2006 PRE-NCAA CONTEST NEWSLETTER 1

Standings

Well, Ohio State's probation has sent shockwaves through the world of the pool. Instead of future penalties, the NCAA chose to make the Buckeyes give back past NCAA glory and tournament revenues, and has stricken the school's name from the record books of the 1999 through 2002 tournaments. Immediately after the NCAA's decision was announced, bitter entrants flocked to the commissioner's domicile, demanding we re-allocate funds now that Ohio State didn't really make the tournament all those years. Despite the eloquence of these petitioners, however, we have declined to follow their suggestions. Nevertheless, we agree that some penalty is in order, so in the spirit of the NCAA decision we hereby decree that Marsala (1999), J Donadio, Jr. (2000), B Kedson (2001), and Bland (2002) must remove their Pool Champion banners from the rafters of their rec rooms. Cheaters never prosper.

Which is why we feel it's our duty to publicize the names of those underhanded individuals who try to get around the rules. In years past we have had to discipline many, but this year the sole object of our wrath is Butscher, who chose illegal wild card Georgetown. It will not avail you.

This year, 78 enterprising souls have entered the Pre-NCAA Contest. (We haven't yet tallied up how many of these are paying entrants. Sorry, we'll get to it by the next newsletter.) Our current leader, and the winner of the $100 prize for leading after selection of the field (with a total of 210 points), is D Josephs, whose son, M Josephs (188 points) is a past pool champion. We're sure the prospect of beating his progeny (who undoubtedly has been ragging the old man since 1998) is worth much more to D Josephs than the money.

But the Battle of the Josephses is not the only familial grudge match going on. In fact several entrants have said in no uncertain terms that their ONLY goal in the pool is beating some friend or family member. Booth (197 points), for example, has her sights set on brother-in-law Whiteside (206 points), and while we hate to be the bearer of bad tidings (well, OK, you caught us, we don't really mind at all -- in fact, we kind of like it), so far she's falling short. K Sullivan (195 pts), as always, served up some pretty strong words about B Peloso (188 pts), but at least she's backing it up. Her husband D'Zuro (196 pts) is letting his selections do the talking, and currently holds a 1 point edge over his wife (although he is only tied with his deceased mother, Haklar (196 pts)). B Peloso, although behind his bitter rival, at least has a comfortable lead over his daughter, M Peloso (171 pts).

The Donadio family tree appears to be upside-down, as youthful entrants N Donadio (198) and L Donadio (198) are showing their parents (M Donadio (187) and J Donadio (185)) a thing or two. Last year's co-champion, K Wanger (193 pts) continues to claim that the money means nothing and her sole goal is to embarrass her father (R Wanger (198)) but, so far at least, it's "father knows best." The same sentiment prevails in the Kleiman and Broder households. (M Kleiman (198) over B Kleiman (190) and J Broder (193) over R Broder (189)). Alas for patriarchs everywhere, Coach Doc (196 points) can't say the same (daughter S Adams remains tied with him at 196). Commissioner D Kedson (204) so far retains bragging rights over his parents (M Kedson (196) and G Kedson (181)). And two-time champion Rosen (207) has a comfortable lead over his wife (Abrams (181)).

We are deeply concerned about the goings-on at the Leach household. It's one thing for grandpa E Leach (192) to be thrashing his son P Leach (183). But poor little toddlers Madison Leach (163) and Samantha Leach (141) undoubtedly trusted their daddy and grandpa, and look where it got them? It's enough to make one shake his or her head.

Poor little Samantha (141) brings up the rear, with 141 points, followed by Packman (144), Paston (155), Perez (159) and Madison (163). As we said earlier, D Josephs (210) is in first, followed by Claude (208), Rosen (207), and Whiteside (206). The pool average is 185.91 points.

