MARCH MADNESS 2016 FINAL UPDATE
April 6th, 2016
“Philly Swag”
Villanova wins title. 1st since 1985 Wildcats 77 Tar Heels 74
Record Charity Money Raised!!
Monday night, April 4th, an exciting and anticipated game between two equal titans broke
out in Houston, Texas. Sure you heard, but in case you missed it, you missed it. Epic classic, perhaps the best finish in the history of the tournament. Back and forth with several lead changes throughout, Marcus Paige of North Carolina hit an astonishing 3-point shot to tie the game at 74, and finally, the Tar Heel faithfulʼs prayers were answered as they made what was an impressive two minute rally to tie this game that no one deserved to lose. But with a mere 4.7 seconds left, against good defense, Kris Jenkins of Villanova sank the shot of the year at the final buzzer to give Villanova the victory, and secure their first NCAA title in 31 years. Well maybe not the shot of the year. Remember Northern Iowa? and the Connecticut shot against Cincinnati? But a great shot at that. This was no upset friends. Spread was two and both teams came in on all cylinders. Difference in the game was Villanovaʼs tenacious, street tough defense, out pointing North Carolina in the paint, where the size of North Carolina has always ruled. It deserves to be reiterated, no one and done NBA to be players here. Coach Jay Wright, the antithesis of Rollie Massimino who coached the miracle Cats in 1985, was as cool as a funeral director. Classes were subsequently canceled outside Philadelphia in anticipation of the parade. The city finally again has a national champion after 30 years. May Cleveland be next! Villanova won 10 games in March. The lowly Sixers ten games all year. No Chip Kelly bust, no Phillies demise, no Flyers on the horizon. Just a scrappy bunch of relative no name players who ousted only the best, in the toughest bracket in the tournament. Big East rules this year. Relative calm in the city despite a post victory celebration with the most noted offense, an arrest on a celebrator for assaulting a police horse.
Congratulations to our 2016 March Madness Champion ***Joel Bowers**
Joel Bowers has landed his rightful place in March Madness tournament lore. Joel summarized it best when he recently said thanks for helping basketball junkies (or not) experience the thrill of March Madness while helping to support good causes. Joel has been a loyal supporter of this pool for 14 years. Happy Anniversary to Joel and his wife Kathi yesterday as well. Several family and friends have entered our pool for years. Delta Construction outside Indianapolis is the venue. The truth of his victory however lay in the bracket of his son Jackson who in 10 minutes picked the form with but a minor tweak by Joel, picking Villanova instead of North Carolina. 3 of the final 4 picked, and the final game exactly. Best finish of all. Congratulations to you!!!
Runner up is Tim Barnett who also picked Villanova to win. 6 of your top 10 finishers did. Lends credence to our format. Upsets get you there. Finals win it! Good thing you put that third bracket in.
The ultimate controller. Rumor has it you surround yourself with women (no men) who make all your decisions? Accounting magnate at a tender age for Harcros Chemicals. Chiefs fan. Did you have tea in London? Go Royals! Hedged his bet by a wager on NC. Another great showing by our KC faithful and he is not the only one.
Third place to Tima Leonard, shockingly another top ten finisher from our Kansas City cell. Mike, you
best go back.to KC Wichita ainʼt cutting it. Tima was the ONLY person of 470 entrees to pick Syracuse in the final four. Leapfrogged the field until the bitter end. Didnʼt believe Uncle Jack when he told her she was miles ahead in our pool. Another Harcros Chemical person (Whatʼs the stock price? Iʼm in!) IT support is her expertise. From the American northeast I think, before feeling the warmth of the Midwest.
Unfortunately she is a Patriot fan, and probably thatʼs why she did not prevail.
Fourth place is a tie. Danny Winn. I Who? Defector to North Carolina years ago from the subtle bastion of Evansville, this journeyman, now settled, wise enough to pick Villanova to win, but did not
even consider his home state of North Carolina in the final four. What a difference that would have made. Three point jumper won it all in the end. Weirdly, DW tied with former pool champion, Paul Perry, compatriots in the past at Tri-State Ortho. The Varsity Licker entry of Remy Martin, nee Perry with another fabulous finish. Only he and Joel Bowers had the final two teams in the pool in order. March Madness participant for 20 years, congressional candidate, hand surgeon, business man, and hailing from Ohio, congratulations
Sixth place goes to Jonah Coleman. This young man, at the tender age of 16, hails from Nashville, TN. Son of a noted musician, Traces of whom we all know, is also talented on the piano, but more importantly, throws a fastball nearly 90 mph. More frequently seen in the foothills of Nebraska.
He is 6ʼ 5” tall, but his sister is the Basketball Jones of the family. Not too good behind the wheel, and needs to improve his English grades:) Jonah had the pool won had the Tar Heels prevailed. Cant wait to meet you in the future. Once you throw consistently over 90 mph, learn a good change up. Sage advise from the Rocket. Otherwise play the piano or take up golf. Sand Hills is fine.
