Final Four Preview....... or in terms of the Hopski this year, the Final One

    

For the first time ever - yes - EVAHHHH - there will not be a top 3 seed in the Men's Final Four!  More so - aside from UConn, none of the other three schools (nor their coaches) have ever been in a Final Four either.  March Madness indeed!!

Despite UConn being somewhat of a consensus favorite now for the title, I really think we will be seeing what could be a very ugly final game between San Diego State and Miami, and ugly in the sense that it will be played in the upper 50s (not temps - but points!).  My money in any respect is on Miami - not that it is a suggestion to throw any of YOUR money that direction!!  I am not betting on The U, though I will change the color herein to dark green.  Take note - FAU DOES have the opportunity to become the lowest seeded Champion ever!!  Miami and SD State ALSO have the opportunity to become the 1st 5th seeds ever to win the title!

On to our leaderboard...........

Yes indeed - it is time for someone to take that leader role and hold onto it in this year's Hopski!  Right now, that contender is Slackerufl from Florida Gator alum Thomas Stevens (Tom is a South Floridian that has heard a lot of FAU talk this year and felt they were a legit sleeper!), an entry buoyed into the top spot by picking 2 of the Final 4 this year - FAU and Miami!!  Thomas finds himself in an unusual position of needing just 1 victory from UConn (NOT a Championship) to win the Hopski.

As the #2 entry on the Leaderboad, our defending champion Udaman2 from Mike Ching of Hawaii, can overtake Slackerufl with a Miami victory (regardless of who wins the other game OR the final)!  More on the opportunity for a historic Hopski repeat title below!

Sorry to 3rd place Kencik and Ken Holding of Warsaw, Poland!  You hopes of a Hopski championship were dashed by Miami and UConn, knocking out a great attempt at picking 3 of the Final Four.  There is still hopes of a podium finish, certainly there is some consolation in that Ken!!

Well.... it pretty much is in terms of the Hopski this year as twelve entries have UConn picked into the Final, with 7 of those picking UConn to take the title.  I suppose a shout out is deserved to these 12 entries (the BOLD 7 have UConn picked for the title:

1. Zero Ducks Given (Nick Adam, LA / Adidas / Oregon man!  We'll be watching the Final together on Monday night in LA!)
2. License to NIL (Michael Rupp of CT - a LOT of you folks in the Hopski btw - a Fairfield U grad and now head of admissions at St. Luke's School in New Canaan)
3. URINE TROUBLE 812 (Chris Miller, relative of my IU days boss Steve Miller) 
4. Bing Bang Ow (sitting President of the Bill Doran Co & Hopski 2010 runner-up Bill LaFever of Rockford, IL)
5. Buckhill (Rob Jeffries of NJ and brother of Logan - but more info I do not have!)
6. KingDon (Don King........)
7. Dan Hurley's Inside Voice (Connecticut State Senator and 2 Time Hopski Champion Ryan Fazio)
8. RU Screwed (Mike Doud of NY and a Rutgers alum)
9. Bunch of Azuolas
10. In Trump We Trust..... Seriously (David Miller of Memphis, TN and our 2013 Hopski Champion)
11. Miyagi-Do Chambo (Jeff Chamberlin - former Warsaw hooper now living in DC - trying to recover the UConn as Champ magic from his Hopski Championship of 2014)
12. Woodson, My Man (Dave Heldman - who I think is still without a top 10 finish after about 20 Hopskis....... though my memory is failing and I have not updated the historical stats file since 2018!)

Aside from those entries, only one other entry has any point upside remaining, the #2 entry from our defending Champion - Mike Ching and Udaman!   - we could have lightning strike twice with another repeat champion this year if Miami takes out UConn!!  This happened on both each side of 2020 (the Covid no tournament year) when Connecticutt's own Ryan Fazio - Dan Hurley's Inside Voice - repeated as Hopski champion and now Mr. Don Ho himself - Mike Ching has a shot!!!  WOW!

