Tag: NCAA

The 9,223,372,036,854,775,808 TO 1 Gamble

That’s important for pool entrants like me who know nothing about college basketball, but still want to have a chance after the first round.

I had a story on our 4:00 PM newscast today (and again at 10:00 PM) about NCAA tournament bracket pools. Is there a school or business where bracketology isn’t eating into productivity today? It seems so simple considering the odds against a perfect pool ticket are 9,223,372,036,854,775,808 TO 1.

Basic math says you could give everyone on Earth a billion pool cards and still have some uncovered possibilities!

My story was about statistics and how the past has some insight into what will happen this year. That’s important for pool entrants like me who know nothing about college basketball, but still want to have a chance after the first round.

It’s three for me this year with a total of five tickets.

One entry is with the Meriden Record-Journal. They invited me last year and were nice enough to lower the criteria for celebrity so I could enter as one. I’m back at their invitation!

I think I outscored their sports department in 2011. Even if I didn’t I’ll claim I did.

I’ve got two tickets in a pool being run by folks here at the Courant and FoxCT. Too many knowledgeable people in this pool. In spite of cashing in our NFL fantasy league I have no chance in this one.

I also bought two chances in a pool being run by a friend back at the old place. I’ve been in this one since it was done on paper!

One of the cool things about computerized pool picks is you choose a username. No one uses their real names, but maybe some former coworkers will recognize me. I’m “Fox On Fox” and “The Distraction.”

Am I ever!

UCONN/SDSU Was There Really Ticket Scalping?

Maybe I misunderstood, but the story made a big deal of the five figure amount paid for some tickets.

I don’t get it. Tonight on Channel 30 Kevin Nathan in Anaheim interviewed some San Diego State fans about the difficulty of getting tickets to tonight’s UCONN/SDSU NCAA Regional Semifinal game. Really? The place only looks half full!

Maybe I misunderstood, but the story made a big deal of the five figure amount paid for some tickets.

Like I said, I don’t get it.

Update: Friends on Facebook say it’s a doubleheader and likely many people are waiting for Arizona/Duke. After halftime the stands are filling. It was still a disappointment

My apologies to Kevin Nathan who probably did get it right.

Everybody In The (NCAA) Pool

I like baseball and pro football. That pretty much sums up my sports knowledge. So why do I enter an NCAA pool every year? Good question. I’ve yet to get back a dime!

One of my co-workers, Swami, has run this pool for years. We used to check off our results on Xeroxed sheets. Those days are long gone. We’re all digital now. Are all pools? Is anyone still using paper?

Our pool is hosted by tournamentpools.com. It’s a pretty good example of finding every way possible to slice and dice a database. There are enough stats even for a stats junkie like me.

With no knowledge I revert to my math background. This year I also read a few articles on finding ‘unappreciated teams’ to help me along. With the first afternoon played I’m still in! Trust me that’s more than the pre-research Geoff would have accomplished.

Will I cash this year? Doubtful.

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