The Hopski Death Valley Final Four

Well - due to some very untimely "planning" by the Commish, the Hopski family (sans our 15 year-old Natalia that chose a week with the grandparents in Indiana over this family outing) will be climbing into this:

to go here:

Death Valley, CA

and do this:

https://youtu.be/7Ddtta_iCek

somehow missing out on this:

Yup.....duh.....check the calendar next year Commish!!!!  I will be OFF GRID from the 2nd thru the 6th.  On the bright side, Former Guy Wins Bigly With This Bracket (Rob Babcock, a friend here in Palo Alto that organizes Scottish and Irish golf trips btw) will take over updating the website (not the blog).  IN CASE this does not happen for whatever reason - the website has a report titled Tournament Scenarios.  This report includes the final standings for the the 8 potential outcomes next weekend.  That is the fallback update!!!

Before we move on to the Pool, A HUGE THANK-YOU TO ALL PARTICIPANTS as we have raised $5,275 for Great Lakes Outreach!!  This goes a long, long way in Burundi and I hope that you take a continued interest in Burundi and GLO.  I'll keep Commishing as long as you keep supporting!!

Traditional Burundian Dancers

Lastly (before Hopski standings section) - EMAIL ME YOUR VOTES FOR 2021 BEST HOPSKI ENTRY NAME - I will announce in post-DV/Final Four blog update.

The Madness has reached its Final Four, but the Hopski has but a FINAL TWO for the 2021 Hopski International Pool Championship!!

In the Blue & Red corner of Gonzaga (or UCLA or Houston for that matter) we have the defending champion, Ryan Fazio and his Timme! entry

Ryan will remarkably defend his Hopski title with a Gonzaga, UCLA or Houston championship OR a Baylor championship with a final combined score of 155 or more (in which we'd have a 2nd consecutive and 2nd ever year of the tiebreaker determining a champion - and in both instances favoring Ryan!).  FYI - Ryan is an investment analyst AND politician in Connecticut.  He’s also big baseball (Yankees - blech!) and college basketball (UConn and Northwestern) fan and has rigorously (some friends would say obsessively!) honed his basketball prognostication skills in the Hopski pool since he was a teenager after his dad and the Commish met at the 2000 Final in Indianapolis (best sports weekend of my life - thank you Arthur Andersen!!!).  Honed indeed as the he was 3rd in 2018 on top of the 2019 championship and now with 2nd guaranteed.  Quite a 3 year run!!

And in the Green & Yellow (Baylor) corner, we have the Challenger, Bryan Robson and his entry, Sister Jean Believes in Life After Duke, needing a Baylor victory and a final total score of 153 or less.  If it is 154 - then we'll all need to wait for my return from Death Valley and a Zoom broadcast coin flip for the title!!  (that almost seems appropriate in this Upside Down world btw!!).

Bryan is an llinois State undergrad/Northwestern MBA - so not a lot of time spent rooting for his alma maters in March Madness over the years (where he was roommates with long-time Hopski participant Ron South (2015 Hopski runner up and contender though not winner of this year's Toilet Bowl).  Bryan is a man of faith as he's had NU football tickets for 25+ years and has shared NU basketball tickets for about five years.  This is Bryan's 6th Hopski and he is certain to best his previous best placed finish of 30th in 2017!

How quickly the Hopski field was narrowed after the UCLA (not picked by anyone to the Final Four) upset victory of the Maize and Blue of Michigan in last nights final game of the Elite 8.

For the rest of the 2021 Hopski Payout Podium, kudos to our 3 entries competing for 2nd place:

Get Kids in School - Palo Alto's Jacob Kivett (looking for his 2nd Hopski 2nd place in 3 years!), one of just 2 entries picking a Houston championship;

It's the Hope That Kills You (Beth Paul, a Chicagoan that finished 3rd in 2016 en route to Finland and the Arctic Circle - needs a Gonzaga title);

Where Are the Blue Devils (Chicagoan Bill LaFever, as profiled yesterday);

The final place on the podium is a 4 entry race between:

"This is my year" (Every year) (Brandon Pimentel, a Hopski rook I believe - though I know nothing more!);

Elite Eight-Gendered KickinAzztec (David Lowery, Norcross, GA and Crimson Tide alum - I think!); 

And the Brothers from a Different Mother - Kier Noveski and Peter Pell - the identical entries for both pools will require a coin flip tiebreaker, though certainly some Strange things afoot at the Circle K there as their 2nd Chance Dance entries are identical as well down to the tiebreaker.  Hopski investigators are out in force checking out this situation - anyone with information pertinent to the investigation - contact the Hopski Hotline!!

