From April 2007
Grandpoppy Takes the Cheese
That’s one shining moment for the Florida Gators, and one giant leap for Grandpoppy.
The Gators became repeat national champions for the first time since 1992, and did it in impressive fashion. Despite an amazing performance from Greg Odon, Florida’s balance was just too much. Every time it looked like Ohio State might be threatening, Florida would nail a shot and keep their distance. Lee Humphrey, to me, was the tournament MVP for his well-timed 3-pointers, but Corey Brewer was the MOP (whatever) in the minds of the experts. And then Joakim Noah goes in the stands afterward to hug his mother? Can someone tell that kid that this is not Wimbledon, and that he’s not a tennis player like dad?
Back in the pool, we had an even tie at 100 points between Grandpoppy and Mike Floyd, so we had to go to the tie-breaker. Grandpoppy had 165 points for total points in the championship game, and Mike Floyd had 130. The 84-75 Florida victory equals 159 points, giving Grandpoppy the tie-breaker victory. Grandpoppy gets the total purse of $615 (more on that below) donated to the Orphans of Rwanda in his name.
After Mike Floyd was Bill Bernickus, Sr., one back at 99 points, followed by Sweet 16, Great Eight and Final Four leader Jack Manning. Jack would have won had the championship game gone the other way, but then I would have won had the Kansas-Winthrop-Tennessee-Virginia-Ohio State-Nebraska-Little Sisters of the Poor games gone my way.
And how about that late charge by Kathi L.? Not only did she correctly have Florida over Ohio State in the championship game, but she also had the total points guessed correctly – right on 159. That caused her to make up some serious ground on the final weekend, but not enough as she ended up in fifth place with 95 points.
Money Makes the World Go ‘Round
You math majors out there may have noticed that the pot is a little light. With 135 entries at $5 a pop, we should have $675. However, some people – and you know who you are – haven’t bellied up to the bar just yet. The figure is distorted somewhat because some of you dug deep and gave a little extra to our worthy charity – I cannot thank you enough! – and that’s inflating our figure. So please, if you haven’t done so already, send a check or PayPal (jabin@jabin.com) in your entry fee, and you’ll ensure the check we write to the Orphans of Rwanda is a big one. If you’re feeling guilty for being late and you want to send more, I won’t stop you. J
A special thanks to those of you who sent in extra money for ORI. It is greatly appreciated. As depressed as I am that we had fewer people in the pool this year because there was no cash payout, you folks that dug deeper made a big difference. I thank you, and ORI thanks you.
Finally, please send me your feedback on the format of this year’s pool. I’m not going back to the pool style and breaking any laws, but I’m open to any suggestions for 2008. Did you like the charity idea? What could be different/better? (Some have already suggested having winner pick the charity, which is a thought). Others have sent other thoughts, and I appreciate those. Any and all suggestions are welcome. As you know, we here at Jabin's March Madness Pool are all about customer service, there’s no I in Team, and USAir begins with you.
On to baseball season…
Here are the final standings for the 2007 pool:
Rank
Name
Points
Possible
Surviving
Hit %
Tie Points
Tie Diff.
1
100
100
1
84.13
165
6
2
100
100
1
80.95
130
29
3
99
99
1
79.37
127
32
4
97
97
0
82.54
174
15
5
95
95
1
79.37
159
0
6
94
94
1
79.37
131
28
7
93
93
1
74.60
166
7
8
93
93
1
79.37
140
19
9
91
91
1
69.84
140
19
10
91
91
1
77.78
121
38
11
91
91
1
76.19
115
44
12
90
90
1
74.60
153
6
13
89
89
1
73.02
153
6
14
89
89
1
71.43
145
14
15
89
89
1
71.43
138
21
16
89
89
1
71.43
131
28
17
88
88
1
69.84
160
1
18
88
88
1
74.60
175
16
19
87
87
1
76.19
172
13
20
87
87
1
68.25
176
17
21
87
87
0
71.43
123
36
22
85
85
1
74.60
164
5
23
85
85
1
71.43
149
10
24
85
85
1
74.60
148
11
25
85
85
0
74.60
185
26
26
85
85
1
69.84
188
29
27
84
84
0
76.19
159
0
28
84
84
1
77.78
161
2
29
83
83
0
74.60
164
5
30
83
83
0
74.60
150
9
31
83
83
0
69.84
170
11
32
83
83
0
76.19
134
25
33
83
83
1
66.67
131
28
34
82
82
0
74.60
140
19
35
81
81
0
79.37
161
2
36
80
80
0
73.02
159
0
37
80
80
1
68.25
147
12
38
80
80
0
68.25
147
12
39
80
80
0
77.78
92
67
40
79
79
0
71.43
151
8
41
79
79
0
73.02
148
11
42
78
78
0
74.60
165
6
43
78
78
0
74.60
165
6
44
78
78
0
66.67
150
9
45
78
78
0
71.43
150
9
46
78
78
0
69.84
146
13
47
78
78
0
73.02
146
13
48
78
78
1
71.43
142
17
49
78
78
0
71.43
139
20
50
78
78
1
66.67
138
21
51
78
78
1
69.84
135
24
52
77
77
0
68.25
160
1
53
77
77
0
68.25
156
3
54
77
77
0
74.60
155
4
55
77
77
0
74.60
183
24
56
76
76
1
65.08
152
7
57
76
76
0
69.84
135
24
58
76
76
0
66.67
128
31
59
75
75
1
68.25
149
10
60
75
75
0
65.08
147
12
61
75
75
0
68.25
175
16
62
75
75