2010 Chalise, Jacket Shared by Win-Docs, Brady

Two Shots. That's what Gordon Hayward will be thinking about for the next six months before practice starts on October 15th. If one of them goes down he is on highlight films for the rest of his life. Oh well.

In a thrilling Calcutta finish and close from the outside, the Win-Docs grabbed their third straight National Champion selection (record), tied their own wins record (15) and prevented the Bunch of Chieftans (15) from the outright title. In a "game for the ages" it came down to the final seconds and a game for all the mah-bles.

Here's the final breakdown and congrats to this year's co-champs:

Win-Docs $950 {1st and 2nd, national champ}

Bunch $750 {1st and 2nd}

Catholic Boyz $300

All others click here.

Thanks everyone for playing and it should be interesting next year. If they change the format, I'll put up a poll to decide (one vote per team) how we'll score next year's Calcutta.

Francesa: Monday Night For All Dah Mah-bles

Well this should be interesting. National champion brings home more dough. Win-Docs need a Dukie win to preserve their record book win total. Which, by the way, will stand for eternity if the NCAA moves the tournament to 96 teams (12 team Calcutta - 3 per bracket!).

Good luck to the Bunch of Chieftans and Win-Doctors. May the best squad win.

The Commish.

Bunch Ties Record, Clinches Tie for Calcutta Title

One thing we know for sure, the Bunch's name will be on the Chalise as part of the 2010 championship. The improbable Butler Bulldogs played that stifling defense again and kept their opponent under 60 for the fifth straight tourney game. The Bunch is threatening to setting a Calcutta record that may never be broken if West Virginia beats Big Bad Duke tonight and has drawn even with the Win-Docs record of 15 total Calcutta wins.

If Coach K's Devils win tonight, it sets up an interesting scenario between the Bunch and Win-Docs for a Monday night matchup that will decide if the Bunch's name will be alone or will have company.

Stay tuned.

Elite Eight Report: Let Them Play!

This is what we know: The Catholic Boyz have locked up the third slot and will be playing spoiler for the Win-Doctors, come next Saturday evening and Sparty to take out the Cinderella and the home team (!) Butler Bulldogs.

The Mano a Mano duel has come down to a huge matchup next weekend when the second place Win-Docs (13 pts) put Duke up against the narrowly leading Bunch of Chieftans' (14 pts) West Virginia Mountaineers. What's in the balance? The Calcutta title, the all-time lead for Calcutta titles, a shot at the all-time win record of 15. So, in summary, LOTS.

There's been quite a bit of banter over the interwebs between these two teams over the past two weeks and it's time to settle it on the court. We almost had a two way tie at 14 with both teams carrying 2 teams in on opposite brackets (let's say I was rooting for some of that). Of course, CBS will have something to do with it (see we need Duke for ratings).

Sweet Sixteen Report: Mano a Mano

In one of the closest Calcutta's in recent memory, the two horse race continues as the Bunch of Chieftans and the Win-Doctors roll into the Elite Eight with 12 wins each and separation between them and the rest of the field. The all-time record of 15 set way back in 2000. Both squads are looking for their fourth Calcutta title and the overall titles lead, which makes this cutthroat battle even more interesting to watch. The Chieftans had a huge opportunity to take 3 of 4 Sweet 16 games, but a valiant effort by the A-10's Xavier Musketeers fell short in double OT. The Win-Doctors are humming the "d" word (dynasty) looking for their third title in four years. Ironically, these two teams possibly may not meet each other again until the Final Four, and if that happens, look out!


A three team battle for the show spot has developed between the two defending champions with the Catholic Boyz pounding out two Friday night wins to reach the 8 win mark and advance two squads to the Elite Eight. The Counselors and the Tax Men both remain alive for a third place finish. The Statesmen joined the Commish on the sidelines tonight after their lone Sweet 16 squad from California bowed out after a pretty weak effort against Baylor playing in the friendly confines in Houston.


And Calcuttians, it's that time again where we get to say: ADIOS AMIGOS!!! Thanks for coiming, nice run by the Panthers of Northern Iowa.

