Uncle Crappy


gambling is bad.
May 14, 2010, 7:30 pm
Filed under: Elsewhere,Food and Drink,Ohio,Sports | Tags: , ,

Actually, let me amend that: Gambling is bad, unless you win.

Back in March, I noticed that my OU Bobcats were to play a first-round game against the Georgetown Hoyas in the NCAA basketball tournament; I immediately got in touch with by friend and former colleague Robyn, who proudly possesses not one but two degrees from Georgetown, and we concocted a wager: at the first opportunity, the loser would have to buy beer for the winner, while the loser wore a shirt bearing the name of the winner’s school.

Let me be honest here. I didn’t think in a million years that OU would beat Georgetown. I was actually looking down the road at a possible Ohio State-Georgetown matchup in the Sweet Sixteen; I figured I’d lose the first game and then we’d jack up the stakes for the second.

And then, as we all know, OU thumped the Hoyas. And I’m still not sure which one of us was more surprised. Regardless, we had a chance to meet on Thursday night, and to her credit, Robyn was game, both for the beer and for putting on the shirt I brought for her:

Thanks for the beer, lady. And you’re right — you do look good in green.



faucnffc finale.
April 6, 2010, 11:59 am
Filed under: Food and Drink,Pittsburgh,Sports | Tags: ,

In most respects, I’m not happy about Duke winning the title over Butler last night. But in one very key area, the Blue Devils’ championship was helpful — it saved me the time of having to go back and figure out who would win the Fifth Annual Uncle Crappy NCAA Final Four Challenge if the Bulldogs came out on top.

As I said a week ago, there were a number of you who picked Duke to win the championship, but just one among the Dookies also picked the WVU-Duke semi-final game.

And that, boys and girls, means Mr. Burns has won his unprecedented third AUCNFFC title. This is especially intriguing, because of his general reluctance to enter the contest — his initial response this year was a request that I pick his entries for him — but depsite the incessant foot-dragging, he’s been pretty good when it comes to the results. I’ll get in touch with Chris this week, and we’ll figure out how to get his fabulous prizes to him as quickly as possible.

Thanks to all of you for playing — we keep adding more contestants every year, and I’m grateful that you guys keep coming back. And a special thank-you goes to Chris and Bocktown, for making sure the AUCNFFC prize — a $30 Bocktown gift certificate — was actually fabulous this time around. As most of you know, Chris runs one of the best beer destinations anywhere, and it’s worth the trip to the Robinson-North Fayette Retailoplex, whether you won or not.



the wreckage that is FAUCNFFC.
March 29, 2010, 10:53 pm
Filed under: Social Media,Sports | Tags: , , ,
It’s true that I’m in sunny Florida, soaking up sunshine and beer that I’ve never seen before. But such is my dedication to yinz guys that I haven’t forgotten the Fifth Annual Uncle Crappy NCAA Final Four Challenge.
 
 Of course, we’ve already documented the collective crashing and burning of the tournament’s first weekend. And with the exception of a few contestants who we can now safely label as basketball savants, not many of us have been helped by the games of the last few days. Which makes it easier for me, as your trusty FAUCNFFC administrator. Because what we got here, boys and girls, is actually pretty simple: 

If Duke wins: Mr. Burns is our undisputed FAUCNFFC champion, for an astounding third time. He was one of several people who picked Duke to win the whole damn thing — Chachi, AAA, Kim and Kewyson are the others — but he’s the only one in the aforementioned group who also had a West Virginia-Duke semifinal game. 

If West Virginia wins: We have a two-way tie between Matlock, our favorite WVU alum, and Gina’s dog, who probably won’t benefit much from the Bocktown gift certificate unless Gina is willing to share her leftovers. Both have just one point so far; both also will get five more if WVU wins the title game. I’ll take the more formal step of notifying these guys via email, but, Gina and Matlock, if you see this in the meantime — I need a prediction for the final score of the championship game from each of you. The person with the closest score will be our grand champion. 

If someone else wins: Jesus, I have no idea. Also, I’m on vacation, so I don’t feel like figuring it out right now. 