Have we mentioned that the pool is 17 years old this year? Well, it is. If it were a person it would be graduating high school this spring. Which is more than we can say for most of our contestants, if basketball acumen was included in the core curriculum. When it comes to choosing conference champions, only eight entrants had as many as 60% correct: D Josephs, Rosen, D Kedson (each with 21 correct); Koiki, Claude (both with 20); and Booth, Whiteside, Harlan (each with 19). Not that any of them were better than 68%; in this pool even best get a solid "D."

At least a majority of us were correct in choosing 17 of the conference winners. But fewer than ten of us had a clue in the Sun Belt (South Alabama, picked only by Booth, Dodger, L Donadio, N Donadio, B Kleiman, M Kleiman, M Leach, K Wanger); the Big 12 (Kansas, picked by Crowther, M Donadio, Huffnagle, D Kedson, S Leach, Leeds, N Sullivan); the Big 10 (Iowa, picked by Acchione, George B, L Donadio, Mahalko, Paston); the MVC (Southern Illinois, picked by Koiki, Mahalko, Pogach); the MEAC (Hampton, picked by Booth, Kovolski); the Northeast (Monmouth, picked only by N Sullivan); the Atlantic 10 (Xavier, picked only by D Kedson); and the Big East (Syracuse, picked by nobody).

As always, individual entrants tried to get some quick points by picking conference upsets. And we're alarmed to say that for the first time in 17 years some of us seem to be getting the hang of it. Well, that is if you discount the Leach girls. Samantha Leach successfully predicted Florida and Kansas, but also chose: Jackson St, Pitt, Samford, BC, Charleston Southern, Arizona, Western Michigan, Valparaiso, UAB, New Mexico St, Bethune-Cookman, and Gardner-Webb. Fellow befuddled babe, Madison Leach cleverly chose UNC-Wilmington, San Diego St, and South Alabama, but followed that up with: Coppin State, Miami-Ohio, Georgetown, Alabama State, Oklahoma, UMKC, Tennessee Tech, Holy Cross, Eastern Washington, Hartford, and Marist. Not in the same league as the girls, but impressive in his own right was George B, who was right with Iowa and Davidson, but very wrong with BYU, Miami-Ohio, Old Dominion, Alabama State, Bradley, and Coppin State.

But, as we said, a few of us seem to be getting better. For example, perennial long-shot artist N Sullivan broke even, choosing unlikely winners Kansas, Florida, UNC-Wilmington, and Monmouth, along with likely losers Miami-Ohio, Georgetown, Jackson St, and (our personal favorite) Kennesaw State. Mahalko was just down one, hitting paydirt with Southern Illinois and Iowa, while getting mud on his face from Pitt, Arkansas, and Robert Morris. And some actually did well. Booth looked darned good on Hampton, South Alabama, Montana, Belmont, and Davidson, while only feeling foolish about Austin Peay. D Kedson, picked up points on San Diego St, Belmont, UNC-Wilmington, Kansas, and Xavier, while only blowing it on California and Coppin State. And the Donadio family must know something the rest of us don't. M Donadio chose good winners Kansas, UNC-Wilmington, and Florida, but picked no bad losers. N Donadio won well with Florida, South Alabama, and Montana, while only losing poorly on Grambling and Marist. And the pride of the family, L Donadio, kicked some butt with Iowa, South Alabama, UNC-Wilmington, Montana, and Belmont, and only got kicked back by Oklahoma.

Special kudos to Fitch, M Perez, Ripley, and G Kedson, all of whom chose Florida Atlantic, a team eliminated before the pool was due. And Packman wins the "video game character we'd love to invite to our poker game" award for picking Northern Illinois, Virginia Tech, Valparaiso, Georgia, Buffalo, Wake Forest, and SMU all at large! Nice.

