You know, the Gonzaga has not advanced past the Sweet 16 since their incredible Elite 8 run in 1999… that’s 14 years ago yet some of us still think of the Zags as this great mid-major team. And once as a #2 and once as a #3 they lost in the Round of 32. Like this year but as a #1 seed. Below is Saturday’s update (original).
Saturday, March 23, 2013 Issue # 5.2.1 "Zig Zagged" [ Home | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Updates ]
A day late as I try to catch up from my week long biz trip – this is Thursday’s recap…
Well, my business review is over and it went well. Drove almost two hours from Pax River in Maryland back to Tyson’s Corner in Virginia. Got a very good filet, crab bisque, and very fresh scallops (and I don’t care for scallops). Then walked about 5 miles in DC in sub-freezing weather. So now, playing catch-up with the pool. First of all, sorry to everyone if you’re an Apple fanboy/girl and couldn’t load the java applet to see the bracket but thanks to you for being flexible and taking pictures with your smartphone (yes, even iPhones) and sending it to us. I think I’ve finally entered the last of them delaying David in posting the standings. If it’s not up soon, then check tomorrow morning.
So it’s weird that at dinner, only half the games have been completed (here in the EDT). Or is it weird Continue reading
Cliff T and Tom J both got all four games correct but Cliff’s 1-pt margin in both games sealed the tiebreaker with a point differential of just 16 vs. 28 for Tom. 17 of 20 picked James Madison U. while 8 picked La Salle (yesterday, 15 picked NC A&T and 11 picked St. Mary’s (CA). Vi N and Wendy B both went just 1-3 but Vi took last with a point differential of 55! Cliff joins ’11 winner David A (only person to go 4-0 (+ 30)) and ’12 winner Michael C (1 of 2 to go 4-0 (+15)). Right now, the current donation total is $56 (thanks Tom J!) to MathCounts!
| # | FIRST | LI | Wins | Pts Diff |
| 1 | Cliff | T | 4 | 16 |
| 1 | Tom | J | 4 | 28 |
| 3 | Eric | F | 3 | 21 |
| 3 | Kevin | T | 3 | 26 |
| 5 | Roy | W | 3 | 34 |
| 6 | Neil | P | 3 | 35 |
| 7 | Justin | P | 3 | 36 |
| 8 | Charles | D | 3 | 40 |
| 8 | Deven | K | 3 | 41 |
| 10 | Sam | S | 3 | 44 |
| 10 | Ron | E | 3 | 45 |
| 10 | Albert | H | 2 | 36 |
| 13 | Ken | B | 2 | 36 |
| 14 | David | A | 2 | 40 |
| 15 | Keith | J | 2 | 42 |
| 16 | Eric | C | 2 | 52 |
| 17 | Scott | T | 2 | 54 |
| 18 | John | C | 2 | 55 |
| 19 | Wendy | B | 1 | 38 |
| 20 | Vi | N | 1 | 55 |
Or view full update.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013 Issue # 2.0.2 "Let's Do the Math (That) Counts" [ Home | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Updates ]
As stated earlier, 20 people are in our 3rd annual HWCI NCAA First Four for Charity. After 2 games, 7 are 2-0 with Cliff T. and Tom J. lead with a point differential of 14. Wendy B. was the only one to go 0-2. Here are the current standings which is followed by everyone’s picks:
| # | FIRST | LI | Wins | Pts Diff |
| 1 | Cliff | T | 2 | 14 |
| 1 | Tom | J | 2 | 14 |
| 3 | Deven | K | 2 | 15 |
| 3 | Neil | P | 2 | 15 |
| 5 | Charles | D | 2 | 16 |
| 6 | Sam | S | 2 | 18 |
| 7 | Ron | E | 2 | 20 |
| 8 | Eric | F | 1 | 10 |
| 8 | Keith | J | 1 | 10 |
| 10 | Albert | H | 1 | 14 |
| 10 | Ken | B | 1 | 14 |
| 10 | Roy | W | 1 | 14 |
| 13 | Kevin | T | 1 | 15 |
| 14 | David | A | 1 | 20 |
| 15 | Vi | N | 1 | 23 |
| 16 | John | C | 1 | 27 |
| 17 | Justin | P | 1 | 29 |
| 18 | Scott | T | 1 | 31 |
| 19 | Eric | C | 1 | 32 |
| 20 | Wendy | B | 0 | 16 |
Everyone’s picks below: Continue reading
Thanks to the twenty (20) people submitted their First Four picks on such short notice, raising $40. Thanks to some additional generosity by Deven K. and Charles D., the current total is $51. At the end of the tournament, I’ll make the donation and post the receipt (like in 2011 ($100) and 2012 ($83)).
As a person who loves math and science and watching the decline of STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) skills in our younger generation, I think it’s very important to expose boys and girls to STEM skills at a young age regardless of what he/she wants to be when he/she grows up. So I’ve decided that this year’s charity is MathCounts Continue reading
Just a quick note that our Web Entry is now live! Click on the Web Entry menu on the top. Thanks to David for getting it up pretty fast.
For the 3rd straight year, we’ll be using the First Four games as a little friendly competition for charity. For every entry (it’s free), I’ll personally donate $2 to a charity TBD (if anyone has any ideas, let me know). Last year, $83 (odd number due to additional donations by generous people) was donated to the American Cancer Society. In 2011, $100 was donated to the American Red Cross for the tsunami and earthquake relief. It’s easy to enter. Just comment to this post or send an email to scott(at)hwci.com with the 4 First Four winners and the winning margin. Example: NC A&T wins by 4 points, Middle Tenn by 15 pts, La Salle by 1 pt, and James Madison by 8 pts. Simple. Here are the First Four matchups (deadline 3:30 pm PDT Tuesday):
#16MW NC A&T vs Liberty
#11MW Middle Tenn vs St. Mary's (CA)
#16E LIU Brooklyn vs James Madison U.
#13W Boise St. vs La Salle
Well, UC-Irvine had a chance to make the tourney for the first time but came out short (literally on their late 3-pt attempts). And the big UC, UCLA lost in the Pac 12 Championship. San Diego St. may be the only other SoCal team with a chance to make the tourney. Brackets start to come out at 3 pm PDT (you can add this to your calendar). We hope to get the online entry done by Monday morning, though in the past we’ve snuck it in before midnight Sunday. Check often. Please follow us (@HWCI_Pools) and use #hwcincaa for any tweets and for the latest quick (intra-day) updates. The initial email has been sent out so if you didn’t get one, please let us know. Everything is the same as before – $10/entry (up to 3 entries) with a Thursday 9 a.m. PDT deadline.
Liberty is in with a dismal 15-20 record (but on a 5-game winning streak) which will put them in the First Four. Also, congrats to Fla Gulf Coast for their first tournament appearance. Hopefully they will avoid the First Four.
Our 19th HWCI NCAA Pool begins next week!
