MB Week in Review – August 5

Posted: August 5, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: MB 2014 | Leave a comment »

Here is a review of the recent action in Block 1 of MegaBracket 2014 (since the last post of this kind on July 26).

WGC-Bridgestone Invitational

Fourteen different users selected teams for the Bridgestone Invitational, which concluded yesterday. This was a no-cut event which meant that each user would have a full team for all four rounds unless someone withdrew after completing at least one round. Danny and cmonahan shared the first day lead at -4 with Bristol one shot back and Greg and thall5 two strokes behind. The tournament itself, as well as the MB scoreboard, was shook up on Friday as Tiger Woods shot a 61 (-9) and took command of the tournament. The ten users who chose Tiger also reaped the benefits as the worst Friday score among those ten users was -6; the best score among those who did not pick Tiger was +2. Danny led after two rounds at -19 with cmonahan at -14 and Bristol at -12. After Saturday’s round, everyone who picked Tiger was probably already counting the 32 points for picking the champion as he would take a 7-shot lead into Sunday. Danny maintained his lead at -25 while Bristol moved into second at -21 and skizzow assumed third place at -15. While Tiger was cruising to victory on Sunday, so was Danny as a final day -1 gave him a total of -26 and an 8-shot victory, notching his 2nd consecutive golf tournament win. Bristol had no one under par on Sunday and barely held off a hard-charging Greg whose team shot -5 on Sunday led by Billy Horschel’s -4 and Zach Johnson’s -3. Bristol finished at -18 with Greg just 2 shots back at -16. tonewil (-15), cmonahan (-15) and skizzow (-14) were also all in the race for second and third place. The top ten finishers were the ten who picked Tiger while the four who finished out of the points where the quartet who did not have Tiger on their side.

Final Standings

* – 32 points earned for picking the champion, Tiger Woods

Finish User Score Points Earned
1 Danny -26 112*
2 Bristol -18 104*
3 Greg -16 96*
4 tonewil -15 88*
cmonahan -15 88*
6 skizzow -14 72*
7 Ryan -7 64*
8 bscheffler -6 56*
9 Jimmy -5 48*
abittner -5 48*
11 mxknkl +2
12 Doug +16
13 thall5 +33
14 MegaBot +42

 

July-August Week 2 Picks

The second week of the July-August weekly picks began on Thursday, July 25th and ended Wednesday, July 31st. This week’s picks again combined games from the Canadian Football League, the Arena Football League, the National Women’s Soccer League, the Western Lacrosse Association, World Team Tennis and 3-game series from Major League Baseball. Sixteen users submitted picks for Week 2 with 6 of the 16 users scoring at least 35 of a possible 60 points. thall5 scored 41 points and claimed the weekly crown and the 10 bonus points that go along with the weekly victory. Chris placed second with 38 points while Jimmy and mxknkl put up 37 points apiece. A new winner will be crowned each week while the points also add up throughout the weeks (there are 7 in the July-August event) and event-long points are handed out at the conclusion of the event in a manner similar to the golf event – points for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc., down to 10th place.

Current July-August Weekly Picks Standings (as of the morning of August 5)

Rank User Points
1 tonewil 103
2 abittner 96
3 mxknkl 94
4 bscheffler 93
Ryan 93
6 thall5 90
7 cmonahan 84
8 Jimmy 83
9 Bristol 82
10 Greg 80
skizzow 80
12 Doug 77
13 Danny 76
14 MegaBot 73
15 Chris 64
16 JP 29

 

Independent Women’s Football League

Bristol, Danny & skizzow tied for the event win in the IWFL with 72 points, earned the 5-point event win bonus. (The event win bonus has been modified this season to provide greater reward for events worth more points. The bonus in MB 2014 is equal to 5% of the maximum point value of the event, rounded off.) JP had the lead heading into the Tier I Championship game on Saturday, but the winning trio all correctly selected the Carolina Phoenix as the Tier I champion. JP finished 4th with 64 points while Doug, MegaBot and thall5 finished in a tie for 5th with 48 points.

World Team Tennis

The World Team Tennis championship was held Sunday, July 28th. Only 8 users made picks for the final although that weekend was the height of our issues with our host company which may have prevented a few other users from making a selection. Bristol, Jimmy, JP & tonewil all correctly picked the Washington Kastles to defeat the Springfield Lasers and earned 32 points. No event winner was officially named and no event win bonus granted since only the championship match was picked.

 

Block 1 Standings

Danny and tonewil sit atop the Block 1 standings, with just 4 points separating 1st place Danny and 2nd place tonewil. Bristol is in 3rd, trailing tonewil for the second spot by 82 while Jimmy is 4th, another 48 points behind Bristol. The PGA Championship this week provides another opportunity for big points in a golf event.

