SAVE THE DATE FOR THE MARCH MADNESS 2013 YEAR END PARTY!

WHEN:  SATURDAY, MAY 4TH
                     7:00 PM 

WHERE:  THE SWANSONS

LIQUID REFRESHMENTS PROVIDED!

FURTHER INFORMATION WILL BE E MAILED AND POSTED ON THE BLOG!

PLEASE E- MAIL OR CALL WITH ANY QUESTIONS.

SEE YOU THEN!

THE MAILMAN

CARDINALS FLY TO A WIN!
> SPIKE and TREY tried valiantly to upset LUKE and SIVA but the Cardinals flew away in the second half with strong rebounding from BEHANAN!  It was a very entertaining game, with the big runs and hot hands especially in the first half making for some real excitement!  Louisville at the end appeared to be the stronger and deserving team.  Sorry PISTOL and WOLVERINE for your loss this year, but the future looks bright for your Blue and Maize!

CHAMPION OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD!
>DEBSTER THE CHEF SWANSON flies with the Cardinals to FIRST PLACE in our 2013 March Madness in Huntington Acres contest!  This is THE DEBSTER First Title!  Congratulations DEB - Awesome job!  She wins the First Place Prize of $250!

MONEY WINNERS!
>BASKETBALL BOBBY BAIRD and MARIANNE PENNY WISE Tied for SECOND PLACE! They both ended up a point behind DEBSTER!  Great job guys.  They will split the Second Place ($130) and Third Place ($80) prizes and so each will earn $105!

NATIONAL CHAMPION POOL
>NINE of our contestants predicted Louisville as their National Champion!  They will split the National Championship pool of $115.  That works out to $13 for each.  So, at least most played for Half price!   

SWEET SIXTEEN POOL
>DEBSTER THE CHEF SWANSON also won the Sweet Sixteen Contest with Louisville!  She wins $55 for this pool. 

TERRIFIC TRIFECTA
>AIR PRINCE PIERCE REISINGER is our Champion in the under 18 division.  Congrats PIERCE!

YEAR END PARTY
>Remember, there will be a year end party at The Swansons sometime this Spring.  All players are welcome to attend.
>The date of the year end party is still to be determined.  I will notify everyone by email and it will also be posted on this blog when that date has been chosen.  

FINAL 2013 STANDINGS (MONEY WON)
1    79 - DEBSTER THE CHEF   - $268
2    78 - BASKETBALL BOBBY BAIRD  - $118
             MARIANNE PENNY WISE  - $118
4    75 - THE MAILMAN  - $13
5    73 - RAM FAN JULIE REISINGER  - $13
6    72 - COWBOY JOE GEORGE LANTZ  - $13
7    71 - PISTOL PETER BURG
8    70 - DEACON DAVID LANTZ  - $13
             MAGIC MIKE SAVAGE  - $13
10   69 - BUFF ADAM BURG  - $13
11   64 - PROFESSOR PATTI BAIRD
              HOT ROD BILL BELLAMY
13   63 - LONGHORN TYLER SWANSON
14   62 - SAM THE EXTERMINATOR GREOS
              LEWALCINDY HUFFMAN
16   60 - JAMMIN' JEFF WISE
17   59 - GREEK GREOS GANG
18   57 - AND 1 ADAM SWANSON
19   56 - WOLVERINE JAKE BURG
20   55 - DUNKIN' BRAD UNKLESS
21   51 - SHOOTIN' SANDY BURG
22   50 - DR. HOOPS ANDY GREOS
23   49 - BRUIN DALE HUFFMAN
              KING JONAH WISE

TERRIFIC TRIFECTA
1   73 - AIR PRINCE PIERCE REISINGER
2   45 - MIGHTY MAX RONYAK
3   43 - HOT SHOT HAGAN REISINGER

THANKS FOR PLAYING AGAIN THIS YEAR!  Hope you enjoyed it!

The Mailman

SATURDAY STRUGGLES
>Both games were struggles for the winners yesterday.  Louisville had to come from a significant deficit, while Michigan had to hold off the Orangemen for the win.  Not particularly pretty basketball but entertaining enough to keep our attention for 6 hours!

WINNERS BRACKET
>We have two potential winners for our contest this year depending on the outcome of Monday's game.
>MICHIGAN WINS
    1st - PISTOL PETER
    2nd - DEBTER THE CHEF
    3rd (tie) - BASKETBALL BOBBY and MARIANNE PENNY
>LOUISVILLE WINS
     1st - DEBSTER THE CHEF
     2nd (tie) - MARIANNE PENNY and BASKETBALL BOBBY

TERRIFIC TRIFECTA
 >AIR PRINCE PIERCE REISINGER is the winner in the TRIFECTA Division!  Congratutlations PIERCE!

REMEMBER THE NATIONAL CHAMPION POOL
>For those of you who still have your National Champion in play (Louisville and Michigan) still have a chance to win some money.
>The total pool is $115.
>There are 9 entrants who predicted Louisville.  Payout will be $13 per person.
>One entrant had Michigan so Pistol will get an additional $115 if the Wolverines win!

