Author Archives: Scott

Local Boy Williams Out

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La Mirada native Derrick Williams, who if he had played us at Hutchinson in his street ball would’ve scared him off :-), and his Arizona Wildcats are out, and that also means the end of the Pac 10.  Although Arizona knocked me out of the pool, it did keep the integrity of the pool intact as 4 still have a chance to win the title.  Had Arizona won, Craig would’ve been our champ today.  Instead he has a 75% to win first.  The Mighty Mobelfakta has joined Craig as guaranteed with a chance to win money (don’t know if The MM could lose a tiebreaker for 6th).

Here are the possibilities.  BTW, the pool started in 1995 by a bunch of us who graduated from La Mirada High in ’91.

Is Butler the new dynasty?

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Wow, Butler out-coaches Florida in OT.  The 26 who picked Florida lost out and that means only 27 can win money and only 4 can win it all.  This also guarantees that we will have a 16th different HWCI NCAA Pool champion.

Update:  Our Champ.  Will it be Craig S (Craig) in his 5th year and has never finished higher than 31st?  Or will it be our pool admin David F (The Mighty Mobelfakta) in his 17th year and 4th prize win (last in ’04)? Or Roy W (Krispy Kremer) in his 10th year and 2nd prize win (’05)?  Or will it be Steve N (Pack Rat) who entered a 2nd entry for the first time ever and is in his 6th pool and has never finished higher than 17th?

Poked in the Buckeye

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While eating at Morton’s in Santa Ana, we were watching the end of the Ohio St-Kentucky game on David’s (The Mighty Mobelfakta) iPhone and although it was great both teams did not call a timeout and continued play for a frantic minute, Ohio St.’s loss means that the pool is in disarray as the third #1 seed falls.  123 people had a pick with 106 of those taking Ohio St.

With points few and far between from here on out, Craig has clinched money for the first time ever (6th year).  In fact, if Butler and Arizona win tomorrow, he will become the first person ever to clinch the HWCI NCAA Pool title before the final weekend (semifinals).  Only 32 are still alive with only 7 having a chance to win 1st.

Pac 10 Still Alive

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We’ll have to wait one more round to retire the “Pac 10” moniker as somehow Airzona found Duke’s “off” swich in dominating them in the second half.  Butler outlasts Duke of the two 2010 finalists and reaches the Elite 8 in holding off Wisconsin.  Just 46 are alive for money with only 20 with a chance for 1st.  Full update coming tomorrow though David should have the latest standings up now.

Exciting but Mountain West is No More

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UConn held off MWC champ San Diego St. in final seconds.  The Huskies trip to the Elite 8 leaves only 73 alive for the top prizes and only 29 eligible for 1st. 66 picked UConn.

Florida out-hustled Jimmer-led BYU at the end of regulation and in OT sending 6 more entries to oblivion and leaving only 24 with a chance for 1st (Mine was 1 of 5 eliminated from 1st). 77 picked Florida.

Craig‘s lead is now down to 3 over The Downtown Fiction.

Prizes Detals Leaked…

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The formal newsletter comes out late tonight (or early tomorrow, depending where you live), but here are some nuggets:

  • 1st place is a record $515, enough for about 125 gallons of gas in California or 0.026% of what Charlie Sheen used to get paid for a single episode
  • A new 6th place prize is introduced, and it will be $60 (I wish this was in place last year when I finished 6th)
  • In the race for the Bonus Prize (Winningest Conference), only 21 entries are still alive (since the Big East crapped out) and 36 entries are eliminated from both the Bonus1 and top 6 prize money… but, if no one wins this Bonus1, every non-winning entry is alive again for the total points tiebreaker Bonus2.
  • What would you like to see as a Bonus Prize?  Most upset weighted points?  Most Elite 8 teams? Comment and let us know!

Issue # 6.3.2 “Double-Digit Delight”

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Issue # 6.3.2 "Double-Digit Delight"

I hope everyone enjoyed the weekend games.  Sunday did seem to go very, very slow as it made me think having games spread apart is not a great idea (usually, Sunday games end around 7 so CBS can show “60 Minutes” and “The Amazing Race”).

Anyway, we officially have 125 entries (Elvis26 as I suspected, entered by accident).  Thank you all!  If you go to the standings and look at the “Possible Finish” column, you’ll see numbers and if you’re unlucky, an “e'”.  The numbers represent your highest possible finish (so “1” means you can still finish first) with “e” meaning “(Your entry here), I’m sorry to tell you that you’ve been eliminated from the HWCI NCAA Pool“.  But don’t despair, everyone who gets eliminated has a second chance for our Bonus Prize.  And some of you may be eliminated there as well.  Then all you have left is pride.  Prize distribution and Bonus details delivered Tuesday.

#1 Duke escapes

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Another missed free throw, another heart-stopping ending as Duke came close to being the second #1 seed to fall after blowing nearly a 15-point lead after Michigan went on a 16-2 run.  Washington and North Carolina exchanged dumb plays with Washington inexplicably taking a half-court heave with 3 seconds left but then getting bailed out by a UNC player all by himself tipping the missed shot out of bounds to give Washington another chance.  Both both top seeds move on meaning no change in the standings after the first two games.