The 2nd Chance Dance has a 3 way battle for the golf, with Biden Let Me Win and Michael Hoss having the road of the favorite with a Gonzaga over Baylor championship scenario.  Also in the running are More Shitty Picks from Rob Babcock (go Baylor or at least UCLA over Baylor) and Team Mo (Mike Modena with any Baylor-less Final!).

It is great to have some March Madness this year instead of Covid Madness - though it still lingers. I was fortunate enough to get a 2nd vaccine shot today and I hope that all of you step up to the plate and do the same when your opportunity comes -  OUR ONE SHINING MOMENT SHOT!!!

Keep well.  I will get an update out once i get home from DV, inclusive of the Toilet Bowl Champion - Glen Gregory!

The Commish

Better Late Than.......Hopski

This is my “in arrears” pre-Elite 8 update that did not get completed in time, thus, note that all positional and points references are as of Sunday night.  It is a bit hectic at the moment between work, watching games and prepping for Death Valley camping……alas, I will get a pre-Final Four update out tonight or Wednesday as well.

The Hopski Defending Champion – Ryan Fazio and his Timme! entry is making a strong move to do what no previous Hopski Champion has ever accomplished…..DEFEND THE TITLE!!  Back to back has not happened (from memory – Spiders NIT / David Iantosca was close in 2017, finished 4th), as obviously it takes a lot of skill and luck to contend, let alone take the Hopski Title.  

Ryan is threatening to accomplish the seemingly impossible (much like the Zags in going undefeated), having picked 4 of the Elite 8 (spoiler alert – and 2 of the Final Four so far), putting his entry as the likely winner IF Gonzaga can do the unthinkable and win the title as an unbeaten (rooting like hell against them most of us Hoosiers are - #spiritof76).

Chasing Timme! in the standings in 2nd place is Where Are the Blue Devils (Bill LaFever, Rockford, IL area resident and President of the Bill Doran company – if you want flowers – that is where to get them!!!  Bill is a 18 year Hopski participant with a 2nd place in 2010).  Unfortunately, Bill’s title chance disappeared with the Alabama loss to UCLA, but a repeat 2nd place could be in the cards if the Zags win!

Tied for 3rd place (of course) – are the entries from the brothers of another mother entries:  No Suggs in the Champagnie Room (Peter Pell, now in his 4th Hopski with two 2nd place finishes and a 12th – dare we say OMNISCIENT?!) and King Slayer (Kier Novesky Hopski investigators can only tie Kier to GQ......).  Yes, these entries are identical down to the tiebreaker score and possibly destined for a 3rd place coin flip!!

But as in real life, there are STILL GAMES TO BE PLAYED, so as comfortable as those three may be behind Gonzaga, there are a few others rooting on the rest of the Elite 8 and hoping to get onto the Hopski Podium.  To see if you are one of these hopefuls, check your highest possible Hopski finish and click here!

At the other end of the standings spectrum commonly referred to as the TOILET BOWL, we have Big 10-to-da-4 and Glen Gregory still with a rock solid hold on the Toilet Bowl at 45 points and at a record breaking 38% pick % clip!  Glen is down to Michigan in an attempt to climb out of last place, with I’m Picking Texas…..great power grid (Ron South, Illinois State alum now living in Long Island after an expat stint in Espana) and Make Tom Crean Great Again (Mark Iantosca, yes, the former Bad Mark of Warsaw “rising up” to represent the MDs of JP Morgan bank in the Hopski).