Run Your Pool - seems like the software has worked pretty well again this year and certainly the automated scoring and real time updates to standings makes like a LOT easier for the Commish and team.  One funny thing I just noted is their abbreviation for Fairleigh Dickenson.......  being one FAIR DICK!

Over at the 2nd Chance Dance HQ

 - we are down to two entrants in a Pool Championship that will be decided between Miami and UConn.  In the Miami corner, we have U-who? WVU, UMiami, UKentucky, IU from Linda Genty (former Budapest and Tokyo expat now living in N Chicago suburbs and also a 2-time - and very possibly 3-time Hopski Toilet Bowl Champion!!).  Linda recovered from some terrible luck in her main pool pick sheet to contend for the 2nd Chance Dance Title!!!  In the UConn corner is My bracket called for Floppin from Warsaw's favorite Hoosier - Kyle Bowers, a 2 time Main Pool Champion in the Hopski - 2003 and 2010!

And Finally the Toilet Bowl......

We have a battle for the Toilet Bowl that will not be settled until the 2nd half of Monday night's championship game as both entries - Udaman (Mike Ching - somehow effectively hedged in full his two entries this year such that one can win the Hopski while the other loses!) and U-who? WVU, UMiami, UKentucky, IU from Linda Genty - managed to tie with a record setting low of 35 points this year!!  That leaves the total points in the Championship Game as the tiebreaker for these two entrants - one of whom will emerge Monday night with the Toilet Title and free entry for 2024's Hopski (if it happens........ as I am with less and less motivation, time and ability to manage this thing - motivation being the primary issue!!!).  In any event - U-Who predicted 90 points to be scored on Monday night (Wisconsin flashback maybe??!!), while Udaman went with the opposite end of the spectrum and 165 points!!  Thus, 127/128 will be the threshold that will break this tie and determine a WINNER, with the closer guess finishing higher in the FINAL STANDINGS and avoiding the Toilet Flush!

I am off to visit colleges on Sunday in hopefully sunny LA LA Land with my oldest daughter - so the next update may not be until all is said and done given the expected 7 hours of driving quality time on Sunday!  I will do my best though to entertain!

Keep well-

Your Commish

ELITE 8 PREVIEW - Just 29 entries with Champions remaining

Just 8 teams are left chasing the 2023 One Shining Moment and NONE of them are number one seeds.  That is a FIRST in March Madness history and the Hopski point totals are taking a beating as a result.  Surprisingly though, the underdog point totals on average are nearly an all-time Hopski low!!  Go figure.

So - 29 entries have their champion still alive, but that is not equally spread:

        Texas - 13

        Gonzaga - 9

        UConn - 7

So if your entry did not pick one of the above - best root against them!!

The Hopski Pool pulling an "0-Fer" on picking the champion has only happened once - in 2014 when UConn swept through the tournament behind Shabazz Napier and unexpectedly won the title.  Three years - only one entry picked the champion (2003, 2006 and 2016).

Another lowlight this year in terms of picking is in respect to the average number of Elite 8 teams picked.  This year's 2.0 is just slightly above last year's 1.6 (an all-time record low)!!  C'mon Hopskis...... STEP IT UP!!!

HI AND GOODBYE!!

Our fearless leader as we enter the Elite 8 is running on fumes, with only a pick of Texas to make the Final Four accounting for his upside.  So let's say a good old Hopski "HI and GOODBYE!" to CantReadCantWriteKentSt#2 from Dave Iantosca.  You did well but not well enough this year!

Charging up the Leaderboard and into 2nd place is Kencik (Dukie Kent Holding of Warsaw, Poland).  Kent killed the Elite 8 - picking 6 of the teams - best in the Hopski this year.  Kudos on the side to Princesss of Darkness #12 and Mark Conlon for picking 5.  Kencik is relying on the Longhorns of Texas to win the pool, with SDSU and the Zags joining them in the Final Four (Purdue was his fourth pick).