I Got Nothing

Two Horse Race Down the Stretch Into Sweet Sixteen

Buffalo NY (UPI)

The Bunch of Brady notched three out of five today to hit the 10 win mark heading into the Sweet Sixteen tied with the Win-Doctors who pulled off 4 second round wins of their own and a share of the Calcutta lead.
The Bunch hammered out two more upset wins with the Big Red of Cornell and the Xavier Musketeers of the Ivy and A-10, respectively who took down giant conference foes from the Big Ten (Wisconsin) and the Big East (Pitt) to head into the Sweet Sixteen. Their highest seed West Virginia took care of business in the B-Lo and they once again head into next weekends tilts with four teams. One off the second round record of 5 victories, they were denied by a missed 3 pointer in OT by Texas A&M.

The Win-Doctors, however, appear to have all engines turning, claiming four Sweet Sixteeners, including #1 Duke (looking like a bargain for $30), #2 Ohio State (playing solid ball) and two lower seeds Washington (not a bad #11) and Tennessee. They've been extra quiet though, but don't hold your breath, I think they're about to come out of hibernation after posting 10 wins in four days. They also have a guaranteed victory with OSU playing Tennessee in Friday night's opening telecast. They have only one head to head with the Bunch (WVU - Washington) kicking off Thursday night's action.

The Catholic Boyz are currently four lengths back in third all alone with 6 wins with a huge victory by Sparty and the boys with this buzzer beater.....



The Amigos, Statesmen and Tax Men all sit tied in fourth (one win out of the money) with five wins. The Amigos have two one longshots longshot left in ODU and Northern Iowa and the Statesmen (St. Mary's) and Tax Men (Kansas State) are down to their last squads.

Rounding out the bottom are the Counselors who were taking their one-a-day vitamins with one win each of the four days having Kentucky and Purdue remaining. With only four wins, they'll need to run the table to make any noise.

The Commish and Associates completely shut it down and has their lone beloved Orangemen left and only national title hopes for the 2010 Calcutta. They did avoid having the lowest first round total ever (2) thanks to the thrashing that occurred this afternoon at HSBC.

On to the Sweet Sixteen......hope you're all enjoying this year's edition of the 'cutta.

The Commish

Down Goes Kansas! Down Goes Kansas!

We're definitely not in Kansas anymore. Check StubHub tomorrow for St. Louis regional final tickets as there should be a few good bargains out there. Northern Iowa? Really?

The Elders after a strong first round showing really took it on the chin here.

The Win-Doctors (8) have stormed to the lead, but there's a Bunch of Chieftans (7) that have a loaded cannon for Sunday with FIVE freaking teams going manana.

The same four squads that were tied for third yesterday, still stay in the same spot going into Sunday's second round wrap-ups.

AO is out for the Cuse again, will they suffer another #1 seed setback or is there road paved with gold now that #1 Kansas is out? Or is the other Kansas looming in Salt Lake to make a mess out of the left side of the bracket?

These questions and more should be answered tomorrow.....the results are up for today and will be up tomorrow night after Sunday's action. Good luck.

The Commish

Round One Notebook: Chieftans Surge, Win-Docs Strong

East Amherst (AP)

News and Notes from the Opening Round

- Results are up for the opening round as we head into the weekend.

- The Bunch of Chieftans surged to 5 wins yesterday to grab a share of the lead with the Win-Doctors. Lots of Jersey Shore fist-pumps from Section 218 yesterday.

- Win-Doctors looking for respect in opening round blog, complaints have been rolling in. Regardless the two long time nemesis' are at each other's throats with six wins each. Let the smack talk commence.

- Four way tie for second between the Elders, Catholic Boyz, Tax Men and Tres Amigos. Still six teams very much in the hunt. Big second round games should separate the Men from the Boyz. LOL.

- The pressure of being the morning line favorites have the Counselors in fade mode. Looks like a repeat is remote.

- The Commish got off the schneid, just trying to avoid the record books for futility. They need one more win to stay away from the loser moniker.

- The Cuse showed some muster last night that had me dancin'.......

Longshots Reign on Opening Day and the Big Least

West Amherst, NY (AP)

It was a big day for longshots The Tax Men and the Elder Statesmen, both hammering out 3 wins on day one. In a day where three Big East teams bit the dust (Georgetown, Notre Dame and Marquette) and another survived a major scare (Villanova) from a #15 seed from the Northeast Conference (Robt Morris), there were lots of story on the Calcutta front.

The Tax Men showed their mettle winning with their #2 seeds and picking up a major upset with the MAC champion Ohio Bobcats treating Georgetown with a little Hoya Suxa. With Maryland and Florida State representing tomorrow, the Tax Men could move into the second round with a solid four teams. Their only loss of the day was #14 seed Montana late into the evening.