Last but not least, the 2nd Chance Dancers……… where we have Biden Let Me Win from the former Bermuda Boy Michael Hoss (now of Houston, TX and a prolific Cubs fan and energy trader – if you win the 2nd chance Mike you need to send me a pic to post of you in your Bermuda work attire!!).

WHO WE HAVE PICKED INTO THE FINAL FOUR 

(you can see the splits for any game using the tournament results report and clicking on the pencil btw!)

A lot on the line tonight for Arby's Reuben Best Sandwich (from Chicagoan Aaron Jackson, rumored to now be a professional dancer - more on this soon!) as the only entry picking USC into the Final Four and also to Izzo 23 In A Row! from Richard Rykhus (Chicagoan and Michigan State alum) for picking UCLA into the final four.  Seems like he tried the Jedi Mind Trick on his Michigan State loyalty there......uh.......nice try!!!

Some quick POOL STATES after 56 games (pre-Elite 8)......

• Average score is 81.6 (that would put you in 58th place);

• Average pick % is 54.6% (you gotta pick the right once though as Bill Lyons’s Beaver Believer with 48% is sitting up in 8th place, but 48% of the favorites can also leave you in 118th like LSU Shaman from former Champion David Oliveaux!) depending upon your entry exceeding the average underdawg points of 24.1, still shy of the 2016 record of 28.2!!!  

• Our worst picker to date is Big 10-to-da-4 from Glen Gregory of Warsaw, who is in last place with a 38% pick rate – even with the all-time worst pick % “record”.  This would be Glen’s 2nd Hopski futility record this year after already picking just 2 of the Sweet 16!

• Average 1st round games correct – 20.4 – the lowest in Hopski History, breaking the 20.6 of 2012.

• The 7.0 Sweet 16 picks did manage to ease past the 2000 cellar of 6.1 (which ironically was the year of the highest 1st round average of 24.7!).

• 2021 Elite 8 average was 3.2, which eases back into middle ground in terms of Hopski History.

GOOD LUCK TO ALL.

I will try and “squeeze out” a pre-final four blog update wednesday before departing for DEATH VALLEY 4X4 CAMPING on Thursday (and being completely offline for the Final Four!).

The Commish

Sweet 16 Preview (Get Your 2nd Chance Dance Entry In Too!!)

Who the Hopski Pool has picked to advance to the Elite 8??!!

If you have an entry picking some of those towards the bottom, there is still some hope of making up some ground on the pool and getting off of the last page!!!

One does not get a lot of 2nd chances in life, but here at The Hopski, indeed you do and its FREE!!!  The Second Chance Hopski Dance is FREE and you can still win some cash by applying your knowledge gained from the first two rounds and create a Sweet 16 Winning Entry.  Click here to Enter Your Picks and they need entering before 12:30 EST on Saturday!!!  Your entry name does not have to be the same as in the Hopski main pool and you get one entry in the 2nd Chance for each main pool entry!  Good Luck!!

This was from an article on March Madness entry names including The Crying Jordans...... That might not win a Hopski prize for Best 2020 Entry Name though as we have a LOT of good ones this year.  I do request that you email me your FAVORITE entry name so I can announce a winner next Monday!

We've had a record setter here in our 22nd year of The Hopski!  Big 10-to-da-4, the entry from our favorite Warsaw coffee man Glen Gregory, managed to pick just 2 of this year's Sweet 16, breaking the previous record of 3 set by Wes Maciejewski and "Hey Man, What's the Deal?" in 2019.  Wes is celebrating the loss of this rather dubious honor by having a Mai Tai on the beach in Maui right now.  Glen on the other hand is hopefully washing down his misery with an ice cold Zywiec as he is chasing another record of futility, a 38% pick % for the tournament (he is 40% and dropping).

Here is the Hopski Record Book:

Enjoy the Sweet 16 and I will get another blog update out hopefully Sunday night!!   Keep well.

The Commish

Hopski American Pie - reprise & The Hopski Hall of Fame

Today is an off-day here at the Hopski HQ - off as in need to get some work done.  As such - as this was posted AFTER The 2019 tourney and I really think that it should have gotten more attention / love, I am going to re-post.  

