Tuesday, March 23, 2010
So You're Tellin' Me There's A Chance?
For those who don't follow us on Twitter and haven't seen this on their own yet, a 17 year old in the Chicago-land area has picked Purdue to go all the way in his bracket.
"So what?" you're saying... "A bunch of idiots in the BS bracket challenge did the same thing."
Well, yes, but do any of those idiots have their bracket 100% accurate after 48 games? Seriously, 48-0?
While there seems to be some sentiment online that this is a hoax, NBC surely believes it, as they wrote the article and then emailed the link to us, thinking we might be interested.
Odds of a perfect bracket at this point. One in 13,460,000. And while that's pretty amazing, completing the trick is even longer: somewhere between 1 in 35,360,000 and 1 in 1,000,000,000,000.
Tell you what, I'll put a fiver on this kid.
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19 comments:
I don't buy it.
I started a bracket challenge with CBS and the originator of the challenge [surprisingly] has the ability to change your own or other members' selections*.
Text from CBSsports.com screen:
"The brackets for the members of your league are now locked.
Since you are the pool manager, you can continue to edit selections for both yourself and the other members of your league."
I also looked at the full CBS Sports bracket challenge standings, and didn't see anyone listed there with more than 30 games in the first round and nobody with 64 pts (the total 1*32 pt first round and 2*16 pt second round) in the competition -- all of the group tied for the lead is at 55.
I'm guessing he started his own bracket manager, kept modifying his selections as the games went on, and he's now working on a nice little hoax and 15 minutes of fame.
* As an aside, that does call into question the ethics of CBS's bracketeering software, as I think it's rather sketchy that someone could make changes to existing bracket picks.
I think the reason you won't find it in the leaderboard is because the kid filled out one that isn't entered into any prize-winning contests.
yeah, they said that he couldn't because he isn't 18 so he can't win anything.
Paul,
Point being, if he filled it out in a bracket contest he started himself, he could falsify the results to show a perfect finish.
All the NBC article has is a screen shot of his bracket... And supposedly CBS hadn't gotten back to NBC to confirm his result.
So I'm still not buying it unless CBS can confirm it.
Thanks for accusing an autistic kid of cheating, Debbie Downer
So say he's right and it's legit... *cue twilight zone music and massive riots in West Lafayette*
I like this kid. If we win the whole damn thing he deserves an autographed basketball.
Samsonite. I was way off.
I think it's reasonable for an online tool to allow you to adjust brackets after the fact ... it gives the commish the opportunity to get more people in the pool at the last minute. (Of course it depends on the commish being honest, but then that's kind of a requirement anyway.)
Of course, it ought to disqualify that bracket from the overall prize pool (or keep only the original picks for that purpose), as it seems to have done ...
Many years ago, I finished second and third instead of first and second because someone didn't enter the winner of the championship game at first, but the commish entered it for him at a later date. Supposedly it was the team he'd meant to pick and there was some problem or something like that. It doesn't bother me that much now, but only because I can't remember how much money it cost me.
Okay, that was a bad example. Never mind.
Seriously? Am I the *only* person who thinks this might be a hoax?
oh no. I completely support your hypothesis. I just meant I don't have a problem with CBS letting the commish adjust the brackets after the fact.
Who cares? Its a nice little story about an autistic kid.. but really: who cares?
Way to kill the mood, Brad.
Its a nice story, but I don't believe that he predicted every game correctly. Especially when you consider he has Purdue winning it all.
I'd be really, really, really surprised if after-the-fact edits didn't get automatically marked on the bracket somehow. Or else I would think there would be a whole lot more perfect brackets out there considering there are millions of them being filled out online and there are tons of dishonest people on the internet.
I disagree, nick. The Internet is a bastion of honesty and kindness.
Also, Ben... samonsite... almost snarfled my coffee.
So, being that I live in Chicago and it is a small world, my friend is one of this kids teacher. He showed her his bracket before the tourny started. Of course she didn't memorize it, but she did say that she remembered thinking, kid, what are you doing? Kansas not in the Sweet Sixteen? Purdue winning it all? Also, if he was going to cheat...wouldn't he have kept on doing it until the end so he could be perfect? And, would he really have kept the long shot Purdue in there as the winner? Just a thought...
J Money-
I did the same thing when I saw the tag line and video/ so you're telling me there's a chance. Yayah!
Quite funny.
Also, if Purdue wins on Friday it will be one of my happiest basketball moments EVER.
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