SWEET SIXTEEN DRAWING
   >MICHIGAN - MAGIC MIKE
   >LOUISVILLE - DEBSTER THE CHEF

>STANDINGS AFTER SATURDAY
71 - PISTOL PETER BURG
69 - DEBSTER THE CHEF SWANSON
68 - MARIANNE PENNY WISE
        BASKETBALL BOBBY BAIRD
65 - THE MAILMAN
64 - HOT ROD BILL BELLAMY
        PROFESSOR PATTI BAIRD
63 - LONGHORN TYLER SWANSON
        RAM FAN JULIE REISINGER
62 - COWBOY JOE GEORGE LANTZ
        LEWALCINDY HUFFMAN
        SAM THE EXTERMINATOR GREOS
60 - JAMMIN' JEFF WISE
        MAGIC MIKE SAVAGE
        DEACON DAVID LANTZ
59 - GREEK GREOS GANG
        BUFF ADAM BURG
57 - AND 1 ADAM SWANSON
56 - WOLVERINE JAKE BURG
55 - BRAD DUNKIN' UNKLESS
51 - SHOOTIN' SANDY BURG
50 - DR HOOPS ANDY GREOS
49 - KING JONAH WISE
       BRUIN DALE HUFFMAN

TERRIFIC TRIFECTA
63 - AIR PRINCE PIERCE REISINGER
45 - MIGHTY MAX RONYAK
43 - HOT SHOT HAGAN REISINGER

Have a great Sunday!

The Mailman

BROKEN SUNDAY - OUCH!
>GRUESOME!  That is one description of Louisville's player Kevin Ware's injury on Sunday afternoon.   I was squirming in my seat and was happy not to see it played over and over.   Wow, seems a little odd for a young player to just land on his leg and the Tibia breaks like a toothpick!  Unfortunately, that was the biggest talk of the day.
>Getting to the games, it seemed like Louisville's guards were like little pests continually flying by the Duke defenders to the basket either for lay ups or dishing out assists.  I mean it was relentless.  Nice high percentage shots are hard to overcome, especially when Duke couldn't hit the side of a barn with it's three point shots on Sunday.
>Michigan ran out to an early lead and had no problems keeping it ( although I did not watch the whole game).  PISTOL PETER is the only player who has Michigan advancing and they are his National Champion pick!

DAILY KUDOS
>DEBSTER THE CHEF SWANSON was our only contestant with 2 correct choices on Sunday.  Awesome job DEBSTER!  It appears your pick of Michigan will win you money this year!

NATIONAL CHAMPS WATCH
>Two of our contestants lost their National Champ prediction Florida - HOT ROD BILL and HOT SHOT HAGAN REISINGER.
>DUKE'S loss left WOLVERINE JAKE and DUNKIN' BRAD without their National Champ choice.

>PISTOL PETER still has MICHIGAN alive for the National Championship.
>NINE contestants have LOUISVILLE as their National Champ (NC).  EIGHT additional players have them winning the first game next Saturday and advancing to the Final Game (FG), but not winning the National Championship.
>See below in the Standings, the team (if present) that each player has alive and how far they have predicted they will advance.

TERRIFIC TRIFECTA WINNER!
>AIR PRINCE PIERCE REISINGER wins this year's TERRIFIC TRIFECTA CONTEST!!  He has the most points and still has possible points with Louisville.  However, MIGHTY MAX and HOT SHOT HAGAN have no more possibilities for points, so AIR PRINCE PIERCE is the Winner!  GREAT JOB PIERCE!  CONGRATULATIONS!

SWEET SIXTEEN DRAWING
>Here are the contestants still alive -

DEBSTER - LOUISVILLE
MAGIC MIKE  - MICHIGAN
RAM FAN JULIE - SYRACUSE
AND 1 ADAM - WICHITA STATE

STANDINGS AFTER SUNDAY (108 Possible points)
64- PISTOL PETER BURG - National Champ - Michigan
62- DEBSTER THE CHEF SWANSON - NC -Louisville
61- BASKETBALL BOBBY BAIRD - NC - Louis
      MARIANNE PENNY WISE - NC - Louis
58- THE MAILMAN - NC - Louis
57- PROFESSOR PATTI BAIRD - Louisville advance to Final Game (FG)
      HOT ROD BILL BELLAMY -FG - Louis
      AND 1 ADAM SWANSON - Done - no more possible points
56- WOLVERINE JAKE BURG - Done
       RAM FAN JULIE REISINGER - NC - Louis
       LONGHORN TYLER SWANSON - FG - Louis
55- SAM THE EXTERMINATOR GREOS - FG - Louis
      LEWALCINDY HUFFMAN - FG - Louis
      COWBOY JOE GEORGE LANTZ - NC - Louis
      BRAD DUNKIN' UNLESS - Done
53- DEACON DAVID LANTZ - FG - Louis
      MAGIC MIKE SAVAGE - NC - Louis
      JAMMIN' JEFF WISE - FG - Louis
52- BUFF ADAM BURG - NC - Louis
      GREEK GREOS GANG - FG - Louis
51- SHOOTIN' SANDY BURG - Done
50- DR. HOOPS ANDY GREOS - Done
49- BRUIN DALE HUFFMAN - Done
      KING JONAH WISE - Done

TERRIFIC TRIFECTA
56- AIR PRINCE PIERCE REISINGER - NC - Louis
45- MIGHTY MAX RONYAK - Done
43- HOT SHOT HAGAN REISINGER - Done

Have a great week!

