The Stats Post - updated historical Hopski Stats

A PERFECT 20

Aside from me of course, there are 4 entrants that have participated in all 20 of the Hopskis - thus, a special shout-out to them.......

Kyle Bowers, Mark Kalogeras, 
Blaine Rowlette & John Springer

Interestingly - all 4 have finished in the top 3 (Bowers and Rowlette both are former Champions).  Taking this a step further, there are another 9 entrants that have partaken in atleast 18 Hopskis:

Mary Beck, Ola Hopper, Stan Kwitniewski, Matt Powell, Tom Utroske, Mark Conlon, Susan Eslick, Darin Townsend & Tom Wojt

Out of that group, Stan, Powell and Wojt are the only ones to not finish in the Top 3!

Thus, stay patient as your day of Hopski Podium Glory will come (unless you are Stan, Powell or Wojt.....and are just flat out bad at this!!!)

ALL-TIME TOP 10 FINISHES

OK, one might say that winning the Hopski is a crapshoot, but I think there is certainly something to be said for consistently contending.  Defining "contending" is difficult, but a finish in the Top Ten deserves some credit, though a few entrants that had Michigan winning this year but fell out of the Top Ten may certainly disagree!  Regardless, a Top Ten finish is easier for the home office to track.....so...........


Firstly, a very much belated shout-out to Joe Kozlak, a former Wroclaw, Poland expat now enjoying life (missing Polish gals) in Amsterdam.  He managed to get off of the most Hopskis without a Top Ten finish last year after FIFTEEN long years!!!!

Also not to be overlooked is the fact that our 2017 champion Mary Beck returned this year with a solid 4th place finish!!  A great pair of years from my Best Man and college roommate Rob's wife (she may be slightly better known for her Emmy award winning work for MLB TV!!).  Well done Mary!!

Back to the Top Ten Finishes........there are 17 entrants with at least 3 Top Ten finishes, but above that the list narrows to shout-out level....

Jay Baum, Kyle Bowers & David Miller each have 5 Top Ten finishes and a total 4 championships between then (Bowers having the double).

The 6 with 4 Top Ten finishes also bear witness as follows:  Bill Carey (2007 champion), Eric Gates, Mark Kalogeras, Dylan McGuill, Mark Noferi (2008 & 2018 Champion) and Donna Percy.

ON THE OTHER HAND, 

PERENNIAL NON-CONTENDERS 
(NEVER FINISHING IN THE TOP TEN!)

The drought goes on for a few entrants.  Certainly victory cannot be far away for these without a Top Ten finish (with at least 10 years of entries)........

INDEXED BEST AND WORST 

(YES - A BIT DEEPER INTO THE BEST AND WORST)

OK - here is what happens when I get all too fixated on a spreadsheet......... 90 entrants have participated at least 10 years (and many with multiple entries).  Taking the results of all of those years and using an index to 100 each year to get a percentile finish....... here are the BEST and WORST ten of all-time!!!

THE TEN BEST!!!

THE TEN WORST!!!!

HISTORICAL HOPSKI STATS

2018, despite all of the upsets, managed to trend at the low-end of historical stats, but rallied at the end with 36 entries picking Villanova as Champion.  That 24.3% rate is good enough for 8th all-time best.  One dubious record was recorded this year - our collective pick % was 51.8% - an all-time low - DOH!

LAST BUT NOT LEAST......

THE HOPSKI HALL OF FAME

**Did you really read this update to this point??  I am impressed - confirm with an email!!!!  :)

Show Me The Money & Big Thanks from Burundi

BURUNDI..........

THANKS TO ALL OF YOU FOR YOUR GENEROSITY!!!!

Good friend and former auditor Jack Bell (Noble Rot entry) has taken a look at my spreadsheet for collections.  He has given a 2nd eye ball to the accuracy of my accounting (nothing like an independent review!) and confirmed a total of $720 (collected via paypal or PLN - $5 off the top of entries) that I will anonymously (e.g. not taking a side tax deduction) donate on behalf of the Hopski to GLO.  That, combined with the $1,569 of direct donations to GLO for those that "$5 was not enough" gives  a grand total of $2,289 raised for GLO and Burundi!!!! 

*just to make sure you know where your money is going!

THAT IS AWESOME!!!  A HUGE THANK-YOU!!!  

With such generosity......

There's no way I can say "no" to another year!!

Thus, be ready for the 21st annual Hopski next March!

2018 HOPSKI PRIZE POOL!!

With the 148 total entries this year, the Hopski Prize Pool was distributed as follows:

Paypals are going out on Monday (Nofe - check is in the mail!!)

Adios until next March!!!

The Commish

Who Let The Nofe Out??!!

1st THERE WAS PEYTON

THEN CURRY

AND NOW - THE NOFE!!!!!!

The world's newest 2-time champion (seconds after Villanova Coach Jay Wright) and thanks to the NOFE DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT is this year's Hopski Champion, Mark Noferi!  Mark struck Hopski gold in 2008 and repeated that feat this year behind the Villanova Wildcats along with a few upset picks to boot.  When contacted at Nofe HQ in NYC, Mark had this to say.......

Hey guys. Thanks for having me in the Hopski. So my story of how I got into the Hopski is that Jeff Chamberlin, my best friend from Boston College, played basketball with Mark in Poland when they were 24 or something. 

My recent story is that I’ve been dealing with a fairly serious medical issue (an enlarged blood vessel in my brain).  Jeff took me in to the hospital for a procedure the morning of the first day of March Madness and then we wound up hanging out and watching March Madness alllllll afternoon.  It was AWESOME.  So glad to have the Hopski to keep me entertained the week or two afterwards while I was resting up. I spent a ton of time watching games with my new dog Mamie by my side. 