Seventh place to Keith Shipman. The godfather of the clan from Indianapolis. Thank you for introducing our winner, Joel Bowers this year, to our pool many years ago. And thank you for all your support. Glad we could bring a bit of enjoyment to you and yours at this time of year, every year.The inner circle lives on.
Eighth place is also a tie. Kudos to Rick Wepsic. Seventh place last year. What is it that you know that the common man does not? I have to copy what I wrote last year. Saves time and too funny at this late hour. Here we go!
“Hearts a plenty. Showing the love. Another generous contributor to the pool and our favorite March Madness cardiologist. Love you too Lee, but you be a surgeon. Rick is a graduate of THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY. Need I say more? Nuf said. Refs spoiled your bid for second place and punitive damages to our urology friends from Madison. Dr. Gil, why this is Dr. Gil. Wild that the medical profession has dominated the tournament. But what did you expect? Obamacare? Obviously a manʼs got to do what a manʼs got to do to make da money.” That was last year Deja Vu. Go Bucks!! In a tie for 8th place, is Diana Marquez. Old school. Puts her real name on the entry. Gotta like that. Picked Villanova to win. Xavier and TAM were good picks. In 151st place after the final four announced. What a great country! Right Pat? If you donʼt like it, get the F#&% out! OMG, another Kansas City entry!!!
Tenth place to Jeffrey Huelson. Chalk IT. Early leader. Just enough to hang on in the bright lights of the top ten.
Bridesmaid (eleventh place): Christopher Wilkins. The Hipsta himself. 3 of the final four with Villanova to win. What happened early? No money.
Goat Award goes to Michael Morgan. Yep, worst legitimate bracket in the field. Kansas, Kentucky, Duke, and Purdue got you 466th place out of 470. But a prize for you. At least cash in the bank. Thanks for your support and happy trails in South Florida.
151st place (Championship game score 77-74=151 points=151st place. A 7 way tie. 15 bucks when I get around to it for the following individuals. Expect cash in an envelope some day.
Scott Elliott
Tom Waits
Jim Fuquay (Multiple Scorgasm)
Ken Marshall (If you are related to Beverly, we will call it even?) Tom Slade
Jeff Huelson
Brian Wellman
Last place: Gary Gurtcheff (Webmaster. Good job)
Administrative News
The Official Total paid pool entrees is again 470. Our largest total ever, matching last year. Final results and winning totals will be based on this number. Your committee does their best to ensure integrity to the prize pool and covers several unpaid, or yet to be paid, entries at this the time of final accounting. Curses to the slackers. Yes there are again some this year. Still not too late to pay. In case any of you wonder, year after year, this remains a charity pool with suggested donations. We are on the honor system. Fortunately for us, 95%, at times up to 99% of all entrees are paid. Nevertheless, there are always some who do not. So be it. Just wish those few had the integrity to respond. 75% of the entry fees goes to the prize pool, in the breakdown as listed in the opening letter at the start of the tournament. See the website for original details. WWW.GARYGURTCHEFF.COM
We pay out the top ten, and last place, and again this year to the GOAT award, and the place of finish of the total score of the championship game.
Charity News
25% of the original entry fees goes to the charities in addition to the benevolent donations. This year we had a 123 generous participants giving additional money to the charities!! A few late donations may trickle in, but another good year via the percentages. This is a large percentage of the actual participants, considering many participants (and families) submit multiple entries. Thank you so much!! Please do not forget your ability to further contribute to our endowed fund. The website still has the option open, or you could go directly to the Warrick County Community Foundation website and contribute directly to the March Madness Endowment Fund. Tomorrow marks the opening day of the Masters. We split our $$ on Justin Rose, Adam Scott, and Phil Mickelson. May one of them come in. Haha. Also do not forget for you locals. If you plan to attend the Web.Com tournament at Victoria National Golf Club at the end of this month, consider buying a $ 35 weekly pass, and name the March Madness Endowment Tournament as your charity of choice. Every dollar goes back to us. UCLGOLF.COM
Thank you and see you there.
Charity Update
123 people have contributed extra dollars to our March Madness Endowment Fund as well as our other named charities this year, Mended Little Hearts, Helping Hands Educational Fund, Castle Band, and Mattingly Charities. Thatʼs hovering around 50% of those individuals (including families) who have entered, which is spectacular! Check out the intro letter on the website for more information regarding these charities. See also the website for history of charitable giving. www.garygurtcheff.com
Special thanks to the following individuals who have contributed extra to our charitable organizations. And in many cases, a lot extra! Apologies if we missed anyone else.