The Mailman

GREAT EIGHT SATURDAY

SATURDAY SHOCKERS!
>The SHOCKERS gutted out a big win over OHIO STATE, as the Buckeyes could not finish the comeback and pull off a BuzzerBeater like it did in it's previous two games!  For a while there I thought they might, but WICHITA STATE really did look like the better team today!  The stand in Cinderella (I mean they are a #9 seed, but FGCU trumped them going into the weekend for the Cinderella honor!) looks good and deserving going to the Final Four!  Score one for the Mid Majors!
>SYRACUSE was not really an upset, but they also looked to be the best team going to the Final Four from the East Regional.


DAILY KUDOS - NONE!
>ZERO, ZILCH, NADA, NIL, BAGELED!  THERE WERE ABSOLUTELY ZERO POINTS SCORED BY ANYONE IN OUR CONTEST TODAY!  UNBELIEVABLE!
>In our previous 16 years I cannot remember this ever happening in the Sweet Sixteen Weekend!!
>The current standings are not changed from Friday's results!
>There are no future points coming out of these two regions.
>The only potential future points will be from the Four teams playing tomorrow.
>The only good from this is THE MAILMAN can get to bed early Saturday night!!

SWEET SIXTEEN DRAWING
>JAMMIN' JEFF (Ohio State) lost his chance for an easy pay day as a result of today's game!
>AND 1 ADAM lost Marquette, but still has Wichita State alive!

NATIONAL CHAMPION LOSS
>MIGHT MAX RONYAK in the Terrific Trifecta lost his National Champ - OHIO STATE today.
>There were no losses in the Adult game, but that will change on Sunday!


STANDINGS AFTER SATURDAY (98 possible)
59 - PISTOL PETER BURG
57 - AND 1 ADAM SWANSON
56 - MARIANNE PENNY WISE
       BASKETBALL BOBBY BAIRD
55 - BRAD DUNKIN' UNKLESS
53 - THE MAILMAN
52 - DEBSTER THE CHEF SWANSON
       HOT ROD BILL BELLAMY
       PROFESSOR PATTI BAIRD
51 - LONGHORN TYLER SWANSON
       RAM FAN JULIE REISINGER
       SHOOTIN' SANDY BURG
       WOLVERINE JAKE BURG
50 - COWBOY JOE GEORGE LANTZ
       LEWALCINDY HUFFMAN
       SAM THE EXTERMINATOR GREOS
       DR. HOOPS ANDY GREOS
49 - BRUIN DALE HUFFMAN
48 - JAMMIN' JEFF WISE
       MAGIC MIKE SAVAGE
       DEACON DAVID LANTZ
47 - GREEK GREOS GANG
       BUFF ADAM BURG
44 - KING JONAH WISE

TERRIFIC TRIFECTA
51 - AIR PRINCE PEIRCE REISINGER
45 - MIGHTY MAX RONYAK
43 - HOT SHOT HAGAN REISINGER

GOOD LUCK ON SUNDAY!

The Mailman

SWEET FRENZIED FRIDAY!

AMAIZEING FRIDAY NIGHT!
>Wow!  That was amazing!  MICHIGAN comes back in the last 2 minutes and beats KANSAS, whose fans at least had them winning with 30 seconds left,  with an almost half court TREY by Trey Burke to send them to OT and some more TREYs by Mr. Burke!  That was an awesome finish and has to be one of the most surprising finishes of the tournament!
>On the other hand it appears KANSAS "Self" destructed and again disappoints by not advancing as far as predicted by it's seeding! 
>LOUISVILLE and DUKE impress by handling business with only a little anxiety in the end.
>FLORIDA shakes off it's early nerves, I guess, to smack down the "little brother" (and Cinderella) FGCU fairly easily, as expected.

NATIONAL CHAMP WATCH
>Two of our players had KANSAS as their Champion.
>One player had MICHIGAN STATE as their Champion.
>As of tonight ELEVEN players have lost their National Champ pick.  THIRTEEN players are still alive with 5 different teams.

DAILY KUDOS
>WOLVERINE JAKE BURG and PISTOL PETER BURG were a perfect 4 for 4 tonight!  WOLVERINE has the Maize and Blue to the Final Four, while PISTOL PETER has the Woverines as his National Champs!  Awesome job tonight guys!

SWEET SIXTEEN DRAWING
>Here are the players who are still alive in the Sweet Sixteen Drawing

JAMMIN' JEFF               - OHIO STATE
DEBSTER THE CHEF   - LOUISVILLE
RAM FAN JULIE           -SYRACUSE
MAGIC MIKE                -MICHIGAN
AND 1 ADAM                -MARQUETTE/ WICHITA STATE
LONGHORN TYLER     -FLORIDA
DEACON DAVID           -DUKE

