Tag Archives: Horrible Prognostication

The Real March Madness – The Exciting Conclusion

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Love this comic - drawn by Eric Poole (the husband of one of my co-workers)

 

So here we are.  It’s down to two possible winners and it could easily be decided in the very first game.  At the latest, it will be decided tonight.

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Notre Dame v. Minnesota Duluth (Thursday – 4 PM Central)

If you’re cheering for Mom (and you had better be – it’s my mom) you’re cheering against Minnesota Duluth.  Rhu_Ru wins if the Bulldogs do.

UPDATE:  Minnesota-Duluth continues to ride that power play and wins 4-3.  Pretty exciting final minutes and it keeps the possibility of an all WCHA final alive.

Oh, and it also decides our little competition.  Congratulations to Rhubarb Runner, who still has a nearly flawless bracket.  You sir, have my undying admiration.

Michigan v. North Dakota (Thursday – 7:30 PM Central)

This game no longer decides anything except second place.  So hey, lets lay that out there.  Andrew can take second if Michigan wins.  If North Dakota wins, then AZSioux nails down the runner-up spot.  Neither of them win anything for second place, but then you could argue that Rhu_Ru didn’t win much for first either.  It’s that kind of a competition.

UPDATE:  What a game by the Michigan goaltender.  He absolutely stole this one as the Wolverines win 2-0.  This ensures that no one will get the champion correct for the second straight year.  This concludes the real March Madness bracket competition.  Please enjoy the championship game Saturday night.

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Here’s the winning bracket – Rhu_Ru

March Madness, For Real This Time (3rd Annual)

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See the post above this one for the exciting conclusion to this prestigious prognostication proceeding.

DAY THREE –

North Dakota beats a tired Denver team to lock up the third Frozen Four spot.  That finishes off quite a few brackets and eliminates Spookymilk from title contention.  We’re down to 3 with a a chance to win it outright (Rhu_Ru, Buffalo, Mom) and Freealonzo,  who can still tie for the top spot if things break right.

By the way – this means I went 0 for 8 in the basketball final four and the hockey frozen four.  Please observe the ‘horrible prognostication’ tag.

Notre Dame wins over New Hampshire to complete the field for the Frozen Four (beginning 4/7).  Buffalo and Freealonzo are thus eliminated from contention.

Congrats to Andrew and Rhubarb_Runner who each correctly called 3 of 4 Frozen Four teams.

Standings – (Bracket graphics updated through Day 3):

Scenarios:

  • If the Championship game is Notre Dame v. Michigan, Mom wins.
  • All other scenarios result in Rhubarb_Runner winning the pool.

DAY TWO –

In a game that almost everyone picked for UND, they were comfortably ahead 5-0 after the second.  They sail through pretty easily.

There goes another of my Frozen Four teams.  Miami loses 3-1 to New Hampshire.

If Western Michigan beats Denver, my Frozen Four is all eliminated in the first round (they’re in [edit: double] overtime).

Denver wins in double OT.  I still have a chance to get a Frozen Four team right! (no one else seems very excited about this).

Notre Dame gets kind of a fluky goal in overtime (4 of 8 first round games went to OT) to send them onward.

Your first Frozen Four team is Minnesota-Duluth defeating Yale.

The second Frozen Four team is Michigan holding off Colorado College.

Standings – (bracket graphics updated through Day 2):

  • Mom (8 points | 28 possible)
  • Rhu_Ru (8 points | 28 possible)
  • Freealonzo (8 points | 22 possible)
  • Spookymilk (8 points |  16 possible)
  • Andrew (7 points | 15 possible)
  • Buffalo (6 points | 26 possible)
  • AZSioux (6 points | 24 possible)
  • Beau (5 points | 7 possible)
  • Me (4 points | 6 possible)
  • DK (3 points | 5 possible)
  • AMR (2 points | 2 possible)

DAY ONE –

UM-Duluth wins the first game (and I lose my first Frozen Four team).  And we’re off.

