Round 1 complete

You may have not called Harvard's win over New Mexico, or Florida Golf Coast's historic upset of Georgetown. But Rod Szcygiel did and it has him in first place in the Tribune's Blog/Facebook NCAA Bracket Contest, Sponsored by Tri County Equipment.
Despite all out carnage in the West bracket, Szcygiel suffered only two losses in that region, even calling Ole Miss over Wisconsin. He has 27 points and is in control of this contest, with all of his Final Four intact. There is still a long way to go, but Szcygiel could be difficult to catch.

Huron Daily Tribune sports editor Paul Adams stands alone in second, with 26 points. But he will start falling back, as his West bracket is all but shot.

There is a five-way tie for third, as Brandon Gaeth, Doug Regentin, Joe Messing, Lane Walker and Martin Messing all have 25 points.

After a tough first day, Tribune sports writer Seth Stapleton put together a nice effort in Day 2, to finish tied for 83rd with 20 points.

Good luck in Round 2!

Day 1 in the books

An exciting Day 1 (yes Day 1, the play-in games will never count in our book) is in the books. We saw our share of upsets and near upsets, but none was bigger than No. 14 Harvard over No. 3 New Mexico. Many players in our pool had New Mexico making a deep run, but nobody had the Lobos winning the national championship. If you had New Mexico in your Final Four, your bracket isn't officially busted, but it's pretty close. 

At the end of Day 1, there is a three-way tie for first place, with Tribune sports editor Paul Adams atop, along with Rod Szcygiel. They all accumulated 14 points, but Clark and Szcygiel are in far better shape than Adams. 

Tribune sports writer Seth Stapleton had a rough first day, tallying only eight points. He too had New Mexico in the Final Four. Stapleton was grumbling before the New Mexico game about not filling out a bracket next year. We're sure losing a Final Four team on the first day has put him in an even better mood. 

We would like to thank the over 120 people who played this year, helping us to nearly double our previous record. Also, thanks to Tri County Equipment for sponsoring the contest. Good luck in Day 2. 

NCAA Contest is back!

Our annual NCAA Blog/Facebook Contest is back. If you have played in the past, all you need to do is sign in through CBS Sports. If not, email Paul Adams at padams@hearstnp.com and he will send you an invite. Everyone is playing for a to be determined cash prize.

Final Week Winner and Standings

Please note: We had a scoring error. These are the final correct totals. We apologize for the error.

The Huron Daily Tribune Facebook/Blog Football contest, presented by Tri County Equipment, came to an exciting end. Dave Lester took the lead last week and was able to hold to secure himself $120. Lester held off Paul Adams, Robert Rockefeller and Dave Green. Meanwhile, Robert Rockefeller was nearly perfect, as he racked up 450 points to capture the final weekly prize of $20. Robert, please email Paul Adams at padams@hearstnp.com with your address for your prize. 

As we conclude this season, I want to thank everyone for playing. It was a learning experience for me and thanks for your patience. I will probably tweak a few things, including asking those who have been emailing me their picks to either post them on the blog or Facebook. As for how the contest is played, it will not be changing. Meaning, the picks will be made public on the blog or Facebook. I will likely be staying with the 500 point system. 

Finally, thank you to Tri County Equipment for stepping up and sponsoring the contest. Without the sponsor, this contest would not be possible. If I can secure multiple sponsors next year, the prize money will grow and we will be able to award money to a weekly runner-up, as well as more places at the end of the season. 

Again, thank all of you for playing, it's been a lot of fun.

Paul Adams

Sports Editor

Huron Daily Tribune 

Here are the final standings. 

Dave Lester 1775

Paul Adams 1770

Robert Rockefeller 1745

Dave Green 1735

T-Dog 1675

Ed Moore 1670

Chiuk Czlek 1625

Dan Gentner 1620

Garrett Green 1610

Cody Pfaff  1585

James H. 1580

Two Cents Worth 1565

Jason O 1560

Chad Wingert 1525

Marty Baker 1505

Gary Hunkins 1505

Brett Ross 1480

Brandon Deacons 1470

Dan Kubacki 1455

Casey Riskey 1445

Ethan Green 1425

Belmont NC 1410

NCTL Alum 02 1410

D. Cook 1410

Michael Delpiere 1405

Kellen Bickel 1405

Horseshoe 1375

Casey Hoff 1350

Eddie Fury 1350

Aaron L. Smith 1340

S. Fisher 1310

How picks are entered

For this contest, picks have been entered to me three different ways - through the blog, through Facebook and through email. I guess I could make the email picks public, until this point there hasn't been a need to. Perhaps for the future, I will require everyone to make their picks through only Facebook or the blog.

This was my first year running this contest, it was a learning experience. For the most part, I think everything has went smooth. I am open to any and all suggestions.

Paul Adams
Tribune Sports Editor

Week 9 Games

This week's games for the Huron Daily Tribune Facebook/Blog Contest, presented by Tri County Equipment. Contestants are playing $20 this week and everyone who entered the first eight weeks is in the running for $120 grand prize.

5 Points
Armada at Marlette
Reese at Whitemore-Prescott

10 Points
Bad Axe at Ubly
USA at Harbor Beach

15 Points
Vassar at Frankenmuth
Cass City at Caro
Sandusky at Flint Beecher

25 Points
Brown City at Dansville
Owen-Gage at Posen
Imlay City at EPBP

50 Points
CPS at North Huron
Memphis at Algonac

75 Points
Kingston at Cardinal Mooney
Deckerville at Peck

100 Points
Michigan State at Michigan

Tiebreaker (total points): USA at Harbor Beach

Week 8 Winner and Standings

James H tallied 400 points to win this week's Huron Daily Tribune Facebook/Blog Contest presented by Tri County Equipment. James H won a tiebreaker over Robert Rockefeller. Many people took advantage of the new 500 point system and are very much alive for the overall prize. Although Paul Adams is the overall leader, he is not eligible for the money, making T-Dog the leader heading into the final week. Everyone listed below is still in the running for the $120 grand prize. If you have any questions or corrections, please contact Paul Adams at padams@hearstnp.com. James H, please email Paul Adams with your address and we will get your money out right away. 

PLEASE NOTE: We had an error in scoring and Dave Lester has moved into the lead. We apologize for any confusion. 

Dave Lester 1375

Paul Adams 1370

T-Dog 1340

Dave Green 1335

Garrett Green 1310

Ed Moore 1295

Robert Rockefeller 1295

Dan Gentner 1270

Chiuk Czlek 1250

Cody Pfaff  1250

James H. 1235

Casey Riskey 1230

Horseshoe 1225

Aaron Smith 1225

Two Cents Worth 1215

Marty Baker 1205

Brett Ross 1195

Dan Kubacki 1180

Chad Wingert 1175

Jason O 1160

Brandon Deacons 1140

Kellen Bickel 1130

Gary Hunkins 1130

D. Cook 1125

Casey Hoff 1100

Eddie Fury 1100

Belmont NC 1090

NCTL Alum 02 1035

Michael Delpiere 1055

S. Fisher 1015

Ethan Green 1000

Aaron L. Smith 925