The Elders shook off the longshot designation and picked up two major upsets with Murray State beating Vandy at the buzzer and St. Mary's (Cal) easily handling the itsy bitsy Spiders of Richmond. Kansas held court and all of a sudden the Elders are in the thick of things again. Here's another look at the buzzer beater by the Speed Racers:




While the Elders and Tax Men were reveling in their day one fortunes, yours truly is looking at sharing the bottom of the barrel record for first round wins and threatening to own it. The Commish dialed up goose eggs (see inset) with shots at the end of two games that went clank. Losing Georgetown pretty much was the kiss of death and it was nice knowing you all.



The morning line favorites, the Counselors, couldn't seem to handle the pressure being the chalk going into the tourney as defending co-champs. Major losses by Vandy, Marquette and Notre Dame have this team with a lot of catching up to do.


The Win-Doctors had a decent showing with wins from Tennessee, BYU and Washington offset by a loss from #16 seed E. Tennessee State. So they are on the board with the two longshot teams, all with three victories on Day 1.


The Bunch of Chieftans grabbed a Butler win and Sam Houston was game in defeat, but couldn't put it together in the final two minutes. Big day for the Chieftans tomorrow.


The Amigos had an up and down .500 day, pulling off a pair of upsets with Old Dominion taking out the Irish and Northern Iowa 3-balling the Rebels out of the tourney, and New Mexico surviving a scare from the Grizz. The other half of their Virginia contingent, Richmond didn't hold up their end of the bargain, and SDSU played valiantly before losing to the Vols (with some help from the refs) before some late night hearbreak.

It was a quiet day for the defending co-champion Catholic Boyz until about 12:30am when the bell tolled for Wake Forest and another OT buzzer beater plunging a dagger into the Amigos. The Boyz will get things really revved up tomorrow with five squads in action.

As the Commish will be at the regionals downtown all day tomorrow, the big board will be updated on Saturday morning.

No matter what happens, just remember, chicks dig the long ball.....

Counselors, Catholic Boyz Celebrate 09 Co-Titles

The 2010 Calcutta got off to a rousing start as the yellow jacket (note the matching tie) was presented to the Counselors celebrating their first title in 11 years. The Co-Champs donned the yellow jacket and smiles were abound for the legal beagles.


Next up were the Catholic Boyz, who accepted the Calcutta Chalise (engraved with both teams) for the second time in four years. Congrats to both teams for a job well done in 2009.

So now it was time for game-on and a sense of nervousness came over the room for the first team to be auctioned off. The Catholic Boyz tossed out the first team and they were off....so here's the Commish's morning lines and draft night synopsis as the 2010 Calcutta is underway.....

COUNSELORS MADE MORNING LINE FAVORITES
The Counselors (3-1) were made the morning line favorites based on the lowest average seed ranking of 7.5 and scooping #1 seed Kentucky to boot. The co-champions, missing half of their normal draft night team had a quiet and strong showing. With one strong #4 Vanderbilt and one weak #4 Purdue (had at the bargain basement price of $10) the legal pros bobbed and weaved all night long. Only their Midwest Region has any sign of weakness. If they steal a couple wins out of Big East #6 seeds Marquette and the Irish, look out. Sleeper Team: Minnesota.

The Catholic Boyz (4-1) and defending co-champions made another strong draft showing, challenging the Counselors as the team to beat. Selecting teams from all of the major conferences, they have a lot of eggs in the #3 Baylor basket. With a low ASR of 7.88, they need some second round magic out of their mid-seeds (#5 Spartans, #7's Clemson and Oklahoma State, #8 Gonzaga or #9's Wake Forest and Louisville) in order to be a factor in weekend number 2. Only one team seeded lower than #9. Sleeper Team: Louisville.

The Three Amigos (5-1) are looking to bounce back after a fourth place finish out of the money last year. We made them the third choice based on strong #3 seeds in New Mexico and Pittsburgh anchoring their brackets and solid mid level seeds such as #7 Richmond, #8 Texas and #9 Northern Iowa. Will need to do well early to be around late. The question is when will we say Adios to the Amigos this year? ASR: 8.0 Sleeper Team: San Diego State.

The Win-Doctors (7-1) were awfully quiet in the corner and didn't seem to have the normal tension among team members. We've got them as the fourth choice mainly on reputation alone. They'll need two teams (#1 Duke and #2 Ohio State) to thunder through the brackets to have any chance at sipping from the Chalise again. They also could use a mid-level seed to make the sweet sixteen to be a factor. ASR: 8.38 Sleeper Team: Washington.