If I win I think I’m buying one of those cool electric pianos with the sounds, even though I should pay my medical bills. 

Mark's medical issue is indeed serious, but let this victory be the start of many victories to come and specifically getting that blood vessel back to normal.

Congrats on another amazing Hopski run this year Mark!!!!

ALSO ON THE PODIUM

A ROOKIE has managed to grab the #2 spot in this year's Hopski.  THE Waverly Street Gator - Jacob Kivett racked up 153 points and not that it mattered, he was quick to point out he picked the tiebreaker (141 total points in the final) on the nose.  Jacob lives here in Palo Alto, CA and to add to his madness, he has twins in kindergarten with my daughter Sophie.  When not shooting guns or chasing his kids around town, this ex-Floridian works for a VC fund as well as various start-ups in business development and sales.  He was upset about his Gators falling short this year, but hey, that was certainly an upgrade from football season!!

Rounding out the Hopski money winners this year is Lock Sean Miller Up from Ryan Fazio.  Ryan is the son of my friend Michael - who I met on my greatest sports weekend of my life - the 2000 Final Four VIP deal that Arthur Andersen & Co hosted (thanks Jack, Ron, Teresa!) in Indianapolis - simply AMAZING.  Anyway - this congrats is to Ryan who was introduced to the Hopski via his father back in 2008 or so and after a 4th place finish in 2013 has some hard won Hopski cash to add to his resume!!!  Ryan lives in NYC and aside from being a Yankee fan is a Northwestern grad turned trader with the Noble Group.

NOTHING LIKE A SECOND SHOT

Not Gonna Miss My (2nd) Shot from James Keeley - a Boston College alum and currently with E&Y in Chicago.  He was "Hopski'd" by an old Budapest friend of mine - Ron Genty which means this is just one of many such photos most likely!!  Congrats on making that 2nd shot count James!!

BTW - CONGRATS TO THE VILLANOVA WILDCATS!!!!

THE 2018 HOPSKI TOILET BOWL

Fortunately for likely the pool and myself, Eric Gates could not find his photo of my 1st night on the IU campus back in 1989 when I steered his toilet bowl.  That would have been an appropriate pick for my entry of A Bracket Just Begets More Brackets, as it failed miserably this year.  My only solace in such a failure is that I somehow eluded the worst point total of all-time!!!  

2018 HOPSKI BEST ENTRY NAME

If I was at all decent with photoshop and had the time, I would throw some real backboards in a large size on a Warsaw, Poland picture - but alas, this is all you get.  This year's BEST ENTRY NAME WINNER goes to THREE BACKBOARDS OUTSIDE OF WARSAW!!  from longtime Warsaw expat Kyle Bowers (and a 2 time Hopski Champion to boot!!).  Add a toilet bowl next year and you'll have a REAL trifecta Kyle!!

Accounting is WAAAYYYYYYYY BEHIND this year - but I will get to reconciling those entries later this week and I will also have a total donations for Great Lakes Outreach at the same time.  That will all come as yet another inbox filling blog post!!

Thanks sooooooo much for the generosity and most likely -- that will be the tipping point for the 21st Hopski International March Madness Pool in 2019!!

One Shining Moment..........again??!!

MICHIGAN VS. VILLANOVA - FOR THE TITLE!!!

SOME PHILLY STEAK FOR THE GERMAN??

A REPEAT FOR JAY OR A FIRST FOR JOHN??!!

Villanova and Michigan have been here before and recently, with Michigan losing (ahem - asterisk anyone) to nobody (Louisville stripped of the title) in the 2013 Final, while Villanova was the Champion in 2016!  This will be Michigan's 7th National Final (ugh - 1-5 (errr 3) to date - another asterisk here as their 2002 and 2003 runner-ups were stripped as well), with their lone win in 1989 (double ugh - the Big 10's LAST Championship).  Villanova has gone 2-1 in their three National Final appearances, including the memorable upset over Georgetown in 1985.

A REPEAT HOPSKI CHAMPION?!

The Hopski though has some "been there, done that" contenders as well this year as Nofe Disclosure Agreement (from our 2008 Hopski Champion Mark Noferi) is set to pull a Hopski repeat if Villanova wins, whilst One More Year Til the Hopski's Legal (from 2009 Hopski Champion Joe Drozdowski) takes the title with a Michigan victory and a Final point total of 152 or less!!!  Waiting in the wings and hoping for a (surprising) Michigan victory in a high scoring final is Scandy (the entry from Chris Scandalios).  Nofe and Joe D have a shot at joining The Commish (1999 and 2002 - asterisk maybe as this was when the pool was small) and Kyle Bowers (2003 and 2010) as the only Hopski repeat Champions in the 20 years of the pool.  Chris on the other hand would happily become a first time Hopski Champion.  

THE CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS FOR THE HOPSKI!!!

All three of the contendahs are out New York City this year......something in the wataaaarrrr out there??!!

AND THEN THERE WERE TWO FOR A 2ND CHANCE!!!

No - not Michigan vs. Villanova but.......

Vying for the Hopski 2nd Chance Dance Title is Michigan Homer Pick from Chris Kinkela vs Not Going to Miss My (2nd) Shot from James Keeley!!!  Good luck to both as a place in the Hopski Hall of Fame goes to the WINNAH!!!!

URGENT - PLEASE VOTE FOR BEST ENTRY NAME!!!

PLEEASSSEEEEE GET A QUICK VOTE OUT TO ME TOMORROW!!!  I did find this Best Entry Names article that is some great ideas, though I REALLY hope that we do not have some entrants with copyright issues (or downright plagiarism!!!).  

Gotta go - crazy weekend with Easter and returning from Portland - now in Truckee for some Spring Break Skiing with friends and family!!

Enjoy the Final!!!!!