STANDINGS AFTER FRIDAY (88 possible)
59 - PISTOL PETER BURG
57 - AND 1 ADAM SWANSON
56 - MARIANNE PENNY WISE
       BASKETBALL BOBBY BAIRD
55 - BRAD DUNKIN' UNKLESS
53 - THE MAILMAN
52 - DEBSTER THE CHEF SWANSON
       HOT ROD BILL BELLAMY
       PROFESSOR PATTI BAIRD
51 - LONGHORN TYLER SWANSON
       RAM FAN JULIE REISINGER
       SHOOTIN' SANDY BURG
       WOLVERINE JAKE BURG
50 - COWBOY JOE GEORGE LANTZ
       LEWALCINDY HUFFMAN
       SAM THE EXTERMINATOR GREOS
       DR. HOOPS ANDY GREOS
49 - BRUIN DALE HUFFMAN
48 - JAMMIN' JEFF WISE
       MAGIC MIKE SAVAGE
       DEACON DAVID LANTZ
47 - GREEK GREOS GANG
       BUFF ADAM BURG
44 - KING JONAH WISE

TERRIFIC TRIFECTA
51 - AIR PRINCE PEIRCE REISINGER
45 - MIGHTY MAX RONYAK
43 - HOT SHOT HAGAN REISINGER

GOOD LUCK ON SATURDAY

The Mailman

OH, TO BE SWEET 16 AGAIN!

SWEET AND SOUR THURSDAY?!
>OHIO STATE is the only team to survive Thursday that provided points for the vast majority of us.  Only ONE player had MARQUETTE.  So, Thursday did not upset the standings in our game much!  TWO players were shut out on Thursday.  Interesting that all three of these players were in the BURG FAMILY!!  The rest of us all managed 1 out of 4 (Ohio State).
>The EAST REGIONAL is officially INACTIVE for our game, as the loss of INDIANA and MIAMI leaves no more points possible out of this region!
>EIGHT PLAYERS LOST THEIR NATIONAL CHAMPS on Thursday.  SIX Players lost INDIANA and TWO Players lost MIAMI as their National Champion prediction.  So, 2/3 of still alive!
>Unfortunately, WICHITA STATE vs LA SALLE was a non factor in our contest.

DAILY KUDOS!
>SHOOTIN' SANDY BURG was our star on Thursday picking 2 out of 4 correct!  She picked the upset with MARQUETTE over MIAMI.  AWESOME JOB SHOOTIN' SANDY!

SWEET SIXTEEN DRAWING!
>Below are the results of the drawing for the Sweet Sixteen.  Unfortunately, HOT ROD BILL BELLAMY and THE MAILMAN are already out with the losses of INDIANA  and MIAMI!

JAMMIN' JEFF               - OHIO STATE
KING JONAH                 - KANSAS
DEBSTER THE CHEF   - LOUISVILLE
RAM FAN JULIE           - SYRACUSE/ OREGON
MAGIC MIKE                -MICHIGAN/ARIZONA
HOT ROD BILL             -INDIANA
MAILMAN                     -MIAMI
AND 1 ADAM                -MARQUETTE/ WICHITA STATE
COWBOY GEORGE      -MICHIGAN STATE/ FGCU
LONGHORN TYLER    -FLORIDA/ LASALLE
DEACON DAVID          -DUKE

STANDINGS AFTER SWEET THURSDAY (76 points possible)
48 - SHOOTIN' SANDY BURG - Rookie of the year??
       AND 1 ADAM SWANSON 
       LONGHORN TYLER SWANSON
47 -BASKETBALL BOBBY BAIRD - Previous Champ!
       PISTOL PETER BURG - Previous Champ!
       DR. HOOPS ANDY GREOS
       SAM THE EXTERMINATOR GREOS
       THE MAILMAN - Previous Champ!
       MARIANNE PENNY WISE - Previous Champ!
46 - HOT ROD BILL BELLAMY
       DEBSTER THE CHEF SWANSON
       DUNKIN' BRAD UNKLESS
45 - DEACON DAVID LANTZ
       RAM FAN JULIE REISINGER
44 - GREEK GREOS GANG
       LEWALCINDY HUFFMAN
       COWBOY JOE GEORGE LANTZ
43 - BRUIN DALE HUFFMAN
42 - MAGIC MIKE SAVAGE - Previous Champ!
        JAMMIN' JEFF WISE - Defending Champ!
41 - PROFESSOR PATTI BAIRD
       KING JONAH WISE - Previous Champ!
       BUFF ADAM BURG
39 - WOLVERINE JAKE BURG

TERRIFIC TRIFECTA
45 - AIR PRINCE PIERCE REISINGER
42 - MIGHTY MAX RONYAK - Defending Champ!
37 - HOT SHOT HAGAN REISINGER

GOOD LUCK ON FRIDAY!

The Mailman

SUNDAY SURVIVORS!

CINDERELLAS AND SURVIVORS!
>Who are these guys!!  Not One, but TWO Cinderellas make Sunday an historic day!
>In a normal year a Number 9 seed, like WICHITA STATE, would be considered a Cinderella, but they will be overlooked because of TWO other teams!  Crazy! 
>LA SALLE becomes the first team to win a play in game and advance to the Sweet Sixteen!  Wow!
>BUT, even they are overshadowed by FLORIDA GULF COAST who became the First 15 Seed to get to the Sweet Sixteen.  They are also the First University I have never heard of, to not only get to the Sixteen, but even to the tournament!  Where are these guys from? (see below)  How come the Talking heads on the networks didn't see them coming?  Craziness!  Parity down to the #15 seed?! Looks like things will be even tougher in the future for us predicting our brackets!

>MEANWHILE, the BIG BOYS won on Sunday and mostly survived as INDIANA and OHIO STATE  needed last minute and last second heroics to SURVIVE!  None of the other games was a blow out, although KANSAS, DUKE, MIAMI and FLORIDA had their struggles.  From here on in I think it will be a crap shoot as to who wins each game!  Parity?!

DAILY KUDOS
>Today's Kudos goes to everyone (except for 3 outliers)!  All of us had 6 out of 8 correct, except for 3 players (you know who you are) who failed to reach that standard.  Great job everyone!

NICKNAME DETERMINED
>PIERCE REISINGER is out on his trampoline whenever the weather allows!  So I think an appropriate Nickname is PRINCE "AIR" PIERCE REISINGER.  He may be too young to know about HIS AIRNESS (because of his jumping ability) MICHAEL JORDAN, but seems like this fits.  Hope it works for you! 

SWEET SIXTEEN DRAWING
>We have 11 players signed up for the Sweet Sixteen.  If anyone would like to join us please let me know by Tuesday.
>With 11 players the payout will be $55.
>If things stand the same, the following 11 "ballots" will be in the drawing?
1- LOUISVILLE (1)
2- KANSAS (1)
3- INDIANA (1)
4- DUKE (2)
5- MIAMI (2)
6- OHIO STATE (2)
7- MICHIGAN STATE (3), FLORIDA GULF COAST (15)
8- FLORIDA (3), LA SALLE (13)
9- MARQUETTE (3), WICHITA ST (9)
10- MICHIGAN (4), ARIZONA (6)
11- SYRACUSE (4), OREGON (5) 

SWEET SIXTEEN PARTY???
>Anybody out there willing to HOST a Sweet Sixteen Party on Friday Night?  The Swanson's have hosted this party the last couple of years.  It has been very informal and BYOB. Let me know if you are interested and I will send out E mails to everyone.

FLORIDA GULF COAST UNIVERSITY
>Location:  Fort Myers, Florida
>Established 1991;  First Classes started in August 1997
>Undergraduate: 12,000   Graduate: 1100
>Specialty areas: Engineering; Environmental forensics;  Death Investigator concentration 

RESULTS AFTER SUNDAY (64 possible points)
47 - PISTOL PETER BURG - National Champ - MICHIGAN
45 - LONGHORN TYLER SWANSON - NC - INDIANA
       AND 1 ADAM SWANSON - NC - MIAMI
44 - MARIANNE PENNY WISE - NC - LOUISVILLE
       THE MAILMAN - NC - LOUISVILLE
       SAM THE EXTERMINATOR GREOS - NC -INDIANA
       DR. HOOPS ANDY GREOS - NC - INDIANA
       BASKETBALL BOBBY BAIRD - NC - LOUISVILLE
43 - BRAD DUNKIN' UNKLESS - NC - DUKE
       DEBSTER THE CHEF SWANSON - NC - LOUISVILLE
       HOT ROD BILL BELLAMY - NC - FLORIDA
42 - RAM FAN JULIE REISINGER - NC - LOUISVILLE
       DEACON DAVID LANTZ - NC - LOUISVILLE
       SHOOTIN' SANDY BURG - NC - MICHIGAN STATE
41 - COWBOY JOE GEORGE LANTZ - NC - LOUISVILLE
       LEWALCINDY HUFFMAN - NC - INDIANA
       GREEK GREOS GANG - NC - MIAMI
40 - BRUIN DALE HUFFMAN - NC - OHIO STATE
       PROFESSOR PATTI BAIRD - NC - INDIANA
39 - JAMMIN' JEFF WISE - NC - KANSAS
       MAGIC MIKE SAVAGE - NC - KANSAS
       WOLVERINE JAKE BURG - NC - DUKE
38 - KING JONAH WISE - NC - KANSAS
       BUFF ADAM BURG - NC - LOUISVILLE

TERRIFIC TRIFECTA
42 - PRINCE AIR PIERCE REISINGER - NC - LOUISVILLE
39 - MIGHTY MAX RONYAK - NC - FLORIDA
37 - HOT SHOT HAGAN REISINGER - NC - OHIO STATE

GOOD LUCK ON THURSDAY

The Mailman

SATURDAY SHOCKERS!

SHOCKERS SHOCK: DUCKS QUACK!
>Saturday went as expected except for the fall of poll ranked Number 1 Gonzaga (who was definitely not Number 1 worthy!) and #4 Saint Louis (but the Ducks were definitely not a #12 either!).  The other game's results were as expected, although the most entertaining game was the Butler - Marquette game.  Not really an exciting day compared to Friday!  Hope for better on Sunday - likely to be better with FGCU (love the phonetic of the letters!) playing!

WEST REGIONAL A MESS!
>The West Region is a mess for our contest!  Only AND 1 ADAM has Ole Miss on Sunday, otherwise the only team left that will get points for players is Ohio State.  Every other team has been wiped out!

DAILY KUDOS!
> MARRIANNE PENNY WISE was our daily winner with 6 correct out of 8 games.   Awesome job, PENNY!

NATIONAL CHAMPION PREDICTION
>Here are the predicted National Champions by our players.
>Numbers include both the Adults and Kids division.
>No teams have been eliminated as of Saturday's games.
>Included is the payout for each team in the National Champion contest (adults only) - total pool $115.

-LOUISVILLE (1) - 9 - $13 for winner.
-INDIANA (1) - 6 - $19 
-KANSAS (1) - 2 - $58
-DUKE (2) - 2 - $58
-MIAMI (2) - 2 - $58
-OHIO STATE (2) - 2 - $58
-FLORIDA (3) - 2 - $58
-MICHIGAN STATE (3) - 1 - $115
-MICHIGAN (4) - 1 - $115

 RESULTS AFTER SATURDAY (48 Points Possible)
35 - PISTOL PETER BURG
34 - SAM THE EXTERMINATOR GREOS - Waiting until next year to change your handle.
33 - AND 1 ADAM SWANSON
        LONGHORN TYLER SWANSON
32 - BASKETBALL BOBBY BAIRD
        DR. HOOPS ANDY GREOS
        THE MAILMAN
        MARIANNE PENNY WISE
31 - HOT ROD BILL BELLAMY
        DEBSTER THE CHEF SWANSON
        BRAD DUNKIN' UNKLESS
30 - SHOOTIN' SANDY BURG
        DEACON DAVID LANTZ
        RAM FAN JULIE REISINGER
        THE KING JONAH WISE
29 - GREEK GREOS GANG
        LEWALCINDY HUFFMAN
        COWBOY JOE GEORGE LANTZ
        JAMMIN' JEFF WISE
28 - PROFESSOR PATTI BAIRD
        BRUIN DALE HUFFMAN
27 - WOLVERINE JAKE BURG
        MAGIC MIKE SAVAGE
26 - BUFF ADAM BURG

TERRIFIC TRIFECTA
30 - PIERCE NNTBD REISINGER - Down to four choices for your NN!
29 - MIGHTY MAX RONYAK
27 - HOT SHOT HAGAN REISINGER


GOOD LUCK ON SUNDAY!

The Mailman

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS!

CINDERELLA FGCU?!
>Wow! what is going on?  The FGCU (almost, no it does sound obscene?!) Eagles beat #2 seed Georgetown!  This is a wacky year!  Knew it would be!  A number 3 (New Mexico), a number 4 (Kansas St), three number 5's ( OK ST, UNLV, Wisconsin) all lose in the first round!  Two Number 1's ('Zaga & KU) both have trouble putting away # 16's.  A number 3 (Marquette) needs to rely on a last second layup to win!  What does this mean?  Is the NCAA committee hopelessly inept, or is the parity in the first 50-64 top teams closer than we think?    All I know is that it screws up us stiffs  (where is our homy Doug Moe?) trying to win our brackets!   #2 Georgetown tanks and SEVEN players lose one of their Great Eight teams and THREE players lose a Final Four team!  Ouch!!

ANOTHER FREAKY FRIDAY
>Just like last year, the first Friday humbles us all with lower scores than Thursday.  Last year TWO  number 2 seeds lost on Friday, so beware of TGIF next year!

DAILY KUDOS
>Friday's best score was 12 out of 16.  There were Four players that were able to achieve that.
PISTOL PETER BURG,  DR. HOOPS ANDY GREOS, AND 1 ADAM SWANSON, and LONGHORN TYLER SWANSON were our Best Guessers on Friday.  Great Job guys!

NICKNAME DESIGNATION
>I have come up with our Rookie BRAD UNKLESS'S  Nickname as it was one of the easiest I have ever had to do!  The official name will be BRAD DUNKIN' UNKLESS!  There are multiple options with this, which may well be used in the future.  BRAD DUNK UNKLESS,  BRAD DUNKLESS (which I like a lot, and it may morph into) or DUNKIN' BRAD UNKLESS!  Hope you like it!
>PIERCE still thinking on yours!  Will get it by the end of the weekend!

SWEET SIXTEEN
> We have 11 players for the Sweet Sixteen, so we have 5 openings.  If we do not have a full sixteen, I will adjust the field so that some players may get two teams, but the pot will be reduced.

ADMISSION PAID
>I think for the first time in 17 years, everyone is paid up.  Thank you to all!!!

CORRECTIONS WANTED
>Please let me know if you think your score is wrong.  I try very hard to get things right, but late nights and a few cervezas have on occasion tripped me up.  Please let me know if your tally is different than mine.  I will advise you that three ballots have had blanks on one game already, so I have to count these as incorrect.   

RESULTS AFTER FRIDAY (32 possible points)
25 - LONGHORN TYLER SWANSON
       PISTOL PETER BURG
24- THE MAILMAN
      SAM THE EXTERMINATOR GREOS
      DR. HOOPS ANDY GREOS
23- AND 1 ADAM SWANSON
      COWBOY JOE GEORGE LANTZ
      GREEK GREOS GANG
      HOT ROD BILL BELLAMY
22- RAM FAN JULIE REISINGER
      DEACON DAVID LANTZ
      BASKETBALL BOBBY BAIRD
21- BRAD DUNKIN' UNKLESS
      DEBSTER THE CHEF SWANSON
      MAGIC MIKE SAVAGE
      LEWALCINDY HUFFMAN
20- MARIANNE PENNY WISE
      THE KING JONAH WISE
      BRUIN DALE HUFFMAN
      SHOOTIN' SANDY BURG
      PROFESSOR PATTI BAIRD
19- JAMMIN' JEFF WISE - 2012 Winner!
      WOLVERINE JAKE BURG
18- BUFF ADAM BURG

TERRIFIC TRIFECTA
22- PIERCE NTBD REISINGER
21- HOT SHOT HAGAN REISINGER
19- MIGHTY MAX RONYAK

GOOD LUCK on Saturday!

