whose Hopski fame basically amounted to entry names and quotes from The Wire.........
who would have believed it.......maybe THIS guy..........nah.....
a reminder of why this great game of basketball and March Madness in particular are so loved......
Ah heck - we should have seen this coming, after all, this is.......
Finally it has happened - UMBC (aka University of Maryland Baltimore County Retrievers - yep - had to look that one up during the game)
- pulled off the upset of all upsets tonight - a #16 seed taking out a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. A historic first since the field went to 64 teams in 1985 - with 135 teams over 33 years falling short of what UMBC accomplished tonight!! WOWOWOWOW!
Kudos to the UMBC team and Coach Odom (who in a bizarre twist was once a Virginia ballboy)......
Well - there were 4 entries in this year's Hopski picking a #16 seed - however none of them picked UMBC - so the Hopski field went a collective 0 - 148 on this monstrous upset.
The 1st round is complete and out of 32 games, 9 were upsets, 3 though were barely that - being 9s over 8s. In addition to the UMBC victory, 2 #13 seeds were victorious as well as two 11 seeds. A pretty crazy 1st 2 days giving the opportunity for a maximum of 49 underdog bonus points to the Hopski field of 148. Two entrants picked up pool high totals of 34 underdog points - our leader and 2008 Champion - Nofe Disclosure Agreement (NYC immigration lawyer Mark Noferi - fresh off a cerebral angiogram, a matter which is still under review by the Hopski Anti-Doping Council as it has led the Nofe to a 1st place spot for the moment) and I'm A Rambling Man (ex-Warsaw expat/hooper and suburban Chicago teacher Bill Lyon). At the other end of the spectrum - and maybe they just did not read the rules, were three entries that managed just 2 underdog points over the past two days (you know who you are).
Back the 1st place Noferious entry...a serious Hopski shout out not only for leading the pack after the first two days, but more importantly for a very speedy fix of your brain (Mark was recently diagnosed with a brain arteriovenous malformation (AVM) - basically a tangle of abnormal blood vessels connecting arteries and veins in the brain. This may lead to invasive surgery soon - but however it is treated - may it be successful as we need more lawyers (geesh - do not quote me on JUST those 4 words) and people like you dealing at the forefront of the immigration solution!
GET WELL NOFE!!
The other big 9 bonus point upsets in the first round were more fortuitous for some of the Hopski field as 13 entries picked Buffalo's upset of Arizona while 28 picked Marshall's win over Wichita St.......boy we'll miss her expletive filled support for hubby Gregg and Wichita st...."won't we"......
BOTH of these 9 pointers were picked by of course our two underdog point leaders mentioned previously as well as the Humpty Dumpty entry from Peter Davinci (guessing at the name based upon email address as only Peter was giving - well done whomever you are though!)
A LOT of brackets have been blown apart and virtually eliminated from Hopski contention as 28 entries have already lost their picked champion (Arizona or Virginia). Ooops!! Don't worry - the 2nd Chance Dance Sweet 16 Pool will give you new life and a shot at some prize money starting Monday (entry included in the $30 you should have already paid by now).
A few other 1st round notables....Fear the Fork (Joey Wagoner - famed son of my college roommate Jeff Wagoner and even more famous for a pic I saw this year of his date in each hand toga party) and Bruce Pearl Necklace (Dylan McGuill) both picked 26 of the 32 1st round winners. On the other hand, Justin Robinson for Prez from Chris Maloney had the low pick % at just 14! And bringing up the rear is Slick Rick's Adidas Escort Service from David Lowery with just 19 total points - though he still has his champion pick (Duke......really?!).
It is getting late here but more to say......it will have to wait though. Cinderellas are only "crowned" if they get to the Sweet 16 - so Marshall, Buffalo and UMBC still have some work to do - but man - it would be quite cool to have a Buffalo vs UMBC match-up in the Sweet 16!!! BTW - only 5 entries have either Buffalo or Marshall picked into the Sweet 16 and just one - our favorite Ramblin Man Bill Lyon - has BOTH picked!! Good luck on that one!!
Adios-
I think you mean UMBC. That’s just one letter to the right, so I assume it’s just exhaustion or still the shock of it all 😇
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