Sunday, March 30, 2014

50%

Back in the day, we used to lament that our contestants were rarely able to rise to the success level that would pass a third grade spelling test. At the time we were talking about the 60% that would merit a "D" in an elementary school exam. Of course, times have changed over the 25 years we've run the contest. Grade inflation in the schools has run rampant. These days the kids have to really try to get as low as 60%.

Which makes this year's "achievement" by our entrants that much more impressive, because our group seems to have gone the other way entirely. At every opportunity.

When it came to conference champions, exactly one (1) of us even reached the 50% level, as J Donadio, Jr., alone, managed 16 out of 32. Only seven contestants (including J Donadio, Jr.) got as high as 46.9% (15), the others being Steinhardt, DaLauro Jr, Mad Leach, Marshall, s adams, and T Joseph 2, while ten contestants managed less than 30%: B Brenner (9), S Leach (9), Templeton (9), B Wright (9), Sanders (8), Selarnick (8), Crotts (8), M Pogach (8), M Paston (8), and L Leach (7 -- 21.9%).

We had high hopes that our abysmal conference champ performance was an aberration, that things would improve once we got to the Elite Eight and beyond. Uh, yeah, right. Exactly one (1) playah beat 50% on Elite Eight teams (M Josephs, with 5 of 8). Another 23 of us got exactly 50%, while two contestants (M McAtee and B Wright) guessed just one (1) Elite Eight team correctly (that would be 12.5%), and three (3) contestants (Urban Angels, T Cristinzio, and Lenok 2) got zero (0) Elite Eight teams. Yeah since most of you reading are pretty much the people we're talking about, we feel compelled to point out that last equation works out to 0%.

Nobody beat 50% when it came to predicting Final Four teams, although 12 of us hit the 50% mark exactly. Unfortunately, that "success" mark is dwarfed by the 28 (!) prognosticators who found their way to zero (0) correct Final Four teams. And just in case you've forgotten, that still comes out to 0%.

If you're hoping that we'll make a valiant comeback when it comes to national champion, well, fuggedaboudit. Only 29 of us (28.2%) still have a champion alive. That would include the 28 of us that chose Florida and new leader Baumgarten, who took Wisconsin. None of us were savvy enough to choose Kentucky or Connecticut, meaning that other than those who selected the #1 team in the country on the day the pool was due, only one (1) of us managed to have a champion alive going into the tournament's final weekend. Please don't think us rude if we don't ask you guys for stock tips.

For what it's worth, 69 people took Florida into the Final Four. Nine entrants each took Kentucky (Booth, Brenner, Case, D Kedson, L Leach, M Paston, Pomerantz, R Simon, Steinhardt) and Wisconsin (Baumgarten, Brenner, Jr., N Donadio, J Donadio, Sr., Haklar, T Joseph 2, L Leach, McKillip, L Schlegel). Nobody picked Connecticut.

If Florida wins next Monday, our winners will be McKillip, Steinhardt (who, if she does finish 2nd, will have the distinction of winning some moolah in each of the three years she has entered the contest), and J Donadio, Jr.. If anything else happens, our winners will be Baumgarten, McKillip, and Haklar.

Full standings may once again be found using the link on the right hand side of the page. Tune in during the coming week for the ever-popular Tag Team totals and the 2014 edition of Rivals.

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