FINAL FOUR AHEAD!

TOO MUCH FUN last night, sorry I failed to get a post done! Louisville ran out of gas today. They couldn't make those shots that all went in on Friday. UNC winner over OK, so at least a couple of number one seeds, one two and one three survived.

SWEET SIXTEEN SURVIVORS
-Michigan State - ICEMAN
-North Carolina - COWBOY JOE GEORGE
-Villanova - HOT ROD BILL
-U Connecticut - $BILL

WINNING SCENARIOS- Later this week I'll post a more in depth analysis of the possible winning options for the final four games.

CURRENT STANDINGS
Points Player - National Champ (if still alive): Finalist (if still alive)
84 - MAGIC MIKE SAVAGE - NC: UNC
80 - ICEMAN GEORGE BELME - UNC
- DEBBIE THE CHEF SWANSON - UNC
- HUSKY CASEY WISE - NC: Villanova ; Finalist: UConn
79 - LEW ALCINDY HUFFMAN - None
78 - MARIANNE PENNY WISE - UConn: UNC
-Seedings
77 - GADI BLING EISNER - UConn
75 - BASKETBALL BOBBY BAIRD - None
- COWBOY GEORGE LANTZ - None
- BIG ONIONS DOUG REISINGER - None: UNC
- THE LEGEND JOHN TAYLOR - None: UNC
74 - HOT ROD BILL BELLAMY - None: MSU
73 - THE MAILMAN - UNC
72 - RAM FAN JULIE REISINGER - None: UNC
- JAMMIN JEFF WISE - U Conn
71 - THE PROFESSOR PATTI BAIRD - None
- JEFF BUBBA GUMESON - None: UNC
- KING JONAH WISE - UNC
69 - PISTOL PETER BURG - None: UNC
68 - $BILL BRADY - UNC
- SUNDEVIL JEFF BULL - None
- WOLVERINE JAKE BURG - None
- Obama
67 - AND 1 ADAMZONA SWANSON - None
- BIG HOUSE STEVE WOOD - UConn: UNC
- Sports Illustrated
66 - MY BIG FAT GREEK GREOS GANG - UNC
64 - DUNKIN DON RONYAK - None
63 - CHIP FAN JAN - None
62 - BRUIN DALE HUFFMAN - None
61 - MARCY TIGER WOOD - None

SWEET SIXTEEN
81 - DR. HOOPS ANDY GREOS - UNC : UConn
78 - SAM THE EXTERMINATOR GREOS - UNC: UConn
74 - STONE COLD JOHN LANTZ - UNC
73 - SOONER OR LATER A SOONER DAVID LANTZ - None: UConn
70 - A TRAIN ADAM BURG - UNC
65 - THE LONGHORN TYLER SWANSON - UNC
56 - THE BIG DIESEL SEAN BULL - None

Later,

The Mailman

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS!

LATE NIGHT IN TUCSON leading to a late Saturday morning.  Sorry this is a little late.  At least it will be online before the Great Eight starts.  Three of the games last night were not so Sweet, but MSU over KU was at least interesting at the end.  Everyone here in Tucson looked good in the their red shirts with Arizona logos last night, but it wasn't enough!  

Straight ahead to the standings! No pictures today!

Points

75 - ICEMAN

74 - LEW ALCINDY

70 - DEBBIE THE CHEF

- COWBOY JOE GEORGE

- BASKETBALL BOBBY

69 - MAGIC MIKE

68 - PENNY WISE

- THE MAILMAN

- SEEDINGS

67 - JAMMIN JEFF

- RAM FAN JULIE

- BLING

66 - THE PROFESSOR PATTI

65 - HUSKY CASEY

- THE LEGEND

-BIG ONIONS DOUG

64 - DUNKIN DON

- PISTOL PETER

- HOT ROD BILL

63 - CHIP FAN JAN

- WOLVERINE JAKE

- SUNDEVIL JEFF

- $BILL

- OBAMA

62 - BRUIN DALE

61 - KING JONAH

- BUBBA JEFF

- MBFGGG

57 - BIG HOUSE STEVE

- AND 1 ADAMZONA

-SPORTS ILLUSTRATED

56 - TIGER MARCY

SWEET SEVEN

69 - STONE COLD JOHN

68 - SOONER OR LATER DAVID

66 - DR. HOOPS

65 - A TRAIN ADAM

63 - SAM THE EXTERMINATOR

60 - THE LONGHORN TYLER

51 - THE BIG DIESEL SEAN

GOOD LUCK ON SATURDAY

THE MAILMAN

BLIZZARDS AND BASKETBALL ON A THURSDAY NIGHT!