Make sure you put on American Pie as you read/sing/whatever and think of your 2021 picks which if anything like my 2 entries, are certainly bye, bye, bye...........

Over on facebook "The Hopski" Group has had a few posts lamenting the demise of entries......best read or sung to the tune of American Pie btw.........

2-time Champion Mark Noferi got things started after Gonzaga's loss led to the demise of two of his then-top 10 entries this year:

I can't remember if I cried
When Gonzaga reached across the line
But something touched me deep inside
The day... my Hopski died.

Then 2015 Champion Kent Holding added.....

And they were singing, “bye bye my NCAA try”
Tried to hack it with my bracket, but it just wouldn’t fly.
Down in Auburn they’d be drinking but the campus is dry,
Singing pass another alkohol-frei, pass another alkohol-frei..

And the Commish had to join in......

A long long Hopski time ago,
I can just remember how,
that Madness used to make me smile, 
And I knew if I could take a chance, 
That those underdogs could make me dance, 
and maybe, I'd be champion for a while...........

but this year makes it 18 years, 
since i've had an entry that delivered, 
bad news each 2nd weekend, 
I almost cannot pick another then........

I can't remember my last real try
Contending up to the final night
Only to be scorched by a Butler slight
The day, the Hopski.........died

So bye, bye, my best Hopski try,
Picked my brackets with no limit but the underdogs went awry
And them good old days seem nothing but lies
Forgotten championships 'til the day i die
No 2nd chances for Bobby and I.....

Kent Holding add-on (23 March) 

But February made me quiver,

With hopes my Hopski would deliver 

By late March it’s “oh my god, no”

My picks swirl near the toilet bowl!

I do remember that I cried

Something crumpled deep inside

Surely the announcer must have lied

The day another 2 seed, died 

(R.I.P. Illini)

Kent Holding wine and wife infused add-on (evening 24 March) 

Does Duke U. nearly make you puke?

And was Oral Roberts a total fluke?

Indy fans they tell me so

And do you believe that Louisville

Or Kentucky education’s real?

And can you teach me how spell, real slow?

So bye bye my NCAA try

Loyola on a roll, a number one seed, goodbye!

And them good ol’ nuns on court chest bumping the guys

Singin’ that’s the way my poor Hopski dies

Speaking of old Hopski Championships, a good time to put out the Hopski Recordbook:

Welcome to the Upside Down Sweet 16

Welcome to the Upside Down March Madness!

Given the results from the first 48 games of this year's March Madness, is it any coincidence that Stranger Things was ALSO based in Indiana??!!  Indeed, Stranger Things is based in the fictional Roane County in Indiana, while the NCAA this year is based in the fictional backyard of the Big Ten (thank-you Big 12 for joining the March Flop this year!)

Delving a bit deeper, Stranger Things and The Hopski both have a Hopper running it (just imagine he is saying "Archie was my friend".

This has been an Upside Down March so far, with 45 of our entries losing their champion pick here in the 1st weekend!  37 entries alone were flushed by Sister Jean and her Blues Brotherhood of Loyola of Chicago on Sunday!

Think we can get Krutwig and Porter Moser to pose like that when they get to the Final Four?!

On to the Hopski standings.......

Surging into the top spot is none other than Timme! from our defending champ - Ryan Fazio!  Ryan comes to the Hopski out of Norwalk, CT and via Northwestern University in Chicago and indeed was the 2019 Hopski Champion!!  His 2021 entry looks great - with 6 of his Elite 8 and the entire of his Final Four still alive!!

Tied for 2nd are our 1st round leaders and with identical entries no less - continuing the UPSIDE DOWN theme of this year's Hopski - No Suggs in the Champaign Room (Peter Pell - 2nd place in 2019) and King Slayer (Keir Novesky).  Seriously - their entries are identical and more so - the tiebreaker on each entry is the same 148 points!!  That is a Hopski first without a doubt!!  Hopski investigators have concluded there is no connection between the two and the entries were independently filed.  

