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!!
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