The rest of us? We pretty much suck. OK, that might not be true, but we weren’t helped much by what has been the craziest NCAA tournament I can remember. There are a few of us who can still gain a point or two — but still remain safely out of title contention — depending on what happens Saturday and Monday. And while there are an awful lot of Blutarskys in the group this year, I don’t think it’s something you should take to heart. Out of 5.4 million ESPN bracket entries this year, only four managed to correctly pick 15 of the tournament’s Sweet Sixteen teams. 

So you’re not alone. Or you’re in good company. Or, uh, something like that. 

Here’s yer points so far, with possible remaining points in brackets (duh), in order of appearance: 

Uncle Crappy: 1 [2] 

Mrs. Crappy: 1 [0] 

Chachi: 1 [5] 

AJ: 1 [2] 

Kayla: 1 [2] 

Anthony: 2 [2] 

Doogle: 2 [2] 

Large: 0 

Bobbo: 1 [2] 

Larry: 2 [2] 

Carla: 2 [2] 

Pantster: 1 [0] 

CurlGirl Michelle: 0 

AAA: 1 [5] 

Papuga: 1 [2] 

Jim: 1 [0] 

Shadow: 0 

Ethel: 0 

Gina: 1 [5] 

Grandpa 1 [0] 

Kim: 1 [5] 

Doctor Yohe: 0 

HP: 0 

DD: 0 

Michael: 1 [0] 

Susan: 0 

Matlock: 1 [5] 

Burgh Baby: 1 [0] 

TheJim: 1 [0] 

My Seester: 1 [0] 

Fred: 1 [0] 

My Mom: 1 [2] 

Carolina Boy: 0 

Calipanthergrl: 0 

Mr. Burns: 2 [5] 

Kewyson: 1 [5] 

Juan: 0 



ouch.
March 26, 2010, 9:33 pm
Filed under: Social Media,Sports | Tags: , , ,

I still don’t have any idea who’s going to be the Fifth Annual Uncle Crappy NCAA Final Four Challenge winner. But I’m pretty sure it’s not going to be me.



crumpled.

So. How’s your bracket looking?

The good thing about the Fifth Annual Uncle Crappy NCAA Final Four Challenge is that the early-round upsets that bury our full brackets don’t always hurt here, because we’re generally going to have at least most of our Final Four picks still in place.

Unless you picked Kansas. Or Villanova. In that case, you’re kind of screwed.

But while there were a fair amount of us who picked the Jayhawks to win it all, we still have a full weekend of basketball before we start amassing points, so you Kansas fans should be ready to break out the preemptive schadenfreude and hope your opponents lose some of their picks as well.

Here’s a quick look at how we’re doing. Remember, we don’t start to tally points here until the tournament is down to its final four teams, but you’ll get a pretty good sense of how you stand at this point:

  • All four in: Uncle Crappy, Mrs. Crappy, Chachi, AJ, Larry, AAA, Ethel, Grandpa and Mr. Burns.
  • Three, including champion, remaining: Doogle, Kim, Doctor Yohe, HP and Burgh Baby.
  • Three remaining, but champ is out: Kayla, Large, Carla, Papuga, My Seester, My Mom and Calipanthergrl.
  • Two left: Gina, Michael and Matlock.
  • Two left, but champ is gone: Anthony, Bobbo and Shadow.
  • Two left, but your champ and your other title game participant is gone: Pantster, CurlGirl Michelle, Jim, Susan, The Jim, CB and Fred.
  • Your champion is the only one left: Juan.
  • One left, but not the champ: Kewyson.
  • And as much as I appreciate DD’s participation, the coin-flip method did not treat him well. He gets the season’s first Bluto — as in: “MISTER Blutarsky. Zero. Point. Zero.”

Not as bad as you might have thought, right? We’ll see how it goes this weekend, yinz guys.



one and done.
March 20, 2010, 9:52 pm
Filed under: Ohio,Sports | Tags: ,

I’m still proud of my Bobcats.