2011 HWCI NCAA Pool Update

The 17th HWCI NCAA Tournament Pool

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Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Issue # 2.1.2 "First Four Not So Bad"
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FIRST FOUR FOR CHARITY NETS $60!
Deadline is 9 am PDT Thursday! Returnees flock, but where's the new blood?

EL SEGUNDO, CA (smt)- Thanks to the thirty people who participated in the inaugural HWCI NCAA First Four for Charity contest. In just over 24 hours, 30 are vying to become the first-ever Champion, and two people have already proclaimed it (names withheld til later ;-))). As it seemed silly in retrospect that in my announcement of the contest that if I got 24 entries, I'd double it to $48 but if I got 26 entries, that would only be $26, I am going to double it anyway. So $60 will be going to the American Red Cross (despite what this bozo says) to help those affected by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and the Pacific. At the halfway point, Cliff T leads with a +8 point differential with Vi N and Kevin T in second at +8. Ten others are 2-0 as well. I have mostly soccer stuff so if the winner wants a soccer surprise, let me know and I'll mail it to you for winning.

Apparently, 2.6 million people actually know what TruTV is and where to find it on their cable system which is impressive. I even watched the end of the first game (though via MMOD) which was pretty exciting with #16SEa-UNC-Asheville. rallying to tie and force OT vs #16SEb-Arkansas-Little Rock. #12Eb-Clemson showed what a mistake it was to include #12Ea-UAB, crushing them by 18.

As of 1:30 pm, we had 54 entries which included a record 26 on Tuesday. But of the 43 people, only four are new so while the returnees are coming back in droves, we need new blood if we want to top last year's record total of 117 entries. I'm a little surprised that with the First Four going on that a lot of people are submitting their brackets early (of course, they can edit it at any time before the deadline if a First Four winner changes their mind).

Please join our Facebook HWCI NCAA Pool Group. Here you can join the group and meet your competitors, make new friends, set up NCAA watching gatherings, and post stuff to the wall (pictures, witty comments, etc.).

You can mail your entry fee (email me for snail mail) or give your $10 (per entry) to someone who will give the money to David or Scott. We are accepting PayPal (check or PayPal funds only) to "hwci<at>hotmail.com" or credit card PayPal payments to "smt0222<at>yahoo.com" (the entry fee is $10.61 (61 cents in PayPal fees... damn them!)).

Enter online now! You can also fax your entry to me at (720) 368-0816 or email us for a snail mail address (postmarked by Thursday AM). Make arrangements (such as PayPal) to send in your $10 entry fee(s) by March 18th. Complete rules and daily pool information can be found on the official site: http://www.HWCI.com/ncaa.

Tids & Bits - When in the bracket form page, if there's a red X or if the java applet fails to load, click here to download and install the Sun Java Runtime Environment... I forgot that PayPal is now charging crazy fees even for Pesonal non-credit card accounts. So, if you click on the PayPal link for either option, it will be $10.61 -- BUT, if you just want to pay $10 via PayPal, you have to manually log on to PayPal, send money to "hwci<at>hotmail.com" and choose a PERSONAL reason (not PURCHASE) such as "Gift"...16 picked UNCA and 22 picked Clemson... 5 are 0-2 with Ford R in the rear with a +42...

> Initial Email for reference:

I was thinking of doing a short contest for the First Four which starts 3:30 pm PDT tomorrow. Got a note from a friend that the best way to support the people of Japan is to send money to the American Red Cross (link: https://american.redcross.org/site/Donation2?idb=0&5052.donation=form1&df_id=5052). If you could indulge me, please send your picks for the four First Four games and margin of victory for each (e.g., UNC-Asheville by 10 pts). Your entry is free and for every valid entry I get, I’ll donate $1 per entry (if under 25 entries, $2 per entry) on behalf of HWCI NCAA Pool (I’ll use this as my middle name and hopefully my credit card will still go through). Even if you don’t care about bball, just send in your picks anyway. Best of all… no nicknames to come up with! I probably won’t have time to figure out the winner til the weekend but it will help if you reply directly to this email or put in the subject line “First Four picks”. Deadline is 3:30 pm PDT Tuesday (tomorrow)! I’ll post my pick on the website (http://www.hwci.com/ncaa) later tonight.

———–FORM————-
NAME (First, Last):
WINNER & MARGIN OF VICTORY: UNC-Asheville vs Arkansas-Little Rock (UALR)
WINNER & MARGIN OF VICTORY: UAB vs Clemson
WINNER & MARGIN OF VICTORY: Texas-San Antonio (UTSA) vs Alabama St
WINNER & MARGIN OF VICTORY: USC vs Virginia Commonwealth (VCU)
———-END———-

Thanks! The winner gets bragging rights as the first HWCI NCAA First Four Champion. Winner is the most correct picks with the tiebreaker the lowest margin of victory difference (above or below).

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Who will be the First Four for Charity contest winner? ...

Scott