing the right buttons, Controllers (271.00) are in control, and Managers (258.00) are managing to get by. Accountants (256.50) should probably begin working on a re-count, while those in the financial industry (252.50) are clearly starting to feel the strain of the new economy. Teachers (252.00) have finally shown students (251.67) that they still have a lot to learn. Syracuse students (239.33) need to do some better recruiting. Practicing attorneys (251.33) and engineers (247.75) have little to add to the dialogue, and retired people (245.40) probably ought to stay that way. And would you buy a used car from a salesperson (228.00) who was nearly twenty points behind the next lowest profession?

Regionally, North Jersey (277.00) crushed both South Jersey (260.67) and Central Jersey (251.33). The South (264.33) didn’t do it again, dropping behind Western PA (267.11) and the Washington/Baltimore Beltway (265.00). The Philadelphia suburbs (253.70) kicked Center City’s (243.83) collective butt. The northern parts of the country – New York City metropolitan area (240.50), New England (234.00), and Upstate New York (226.50) – remain too cold to visit.

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

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ALL NAME TEAMS

The Commissioners have noticed that "All-Name" teams and mascot trivia have become popular among web commentators. As pioneers of this phenomenon, we have just one thing to say: pretty scary, eh? Anyway, here’s our take:

All-Name, First Team	All-Name Second Team
Field Williams (Cincinnati)	Major Parker (Florida)
Majestic Mapp (Virginia)	Eze Burts (Southern Cal)
Golden Ingle (Western Kentucky)	Royal Ivey (Texas)
Demon Brown (Charlotte)	Titus Ivory (Penn State)
Tyler Taylor (Southern Utah)	Syniker Taylor (Ole Miss)

Best Name NOT in Tournament: SirValiant Brown (GW)

All-Location Team	All-Providence Team
Cleveland Davis (Hampton)	Erron Maxey (Providence)
Kenya Carruthers (Iona)	Romuald Augustin (Providence)
Ed Persia (Princeton)	Maris Laksa (Providence)
Jeff Monaco (Southern Utah)	Shieku Kabba (Providence)
Marseilles Brown (Hampton)	Karim Shabazz (Providence)
Local Division: Trenton Hillier (Georgetown)	Alumnus: God Shammgod (Providence)
NIT Division: Paris London (Memphis St)
Interstellar Div.: Orien Greene (Florida)

All-Brandon Team
Brandon Granville (Southern Cal)	Brandon Miller (Butler)
Brandon Dean (Arkansas)	Brandon Mouton (Texas)
Brandon Davis (Arkansas)	Brandon McIntosh (Xavier)
Brandon Beck (UNC-Greensboro)	Brandon Nicol (Iowa State)
Brandon Brock (UCLA)	Brandon Smith (Michigan State)
Brandon Crump (Tennessee)	Brandon Watkins (Penn State)

In light of our female entrants' clear superiority over our male entrants, we thought it only fair to include:

All-Name Team from the Women's NCAA Tournament
Rainy Crisp (Arizona State)
Misty Knight (Florida)
Essence Perry (Louisiana Tech)
Uri Honeysucker (Alcorn State)
Kinga Kiss (SW Missouri State)
Iciss Tillis (Duke)

Finally, a couple of questions:

Question #1: If Demon Brown (Charlotte) played Angel Branch (Alabama State) one-on-one, who would win?

Question #2: If Joe Sixpack exploded to the rack against Jonathan Beerbohm (BC), would the result be Warmbier?

