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!!
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