FINALLY WINTER in Denver on Sweet Sixteen Thursday! Pittsburgh almost experienced basketball winter in Boston, but wins on Fields of Dreams desperation trey and manages to avoid the upset! Memphis did meet it's match in Mizzou, and I guess validated the selection committee's choices for number 1! UConn floats an easy win like ICEMAN in a Margarita! 'Nova dominates the Dukies like LEW ALCINDY dominates BRUIN in March Madness! Looking forward to a Fantastic Friday!

KUDOS to DUNKIN DON RONYAK and JAMMIN JEFF WISE who both went 4 for 4 on Thursday night! Great job guys! THE BIG HOUSE STEVE WOOD and KING JONAH WISE were the only other players to get Mizzou correct!

NEXT UPDATE will likely be late Saturday morning from Tucson! Go 'CATS!

STANDINGS AFTER SWEET SIXTEEN THURSDAY
Points
66 - ICEMAN GEORGE BELME
62 - LEW ALCINDY HUFFMAN
61 - JAMMIN JEFF WISE
60 - MAGIC MIKE SAVAGE
59 - THE MAILMAN
- HUSKY CASEY WISE
- MARIANNE PENNY WISE
58 - BASKETBALL BOBBY BAIRD
- PISTOL PETER BURG
- GADI BLING EISNER
- COWBOY JOE GEORGE LANTZ
- DUNKIN DON RONYAK
- DEBBIE THE CHEF SWANSON
57 - $BILL BRADY
- WOLVERINE JAKE BURG
56 - BIG ONIONS DOUG REISINGER
- THE LEGEND JOHN TAYLOR
- SEEDINGS
55 - HOT ROD BILL BELLAMY
- MY BIG FAT GREEK GREOS GANG
- RAM FAN JULIE REISINGER
- KING JONAH WISE
54 - THE PROFESSOR PATTI BAIRD
- SUNDEVIL JEFF BULL
-SPORTS ILLUSTRATED
-PRESIDENT OBAMA
53 - BRUIN DALE HUFFMAN
52 - JEFF BUBBA GUMESON
51 - CHIP FAN JAN HUBERT
- AND 1 ADAMZONA SWANSON
- THE BIG HOUSE STEVE WOOD
- MARCY TIGER WOOD

SWEET SEVEN
59 - A TRAIN ADAM BURG
- SOONER OR LATER A SOONER DAVID LANTZ
57 - DR. HOOPS ANDY GREOS
- SAM THE EXTERMINATOR GREOS
- STONE COLD JOHN LANTZ
51 - THE LONGHORN TYLER SWANSON
45 - THE BIG DIESEL SEAN BULL

Good luck on Friday!

The Mailman

MIDWEEK MADNESS MUSINGS!

EXCITEMENT, BABY!
We've made it through 48 games of the Dance! Some exciting moments! A couple of upsets. One Cinderella left - Arizona - especially since they were the last one in! The weekend was a busy one for me to get organized for the year! So I wanted to take some time to review the Madness, if you will, and send you some updates and hopefully interesting information about this year's contest.

DIAPER NICKNAME DANDIES!
I thought my job would be easy this year, with only two rookies, to get some dynamite nicknames. Unfortunately, I came up with some writer's block until I really attacked it last night!

I had some preliminary names that came to me right away. In no particular order Marcy Knock on Wood, Marcy Riding the Pine Wood or Marcy Babe in the Wood, but they did not do her justice. So after thinking of other great sports personalities I settled on one particular Nickname for one of the most famous sports personality of our time. And he almost has the same last name. But I think MARCY TIGER WOOD sounds terrific!

