Bucky Lives
The Challenge is threatened with scandal, survives test
It’s been a banner year in Badger land with the Rose Bowl appearance and two wins over #1 ranked Ohio State in football and basketball, respectively. Rookie player Badger Fever (Ryan Drengler of Milwaukee) has continued that hot streak in honor of his namesake by emerging in first place after Day One. Drengler went 14 for 16 on the day and correctly picked two of the three upsets. Curiously, though, he only has the Badgers going one round. We’ll soon see if his lack of faith in Bucky helps or haunts him the rest of the way.
Jennifer Darrell (tigger32382) and Adam Dickens (ChiTriathlete) have 15 points, one behind Drengler. Dickens finished one from the bottom last year, so he’s looking to redeem himself. Darrell had 16 points after day one last year, but then her fortunes dimmed considerably. Perhaps this year she’ll be able to sustain the momentum.
Last year’s champion Alicia Kellogg, who goes by the handle BrutalBrutis, spent most of the day showing that she has a savant-like proficiency for this game by clinging to the lead. However, losses by Michigan State and Utah State in the late games knocked her down to third. Still, she’s also only one point behind the leader.
Rounding out the top 10 are six players with 14 points (ties are broken by pick percentage): Van,Lifeguard Leo, JR, Tournament Challenged, Jeffrey T, and former champ WHAC. Van, playing as thejester, was the first player officially eliminated from competition last year, but that was when he was distracted by reading a 1,000 page book called Infinite Jest. Now he spends his leisure time perusing the depth charts of all the mid major conferences.
Finally we have the bittersweet tale of JR. JR briefly shared the lead after Morehead State’s upset victory. However, his elation was subdued when he was told by his assistant, LC, who helped him fill out his bracket, that she neglected to fill in two of the later round games. Readers, since there is at least one child under 10 among you, I won’t go into the sordid details of the lobbying campaign by LC that ensued. Let me instead just say that I’m happy to report to you all that the integrity of The Challenge remains as locked tight as Kate Middleton’s chastity belt.
Looking ahead, there appear to be three key matchups in Day Two: Texas A&M v. Florida St., Illinois v. UNLV, and George Mason v. Villanova. The number of players who picked each team in those games are split 42/44, 43/43, and 42/44, respectively.
NOTE:
Starting on Day Two you’ll see a Mover/Loser column to the left of your name in the Current Standings. That reflects how many places you’ve moved up or down since the day before, not since the last game.