1999 HWCI NCAA Pool Update

#1- West

The University of Connecticut Huskies (34-2) are the 1999 NCAA Champions

Monday, March 29, 1999                      http://www.HWCI.com/ncaa
Issue # 15.6.1 "We shocked the world!..."

                     1999 HWCI NCAA TOURNAMENT POOL
                     ==============================

          LANGDON ONE STEP TOO MANY AS UCONN SHOCKS DUKE, 77-74
 Free Fabone snaps curse while Big Spider Beck defies odds to take 4th

     EL SEGUNDO/LA MIRADA, CA (smt)-  Trajan Langdon of #1E-Duke 
traveled (although it was obvious, I'm surprised the ref had the guts
to call it) on their second to last possession and fell on Duke's last 
as time ran out to give #1W-UConn an improbable 77-74 win for their
first NCAA Championship.  It's kind of odd that this was one of the
biggest upsets in the final this decade considering UConn is arguably
the second-best team in the nation.  I said that the only way to 
beat Duke is keep them behind late in the game.  If you are playing
catch-up with Duke, forget it.  UConn had the a rare run against Duke
to go up 65-59. Of course, Duke fought back, but it was Duke who had to
force the issues, not UConn.  Not being used to a "pressure" situation
of being behind after routing their previous five tournament opponents, 
you could say Duke was rusty and didn't make the big plays at the
end.  For once, both teams hit key free throws at the end of the game.
Richard Hamilton lead the Huskies with 27 pts, and Khalid El-Amin hit
2 clutch free throws with 5.2 seconds left.  Should Duke have called a
timeout on either of their last two possessions before Langdon's
follies?  I'd say yes on the first possession when Duke got to 
halfcourt.  Oh well.  Duke finished 37-2 (ties record for most wins)
and UConn 34-2.  Duke suffered a rare double loss because its women's
team lost in the final to Purdue on Sunday.  Duke is still the better
team though.  Like the 2nd half of the Michigan St. game, the end of 
the first half saw UConn control the game but Duke was still in it,
never letting UConn lead by more than 4.  It seemed everytime UConn
built a small 3-4 point lead, Duke would come back, then let UConn 
build that small 3-4 point lead, then come back again.  The end of the
half saw Langdon hit a 3-pt shot to cut the UConn's 4-pt lead to one, 
then seconds later he converted a 4-pt play to put Duke up 39-36 
before the half ended with Duke leading 39-37.

     It was the first time in three years that someone picked the 
correct NCAA champion and three of the four people who picked UConn to 
win it all won money.  As was decided on Saturday, SHARY BOBBINS 
(1st, 146) took first.  Her 146 points ties for the 2nd most points
earned in pool history.  Scott T, who could have won money on 30 of 32
possibilities entering the Final Four, barely salvaged one money spot 
with FREE FABONE (2nd, 137) taking the $90 2nd place prize.  CARSERONI 
(3rd, 120), a questionable entry at first before confirmation, 
took third place while BIG SPIDER BECK (4th, 118), who had just 4 of
128 possibilities to win entering the Elite 8, took 4th place, his
second win of the pool.  BIG GAME (6th, 117) was denied a chance to
win money three pools in a row.  Scott T's win with FREE FABONE snapped
a winless streak (0-for-5 record) of people who have entered twice.  
His other entry, THE FABONE V (10th, 113) finished 10th.  TRUE BRUIN
(36th, 67) finished with the lowest points in history and least wins
in the tourney (25).

     1999 HWCI NCAA WINNERS                              
     ----------------------
     1st Place- SHARY BOBBINS (Lisa T)       $180.00
     2nd Place- FREE FABONE (Scott T)        $ 90.00 (Career: $130)
     3rd Place- CARSERONI (Carson D)         $ 60.00
     4th Place- BIG SPIDER BECK (Fernando B) $ 30.00 (Career: $100)

     ALL-TIME MONEY WINNERS IN NCAA POOLS
     ------------------------------------
   1 Lisa T			$180.00 (1st 1999)
   2 Anna			$150.00 (1st 1998)
   3 Jason S			$145.00 (1st 1996, 3rd 1997)
   4 Scott T			$130.00 (3rd 1998, 2nd 1999)
   5 Sean D			$125.00 (1st 1997)
   6 Fernando B			$100.00 (1st 1995, 4th 1999)
     James L			$100.00 (3rd 1996, 2nd 1998)
   8 Carson D			$ 60.00 (3rd 1999)
     Brian S			$ 60.00 (2nd 1997)
  10 Joseph K			$ 50.00 (2nd 1996)
  11 Nelson			$ 30.00 (2nd 1995)
  12 Dave F			$ 20.00 (3rd 1995)
     Scott H			$ 20.00 (4th 1998)
  ----------------------------------------------------------
     5-year total            $ 1,170.00 (17 money spots)

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What a game- I'm hoarse!...
Scott HW