That was my favorite quote of the tournament so far, from Reggie Miller after one of the UCLA players threw down on Florida's center. Reggie was a great trash talker and certainly has not lost his flair for it as an announcer! I am pretty sure I will never be able to use this in the future (or the past for that matter as this was a posterizing dunk!), but I can pass it on to some of the Spaniards here and localize it.
4 of the Elite 8 teams are set now, with Wisconsin delivering an impressive blow for the Big 10, Arizona and Florida moving on without too much flash (I especially thought Florida was sloppy) and Dayton officially is crowned this year's Cinderella! On Sparty On! from Richard Rykhus (MSU grad living now in Chicago - obviously going with the hometown pick of the Spartans to win it all!) picked Dayton, but he was unable to come up with the other 3 winners on Thursday. This correct pick though pushed the Sparty On! entry up 30 spots in the standings to 11th place.
60 other entries picked 3 of the 4 Thursday winners and were rewarded with jumps in the standings from 10 to 15 places in general. Attack of the Clones from John Springer has moved into the to spot, while 7 other of the top ten spots also had 3 winners on the day and are contending.
6 entries, including #2 overall South Beach Wannabee by Joey Wagoner, pulled Blutarsky's on the day, getting zero.zero points! This gives the pool a new Toilet Bowl leader, Spartacus Rules from Kamran Koochekzadeh of Washington DC (great profile photo on Facebook by the way, though judging from your picks, you may have wanted to jump the fire a 2nd time!!). Spartacus Rules' Toilet Bowl "hopes" come down to tonights Virginia vs Michigan State game with a Spartan victory delivering the knock-out blow to this entry (ironic given the entry name!) and locking up the 2014 Hopski Toilet Bowl Championship for Kamran.
Deadbeats: We are down to just two deadbeats, Leapin' Larry Corrigan of Peru, IN (now in Chicago) and the man formerly known as the King, Darin Townsend of A-Town, IN!!! PAY UP!!
As for tonight's match-ups, a whopping 124 entries have Michigan State picked to knock off the #1 seeded Virginia Caveliers. A Sparty loss will certainly end the Hopski title hopes for quite a few of those 124 entries. I like Sparty to continue their healthy late season surge.
Just 3 entries have UConn picked over the Cyclones, including the Commish. I gotta have this one to have any shot at a 3rd Hopski title (heck, I will settle with a 1st page finish given the past few years results). UConn in MSG is a tough team to pick against.
Another 3 entries have some BIG points riding on Tennessee over Michigan. Sorry, not happening. Cinderella Vols are going home and yes - the BIG 10 RULES!!
The State of Kentucky Championship will be played out in Indianapolis and just 6 entries have Kentucky winning this one, with 109 rooting on UL. UL will get some revenge for its defeat earlier this year I believe.
96 entries this year in the 2nd Chance Dance! 16 went 4 for 4 on the first night of their 2nd chance!
ADIOS!!
Friday, March 28, 2014
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Sweet 16 Preview
Let's get into it quickly as I have hoops practice in 30 minutes!
Game 1 today is the Cinderella match-up, guaranteeing a double digit seed in the Elite 8 for just the 14th time in March Madness since 1985! Basically it happens just about every other year, though certainly sounds better as previously written. In terms of the Hopski, 41st place Sparty On! from Richard Rykhus is the only entry with Dayton and 65th place The Polar Vortex, from ex-Warsaw expat Bill Lyon is the only entry with Stanford. The Polar Vortex could use this one to stay on the 2nd page but Sparty On! still has a shot at Hopski Champion, so a big one for Richard!
Game 2 tips off 30 minutes later and it should be a good one, Baylor vs Wisconsin. 14 entries have Baylor winning and 81 have Wisconsin - so a LOT to gain for those backing the underdog, including 4 dawg bonus points IF you picked both teams into this game. I gotta support the Big 10 and indeed expect a Badger victory.
Florida is our "pool pick" for champion, leading the way with 57 entries having tabbed the Gators to win it all. A Bruin upset here would boost greatly the chances of the 8 having picked UCLA, but this is just not gonna happen, in fact, I expect a double digit win by the Gators.
The lat game of the night pits another pool favorite, Arizona (picked by 19 entries to take the title) against San Diego State. A whopping 119 have Arizona picked in this game, with 20 picking SD State. I am not expecting an upset in this one either.
In terms of the unpaid - we are down to 5 entries and 3 families! The Fazios are still waiting to hedge something, while Larry Corrigan and Darin Townsend just flat out have no excuse but to pay the fiddler!
A historical stats review puts the 2014 1st and 2nd rounds as above average in terms of correct picks and WAY above average in terms of Dawg Bonus Points!! This year's Hopski may break the all-time average of 136 set back in 2001 at this pace (and presuming Genty actually picks a winning underdog at some point!).
Presuming the final unpaid entries pay up - the Prize Pool looks like this:
155 entries @ $25 per, less last year's free best name and toilet bowl ($50), less software ($39), less paypal fees for non-personal payments ($15) = $3,771.
1st Place: 60% - $2,262.60
2nd Place: 25% - $942.75
3rd Place: 10% - $377.1
2nd Chance Dance: 5% - $188.50
Good Luck!!
Game 1 today is the Cinderella match-up, guaranteeing a double digit seed in the Elite 8 for just the 14th time in March Madness since 1985! Basically it happens just about every other year, though certainly sounds better as previously written. In terms of the Hopski, 41st place Sparty On! from Richard Rykhus is the only entry with Dayton and 65th place The Polar Vortex, from ex-Warsaw expat Bill Lyon is the only entry with Stanford. The Polar Vortex could use this one to stay on the 2nd page but Sparty On! still has a shot at Hopski Champion, so a big one for Richard!
Game 2 tips off 30 minutes later and it should be a good one, Baylor vs Wisconsin. 14 entries have Baylor winning and 81 have Wisconsin - so a LOT to gain for those backing the underdog, including 4 dawg bonus points IF you picked both teams into this game. I gotta support the Big 10 and indeed expect a Badger victory.
Florida is our "pool pick" for champion, leading the way with 57 entries having tabbed the Gators to win it all. A Bruin upset here would boost greatly the chances of the 8 having picked UCLA, but this is just not gonna happen, in fact, I expect a double digit win by the Gators.
The lat game of the night pits another pool favorite, Arizona (picked by 19 entries to take the title) against San Diego State. A whopping 119 have Arizona picked in this game, with 20 picking SD State. I am not expecting an upset in this one either.
In terms of the unpaid - we are down to 5 entries and 3 families! The Fazios are still waiting to hedge something, while Larry Corrigan and Darin Townsend just flat out have no excuse but to pay the fiddler!
A historical stats review puts the 2014 1st and 2nd rounds as above average in terms of correct picks and WAY above average in terms of Dawg Bonus Points!! This year's Hopski may break the all-time average of 136 set back in 2001 at this pace (and presuming Genty actually picks a winning underdog at some point!).
Presuming the final unpaid entries pay up - the Prize Pool looks like this:
155 entries @ $25 per, less last year's free best name and toilet bowl ($50), less software ($39), less paypal fees for non-personal payments ($15) = $3,771.
1st Place: 60% - $2,262.60
2nd Place: 25% - $942.75
3rd Place: 10% - $377.1
2nd Chance Dance: 5% - $188.50
Good Luck!!
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Pre-Sweet 16 Post Tomorrow!! Check out my ride today and BUY A COW!!
My legs have been just achy and somewhat tingly now for about 4 hours after knocking off a 60km ride today (that's about 37 miles), my longest yet in training for Burundi. More so, the elevation change was a nearly staggering (for me) 761 meters (just under 1/2 mile). Not sure how many of you know about strava, but it is a great training/tracking tool. You can check out my ride statistics at: Today's Ride
The challenge in Burundi is great (heck, it is pretty big everywhere these days). Yes, my bike challenge, but more so the challenge for Great Lakes Outreach and the people there. I continue to strongly urge you to consider a donation. Let's say just another $25 or $50 and with my matching, the Hopski will have a herd of cows producing milk in Burundi!!
WHY DONATE??