Nebraska-Omaha loses to Michigan on a ridiculous replay review in overtime. (Will I get any games right?  Stay tuned!)

My picks finally get off the schneid with Yale’s OT winner.

Finishing with a bang, BC loses to Colorado College (only RPI got fewer picks than CC in our little pool). Beau, Andrew, and DK had BC to win it all.

Standings after Day 1 – (click on the name to see that person’s bracket):

  • Spookymilk (3 points)
  • Freealonzo (3 points + 1 Frozen Four team eliminated)
  • AZSioux (2 points)
  • Mom (2 points + 1 Frozen Four  team eliminated)
  • Rhu_Ru (2 points + 1 Frozen Four team eliminated)
  • AMR (2 points + 1 Frozen Four team eliminated)
  • Buffalo (2 points + 2 Frozen Four teams eliminated)
  • Andrew (2 points + Champion eliminated)
  • Beau (2 points + Champion eliminated)
  • Me (1 point + 2 Frozen Four teams eliminated)
  • DK (1 point + Champion and Frozen Four team eliminated).

The NCAA hockey tournament starts Friday afternoon, so hurry and download the NCAA hockey Frozen Four brackets (available below). Fill them out and confuse your friends when you complain about Merrimack busting your bracket.

I’ll take all comers in the third annual Daneeka’s Ghost Hockey Madness Sweepstakes. Winner gets … I don’t know … my undying admiration.

Last year’s winner: Freealonzo (Who only won because the Badgers are worthless.)

Will anyone unseat freealonzo’s deathgrip on the title this year? I hope so, because I’m awful tired of admiring him.

I’ll update my picks and keep standings and all that on this post, so put your picks in the comments (or email them to daneekasghost [at] gmail.com) and check back to see how things go.

March Madness – Now I’m Serious

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[FROZEN FOUR UPDATE] – The Frozen Four are: Miami, BC, RIT, Wisconsin.  Semifinals are Thursday.  Until then – this is how things stand.

Current standings:
Freealonzo – 11 (Denver)
Big Mak – 7 (Wisconsin)
Zooomx – 6 (St. Cloud St.)
Rhu_Ru – 3 (UND)
Mrs. Mak – 3 (Miami)

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[DAY 2 UPDATE] – First two Frozen Four teams are RIT and Wisconsin. Miami, Michigan, Yale, and BC battle it out today to decide the last two.

Current standings:
Freealonzo – 7 (Denver)
Big Mak – 5 (Wisconsin)
Zooomx – 4 (St. Cloud St.)
Rhu_Ru – 3 (UND)
Mrs. Mak – 1 (Miami)

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[DAY 1 UPDATE] – Winners on the opening day were Rochester, Wisconsin, St. Cloud State, and New Hampshire.

6 more games today – so these will change quickly, but here are the current standings (nobody expected Denver to lose, so no one has pulled away just yet).

E-6 – 4 (not-Duke won all 4 games)
Big Mak – 2 (lost 1 Frozen Four team – Cornell)
Zooomx – 2 (lost 1 Frozen Four team – Cornell)
Freealonzo – 2 (lost champion – Denver)
Rhu_Ru – 1 (lost 1 Frozen Four team – Denver)
Mrs. Mak – 0

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The NCAA hockey tournament starts Friday afternoon, so hurry and download the NCAA hockey Frozen Four brackets here (NCAA Men’s Hockey 2010 Bracket). Fill them out and confuse your friends when you complain about Alaska-Fairbanks busting your bracket.

I’ll take all comers in the second annual Daneeka’s Ghost Hockey Madness Sweepstakes. Winner gets … I don’t know … my undying admiration.

Last year’s winner: Freealonzo (Who correctly picked BU as champion and was the only entrant to successfully identify a Frozen Four team)

My 2010 picks:

No this does not mean that I will actively cheer for the Badgers.