There is a tie for 3rd place between crowd favorite Guinness and Whip Cream (Joe Wagoner) and Princess of Darkness #12 (Mark Conlon).  Both entries though have lost their Champion pick, though GWC has a slim shot if the Zags and Creighton can advance!

Defending champion Mike Ching and his Udaman #2 entry have quietly moved into contention and currently reside in 5th place!! (please ignore Udaman #1 - easy to do as it is languishing at the bottom - more to come on this!).  Mike has KSt, Miami and the Zags advancing with Miami even into the final game!!  Not sure how that brilliant pick came about but kudos in a big way to the Ragin' Hawaiian!!

Over in the 2nd Chance Dance, Warsowian Kyle Bowers and his My Bracket Called for Floppin' picked 7 of the 8 Elite 8 and hold the lead!

TIME TO PAY THE HOPSKI!

What can I say - I really detest late payers and unfortunately - every year there are a few.  This year - there are 10 and I would hope that you would all immediately go and pay the $30 entry fee.  BETTER YET - donate $100 to the Polish Humanitarian Fund and support some displaced Ukrainians in Poland, just as a penalty to yourself for giving me extra work!!

Gotta gooooo - off to see the Depeche Mode concert in San Jose!!  Adios!!!

Good Golly It's Guinness & Whip Cream!!

After significant investigative work, I now know where my IU roommate (Right Lane Wags - Jeff Wagoner) found his inspiration for Guinness Whip Cream beers - it's right here!  Closest thing he could come to re-create the bed time whispers that I threw his way back in the day I guess!

Wags' stout fettish has been the catalyst so far for his son Joe Wagoner's entry Guinness & Whip Cream to move to the top of the Hopski Leaderboard!! Joe's UConn / Gonzaga picks on Thursday night were enough to nudge into the #1 spot!

Silicon Bankin' It Into the Valley from David Lowery also matched young Joe's UConn/Zags combo to move from 3rd to 2nd on the podium, followed by a 1 spot move up from Big Ten March Sadness (The Sloth - Tom Utroske) as well.

SIX entries managed to get 3 of the 4 winners last night.... Hopski kudos for this to:

• 5th place Princess of Darkness #12 (ex-Warsaw expat Mark Conlon of Minneapolis)
• 8th place Just Tall....eh? (Chicagoan Dave Foster, everyone's favorite Boiler though a grad of Indiana - I mean seriously??!!  On a positive note - we were able to take him off suicide watch this past Tuesday after the Boilers early exit)
• 14th place Zero Ducks Given from Adidas man and LA Resident Nick Adam, also the nephew of the neverending WTNY Jack Bell of Budapest fame!)
• 18th place Kencik (Kent Holding of Warsaw - long-time CE&E expat)
• 69th place J Petermans Favorite Shirt (Kelly Peterson.....?????)
• 69th place 36th Anniversary (Julie Grundberg - last year's Toilet Bowl winner and 20 year + Hopski veteran);

Though only 1 entry picked the Elite Owls of Florida Atlantic into the Elite 8 - the Slackerufl entry from Thomas Stevens, moving it from 51st to 18th!

LEAVE THOSE NAMES BE......

A quick note on the topic of entry names...... DO NOT CHANGE YOUR ENTRY NAMES ONCE POOL HAS STARTED!  The moment of creativity and inspiration has pass (I am talking to you NoHorseInDaRace, Brian Gimotty of Michigan - and yep - agree that the new entry name is far better but too late) and Andrew Palka (Sad Hoosier).  Name changes mess with the internal analytics program my reporting team utilizes to run The Hopski and they get angry at any change to the system.   SO - please do not change entry names.

VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE ENTRY NAME OF 2023!!!!!!

We have some really good ones this year - so vote either on the pool message board or via email to me.  Limit yourself to 2 entry name votes and also you cannot vote for your own (The Susan Rule!).