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MASCOT TRIVIA

(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, and Birds, which has the most teams in the field? (5 points)
(4) How many teams have a color in their nickname (5 pts.), and how many colors are represented (5 pts)?
(5) Name all nicknames that appear more than twice in the field (2 points for each correct answer)
(6) Name all nicknames that appear more than once in the field (2 points for each correct answer)
(7) Name the teams that fit into each of the following categories (1 point for each correct answer):
(a) Out of work, now that Cats is no longer playing on Broadway (8 teams)
(b) Bulldogs (4 teams)
(c) Canines other than Bulldogs (? teams)
(d) Birds (8 teams)
(e) Friends of Beelzebub (3 teams)
(f) Non-feline, non-canine, Clawed Mammals (4 teams)
(g) Pigs, Bugs, and Reptiles (5 teams)
(h) Plants (2 teams)
(i) Cattle and those who work with them (3 teams)
(j) Spent most of their time in the Balkans and/or Asia Minor (4 teams)
(k) Spent most of their time in the British Isles (2 teams)
(l) Fought in either the American Revolutionary or Civil Wars (5 teams)
(m) Pugilists and Plunderers (4 teams)
(n) Interested primarily in Real Estate or Mineral Rights (3 teams)
(o) Emotions, Prophylactics, and large Automobiles (3 teams)
(p) Related to Atmospheric Phenomena (3 teams)
(q) Meaningless nicknames beginning with H (3 teams)
(r) People dressed in unbecoming brown robes, filthy footwear, or citrus fruit (3 teams)

Note: We counted four teams twice, and didn’t bother with the Stanford Cardinal or the Utah State Aggies. So, sue us.

TRIVIA ANSWERS

(1) Illinois Fighting Illini, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, and Hofstra Pride (the artists formerly known as the Hofstra Flying Dutchmen).
(2) Bulldogs, with 4 (Fresno St., Gonzaga, Georgia, and Butler).
(3) Birds and Cats tied with 8.
(4) Only 7 teams, representing 5 colors (Duke Blue Devils, Creighton Bluejays, Syracuse Orangemen, Stanford Cardinal, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, Kent State Golden Flashes, and California Golden Bears).
(5) Just Bulldogs (4, see above).
(6) Bulldogs, Hawks (St. Joseph’s and Monmouth), Eagles (BC and Winthrop), Tigers (Missouri and Princeton), Wildcats (Kentucky and Arizona), Panthers (Georgia State and Eastern Illinois), and Spartans (Michigan State and UNC-Greensboro).

(7)
(a) Kentucky Wildcats, Arizona Wildcats, Missouri Tigers, Princeton Tigers, Georgia State Panthers, Eastern Illinois Panthers, BYU Cougars, Penn State Nittany Lions.
(b) Fresno St., Gonzaga, Georgia, Butler.
(c) None. Ha, ha, it was a trick question.
(d) BC Eagles, Winthrop Eagles, St. Joseph’s Hawks, Monmouth Hawks, Creigton Bluejays, Kansas Jayhawks, Temple Owls, Southern Utah Thunderbirds.
(e) Duke Blue Devils, Northwestern State Demons, Wake Forest Demon Deacons.
(f) UCLA Bruins, California Golden Bears, Cincinnati Bearcats, Wisconsin Badgers.
(g) Arkansas Razorbacks, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, Alabama State Hornets, Florida Gators, Maryland Terrapins.
(h) Indiana St. Sycamores, Ohio St. Buckeyes.
(i) Texas Longhorns, Oklahoma State Cowboys, Cal-State-Northridge Matadors.
(j) Michigan State Spartans, UNC-Greensboro Spartans, Southern Cal Trojans, Holy Cross Crusaders.
(k) Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Iona Gaels.
(l) Xavier Musketeers, George Mason Patriots, Virginia Cavaliers, Tennessee Volunteers, Mississippi Rebels.
(m) Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Illinois Fighting Illini, Hampton Pirates, Holy Cross Crusaders.
(n) Oklahoma Sooners, Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, Charlotte 49ers.
(o) Hofstra Pride, Southern Cal Trojans, Southern Utah Thunderbirds.
(p) Iowa State Cyclones, Kent State Golden Flashes, Hawaii Rainbow Warriors.
(q) Iowa Hawkeyes, Indiana Hoosiers, Georgetown Hoyas.
(r) Providence Friars, North Carolina Tar Heels, Syracuse Orangemen.

SCORING:
1 You’re exaggerating.
2-20 You’re kidding.
21-50 You’re lying.
51-163 You’re cheating.