Those are 3 tick the boxes for me when making donations, so please give this more thought as we can certainly bump $375 total to date (though this may overlook your big checks sent directly to GLO!! :)
My Razoo page: http://www.razoo.com/story/May-2014-Tour-Du-Burundi-Hopper
Better still, send a check to GLO and avoid Razoo's 4.5% fees!!
Back to the brackets and madness tomorrow. I gotta go lay down!
Speaking of which - 6pm EST deadline for your free entry into the 2nd chance dance!! 2nd Chance Dance Entry
The challenge in Burundi is great (heck, it is pretty big everywhere these days). Yes, my bike challenge, but more so the challenge for Great Lakes Outreach and the people there. I continue to strongly urge you to consider a donation. Let's say just another $25 or $50 and with my matching, the Hopski will have a herd of cows producing milk in Burundi!!
WHY DONATE??
- This is a good cause;
- The people are personally known to me;
- The money gets to the projects (their admin costs are single digits!);
Those are 3 tick the boxes for me when making donations, so please give this more thought as we can certainly bump $375 total to date (though this may overlook your big checks sent directly to GLO!! :)
My Razoo page: http://www.razoo.com/story/May-2014-Tour-Du-Burundi-Hopper
Better still, send a check to GLO and avoid Razoo's 4.5% fees!!
Back to the brackets and madness tomorrow. I gotta go lay down!
Speaking of which - 6pm EST deadline for your free entry into the 2nd chance dance!! 2nd Chance Dance Entry
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Deadbeat Time
Ok, it is now time for some collection assistance from the field!!
Two rookie entrants have yet to pay and I have little idea where they have come from (presumably from one of you!).
Hayden Dudley (OJ Simpson), hiepduc2@yahoo.com and Matthew Powell (Dancing with the Starters), powell.mcp@gmail.com have yet to pay up. Please do put a bit of pressure on them to do so as I have little patience for excuses such as "I am busy" or "I will find the time soon" to pay!!
Other Hopski returnees still yet to pay include Larry Corrigan, Pat Libby, John Springer, Michael Fazio and Darin Townsend. Tidy this up ASAP and do not waste my time - seriously!!
The Hopski is a "public service" operation and chasing slow to pay entrants reduces my motivation to do this in the future - trust me!!
Two rookie entrants have yet to pay and I have little idea where they have come from (presumably from one of you!).
Hayden Dudley (OJ Simpson), hiepduc2@yahoo.com and Matthew Powell (Dancing with the Starters), powell.mcp@gmail.com have yet to pay up. Please do put a bit of pressure on them to do so as I have little patience for excuses such as "I am busy" or "I will find the time soon" to pay!!
Other Hopski returnees still yet to pay include Larry Corrigan, Pat Libby, John Springer, Michael Fazio and Darin Townsend. Tidy this up ASAP and do not waste my time - seriously!!
The Hopski is a "public service" operation and chasing slow to pay entrants reduces my motivation to do this in the future - trust me!!
Monday, March 24, 2014
First Weekend Update: Congrats Joey, Now Good-bye!
This update is in the Red and Blue of the Dayton Flyers as they certainly had a huge undertaking the first weekend, taking out Ohio State and Syracuse! They have a real shot at Dallas I think. Their attacking of the Syracuse zone was outstanding - great ball movement, patience and the crucial 3s or offensive rebound when they were needed. Basically just about everything that the Hoosiers did NOT do last year in losing to Syracuse (one of the below did not figure it out that time….)
South Beach Wannabe (Joey Wagoner of Indianapolis, IN and the son of my college roommate Wags) exploded in the 2nd round, racking up a whopping 63 underdog points and taking control of the leaderboard! Joey picked Dayton, UConn and Kentucky all into the Sweet 16 and racked up serious Dawg Bonus points in doing so. His 63 underdog points have smashed the previous all-time Hopski record of 55 by Cape Town Caper (Kyle Bowers of Warsaw, Poland, a Hoosier and two-time Hopski Champion) in its 2010 Championship. Unfortunately for Joey, he did NOT pick the Stanford defeat of KU and worse, had KU as his champion pick. Thus, Adios Joey!!
