March Madness Final Update
April 4, 2023
Huskies Roll to NCAA Championship
UConn 76 San Diego State 59
Congratulations to our 2023 March Madness Tournament Champion:
Keith Bratton
Keith has built his success in the financial and investment industry locally in Evansville over the years and has used this knowledge to become an expert sports prognosticator. A tenured participant in the March Madness charity pool over two decades, and generous contributor, he landed in the top ten in 2019, captured the championship title in 2021, and has now repeated as your 2023 victor. It was touch and go. Aided by the Creighton loss, he had a 12% chance to win going into the final four. But chalk ruled, and the odds favored Keith in each of the last three games, securing the title. Must run in the family, like golf, as heading in the Elite Eight, 5 Bratton entries were in the top 28 of 490. Son Austin secured a 9th place finish this year. Congratulations!!
Game Recap
Long story short, first half ended 36-24 Connecticut up. UConn defense a bit much inside with long arms, but the bottom line was this. San Diego State went 0-FER, like NO scoring in a 12 minute stretch. Shocking they were only down 12 points at the half. UConn with balanced scoring at the half, Aztecs but 28% from the field. Fewer rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, and more turnovers. Amazingly, just down 12. Summon the witchcraft and sorcery for the second half, because this first half was a disappointment. Charles Barkley predicted at the half, and what a limb he rolled out on, the magic will change and the Aztecs will rule in the second half and win the game. So on to the second half.
UConn balance attack and superior defense, and SDSU with continued offensive woes never let the Aztecs back, although cutting the lead briefly to 5 points. There was hope for wizardly spells, but alas, with two minutes to go, the Huskies went back up and took a 12 point lead.
If you didn’t watch the game, you weren’t much interested. If you watched the game, you saw it all. Never close at the end. Connecticut cut down the nets.
Charity News
Thank you all for your participation and extra donations. Happy to say, we have set an all time 28 year record for charity donations. Over 60% of all participants donated extra $$ and you all are the sole reason this 28 year run rolls on!! We have set an all-time record!!
Charity Total for 2023 has eclipsed $ 15,000 !! That’s what I am talking about!
Final charity dollars raised and dollars for the 5 named charities, as well as the March Madness Endowment Fund ,will be sent out in a later email once accounting has been completed. Special thanks to the following March Madness participants who contributed extra $$ this year.
Let me start with special appreciation to our Charity Gold Sponsors:
Phil Gilson Skip Seaman Lance & Stacy Payton
Thanks to all the generous contributions from the following participant:
Mike Cleary Jon Coleman Mark Erickson
Sam Garau Scott Gowdy Raj Patel
Gary Bellew Ron Bonger Keith Bratton Jack Cleary Chris Combs Patty Dewey
Scott Elliott Travis Farhar Rick Friedman Brad Fulkerson Gary Gurtcheff
John Grimm John Lamb Colleen Martin Greg McComis Keith Mercer
Eric Miller Lynne Morgan Alan Newman Tom Rose
Karen Rush Tom Slade Joe Smith Tony Stephens
Nancy Tarsitano Tom Waits Rob Wathen Rick Wepsic
Greg Willing Tim Yokel
Amber Anslinger Randy Beckort Tom Berkley Tom Berkley, Sr. Dan Bishop
Brandon Boots Danny Briggs Michael Brown Vickie Base
Jill Carpenter Steve Carder Dale Cardinal David Carlson
Kathy Carter Phil Coudret Roger Coleman John Cummins
Aaron Deloof Lois Davidson Andrew Devries Dennis Dewey
Christian Fletcher Thomas Fletcher AJ Gauthier Grant Gilles
Todd Glass Brian Goffinet Steven Gowdy Corey Greening
Jim Hall Brian Harville Mike Head John Heinrich
Monica Herrenbruck Gib Higgins Jeff Huelson Chris Jesop
Steve Jones Michael Kainrath Paul Kainrath Kevin Kalb
Doug Lane Todd Lang Julie Leaf Chris Lowe
Dave Machisko Steve Mank Lynne Massengale Chris McConnell
Judy McDonald Jolene Meter John Miles Keith Miller
Kelly Morgan Lynne Morgan Kelly Morgan Ryan Morgan
Ryan Neal Michael O’Connor Brian Norris Darmesh Patel
Paul Perry Donna Preziotti Vince Prop Michael Pyfferoen
Larry Renschler Grant Saylor TJ Schick Jacob Schiff
Eric Seib Kevin Shinar Mert Shipman Mark Shockley
Brad Smith AJ Stuckey Bill Supper Amie Torla
Erick Trice Lee Wagmeister Tyler Watkins Tom Weber
Ty Weber Kevin Wetzler Brad Wilson Lebra Winiger
Danny Winn Jake Wojkovich
If I missed anyone, my apologies. And I’m sure there are family members who contributed as well.
March Madness pool final assessment
First of all, I wish to recognize the following individuals. After round 5, Revy Bevy, Beverly Friedman located these days in the vicinity of Jacksonville, Florida, had all but given up on her entry, along with her husband Rick, after their many years of supporting March Madness with little to show in the spotlight. Bev was our 5th round leader, needing SDSU to come away with a victory to claim the prize.
Additional recognition goes out to Cyle Greening, the Green Machine, who was the sole participant to take Florida Atlantic to the final four. He was the percentage leader by a mile to win the tournament, but all for not. Finished out of the money. Great run. And finally, Chris Cleary from Kansas, who led the pool for quite some time this year.
Pool accounting to date: 98.6 % entries paid. Perhaps we will get the remainder. No matter. Committee covered the delinquencies. Therefore 490 entries received are covered. Prize pool divided by usual formula as listed in the welcome letter and rules sheet sent to you a few weeks ago. Payouts are as listed below. Charity donations in extra are roughly twice as much as what was designated by your single entry.
The Final Standings
Hers’s our Final Top Ten and in the money (and last place least deserved):
1st: Keith Bratton Newburgh, Indiana $ 2940
2nd: Hand Center Evansville, Indiana $ 1470
3rd: Shon Smith Newburgh, Indiana $ 735
4th: Steve Carter Olathe, Kansas $ 515
5th: Mason Miller Oxford, Ohio $ 368
6th: Eric Miller Evansville, Indiana $ 294
7th: Hudson Shipman Fishers, Indiana $ 221
8th: Ty Weber (& Jesse) Evansville, Indiana $ 221
9th: Austin Bratton St. Augstine, Florida $ 147
10th: Cameron Campagna Nashville, TN $ 147
Last Place: Wyatt Barnett Shawnee, KS $ 294
(Sorry Travis Farhar, 447th place. Who would have thought?)
Bridesmaid: Dee Massengale Louisville, KY No money but your name in lights!!
Important Note: For the 11 participants above who placed in the money, please email me or text me as to your intention as to how you wish to receive your payment, check in the mail (provide full address), Venmo (provide how I get to you), or if you wish some of your winnings to go to someone else or charity. If I do not hear from you, I will likely mail you a check to the address you had listed on your entry. Winners will be paid out within a couple weeks. Let me know the specifics.
jpmorganmd@aol.com or 812-306-7447 by text
Thank you all again for participating in this tournament, over a quarter century old!
~~ ”Whatever you do for the least of my people, remember you do it for me”.
Happy Easter!!