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Final Standings

That slogan pretty much describes Amwau these days after she won the 2011 Chippens NCAA Tournament Challenge. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, our new Grand Champion is none other than rookie player Amy Boven, an athletic club manager from Kalamazoo, Mich. Boven was the only player in the pool to correctly pick Connecticut as the champion.

Amy’s success story is unlikely, to say the least. As I’ve already detailed, she barely got her picks in, and yet, the whole time, it just seemed like there was something extra special about the bracket she submitted. Upon first seeing Amy’s bracket after she—finally—managed to submit it, I was like the hero in one of those action movies who, in the moment of great peril, responds to the “silly” character’s escape plan by saying, “It’s so crazy, it might actually work.” 

And, miraculously, it did actually work. Amy put only three teams into the Elite 8, but none of that mattered. VCU took out Kansas, and Duke and Ohio State both lost early, clearing the way for UConn, which never had to play an equal or higher-seeded team the whole tournament.

Now the glory is all Amy’s. She can parade around work with her new t-shirt, flaunting it in front of Hot T. and WHAC, her less fortunate co-workers. She’ll be wearing it when she takes out her Pilates pad and assumes the half lotus to commune with the Almighty, who no doubt whispered UConn into her ear. On the inside she’ll be the picture of serenity, and on the outside she’ll be a giant roaring grizzly bear telling the world who’s #1.

Other Notable Finishes:

• Mike Stump’s fourth place finish—his fifth straight top 20 finish—pushed him to the top of the All-Time Average Place list.
• Cotter pulled a bit of a coup. His 7^th place finish (he took out Bucephalus on a tie-breaker) helped him move up to 3^rd on the All-Time Average Place list in his first year of eligibility.
• Lisa Corwin’s run of four straight years in the top 14 came to an end with her 79^th place finish.
• For only the second time ever, Ben DeHaan beat his father. Ben finished in 3^rd place and will receive a prize.
• In the battle of the spouses, the wives finished 6-1 against their husbands. That makes Passion Buckets the tournament’s only wife beater.

The All-Time Records are updated! See if you made the list!

The 2011 Challenge Begins

The 11^th annual Chippens NCAA Tournament Challenge is officially underway, and this year’s field is especially robust, as they might say at Starbucks.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO PLAYER LISTING, STANDINGS, PLAYER PICKS, and much more.

Daily Recaps & Previews

• DAY ONE 
• DAY TWO 
• DAY THREE 
• DAY FOUR
• SWEET SIXTEEN  
• FINAL FOUR PREVIEW

TOURNAMENT PREVIEW

A record 86 players answered the call to join this sacred tradition, and once again all corners of the globe are represented. We have players from Brooklyn to San Diego, Texas to Green Bay, Australia to Afghanistan, and right in the middle in Kansas City. We also have one hobo, Cotter.

The increase in numbers this year is partly due to an influx of UW-Madison students. We’ll see if they can pick as well as they protest. They join a crop of 18 rookies hoping for some beginner’s luck.

Aaron Atchinson, Jon Charak, Brandon Christol, Eric Myszka, and, yes, Cotter, are all getting their Five Year Rings this year, meaning they will be eligible for the All Time Average Place list. All of the other 29 eligible players are back this year, so there could be a lot of movement on the record board.

Last year’s champion, Alicia Kellogg, is back to defend her title. Other past champions in the field include Angie Penney, PJ Schroeder, Nicholas Schultz, Mike Stump, and Jake Willis. No one has ever won the Challenge twice.

One person who really wants to win is Bucephalus, who said he “can’t even begin to describe how badly [he] wants” the Grand Prize t-shirt. Though I must warn him that he isn’t alone… Several other players, including Duperstar, made similar comments.

The player with the most mojo has to be AK, the “90 million dollar man.” That's all well and good, but he’s hoping to parlay his court room victories into something that really matters—winning this tournament, an achievement that would outshine his other successes like the sun outshines a pen light. He’s promised (at least I’m sure he would promise) a 12-hour open bar all-you-can-eat-and-drink celebration at the BlueLine Nightclub should that come to fruition. 

Finally, Chez is back with us this year for her fourth try. After finishing second and fourth from the bottom in 2008 and 2009, respectively, she vaulted up to 48th place last year and hopes to improve once again this year. Her bracket looks formidable, though her tie-breaker of 6 combined points in the final game could be problematic should it come down to that.

Good luck!

Make Your Picks NOW for the 2011 NCAA Tournament Challenge

The brackets are up! Make your picks by clicking HERE. The deadline is Thursday at noon eastern time. If you have any questions or problems, e-mail me right away and I'll fix it.

A note on the expanded field: Scoring will stay the same. The games on Tuesday are treated as play-in games, the same way the extra game has been treated in the past. For more information, click here.

Once again, entry is FREE and there are PRIZES for the top three finishers. Third place gets a fridge magnet, second place gets a bumper sticker, and the champion gets the extraordinary grand prize shown below. 

The Grand Prize T-shirt 

 

BACK

This extraordinary piece of vintage Americana will be YOURS if you win this year's tournament. Pass it on to your children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, and one day they will take it on Antiques Roadshow where it will be valued at over $100,000,000.