Our other new player has a name that lends itself to several choices such as Gumby, Goner, Gomer, or The Glove. However, I also thought of other famous names in the movies and one came up in my mind from Forrest Gump. That's right, BUBBA! So we now have our own JEFF BUBBA GUMESON. Sounds swell to me!

OFFICIAL CALLS!

FAST BREAK -ICEMAN GEORGE BELME has charged to the front of the pack from day one and has led all four days so far! He also has an impressive 15 teams left in the Sweet Sixteen! Great Job ICE! I wish I would have studied the Women's NCAA brackets!!

LONG REBOUND -GADI BLING EISNER has made a terrific rebound this year from his last place finish in 2008 to his current third place position. THE MAILMAN, JAMMIN, MAGIC and PISTOL have all finished in last at least one year, but also have been previous champions in other years. It just might be Gadi's year to win it all!

NO ASSISTS NEEDED - LEW ALCINDY is in second place by herself and she has done it on her own! BRUIN DALE relied on outsourcing and is paying the price! You go, girl!

BLOWN OUT - AND 1 ADAMZONA SWANSON and THE LONGHORN TYLER SWANSON both were blown away in the first round as they both had Wake to their Final Four! Sorry guys! You should have consulted with THE MAILMAN! AND 1 likes his Sweet Sixteen drawing with PITT.

HIGH PERCENTAGE SHOTS -Out of 29 players, 28 still have all four of their Final Four teams still in the Sweet Sixteen. Only AND 1 ADAMZONA is missing one. In the Sweet Seven - six are still intact, with THE LONGHORN missing one. EVERYONE still has their choice for National Champion still alive.

OUTLET PASSES - Several of our players have done a great job predicting the Sweet Sixteen. ICEMAN, LEW ALCINDY, and PENNY all predicted 15, while, $BILL, WOLVERINE, BLING, RAM FAN JULIE , (and OBAMA) have 14 out of 16! Awesome!

HIGH SEEDS - All of the 1 through 4 seeds made it to the sweet sixteen except for Wake Forest and Washington. Purdue is a 5 seed and Arizona is a 12 seed.

FINAL SCORE ? - The final distribution for predictions for the National Champion by our contestants this year are: Total = 29 + 7 = 36

1)NORTH CAROLINA - 11
1)LOUISVILLE - 9
1)PITTSBURGH - 8
1)CONNECTICUT - 4
2)MEMPHIS - 1
2)OKLAHOMA - 1
3)KANSAS - 1
3)VILLANOVA - 1

NICKNAME CHANGES - You may or may not have noted that a few of our players have had some mutations of their previous nicknames. Dropping Dimes Doug Reisinger has become BIG ONIONS DOUG REISINGER. Shaq Sean Bull has mutated to the BIG DIESEL SEAN BULL, and Tyler The Dawg Swanson is now THE LONGHORN TYLER SWANSON!

TRAVELING - THE MAILMAN will be traveling to Tucson, Arizona this weekend for Father's weekend at AND 1's fraternity. Never fear I'll be able to up date the blog from there and will keep you up to date as to your standings. Unfortunately I'll be in an airplane when the 'Cats play Louisville! I'm pulling for the 'Cats!! Even if it messes up my bracket!

FINAL BUZZER - That's all for tonight! More to come on Thursday night after 4 more important games in the Awesome Acres!

Later,

The Mailman

SWEET SIXTEEN HERE WE COME

SUNDAY was another great day for basketball. Great games and finishes. A lot of nervous contestants as some of the favored teams struggled, but managed to prevail. Unfortunately it was a busy day for me and I have not had enough time to fully complete things on this posting. I will be putting another posting out on Tuesday with more stats and info! check it out then.

NICKNAMES - more on Tuesday,sorry!

SWEET SIXTEEN RESULTS
The teams going to the Sweet Sixteen next weekend were put into a hat and I had two very impartial helpers, Hagan and Pierce Reisinger draw the names. The boys did a great job and thought it was cool, but thought I wrote things funny! Thanks Hagan and Pierce!

Remember that the winner is the player who has the team that wins the NCAA March Madness tournament! Winner wins $80!

Player -National Championship Team
JAMMIN JEFF -Louisville
PENNY WISE -Duke
KING JONAH -Syracuse
MAGIC MIKE -Missouri
ICEMAN -Michigan State
THE LEGEND -Memphis
LEWALCINDY -Arizona
THE MAILMAN -Purdue
COWBOY JOE GEORGE -University of North Carolina
HOT ROD BILL -Villanova
$BILL -University of Connecticut
SUNDEVIL JEFF -Kansas
BRUIN DALE -Oklahoma
RAM FAN JULIE -Xavier
AND 1 ADAMZONA -Pittsburgh
DEBBIE THE CHEF -Gonzaga

STANDINGS AFTER SUNDAY'S GAMES
Points
57 - ICEMAN GEORGE BELME
56 - LEW ALCINDY HUFFMAN
52 - GADI BLING EISNER
51 - MAGIC MIKE SAVAGE
-WOLVERINE JAKE BURG
-$BILL BRADY
50 - MARIANNE PENNY WISE
-HUSKY CASEY WISE
-THE LEGEND JOHN TAYLOR
-THE MAILMAN
-SEEDINGS
49 - JAMMIN JEFF WISE
-DEBBIE THE CHEF SWANSON
-RAM FAN JULIE REISINGER
-COWBOY JOE GEORGE LANTZ
-MY BIG FAT GREEK GREOS GANG
-PISTOL PETER BURG
-HOT ROD BILL BELLAMY
-BASKETBALL BOBBY BAIRD
48 - CHIP FAN JAN HUBERT
-SUNDEVIL JEFF BULL
-THE PROFESSOR PATTI BAIRD
-PRESIDENT OBAMA
47 - BIG ONIONS DOUG REISINGER
46 - KING JONAH WISE
-DUNKIN DON RONYAK
-JEFF BUBBA GUMESON
45 - AND 1 ADAMZONA SWANSON
-SPORTS ILLUSTRATED
44 - MARCY TIGER WOOD
-BRUIN DALE HUFFMAN
42 - BIG HOUSE STEVE WOOD

SWEET SEVEN
51 - STONE COLD JOHN LANTZ
50 - SOONER OR LATER A SOONER DAVID LANTZ
-A TRAIN ADAM BURG
48 - SAM THE EXTERMINATOR GREOS
-DR. HOOPS ANDY GREOS
45 - THE LONGHORN TYLER SWANSON
42 - THE BIG DIESEL SEAN BULL

Later!

The Mailman

SATURDAY SHOOTOUT IN THE ACRES

SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER
The group was hot yesterday with 8 out of 29 players scoring a perfect eight games. 14 players had 7 correct. It was a little tougher in the teens division with only one player getting 7 correct and the rest 6! No one has an opportunity for a perfect score today. HUSKY CASEY WISE does have Arizona, but unfortunately will miss the Wisc/ Xavier game.

The ICEMAN, LEWALCINDY and MAGIC MIKE continue to lead us boldly into the Sweet Sixteen weekend!

NICKNAMES - I will have names for our two rookies tonight or tomorrow!

REWARDS!
Below are the winnings that will be awarded for the first four places, the party fund and for the Sweet Sixteen drawing.

1st place - $215 + Party fund $170 = Total $385
2nd place - $100
3rd place - $65
4th place - $40
Last place - 6 pack of Rolling Rock!
Sweet Sixteen Drawing - $80

SWEET SIXTEEN DRAWING
We have 14 or 15 contestants for the Sweet Sixteen drawing. I have put an ** by those who have paid or indicated they want to play. It appears we have at least one open position.

