Sixth Annual PH4H NCAA Tournament Pick-'em Results

The winner of the Sixth Annual PH4H NCAA Tournament Pick-'em Contest -- and the only one to correctly pick Connecticut -- is Andy.

Here are the final standings:

1. Andy: 344 points, 31 correct picks
2. Dara: 274 points, 36 correct
3. Aaron: 202 points, 39 correct
4. Inbal: 185 points, 38 correct
5. Dan: 179 points, 34 correct
6. Rachel: 163 points, 32 correct
7. Justin: 154 points, 32 correct
8. Jeff: 141 points, 28 correct
9. Steve: 91 points, 22 correct

If you had picked all the higher seeds, you would have wound up in 6th place overall with 168 points and 38 correct picks. Conversely, if you had picked all the lower seeds, you would have wound up in last place with 77 points and 7 correct picks.

Jose Guillen in the news

Hey, did you hear the story about former National Jose Guillen being left off of the Giants' post-season roster because of a drug investigation?

Former National League Comeback Player of the Year . . .

Dmitri Young was arrested for marijuana.

Oops!

Empanadas are in the news!

There's a whole article devoted to our favorite betting currency in the Express.

Premeditated Mascoticide

Even Mets fans agree: Mr. Met must die.

Anyone interested in Nationals playoff tickets?

Someone might want to tell Stub Hub that they have made a grievous error:

The All-Ryan Team

Did anyone else catch Dave Sheinin's All-Ryan Team? Reminded me of many ballpark conversations about themes for fantasy baseball teams . . . .

All PH4H Ballot

Usually, this time of year, at least one of us is sitting at the baseball stadium, filling out an All-Star Ballot with the All-PH4H team. I plan on doing that this Wednesday (while likely watching Randy Johnson get his 300th victory against the team that I usually root for, but am now just hoping that they don't screw up getting the number one draft pick for two years in a row).

So I did a little research. If I were to fill out my PH4H ballot today -- based on a complicated mathematical formula involving general ineptitude, propensity towards committing errors, and presence on the ballot -- my teams would likely be:

American League
C -- D. Navarro
1B -- C. Davis
2B -- J. Lopez
SS- O. Cabrera
3B -- A. Beltre
OF -- D. Murphy, A. Rios, B. Upton

National League
C -- J. Kendall
1B -- J. Cantu (even though I'd like to pick A. Dunn for the sheer awfulness of his infrequent play at 1B)
2B -- D. Uggla
SS -- R. Furcal
3B -- K. Kouzmanoff
OF -- A. Soriano, C. Young, J. Francoeur

Unsubtle enough?

Has Manny Acta Been Fired Yet?

Fourth Annual PH4H NCAA Tournament Pick 'em -- Final Results

This is a week and a half late, but I have a very good excuse.

Anyway, the winner of the Fourth Annual PH4H NCAA Tournament Pick-'em is Dan.

Here are the final standings:

1. Dan: 267 points, 46 correct picks
2. Steve: 258 points, 40 correct picks
3. Aaron: 239 points, 44 correct picks
4. Andy: 223 points, 39 correct picks
5. Rachel: 216 points, 39 correct picks
6. Jason: 203 points, 40 correct picks
7. Jeff: 193 points, 37 correct picks
8. Dara: 180 points, 37 correct picks
9. Inbal: 157 points, 34 correct picks
10. Caroline: 154 points, 27 correct picks
11. Bo: 139 points, 35 correct picks

If you had picked all the higher seeds, you would have wound up in 6th place overall with 210 points and 45 correct picks.

Stoopid Nats News

Anyone catch this on Friday? From D.C. Sports Bog and NBC News:

At last night's Marlins versus Nationals game, the Nationals' Ryan Zimmerman and Adam Dunn wore uniforms with their team misspelled. Look closely, see that? You see it's Nat-in-als? Where's the 'O' everybody? Anyway, later in the game both players changed into correctly spelled uniforms.

Fourth Annual PH4H NIT Pool Winner

The winner of the Fourth Annual PH4H Men's NIT Pick'em contest is . . . Jeff, with 16 correct picks for 22 points. No one picked Baylor vs. Penn State in the finals, so the scores did not change at all since last week.

Here's the final tally, in case anyone still cares.

1. Jeff: 16 correct picks, 22 points.
2. Justin: 15 correct picks, 21 points.
3. Dan: 14 correct picks, 17 points.
4. Dara: 13 correct picks, 17 points.

For the record, I keep the NIT score sheets in my office -- in a yellow manila file in my desk file drawer. One of these days, someone is going to need something, and I'm going to tell them to look in my desk, and they are going to find this file of old NIT brackets. I'm hopeful that it'll be someone with a good sense of humor, or at least an appreciation of the absurd.