While we are handing out "adios" messages, Adios to Benny Brackets (Bennett Greenfeld of Washington DC and dare I say Jack's girlfriend's son). Benny Brackets racked up the 2nd most Dawg Points (48) and moved into 2nd place with a near perfect South and East brackets, but it all came apart in the West and Midwest as his champion Wichita State and final four bound Creighton were bumped along with Benny Brackets yesterday.
In third place, we actually have a continuing contender in Attack of the Clones (John Springer, former Warsaw expat and Iowa State grad). John has 5 of his Elite 8 left and his champion, but the ability to contend will rest on his Cyclones pick into the Final Four!
The first weekend does not typically determine the Hopski Champion, but it certainly determines who will NOT be the Hopski Champion! It is kind of like the Masters in that respect, with this coming weekend "Moving Weekend" where the true contenders for the title emerge! If you're Final Four is still intact and you are on the first 2 pages of the standings, you are still a contendah!!
At the other end of the Hopski spectrum, we have Crimeata (Ron Genty, the Big Dog E&Y partner formerly of Denver, Budapest, Manhattan Beach, Tokyo and now living in the Chicago burbs!) with zero Dawg Points! MR. BLUTARSKY, ZERO POINT ZERO ZERO!! Are you kidding me?? I thought something was wrong with the TT program when I saw zero Dawg Points in one of the most historic underdog tournaments ever! Ron, Ron, Ron - how did you do it?? Ron's ability to avoid the Hopski Toilet Bowl will largely rely on the Big 10 as he has Michigan St and Wisconsin picked into the Final Four! More importantly, he can get on the "Dawg Points" scoreboard with either earning a victory in the Sweet 16!
That is all for now. A pre-Sweet 16 update will come on Wednesday or Thursday.
Make sure you get your entries in for the 2nd Chance Dance!! It's already paid for and you could still nab 5% of the Prize Pool (about $191). Click on the 2nd Chance Pool tab on the Hopski Pool Website
South Beach Wannabe (Joey Wagoner of Indianapolis, IN and the son of my college roommate Wags) exploded in the 2nd round, racking up a whopping 63 underdog points and taking control of the leaderboard! Joey picked Dayton, UConn and Kentucky all into the Sweet 16 and racked up serious Dawg Bonus points in doing so. His 63 underdog points have smashed the previous all-time Hopski record of 55 by Cape Town Caper (Kyle Bowers of Warsaw, Poland, a Hoosier and two-time Hopski Champion) in its 2010 Championship. Unfortunately for Joey, he did NOT pick the Stanford defeat of KU and worse, had KU as his champion pick. Thus, Adios Joey!!
While we are handing out "adios" messages, Adios to Benny Brackets (Bennett Greenfeld of Washington DC and dare I say Jack's girlfriend's son). Benny Brackets racked up the 2nd most Dawg Points (48) and moved into 2nd place with a near perfect South and East brackets, but it all came apart in the West and Midwest as his champion Wichita State and final four bound Creighton were bumped along with Benny Brackets yesterday.
In third place, we actually have a continuing contender in Attack of the Clones (John Springer, former Warsaw expat and Iowa State grad). John has 5 of his Elite 8 left and his champion, but the ability to contend will rest on his Cyclones pick into the Final Four!
The first weekend does not typically determine the Hopski Champion, but it certainly determines who will NOT be the Hopski Champion! It is kind of like the Masters in that respect, with this coming weekend "Moving Weekend" where the true contenders for the title emerge! If you're Final Four is still intact and you are on the first 2 pages of the standings, you are still a contendah!!
At the other end of the Hopski spectrum, we have Crimeata (Ron Genty, the Big Dog E&Y partner formerly of Denver, Budapest, Manhattan Beach, Tokyo and now living in the Chicago burbs!) with zero Dawg Points! MR. BLUTARSKY, ZERO POINT ZERO ZERO!! Are you kidding me?? I thought something was wrong with the TT program when I saw zero Dawg Points in one of the most historic underdog tournaments ever! Ron, Ron, Ron - how did you do it?? Ron's ability to avoid the Hopski Toilet Bowl will largely rely on the Big 10 as he has Michigan St and Wisconsin picked into the Final Four! More importantly, he can get on the "Dawg Points" scoreboard with either earning a victory in the Sweet 16!
