Fun with March Madness

How To Run A Final Four Pool
Eight people are assigned numbers one through eight.

Then eight slips of paper are put in a hat.  The slips say  “West Even”, “West Odd”,  “East Even”, “East Odd”, “Mid-West Even”, “Mid-West Odd”, “South Even”, “South Odd.”

Fold the slips of paper and draw them randomly. The person with the Even numbers has the 8 teams in their division that were seeded w/even numbers, i.e. 2,4,6,8,10, 12,14,16 and, naturally, those with Odd have the other eight teams in their respective division.

It makes following March Madness a lot more fun. You can play for who takes out the garbage for a month  or who washes the car, etc.   You can award prizes anyway you choose; for example the last four people eliminated can be winners of different prizes, the best prize going to the person with the winning team.  Or you can award prizes to the first and second finisher or all prizes to the winner.
Hurry up though.  The NCAA Tournament starts this week!

Mark Sanchez, Matt Stafford, Matt Cassel and the NFL quarterback chess game?

By Wilm

As we approach the 2009 NFL draft the question “which 2008 college quarterback will go to which team”  becomes murkier and murkier.

Two months ago it was a toss up who would be the first quarterback taken, Matt Stafford (Georgia) or Mark Sanchez (USC). Two weeks ago Sanchez seemed a shoe-in after an impressive performance during the “Combine” in Indiana; when Stafford opted not to throw any passes?  This week things may have changed yet again.

Teams most in need of QBs were: Detroit, San Francisco, and Kansas City.  Dallas needed a back up to Romo and the New York Jets and Tampa Bay Buccaneers were also considering a QB … but doubted they could get one of the top two since their first round picks were too low.  Further muddying the waters was the fact that Detroit and Kansas City desperately needed to bulk up their defenses.  Why take a high draft quarterback if he was going to spend his first few years running for his life.

Well K.C. settled their problem when the New England Patriots let Matt Cassel go to K.C.  Everyone in the know felt Detroit had decided to invest their first round pick on a defense selection but last week they traded QB Jon Kitna to Dallas as a back-up to Romo. Whoops…since they implied from the beginning that if they took a QB it would be Stafford that seemed to indicate that Stafford and Detroit had already made a deal. (Detroit would not risk a first pick hold-out.)  So now San Francisco was in position for Sanchez as well as Denver who indicated they’d like to cut a deal to trade Jay Cutler if they could get Cassel and now Cassel was out of play.

OK then we can assume that Orange County’s own, Mark Sanchez was going to go to the 49ers, Buccaneers or Broncos…right?  Well not exactly.  “Reliable sources”…you know the value of those, say that Sanchez and the Jets might be close to a deal. If, and it’s a big if,  one of those 3 or 4 trading position upgrades can be worked out on draft day. If so, the very personable and hardworking ( in college) journeyman, Sanchez, will rekindle the memory of Broadway Joe for Mr. and Mrs. Knickerbocker.  It would be a great deal for New Yorkers and for Mark Sanchez if it comes to pass.

Stay tuned.

Sanchez Impresses The NFL Teams With His Arm

Orange County’s Quarterback, Mark Sanchez wowed NFL teams at the NFL Combine in Florida.
Sanchez’ passing tests were outstanding. The other leading QB in this year’s draft, Georgia’s Matt Stafford opted not to display his passing skills.
For more info click here or and here

Quarterbacks Mark Sanchez and Matt Stafford…and a $250 million dollar club?

A once in a lifetime photo of six young men you’ll soon see on Sundays.

Five of  2008’s  best college quarterbacks and one outstanding wide receiver, (Damian Williams, USC) met for a Nike sponsored dinner at Phil Trani’s Restaurant  in Long Beach, CA. It’s been estimated that this group could ultimately have contracts that will top $250 million, admittedly a lofty figure but by what year, 2010 or 2014?

Mark Sanchez set the dinner up and even had Stafford wearing a USC T shirt.  That’s the typical “salesmanship” this kid is capable of.  In the meetings we’ve had with Mark he’s always been a down to earth young man who is all about football so it came as no surprise to see how well he and Stafford hit it off during the meal.

This may be the first time that five of the country’s top quarterbacks appeared together in a photograph and it is highly unlikely these five will ever be seen together again. Nevertheless, this shows young collegians at their very best…giving of their time to help high school athletes at a Nike quarterback clinic in Orange County.

With so many NFL teams desperate for help at the Quarterback position we know that at least Sanchez and Stafford will play in the NFL in 2009. McCoy, Daniel and Reid will be in next year’s draft along with Williams who will be one of the top receivers in 2010.  A prediction that their salaries and signing bonuses will ultimately top $250 million seems easily possible and that’s an amount higher than the salaries of a recent photo of group of Wall Street bankers. As much as we believe sports salaries are getting too high there is no doubt these young men will be held to a higher standard to prove their worth than those bankers were.  That’s OK ….they’ll be up to it.

Left to right in the photo are Chase Daniel, Missouri, Mark Sanchez , USC, Bobby Reid, Texas Southern, Matt Stafford, Georgia, Damian Williams, (wide receiver) USC,  and Colt McCoy, Texas.  Chef Phil Trani Jr. – former center for Mary Star of the Sea High School – appears front center.

Unfortunately Sam Bradford (Oklahoma) and Tim Tebow (Florida) were not there for dinner or the estimated number might have topped $350 million.

Local surfer inducted into Century Club Hall of Fame

Female surfing legend, eco-activist and one of the founding members of the Surfrider Foundation,  Jericho Poppler Bartlow was inducted to the Century Club Hall of Fame on Sunday night.   Jericho who was spent time surfing in Seal Beach is the first Surfer to be inducted into the Century Club Hall of Fame.    View Full Article Here

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