The Mailman

RAMS DANCING ON!
>Welcome back for our 17th year of March Madness in Huntington Acres! Colorado State upheld the honor of the Mountain West Conference tonight with a relatively easy win against Mizzou!  The BIG Boys (higher seeds) from the conference - (3 seed)New Mexico and (5)UNLV - blew their chances.  Great Job Rams - RAM FAN JULIE should be VERY HAPPY!  No dramatic buzzer beaters today, maybe tomorrow!
>The PAC 12 and BIG EAST had a good day, each with 3 wins.  The BIG 10 had 2 wins.  The MOUNTAIN WEST and IVY League had 1 win!  Who'd of thunk it!  (Sorry, that isn't very Ivy League english!)

DAILY KUDOS
> HOT ROD BILL BELLAMY and THE MAILMAN had the best outcome on Thursday with 14 out of 16 correct!

ROSTER MOVES
> We have 24 total players this year.  Up 2 players from last year.
>There are 3 "ROOKIE" Players this year.
>Two players returned after a year's absence.
>We lost 3 players from last year.
>We have 3 players in the Under 18 division.

>ROOKIES - BRAD UNKLESS is our only "true" Rookie.  Welcome BRAD!  I'm thinking about your Nickname!
>RETURNING PLAYERS -  SHOOTIN' SANDY BURG played with us in 1998, as she had her name attached to PISTOL PETER'S entry that year.  However, she is flying solo this year!  Welcome Back SANDY!
>LEWALCINDY and BRUIN DALE HUFFMAN return after missing last years tourney.  Welcome back LEW and BRUIN!
>SAM THE EXTERMINATOR GREOS moves up from the under 18 contest for his first year with the high priced game.  Welcome SAM!  I am cogitating on a new nick name however.
>TERRIFIC TRIFECTA KID'S DIVISION ROOKIE - HOT SHOT HAGAN REISINGER returns after a year absence.  He played with us in 2011.  Welcome back HOT SHOT!
>PIERCE REISINGER is our "true" Rookie this year.  Welcome PIERCE and your Nickname is under development!  You are guaranteed to be our Rookie of the Year in the under 18 division.  Great to have you join us PIERCE!

MONEY MATTERS
> Here are the payouts we are playing for this year

>1st Place $250
>2nd Place $130
>3rd Place $80

Party Fund - $120

National Championship Pool - $115
> This will be divided equally by all players who predict the National champion. If no one is correct then the money will be divided among the 1st 3 places.

Sweet Sixteen -$80

Terrific Trifecta - 1st Place only - $15

RESULTS AFTER THURSDAY - 16 points possible
>14 points - HOT ROD BILL BELLAMY 
         THE MAILMAN
>13 - PISTOL PETER BURG
         GREEK GREOS GANG
         SAM THE EXTERMINATOR 
         BRUIN DALE HUFFMAN
         RAM FAN JULIE REISINGER
         LONGHORN TYLER SWANSON
>12 - BASKETBALL BOBBY BAIRD
         DR. HOOPS ANDY GREOS
         LEWALCINDY HUFFMAN
         COWBOY JOE GEORGE LANTZ
         MAGIC MIKE SAVAGE
         DEBSTER THE CHEF SWANSON
         BRAD NNTBD UNKLESS
         MARIANNE PENNY WISE
>11 - PROFESSOR PATTI BAIRD
         BUFF ADAM BURG
         SHOOTIN' SANDY BURG
         DEACON DAVID LANTZ
         AND 1 ADAM SWANSON
>10 - WOLVERINE JAKE BURG
          KING JONAH WISE
          JAMMIN' JEFF WISE

TERRIFIC TRIFECTA 
>12 - HOT SHOT HAGAN REISINGER
          PIERCE NNTBD REISINGER 
>10 - MIGHTY MAX RONYAK


GOOD LUCK ON FRIDAY!

THE MAILMAN
                              

Invitation to Dance!

BRACKETOLOGY CLASSES ARE NOW IN SESSION!
>The invitations are now in to The Big Dance! Time is short to do your studying of each team's RPI, SOS, and quality wins and losses to come up with YOUR winning entry.  An alternative method is to throw darts or guess!!  Remember YOU are playing for not only big $$, but fame in the 'hood and your Name on the Red Bull Josh Wise Trophy!

PRINT YOUR BALLOT
>Go to the link to CBS Sports to print up the brackets for your study and completion!

THE PLAY IN GAMES, on Tuesday and Wednesday, do not count. For all games you get both teams for the play in game in the first round. For example, you may choose the Boise St v. La Salle winner to beat Kansas St., and you get either team, no matter who wins the play in game.

BUZZER BEATER
>Remember the DEADLINE for the contest is Thursday, March 21st at 10 AM!
>Drop off completed ballots at the Swanson's; Email to me at Tgswanson@aol.com; or of course Mailing is acceptable with a postmark of 3/20/2013!
>My fax machine is unreliable at home so I cannot offer that option.

TICKET PRICES
> $25 for the brackets prediction game: $20 for the predictions and $5 for the National Champion prediction pool.
> $10 per family Party fund
> $5 per entry in Sweet Sixteen drawing (optional) - limited to first 16 participants. Your place in the drawing order is based on order that money is received.
> $5 for the Kids division for all players under 18.

E MAIL: Please be sure to put your correct E mail address on your ballot!

NOTE WELL: THE YEAR END PARTY WILL BE AT THE SWANSON'S HOUSE THIS YEAR. So no need to stress about this.  The party fund is used to help defray the party costs!

>Looking forward to another great year of Basketball Madness in Huntington Acres!

Good Luck!

MARCH MADNESS IN THE ACRES 2013

ANOTHER YEAR OF AWESOME  BASKETBALL IN THE ACRES!

March is here! The Madness in Huntington Acres is near! Time to start your preparations to win the Huntington Acres Championship and the admiration of a few, or maybe all, of your friends in the 'hood! This year's NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament runs from March 21st through April 8th.

Please feel free to recruit any of your neighbors to join us this year!  We have traditionally limited our contest to current or former Huntington Acres residents.

BELOW ARE THE IMPORTANT DETAILS FOR THIS YEAR'S CONTEST!  

 Looking Forward to another great year!

2013 CONTEST INFORMATION!
SELECTION SUNDAY - Sunday, March 17 at 6 PM! Brackets will be available!
>I will not be distributing your brackets to you again this year. Please go to a website such as www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/mayhem/brackets/printable_men (see links on right column) to download and print up your ballot.
>BE SURE TO PUT YOUR NAME ON THE SUBMITTED BALLOT!
>Also put your current email address.

BUZZERBEATER - Remember the DEADLINE for your entry is THURSDAY, MARCH 21st AT 10:00 AM. Please drop off your ballot at the Swanson's, or Mail to me, or e mail your entries to me and arrange payment later.

RETURNING THIS YEAR - Each entry will have $5 put into a pool to predict the eventual national champion. Your National Champ on your brackets entry will be your choice. Those entrants that correctly predict the National Champion will split this pool of money. For example, if you are the only entrant to choose Washington to win, and they are the champions, you win all the money in the pot for this contest. If more than one person chooses the correct team, then they will split the pot.For example, if three people all choose Washington then they will split it 3 ways.

***NEW THIS YEAR- This year we will abandon the tradition of the Winner or Loser hosting the Party and instead the Year End Party will be held at THE SWANSONS! There is a Party fund built into the entry fee to help defer expenses!  Please contact me if you have any questions.

TICKET PRICES: 
-Total Entry (required) - $25 per entry
>NCAA Tournament predictions - $20 per entry
>National Championship Team Pool - $5 per entry

-March Madness Party Fund (required) - $10 per household

-Sweet Sixteen Drawing (optional) - $5 per entry 

RULES SUMMARY 
-ENTRY FEE> $25 per entry for the NCAA predictions contest - one entry per person
*****-$20 for the brackets and $5 for the National Champion pool.
> $10 per household PARTY FUND - to subsidize the year end party
-PRIZES
> 1st - 50% of total prize pool
> 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 SWANSONS later this spring!
-TIEBREAKER
> The tiebreaker for First place will be the total points for the National Championship game.
> NOTE WELL - The Mailman will contact any potential winners before the National Championship Game for their predictions, since your guess should be predicted by the two opponents that are playing.
> Ties for Second, Third and Fourth place will split the winnings evenly.
-ENTRIES
> One entry per individual - Entry fee due with completed ballot
> The Mailman will play for free.
> Deadline -Thursday March 21st at 10 AM
> I will still need correct email addresses for each player!
-RULES & SCORING FOR BRACKETS GAME
>Each entry will predict the winner of each game in each round of the NCAA tournament. Please submit your completed ballot to the Mailman by Thursday March 21st - 10:00 AM.
>Points will be awarded for each game that the winner is correctly predicted. The number of points awarded for each game is summarized below.
>The entry with the most accumulated points through all rounds will be the winner! The Preliminary Play In games on Tuesday March 19th will not be counted.
-POINTS
>Round 1 - March 21st & 22nd - 1 point/ correct [32 Possible Points]
>Round 2 - March 23rd & 24th - 2 points/ correct [32 Possible Points]
>Round 3 - March 28th & 29th - 3 points/ correct [24 Possible Points]
>Round 4 - March 30th & 31st - 5 points/ correct [20 Possible Points]
>Round 5 - April 6th - 7 points/ correct [14 Possible Points]
>Round 6 - April 8th - 10 points/ correct [10 Possible Points]
> Total Possible Points - [132 Possible Points]  
-REPORTING
> Updates and standings will be reported on this blog site after each day of competition.
> All announcements will be posted on this blog site.
-NATIONAL CHAMPION POOL
>Entrants that correctly predict the National Champion will split the pool of money for this game.
>If no one correctly predicts the National Champion, the money will go into the NCAA Tournament prediction pool. (1st through 4th place).

-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 one to three places depending on participation.


I encourage all of you to share comments on the blog, for all to enjoy!

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

The Mailman