And the Madness begins...

Happy Friday All.

We began our 2013 OTP competition yesterday with a record number of 57 participants. Thanks to you all for joining in on the fun!

While many of you have already done the PayPal thing, and some others have already handed your cash to me in person, while others are literally dropping the check in the mail, just want to remind everyone to get your $5 entry fee to me ASAP, so you have a shot at the prize.

Let me start by welcoming back a slew of former OTPers back to the competition including former champions Jen Boulton, Nick Batta, CT Wood, Rae Poteat, Kim Kicielinski, Paul Schultz, and our defending champ, Amy Hartzell.

Our OTP family is also expanding. My NU buddy George Dehner has decided to subject his sons to the malarkey that is the OTP, welcome Brendan and Patrick. Likewise Gud and Rae had already forced son Ian to participate in recent years, glad to see brother Adam joining in as well. Curtis got his better half, Christie, to help represent the Tronicks in the OTP. 4/5 of the Kovich family is participating this year, welcome all, and soon-to-be-newlyweds Steve Stites and Angela Verardo have, rightfully, decided to usher in their life of wedded bliss by OTPing together. Other new names this year include Mike Cline, Joel Barz, and Zach Bohler. Welcome guys.  And, to the many of you who have formed the backbone of the OTP for its last 16 years, it is great to have you back!

Our first day of competition is in the books. The updated scores are up (I’ll try to have them ready the morning after each day’s games). For those of you new to the OTP (or for those of you who may have forgotten since last year) the OTP scoring system is based on points possible, NOT points scored. This means that instead of rewarding you for each of the picks you got correct, you are assigned points for every INCORRECT pick you make. For example, if you picked New Mexico to go to the Final Four, their loss last night means that I’ve docked you points for each round you had that team advancing. So, for instance, my 3 year old Luke picked UNM to go to the Championship Game (give him a break he’s 3 and he likes wolves). This unfortunate pick has already cost him a boat load of points. Simply put, think of this scoring system like golf. The lower your score the better you’re doing.

As for yesterday’s games, it was a typical first day of the tourney. A bunch of blowouts, 12 seeds beating 5 seeds, a couple of truly awful games, and some absolutely riveting last minute dramas. In the first category we had MSU crushing the Crusaders of Valpo. Dan and Jen Boulton got to relax early in that one. Top seed L’ville cruised to an easy victory, as did VCU against an Akron team that was already missing its starting point guard (suspended for drug-dealing) and then showed up for Thursday night’s game with two guys suffering from the flu (apparently one guy had spent the night in the hospital and walked into the area hooked up to an IV), and another who couldn’t play because of back spasms. The result: One of the worst shellacking’s not administered by a 1 or 2 seed: 88-42. Ouch, very ouch. Not to be outdone, Syracuse dropped Montana 81-34, and Arizona handled Belmont 81-64. St. Louis overcame 7 foot 5, 360 pound New Mexico St. center Sim Bhullar to win by 20, and Colorado State and Michigan cruised to relatively comfortable victories. (This is Sim Bhullar in high school...)

Once again the five seeds were vulnerable, and this time it was two Pac-10 (or is it 12?) teams that played that role of 12 seed spoiler. Most agreed that Oregon was woefully under-seeded at 12, and their victory over Ok. St. was not overly surprising. Considering UNLV had easily handled Cal during the regular season, perhaps it was surprising that Cal was able to pull off the win, but for those of you who tuned into this game, you could easily see the problem: UNLV could not a) shoot the ball anywhere near the basket (they ended up shooting 31%) b) could not get the ball in to superstar Anthony Bennett courtesy of the Cal zone (although he did end up with a 15 point, 11 rebound double-double) but considering the video of AB’s performance against Cal earlier in the year (see below) this was a major factor in the Rebel’s loss c) you knew all was lost for the Rebs when, in the closing seconds, Cal player Allen Crabbe missed a free throw and got his own rebound IN SPITE OF THE FACT THAT ALL OF THE OTHER CAL PLAYERS WERE PLAYING BACK BEHIND THE HALF COURT LINE. Which meant that Crabbe single-handedly outrebounded 5 other UNLV players. Stick a fork in them. This was got me excited about Bennett initially...

The other ugly game was the Wichita State-Pitt game. Wow, no one could make a shot in that one. But, as always, there were a number of absolutely stellar games to keep you on the edge of your seat. Marquette disrupted a potentially super-scintillating upset by Davidson by bombing away from the three point line at the end of the game, while poor Davidson fell apart, missing free throws and losing the ball out of bounds at a critical juncture at the very end. Speaking of falling apart, Memphis almost handed away the victory to St. Mary’s, and the fun-to-pronounce Matt Dellavedova managed to blow an open look at the winning three as time expired. Note both the dejected Dellavedova and the reaction of Coach Randy Bennett in the background.

And let’s not forget Southern University almost … almost pulling off the unthinkable and dropping #1 seed Gonzaga. Though a Zags fan, I was pulling for the Jaguars if only because it would get people to stop referencing, as TNT commentator Ernie Johnson did yesterday, “the closest a #16 seed has come to beating a #1.” Since the record owner for this distinction remains Western Carolina which was a shot-off-the-rim away from defeating my #1 seeded Boilermakers in 1996. Nonetheless, Cinderella did emerge out of the chaos yesterday in the form of the Harvard Crimson who sent the three seeded New Mexico Lobos home, and thereby shredded a number of the brackets of our OTPers.  But hey, that’s the joy of the madness eh!? Check out the photo of the Harvard pep band celebrating the win. Classic...

Enjoy another spectacular day of hoops my friends, and I’ll update you again tomorrow.

Best,

-gr

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: