Mike Vukovcan We are just eight days away from the unveiling of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament brackets and the unofficial start of March Madness!
For the last 100 years (just joking, but it sure seems that way), I’ve been in charge of running a March Madness Bracket Poll and that will be the case again this season.
Hopewell softball and youth baseball is sponsored by Lisa McCoy, your neighborhood State Farm agent.
Just to be clear, I don’t personally collect a penny for doing this, as all of the money goes to our winners. In fact, this content actually gives money away to a local organization, charity, or family. I started doing that approximately 7 or 8 years ago.
The way that works is $5 of the $20 entry fee, goes towards an organization of my choosing and this year, I have selected the Hopewell High School Boys baseball team.
Reason being is that like all high school and junior high teams, they are looking for ways to take in money in order to strengthen their program(s). The only money that the team receives is dollars they come up with on their own, which is why events such as Night at the Races, Raffles for stuff like the current Freezer Full of Beef ticket and other things are done. In order to pay for items for players and to do short and long-term projects for the program, they need to come up with ways to raise money.
This year’s March Madness poll will go towards their long-term fund raising.
If you’re interested in entering my poll, please contact me (mvukovcan@gmail.com, 724-462-5756) and I’ll e-mail you an invitation to join. You can enter as many times as you’d like to.
Three ways you can pay: cash, Paypal (@mvukovcan@gmail.com) or Venmo (@mvukovcan). If you’re sending cash or a check (my address is 1018 Sweet Brier Drive, Aliquippa, PA 15001).
As a reference, last year we had 315 entries, minus the cost of using the website (www.runyourpool.com), which was $200, so we paid out a total of $2,950. We paid out for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. The winner received $2,000.
Hopefully, we can surpass that number this year. If you enter and want to forward the invite to a friend or family member, I encourage you to do so.
A brief reminder: Get your bracket(s) in before the pick deadline and make sure to review the pool settings. Only the main 64 teams that make up a standard bracket are included (i.e. the play-in games, or ‘first four’, are NOT included). Good luck to everyone. If you have any questions, please contact me at mvukovcan@gmail.com.
Nothing has changed in terms of the rules. Different point value for each round. Highest point total at the end wins. Tie-breaker is total points scored in the championship game.