Standings Going into Final Four Back to Top

Name	Score	Conf Champs	Wild Card	Champion	Final 8	Final 4
B Kedson	307	16	Kentucky	Duke	5	3
Phoebe Joseph	305	16	St. Joseph's	Stanford	5	3
Paul Brady	302	15	Kentucky	Arizona	5	3
Laura Harlan	297	18	Kentucky	Duke	5	2
Bruno Pappasergi	297	14	Kentucky	Duke	5	3
Jeff Clark	291	14	Western Ky	Arizona	5	3
Albert Alberts	290	14	UCLA	Arizona	6	2
Jack Vincent Rourke Kedson	287	12	UCLA	Duke	5	3
Chris Nowakowski	286	13	UCLA	Arizona	5	3
Paul Rugani	285	16	South Florida	Duke	4	3
David Kedson	284	12	Kentucky	Duke	5	3
Arnold Selig	283	19	Kentucky	Duke	4	2
Robert C. Natalini	281	16	Kentucky	Duke	5	2
Winnie Lawsin	280	10	Temple	Florida	5	2
Curt Whiteside	280	16	UCLA	Virginia	4	2
Audrey Kohart	278	16	Creighton	Duke	5	2
John Joseph	277	13	St. Joseph's	Duke	6	2
Kevin Kasprzak	276	15	Creighton	Illinois	5	2
Peter O'Brien	275	13	UCLA	Stanford	5	2
Sarah Adams	274	16	Kentucky	Duke	4	2
Brett Connelly	274	14	Texas	Duke	5	2
Colin Fitch	274	16	Kentucky	Duke	4	2
Phyllis Linda Kedson	274	14	UCLA	Duke	5	2
Steve Smith	273	15	Providence	Duke	5	2
Claude	272	15	Kentucky	Michigan St	4	2
Grandpa Kedson	272	13	Kentucky	Duke	5	2
Coach Doc	270	12	UCLA	Stanford	5	2
DS Harvie	270	15	UCLA	Duke	5	2
Polly Shaffer	269	16	St. Joseph's	Duke	4	2
Jon Broder	266	17	Kentucky	Stanford	5	1
Perry Leach	266	14	UCLA	Stanford	3	2
John Donadio Sr.	265	13	UCLA	Stanford	4	2
Peter Hastings	265	16	Providence	Michigan St	4	2
Bruce DiMarco	264	15	St. Joseph's	Iowa State	4	2
Matt Mazeffa	264	14	UCLA	Duke	4	2
Bob Peloso	262	13	UCLA	Duke	4	2
Miguel Perez	261	10	Texas	Michigan St	4	3
Ryan Peters	261	12	UCLA	Duke	5	2
Calvin Bland	260	16	UCLA	Duke	4	1
Geoffrey Johnson	260	17	UCLA	North Carolina	3	2
Josh Lichtman	260	14	Kentucky	Duke	5	1
Mike Mc	260	12	Kentucky	Michigan St	4	2
Paul Naugle	260	15	California	Duke	4	2
Kelly Wanger	260	12	St. Joseph's	Duke	4	3
Chris Hurrell	259	13	Texas	Duke	4	2
Joe Sixpack	259	16	Texas	Michigan St	4	2
Bill Thorpe	259	14	St. Joseph's	Duke	4	2
Brett Bosse	258	14	Kentucky	Stanford	4	2
Todd Pappasergi	258	16	UCLA	North Carolina	5	1
Peter Bebee	257	16	Kentucky	Boston College	4	1
Arrowman Bill	257	15	UCLA	Duke	4	2
Michael Einbinder-Schatz	257	12	Temple	Duke	4	1
David Josephs	257	14	UCLA	Iowa State	5	1
Marc Kleiman	257	15	UCLA	Duke	4	2
Dodger Koufax	257	15	St. Joseph's	Michigan St	3	2
Adam Waldbaum	257	14	Kentucky	Stanford	5	1
Bill Acchione	256	15	UCLA	Duke	3	2