This photo below was plucked from a Peter Pell twitter account.

When contacted at his home to comment on the connection with Peter Pell, Kier declined to comment, only to say that GQ is indeed contemplating a Hopski spread for its March 2022 fashion spread!

Some resemblance has been noted in these photos.  We cannot comment further on any connection to protect the innocent.  Given that their brackets are pretty much shot except for Gonzaga and Baylor, I think we will avoid a coin flip for the 2021 Champion to be named.  We will be watching closely their entries for the 2nd Chance Dance!

If only we could Upside/Down the standings for the Big 10-to-da-4 entry of Glen Gregory (a friend from the Warsaw days and to this day, Glen has 20+ years in Warsaw, Poland, for some time in the coffee business and now running his start-up Pinio.io.). 

In the Upside Down standings world, Glen would be standing tall but as it is in reality, he has a serious inside track on this year's Toilet Bowl with just 35 points and a pick rate of 40% so far!  His max possible points of 71 is also the 2nd lowest total (66 points is the current lowest and the "bar" to get past to guarantee your entry avoiding the Toilet Bowl spot!

Not to be overlooked are the magnificent entries of Mark Iantosca (In Roy We Trust & Make Tom Crean Great Again), our favorite high finance JP Morgan MD out of Richmond University and a former star PG in the WNBA of Warsaw (have to say I was so thankful when he showed up and was a pass first PG - since he could not shoot the 3).  Mark's has not 1 but 2 entries in the bottom 10 of this year's Hopski.  Nice pickin' Spider!!

That is enough for today.  The Second Chance Dance is up and going - this is FREE and you can still win some cash by applying your knowledge gained from the first two rounds and create a Sweet 16 Winning Entry.  Click to Enter Your Picks.  Your entry name does not have to be the same as in the Hopski main pool

On the subject of entry names - we must revert back to 2019 as I overlooked naming the best Entry Name that year.  The voting was in - I guess I was exhausted and busy.  In any event, belated congratulations and free entry into the 2021 Hopski goes to the 2019 Best Entry Name of Row, Row, Row Your Boat into USC from Sky Kenney!!  Well done!!!

Please email me throughout this week to vote on this year's BEST ENTRY NAMES!  You cannot vote for your own entry (Susan!).  Votes will be tabulated and the winner will be announced before the Commish departs for Death Valley!!

Round 1 (yes - still round 1 for me) in the books

 Joe Pleasant was THE MAN on Saturday!!

Shooting just 59% from the line on the season - he stepped up to the line with 1.3 seconds left and with #14 seed Abilene Christian (not even a Div 1 program 4 years ago!) down 1 vs the mighty Texas Longhorns.  Calm, cool and collected - Joe drained them both and the Wildcats became the 9th double digit seed to win in the first round this year.  

That is a total of 65 underdog points up for grabs!!!!  

No one in the Hopski picked all 9, but our first round leaders managed to get 50 of those points!! No Suggs in the Champagnie Room (Peter Pell, runner-up in 2019 after losing on a tiebreaker AND having 3 of the top 5 entries heading into the Elite 8 - Peter is a Richmond Spider alum living outside of NYC).   He is clearly BACK again for 2021 with all 4 of this year's entries in the Top 11 at the moment!!  Peter missed only the Oral Roberts and Maryland upsets.  The rookie Keir Novesky's King Slayer entry is tied with No Suggs at 74 points.  I know little about Keir and the only one I can find after a google is a Design Director at GQ.  That would certainly be an diversifying add-on to the Hopski pool if so!!  Keir also missed out on Oral Roberts and Maryland.

The top DAWGpointer after Round 1 is Beaver Believer Bill Lyon (Bill and I hooped it to a runners-up finish in the Warsaw Adidas 3 on 3 in 90s before he returned to the States and taught outside of Chicago.  He is now teaching in semi-retirement in Budapest!!).  Beaver Believer (we'll presume Bill is an Oregon St fan with that one as opposed to an alternative interpretation) is sitting in 3rd position but with 53 underdog points, missing out only on the Oral Roberts upset (which also has taken one of his Elite 8 teams out of the running).