That is all for now. A pre-Sweet 16 update will come on Wednesday or Thursday.
Make sure you get your entries in for the 2nd Chance Dance!! It's already paid for and you could still nab 5% of the Prize Pool (about $191). Click on the 2nd Chance Pool tab on the Hopski Pool Website
I was serious about NOT referring to March Madness Pool when payment via paypal!!
Dear Mark Hopper,
After a review of your account activity, we have determined that the payments you received for a March Madness pool violate PayPal's Acceptable Use Policy.
Under the Acceptable Use Policy, PayPal may not be used to send or receive payments for activities that involve gambling and/or gaming activities. Among other things, this includes sports betting.
We understand that you may not have been aware that March Madness pools are considered sports betting under the PayPal Acceptable Use Policy.
After a review of your account activity, we have determined that the payments you received for a March Madness pool violate PayPal's Acceptable Use Policy.
Under the Acceptable Use Policy, PayPal may not be used to send or receive payments for activities that involve gambling and/or gaming activities. Among other things, this includes sports betting.
We understand that you may not have been aware that March Madness pools are considered sports betting under the PayPal Acceptable Use Policy.
Sincerely,
Sofia
PayPal, Brand Risk Management
PayPal, an eBay Company
Anyone else feel this is hypocritical shite given that had I been selling Chinese knock-offs on ebay, they would have no problem!?!?
2nd Chance Dance Pool Ready for Entries
|
Your Main Pool Entry gives you free entry into the 2nd Chance Dance!!
This is your chance at redemption and to show what you learned from watching the games over the weekend!! Same rules as the main pool and same scoring for teams picked into the Elite 8, Final Four, Championship Game and Champion. Underdog points still in play as well. Winner of 2nd Chance Dance receives 5% of Prize Pool! The link to the 2nd Chance Dance is at the top of the main pool (tab stating "2nd Chance Pool"). Good Luck! |
Sunday, March 23, 2014
So much for best intentions!
Update sometime tomorrow after work and a bike ride!
Today flew by with "other priorities", including scouting for CB Sitges and watching FC Barcelona's controversial win in the El Classico at Madrid!!
The man, the myth, the legend went for 3 goals, 2 goals on penalties and Barcelona stopped Madrid's 17 home win streak!
Back tomorrow with a weekend recap of the Madness!!
Today flew by with "other priorities", including scouting for CB Sitges and watching FC Barcelona's controversial win in the El Classico at Madrid!!
Back tomorrow with a weekend recap of the Madness!!
Update At Around 10am EST
Off to church to pray for my picks after watching Dayton take down the 'Cuse!!
Friday, March 21, 2014
Atlantic Sun Sets On Duke!
The Mercer Bears from the Atlantic Sun Conference took out the Duke Blue Devils in tonight's big upset. I guess Coach K should have worried more about the ASC instead of the A10 when making comments about relative conference strength last week. As it is, the ASC (Florida Gulf last year) takes out another top seed in the tourney and Coach K gets an early start on preparing Team USA for the Spanish visit and the World Cup of Basketball this summer!
I am calling it an evening here in Espana. The pool scheduler does not seem to want to cooperate with updating the website standings through the night, so most likely I will get them updated for you in the morning once i am up and about.
Better Call Saul!
Saul Phillips that is, the Coach of the North Dakota State Bison and the 2nd of two #12 seeds to pull of Day 1 upsets in the tourney. Oklahoma seemed to have this game in hand but a couple of bonehead plays in the final 2 minutes of regulation gave the Bison new life. Once the game got into OT, a freshman off the bench scored a huge 4 points and it was over for the Sooners! This game was a favorite upset pick of many of the media and 80 of the Hopski entrants to boot. 17 entries, including the Commish, have the Bison picked to knock off SD State as well. GO BISON!
The NDSU Post Game Press Conference is worth checking out. A refreshing team and coach without a doubt. I love the bar fight reference (Foster?!)!