The most popular wild card was Marquette (chosen by 25), followed by Arkansas (12), Nevada (10), Wisconsin (9), and a smattering of others: Kentucky (3), Arizona (2), Air Force (2), Northern Iowa (2), Wichita St (2), Alabama (1), California (1), UAB (1), Syracuse (1), and Wisconsin-Milwaukee (1). Five soon-to-be-embarrassed contestants chose wild cards that weren't invited to play: Harlan (Missouri St), M Peloso (Missouri St), Kasprzak (Missouri St), Hurrell (Florida St), and Packman (Virginia Tech).

We displayed little originality in our choices for champion. UConn was our most popular selection (chosen by 41), and Duke (21) was the only other team with more than 5 votes. Only 16 entrants chose champions other then the big two: Villanova (5), Texas (4), Memphis (3), Gonzaga (3), and North Carolina (1).

Some things are not what they seem. For example, males (185.95) currently lead females (184.77) by a comfortable margin. BUT, if you take out tragic figures Madison and Samantha Leach (who, after all, misplaced their trust in their older male relatives), then females average 190.73, almost five points higher than the inferior males. And although Lawyers (186.20) lead Humans (185.89) in the battle of the species, practicing attorneys (181.75) trail all other occupations. Of the more important species, felines (208.00) lead scaly anteaters (196.00).

On the other hand, some things are exactly what they seem. For instance, whether you count the unfortunate toddlers or not, the Leach Gang (170.00 with, 179.00 without) are rock bottom in the Tag Team competition. Above them, Arnie's Army of Bridge Players (185.00) are slightly ahead of the Koufax Group (184.00). And at the top, the Kedsons (196.00), the D'Zuros (195.75), Natalini and friends (193.50), and the Donadios (192.00) are in a virtual dead heat. And speaking of dead, deceased entrants (202.00) are waaaaaay beyond the living (185.28).

Maryland was the wisest state from which to choose the pool (average score of 199.00), followed by New Jersey (192.00), Illinois (189), New York (188.67), Virginia (188.00), Pennsylvania (185.95), Arizona (185.33), Florida (177.00), and North Carolina (171.00). Within Pennsylvania, Western PA (189.00) is ahead of both suburban (185.95) and urban (184.30) Philadelphia.

Among employers, Conrail (194.50) is narrowly ahead of "Self" (194.25), while PennDOT (187.50) has a significant edge over Urban Engineering (175.83). The best occupation for pool selection is Computer professional (200.00), followed by Medical professional (194.00), Financial Manager (194.00), Accountant (193.50), and Salesperson (190.00). Students (187.69) seem to know a lot more than Teachers (182.00). You'd think Retired people (183.67) would have the leisure to figure out the winners, but maybe it's not worth it if you're not taking time away from work. And while Attorneys (181.75) have the excuse of being, well, you know, attorneys, we can't think of any way to justify Engineers (183.38).

In the name game, you definitely do NOT want to be like Mike (179.00). Or Rick (180.80), for that matter. Nope, chalk this one up as the Year of the Dave (200.33). Why, that moniker has not seen such a proud day since that Kevin Kline movie in 1993. Better than Mike but not nearly as good as Dave are Bob (188.25), John/Jon (188.00), Chris (186.67), and Mark/Marc (186.00).

Next newsletter will include the All Name Team and Mascot Trivia. We hope Pool Central will be up and running soon on the web site. Standings are below.