Fourth Annual PH4H NCAA Tournament Pick 'em -- Third and Fourth Round Results

The third and fourth rounds of the Fourth Annual PH4H NCAA Tournament Pick 'em Contest are over. Here are the standings:

1. Aaron: 239 points, 44 correct picks, 0 possible points remaining
2. Andy: 223 points, 39 correct picks, 48 possible points remaining
3. Dan: 219 points, 44 correct picks, 48 possible points remaining
4. Rachel: 216 points, 39 correct picks, 0 possible points remaining
5. Steve: 210 points, 38 correct picks, 48 possible points remaining
6. Jason: 203 points, 40 correct picks, 0 possible points remaining
7. Jeff: 193 points, 37 correct picks, 0 possible points remaining
8. Dara: 180 points, 37 correct picks, 0 possible points remaining
9. Caroline: 154 points, 27 correct picks, 0 possible points remaining
10. Inbal: 141 points, 33 correct picks, 64 possible points remaining
11. Bo: 139 points, 35 correct picks, 0 possible points remaining

If you picked all the higher seeds, you would be in 7th place overall, with 194 points, 44 correct picks, and 16 possible points remaining.

Fourth Annual PH4H NIT Pool Update -- Quarterfinals

The NIT final four is now set: San Diego State, Baylor, Notre Dame, and Penn State. Accordingly, the scores from the quarterfinal round of the 2009 PH4H Men's NIT pool are in:

1. Jeff: 16 correct picks, 22 points, 0 possible points remaining.
2. Justin: 15 correct picks, 21 points, 8 possible points remaining (if San Diego State wins).
3. Dan: 14 correct picks, 17 points, 0 possible points remaining.
4. Dara: 13 correct picks, 17 points, 0 possible points remaining.

The next round takes place on March 31. And, as in the past, our competition will be decided before it gets to the actual NIT championship game.

Fourth Annual PH4H NIT Pool Update -- Round 2

The scores from the second round of the 2009 PH4H Men's NIT pool are in:

1. Jeff: 15 correct picks, 18 points
2. Dan: 14 correct picks, 17 points
2. Justin: 14 correct picks, 17 points
4. Dara: 13 correct picks, 17 points

The second round ends on Thursday, and the points will again double. For the record, the only team left in Jeff's final four is Notre Dame. Dan and I both have St. Mary's and Florida in our final four. Justin also has two teams left -- San Diego State and Penn State.

Fourth Annual PH4H NCAA Tournament Pick 'em -- Second Round Results

The second round of the Fourth Annual PH4H NCAA Tournament Pick 'em Contest is over:

1. Steve: 178 points, 33 correct picks
2. Rachel: 176 points, 34 correct
3. Aaron: 175 points, 37 correct
4. Andy: 159 points, 33 correct
5. Dara: 156 points, 33 correct
6. Jason: 155 points, 33 correct
7. Dan: 147 points, 34 correct
8. Caroline: 130 points, 25 correct
9. Jeff: 129 points, 31 correct
10. Bo: 115 points, 30 correct
11. Inbal: 105 points, 27 correct

Of course, everyone knows this contest was designed to encourage picking upsets. If you picked all higher seeds, you would have gotten 146 points with 36 correct picks -- which is statistically better than any of us, but only 8th place in terms of points. On the other hand, if you picked all upsets, you would have gotten 108 points with 10 correct picks -- and would be unable to get any more points. Both illustrate that favorites generally win. But I'm also considering this as statistical validation that the scoring system is, indeed, achieving its desired result -- and that you can't game the system by "picking chalk."

Fourth Annual PH4H NCAA Tournament Pick 'em -- First Round Results

The first round of the tournament is over. My heart is already broken, and my bracket is already busted. Still, life goes on. Here are the current results of the Fourth Annual PH4H NCAA Tournament Pick 'em:

1. Andy: 121 points, 23 correct picks
2. Jason: 119 points, 24 correct
3. Dara: 116 points, 24 correct
4. Steve: 116 points, 23 correct
5. Aaron: 113 points, 24 correct
6. Rachel: 112 points, 23 correct
7. Caroline: 106 points, 20 correct
8. Jeff: 85 points, 21 correct
9. Dan: 83 points, 20 correct
10. Inbal: 77 points, 19 correct
11. Bo: 69 points, 19 correct

By way of comparison, if you picked all higher seeds, you would have gotten 82 points with 22 correct picks -- and if you picked all lower seeds, you would have gotten 108 points with 10 correct picks.

Fourth Annual PH4H NIT Pool Update -- Round 1

The scores from the first round of the 2009 PH4H Men's NIT pool are in:

1. Jeff: 12 correct picks, 12 points
2. Dan: 11 correct picks, 11 points
2. Justin: 11 correct picks, 11 points
4. Dara: 9 correct picks, 9 points

The second round ends on Tuesday. As usual, point values double.

Fourth Annual PH4H NIT Pick-em

This is what everyone's really been waiting for: The Fourth Annual NIT pool.

Here's the bracket. Get me your picks before the first game tips off tomorrow evening.