Rounding out the bottom half of the morning line selections is the Bunch (10-1). For years a perennial contender, they've come up short in recent Calcuttas and need to right the ship. They'll be cheering on locally-bound #2 West Virginia, hot off a Big East Conference Tournament Championship and #5 seeds Texas A&M and Butler to win some early contests. #5 Xavier, upset in the A-10 tourney has a tough draw of Big Ten Minnesota who has been improving under Tubby Smith. ASR: 8.63 Sleeper Team: Georgia Tech.

Next up in the morning line are the Tax Men (15-1) who went with a similar strategy as the Commish, big guns blazing and try to catch a high seed upset. Three strong teams head up the Tax Men squad, with two #2's in Villanova and Kansas State and a #4 Maryland from the ACC. The Tax Men will have to ride their big dogs to the Elite Eight where anything can happen. ASR: 9.13 Sleeper Team: Utah State.

The Commish (15-1) again is one of the longshots. Never having enjoyed a sip out of the Calcutta Chalise and closest to the yellow jacket was putting it on the co-champs tonight. They played the hometown card and grabbed the Orange playing in nearby Buffalo and then hopefully in Salt Lke. Staying within the Big East, they picked up #3 Georgetown, who seemed to be improving late in the year. After shooting their wad early, they'll need a mid-level #8 UNLV or #4 Wisconsin to win a few games to go anywhere. ASR: 9.0 Sleeper Team: Florida.

The Elder Statesmen (20-1) is the longest shot on the board. With one of the largest bids in Calcutta history ($51 on #1 Kansas) it appeared the strategy that has made them one of the best Calcutta competitors in the history of the contest went completely out the window. their next highest seed is #5 Temple and then it's double figure seeds baby. Best of luck, there's always the 10% National Championship coin.... ASR: 9.75 (Wow!) Sleeper Team: St. Mary's.

Well there it is Calcuttians, we're off and running for the 2010 Edition. Stay tuned to the blog and we'll try and keep up the results on the top of the right sidebar as quickly as possible.

Enjoy and good luck......The Commish

A Tradition Unlike Any Other?

As the Calcutta approaches tonight I learned that a couple of other sports have stolen some of our tradition away.....can you believe some hick golf tournament gives away a green jacket?

WTF? And they have more than one jacket?? Who do these guys think they are stealing our yellow jacket theme, just by changing the color?


So then after a little more googling, I find out there's another Chalise out there, but they enlarged it because they have Chalise Envy about our coveted trophy....

I'm beginning to get a little complex here....since when does that midget Bettman get off stealing my ideas? The Calcutta Counselors are on the case whether or not any patent infringement has occurred in either of these cases.


Well, hopefully these lawsuits will boost the Calcutta coffers...speaking of which, remember to bring yo' two-fitty tonight.....here's a little sumthin to get you pumped for this weekend...

12th Annual Calcutta Launches Blog

West Amherst, NY (Reuters)

We're going viral here at Commish Central. No more emailing the results, only to have them deleted into an old recycle bin. What in the name of Gene Keady's comb-over am I going to do about it? We're talking Calcutta Blog, fellow Calcuttians. As we approach Tuesday night's 12th annual Calcutta extraordinaire, here's a one stop shop for current Up To The Minute Results (see sidebar), The Goods we're all after - the Coveted Calcutta Chalise (spelling) and the elusive famous Yellow Jacket. In addition, the Record Books, Past Champions and Rules of Combat can be found on the right sidebar, to boot.

On Tuesday night, the Counselors will don the Yellow Jacket for the first time ever (and it'll probably fit Baki) along with 2009 co-champions The Catholic Boyz, who will celebrate their second championship in the last four years.

I hope you all like the new Blog and format, if you have a Google Account, you can become a follower so you'll know when the blog is updated with a post. Instead of the email chains, if you post a comment below the smack talk can begin. If you need any help drop me a line or email. Be sure to bookmark this page for future visits. March Madness is here.

As far as remarks on the brackets, all I can say is woo-hoo on the Buffalo draw and the Cuse comin' to the B-Lo. Definitely some sour grapes out there in Hoya Land, especially this fellow. Once again, Duke proved that Coach Gay (K) can sleep with half of the committee and grab the easiest region. We have started doing some voodoo early on (if only VCU was in their bracket). Overall, the Midwest looks loaded and should make for some good fun tomorrow night!

The Commish