Close but no cigar kudos go out to the Manhattan Jaspers who did a wonderful impression of Louisville until crunch time arrived. With 2:30 to go, the Jaspers had the ball and a 3 point lead, then, doh………bad pass turnover and a long-range bomb from Russ Smith tied it up. Luke Hancock then took over with 2 3s and a pair of free throws. Game over. Manhattan should be worth watching next year for those of you on the island….if their coach does not bolt. A very exciting team and style of ball.
The NDSU Post Game Press Conference is worth checking out. A refreshing team and coach without a doubt. I love the bar fight reference (Foster?!)!
Close but no cigar kudos go out to the Manhattan Jaspers who did a wonderful impression of Louisville until crunch time arrived. With 2:30 to go, the Jaspers had the ball and a 3 point lead, then, doh………bad pass turnover and a long-range bomb from Russ Smith tied it up. Luke Hancock then took over with 2 3s and a pair of free throws. Game over. Manhattan should be worth watching next year for those of you on the island….if their coach does not bolt. A very exciting team and style of ball.
NC State gets the goat award from yesterday as they could have added a 3rd 12 over 5 upset, yet a 14 point lead with 5 minutes to go was not enough to beat St. Louis. BOTH teams were terrible from the FT line, a combined 32-63 being the worst combined FT percentage in NCAA history (50.8%)!! Certainly no Elks Hoop Shoot winners from that game. Watching this game, it was clear that NC State was playing on fumes down the stretch, possibly due to the Tuesday night play-in game.
On to the pool Day 1 standings. None other than "Somebody Help Me, I Can't Stand the Pain" from Steve Miller of Bloomington, IN (my employer for two years while I was in College at IU) leads the way with the only perfect entry remaining. Steve barely beat the Hopski entry deadline due to his tax season workload, yet here in his 13th Hopski, he appears poised to contend (for atleast a day or two!).
Four entries are tied for 2nd after going 15 for 16. These include former champion "Going for Three" Bill Carey (a Florida Gator and zero handicapper living in Warsaw, Poland), Attack of the Clones (ex-Warsaw expat John Springer, nervously waiting for his Cyclones to take the court today), Was the IU Team on Flight 370? (Gopher/Zag Joe Kozlak, living in Wroclaw, Poland) and I Want to Have a Final Fourgasm (Chicago Festivals head Phil Purevich).
Overall an impressive first day for most with just 5 entries not picking any of the days' 4 upsets! I will be "tape delay" again tonight, but will be updating the blog from time to time. Enjoy the Madness, as always!
Thursday, March 20, 2014
8 Games in the Books
Congratulations to the Crimson of Harvard with yet another 1st round upset.
We are 1/4 of the way through the first round and the Hopski is down quickly to just 22 perfect entries. In 16 years, we've never had anyone go a perfect 32 for 32 in the first round (I am a traditionalist by the way and refuse to acknowledge this as the 2nd round!). The record stands at 29 out of 32, held by this foursome:
I am off to bed, but I think (hope) that the scheduler will run during the night and update the website. If not, well, I will try again tomorrow to get it to work and you'll just have to wait until the morning my time for updated standings.
Please get those payments in either via amazon payments or paypal (markhopski@gmail.com in each case). Ensure paypal payments are "to a friend or family" to avoid dropping the Hopski prize pool.
Remember as well that starting Monday, all Hopski pool entries get free entry into the Hopski 2nd Chance Dance Sweet 16 Pool! Just go to the main website to enter.
Goodnight!
We are 1/4 of the way through the first round and the Hopski is down quickly to just 22 perfect entries. In 16 years, we've never had anyone go a perfect 32 for 32 in the first round (I am a traditionalist by the way and refuse to acknowledge this as the 2nd round!). The record stands at 29 out of 32, held by this foursome:
I am off to bed, but I think (hope) that the scheduler will run during the night and update the website. If not, well, I will try again tomorrow to get it to work and you'll just have to wait until the morning my time for updated standings.
Please get those payments in either via amazon payments or paypal (markhopski@gmail.com in each case). Ensure paypal payments are "to a friend or family" to avoid dropping the Hopski prize pool.
