J-Zee Team Takes Top Spots

New Algorithm Great For Garskas

‘Longing For Orgasm’ Has Up And Down Day

Weekend Update Schedule

Three tournament veterans, Jackie (Jackie Wickham), Da Izz (Valerie Corwin), and Chez (Michelle Reichenbacher), each only missed one game Thursday to lead the field heading into Day Two of the 2014 Challenge. Izz and Chez’s only loss came in the Dayton/Ohio State game, and Jackie only missed Oklahoma/ND State. Their 15 /16 effort means that for the second year in a row Jon Charak’s (making it up as I go) 2007 record of 29/32 correct in the first two days could be in jeopardy. Of course, Charak himself only missed two games on Thursday and currently sits in a six-way tie for 15th place.

Of the three leaders, Chez has the most to gain. The Elmira, Mich. resident is in her seventh year of competition with an average place of 64.3 over that span, an impressive statistic considering that in her first year of competition there were only 64 players total. But Chez is of indomitable spirit. She is due for a big year and this could be the one.

On the other end of the spectrum, Jackie is looking to keep moving up in the All-Time Records. The seventh-year player moved into 9th place on the Average Place list last year with a 23rd-place effort, giving her four top 25 finishes in her last five tries.

As for Da Izz, she is trying once again to channel the power of naming herself after her dog, Izzy. Da Izz has three top 20 finishes in the last nine years, most recently in 2011. Her name that year? Izzard.

For a while on Thursday it looked like there would be just one name atop the leaderboard, but Great Garskas (Gary Lambrecht) just missed his big upset bid of Manhattan over Louisville. He was one of just seven brave players to take the Jaspers. The loss dropped him from a four-way tie for first into a tie for 7th, just one point back. Now in his sixth year, Garskas, an engineer, says he “used a new selection algorithm” to make his picks. One part of the equation may be hobbling the competition — my sources tell me Garskas helped Basket Case (Faith Lambrecht) make her picks. She’s currently tied for 115th.

Finally, although I’m sure we all miss Gus Johnson and the excitement he brought to the CBS play-by-play booth, it’s clear that none of us miss him more than Longing For Gus Johnson’s Orgasms (Matthew Melick). After Dayton won, he sent me an email saying he had “shot out to an early lead.” But then when his three upset picks of NC State, ND State, and St. Joseph’s all seemed to be choking he once again confided to me that perhaps his celebration had been “premature.” Folks, let me just say that I don’t pretend to know what any of this means, and I absolutely refuse to sully the Challenge with bawdy jokes. All I can say to those of you like me who object to his tasteless handle is that, with all of his Sweet 16 teams sill viable, it looks like he will be sticking around for a while.

FRIDAY/SATURDAY UPDATES: Due to some interstate travel I have scheduled this Friday/Saturday, updates to the standings may be delayed for some games. If this happens, the best way to gauge how you’re doing in the tournament is to use the Tournament Results page, which shows you which players picked which team in every game. Just click on the little pencil icon.