(as of the morning of August 5)

Rank User Points
1 Danny 465
2 tonewil 461
3 Bristol 379
4 Jimmy 331
5 bscheffler 321
6 Greg 304
7 skizzow 277
8 mxknkl 246
9 Ryan 237
10 cmonahan 232
11 abittner 228
12 thall5 216
13 Chris 208
14 Doug 149
15 JP 125
16 MegaBot 121

Arena Football League

Posted: August 1, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: MB 2014 | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment »

With the Arena Football League playoffs opening tonight, here is a “preview”, in our typical MB-style.

Arizona Rattlers

Seed: #1 in the National Conference

Record: 15-3, first place in the National West

Head Coach: Kevin Guy

Bio Highlights: Played collegiately at West Alabama; Played four seasons in the AFL, including a season with the Minnesota Fighting Pike; won ArenaBowl XXI as defensive coordinator of the San Jose SaberCats; is an arenafootball2 Hall of Fame inductee; led the Rattlers to an Arena League record 18 wins in 2011

Mascot: Stryker D. Rattler

Players I’ve Heard Of: Maurice Purify – WR, Nebraska (aka “Bobby Purify’s Uncle”); Anttaj Hawthorne – DL, Wisconsin

Best Names: Tysson Poots – WR, Southern Utah; Odie Armstrong – FB, Northwest Oklahoma State

Chicago Rush

Seed: #2 in the National Conference

Record: 10-8, first place in the National Central

Head Coach: Bob McMillen

Bio Highlights: 3-time All-American at Illinois-Benedictine; played 13 season in the AFL, winning Arena Bowl XI with Arizona, Arena Bowl XVI with San Jose, and Arena Bowl XX with Chicago; retired after 2007 as the 2nd-leading rusher in Arena League history; Was featured on the cover of EA Sports’ Arena Football: Road to Glory after the 2006 season

Players I’ve Heard Of: None

Best Names: Brian Brikowski – DL, Monmouth; Semaj Moody – DB, South Caroline State; Luke Drone – QB, Illinois State

Spokane Shock

Seed: #3 in the National Conference

Record: 14-4, second place in the National West

Head Coach: Andy Olson

Bio Highlights: Played collegiately at Western Washington, setting records for career receptions and receiving TDs; Played in 29 regular season games for Spokane and helped them win the 2009 ArenaCup in afl2

Mascot: Shox the Fox

Players I’ve Heard Of: Arvell Nelson – QB, Texas Southern; Nelson was at Iowa for two seasons before being arrested for drug possession and then dismissed from the team. He also gained fame while in Iowa City when shown with a few teammates holding large amounts of money  and alcohol on a social networking site.

Arvell Nelson

Best Names: Palauni Ma Sun – OL, Oregon; Tyrone Novikoff – OL, Idaho

San Jose SaberCats

Seed: #4 in the National Conference

Record: 13-5, third place in the National West

Head Coach: Darren Arbet

Bio Highlights: Played collegiately at Sacramento State; played 2 seasons in the AFL, one for the Los Angeles Cobras and the other for the Maryland Commandos; was named San Jose’s head coach in 1999, became general manager in 2006, and part-owner in 2011; has won 3 Arena Bowl titles, the latest in 2007; inducted into Stockton, CA’s Black Sport Hall of Fame alongside fellow football great Webster Slaughter; also an inductee in the Arena Football League Hall of Fame

Players I’ve Heard Of: Clevan Thomas – DB, Florida Sate; Mitch Mustain – QB, USC; Steve Octavien – LB, Nebraska; Ollie Ogbu – DL, Penn State; Duke Pettijohn – DL, Syracuse

Best Names: Ollie Ogbu, Duke Pettijohn, Jamarko Simmons – WR, Western Michigan

Jacksonville Sharks

Seed: #1 in the American Conference

Record: 12-6, first place in the American South

Head Coach: Les Moss

Bio Highlights: Began his AFL coaching career in 1988 with the Chicago Bruisers; Served on the staff of the ArenaBowl champion Detroit Drive in 1990; Has been in the AFL or afl2 postseason every season since 1992; won four Arena championships – 1990, 1998, 2000 & 2011; served as Tight Ends Coach and Training Camp Coordinator of the XFL’s Orlando Rage, helping them capture the XFL Eastern Division Championship in 2001 (has it really been that long since the XFL? Lots of excellent information in that article.)

Players I’ve Heard Of: None

Best Names: Dusty Bear – DL, Western Kentucky; Ayanga Okpokowuruk – DL, North Carolina; Jamaal Fudge – DB, Clemson; Marco Capozzoli – K, Montclair State

Philadelphia Soul

Seed: #2 in the American Conference

Record: 12-6, first place in the American East

Head Coach: Clint Dolezel

Bio Highlights: Played collegiately for Cisco Junior College and East Texas State, where he lettered in football and golf; played 14 seasons in the AFL including 3 seasons for the Texas Terror/Houston Thunderbears franchise; began the first professional QB to throw 800 touchdown passes in 2007; in 2008, threw his 900th TD pass; won ArenaBowl XV with the Grand Rapids Rampage

Mascot: SoulMan (the one on the left, not Ron Jaworski)

Players I’ve Heard Of: Dustin Almond – QB, Southern Miss, Carlos Martinez – K, Buena Vista (alma mater of yours truly and several other MegaBracketeers)

Best Names: LaRico Stevenson – DB, West Georgia; Ko Quaye – DL, South Dakota

Orlando Predators

Seed: #3 in the American Conference

Record: 7-11, second place in the American South

Head Coach: Doug Plank

Bio Highlights: Played collegiately for Ohio State, winning 3 Big Ten titles and participating in 3 consecutive Rose Bowls in the early 1970s; played 8 seasons in the NFL, all for the Chicago Bears; began his coaching career as defensive coordinator of the Georgia Force in the AFL in 2001; two-time AFL Coach of the Year;

Players I’ve Heard Of: Quinn Pitcock – DL, Ohio State; Aaron Garcia – QB, Sacamento State (17 year veteran of the AFL); Tim Cheatwood – LB, Ohio Sate; Jason Geather – WR, Miami (FL)

Best Names: Prechae Rodriguez – WR, Auburn; T.T. Toliver – WR, Bethune-Cookman

Tampa Bay Storm

Seed: #4 in the American Conference

Record: 7-11, third place in the American South

Head Coach: Dave Ewart (aka Tommy Boy)

Bio Highlights: Played collegiately for Salem College and East Tennessee State, where he was named Division I-AA All-American; coached with Rich Rodriguez at Glenville State; began his AFL coaching career in 1994 with the Cleveland Thunderbolts; has been head coach for the St. Louis Stampede, the Texas Terror, the Florida Bobcats and the Tampa Bay Storm;

Players I’ve Heard Of: James Hardy – WR, Indiana; Adrian McPherson – QB, Florida State; Jeff Tow-Arnett – OL, Minnesota

Best Names: Juan Bongarra – K, Albany State; DeAngelo Woodie – WR, No college; De’Audra Dix – DB, Johnson C. Smith

MB Week In Review – July 26

Posted: July 26, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: MB 2014 | Tags: , | Leave a comment »

The 2014 MegaBracket campaign kicked off just over a week ago with the beginning of the British Open on Thursday, July 18. The first tee shot was struck at 12:30 am CDT, marking the start of the 5th MB season.

British Open

Fifteen different users joined the fun for the season-opening event including first timers bscheffler, thall5 and cmonahan. tonewil was the first day leader with a scorching -3. Chris and Jimmy were tied for the lead at the end of the second round, but each had one golfer miss the cut (Tom Watson for Chris, Justin Rose for Jimmy) and would have to each take the worst score of the day on Saturday and Sunday as the penalty for those missed cuts. The missed cut penalty places a premium on having a full team for the weekend and Danny, bscheffler and Greg were the only users to have all 5 picks make the weekend. Danny and bscheffler took advantage, moving into the top 2 spots after Saturday’s play with Danny sitting at +18, bscheffler +23 and Jimmy and tonewil (also 1 missed cut in Rose) tied for 3rd at +26. Behind the strength of Phil Mickelson’s winning 66 (-5), Danny extended his lead to a winning margin of 10 strokes. tonewil finished 2nd and after an atrocious Saturday that dropped him into a tie for 10th, Chris rallied behind Mickelson and Ian Poulter (-4) to put up Sunday’s best team score of +3 to finish 3rd.

Final Standings

* – 32 points earned for picking the champion, Phil Mickelson

Finish User Score Points Earned
1 Danny +25 152*
2 tonewil +35 140*
3 Chris +38 128*
4 Jimmy +40 116*
bscheffler +40 84
6 mxknkl +42 92*
7 Greg +43 48
8 Bristol +45 36
9 abittner +46 24
10 skizzow +49 12*
11 Doug +58
12 Ryan +64
thall5 +64 32*
14 cmonahan +116
15 MegaBot +145

 

July-August Week 1 Picks

The first week of the first weekly picks also began on Thursday, July 18th and completed Wednesday, July 24th. The first week’s picks combined games from the Canadian Football League, the Arena Football League, the National Women’s Soccer League, the Western Lacrosse Association, World Team Tennis and 3-game series from Major League Baseball. Week 1 was very competitive with 6 of the 15 users scoring at least 35 of a possible 60 points. tonewil put up an impressive 43 points to claim the weekly crown and the 10 bonus points that go along with the weekly victory. Ryan finished a close second with 40 points. Newcomers bscheffler and cmonahan tied for 3rd with 39 points. A new winner will be crowned each week while the points also add up throughout the weeks (there are 7 in the July-August event) and event-long points are handed out at the conclusion of the event in a manner similar to the golf event – points for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc., down to 10th place.

 

Block 1 Standings

(heading into the weekend)

Rank User Points
1 tonewil 236
2 Danny 225
3 Chris 178
4 bscheffler 171
5 Jimmy 163
6 mxknkl 159
7 Greg 118
8 Bristol 111
9 skizzow 87
abittner 87
11 Doug 83
thall5 83
13 Ryan 77
14 cmonahan 63
15 MegaBot 59