A few of my favorites include:

• Silicon Bankin' It Into the Valley (in the news with a hoops twist!);
• Zero Ducks Given (who gives a duck really anyway!);
• My Bracket Called for Floppin (well done!);
• Woody - I've Got a Diamond Cutter (what can I say);
• Better Call Ball (awesome final season);
• You Can Dance If You Want To (surprised this is the first time for this awesome song reference!);
• Grady Dick In A Box (love that SNL ski);
• The Philly Phatty & Kermit the Frog (wtf??);
• No 3 & No D (Bill - are you still playing??!!);

THE GREENE JAGUARS - 2023 6TH GRADE LEAGUE CHAMPIONS!!!

I cannot post a picture but my girls won their league championship yesterday!!  They took year's off the Commish's life by blowing an 11 point 3rd quarter lead as our Ralston opponent had a player nail 4 threes in the final 7 minutes.  Luckily Ralston's 3 point heave at the end was air mailed and the Greene Jaguars won by 2!!!!  WHEW!!!

REMEMBER YOUR FREE ENTRY FOR THE SWEET 16 HOPSKI SECOND CHANCE DANCE POOL!!!

 

Yes indeed!  There is not only a chance - but a SECOND CHANCE in The Hopski!!

So take advantage of it and enter the Hopski 2nd Chance Dance Pool!!

THERE IS NO COST 

                            YES KRUSTY...... THAT MEANS FREEEEEEEE!

Previous 2nd Chance Dance Champions include:

Rules are generally the same (still bonus points for seed differentials on underdog picks) - full details can be found on the pool website.

The winner does win $$$$$$$$$$$ (5% of the Hopski Prize Pool - about $160 estimated at this point pending Mark Iantosca's typically late payment!

DEADLINE FOR ENTRY IS THURSDAY - 6:30PM EST!!!

Without further adieu......... FINALLY a HOPSKI UPDATE

                                                               

Yes - even my Mom has been chasing me this week for pool updates (I Wanna Win - Donna Percy, Peru, IN resident but currently snow-birding in Florida)..

What can I say - it has been a busy week for the Commish and yes, this is just terribly in arrears.  A few excuses first................   

obviously DEPRESSION!!

A lot of coaching......

Just a lot of stuff........

WE ALL HAVE THAT THOUGH - SO.......   on to THE HOPSKI!!!

Hopski veterans know that the key to the first weekend is simply SURVIVE AND ADVANCE!  Keep you Champion and your Final Four relatively intact and HOPE SPRINGS!  At this point, 94 entries have done just that with their Champion Pick alive and well and barring some bizarro world outcome, one of those 94 should take this year's Hopski title.

That said, if you cannot win it - atleast get a shout out and we will start at the top of the leaderboard with CantReadCantWriteKentSt#2 from the youngest of the Iantoscas in the Hopski - David (Richmond grad and Chicago resident working now at Aurora Organic Dairy and most importantly - the proud father of two daughters!!).  David racked up 29 underdog points alongside picking a pool leading 11 of the Sweet 16 teams to give him 81 points and the top spot on the podium.  Unfortunately half of his Final Four is gone - but picking UCLA to take the title gives him a shot!!

Trailing by 4 is the Guinness & Whip Cream entry from Joe (-y for me) "Brackets" Wagoner!!  Joe has been in the Hopski since he was out of diapers and the experience is paying off this year!  He is the son of one of my college roommate Jeff Wagoner and an Arizona State grad living in Scottsdale.  This 2nd place spot may be short lived due to the Marquette pick to take it all - but none the less, he is a contendahhhhhh!!!

Joey's entry name inspiration - none other than my roommate (and his Dad) - Wags!

Rounding out the podium positions and in 3rd place is Silicon Banking It Into the Valley from David Lowery!  Despite being a long-time Hopski participant, I do not actually have any background on David - though I am guessing Ted Schulz brought him into the Hopski and David is based in the Atlanta GA area an an Alabama grad.  The Alabama connection is certainly giving him an edge from the podium as they look as good as anyone to win this right now!

At the other end of the spectrum.......

Linda Genty's (Andersen Budi alum from Take Me Home W. Virginia and now North Chicago resident) U who?  WVU, UMiami, UK, IU is taking the flush to a new level this year!!