Susan Hanson	256	13	UCLA	Stanford	4	2
Rick Simon	256	13	Kentucky	Duke	4	2
Brian Corrin	255	11	UCLA	Stanford	4	2
Ed Leach	255	15	Kentucky	Duke	4	1
Packer Lombardi	255	14	St. Joseph's	Stanford	3	2
Butch Acchione	254	12	UCLA	Stanford	4	2
Bill B	253	15	UCLA	Duke	5	1
David Simon	253	14	Kentucky	Duke	2	2
Ed Leeds	252	13	Kentucky	North Carolina	5	1
Grover Arms	251	14	Gonzaga	North Carolina	3	2
John Donadio Jr.	250	10	Kentucky	Duke	4	2
Marc Reider	250	14	UCLA	Stanford	4	1
Jeff Connell	249	15	UCLA	Illinois	4	1
Naomi Joseph	249	11	UCLA	Duke	4	2
Nick Mahalko	249	13	Oklahoma St	Stanford	5	1
Mario Quattro	249	15	UCLA	Kansas	4	1
Ashley Gatto	248	12	Georgia Tech	Michigan St	4	2
Philip Burger	247	11	Creighton	Duke	3	3
Neil Baumgarten	246	13	UCLA	Duke	5	1
Frank Conte	246	13	Tulsa	Duke	3	2
Joe Glowacki	246	17	Cincinnati	Duke	3	1
Randy Wanger	246	15		Iowa State	4	1
Haklar	245	15	Kentucky	UCLA	5
FREGRED ERGEF	244	14	Kentucky	Stanford	4	1
Jay Cardozzi	240	14	Kentucky	Virginia	3	1
Cowboy Dallas	240	15	St. Joseph's	Duke	3	1
Matt Josephs	240	12	Kentucky	Illinois	4	1
Pete Young	240	15	Providence	Duke	4	1
Simon Crane	239	15	Kentucky	Arizona	3	1
Bob D'Zuro	239	15	UCLA	Illinois	5
MaryEllen Donadio	239	15	Kentucky	Stanford	3	1
Jim Greene	239	10		Illinois	5	2
David Ide	239	14	Providence	Duke	5	1
Rick Schlegel	239	13	UCLA	Duke	4	1
Elliot Green	237	16	Kentucky	Florida	4
Kate Sullivan	237	12	Kentucky	Stanford	4	1
S&R	235	14		Stanford	4	1
Joe Mc	234	19	UCLA	Kansas	2	1
William Tyler	234	16	Kentucky	Iowa State	4
Rich Warmbier	234	15	Texas	Stanford	4	1
Oliver Brooks	233	13	UCLA	Duke	4	1
GREEFREG FREEGREEF	233	10	UCLA	Iowa State	4	1
Jimmy Gunn	231	13		North Carolina	3	2
Jay Yantosh	229	13	Gonzaga	Stanford	3	1
Ken Gold	228	11	Kentucky	Virginia	3	1
Bob Huffnagle	227	10	Kentucky	Duke	2	2
Christopher Kovolski	225	14	Providence	UCLA	3	1
George B	223	13	Ohio State	Illinois	3	1
Joshua Einbinder-Schatz	223	13	St. Joseph's	Stanford	4
Kevin Grande	223	13	Providence	Duke	3	1
Marshall Linton	223	15	Providence	Stanford	4
Jason Iorio	220	14	UConn	Duke	4	1
Rick Morrison	218	16	St. Joseph's	Duke	3	1
Jerry Ostro	213	8	St. Joseph's	North Carolina	5	1
Domino Leach	208	10	Georgia	Illinois	3	1
Mike Baer	204	9	Providence	Stanford	4	1
Droopy Leach	204	7	St. Joseph's	North Carolina	4	1
Byron Brooks	193	10	St. Joseph's	North Carolina	2	1
Bill Rourke	188	12		Duke	3	1
Barbara Spitz	184	11	St. Joseph's	Michigan	3	1