Remember as well that starting Monday, all Hopski pool entries get free entry into the Hopski 2nd Chance Dance Sweet 16 Pool! Just go to the main website to enter.
Goodnight!
1 Game, 1 Upset
Go Dayton Flyers!! Wow - cannot believe they went at Craft on the last bucket and then somehow his buzzer beater fell off the rim!! 53 entries picked this upset and gather the first underdog bonus points (5) of the tournament. Meanwhile - the Big 10 is all too quickly down to 4 teams.
Sophie Update: Peed on my new couch with 4 minutes left in the OSU/Dayton game……back to the hospital……….just kidding.
Sophie Update: Peed on my new couch with 4 minutes left in the OSU/Dayton game……back to the hospital……….just kidding.
The 2014 Hopski Field is Set!
ALL PICKS ARE IN - 155 entries this year!!
To see your entry, go to The Hopski Website, click on reports, then player listing and then click on your entry name.
Other worthwhile reports on the website include:
To see your entry, go to The Hopski Website, click on reports, then player listing and then click on your entry name.
Other worthwhile reports on the website include:
The Champions Summary report is a summary of the teams picked to win the tournament and how many times. Florida leads the way with 57 entries predicting a Florida Gator championship. 17 different teams have been picked to win it all this year!
The Tournament Summary report shows, by team, how many entries picked them to win in each round. I will change this report as the tournament progresses so it sorts by each round (unfortunately, I cannot exclude teams that have been eliminated).
The Tournament Summary report shows, by team, how many entries picked them to win in each round. I will change this report as the tournament progresses so it sorts by each round (unfortunately, I cannot exclude teams that have been eliminated).
As the tournament gets a few games under its belt, the pool Top 25 will be on the front page of the website (the LEADERBOARD).
I will try again this year to get the TurboTourney scheduler software to update the website during the night (The Commish doesn't pull all-nighters anymore, timeouts every 3 minutes is a killer at 4am!) so as to keep everyone in the US up to date on the standings, however, this has not worked well in the past. We'll see if I cannot improve upon that this year.
That is all for now. Sophie's (my 2 year-old) arm is ok. One of those hyper-extended elbow things. A couple of suckers and she is as good as new! Unfortunately, the ipad is not keeping her attention right now as I try to watch a streaming feed of OSU/Dayton (UK ESPN HD is not televising today for some reason until 11pm!).
Enjoy Day 1 and feel free to add comments on any of the posts (makes for more interesting discussions than my one ways!).
Hopski Hall of Fame
Could not copy into this the actual chart or file, so not sure how this will turn out, but thought I would give it a try and post here the Hopski Hall of Fame.
Just over 2 hours to go and entries now at 120. Might be close towards breaking the 150 entry mark of the last two years.
Hey - for the first few days, I will not post payments to the actual software, so do not rain emails on me if you see that your entry is not checked for being paid on the website.
I did (somehow) get rid of the annoying orange background color on the website. It would be great to get the cream and crimson color of those Indiana March Madness (doh they are not in it) special Adidas uniforms.
4 hours until tip-off of the Madness - get your Hopski Entries in soon!!
My 2 year-old Sophie picked a bad day to fall at school, hurt her arm and need to come home. My first thought was, damn, Ohio State and Dayton at 5:15, does she really need to go to the doctor. She's sleeping now and we'll check the arm later. I am "sure" it is ok! :)
Was surprised to flip on the tivo games from last night this morning and see none other than ex-IU coach Mike Davis on the sidelines for Texas Southern. Not surprising that he had the best player on the court and still got taken down. Very disappointed to later watch the first Big 10 team get put on the sidelines. The Volunteers (this blog post in orange to give Cuonzo Martin some kudos for saving his job!) had some serious beef in the middle and they hit some big 3s while Iowa threw bricks from the 3 point line. Damn, now I am really starting from a hole on my Big 10 vs (former) Big 12 team bet with Tom Wojt.
Hopski entries have reached 114 and I must say, this year's crop of entry names is outstanding. I have been LOL throughout the past two days as I downloaded the entries.
