League Basketball Pool
Here’s a thought I’m having: who wants to do a League NCAA March Madness pool? Obviously we can’t gamble, but I’d be willing to talk about prizes we can give you. I was thinking something along the lines of a post on a topic of your choice by an author of your choice. I haven’t talked this over with the other, you know, authors, but I suspect that kind of mild conscription is something they might be willing to go along with. Plus, there’s nothing like someone else forcing you to get over writer’s block.
Anyway, put some thoughts in the comments.
IN!
And who says we can’t gamble??? The possible stakes, as stated, could be very fun and interesting.Report
Sure, you would have to do this in the one year I just haven’t found time to pay attention to college hoops. But count me in, all the way.Report
Pre-emptive excuse, Hanley? Wouldn’t have pegged you as much of a whiner…Report
That’s just cold, BSK. But in fact since the Rose Bowl, I just haven’t been able to get into college sports this year, until the last week and a half. I don’t know why. But Purdue’s surprising victory in the Big 10 women’s tourney, and the Purdue men’s defeat of Michigan at Ann Arbor (the only team to beat them there this year), got my juices going again.
I enjoyed seeing Duke get humiliated at home, too. Of course I would have enjoyed watching UNC get humiliated as well.Report
Wait, are you a Purduevian? I thought you were a Wisconsin or Oregon person.Report
Ryan,
I did go to UO, so I’m a big Duck fan. (And I’m ridiculously amused that their new basketball arena is built directly on top of the site where one of my kids was conceived.)
But having grow up in Indiana, I’m also a dyed-in-the-wool Purdue fan, as all true Hoosiers are.Report
This is valuable information. A couple of my friends run a Big Ten football pick ’em league in the falls, and it’s a Michigan-heavy group, so we’re always looking for new Big Ten people to round us out. It’s insanely fun, and they do tons of statistics. I’ll keep you in mind in the fall.Report
Ryan,
My brother might be interested, too. For a number of years, until he tired of doing it, he ran his own ranking system for college football and basketball, based on his own algorithms. It was a pretty good one, too, about as predictive as most of the others out there.
Of course we’re both in Michigan, so it keeps it heavy that way, but neither of us are fans of the mini wolves.Report
“(And I’m ridiculously amused that their new basketball arena is built directly on top of the site where one of my kids was conceived.)”
[Desperately googling what used to be where the new arena is]Report
[Desperately hoping the answer is “a Denny’s”]Report
No, but part of the property was a bakery. The smell of cinnamon rolls in the morning was awweeeesommmme.Report
Uh, that previous comment was actually me, on Johanna’s computer. I guess our secret is blown now.Report
I mever knew cinnamon rolls were an aphrodisiac., but I can see it.Report
James, if the League is anything like every office I’ve ever worked at, the winner is going to be someone that’s never watched basketball and uses some method like, “the place I’d rather visit” as a method for choosing each game’s winner.Report
That’s a good method! I usually go with the Dimitri Martin approach… who would win a battle of the mascots? “Magic vs Wizards? I’m in!”Report
I won money on a super bowl like 6 years ago by choosing the color I liked best. I know nothing about sports, but you boys have fun.Report
I’m game.Report
I’m in. And I like the suggested prize.
I think we did one of these a few years ago, but I can’t remember who won.Report
I would love to do it!Report
I’m in.Report
Sure.Report
I’m in.Report
Totally, totally in.
Who’s going to volunteer to do the scoring? Or is there some kind of online thing that will do it for us.Report
ESPN will do the scoring for you. I am usually in about half a dozen different ESPN pools every year.Report
In. I’d also like to add to the prize pool by offering the winner the right to control my gravatar for the next year.Report
Now I really, really want to win.Report
Can a prize be so awesome that we tremble at the thought of winning it?Report
What – controlling Mark’s gravatar doesn’t fit into that category?Report
Surely it does!
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I’m really going to regret this offer, aren’t I?Report
Oh yes. Yes you are. If I were you, I would start trying to make sure it was me that won. Because the one thing I would absolutely, positively not want to happen would be to have that Kelly guy win.Report
My incentives seem to be large. Methinks I’ll be putting an inordinate amount of effort into my picks this year. Now I just need to figure out if that means reading up on every single player for every single team, or doing a full history of every single team’s mascot.Report
Wait, does “controlling” your gravatar mean we actually get to throw lightning bolts? Because that would be totally awesome.Report
Heh.Report
I’m in. I know next to nothing about college hoops. This will not stop me from participating, and it shouldn’t stop anyone else, either.
MarkRyan, will you set up a bracket pool at ESPN or Yahoo sports or some similar site?A thought: can you set up the rules so that there is some sort of bonus for picking an underdog?Report
For those asking, I am planning to use Yahoo. I will check it out to see what kind of scoring tweaks are available.Report
Count me in. I would prefer ESPN but I’m open to Yahoo.Report
If I win, I’m going to have Burt write one post containing all his planned Supreme Court’s greatest cases, and Mark’s gravatar will be the mascot of his most hated team.Report
Heh. Getting Burt to write another “great cases” post was exactly what I was thinking, too. But all of them at once? That’s just evil.Report
Wait — you mean a list of the cases, right? Because otherwise you’re risking getting something like:
So I could do that. Or you could be happy with a list and let me do a decent job of each case over time.Report
That would be totally cool. Because it would be hilarious, and I think you would still do the serious posts with all deliberate speed.Report
I actually think you should post that as is.Report
Count me in.Report
I’m in.
I will lose, but I’m going to talk trash all the way.Report
In!
I’ve also barely paid attention this year – but when I’ve won work pools it’s usually in seasons when I paid zero attention.Report
Let the cutie-pie pick your teams.Report
She thinks all sports teams are the Packers.Report
I’m pretty sure that counts as child abuse.
At least in Chicago.Report
At least she doesn’t think all sports teams are the Bills, like mine does.Report