Susanna Burkhead Phil Gilson
Bill Quartuccio Gary Bellew Les Bumm
Ron Bonger Jon Coleman Travis Farhar Todd Glass Eric Miller
Lance & Stacy Payton Keith Bratton
Jack Cleary Dan Brown Patty Dewey Steve Gabel Mike Head Alan Newman
Steve Carter Mike Cleary
Scott Elliott Mark Erickson
Sam Garau
Paul Kainrath Patrick Kelley Colleen Martin Jonathan Smith
Dale Todd
Jim Wilsbacher
Joel Bowers Julie Leaf
Paul Perry Nancy Taristano
Erv Aeschllman Melanie Atwood Brandon Boots Dale Cardinal Lois Davidson Rick Friedman Corey Greening Jeff Homan Terry Iaffrate Adam Kunkel Paul Lewis Diana Marquez Chris Maynard Payton Mills Mike OʼConner Mike Pyferroen Jake Schiff
Tom Slade Susan Sublett Kevin Wagner Melissa Wideman
Tom Waits Rob Wathen Greg Willming Maria Del Rio Hoover
David Carlson Judy McDonald Tom Rose RickWepsic
Amber Anslinger Donald Barry Michael Brown Craig Carter Steve Elliott Chris Gilkey
Jim Hall
Jeff Huelson Chris Jesop John Lamb Michael Lightner Ken Marshall Greg Meyer Michael Morgan Bill Papineau John Rapp
Bill Supper
Brad Smith
Judy Suddendorf T om Weber Danny Winn
Brad Fulkerson Kevin Kalb
Eric Miller
Dee Sanders Ross Whitacre
Ann Morgan Brian Schymik John Willis
Skip Oliver
Don Apple Randy Beckort Tom Bryan Roger Coleman Melanie Emge Steve Gillam Jim Heinrich Wayne Hurlock Stevie Jones Todd Lang Chris Lowe Bengal Dave John Miles Brian Norris Donna Rreziotti Larry Renschler Kevin Shinar Jay Smith Stephen Turley Brian Wellman
Mike Arco
Dan Bishop
Gary Bush
Chad Crislip Ryan Fears
Brian Goffinet Todd Herrenbruck Brandon Iafrate Clint Keown Michelle Laswell Steve Mank
Dee Massengale Keith Miller
Deb North
Vince Prop
Terry Roudenbush Keith Shipman Joe C Smith
Lee Wagmeister Pat Wempe
...... $ 2350 was garnished from the entry fees to devote to our charitable endeavors. $ 7050 goes to the prize pool, plus another $ 100 for the Goat and $ 100 for the place of
the total score of the championship game. Thanks to your outstanding generosity, and some help from
your administrators, as well as this yearʼs awesome match from the Eli Lilly Foundation..Ove$r 11,000 has been or will be received in additional donations.
For March Madness 2016...... Our GRAND TOTAL of CHARITABLE GIVING is: an estimated $ 15,000 to be donated this year.
We have raised the most of all time!!!!
$ 11,000 will be granted to the March Madness Endowment Fund administered through the Warrick County Community Foundation, thanks to your generosity, and the 50% matching funds via the Eli Lilly Foundation.
$ 4,000 (estimated) will be givent to the four other named charities. Helping Hands Educational Fund, Mattingly Charities, Castle Band, and Mended Little Hearts.
We have now completed our 20th year of March Madness. Happy Anniversary.
Please keep us advised of any email changes. Email your comments and parting remarks...JPMORGANMD@MAC.COM or GARYGURTCHEFF@MAC.COM
Special thanks to Rob Wathen for your commentary and support. Makes it always a thing of beauty and
all the more worthwhile.
Winnersʼ checks will be sent out by mail by this time next month if not sooner. Charity proceeds will also
be forwarded once final accounting is compleete. Again, be advised that your individual charity directed checks have not yet been cashed to date.
1st place 2nd place 3rd place 4th place
(tie)
6th place 7th place 8th place
(tie)
10th place LAST PLACE Goat Award 151st place
Congratulations to our Winners. THE FINAL TALLY
2016 Top Ten Joel Bowers
(Carmel, IN) Tim Barnett
(Shawnee, KS) Tima Leonard
(Kansas City, KS) Danny Winn
(Faison, NC) Paul Perry
(Newburgh, IN) Jonah Coleman
(Hendersonville, TN) Keith Shipman
(Fishers, IN) Diana Marquez
(Overland Park, KS)) Rick Wepsic
(Newburgh, IN) Jeffrey Huelson
(Evansville, IN) Gary Gurtcheff
(Newburgh, IN) Michael Morgan
(Delray Beach, FL) 7 Way TIe
(See above)
Winnings $ 2820
$ 1410 $ 705 $ 423
$ 423 $ 282 $ 212 $ 176 $ 176 $ 141 $ 282
$ 100
$ 15 each
470 Paid Entrees
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“Patience for what you believe in is a worth any wait”