Greatness For Alexander?

His Errness Gets One Right

K8burst Keeps The Flame Going

Auntie Em Is For Michigan

By the age of 30, Alexander the Great (the real one) had created one of the largest empires in the ancient world. Mackie Mo still has a few years to go before reaching age 30 (a gentleman won’t say how many), but nonetheless stands at the brink of an even greater achievement: a Chippens Championship.

Mackie was a little salty a couple days ago at her lack of press coverage thus far in the tournament. “Mackie not happy with the lack of ink,” a highly-placed source in the Mackie household told Chippens after the Day Four recap was released. “Says she jumped 74 spots and picked both Nevada and Florida State.”

After Thursday’s games, Mackie jumped even higher—all the way to first place. She is the only player in the tournament to have Florida State in the Elite 8. “Do I get some ink in the recap?” Mackie asked at first light Friday morning.

The Chippens Recap Team explained that during the second weekend, recaps come out every other day instead of every day like the first weekend. This news did not go over well, but Mackie persisted, and as of now she not only retains first place but has a shot to retain it throughout the remainder of the contest.

From a purely mathematical standpoint, Mackie has the best chance to win it all. Of the remaining 128 possible scenarios, 26 (over 20%) lead her to victory.

From a practical standpoint, the road is a little tougher. Because she picked Virginia to win it all, she will need either Kansas State or Loyola to win in Virginia’s place.

Mackie was not the only player complaining about a lack of “ink” this week. His Errness (Mike Theune), like Mackie, pointed out he as well made a big move in the standings after Day Four. “You failed to mention my massive leap from #77 after round 1 to, now, #65!” he said.

Theune made an even bigger leap last night. He’s now in 25th place, up 54 spots from Thursday night. He was one of just 12 players to correctly pick Texas Tech over Purdue. His Errness still has room for improvement. He can finish as high as fifth place, which would tie his best finish ever, achieved in his rookie season, in his now 10-year Chippens career.

K8burst (Kate Dickens) of Elmhurst, Illinois is another one of the “Gang of 12” who picked Texas Tech. The win pushed her all the way up to second place, six points behind Mackie and 117 spots ahead of her husband, DickensCandles.com (Adam Dickens).

When Adam submitted his picks, he said DickensCandles.com is a real venture. The Chippens Product Investigation Team decided to visit and see what in the dickens it’s all about.

Folks, it’s beautiful, stunning, pure genius. The website says, “There is nothing better than drinking a craft brew and lighting a candle to relax.”

Chippens definitely agrees, with a small modification. There is ONE thing better than drinking a craft brew and lighting a candle to relax, which is drinking a craft brew and lighting a candle to relax after you’ve won a Chippens Championship.

Kate (apparently the brains behind the operation) will have a chance to do that (Adam has no chance, none at all) if Villanova, Kansas, and Michigan all win their next game.

The Michigan game and the Kansas/Duke game will have a big impact on the standings this weekend. Thirty-two players have Kansas and 34 have Duke.

On the other side of the bracket, 37 have Michigan and zero have Florida State, which means it’s all or nothing for a lot of players who had faith in the Wolverines.

One of those players is Auntie Em (Marilyn Snider). The octogenarian phenom is currently in 94th place, up from 109th place Friday, up from 120th place late last week.

Although it may seem Auntie Em is stuck behind a puttering line of flatlanders and front-platers hauling their boats and campers Up North—a line stretching from the 115/131 intersection all the way to Mesick (apologies to those not from Cadillac)—Auntie Em has just begun to show her strength. She has 89 possible points left to earn, more than anyone else. If she earns them all, she will cut the line all the way to second place.

She needs the downstate Wolverines to win more than just once, however. She is one of six players who picked Michigan to win it all.

Each game from here on will elevate or destroy the hopes of many.

Good luck to all.