Special K

Alicia Kellogg, aka BrutalBrutis, is the 2010 Chippens NCAA Tournament Challenge Champion (see final standings). Kellogg was deep in the bottom half of the standings for much of the tournament, but she surged to top in the final two weekends as Michigan State and Duke kept winning.

Like Miss America, Kellogg will wear the crown, and the grand prize t-shirt, with pride wherever she goes this year, passing through legions of adoring fans and well-wishers from coast to coast and, indeed, around the globe. She’ll probably get carpal tunnel from signing so many autographs, but that’s a minor sacrifice. She has responsibility now; she has to carry the Chippens torch and be an inspiration to all.

Yes, now the whole world will get a chance to be inspired like I was back in the days when I was her supervisor at Camp Torenta—when I’d make her clean the toilets or mop out the entire cookhouse, or perhaps I’d tell her to stack a huge pile of wood or clean up seaweed from the beach, or maybe I'd even ask her to make hundreds of tie-dye t-shirts, or during certain Fantastic Fridays, I’d have her sit patiently while I instructed a bunch of 8-10 year-olds to play “beauty shop,” which basically involved making a sandcastle on her head with eggs and snails. Yes, while I shot baskets, played four-square, or sunned on the raft, I was amazed at how much work she could get done. Now, the entire planet is amazed at her abilities. 

Alicia’s triumph comes at the expense of WHAC (Angela Penney), who’s bid to be the first-ever two-time champion ended when Butler fell in the last seconds of the title game. Penney dropped to third place behind newcomer and runner-up Mary Kate Gergel.

Other notable finishes:

• Senior Moment (Bill Snider) had his best finish in six years, placing 10^th.
• Lisa Corwin’s 9^th place finish was her second-straight top-10 finish. She moved up to second on the All-Time Average Place list, and she’s now finished in the top 20 in five of the last six years.
• PJ had her best finish in six years, placing 12^th.
• Loren DeHaan had another solid year, placing 5^th. He’s now finished in the top 14 four out the last five years.
• For the first time ever, Chez managed to not place in the bottom four. She finished 48^th. 

The All-Time Records are now updated. See if you make the list!

73 Players Take the Challenge

The 2010 Chippens NCAA Tournament Challenge is underway!

Click HERE to go to the report package, which includes player listing, player picks, current standings, projected standings, and much, much more.

DAILY RECAPS & PREVIEWS

• Day One
• Day Two 
• Day Three 
• Day Four
• Day Five 
• Day Six & The Comedy of Cotter 
• Final Four Preview 
  

Tournament Preview

There are many new and second-year players and many longtime veterans in this year's contest.

One of those returning players is the defending champion, Nicholas A. Schultz, who goes by the handle Blizzard T. Husky. No one has ever won The Challenge twice, let alone back-to-back, but Husky will try to accomplish that this year.

Standing in his way will be past champions PJ, J-Dub, WHAC, and Stumper. Oh, and you'd best be wary of 2009 Chippens NCAA Challenge Champion, who last year--using that same name--finished 71 out of 72. He's looking for some redemption this year. 

Two new-comers to be on the lookout for this year are Jeff & Leo Brillhart. Uncle Leo, as he's known in the family, will have no mercy on any of his fellow competitors, especially if you snub him:



In addition to the formidable Uncle Leo, all but three of the players who own All-Time top scores are in this year's tournament, so it's going to be a competitive year!

Other Notes:

• Due to my work schedule, today's standings will be updated at 4 p.m. eastern time, again at around 10 p.m. eastern time, and then LIVE throughout the rest of the weekend. 
• Make sure you add editor@chippens.com to your address book so that my e-mail updates don't get filtered into your SPAM folder.

The 10th Anniversary Tourney is here!

MAKE YOUR PICKS (BRACKETS ARE NOW POSTED! Deadline is Thursday, March 18 at noon EST.)

The 10th annual Chippens NCAA Tournament Challenge is set to begin! Entry is once again FREE, and there are three great prizes up for grabs for the top three finishers!

This year, the third place finisher will win a custom Chippens fridge magnet, and second place will win a custom Chippens bumper sticker.

The GRAND PRIZE for this year's tournament is a newly-designed, soon-to-be-collector's-item, soon-to-be-worth-many-million-pounds-at-a-Sotheby's-auction, custom Chippens t-shirt!

FRONT

BACK

That's right, folks! This year's winner gets a vintage piece of Americana that is sure to impress your neighbors and in-laws as well as create an excellent addition to your Fourth of July wardrobe.

Complete Instructions:

1. Enter your handle (nickname), location, valid e-mail address, and whether you are a Chippens rookie in the fields at the top of the page.
2. Complete the ENTIRE bracket through the championship game. Scoring rules are listed at the top of the entry page.
3. Select "E-mail Me A Copy" to receive a copy of your picks in your e-mail inbox. This is the only way you will receive confirmation of your picks.
4. Add a comment for the webmaster if you wish.
5. Submit your picks.
6. If you want to change your picks, you have to either (a) complete a new set of picks using the exact same biographical information, i.e. your handle, city & state, and e-mail (your new picks will then replace your old picks) or (b) e-mail me by the deadline with specific changes you'd like to make.

