Lauren's Pool

Dodie-

I can't second your motion to just scrap the pool - I'm not ready to give up the smack-reading.  I'm pretty much out of the talking business; though I do have Memphis in the final game (unfortunately, I thought they'd be getting beat by my recently adopted Hoyas).  But we could always start a side pool...  An opportunity to see who else can predict the sMaCkDOWn winner based on current selections.

 

Just a thought...

 

Mook

Alive: Will, Davidson, Hope; Not Alive: lots of people, Duke, Piers' Bracket

It's late and I gotta go to bed. But I've been in the wilds of Southern Va for several days and then actually working for most of today. I like Lauren's predictions even though they would leave me in fifth place. Here's why: it preserves marital bliss on Urban Ave (though I guess Leslie wins the tiebreaker, Tenn & Davidson v. Duke - ouch); it allows father in law to win even though he will never know it because he can't log on to ESPN (Jim, can you read a blog yet?); and perhaps most importantly, Piers (like Hillary) does his best smack talking when on the ropes. Finally, Hillary choose ND over UNC for the Catholic vote, the Indiana vote and knew she was going to lose NC anyway. Did she pick Ark or Indiana? That'll be a measure of politics over hometown roots. Will Update: My political analysis is off: she choose Duke over Purdue. It's a case of bad-picker. Everyone knew Duke would lose to WVa.

Lauren is clearly a genius

I just read her post and I now see what an enlightened thinker she is, able to apply accurate formulae to predict the future.  This is science.  And based on her calculations, maybe we should just save ourselves some time and call it quits on this contest.  Can anyone second this?

(To say that I see in her the same thing that the President's Scholars Selection Committee did not so long ago would besmirch my honor, not to mention my relationship with my brother.  Let's just say they girl is smart.)

Backup quaterbacking

Clarkson, I agree that PPR is a very important measure, but we've all already proven our inability to land all of the possible points at each phase. Here are my projections of the final standings, based on a formula I just made up (it isn't perfect, but I think it's more accurate than simply adding current points to PPR): ((Current points divided by possible points so far which is 640; this is each person's winning proven winning percentage) x (PPR)) + Current points Dode, D. McDow 1129 Will, karma stinks, M. Gumbinner 1103 Hipster Pickster, C. McDow 1102 Jim Goff, W. McDow 1100 Will_McDow, W. McDow 1075 Leslie McDow, W. McDow 1075 Crawford 1, L. Crawford 1073 Keithley, T. Keithley 1069 Jenkins 1, M. Jenkins 1051 Frank Maguire was right!, J. Gumbinner 1051 RPI or RIP?, C. McDow 1050 Lauren's picks, L. McDow 1028 Yankee Interloper, G. Raskin 1021 Nellie, N. Jenkins 994 Turner 1, P. Turner 926 Defense Wins, C. McDow 925 Molvig 1, O. Molvig 897 Norris Turner 1, A. Norris Turner 879 Jenkins 1, N. Jenkins 840 rincon 1, m. rincon 820 Igo 1, S. Igo 713 Offense Wins, C. McDow 562 US News, A. Norris Turner 540 Maggie Lou, D. McDow 489 Franklin, D. McDow 325 Go Dodie! Cheers, Lauren

Hillary's Bracket

The Democratic establishment has spoken, asking for Hillary's bracket. It is true that the blogosphere has been extremely, perhaps unfairly, favorable to Obama. I've heard rumors that some blogs have even included subliminal pro-Obama messages toward the bottom of the posts.

Hillary scores a 390 so far. She's down there with Captain Lose. Obama has 420.

No idea what Hillary's PPR is -- Clarkson, I leave that calculation to you.

Who's "out of it", Grampa?!

Listen, Clarkson: you seem to have disregarded my chances (390 points, 880 PPR, 18th place), but who else has Louisville and Memphis in the final? Hmmm? Did you see the way Louisville played yesterday? Who will rack up all of those points? Me! ME! I come in from doing yardwork (remember the great Voltaire wrote: "we must take care of our garden") only to find this rubbish on the blog. I'm golden, I tell you, golden! And yes, Syracuse plays the UMass Minutemen tomorrow night in the NIT, in a rematch of a classic earlier this season. As many people will watch this one as the previous one, I'm sure. And yes, I also like this post-only method. Kudos to Todd!

All Blog vs. Comments

Just wanted to weigh in and say that I like this all-blog format.  MUCH better than digging through comments.  What do others think?

Mook

Monday Morning Quarterbacking

I know better than to use a football metaphor on a basketball blog but this is Monday. A review of the standings and the remaining possible points shows who is really in this game. This post did not review the method picks and some of the people who appear out of it. There are no warranties express or implied as to the accuracy of these figures, but combining points earned to date with remaining possible points shows that the potential winner is Dodie who could amass 1470 points. He is closely pursued by Maggie with 1460 possible points and in third place in the possible points derby is yours truly the no longer "sicker picker" but now touting himself as possibly the "slicker picker" with 1430 possible points. Back at 1410 is Jeff and M. Jenkins (who I believe to be the bracketologist formerly known as "Catfish." Jim Goff could get back in the race with his 1400 possible points and Will remains a possbility at 1390. The allegedly "Mysterious Mr. Crawford" remains high in the actual points but is lagging on possible points at 1360. Rumors are that he is consulting legal advice on defamation suits against some of the posters on this blog. Todd who is second in the actual standings is way back in possible points at 1330. Our current winner and only one in the pool who loves the ACC more than Billy Packer is Lauren. In remaining possbile points she has only 123o. Reports are that she is now saying, "It is the W's that count not the possbile W's." There are a couple of points that were overlooked in the excitement about the actual games. Why have the high point people been so quiet? Why does Gregg Raskin talk about pulling for the underdogs and pick Georgetown over Davidson? Why does Jeff name his bracket "Frank McGuire was right? Why did no one post Hillary's bracket? Will she disclose it when she discloses her income tax returns? Or did she not want to publish a bracket taking a stand on the Arkansas - UNC game? Who is Leslie going to pick when Tennessee comes up against the Davidson Wildcats? Is Piers following his beloved Syracuse in the NIT? The SEC has really been a bust and Tennessee is lucky to still be alive this morning. They have had four teams go home after two games and are now tied with the Southern Conference and the A-10 with one team remaining. Is there is anyone out there who will not be pulling for the Davidson Wildcats to win a couple of more games? Clarkson