RESULTS AFTER SATURDAY
Points
43 - ICEMAN GEORGE BELME **
42 - LEWALCINDY HUFFMAN **
41 - MAGIC MIKE SAVAGE **
40 - GADI BLING EISNER
THE LEGEND JOHN TAYLOR **
39 - WOLVERINE JAKE BURG
PISTOL PETER BURG
38 - THE PROFESSOR PATTI BAIRD
SUNDEVIL JEFF BULL **
CHIP FAN JAN HUBERT
DUNKIN DON RONYAK
THE MAILMAN **
37 - BASKETBALL BOBBY BAIRD
HOT ROD BILL BELLAMY **
$BILL BRADY **
MBFGGG
COWBOY JOE GEORGE LANTZ **
BIG ONIONS DOUG REISINGER
RAM FAN JULIE REISINGER **
AND 1 ADAMZONA SWANSON **
DEBBIE THE CHEF SWANSON
JAMMIN JEFF WISE **
36 - JEFF NNTBD GUMESON
HUSKY CASEY WISE
MARIANNE PENNY WISE **
PRESIDENT OBAMA
SEEDINGS
34 - BRUIN DALE HUFFMAN
KING JONAH WISE **
33 - SPORTS ILLUSTRATED
32 - MARCY NNTBD WOOD
BIG HOUSE STEVE WOOD
SWEET SEVEN
38 - DR. HOOPS ANDY GREOS
SOONER OR LATER A SOONER DAVID LANTZ
37 - STONE COLD JOHN LANTZ
36 - A TRAIN ADAM BURG
SAM THE EXTERMINATOR
35 - THE LONGHORN TYLER SWANSON
34 - THE BIG DIESEL SHAQ SEAN BULL

Good Luck on Sunday!

The Mailman

FRENZIED FRIDAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD!

FRIDAY was a day for close games, buzzer beaters, overtimes and upsets! Most upsetting was the pain that AND 1 ADAM "ZONA" SWANSON developed after losing Wake Forest, a #4 seed, from his Final Four bracket! OUCH! He has to hope for a Cinderella, such as his beloved 'Cats from Arizona (see his T shirt at right!), to go a long way! The 12 over 5 upsets (AZ, Wisconsin, and Western Kentucky) were predicted by more than a few of our fearless prognosticators! Great job guys!

DAILY KUDOS -
THURSDAY - ICEMAN GEORGE BELME had a perfect 16-0 day to lead us all! AWESOME, BABY!
FRIDAY - The best we could muster on Friday was 12 out of 16 games by several of our players- MAGIC MIKE SAVAGE, THE LEGEND JOHN TAYLOR, JAMMIN JEFF WISE, STONE COLD JOHN LANTZ, and DR. HOOPS ANDY GREOS.

OFFICIAL CALLS!
PUB CRAWL - Several of our players enjoyed some cocktails and the games at the CityPub last night. However, no dancing broke out without the CHEF and LEW!

OVER AND BACK - PENNY WISE is at the Charlotesville Regional enjoying the ambiance, but apparently not a ticket! JAMMIN JEFF was relegated to hanging with the 'hood at the Pub!

PERSONAL FOUL - We were able to interview BRUIN DALE last night at the Pub, and confirmed that he had outsourced his picks to an eastern consultant. By the way his brackets are going he should have found someone in India instead of Philly!

TRAVELING - HOT ROD BILL BELLAMY is enjoying and working in New Zealand for two weeks. I don't suppose they will be showing the games there! I got his picks though! I'll send him an email with how he is doing. Cheri joined us at the Pub last night!

NO TAUNTING ALLOWED - We can all feel better that we are beating the President at this game! See below! We are also beating Sports Illustrated (no surprise)!

RESULTS AFTER FRIDAY
Points
27 - MAGIC MIKE SAVAGE
ICEMAN GEORGE BELME
26 - THE LEGEND JOHN TAYLOR
LEWALCINDY HUFFMAN
SUNDEVIL JEFF BULL
25 - JAMMIN JEFF WISE
MY BIG FAT GREEK GREOS GANG
24 - HUSKY CASEY WISE
THE MAILMAN
GADI BLING EISNER
THE PROFESSOR PATTI BAIRD
23 - DEBBIE THE CHEF SWANSON
AND 1 ADAM "ZONA" SWANSON
BIG ONIONS DOUG REISINGER
COWBOY JOE GEORGE LANTZ
CHIP FAN JAN HUBERT
PISTOL PETER BURG
WOLVERINE JAKE BURG
$BILL BRADY
HOT ROD BILL BELLAMY
BASKETBALL BOBBY BAIRD
22 - KING JONAH WISE
DUNKIN DON RONYAK
JEFF NNTBD GUMESON
SEEDINGS - score of playing the higher seed to win every game
21 - BIG HOUSE STEVE WOOD
RAM FAN JULIE REISINGER
SPORTS ILLUSTRATED - SI's picks
20 - MARCY NNTBD WOOD
MARIANNE PENNY WISE
BRUIN DALE HUFFMAN
PRESIDENT OBAMA