For those new to the Hopski, please note a plethora of reports exist on the Hopski Pool Website.  TO ACCESS THESE, CLOCK ON REPORTS AND CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING:

THE LEADERBOARD:  The Top 25 entries in the standings will always show up on the first page of the website.  After the 1st round, the Leaderboard and the Current Standings reports will both show how many positions entries have move up and down the standings since the previous break point.  These breaks are at 32, 40, 48, 52, 56, 58, 60 and 62 games.

CHAMPIONS SUMMARY REPORT:  Summary of the teams picked to win the tournament and how many times.

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).

CURRENT STANDINGS REPORT:  Shows the entire pool standings.  This is a 3 pager and whilst you may not win or contend to win the pool, it is certainly a worthwhile objective to finish on the 1st page (and certainly avoid the dreaded last page).  From this report as well you can click on any entry name to see the entire bracket entered by that person.

PROJECTED STANDINGS REPORT:  This is a sorted report by possible point totals, showing the maximum points an entry might get if all the remaining games go as they have picked. This reports also shows predicted champ. 

TO SEE ANY ENTRY, USE PLAYER LISTING:  The player listing report lists all entries by entry name.  To see any full set of brackets that an entry includes, along with points scored each game, click directly on that entry name. 


ENJOY THE GAMES AND THE HOPSKI!!

Oops, sorry about that weight room ladies....... YET ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF THE INEPT NCAA

Sorry - you are not getting the Day 1 update this morning as this is far more important to point out.

Consider clicking through and reading one of these articles if you are not already aware of this stupidity by the NCAA:

'We will get it fixed': NCAA accepts blame for poor amenities for women players

Men's And Women's NCAA March Madness Facilities, Separate And Unequal, Spark Uproar

NCAA vows to improve conditions at women’s basketball tournament, as outcry continues

This latest ineptness by the only organization more full of pigs at the trough than the IOC deserves its own Hopski post as only via some level of public shaming would the NCAA actually get off their arses and attempt to cover them by improving the conditions at the Women's NCAA Basketball championships in San Antonio.  

If you use facebook, twitter, tik tok or any other medium of communication, go there now, search out this issue (find Sabrina Ionescu's post or any other of the hundreds popping up) and then RIP THE NCAA A GOOD ONE!

• The weight lifting and training facilities for the women are a joke compared with the state of the art workout areas provided for the men;
• The COVID tests are even different and potentially less effective for the women.....seriously?? Read about it here.   IF there is NO DIFFERENCE - they WHY GIVE DIFFERENT TESTS???!!!!
• One can only imagine that the list will go on and on if really compared - meals, transport, accomodation, swag bags (this is detailed out there), etc......

The fat pigs living off of the NCAA HQ trough in Indianapolis should be pressured into resigning, not just giving weak apologies about dropping the ball (clearly no pun intended) by NCAA Senior Vice President of Basketball Dan Gavitt......

“I apologize to the women’s student-athletes, coaches and committee for dropping the ball on the weight room issue in San Antonio, we’ll get it fixed as soon as possible,” Gavitt said.

Here is what dropping the ball looks like........  men's weight room in Indianapolis is on top....

The lower picture is what the NCAA is offering its female student athletes - heck - that is unlikely not even better than what you might get in the Best Western in my hometown of Peru, IN (and even comparing the two is likely an unfair insult to the BW and Peru).  This is not dropping the ball, this is just GROSS IGNORANCE!

The NCAA is a multi-billion dollar organization with employees earning multi-million dollar salaries and "oops, sorry ladies we dropped the ball" does not cut it!

The Madness is ON!! Midday Update - 8 games complete - 3:30pm PST

Kudos to the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles!!!  They busted brackets today, becoming just the 9th 15 seed to knock off a #2 seed as they beat Ohio State, a 15 point favorite!!  Just 4 entries picked up the 13 bonus points from ORU (2 entries from Jackson - first name?) along with Brian Gimotty's Spatif (best bar in the world, ever!) Tatanka (best drink in the world, ever!) and DocentDarling from Darren Kenney - who is the last perfect entry in the Hopski (picking just the first 5 games).

