Sunday, March 18, 2012

First Round Bracket Decimation and The Short Story Continues...

Last year, my dog Spot Moskowitz finished in the Top 10 in Ken Cooper's PSU Track Alumni Bracket Madness Pool.

But following his demise, the chore of my picks fell on his namesake, Spott Moskowitz.  I didn't know his political leanings or he was just getting back at me for having him neutered on Monday, as his picks are eerily similar to our beloved President.  He still managed to make it to the top of the Bell Curve, smack dab in the middle of the rest of the rabble.  Not bad for not having thumbs.

From Ken Cooper:

 March Madness never disappoints.  Thrilling first round.  Full results follow and are in the attached.


  • There are a record 98 people in the pool this year!
  • No one had the seeds to pick Lehigh over Duke.  Party time in Bethlehem. 
  • No one had the cajones to pick Norfolk State over Mizzou.
  • It was amazing how many nailed the entire East correctly.  So, R.B., you aint that smart.
  • 33 people picked VCU over the Shockers of Wichita State
  • 16 people picked play-in South Florida over Temple
  • 8 people picked Ohio over Michigan
  • Jay Bilas is the early leader going 26/32.  Andy Roth, Harry Smith, Tyler McCandless and Mike Buenting (huge Iowa fan) closely followed with 25/32 in the first round. 
  • The average number right of 21.10 is the lowest in pool history.  This equals Upset central.
  • If you did not request an email of your picks - you can see you picks in the "Players Pick" tab
  • Look for the celebrity results of Obama, LeBron James, Dick Vitale, Uhaff Noballs and Jay Bilas throughout the Tourney.

Champ breakdown:

Kentucky 46
UNC  17
Mich St  9
Mizzou  7
Kansas 6
Syracuse  4
Florida St  3
Ohio St  2
Wisc  1
Duke  1
G-Town  1
Baylor  1

Current
Total
Place Name Points
1 Bilas, Jay 26
2 Roth, Andy 25
3 Smith, Harry 25
4 McCandless, Tyler 25
5 Buenting, Mike 25
6 Verhoeven, Nick 24
7 Licari, Danielle 24
8 Brownie 24
9 Wimmer, Mark 24
10 Obama, Barack 24
11 Radzwich, Maddi 23
12 Caldwell, R.B. 23
13 Rupe, Gavin 23
14 Adkins, Jeff 23
15 Dubya, G 23
16 Kletter, Ekaterina 23
17 Smith, Harry SYR 23
18 Moore, Ron 23
19 Novak, Jay 23
20 Hansen, Steve LTM 23
21 Clelland, Jim 23
22 CRASH 23
23 Sports Illustrated 23
24 McCarthy, Dennis 22
25 Pruitt, Christopher 22
26 Rupe, Mark 22
27 Cooper, Kathleen 22
28 Carney, James 22
29 Caldwell, Kevin 22
30 Dickey, Brandt 22
31 Smith, Holden 22
32 Hall, Ricardo 22
33 Bisko, Tommy III 22
34 Bisko, Matthew 22
35 O'Reilly Aidan 22
36 Lincoln, Matt 22
37 Boyer, Brian SYR 22
38 Berseth, Kyle 22
39 Miller, Kristin 1 22
40 Ancharski, Frank 22
41 Cannon, Marshall  2 22
42 Morse, Karen 22
43 Noballs, Uhaff 22
44 Moskowitz, Spott 21
45 McCann, Ian 21
46 Dickey, Alex 21
47 Cooper, Kevin 21
48 Strandberg, David 21
49 Hansen, Steve PSU 21
50 Cole, Jason 21
51 Weaver, JudyLynn 21
52 Whittaker, Whit 21
53 Sabel, Douglas 21
54 Kletter, Todd 21
55 Cooper, Kyle 21
56 Jones, Darryl 21
57 Garrison, Chris LTF 21
58 Wood, Kyle 21
59 Cooper, Ken 21
60 Vitale, Dick 21
61 Venne, Lisa 2 20
62 Mangan, Larry 20
63 Walter, Doug 20
64 Munro, Scott 20
65 Radzwich, Bob 20
66 Caldwell, Ryan 20
67 Mangan, Larry 2 20
68 Oliver, Steve 20
69 Will, Sean 20
70 SNAKE 20
71 Gifford, Bob 20
72 Angelo, Peter 20
73 Heitzmann, Colin 20
74 Hardyk, Drew 20
75 Hamer, Bob 20
76 Hamer, Allison 20
77 O'Brien, Kevin Kelly 20
78 Cannon, Marshall 20
79 Wintersteen, Kyle 19
80 Bettis, Lena 19
81 Bodine, James 19
82 Caldwell, Sean 19
83 Bisko, Tom 19
84 Bettis, Lena 2 19
85 Oliver, Owen 19
86 Hutz 19
87 Jackson,Jayson 19
88 Tate, Andy 19
89 Morse, Mike 19
90 Clinton, Joe 18
91 Oppenheimer, Hank 18
92 Garrison, Chris PSU 18
93 Riter, Tony 18
94 Murphy, Patrick 18
95 James, LeBron 18
96  Fat Ass 17
97 Venne, Lisa 17
98 Anderson, Mark 15

And don't forget to keep up with the Penn State Track Alumni Short Story by adding a sentence to the comments below.  The story so far...
It was a dark and stormy night.  He had his entry form for the 11th Annual Coach Harry Groves Golf Tournament filled out and ready to send.  As he sat, intently honing his pitching wedge to a fine edge, his email alert sounded.   When he realized his hands had begun to tremble violently, then bizarrely in step to a favorite song from back in the day.  Somewhere nearby, a dog barked, a door slammed.  Undaunted by the slamming door, he focused on his choice between a medium shirt and an extra-medium.  Extra medium isn't going to work, he thought, I might need a large.  Checking off the space between "extra medium" and "large", he turned his thoughts to who else might be coming to the greatest golf tournament he has ever entered?  As the anxiety of the shirt selection abated, his next chore was to sort through the inventory in his golf bag - where could he get newer range balls in time for the big event?  Ignoring the elements, he decided to break out his pitching wedge and chip a few balls in the back yard.

7 comments:

  1. That's when he noticed Skwilli's 3 extra putters in his bag.

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  2. They were right next to Paul Mundy's oversized driver carved out of illegal whale bone.

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  3. Theres something really wrong with you david.

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  4. After numerous fruitless whacks the only loft he gained was from clumps of lawn flying into the neighbor's yard; a neighbor who claims he "played" track at Pitt. (KKOB)

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  5. but our hero knew that one of those putters was in the loooooooooong process of being delivered to its rightful caretaker who lived just minutes away :P

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  6. Meanwhile, at headquarters, dozens of blog operatives were getting ready for the photo of last year's Golden Putter Winner, this year's Golden Putter Winner and Horace Ashenfelter III, the putter's namesake.

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  7. But first, the police had to sort out the damage caused to the neighbor's house from all the night chipping and determine who was wildly chanting something having to do with rusty boots.

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