Through Selection of the Field

Name	Score	Conf Champs	Wild Card	Champion
David Josephs	210	21	Northern Iowa	Connecticut
claude	208	20	Arkansas	Duke
Norman Rosen	207	21	Arkansas	Duke
Curt Whiteside	206	19	Marquette	Memphis
David Kedson	204	21	Arizona	Duke
Laura Harlan	203	19	Missouri St	Duke
Koiki	202	20	California	Connecticut
Peter O'Brien	199	17	Marquette	Villanova
Neil Baumgarten	198	18	Arkansas	Connecticut
Lucia Donadio	198	18	Wisconsin	Duke
Nicholas Donadio	198	18	Nevada	Connecticut
Marc Kleiman	198	18	Marquette	Connecticut
Randy Wanger	198	18	Marquette	Connecticut
Nancy Booth	197	19	UAB	Gonzaga
Sarah Adams	196	17	Marquette	Connecticut
Coach Doc	196	17	Arkansas	Connecticut
Jason DeMaso	196	17	Marquette	Villanova
Bob D'Zuro	196	17	Arkansas	Texas
Colin Fitch	196	17	Marquette	Connecticut
Haklar	196	17	Marquette	Connecticut
Mom and Pop Kedson	196	17	Arkansas	Connecticut
Pangolin Palace	196	17	Marquette	Duke
Todd Pappasergi	196	17	Marquette	Connecticut
Bill Acchione	195	18	Wisconsin	Villanova
wayne crowther	195	18	Marquette	Duke
Kate Sullivan	195	18	Marquette	Connecticut
Jon Broder	193	17	Wisconsin	Connecticut
Steve Smith	193	17	Marquette	Connecticut
Kelly Wanger	193	17	Marquette	Duke
Mark Dodger	192	18	Nevada	Connecticut
Ed Leach	192	18	Marquette	Duke
Bret Kleiman	190	17	Nevada	Texas
Chris Nowakowski	190	17	Wisconsin	Gonzaga
Kevin Biebel	189	18	Arkansas	Connecticut
Rachel Broder	189	18	Marquette	Connecticut
Jeff Butscher	188	16	Georgetown	Connecticut
Matt Josephs	188	16	Kentucky	Connecticut
John Marshall (2)	188	16	Nevada	Connecticut
Bob Peloso	188	16	Northern Iowa	Connecticut
Starbuck	188	16	Arkansas	Connecticut
MaryEllen Donadio	187	17	Marquette	Connecticut
Chris Kovolski	187	17	Kentucky	Connecticut
Dave Mahalko	187	17	Arkansas	Connecticut
John Marshall	186	15	Nevada	Connecticut
Mike Peterson	186	15	Wisconsin	Connecticut
John Donadio	185	16	Marquette	Duke
troy kane	185	16	Marquette	Memphis
Brett Collson	183	15	Wis-Milwaukee	Connecticut
Chris Hurrell	183	15	Florida St	Texas
Perry Leach	183	15	Wichita St	Connecticut
Mike McAtee	183	15	Kentucky	Duke
Paul Ripley	183	15	Marquette	Connecticut
Mark Cowboy	182	16	Nevada	Duke
Michael Paston	182	16	Nevada	Connecticut
Manual Pogach	182	16	Marquette	Connecticut
Susan Abrams	181	14	Wisconsin	Connecticut
Al Alberts	181	14	Marquette	Duke
Grandpa and Grandma Kedson	181	14	Arkansas	Duke
Rick Simon	180	15	Alabama	Duke
Lawrence Mussio	179	13	Marquette	Connecticut
Mark Koufax	178	14	Nevada	Memphis
Nick Mahalko	178	17	Marquette	Connecticut
Arnold Selig	177	15	Wisconsin	Duke
Joe Mc	176	16	Arkansas	Duke
Neil Sullivan	176	16	Air Force	Duke
Frank Conte	174	15	Marquette	North Carolina
Kevin Kasprzak	174	15	Missouri St	Connecticut
Starbuck	174	15	Wisconsin	Duke
Robert Huffnagle	173	13	Arkansas	Connecticut
Maggie Peloso	171	12	Missouri St	Duke
Mike Wetherell	168	18	Syracuse	Duke
GEORGE B	164	13	Air Force	Villanova
Edward Leeds	164	13	Wisconsin	Connecticut
Madison Leach	163	11	Arizona	Texas
Miguel Perez	159	12	Nevada	Connecticut
Matt Paston	155	13	Wichita St	Gonzaga
Packman	144	12	Virginia Tech	Connecticut
Samantha Leach	141	6	Nevada	Villanova