SWEET SEVEN
26 - DR HOOPS ANDY GREOS
25 - STONE COLD JOHN LANTZ
24 - SOONER OR LATER A SOONER DAVID LANTZ
SAM THE EXTERMINATOR GREOS
A TRAIN ADAM BURG
23 - THE LONGHORN TYLER SWANSON
22 - THE BIG DIESEL SHAQ SEAN BULL

Good luck on Saturday!

The Mailman

WELCOME BACK TO BASKETBALL HEAVEN!

We've made it back to the best 19 days of the year! MARCH MADNESS in the NEIGHBORHOOD! Lot's of basketball! Great games! Fantastic finishes! And a chance for the neighbors to get together! AWESOME, BABY!

DEFENDING CHAMPION - PISTOL PETER BURG receives the RED BULL JOSH WISE TROPHY for his excellence in 2008! Remember, you too can win this beautiful trophy to adorn your mantle and to impress your friends with a victory in 2009! And you will have the opportunity to host the party of the decade, that will be talked about past 2010!!

RECORD BROKEN - We have our largest number of competitors ever in this our 13th year of competition. We have 29 contestants total in the adult pool and 7 in the teen pool! Of course this means the WINNINGS are larger too! And a BIGGER BASH by the winner?!!

DIAPER DANDIES - We have two rookie players this year! MARCY WOOD splinters off from the BIG HOUSE to try to construct her own winning entry! She thinks she'll do a better job than STEVE!

JEFF GUMESON is our second diapered entry. JEFF is a new neighbor who lives on S. Clinton Ct. He lives directly behind the Swanson's. He and his wife moved in this December and with the recent better weather we were able to meet across the back fence and recruit his money to help pay for our party later this spring! Welcome to the Acres Jeff!

NNTBD - MARCY and JEFF will be saddled with the NNTBD (NickName To Be Determined) handle for a day or two until the MAILMAN can percolate, cogitate and fermentate on your names, helped by a few or more than a few Coors Lights (got to watch the calories!) of course!

RULES REVIEW - Just to be sure everyone knows the scoring, below is the score summary for each correct game in each of the 6 rounds.
Round 1 - 1 point for each correct winner
Round 2 - 2 points for each correct winner
Sweet Sixteen - 3 points for each correct winner
Great Eight - 5 points for each correct winner
Final Four - 7 points for each correct winner
National Championship Game - 10 points for correct winner

SOCIAL GATHERING ALERT - Rememeber the gathering tonight - Friday, March 20th - at the CityPub. See the link at top of the right column for directions and menu. I will be there about 6 PM. Come to spend and hour or the whole evening to watch the games or visit with your neighbors! See you there!!

OFFICIAL'S CALLS!
TRAVELLING - COWBOY GEORGE LANTZ and family are cruising in Southern California this week! Missing the games! How could you! At least he put his picks under my door mat before he left town and it is a very good thing I looked there!

TRIPLE DOUBLE - LEWALCINDY celebrated yet another birthday this week. 3 x 2 equals 6. The question is if we should multiply 6 by 10 or 9! Happy birthday LEW!

TECHNICAL FOULS - HOT ROD BILL BELLAMY is out of town and his company has the nerve to block our MMHA blog on his computer! He will play blind for a while but will catch up when he gets back in town!

BLIND LUCK? - ICEMAN GEORGE BELME admitted to starting out filling out the women's NCAA March Madness brackets. Unfortunately it took him two regionals before he realized it wasn't the Men's brackets! The sad part is that he is leading us all!

