Sunday, March 24, 2019

Sweet 16 is Set!


OK - I think I have mailchimp fixed - sorry for the poor update earlier this week (old GLO request) - things seem to be working aside from #freehopski!

Here is a re-send of Sunday night's (yes - i tried to get a timely update out!) update:

My heart was racing today and it was not the only one as Central Florida seems to have Duke on the ropes and ready for the knockout punch.  Unfortunately, so many little things turned against them in the final minutes and seconds, leaving everyone's "FAVORITE" team still standing..... arghhhhhhh!!!!  Those March Madness Karma-Gods were at it again......in favor of Duke......

WAS IT JUST TOO MUCH TO ASK THAT THIS ONE DROP??!!


I AM STILL UPSET ABOUT THIS ONE, BUT GRANTED, IT WAS A BIT LONGER!


Yes - I STILL want to live in THAT alternative universe where Heyward's shot went in and Butler won the 2010 Championship!!

Alas - we are now left with a Sweet 16 field of favorites - unless you want to call a Duck Cinderella........  that shoe does not really fit to me.........



After a 1st round with many upsets of the 5 - 8 seeds, the Sweet 16 stands as a tribute to the NCAA March Madness Selection Committee with just 2 non-#1 - #4 seeds crashing next weekend's dance, Oregon (#12) and Auburn (#5).  Two of the hotter teams in the tournament after winning their conference tournaments unexpectedly last week - so hard to fault the committee for them as they took out some teams that were not exactly rolling!

Due to this roll of the favorites and karma yet again smiling on Duke - EVERY entry in this year's Hopski STILL has their champion playing heading into the Sweet 16 weekend.  THAT has NEVER happened before....... ON TO THE STANDINGS!!


I WANT THE PODIUM - ALL OF IT!!!


Has this guy cracked the code to Hopski Success??!!  Peter Pell (a Richmond Spider alum and an MD for the CSM Capital Corporation) seems to have those algorithms running sharp this year!!  Zach Norvell Redenbacher and Diakite Runner are running #1 and #2 in the Hopski right now with 48 and 45 underdog points!!!  Peter's 3rd entry, Zionists, is sitting at #10 - giving him a whopping 3 Top Ten entries in the standings!!  This would be a 1st - but given 3 different champions are picked, only 1 will likely remain in this fair air of the top 10 - certainly though Peter will likely be in the running for a Hopski Title the final weekend!!

Not to be overlooked is the picking accuracy to date of 4th place March Sadness (Stan Kwitnieski, ex-Warsaw alum now residing in Virginia and my very own Natasza & Mama Hopski entry of Carpe Karma!!!  Certainly you have all heard of the law of diffusion - what can I say - they have drained me of any Hopski success I feel!!!!  Each of these entries have managed to miss just 6 out of the 48 games that were played the past 4 days - an 88% clip - to lead the field in accuracy!!!

At the other end of the spectrum - the Hopski Toilet Bowl has very quickly turned into a 2 horse race between Hey Man, What's the Deal (Wes Maciejewski of Chicago Suburbs - a long-time Hopski friend from 1992 Warsaw days) and Brackexit (Ricardo Yunis of NYC - a Wharton finance wiz who needs to adjust his Hopski algorithms a bit!!!).  Ricardo is sitting in last with just 36 points (a full 8 back of Wes and with the lowest potential score of the field at 121 points and only 2 underdog points!!).  Wes took a different route to Toilet Bowl contention, picking just 40% of the games correctly.  Wes might be in a far worse position too if I had not talked him out of picking Seton Hall to win it all......just sayin'!!!!  It is at least comforting to know that I will not repeat as Toilet Bowl champion this year!!!

We've raised over $3,000 for Burundi and Great Lakes Outreach so far ..........  there are also 28 entries still not having paid.  Would be great to see all 28 of you self-impose penalties and make the $50 or more donation to GLO to get your Hopski entry paid.  Take heed.......GET THOSE PAYMENTS IN!!  You are anonymous just for a few more days!!!

Now - for those of you feeling left out of contention (this year that is far less than normal) and for those of you that want to win it all maybe...... do not overlook entry this week into the Hopski International Second Chance Dance Pool.  YOUR CHANCE to take all of your 1st weekend March Madness Education and parlay that into a 2nd Chance Dance title worth 5% of our prize pool (about $180!).  You may enter once per entry from the main pool - no cost to do so!!

Go to the pool website and click on 2nd Chance Dance to enter.  You can even come up with a new entry name that will be eligible for "HOPSKI BEST ENTRY NAME"...........ON THAT NOTE - EMAIL ME WITH YOUR VOTES FOR BEST ENTRY NAME THIS YEAR!! (YOU CANNOT VOTE FOR YOUR OWN ENTRY!!)

ADIOS-

THE COMMISH












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