Monthly Archives: March 2012

Up to 133 – still unofficial

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Like Sherlock Holmes, forensics showed that Ana2Vader would be covered by Gator Glory so we now have 133 entries.  There are no more “unknowns”, everyone else has paid or is a veteran so 133 should be our final number.  We’re still unofficial until tomorrow, though.

First Four For Charity Champ – Michael C

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Congrats to Michael C who edged out Albert H on point differential, 15 to 25.  Both got all 4 First Four games correct.  Ron E and Fernando B (who decided to sit the pool out, maybe wisely so) both went 0-4 with the latter taking last with a 60 point differential.

Thanks to all who participated.  A minimum of $67 will be donated ($52 for the pool, $17 by other generous folks) to the Rice Around the Clock team who are participating in the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life in Alhambra.

Final standings below… eh, finishing 20th does not bode well for me in the pool… Continue reading »

5 hours til deadline!

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We have received 109 entries thus far (2 likely to be removed) which makes it a slight chance we could top 125 we had last year.  For full disclosure, David (The Mighty Mobelfakta) and my (Legally Fabone) picks are here:

http://www.hwci.com/ncaa/2012/picks.asp?entries=The+Mighty+Mobelfakta

http://www.hwci.com/ncaa/2012/picks.asp?entries=Legally+Fabone

I will probably submit a 2nd entry and I will post it here as well.  Remember, the deadline is 9 am.  If you have problems, you can take a photo or scan your bracket and email it to me.

Viewing your picks…

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I’ve put up a temporary web page to view your picks (or anyone else’s).  Please note that if you have emailed changes, I haven’t put it in yet (and I will personally email you when that is done).  I’ll be updating nicknames as well (e.g., changing Joker’s Wild-Update back to Joker’s Wild).  If you have questions, let us know.

Three on Top

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Michael C, Albert H, and JaMIe A lead the First Four For Charity contest with 3 wins with Michael, who exactly picked VT by 12,  in first with a 10 point differential.  But it’s a battle between only Michael and Jamie.  If Cal wins, Bear alum Jamie will win the 2nd HWCI NCAA First Four For Chairty contest.  If South Florida wins, Michael takes the crown.  No tiebreaker involved here.  This is after Vermont took down Lamar (only 10 picked VT).  This is just the 2nd year, but if Cal wins, David A, who was the only one to a perfect 4-0 last year will go 0-4 this year.  Currently 4 are tied at 0-3 including Jamie’s squeeze Fern (who wisely sided with her and did not pick against Cal).

Signs and Portents

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Half the First Four done.  So Western Kentucky rallies from 16 points with 4:52 left to beat Mississippi Valley St.  Then BYU rallies from 25 points with 4 minutes left in the 1st half to beat Iona.  Both games weren’t pretty to watch (lots of turnovers, lots of missed free throws, lots of bad decision-making), but crazy is good.

As for the First Four For Charity, 7 are 2-0 with Albert H. in the lead with a point differential of 10.  Seven are 0-2 and would need lots of help.  Standings below…

FIRST LI Wins Pts Diff
Albert H 2 10
Eric C 2 18
Ken B 2 18
Michael C 2 22
Tim W 2 24
Chris B 2 26
Jaime A 2 44
Paul T 1 13
Kevin T 1 16
Darryn B 1 18
Vi N 1 18
Michael G 1 19
Yoh W 1 19
Craig S 1 20
Yumi S 1 20
Eric F 1 25
Scott T 1 26
Samer S 1 28
Roy W 1 32
Wendy B 0 23
Ron E 0 30
David A 0 32
Fernando B 0 37
Justin P 0 37
Andy F 0 43
Deven K 0 47

Continue reading »

Melo ex-‘Cuse-d

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Biggest news today was the academic suspension of Fab Melo of Syracuse for the tournament.  How will this change your picks?  Will the Orange rally around this or will they falter early.  Could go either way.  BUT, if you want to change your picks, you are able to up until the deadline of 9 am PDT Thursday.  If it’s a simple change, email me.  Or, you can resubmit your bracket with your SAME nickname + update (e.g., Nickname-update or Nickname-up or Nickname-rev).

First Four For Charity Under Way

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Wow… a 16-point lead with 4:52 left?  Easy.  Not so.  15-18 Western Kentucky just outscored Mississippi Valley St. 22-5 at the end to advance to lose to Kentucky.  WKY has now won 7 straight after being 9-18.  Two more wins and they’ll reach .500.

We got 26 (we had 30 last year) in the 2nd HWCI NCAA First Four for Charity meaning I happily get to donate $52 to Relay for Life Alhambra (American Cancer Society).  And that number could grow as others have pledged money.  Thanks, everyone!  Here are the picks I got (and hopefully translated it correctly) — BTW, 12 picked WKY (BTW2, David A, who was the only person to pick all 4 games correctly last year, missed this one!): Continue reading »

A nice pace so far

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We tied a record with 2 entries on Sunday and set a record with 20 entries on Monday — for a total of 22 entries which is 7 ahead of last year’s pace to a record 125 entries.  The not so good news is that only 2 new people have entered so we need more fresh blood (preferably those who pick Beach (LB State) to win it all).  I am not sure why people feel really good about submitting their entry this early, but you all obviously know something I don’t (which ain’t very hard).

Don’t forget to quickly send an email or post a comment on this blog or a comment on Facebook for your First Four for Charity picks (free!).  Have family members submit a free entry.  Deadline is 3:30 pm today!  And don’t forget to watch the games on TruTV.

Issue # 2.0.2 “First Four For Charity – Relay For Life”

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http://hwci.com/ncaa/2012/n2012_02.html

For the second straight year, we are doing a short contest for the First Four which starts 3:40 pm PDT tomorrow (Tuesday).  For the past several years, I’ve participated in Alhambra, California’s Relay for Life to benefit the American Cancer Society (link: http://main.acsevents.org/goto/tamashiro).  If you could indulge me, please send your picks for the four First Four games and margin of victory for each (e.g., BYU by 10 pts).  Your entry is free and for every valid entry I get, I’ll donate $2 per entry (I’ll donate a minimum $50) 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.  Last year, 30 entries were received (some who didn’t even enter the regular pool) so $60 was donated (turned out, at the end, with other’s help, $100 total was donated!).  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: Mississippi Valley (MVS) vs Western Kentucky (WKY)

WINNER & MARGIN OF VICTORY: BYU vs Iona

WINNER & MARGIN OF VICTORY: Lamar vs Vermont

WINNER & MARGIN OF VICTORY: California vs South Florida

———-END———-

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

You can also just comment on this post and put your picks there.  Simple and for a good cause.