ILLEGAL SUBSTITUTION - BRUIN DALE HUFFMAN seems to have a new name, as his bracket has "Brandon Huffman" printed on the top of his brackets. Hmmm, if he (Dale or Brandon) wins it all will he be flying us all out to Philly for the party!! I am pretty sure LEWALCINDY at least bothered to write out her own entries!

SHOOTING FROM DOWNTOWN (OR MAYBE THAT WAS EVERGREEN!) - CHIP FAN JAN HUBERT still likes to play with us from Evergreen. Our former neighbor really loves the tournament!!

RETURNING TO THE STARTING LINEUP - $BILL BRADY returns from his one year absence (a trip to Paris last year supposedly got in his way)! Welcome back $. We missed your financial support last year!

INTERNET TAKING OVER - MAGIC MIKE SAVAGE, HOT ROD BILL BELLAMY, STONE COLD JOHN LANTZ and BRANDON THE DREAM - BRUIN DALE HUFFMAN duo all used the internet to send in their entries this year. The world is changing!! I remember when I used to do this all by hand and deliver the reports on foot!! - What an old fart I am!

PLEASE BE SURE TO MAKE ANY COMMENTS FOR ALL OF US TO READ. Thanks $BILL for getting us started! I would agree that your picks have not always been stellar, but you can say that about the rest of us!

RESULTS AFTER DAY ONE!
Points
16 - ICEMAN GEORGE BELME
15 - SUNDEVIL JEFF BULL
LEWALCINDY HUFFMAN
MAGIC MIKE SAVAGE
14 - WOLVERINE JAKE BURG
GADI BLING EISNER
MY BIG FAT GREEK GREOS GANG
THE LEGEND JOHN TAYLOR
13 - THE PROFESSOR PATTI BAIRD
HOT ROD BILL BELLAMY
$BILL BRADY
PISTOL PETER BURG
BIG ONIONS DOUG REISINGER
THE MAILMAN
JAMMIN' JEFF WISE
HUSKY CASEY WISE
BIG HOUSE STEVE WOOD
12 - BASKETBALL BOBBY BAIRD
COWBOY GEORGE LANTZ
JEFF NNTBD GUMESON
CHIP FAN JAN HUBERT
RAM FAN JULIE REISINGER
DUNKIN' DON RONYAK
AND 1 ADAM SWANSON
DEBBIE THE CHEF SWANSON
MARIANNE PENNY WISE
KING JONAH WISE
10 - BRUIN DALE HUFFMAN
MARCY NNTBD WOOD

SWEET SEVEN
14 - A TRAIN ADAM BURG
DR. HOOPS ANDY GREOS
13 - SAM THE EXTERMINATOR GREOS
SOONER OR LATER A SOONER DAVID LANTZ
STONE COLD JOHN LANTZ
THE LONGHORN TYLER SWANSON
11 - THE BIG DIESEL SHAQ SEAN BULL

GOOD LUCK on Friday!

The Mailman

TIME TO DANCE IN THE 'HOOD!

SELECTION SUNDAY is here and The Big Dance in Huntington Acres begins! (See the picture from last year's Huntington Acres Dance at right!) I am looking forward to an exciting year of basketball madness. We've already seen some crazy shenanigans during Championship Week. Something like 7 of the top 10 teams, by RPI rankings, have lost in the early rounds of their conference tournament. This looks like a wide open tournament that may result in a Cinderella NCAA winner - and maybe a LEWALCINDY (see picture of her Dancin') MMHA winner?! It should be AWESOME!

OFFICIAL CALLS!
>3 SECONDS IN THE LANE - Or maybe 3 seconds of Fame - Last year's winners were: 1st - PISTOL PETER BURG; 2nd - COWBOY GEORGE LANTZ; 3rd - SUNDEVIL JEFF BULL; 4th - MARIANNE PENNY WISE

>TRAVELING - This year the MAILMAN will NOT BE TRAVELING in the neighborhood to distribute ballots and flyers on Sunday or Monday. I will leave it up to each individual to print their own brackets and complete them and send to the MAILMAN.