NHL Predictions 2009-2010

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It’s been a while since I’ve had a chance to take the ‘horrible prognostication’ tag out for a spin, so, with the NHL season starting up here’s my preseason take on how the conferences are going to shape up.

First, I’d like to say that I made a point of choosing three teams from each conference that weren’t in the playoffs last year, who will make the leap this year.  It may affect the accuracy of this exercise, but it’s a lot more fun than keeping the same teams in the top 8.

First up, the Eastern Conference.  I honestly don’t follow these teams hardly at all, so I’ve got very little on which to base these predicitons.

DIVISION CHAMPS –

1. Washington Capitals – Very good team in a bad division = lots of points
2. NY Rangers – Gaborik plays 75 games, scores 45 goals, Rangers cruise
3. Boston Bruins – I really wanted to pick someone else in this division, but who?

PLAYOFF TEAMS –

4. Philadelphia Flyers – solid team, why not #4?
5. Buffalo Sabres – a little too high?  this is a nod to my Buffalo friend, you’re welcome Tom!
6. Pittsburgh Penguins – two very long seasons tire this team out – they will still be a threat for sure
7. Toronto Maple Leafs – surprising team #1, possibly still a year away, but I say this year yields some playoff experience
8. Atlanta Thrashers – surprising team #2, start printing the playoff tickets now.
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OUTSIDE LOOKING IN –

9. NJ Devils – if true, probably the biggest surprise of them all
10. Montreal Canadiens – they blew up the whole team, who knows what will happen?
11. Carolina Hurricanes – not quite going to make it this year
12. Florida Panthers – some backsliding from last year’s near miss
13. NY Islanders – anything above last place would be an achievement
14. Ottawa Senators – not good
15. Tampa Bay Lightning – bad, bad, bad

Now the Western Conference.

DIVISION WINNERS –

1. San Jose Sharks – they’re good, and no one else in their division should challenge them for the top spot
2. Detroit Red Wings – in my book, it’s their division until someone takes it from them
3. Edmonton Oilers – Vancouver is the safe pick here, but that would be the same three winners as last season.

PLAYOFF TEAMS –

4. Chicago Blackhawks – they could certainly make a run at the Wings
5. St. Louis Blues – I like this team, they’ll be very good
6. LA Kings – lots of young talent turning the corner this year
7. Vancouver Canucks – what happens if Luongo doesn’t play all season?
8. Minnesota Wild – homerism?  guilty as charged.
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OUTSIDE LOOKING IN –

9. Calgary Flames – very easily could be a playoff team
10. Columbus Blue Jackets – they are middle of the road, could be in or out
11. Dallas Stars – backward sliding, could be worse than this
12. Anaheim Ducks – probably not this bad, but I can dream
13. Nashville Predators – really tough division for these guys
14. Phoenix Coyotes – it’s a circus and I can’t imagine them succeeding in that environment
15. Colorado Avalanche – bad, bad, bad

You want a Stanley Cup prediction, too? All right –

Washington over St. Louis in 6 games

Stanley Cup Playoffs

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None of the eight teams that made the playoffs in the Western Conference folded, so it’s official now, the Minnesota Wild are not going to be involved.

Here are my picks for the winners of the conferences and the Cup (and yes, I’m aware that Washington is a little weak in the goaltending department).


Eastern Conference

Boston (4), Washington (6), Carolina (5), Philadelphia (7)

Washington (6), Philadelphia (5)

Washington (6) – Conference Champs

Western Conference

San Jose (5), Columbus (7), St. Louis (5), Chicago (7)

San Jose (5), Chicago (5)

Chicago (6) – Conference Champs

Stanley Cup Finals

Washington over Chicago in 6

Since I put in all of 2 minutes thought into these predictions, I’d say I have a pretty good chance at nailing these. Until I checked the scores for Wednesday and found that teams I picked to advance out of the first round went 0-4.  Wow.  I am something special.