Once the games tip-off, the Hopski entries will be closed. To avoid any issues (this has only happened once or twice in past Hopskis), sometime today, go and check the website and ensure that your picks are listed. IF for some reason they are not there (under the reports tab, player picks), then email me immediately your picks and I will get them added to the pool.
These first two days are generally bad viewing days for the Commish as I have hoops practice in the evenings and doubt the motivation to stay up much past midnight. So……any updates via the blog or random musings on whatsapp (yes - join the fun and download whatsapp, I can add you to the March Madness live text chat, let me know) may be time delayed. More so, Saturday's early games will be tivo'd here as well due to an away game keeping me out of the house until 10pm.
On the bright side, I can skip those 12 commercial breaks per game. Those are just killers when watching live and after midnight over here.
The Commish will go "live" more on Saturday and Sunday.
Enjoy the Madness!!!
Was surprised to flip on the tivo games from last night this morning and see none other than ex-IU coach Mike Davis on the sidelines for Texas Southern. Not surprising that he had the best player on the court and still got taken down. Very disappointed to later watch the first Big 10 team get put on the sidelines. The Volunteers (this blog post in orange to give Cuonzo Martin some kudos for saving his job!) had some serious beef in the middle and they hit some big 3s while Iowa threw bricks from the 3 point line. Damn, now I am really starting from a hole on my Big 10 vs (former) Big 12 team bet with Tom Wojt.
Hopski entries have reached 114 and I must say, this year's crop of entry names is outstanding. I have been LOL throughout the past two days as I downloaded the entries.
Once the games tip-off, the Hopski entries will be closed. To avoid any issues (this has only happened once or twice in past Hopskis), sometime today, go and check the website and ensure that your picks are listed. IF for some reason they are not there (under the reports tab, player picks), then email me immediately your picks and I will get them added to the pool.
These first two days are generally bad viewing days for the Commish as I have hoops practice in the evenings and doubt the motivation to stay up much past midnight. So……any updates via the blog or random musings on whatsapp (yes - join the fun and download whatsapp, I can add you to the March Madness live text chat, let me know) may be time delayed. More so, Saturday's early games will be tivo'd here as well due to an away game keeping me out of the house until 10pm.
On the bright side, I can skip those 12 commercial breaks per game. Those are just killers when watching live and after midnight over here.
The Commish will go "live" more on Saturday and Sunday.
Enjoy the Madness!!!
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Hopski Goes A Blogging
It has been awhile since The Hopski introduced any technological improvements, so we'll see how well this is received. I do think it may be a more reliable way to keep the Hopski public informed and updated during March Madness (emails tend to get blocked!). More so, I think it will allow the Hopski diehards to post comments, etc…. after each update. In turn, that should allow for some public debate and fun!
I do not think that I can include attachments here, so you will still need to go to http://www.mysideline.com/u/2588/collegebbmens/default.htm in order to access standings and reports. I will also try and post these blog updates there (though note - mysideline.com allows only .txt file posting, so this blog will allow me to revert to coloring, etc… as in the early days.
It is Wednesday, so one day remains to enter the 2014 Hopski International March Madness Pool.
Please note some early "returns":
I do not think that I can include attachments here, so you will still need to go to http://www.mysideline.com/u/2588/collegebbmens/default.htm in order to access standings and reports. I will also try and post these blog updates there (though note - mysideline.com allows only .txt file posting, so this blog will allow me to revert to coloring, etc… as in the early days.
It is Wednesday, so one day remains to enter the 2014 Hopski International March Madness Pool.
Please note some early "returns":
- If you pay via paypal, PLEASE choose "payment to a friend or family" so paypal does not deduct fees from the Hopski Payout Pool;
- ALSO, if paying by paypal, DO NOT mention anything regarding the pool, March Madness, NCAA, etc…. Email me if it is not clear from the payee for what entry the payment covers;
- Amazon Payments is a preferred means of payment as I do not worry about Amazon freezing my account as paypal did a few years back;
- Entry names are definitely improved over recent years, though I am not sure I see any that make me do summersaults just yet!;
- 43 entries have been received, which is normal for this point. I expect the pool to reach 130 to 150 entries;
You can find the link to this blog at the top of the Pool Website at mysideline.com or you can even RSS it.
Adios!
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