The Gods have spoken (PickHoops Best Results confirm it) and we have our King of the 2021 Uncle Dino's NCAA Pool. He came, he saw, he made some very good picks. and he conquered. He is none other than Dan (AKA Excel Man) Rutman. All hail King Dan!
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It is an annual tradition for The Greatest NCAA Pool on Earth (trademarked) to highlight those participants whose heart was in the right place, but Uncle Dino must question where their heads were/are at!! Each year everyone assumes that they have a great NCAA basketball pool mind – but then reality sets in!! So here we go… Jack Gaylord, yes you are not even 3 years old yet, but that is no excuse for your current ranking, however there is some hope as you will not finish last like Donald J. Trump, who knows more than all of the people in the world who participate in an NCAA Basketball Pool!! We did love The Jack Gaylord NCAA Pool Pick Special where you selected Rutgerrrrrrs! That was awesome, but perhaps Mom should go easy on the red wine during next year’s special!! Next are those that entered more than one bracket, and none are even in the top ten. First is the 2017 champion Tim Davis – how the mighty have fallen. Tim, bless his heart, entered 3 brackets and currently occupies 24th, 45th and 49th place. Tim, Uncle Dino wants to tell you to just not listen to what everyone in the pool is saying, that you entered 3 brackets and the best you can do is 24th, there is always next year. Then there is Nate Mariner, a man who is loved by millions…and hated by even more! Nate’s 2 brackets sit at 11th (oooooh! just out of the top 10 so you qualify for this dissing) and 47th. Next is Fritz Nelson’s 2 brackets that sit at 26th and 32nd, Uncle Dino thinks Fritz is a traitor – he is a University of Maryland graduate. The Terrapins left the ACC to join the Big 14 (really, it’s the Big 10 but there are 14 teams in the Big 10), that sound you hear is Lefty turning in his grave – hey Fritz, how’s that “Fear the Turtle” battle cry working out for you? What Uncle Dino really wants to know is what the hell happened to Iron Byron Kanaley? Iron Byron is a 2-time past champion and he actually finished 1st, 2nd and 3rd one year! Well, even the greats can really screw things up, but we look forward to Iron Byron winning comeback player of the year in 2022!! So, let’s see, who else can we dish on? There is Hayley Null with the lowest upset risk percentage of 3%. A first-time participant with the possibility of finishing in the top 20 is not bad for your initial foray, but Hayley, as the saying goes with risk there is reward! Uncle Dino expects more from you in 2022. Michael Hines an Uncle Dino NCAA Pool veteran, fan favorite and Notre Dame graduate has placed well in the past but not so much this year. All Uncle Dino can say to ease your pain is that NC State has a winning record vs. Notre Dame in football – look it up! Uncle Dino wants to know what that smell is? It smells like something has died in here…oh, that’s just AJ Gard’s picks!! Uncle Dino would be remiss if he did not mention his curling friend from Canada, Gavin “Hurry Hard” Davidson. Gavin, thanks for playing, your donation to the cause and your current 48th place standing. And many of you have asked about Stevie Frisbie and if there is any relation between him and Frisbee The Dog from the movie Scrooged – let Uncle Dino lay any rumors to rest there is no relation between Frisbee The Dog and Stevie Frisbie. Frisbee The Dog would have made much better picks! ;-) Hey, wait a minute – I hear all of you saying, what about Uncle Dino who currently sits in 40th place? Well, you see, Uncle Dino is about doing things for the greater good. Yes, Uncle Dino could have a perfect bracket, really, he could, but he wants all those who participate in The Greatest NCAA Pool on Earth to feel good about themselves, the experience and to make sure that their self-esteem is lifted. That is why Uncle Dino is in 40th place, not because he does not have a great NCAA basketball mind, but because he cares deeply about all of you!! ;-)
Thanks again for participating and now it’s on to the Elite 8! Yes, this is real. Uncle Dino, a past employee of The Pepsi-Cola Company, has always thought that a liquid version of Peeps is what Easter has been missing.
All cynicism and kidding aside...Uncle Dino is so grateful to everyone for their generous donations to the V Foundation. We have exceeded the goal for this year! THANK YOU!!
PickHoops has a great feature that actually calculates the probability of who will win The Greatest NCAA Pool On Earth after the Sweet 16 is set. And now without further ado, our final four heros are: I am pretty sure that Dan Rutman AKA "Excel Man" probably already does this manually for the 249 NCAA pools that he enters, but for the rest of us mere mortals just go to the PickHoops website and choose "Best Results" from the menus on the left. To break it down for our own Final Four if multiple teams and rounds are listed, these teams must win all the games in the listed rounds for you to achieve your best finish. If the column is blank, you have no "Must Wins" for a particular round - yet. A blank column is good to see for the next round. But if you have a blank column listed for a later round, check back after today's round - there might be a "Must Win" due to results of today's games. So you have heard about Dan "Excel Man" Rutman and our reigning champion Matthew Kelly, but what about the other 2 potential winners for this year's competition - Dan Phillips and John Peterson? It is of no surprise to Uncle Dino that Dan selected Loyola to go far. You see Dan is a real fan of Sister Jean, and a little known fact about Dan, you see Dan is the President of the Minnesota chapter of the Flying Nun Fan Club. It's good to see Dan as a potential winner of this year's competition - Uncle Dino wonders if Dan is going to make this a habit!! ;-)
Uncle Dino wants to thank all of you for being a part of The Greatest NCAA Pool On Earth this year. We are off the the Sweet 16, there will be more dishing to come.
Illinois has made five appearances in the NCAA Final Four, finishing as the national runner-up in 2005, placing third in 1949, 1951 and 1952, and tying for third in 1989...but not this year. Loyola out played and REALLY outcoached Illinois. Mr. Phillips and Mr. Simmons with the upset picks - well done gentlemen.
The Big 14 conference has performed well so far with 6 teams remaining: Rutgers, Maryland, Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan and Illinois. Way to go Big 14! As for the standings of the greatest NCAA Tournament Pool in The World (trademarked) Uncle Dino shall dish, but first a picture is worth a thousand words: Sitting atop the leaderboard is Paul Warner. Paul is the lessor known brother of the famous Warner Brothers - Harry, Sam, Albert, Jack and Paul Warner. What Paul is most famous for is that he served as the inspiration for the Bugs Bunny, cartoon rabbit created by Warner Brothers as part of its Looney Tunes animated short film series. When Uncle Dino assisted Paul with his selections before each choice Paul would say, “Eeeeeeh, watch me, I am a pathetic palooka with a powerful, pachydermous, percussion pick.” He said that before each and every pick! Eh, what's up, doc? For 2nd and 3rd place – please remember that we in the Kelly family take our NCAA Tournament picks very seriously. If you do well you get some perks, if not, no perks. Our reigning champion, Matthew Kelly came from way back making some very strategic selections – picking the Abilene Christian upset of Texas and the Ohio upset of Virginia. But I ask you, is UVa losing to a seed from another universe really an upset? Memories of UMBC no doubt occupying the minds of UVA students and alumni everywhere. His older, not necessarily wiser brother, Christian, made some savvy picks too – but obviously not as savvy as his younger brother. Boys, congratulations, you get to sleep inside tonight! Now some of you may be thinking that Uncle Dino has not performed as well as his children. Well, this is true, but Uncle Dino is all about increasing others self-esteem, and if I have to make some not so hot picks, it is my cross to bear. But, if you think Uncle Dino is kidding about the rigor he puts his children through, just watch this video of Christian's training regimen that I filmed earlier today.
Uncle can count and is fully aware of the fact that he has skipped over 5th place. I think Uncle Dino can sum this performance up with one phrase - Puffy Pirate Shirt! In 7th place is an oldie but a goodie. Uncle Dino reprises his separated at birth pun from many years ago. This is the closest that Corey will ever get to being an NC State alumnus - look it up if you don't believe me! In 8th is none other than Iron Byron Kanaley. An amazing return based on last year's performance when BK finished in 30th place! Well BK, I guess we will listen to you now and believe you later!! In 9th and 10th place we have two dear, dear friends of Uncle Dino. And since the games have started today Uncle Dino will not spend any time trying to come up with anything witty to say about either of them. That's what you get when you are in 9th and 10th place... Nothing...You Get Nothing!! ;-)
Looks like the ACC ain't doing so hot this year!
Another Big 10 highly seeded school drops out! The Mean Green of North Texas State (Alma mater of Mean Joe Greene) showed them the door. Congrats to the great basketball minds that picked the upset: Tim Davis, Matthew Kelly and Iron Byron Kanaley!
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AuthorUncle Dino Is An NC State Alumnus Who Graduated From North Carolina State University In 1984 With A Degree In Accounting. Jim Valvano Made His 4 Years At NC State Memorable In Many Ways, Not To Mention The 1983 Wolfpack Victory Against The University Of Houston Or "Phi Slama Jamma" For The 1983 NCAA Championship. Uncle Dino Is Tom Kelly, A Cloud Computing Enthusiast (Twitter @TKcloud) Who Wants To Use The Cloud To Give To A Great Cause. Yes Office Pools Are Fun, But Doing So For The Greater Good Is More Than Fun...It's The Right Thing To Do. Archives
March 2023
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