A motherload indeed!!!  Linda is leaving nothing to chance as she has practically wrapped up the 2023 TOILET BOWL victory before we play a Sweet 16 game!!  Uncanny her ability this year to pick the wrong horse.  This was no strategy of underdogs either (20 first round picks - but only 3 dawg points), just plain old bad luck!  Linda has just 2 picks in the Sweet 16 and only 1 of her Elite 8 alive (forget about the Final Four!).  As a result, there are only 2 entries remaining that can challenge her for this year's Toilet Bowl title at this point!

Well - the allure (or applied analytics) of underdog points combined with some pretty big upsets has led us to the lowest correct pick % in the history of the Hopski!!  A paltry average of 19.5 out of 32!!  60.94%!!  AWFUL!!!!  Seriously??  We may have to make some scoring adjustments for 2024 to get back to the basics (suggestions appreciated and yes - Jack Bell - your idea from a few years ago needs serious consideration before 2024!!).  Just putting everyone on notice and please email me any ideas! 

Saving us from an even lower mark - Kudos to our top picker in Round 1 - Andrew Funk The Aggies from Logan Jeffries!  Logan picked 27 of the 32 1st round games but unfortunately not the BIG upsets.  Still - a 2 winner margin over victory over a few entries that picked 25!  Logan remains near the top for picking % at 73%, but the Most Accurate Picks Leader is Big Ten March Sadness from the Sloth himself, Tom Utroske (Indiana alum, Chicago resident and the glue to our occasional IU tailgate parties!).

GO SLOTH GO!!

Some real slackers out there in terms of entry names...... I suppose MAYBE you could not figure that one out as being the DISPLAY name.   As a result, the Entry Name Committee flagged these entries and gave them some help 

                                    

In case you cannot find your self-marking named entry:  Lance Rantala (Ranting & Raving), Joe Kozlak (Amsterdam Flyer), Bill Carey (Andy Palko (Flounder), Ashley Gift (The Gift That Keeps On Giving), Brian Gift (A Gift Too Far), Darren Kenney (A Trojan No More, Go UCLA!), James Keeley (Shaka, Shaka, Boom, Boom), James Rohn (Sampson's Got Game), Kelly Peterson (J Peterman's Favorite Shirt), William Hardy (Hoosiers..... Hardy Har Har), Victor Szczerba (Shaka's Best Friend)

You are welcome and PLEASE - A BIT MORE EFFORT NEXT YEAR!!!

This post has kept me somewhat challenged (along with harassment from the AIRBNB host from 2 weekends ago in AZ that did not like my review) this morning and now afternoon - so I gotta go!  I am 3 1/2 hours from my Greene Jaguars 6th grade girls team tipping off a semi-final match against local rival Fletcher!  We lost in the regular season but are ready for this Survive & Advance Rematch!!!

Adios!!

Alive and Kicking!

Writing this on my phone after waking up at 4am wondering how my girls team will attack a team we were down 22-0 at the half this morning, before losing 27-15 IF we get a rematch in the final in 7 hours!  

But you know, the more I watch the video the more I think we can beat them!

Thus, this weekend has obviously not been conducive to blogging about March Madness or even watching March Madness but ohhhhh there is sooooo much to discuss!

What a great Friday it was to be a Hoosier ( or anything not associated with Purdue!!).   We were near the end of a 4 hour drive to Pismo Beach for this club tournament when I veered off the highway and into the first building that looked like it had a tv in order to catch the final 5 minutes of the FDU upset over Purdue!   Luckily the pizza place had good pizza and a quick acting employee who got the game on for my girls and I!   I just said (probably with much more urgency than necessary) “history is happening now and we need to see it!”!

Lo and behold FDU delivered and the three of us saw the second #16 upset of a #1 in a pizza place (yes - same situation when Virginia went down 5 years ago!!).  This one though, as it was Purwho, was soooooo much better!!!!

I need to get some sleep   Just wanted to touch base and apologize for other priorities this weekend but the Hopski blog will return in proper form very soon!!