I recomend that you go to www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/mayhem/brackets/printable_men (see links on right margin) to print up this years brackets.
-Please be sure to put your name on the submitted ballot
-I need your current email address as well.

>OVERTIME - The Tie breaker (for 1st place) is Total points in the National Championship Game. Please be sure to put that on your ballot as well.

>BUZZERBEATER - Remember the deadline for your entry is Thursday March 19th at 10 AM. Please drop off your ballot at the Swanson's or send by Mail with your entry fee. If you are out of town you may email the entries to me and arrange for your payment later.

>FREE THROWS - Remember the Sweet Sixteen drawing! Entry fee is $5. Your position in the drawing order is based on when Money is received.

PARTY TIME!
>This Friday, March 20th - Starting about 6:00 PM (happy hour ends at 7PM!)
>Where: City Pub - 3575 S. Yosemite ; near Yosemite and Hampden. See link at top right for a map and the menu!
>Come for an hour or the whole evening!
>Watch the games and/or socialize with your neighbors!
>RSVP in the comments area.

LAST WEEK BEFORE MARCH MAYHEM IN THE ACRES!

Counting down to Selection Sunday with only 1 week to go! The conference tournaments this week will provide you an opportunity to cram for this year's BRACKETOLOGY exam. There will be more (as in numbers) important basketball games played this week than any other week this month! Please note that Cornell has already won the Ivy League, and is in the Big Dance, so don't forget about them!!

SUN DEVIL JEFF BULL is the first to sign up as a Follower of this blog! Hopefully others will follow (and I hesitate to say it this way, but it works!) the DEVIL and sign on!

COMMENTS
A few (and I mean a few) of you have added your comments. Awesome, but I would like to have everyone putting in their two cents worth! This is a neighborhood chat site, so to speak. So step up and write (or should I say "blog") your thoughts as the month goes along.

NEW FOR THIS YEAR!
-Actually the main thing is THE BLOG! All information will be posted here.
-I will send emails alerting of any new posts until the first day of the tournament.
-Starting on the first Friday, I will not send any reminders and you may access the blog for any new posts at your convenience.
-The only other change is that THE MAILMAN is playing for free this year!

DIAPER DANDIES
-Although we have been running at about 26-27 players, we have room for a few new contestants, or diaper dandies as my hero Dicky V would say! Please extend an invitation to your neighbors if they are MMHA worthy!

BRIEF RULES SUMMARY
-ENTRY FEE
> $15 per entry for the NCAA predictions contest
> $10 per household PARTY FUND - to subsidize the year end party
-PRIZES
> 1ST - 50% of total prize pool (plus Party Fund)
> 2nd - 25% of total prize pool
> 3rd - 15% of total prize pool
> 4th - 10% of total prize pool
> The rest of us! - A PARTY at the home of the 1st place winner later this spring!
-ENTRIES
> One entry per individual - Entry fee due with completed ballot
> Deadline -Thursday March 19th at 10 AM
> I will still need correct email addresses for each player.
-SWEET SIXTEEN
> $5 Entry fee: Limited to 16 entries (First 16 people paying).
> Each contestant assigned a Sweet Sixteen team by random draw.
> Winner takes all!
-KIDS DIVISION
> $5 Entry fee for players 18 and younger.
> Payoff for top two or three places depending on participation.

Please email me or call me if you have any questions. Please blog if you have any suggestions on how to improve the Madness in the Acres.

MARCH IS HERE, AND BASKETBALL MADNESS IN THE ACRES IS NEAR!

Hello!

March has arrived! Only two weeks until selection Sunday and 2 1/2 weeks until the start of the NCAA College Basketball Tournament! Excitement City, Baby!

You still have plenty of time to pick out your favorite teams and sift through the field for that "diamond" in the rough that will help crown YOU as the 2009 Champion of the Acres!

>Save this address on your favorites and you can check in on any posts.

>I'll alert you to any new posting by email until the tourney starts.

>Next weekend I will update with the rules and any changes for this year.

>I'm excited for another great year, and I hope you are too!