E-mail me at chippens [at] yahoo [dot] com with questions. If you don't think I'll recognize your name, include something about the NCAA Challenge in the subject line or I'll think it's spam and delete it.

Other things to look at:

• Last year's results
• The complete list of All-Time records 

So, MAKE YOUR PICKS, and thanks for playing!

A Blizzard of One

View the final standings

Nicholas Schultz, who goes by the name Blizzard T. Husky, is now officially the 2009 Chippens NCAA Tournament Challenge Champion with 192 points, a score that ties the All-Time record for points in a single tournament. He edged out Eric Sturgeon by just one point, the closest finish in Challenge history. Sturgeon has already guaranteed another top three finish next year.

Leta Corwin earned the final prize-winning spot, finishing third with 188 points. Corwin’s 83% pick percentage also put her second on the All-Time list for pick percentage in a single season. Corwin now has two top three finishes in the past three years, and she didn’t even compete in 2008.

I feel bad for MSU and the Spartan fans (I am one, after all), but they must realize what they were up against. It wasn’t North Carolina’s basketball skills so much as it was Nicholas Schultz’s now-all-too-apparent preordination as the Champion of this tournament that did in the Spartans. The fact is that Blizzard T. Husky is not merely a man, he is the Ultimate Man, having won that title in a 13-event competition covered by Chippens in 2001. You simply cannot deny the Ultimate Man his destiny. With his victory, Blizzard now has two top three finishes in the past four years. The question now is whether he can become the first-ever two-time Challenge champion.

2009 was a record-setting year all around. Below, you’ll find the updated All-Time records list. There are many who are new to the lists and many who, sadly, have dropped out.

On Monday, the same day that Schultz won his Championship, Major League Baseball opened its season, so this week over at The Chippens Weekly we asked frequent Chippens competitors Bryan Timm and Matthew Melick, fans of the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals, respectively, to offer their reflections on Opening Day. Check that out while you’re looking up your spot in the final standings.

Thanks to everybody for playing this year; I hope you will all be back in 2010!


ALL-TIME RECORDS (scoring was standardized in 2005):

As of 4/7/09

Most Points in a Single Tournament:

1. 192, Nicholas A. Schultz, 2009
   
2. 192, Tyler Neal, 2007
3. 191, Eric Sturgeon, 2009
4. 188, Leta Corwin, 2009
5. 182, Justin Thompson, 2009
6. 179, Michael Theune, 2009
   
7. 178, Jake Smith, 2005
8. 172, Charles D. Corwin, 2009
   
9. 172, Mike Stump, 2008
10. 171, Lisa Corwin, 2009
    
11. 168, Jeff VanDellen, 2005
12. 165, Leta Corwin, 2007
13. 163, Michael Penney, 2005
14. 162, Adam Emery, 2009
    
15. 162, Rusty Flinchum, 2007
16. 162, Brandon Gamble, 2007
17. 159, Travis Kramer, 2009
18. 158, Liz Reinhart, 2009
    
19. 158, Adam Lombard, 2007
    
20. 156, Brandon Gamble, 2005

Highest Pick Percentage:

1. 84%, Tyler Neal, 2007
2. 83%, Leta Corwin, 2009
3. 79%, Justin Thompson, 2009
4. 78%, Michael Theune, 2009
5. 78%, Charles D. Corwin, 2009
6. 78%, Jason Jackson, 2009
7. 78%, Megan Byrne, 2009
   
8. 78%, Rusty Flinchum, 2007
9. 76%, Nicholas A. Schultz, 2009
10. 76%, Eric Sturgeon, 2009
11. 76%, Adam Emery, 2009
12. 76%, Liz Reinhart, 2009
13. 76%, Mike Stump, 2009
    
14. 76%, Michael Murphy, 2007
15. 75%, Lisa Corwin, 2009
    
16. 75%, Leta Corwin, 2007
17. 75%, Brandon Gamble, 2007
18. 75%, Adam Lombard, 2007
19. 75%, Lisa Corwin, 2007
20. 75%, Jake Smith, 2005

Most Top-10 Finishes Since 2005

1. 3, Brandon Gamble
2. 2, Nicholas A. Schultz
   
3. 2, Leta Corwin
4. 2, Lisa Corwin
   
5. 2, Garrett Davey
6. 2, Michael Penney
7. 2, Adam Lombard
   
8. 2, Tyler Neal

Best Lifetime Average Place Since 2005 (must have competed at least four times between 2005 and 2009; 30 players met that standard):

* - Denotes four-time player (out of a possible five)

1. 9, *Brandon Gamble
2. 16.25, *Leta Corwin
   
3. 16.6, Lisa Corwin
4. 19.6, Mike Stump
   
5. 22.5, *Nicholas Schultz
   
6. 22.5, *Adam Lombard
   
7. 23.6, Charles D. Corwin
   
8. 25.5, *Ryan Horrigan
9. 26, Loren DeHaan
10. 28, Jeff VanDellen
11. 28.6, Mike Penney