Oral Roberts train to shoot the ball - click link for article - they started off their season with each player getting 6 weeks to sink 20,000 jump shots (unlike say Indiana - where Archie required 20,000 defensive slides to defend the paint!).  This was not a one-off miracle day for ORU, the led the NCAA in free throw % this year (82.4%!!) as well as 3 pointers per game (11.4)!  They were built to beat a team like Ohio State that really only had a single inside threat - so matching up was not a problem.  What a win!  Certainly a spot in the Sweet 16 may not be a stretch for the Golden Eagles with Florida up next!!

In addition - it looks like Oregon State will be delivering the annual 12/5 upset victory - taking out the Tennessee Volunteers rather handily.  Yawn - a bit of a side note after the ORU victory.  Pac12 though looking good at 2-0 already!

Back to this year's Hopski.  129 entries received (and I presume all will be PAID in the next 48 hours!!).  Here's the breakdown of the Champions picked:

Gonzaga 60

Illinois 37

Michigan 13

Baylor 6

Alabama 3

2 for Texas and Houston and one each for Virginia, Iowa, Purdue, Ohio St, W Virginia & Rutgers.

Thus, hahahahahahaha - In Roy We Trust from Mark Iantosca (Connecticut Dad, JP Morgan VP and a once great Warsaw NBA point guard, now probably looking more like a center) becomes the FIRST ENTRANT to be eliminated from Hopski Champion contention.  That I believe is a Hopski record (5th game to be eliminated).  You da man Mark!!!   **get that entry fee in asap!!!

On a side note - as quite a few of you have Indiana ties one way or the other........

THE MASSHOLE HAS SPOKEN:

Boston Celtics head coach and Indiana native Brad Stevens reaffirmed on Friday that he is not considering the IU job.  I'm not a kid anymore. I'm a 44-year-old Masshole," Stevens said. "I swerve around on the road, eat Dunkin' Donuts and I root for the Patriots."

Yes - that is your Commish right at this moment getting off the couch knowing that Brad Stevens is NOT coming home to Indiana.........

Enjoy the rest of the day - I am off to The Patio to watch some games somewhere other than my living room with my dog and daughters.  Next blog update probably Saturday morning sometime.  I will try and update standings, etc... later this afternoon.  I really need to get the auto-updater thing working!!

2021 Hopski: Last minute article links and tips

We are less than 48 hours until GO TIME for this year's Madness!! ........getting hard to sleep (doh - that is due to stinkin' BOD meeting tonight from midnight to 3am PST.......)!

ENTRY DEADLINE FOR THE HOPSKI IS 12:30 EST FRIDAY!!!

CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY

Some quick last minute tidbits!!  Read on......

1)  Scenario - you cannot think of a good entry name, so you use your last name with a number behind it OR WORSE - you use the same old tired entry name that you have used in your previous 10 Hopskis (this year - I will call out these entrants BTW)!!  This is BAD KARMA!!  BE LIKE POOH!!!

IF that does not work, well, give this great team by team best brackets entry name article a try - but try and be original even using this as a base.  Kudos to @MLutovsky on twitter for this creative genius piece of work!!!

2) Wait, did my picks really get entered........oh I'll just email the Commish and make sure

Nooooooooo!!!  Yes - every year there is a flood of these emails - not trusting the system!!  So - I will download and update the website at least 2-3 times per day Thursday and Friday up to the deadline.

All you need to do to verify your entry is "in" is to CLICK HERE!   If you see your name on this report - your entry is in!!  If it is not there, then check again in about say 4 hours (as it is a manual update that I will do).

3)  Do you love excel spreadsheets??!!

Then check out the KenPon website and use his analytics to maximize your Hopski expected entry value (just explained this concept to my 15 year-old)!!

4)  Lastly, when in doubt, let the mascots duke it out for your entry pick - fun article at SBNation:  2021 Mascot Death Match Bracket

Keep well and get that winning entry in ............