Adios from rainy Pismo Beach!!

The Commish

The Hopski is LIVE and Dancing

2023 March Madness is off and running, well that is unless you are from Virginia as BOTH West Virginia and Virginia have been sent packing early.... along with this year's first bracket busted entry:  Kamran Koochekzadeh's Long Live Spartacus!  That was about all of 2 hours of Hopski madness Kamran - but have no fear, the Hopski 2nd Chance Dance is but 4 days away!

22:05 EST UPDATE:  Had to update this after being away this afternoon coaching and missed last minute of Princeton's upset of Arizona!!  Wow - seriously??  A great win for the Tigers - aka best since 1996 for sure (outing defending champ UCLA in Indy with me on the 6th row in tears!).

8 Entries gained Princeton's 13 point bonus gift - Hopski kudos to each:

AarUpThere (Aaron Jackson)

Better Call Ball, Bing Bang Ow AND Charles Barkley is FAT (Bill Doran with a HAT TRICK!!!)

King Slayer (Keir Novesky)

Running REBel #1 (Palo Alto's Rob Babcock)

Shead Show (Peter Pell - need to check and see if he and Keir are entering off of the same tip site again!)

Meanwhile - 61 entries picked AZ into the Championship game and 11 lucky entrants took an extra 2 hours to join Kamran in the Busted Bracket scrapheap!!

V

So - kudos to the Furman Paladins and JP Pegues for delivering 52 of this year's 139 Hopski entries 9 underdog bonus points with the upset.

If you are receiving this but did not enter this year - no worries - I will update mail chimp late tonight or Friday morning with this year entrants.  On this note though - seriously - TOO BUSY TO JOIN THE HOPSKI???

INDEED YOU ARE!!!  Better luck with that schedule next year Carole!

As mentioned, we have 139 entries but I have not yet received 139 payments and/or confirmations of donation made to Polish Humanitarian Action!  Thus, get those payments in NOW!!  The entry fee remains at $30!! Payment via paypal (markhopski@yahoo.com), venmo (@Mark-Hopper-27) or zelle (3175233988).

I should be able to get an update out Friday morning before heading to PISMO beach

for a hoops tournament this weekend and coaching my daughters' team, so be patient with the Commish this weekend as heck, I am just hoping to be able to watch a few games, let alone post cleverish updates!!  Unfortunately - Pismo will not be resembling the photo this weekend as it is supposed to be around 50 degrees and potential for rain - ugh!!!

Enjoy the games and the Hopski!

The 24th Hopski International Pool is up and running - GET YOUR ENTRY IN!!

Greetings from PHX airport where the Commish is delayed returning to the marshlands of SF Bay due to yet another atmospheric river dumping on California!  

Thus, this announcement will be relatively short and sweet to let you know the 2023 Hopski International March Madness Pool is active and accepting entries.

2022 entrants should have received an invite email from RunYourPool, but accept this as your 2nd (and personal) invite.   Please also feel free to forward this on to friends, family and anyone who will add to the color and pageantry of the Hopski!

To enter this year’s Hopski International Pool, click here for link!

Rules and scoring are viewable on the RunYourPool website, but if need me I am also available for questions via email at markhopski@yahoo.com.  A quick note in this respect, NOTHING HAS CHANGED this year from the past 23 years!!!

Good luck to all entrants and to all teams (expect FURDUE!) - looking forward to some great fun these next few weeks as not only will my family’s eyes be glued to the IU games - we’re also very excited about the women’s tournament and reservations are made for Dallas in hopes of seeing the IU women play in the Final Four.  Unfortunately the reservations for seeing them in Seattle had to be cancelled due to some bad luck in the draw!

All the best-

The Commish

2023 Hopski

 Just a quick post from the IU Roommates & Friends Annual AZ Golf Trip as hosted by Jeff “Big Wags” Wagoner…..

The 2023 Hopski will be ready to roll next week!!!

Prepare yourself!!

The Commish