The Annual OTP Invite, 2013 Version

Greetings Friends,

In the words of the Cat in the Hat, “I know it is wet and the sun is not sunny. But we can have lots of good fun that is funny.”

It is once again that enchanted time of year where Nature can’t figure out whether to snow or rain, be sunny or gray, but also when the Men’s NCAA college basketball season culminates in that wondrous event that’s come to be known as March Madness, The Tourney, Encino Man, the Big Enchilada, your Grandmother’s Spatula, or sometimes simply, The Dance. Sounds fun right?

“Look at me!
 Look at me!
 Look at me NOW!
 It is fun to have fun
 But you have 
to know how.”

And you know how! By joining the Online Tournament Pool of course. For the 16^th consecutive year the Online Tournament Pool, or OTP, is here to maximize your March Madness enjoyment. The OTP is your way to join the excitement of not just viewing all of the hoops action but seeing if you have the expertise (usually little required) or the luck (most importantly) to successfully fill out the best bracket and take home the coveted OTP trophy (and the cash prize too).

 

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And you are the one who’ll decide where to go…”

So steer your browser to the following link and let the madness begin…

http://docgeorge.net/OTP

Still not convinced the OTP is for you? Need a few more Dr. Seuss quips? Then read on… After all, “The more that you read … the more that you’ll know. The more that you learn the more places you’ll go.”

“Wherever you fly, you'll be best of the best. Wherever you go, you will top all the rest. Except when you don't. Because, sometimes, you won't.”

Maybe you’re concerned that you don’t know anything about college basketball so how can you possibly win the OTP?!

• You don’t know the difference between the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Atlantic Sun Conference?
• Or how the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference is different from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference?
• Why there is a Big West Conference, a Great West Conference, a Mountain West Conference, a West Coast Conference AND a Western Athletic Conference?
• Did the Patriot League fight to gain its independence from the Colonial Athletic Conference?
• Are the Sun Belt Conference and the Horizon Conference always getting in each other’s way?
• Why are there 15 teams in the Atlantic 10 Conference, 10 teams in the Big 12 Conference but 12 teams in the Big 10 Conference?
• How one team from Chicago is in the Big East (DePaul) and another (Chicago State) is in the Great West?
• Why Conference USA is comprised of teams from Canada, Mexico, and Jamaica?

 

Well guess what? It doesn’t matter. The OTP is a complete crapshoot that anyone can win regardless of their knowledge of College Basketball. So you have as good of a chance of being on top of the rest … or not.

“You do not like [the OTP]. So you say. Try it! Try it! And you may! Try it and you may I say!”

Not sure picking the victors of all the games of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament is that great? Here are some testimonials from previous OTP competitors…

·      “I am lucky to be what I am! Thank goodness I’m not just a clam or a ham or a dusty old jar of sour gooseberry jam! … Thanks OTP!”

·      “I’m Yertle the Turtle!
 Oh, marvelous me!
 For I am the ruler
 of all that I see! And I couldn’t have gotten here without the OTP!”

·      “I meant no harm.
 I most truly did not.
 But I had to grow bigger.
 So bigger I got. And simply did it by dropping 5 dollars in the OTP pot.”

·      “Playing in the OTP today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one.”

·       “Unless someone like the OTP’s cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better … it’s not.”

·      “And the turtles, of course…all the turtles are free. As turtles and, maybe, all creatures should be. And this all happened because … of the OTP.

·      “We’ve GOT to make noises in greater amounts!
 So, join the OTP, lad!
 For every voice counts!”

·      “Today you are you! That is truer than true! There is no one alive that is you-er than you. But without the OTP you’ll just end up like Foo-Foo the Snoo.”

·      “Maybe the OTP, doesn’t come from a store. Maybe the OTP …perhaps…means a little bit more.”

That last one’s a bit of tear jerker isn’t it? So listen, now that you’re convinced, head over to http://docgeorge.net/OTP. By Sunday night the official tourney brackets will be released and I will post them to the web site ASAP. Then you have until Thursday, noon, to submit your picks by simply pointing and clicking on the teams you believe will prevail.

The rules are simple:

• Full names (first and last) are required for your entry to count.
• Only ONE entry per person.
• All entries must be in by noon on Thursday, March 21.
• $5 entry is due by Wednesday, March 27.
• Entry can be paid either via PayPal or be regular snail mail.
• Mailing address: 141 Lexington Circle, Matawan, NJ.

Have questions? Something confusing? Wondering who Foo the Snoo is?

No worries, check out the Rules and Regulations page on the web site, or email your humble poolmaster here: docrek@gmail.com

Oh, and this is Foo Foo the Snoo: