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  College Football Bowl Pool 2017-2018  (24 players)

1st Place - Barry Shuman (567/820)     2nd Place - Todd Laffaye (557/820)     3rd Place - Brandon Smyth (543/820)

Summary: There were the usual fair number of upsets knocking our scores down as we moved through the pool.  However, Barry Shuman managed to take an early lead and managed to hang onto the top spot almost throughout the duration of the pool, claiming the victory even before the championship game.  Todd Laffaye hung around a little below the top, and then came on strong down the stretch to grab the Silver, again even before the final game was played.  As the final few games were being played, Brandon Smyth and Michael Arvold came up from the middle of the pack passing Larry F. Waldman and Shana Thomas, seeking to stake their claim on the Bronze.  It came down to the final game, and Alabama's overtime win over Georgia let Brandon beat out Michael for the Bronze.  For Barry this was his third medal in this pool, allowing him to "hit for the cycle" with a Silver in 2015 and a Bronze in 2010.  Todd's Silver was his third Silver Medal, all in 2018 football pools, and this was Brandon's third medal all-time.  

  NFL Regular Season - 2016-2017  (73 players)

 1st Place - Bobbie Arvold (1491/2065)       2nd Place - David Leib (1487/2065)         3rd Place - Chris Green (1453/2065)

Summary: This was an exciting season for us, as we had a real dogfight for first place between Bobbie Arvold and David Leib, and an equally hard fight for third among a handful of players.  Bobbie took over the top spot in the third week of the season, and by week seven David Leib had climbed into second place.  It stayed that way until a weekly win in week 13 by David propelled him to take the lead from Bobbie.  David hung on until the very last week of the season when Bobbie was able to squeak back past him and take the season by four points.  Quite a one-two throughout the season.  Third place was another story.  Kevin Mulloy looked strong early, but in week 11 Len Bergstrom took over the spot.  Others in the scramble included Chris Green, Sue Friborg, and Mark Laffaye.  When the dust had cleared, Chris Green eked out the Bronze by one point over Sue Friborg, two points over Mark Laffaye, and three points over Len Bergstrom.  For Bobbie Arvold, this is her first Waldarry Gold ever, having won the Bronze in this pool in 2010.  She has moved up from 49th to 17th place on the all-time leaderboard.  David Leib has now "hit for the circuit" in this pool, having taken the Gold in 2013, the Silver now, and the Bronze in 2015.  Chris Green, a Waldarry rookie, is honored to become the 107th member of the fabled Waldarry Hall of Champions, entering in 72nd place!  Finally, there were three double weekly winners this season - Kevin Mulloy, Luca Guyer and Noe Nalvarte.

  Summer Olympics - Rio - 2016  (24 players)

1st Place - Ryan Milligan (979/1040)     2nd Place - Penny Bergstrom (936/1040)     3rd Place - Pam Wood (935/1040)

Summary: The early lead in this Summer Olympics pool went to Connie and Kevin Mulloy and Joe Milano, but they all quickly faded as the pool moved forward.  Pam Wood, Len Bergstrom and Ryan Milligan started a push upward at about the halfway point.  Around the three quarter mark Penny nudged husband Len aside and Pam, Ryan and Penny took the lead.  They held the top three spots from that point forward.  At the 90% mark Ryan began pulling away from the other two, and in the end he took the Gold by 43 points.  Penny took the Silver with Pam just one point behind her for the Bronze.  Billy Waldman came on strong right at the end to miss the Bronze by just one point.  This was Ryan's third Gold Medal overall, and Penny's record setting 10th Silver Medal.  Pam took the Silver Medal in the 2014 Winter Olympics, so she is the first Waldarry Olympics double medal winner!

  NBA Playoffs 2016  (20 players)

1st Place - James Waldron (62/64)     2nd Place - Len Bergstrom (61/64)     3rd Place - Brent Koplitz  (61/64)

Summary: Thirteen of our 20 players took the Golden State Warriors to repeat as champs, four took San Antonio to upset them in the western finals, and three took Cleveland to beat them in the finals.  Oklahoma City knocked out the Spurs early, but could not hold a 3-1 lead over Golden State and missed their chance at the finals.  Cleveland did indeed take the east, so we had a repeat matchup of the Warriors and the Cavaliers.  Golden State took a 3-1 lead, one never overcome in the history of the finals.  But LeBron James was not to be denied, and he mustered up whatever it took to drive Cleveland to their first ever NBA Championship.  Our three players that picked the Cavaliers to win it all were our medal winners.  James Waldron, a rookie whose first entry to the Hall of Champions was earlier this year with a weekly NFL win, takes home his first full Medal, a Waldarry Gold!  Len Bergstrom took the Silver and Brent Koplitz the Bronze.  Their tie was broken by the winning margin in the final game, 4 points, with Len having 6 and Brent having 8.  Len and Brent are both long-time Waldarry veterans, and this gave them their first Waldarry 2016 wins.

  College Football Bowl Pool 2015-2016  (25 players)

1st Place - Pam Wood (675/861)     2nd Place - Mike Defede (672/861)     3rd Place - Pat Laffaye (666/861)

Summary: As this pool came down the stretch, Mike Defede, last year's Gold Medal winner, took the lead, with Larry F. Waldman, David Blamphin, Pam Wood and Len Bergstrom holding the top spots.  Of huge consequece was the TCU versus Oregon game.  Oregon led 31-0 at the half, and a win would clinch the Gold Medal for Mike Defede for the second year in a row.  But Texas Christian scored 31 points in the second half to tie the game, and went on to win it in overtime.  This netted out to Pam Wood getting the Gold and forcing Mike to have to settle for the Silver.  For Pam, this was her record setting seventh Gold Medal over all pools through the years, breaking the tie she had with Bob Waldman and Penny Bergstrom at six.  The Bronze came down to the championship game, with Pat Laffaye needing an Alabama win, and Len Bergstrom needing Clemson.  The Crimson Tide prevailed 45-40, giving the Bronze to Pat.

  MLB World Series - 2015  (20 players)

  1st Place - Larry F. Waldman (22/24)      2nd Place - Joyce Fubini (22/24)      3rd Place - Len Bergstrom (20/24)

Summary: We used a new format for the pool this year, which included three full rounds of the playoffs.  Toronto was the favorite pick with seven selections, closely followed by the Dodgers with six.  The Dodgers went down in the first round to the Mets, and Kansas City wiped out Toronto in the second round.  The World Series came down to the Mets and the Royals.  Two players had the Royals going all the way and one had the Mets.  It only took five games for the Kansas City Royals to be crowned the champs.  Larry F. Waldman and Joyce Fubini had identical picks throughout, and were the only ones who picked the Royals to bring home the title.  Larry had a 6 game World Series and Joyce had 7, so Larry brought home the Gold and Joyce the Silver.  Len Bergstrom, who would have taken the Gold with a Mets win, took home the Bronze.

  NFL Regular Season Survival Pool 2015-2016  (45 players)

1st Place - Aaron Butcher (9/17)     2nd Place -  David Blamphin (5/17)     3rd Place - Shannon Mulloy (4/17)

Summary: This was an amazingly short season.  It didn't look that way after the first week, when only one of 45 players was eliminated.  But week 2 was a killer, with the top five favored NFL teams all losing.  Only three players escaped that wrath, Aaron Butcher, David Blamphin and Shannon Mulloy.  So the three award winners were determined after just two weeks!  Shannon went down to defeat in week 5, leaving her with the Bronze.  A week later an Arizona loss sent David to the Silver, with a New England win giving the Gold to Aaron.  This is Aaron's first Gold Medal ever, adding to a Silver he won in this same pool three years ago.  The medal ties Aaron with four other players who have won two medals in this pool.  For David it is his fourth medal overall, and his first in an NFL pool.  It is Shannon's first medal, although she does have two weekly NFL wins to her credit.  A surprisingly fast pool, but one that did provide lots of excitement for its three finalists.

  MLB Regular Season - 2015  (18 players)

  1st Place - Penny Bergstrom (136/150)      2nd Place - Larry F. Waldman (134/150)      3rd Place - Len Bergstrom (132/150)

  NFL Regular Season - 2015-2016  (69 players)

 1st Place - Michael Arvold (1410/2065)       2nd Place - Dan Cissell (1403/2065)         3rd Place - Rhonda Tenenbaum (1396/2065)

Summary:  This year's pool came down to the very last game of the season!  For the prior four weeks, Dan Cissell and Michael Arvold held the top two spots, with Dan ahead in three of the four weeks.  It took until week 12 for Rhonda Tenenbaum to enter the top ten, but she worked her way up to third in a fight against Ali Jian, Bobbie Arvold, Bill Brewster and Pam Wood.  The very last game of the season pitted favored Green Bay against Minnesota.  A Green Bay win would give the Gold to Dan, and a Minnesota upset would give it to Michael.  Michael picked the Vikings to win the game, as they are his favorite team.  His faithfulness paid off, as the Vikings prevailed, giving our Gold, Silver and Bronze to Michael Arvold, Dan Cissell and Rhonda Tenenbaum respectively.  This is Michael's first full-season medal in this pool (he has five weekly wins to his credit).  It is his fourth Gold Medal over all pools.  Dan adds this Silver to the Gold he won in this pool in 2010.  For rookie Rhonda, this is her first ever Waldarry award, making her the 100th player inducted into the fabled Waldarry Hall of Champions!  There were three double week winners this year - Katie Beltrone, Andrew Wang and Matt Kopchick.  For Katie, Andrew, and Luca Guyer (as well as Rhonda), this pool provided their initial induction into the Waldarry Hall of Champions.

  NFL Playoffs 2013  (36 players)

1st Place - Connie Mulloy (40/48)     2nd Place - Dana Pryor (40/48)     3rd Place - Brent Koplitz (40/48)

Summary: This year 14 of our 36 players had Denver going all the way and 11 had New England.  Three had San Francisco and none had Baltimore.  After many upsets, we saw San Francisco and Baltimore make it to the Superbowl.  The 49ers were favored, but fell way behind early.  Then came the epic power failure and when the game resumed, San Francisco came storming back.  But in the end Baltimore held on and took the game 34-31.  This was great for Connie Mulloy, who had given Baltimore 11 points in the final game, and it allowed her to take home the Gold Medal as well as her very first entry into the Waldarry Hall of Champions.  Dana Pryor, who gave Baltimore 10 points in the Superbowl Round, in this her very first Waldarry Pool, used that strength to take the Silver Award.  Brent Koplitz and Bob Walter were tied for the Bronze, each giving Baltimore 8 points in the final game, but Brent took the Bronze based on his 10 points in the prior round versus Bob's 9 points.  Welcome to our two new Champions, Connie and Dana, and welcome back to our veteran Brent.

  College Football Bowl Pool 2012-2013  (21 players)

1st Place - Bob Waldman (484/630)     2nd Place - Mike Carroll (478/630)     3rd Place - Pam Wood (467/630)

Summary: Bob Waldman looked strong from the very beginning, and wound up with 25 out of 35 picks correct, two more than any other player.  Mike Carroll also showed strength throughout, and Bob and Mike clinched the top two spots even before the final game was played.  Pam Wood held the third spot, but needed an Alabama win over underdog Notre Dame to keep Penny Bergstrom from stealing the Bronze.  Alabama's 42-17 clobbering of Notre Dame insured the third spot for Pam.

  MLB World Series - 2012  (18 players)

  1st Place - Billy Waldman (35/45)      2nd Place - Pam Wood (27/45)      3rd Place - Bob Waldman (27/45)

Summary: Lots of surprises in this year's playoffs.  Detroit took out the Yankees in a four game sweep, the Giants came back to win three straight to finally defeat the Cardinals, and then the Giants swept the favored Tigers in four games.  Billy Waldman was the only player to have the Giants beating the Tigers in the World Series and that easily earned him the Gold.  Pam Wood and Bob Waldman had the right teams in the World Series, but both had the Tigers knocking off the Giants.  Pam edged Bob for the Silver with one extra World Series grid point.  Three players in the all-time top ten leaderboard once again showing great sports prognostication skills.

  NFL Regular Season Survival Pool 2012-2013  (38 players)

1st Place - Michael Arvold (13/17)     2nd Place -  Aaron Butcher (5/17)     3rd Place - Larry J. Waldman (3/17)

Summary: Last year was our shortest season ever, and this year broke that record.  We had 22 people go out in the second week, and another 12 in week 3.  Larry J. Waldman won the tie-breaker in week 3, so he took home the Bronze.  Both Michael Arvold and Aaron Butcher made it through week 4, but Aaron bit the dust in week 5 giving him the Silver, leaving Michael to take home the Gold.  All three are Waldarry veterans adding to their laurels!  Michael managed to continue on for quite a while, finally being eliminated in week 13!

   MLB Regular Season - 2012  (13 players)

  1st Place - Bill Brewster (164/180)      2nd Place - Penny Bergstrom (163/180)      3rd Place - Larry J. Waldman (162/180)

  NFL Regular Season - 2012-2013  (55 players)

 1st Place - David Leib (1511/2065)    2nd Place - Ann Laffaye (1484/2065)     3rd Place - Steve D'Amato (1482/2065)

Summary:  David Leib pretty much ran away with the Gold this season, taking the top spot in week 11 and never letting go.  He passed Ann Laffaye to take that spot, and then Ann bounced around within the top five, coming back from fifth into second place in the final week to take the Silver.  Steve D'Amato was in the top six from week 8 on, and moved up from fourth to third in the last week to lock in the Bronze.  There were only two double weekly winners, with Evans Boney winning back to back weeks 14 and 15, and Aaron Butcher taking week 6 and week 17.  Joe Barenzano, Jacob Barrett and Kyle Mulloy used weekly wins to enter the Hall of Champions for the first time.

  NBA Playoffs 2012  (14 players)

1st Place - Larry F. Waldman (62/64)     2nd Place - Pam Wood (61/64)     3rd Place - Joe Milano  (61/64)

Summary: Miami and Chicago came in as the favorites this year, but a Derrick Rose injury right at the start knocked the Bulls out in the first round.  The Celtics were the surprise team, and they pushed the Heat to seven games before going down.  The Oklahoma City Thunder took the finals opener against the Heat, but then the Heat won four in a row to take the championship.  We had six players who had the Heat going all the way, so it was a close race.  Larry F. Waldman was the only player to have a perfect final four (Boston, Miami, San Antonio and Oklahoma City) which vaulted him up to the Gold Medal.  Pam Wood and Joe Milano were tied just one point behind.  Pam had a six game finals prediction and Joe had seven.  Since the Heat won in five, Pam got the Silver and Joe the Bronze.  All three trophy winners are Waldarry Pool veterans.

  NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs 2012  (20 players)

1st Place - Devon Shuman (48/64)     2nd Place - Erin Mulloy (41/64)     3rd Place - Kevin Mulloy (36/64)

Summary: This was something of a shocker Stanley Cup Playoff.  Of the 16 teams in the playoffs, we had eight different picks to win it all.  Of course it was the unpicked 8th seeded Los Angeles Kings who took the title downing the 6th seeded New Jersey Devils in the finals.  This was the first 8th seed to win it all since the modern playoff format was implemented in 1994.  Devon Shuman, our Gold Medal winner was our only contestant to give them more than 7 points in the final round.  His 14 point final round prediction led him to a full seven point victory margin.  We can be very proud of our youth in this pool.  Both Devon and Silver medal winning Erin Mulloy are teenagers.  Erin's Dad, Kevin Mulloy, took the Bronze.  For Devon, this is his first Gold, and third medal overall.  He earned the Bronze in this same pool in 2009 and 2011, and is our only three time NHL Playoff medal winner.  Erin is making her initial entrance into the Waldarry Hall of Champions as its 69th member, and Kevin is getting his first Bronze award, after entering the Hall earlier this year with a weekly win in the NFL football pool.

  NFL Playoffs 2012  (27 players)

1st Place - Bill Brewster (37/48)     2nd Place - Penny Bergstrom (37/48)     3rd Place - Larry J. Waldman (36/48)

Summary: This was another year of upsets.  Fifteen of us had Green Bay going all the way, seven had New Orleans, and the rest were split between Baltimore and New England.  New England did indeed make it to the Superbowl, but they were beaten there by the upstart New York Giants, who no player even had winning the second round of the playoffs.  Bill Brewster had New York with seven points in the Superbowl round, enough to propel him to the Gold.  Penny Bergstrom's six Giants points in the final round and some good earlier picks earned her the Silver, and Larry J. Waldman parlayed the Giants' win into a Bronze.  Once again, Waldarry veterans have put their mettle on display.

  College Football Bowl Pool 2011-2012  (14 players)

1st Place - Penny Bergstrom (523/630)     2nd Place - Craig Thomas (509/630)     3rd Place - Joe Milano (508/630)

Summary: Clearly some of our players are getting very good at this pool.  Penny Bergstrom took the Gold, improving upon her Silver from last year.  Joe Milano gave a repeat performance of his Bronze from a year ago.  Craig Thomas came up to take the Silver - the same trophy his father took two years ago.  In a prominent show of strength, Penny clinched the Gold while there were still four games left to play.  It was in Joe's hands to take the Silver from Craig on the last night, but Joe's pick of LSU over Alabama fell flat, allowing Craig to hold onto the higher position.  For Penny, this is her second Waldarry Gold Medal, it is Craig's second Silver, and for Joe it is a record-tying fifth Bronze award.  A good showing by a group of Waldarry veterans.

  MLB World Series - 2011  (16 players)

  1st Place - Brent Koplitz (43/45)      2nd Place - Tom McClure (41/45)      3rd Place - Billy Waldman (34/45)

Summary: This was the year that the wild card St. Louis Cardinals surprised everyone and knocked off the favored Phillies in the first playoff round, and then rode through Milwaukee and Texas to grab the World Series crown.  Three of our sixteen players had St. Louis going all the way, and they took our trophies.  Brent Koplitz took the Gold, with spectacular picks of Texas and St. Louis in six games (both perfect), and then St. Louis in six, while it took them seven.  That gave him 43 out of a possible 45 points.  Tom McClure was close behind with the Silver, losing two more points having St. Louis in five instead of six in the NL championship game.  Billy Waldman was the only other player to have the Cardinals going all the way, and although he had Detroit beating Texas in the AL game, his Cardinals as champions pick allowed him to grab the Bronze.    This was Brent's first award in the MLB World Series pool, and his fourth Gold overall.  Tom won the Gold in this pool in 2008, and for Billy this is his third Bronze award. 

  NFL Regular Season Survival Pool 2011-2012  (30 players)

1st Place - Mike Carroll (9/17)     2nd Place -  Brent Koplitz (6/17)     3rd Place - Bob Waldman (6/17)

Summary: This was our shortest season ever.  We lost 14 of our 30 players in the very first week, and lost 12 more in week 5.  We were down to three finalists by week 6, and two of them were knocked out in week 7.  Mike Carroll was our only player to make it into week 8, taking the Gold Medal, and lasting through week 9.  This is Mike's first Gold and second Waldarry trophy overall, having taken the Silver in the Hockey Pool in 2010.  Brent Koplitz and Bob Waldman tied for the Silver, with Brent taking it based upon tie-breaker rules.  It is Brent's eighth medal, and Bob's Bronze is his 12th medal.

   MLB Regular Season - 2011  (12 players)

  1st Place - Bill Brewster (166/180)      2nd Place - Penny Bergstrom (166/180)      3rd Place - Steve Mayhew (166/180)

  NFL Regular Season - 2011-2012  (51 players)

 1st Place - Larry J. Waldman (1566/2070)     2nd Place - Len Bergstrom (1554/2070)     3rd Place - Brent Koplitz (1537/2070)

Summary:  Larry J. Waldman won the first week, and leveraged that into the Gold Medal for the season.  He never fell below second place, and held the top spot for 13 of the 17 weeks as well as for the final eight weeks.  Brent Koplitz was on top for three of the weeks (weeks 7 to 9), won two weeks outright, bounced between 2nd and 3rd, and ultimately finished with the Bronze Medal.  Len Bergstrom, the only other player to win two weeks was never on top, but finished well and took the Silver Trophy.  Chad Martin came on strong in the end, and missed catching Brent for the Bronze by just one point.  Noe Nalvarte and Iason Leiloglou were the only two Waldarry rookies able to come away with a weekly win.  Kevin Mulloy won the sixteenth week, giving him his first entry into the Hall of Champions.

  NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs 2011  (18 players)

1st Place - Joe Milano (61/64)     2nd Place - Steve Mayhew (60/64)     3rd Place - Devon Shuman (59/64)

Summary: Vancouver was the big favorite this year, with 9 of our 18 players taking them all the way.  San Jose had four votes, and then one each for Philly, Boston, Detroit, Washington and Pittsburgh.  Vancouver eliminated San Jose in the semi-finals, and Boston came through to face Vancouver for the championship.  This went the full seven games, with Boston shutting out Vancouver in Vancouver, 4-0, to take their first Stanley Cup championship since 1972.  Joe Milano had the correct Vancouver-Boston match-up in the finals, and his 15 points for Boston gave him the Gold.  Steve Mayhew also gave Boston 15, but only 7 in the semis, and he took the Silver.  Devon Shuman, who took the Bronze two years ago, took it again here.  He actually had Boston with the full 16 in the finals, but his earlier weak support of Tampa Bay in the second round cost him a bigger trophy.

  NBA Playoffs 2011  (14 players)

1st Place - Sheel Dandekar (52/64)     2nd Place - Joyce Fubini (52/64)     3rd Place - Penny Bergstrom  (52/64)

Summary: This was the year that LeBron, Wade and Bosh got together in Miami to conquer the world.  Four of us thought that the Lakers would stop them, three thought Miami would actually do it, and others picked Boston, Chicago and San Antonio.  San Antonio fell in the first round, Boston and the Lakers in the second, and Chicago in the third.  The surprise was Dallas, who made it all the way to the finals to take on the Miami squad.  Down 2 games to 1, Dallas won the final three games to eliminate the heavily favored Heat in a six game series.  None of us had Dallas going all the way, but Sheel Dandekar and Joyce Fubini gave them 11 out of 16 points in the final round, tying for first with a 52 point total score.  In the tie-breakers, both correctly has a six game series, but Sheel's nine point margin in the final game was closer than Joyce's five point projection (Dallas won the last game by 10), so Sheel walked off with the Gold, giving Joyce the Silver.  Penny Bergstrom also had a 52 point total, but giving only 10 points to Dallas in the final round left her with the Bronze.  For Sheel Dandekar, this Gold Medal is his first entry into the Hall of Champions, with Joyce returning for the fourth time, and Penny for the seventh.

  NFL Playoffs 2011  (29 players)

1st Place - Joe Milano (44/48)     2nd Place - Pat Laffaye (40/48)     3rd Place - Michael Arvold (40/48)

Summary: As always, there was a strong favorite, with 20 of our 29 players picking New England to take it all.  Four had Atlanta, two took Pittsburgh, and one each for the Jets, Green Bay, and New Orleans.  The Jets started strong, and downed Indy and then eliminated the favored New England squad.  But then Pittsburgh ended the Jets' dream, and headed for the Superbowl against slightly favored Green Bay.  Green Bay won by six points, making a genius out of Joe Milano, the only contestant who gave the Packers 12 points in the final.  While Jordan Hull and Billy Waldman gave Green Bay 11, their poor earlier round projections for Pittsburgh precluded them from passing Pat Laffaye and Michael Arvold, whose strong projections for both Pittsburgh and Green Bay allowed them to capture the Silver and Bronze trophies.  Joe, Pat and Michael are Waldarry veterans, and their expertise has shone through yet another time.

  College Football Bowl Pool 2010-2011  (16 players)

1st Place - Ann Laffaye (454/630)     2nd Place - Penny Bergstrom (440/630)     3rd Place - Joe Milano (412/630)

Summary: Ann Laffaye and Penny Bergstrom were near the top throughout, and third place was a wild scramble.  Ann wound up clinching the top spot even before the final game, but it took Auburn's win over Oregon in the championship game to cement Penny's hold on second, as well as vault Joe Milano out from the pack and into third place.  All three trophy winners are Waldarry old-timers, and this adds to their standings in the fabled Hall of Champions.  Well done, folks.

  NFL Regular Season - 2010-2011  (50 players)

 1st Place - Pam Wood (1448/2067)      2nd Place - Steve Mayhew (1446/2067)      3rd Place - Amir Avraham (1437/2067)

Summary:  The Gold Medal this year has once again gone to Pam Wood, who has now taken this pool for three of the last four years - a rather amazing feat.  While Michael Arvold held the top spot for the first ten weeks, Pam took it away in week 11.  From week 13 until the end, Pam and Steve Mayhew went back and forth in the top two spots.  Pam had a good last week and used that to nip Steve by just two points for the season title.  In the meantime, Waldarry rookie (and certainly the rookie-of-the-year!) Amir Avraham used a great week 15 to make his first appearance in the top ten, and then vaulted into third place for the last two weeks to bring home the Bronze.  Another interesting note is that Chad Martin was our only repeat winner during the year, taking weeks 7 and 13.  He finished sixth overall.  A great season, and congrats to our trophy winners!

  NFL Regular Season Survival Pool 2010-2011  (32 players)

1st Place - George Rosevally (16/17)     2nd Place -  Amir Avraham (16/17)     3rd Place - Len Bergstrom (16/17)

Summary: This was the first year that we added a set of tie-breaker rules to this pool, and it led to a truly exciting finish.  After dropping down to four finalists (George Rosevally, Amir Avraham, Len Bergstrom and Joe Milano) after week 13, they all made it to week 16, at which point all went out together.  George had a one point loss with Dallas, while the other three all lost by three points in overtime with Jacksonville.  Going backwards by week, Amir took the Silver with his 26 point win in week 15, and Len took the Bronze with his 21 point win in week 14.  The tie-breaker rules added a lot of excitement right down to the end.  Condolences to Joe on his near miss, and congrats to our winners!

  MLB World Series - 2010  (19 players)

  1st Place - Larry Byers (43/45)      2nd Place - Barry Shuman (41/45)      3rd Place - Bob Waldman (27/45)

Summary: In our best performance ever in this pool, Larry Byers pulled in 43 of the possible 45 points.  He correctly had Texas in 6 in the ALCS, had the Giants in 7 in the NLCS (they won in 6), and again correctly had the Giants in 5 in the World Series.  An absolutely phenomenal performance to take home the Gold.  Barry Shuman was no slacker either, as he took the Silver, having the same forecasts for the first two series, but choosing one too many games for the World Series.  After these two, it was something of a disaster.  All other players had Philly winning in the NLCS, and 13 of the 19 of us had the Yankees taking the ALCS.  This allowed Bob Waldman to sneak in for the Bronze, with a correct Texas in 6, and a National League in 6 in the World Series.  For Larry Byers, this Gold is a follow-up to his shared Bronze in the MLB regular season, which was his maiden entry in the Hall of Champions.  This is Barry's first Silver, to go with a Gold and two Bronze awards, and for Bob it is his 3rd Bronze and tenth trophy overall.  This was a tough pool to call, and at least the top two guys did a great job!

   MLB Regular Season - 2010  (12 players)

  1st Place - Bill Brewster (121/164)      2nd Place - Joyce Fubini (119/164)      3rd Place - Len Bergstrom & Larry Byers (tie, 117/164)

  NBA Playoffs 2010  (18 players)

1st Place - Pat Laffaye (59/64)     2nd Place - Steve Mayhew (59/64)     3rd Place - Larry F. Waldman  (58/64)

Summary: This was the year of LeBron, and 10 of our 18 contestants picked Cleveland to go all the way.  In Round 2 they ran into the aging but experienced Celtics, and went down to defeat.  Boston then beat Orlando, sending them into the finals with the heavily favored Kobe-led Lakers.  We had four players with the Lakers, and one (Enrique Rivera) with his beloved Celtics.  Boston took a 3-2 lead, and then needed one of two in LA.  They lost the first badly, but then went down to the final minute of game seven, falling four points short in the end.  LA's victory gave the Gold to Pat Laffaye, who won the tie-breaker with Steve Mayhew by giving LA the full 16 points in the Final.  It is Pat's second Gold, his first being in this year's College Football Bowl Pool.  Steve has added to a collection of 5+ prior medals.  Larry F. Waldman took the Bronze tie from George Rosevally, also by giving the full 16 to the Lakers in the Final.  It is Larry's sixth overall trophy, including two weekly NFL medals.  Strong results from three long time Waldarry Hall of Famers!

  NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs 2010  (17 players)

1st Place - Michael Arvold (53/64)     2nd Place - Mike Carroll (52/64)     3rd Place - Ann Laffaye (50/64)

Summary: This pool got off to a very quick start.  Thirteen of our seventeen players picked top seeded Washington to go all the way, and they were eliminated in the first round by eighth seeded Montreal.  However, three of us did have Chicago to take it all, and they took the Stanley Cup in six games from the Philadelphia Flyers.  Michael Arvold, who was not one of the three picking Chicago, managed to come away with the Gold based on his strong support for Philly throughout the playoffs.  He correctly picked San Jose to face Chicago in the West Finals, and was the only player to give Philly a 3 out of 4 in the East.  This let him edge out Mike Carroll, who took the Silver, and correctly had Chicago on top in the end.  Ann Laffaye edged out hubby Pat, breaking the tie for third by having Chicago with the full 16 points in the Final.  For Michael Arvold, this is his second Gold Trophy, following up on his win in the MLB World Series in 2007.  Mike Carroll is making his grand entrance into the Hall, to be honored as its 57th member.  And for Ann Laffaye, this is her first trophy other than having won four individual weeks in the regular NFL season pools.  Congratulations to all, especially to Mike on his initial entry into the Hall!

  NBA Regular Season 2009-2010  (13 players)

1st Place - Larry J. Waldman (126/162)     2nd Place & 3rd Place (3 way tie) - Steve Mayhew, Enrique Rivera, Pam Wood (122/162)

Summary: With all of our players picking the same 5 out of 6 conference champions (Boston, Cleveland, Orlando, LA Lakers and San Antonio), this was destined to be a close race.  All of those picks won except San Antonio (Dallas beat them), so the final conference was key.  We had players picking Denver, Portland and Utah.  It came down to the last day of the season, and a Utah loss gave the conference to Denver.  Throughout the season cousins Larry J. Waldman and Larry F. Waldman fought over the top spot, with Enrique, Len, Steve and Pam hanging around.  Larry J. (who picked Denver) pulled away toward the end, and in the frantic fight for the remaining trophies, Steve Mayhew, Enrique Rivera and Pam Wood wound up tied for second.  Since they each had four correct champions they wound up sharing the second and third place trophies.  For Larry J., in his rookie season, this is his second straight Gold, following up on his win in NCAA March Madness.  Very, very impressive!  For Steve, Enrique and Pam, they are earning their 6th, 3rd, and record 13th trophy (or should we say 2/3 of a trophy) respectively.  It's nice to see the rookies and the veterans sharing the glory.

  NCAA March Madness 2010  (37 players)

1st Place - Larry J. Waldman (86/192)     2nd Place - Pam Wood (84/192)     3rd Place - Jack Thomas (79/192)

Summary: This was a wild version of March Madness.  Of our 37 contestants, seven different champions were predicted, with three of the number one seeds (Kansas, Kentucky and Syracuse) getting most of the picks.  Of course it was the fourth number one seed, Duke, who no one picked to win, that was the only one to even make it to the Final Four!  It was a fifth seed, Butler, that surprised everyone and took on Duke for the championship, losing only when a desperation shot at the buzzer clanked off the backboard and rim.  So we had a disastrous pool, with the winner scoring just 86 points out of a possible 192.  In contrast, prior year winners scored 154, 146, and 162.  At any rate, a Waldarry rookie, Larry J. Waldman, was able to rise to the top and bring home the Gold for his maiden entry into the Hall of Champions.  The perfect way to make a grand entrance.  Pam Wood, our perennial competitor, took the Silver - she also took the Silver last year, and the Bronze in 2008 - a great mark of consistency.  Jack Thomas hung in to land the Bronze taking a final score tie-breaker from Michael Arvold.  This follows up on Jack's Silver in the College Football Bowl Pool several months ago.  Congratulations to all, especially to Larry J. on his grand entrance to the Hall!

  NFL Playoffs 2010  (33 players)

1st Place - Brent Koplitz (45/48)     2nd Place - David Guyer (44/48)     3rd Place -  Rob Wolter (44/48)

Summary: This year San Diego and Indianapolis got 25 of our 33 votes to win it all.  New Orleans got four, with New England and Minnesota getting two each.  The Jets ousted San Diego early, and Indianapolis and New Orleans continued through to the Superbowl.  New Orleans was the big sentimental favorite, and was able to knock down Indy 31-17 in the big game.  Winner Brent Koplitz was right on with New Orleans going all the way.  In addition, he had a perfect first round, and lost only three points in the middle to finish with a very impressive 45 out of 48.  Even more remarkable, Brent is a repeat winner - he had champion Pittsburgh last year lead him to the top in 2009 as well.  Wow!  Our Silver and Bronze awards are also quite exciting.  David Guyer, with the Silver, and Rob Wolter, with the Bronze, are making their first entries into the Waldarry Hall of Champions.  David has been around a while, so it is great to see him finally crack the door, and Rob is a rookie showing great potential.  Well done, gentlemen.

  College Football Bowl Pool 2009-2010  (15 players)

1st Place - Pat Laffaye (418/595)     2nd Place - Jack Thomas (399/595)     3rd Place - Barry Shuman (392/595)

Summary: Jack Thomas took the early lead this year, with son Craig, Pat Laffaye and Barry Shuman hanging around near the top.  Jack and Pat clinched the top two spots before the final game, and Craig and Barry had their sights set on the Bronze.  It came down to Pat and Barry needing a win in the national championship game, and they got it as Alabama downed Texas.  This gave Pat the Gold, Jack the Silver, and Barry the Bronze.  For Pat, this is his first trophy other than a weekly win in NFL Pick 'Em last year.  For Jack, this is his first entry into the Hall of Champions!  For Barry, this is his second Bronze (he also has a Gold from the 2007 MLB Regular Season).  Well done, guys! 

  NFL Regular Season - 2009-2010  (50 players)

 1st Place - Dan Cissell (1568/2068)      2nd Place - Wendy Varga (1565/2068)      3rd Place - Bobbie Arvold (1559/2068)

Summary:

This was another great season for our flagship NFL regular season pool.  It started to take shape as early as week two, when Dan Cissell won the week and earned his very first entry into the Waldarry Hall of Champions.  Amazingly, he followed that up with a win the following week, for our first ever back to back wins.  This propelled him into first place in our overall season standings, a place he never relinquished for the remainder of the season.  By week 5, Wendy Varga and Bobbie Arvold took over the 2nd and 3rd slots.  They gave up these positions periodically during the season, allowing entry from Pat Laffaye, Craig Thomas, and Steve Mayhew, but by week 11 Wendy and Bobbie kept them behind.  Wendy made a strong run at Dan, closing a 21 point gap down to just 3 points, but she simply ran out of time.  Of note, Dan was the only multiple week winner during the season.  So special congratulations to Dan Cissell on making a grand entrance into the Hall with a giant Gold and two weekly wins, to Wendy Varga on her Silver Medal and her first entry since taking week 2 in the 2006-2007 season, and to Bobbie Arvold taking her first Bronze, adding to her week 15 in last year's pool.

  NFL Regular Season Survival Pool 2009-2010  (32 players)

1st Place - Pam Wood (17/17)     2nd Place & 3rd Place -  Ali Jian & Brent Mahle (tie, 16/17)

Summary: This pool came down to be a last week thriller.  When David Leib lost in week 13, it left three players to battle it out for the three trophies - Ali Jian (who tied for third in this pool last year), Brent Mahle (who would be making his first entry into the Waldarry Hall of Champions), and Pam Wood (who won the NFL Regular Season Pick 'Em Pool the last two years).  They each won the next three weeks, bringing it all down to the last game of the season.  Ali and Brent went with Denver, who was upset by Kansas City.  Pam went with the Jets, who trounced Cincy for a game they needed to make the playoffs.  That gave Pam yet another Gold, and Ali and Brent share the Silver and Bronze.  So congratulations to Pam on expanding her first place lead on the all-time leaderboard, to Ali on adding another trophy (actually two half trophies) giving him a total of four and a half, and especially to Brent on his very first entry into the Hall of Champions!

  MLB World Series - 2009  (13 players)

  1st Place - Len Bergstrom (34/45)      2nd Place - Joe Milano (33/45)      3rd Place - Ryan Nahas (33/45)

Summary: We were a pretty biased group for this pool - 12 of 13 picked the Dodgers over the Phillies, and 10 picked the Yankees over the Angels.  Of course the Phillies downed the Dodgers, but the Yankees did manage to take out the Angels.  Billy had the Phillies to take it all, so he had a good shot at the Gold.  But the Yankees wiped them out in 6 games, pitting all those Yankee fans against each other.  Len and Joe both correctly has the Yankees in 6, which propelled them to the top two spots.  Len also correctly had the Yanks in 6 over the Angels, which earned him the Gold.  Ryan's Yanks in 7 in the World Series, with a correct Yanks in 6 over the Angels brought him to the Bronze.  Len has been red hot of late, making this his second Gold of 2009 (also the NBA playoffs), and he also managed the Silver in last year's MLB WS Pool - a great mark of consistency.  It is also his 8th entry into the Waldarry Hall of Champions.  Joe gets this Silver to follow up his Bronze in the MLB Regular Season pool, another great mark of consistency.  For Joe, it is his also his 8th entry into the Hall.  For Ryan, a 2009 rookie in our pools, he is following up on a recent weekly win in the NFL Pick 'Em pool with this Bronze - not a bad start at all!

  MLB Regular Season - 2009  (9 players)

  1st Place - Bob Waldman (128/164)      2nd Place - Pam Wood (126/164)      3rd Place - Joe Milano (122/164)

  NBA Playoffs 2009  (10 players)

1st Place - Len Bergstrom (62/64)     2nd Place - Larry F. Waldman (61/64)     3rd Place - Joe Milano  (59/64)

Summary: Of our ten players, five had Kobe and the Lakers and five had LeBron and the Cavaliers taking it all.  The Cavs caved to the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Finals, and Kobe drove his Lakers all the way past the Magic for the Trophy.  Denver made it to the Western finals, and that cost a couple of our Lakers players several points, as they only gave Denver the lowest score (1 point) for reaching that level.  Len Bergstrom was nearly perfect at 62 points, riding to the Gold on Kobe's back.  Larry Waldman's 61 points drove to the Silver, and Joe Milano edged out Steve Mayhew and Bob Waldman for the Bronze.  Each had 59 points, but Joe took it on the tie-breakers.  Len, a frequent medal winner, makes this his second Gold Title, having taken the top spot in the NCAA March Madness Pool in '07.  For Larry this is his third Silver (adding to NFL Playoffs '09 and MLB WS '06), as he continues to chase that elusive Gold.  For Joe, he has made this pool his specialty.  He took the Gold in the NBA Playoffs in '07, and also pulled off the Bronze last year.  Three straight years earning a trophy in the same pool is a Waldarry record!  Great job, guys.

  NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs 2009  (11 players)

1st Place - Joyce Fubini (53/64)     2nd Place - Ryan Milligan (53/64)     3rd Place - Devon Shuman (52/64)

Summary: In our very first Stanley Cup playoff pool we showed an amazing lack of skill.  Our eleven players chose five different potential champions (five had Detroit), but not one had the ultimate champion, the Pittsburgh Penguins.  Pittsburgh downed Detroit, 2-1, in the seventh game of the finals.  Joyce Fubini, who was in last place at the conclusion of the first round, recovered smartly, and was able to leverage her 13 points given to Pittsburgh in the final round into her very first Gold Medal, after pulling off the Silver in the NBA regular season pool two years ago.  Ryan Milligan, also with 53 total points (but only 12 in the final round for Pittsburgh), grabbed the Silver, a nice follow-up to his Gold in the NCAA March Madness basketball pool this year.  Finally, Devon Shuman grabbed the Bronze.  He also had Pittsburgh with 13 points in the final round, but earlier shortfalls gave him an overall total of 52 points.  The 13 did allow him to nudge out Joe Milano (also 52 points) who had Pittsburgh with 12 in the finals.  This is Devon's first pool entry, and one of the few rookies to pull down a trophy on his first attempt.  Congratulations to all trophy winners! 

  NBA Regular Season 2008-2009  (10 players)

1st Place - Enrique Rivera (121/162)     2nd Place - Bob Waldman (119/162)     3rd Place - Steve Mayhew (117/162)

Summary: This was our closest regular season pool of any type ever.  First place to last place was a difference of just 12 points.  During the season six of our ten players spent at least a week in the top spot.  But as the season came down to its last month, Enrique Rivera and Bob Waldman began a back and forth battle at the top, with Steve, Joe and Tom in a fight for third place.  It came down to the last day of the season, with Enrique holding on for the Gold, and Bob having to settle for the Silver.  Portland tied Denver for the Western Conference crown, but Denver took it on a second level NBA tie-breaker.  That was the difference that gave the title to Enrique.  In a stunning last day as well, Steve Mayhew jumped all the way from fifth to third, as San Antonio passed Houston and Dallas passed New Orleans.  It was about as exciting as it could get, with so much based on the very last day of the season.  For Enrique, who finished third in this pool two years ago, it is his second entry into Hall, and his first time bringing home the Gold!  Bob and Steve have had multiple entries into the Hall - now at eight for Bob, and five for Steve.  Congratulations to all three on their return to the Hall of Champions!

  NCAA March Madness 2009  (44 players)

1st Place - Ryan Milligan (154/192)     2nd Place - Pam Wood (153/192)     3rd Place - Q Yi (140/192)

Summary: Nobody had the final four correct this year, but Ryan Milligan did get Michigan State, Connecticut and North Carolina right for the final four (he missed Villanova).  He correctly had North Carolina over Michigan State in the championship game, and edged second place Pam Wood by just one point.  Pam also had three of the final four, but had finalist Michigan State losing to Louisville earlier, which cost her the top spot.  North Carolina's win in the final locked up the third spot for Q Yi, who had two of the final four correctly picked, and North Carolina as the ultimate winner.  In all, 15 of our 44 players correctly picked North Carolina to win it all.  For Ryan, this was his fourth Waldarry pool entry, and his very first time entering the Waldarry Hall of Champions!  Pam is a Waldarry old-timer who has won several pool awards, and placed third in last year's NCAA March Madness Pool.  Q Yi has been in three Waldarry pools now, and this, too, is his first entry into the famous Hall of Champions.  Congratulations to first time entrants Ryan and Q, and welcome back to Pam!

  NFL Playoffs 2009  (27 players)

1st Place - Brent Koplitz (40/48)     2nd Place - Larry F. Waldman (40/48)     3rd Place -  Craig Thomas (39/48)

Summary: The surprising Giants took it all last year, so now 11 of our 27 players took them to repeat.  Then 5 each took Tennessee and Indianapolis, 4 had Pittsburgh, and 1 each for Philly and Carolina - a really good mix for a change.  In a shocking second week, three of the favorites - the Giants, Tennessee and Carolina - were all eliminated, with only Pittsburgh surviving.  Pittsburgh then went on to face Arizona in the Superbowl, and with a last minute touchdown took the game, 27-23.  Brent Koplitz and Larry Waldman both had Pittsburgh going all the way, with Brent edging out Larry for the Gold by getting 12 points in the second round versus Larry's 11 points.  Craig Thomas, who only had Pittsburgh with 11 out of 12 points in the Superbowl still managed to pull off the Bronze based on his very strong earlier picks.  For Brent this is a spectacular two Gold Medals in a row (he just took the top spot in the College Football Bowl Pool).  This is Larry's second Silver Medal (he won the same award in the Baseball World Series Pool in 2006).  Craig Thomas took the Silver in the 2008 March Madness college basketball pool, and won three weeks in this year's NFL Regular Season Pool.  So all three trophy winners are Waldarry Pool veterans - congratulations on returning to the Hall once again!

  College Football Bowl Pool 2008-2009  (17 players)

1st Place - Brent Koplitz (446/595)     2nd Place - David Leib (432/595)     3rd Place - George Rosevally (421/595)

Summary: This was the first Waldarry College Bowl Football Pool, based on 34 college bowl games played in December and early January.  Five players seemed to slug it out early and they remained at or near the top throughout the pool.  It came down to the final national championship game in which Florida downed Oklahoma, 24-14.  Brent Koplitz' pick of Florida gave him the Gold over David Leib, who went with Oklahoma.  George Rosevally also used Florida to hang onto the Bronze by 7 points over his nearest challenger.  Brent, who is proudly entering the Waldarry Hall of Champions for the first time, picked 24 of the 34 winners correctly, tying two others for that honor.  David and George are both making their second appearance in the Hall, David having won week 10 in the NFL Regular Season Pool this year, and George who took second place in the NFL Playoff Pool last year.  Congratulations to all three trophy winners and especially to Brent on riding a Gold into his first Hall entry!

  NFL Regular Season - 2008-2009  (46 players)

1st Place - Pam Wood (1480/2065)   2nd Place - Joe Milano (1475/2065)    3rd Place - Len Bergstrom (1465/2065)

Summary: Three long-time Waldarry Poolsters took the top three spots this season.  In an amazing display of football prognostication, Pam Wood made it two years in a row as the champ of the Waldarry Pick 'Em Pool.  Not an easy feat by any means.  Pam, Joe Milano and Len Bergstrom were joined by David Leib in a fierce fight for the top spot throughout the season, and they all hung on to remain in the top four spots.  Pam took the lead after week 15's results and held on for the Gold trophy.  Joe has claimed the Silver, and Len the Bronze.  Craig Thomas was the only multi-week winner during the season, walking away with weeks 6, 14 and 17, repeating the hat trick of Bill Brewster last season.  Very well done folks!

  NFL Regular Season Survival Pool 2008-2009  (24 players)

1st Place - Bob Waldman (17/17)     2nd Place - Billy Waldman (15/17)     3rd Place -  Michael Arvold & Ali Jian (tie, 10/17)

Summary: This was the very first Waldarry NFL Regular Season Survival Pool, in which each player tries to pick a single team that will win a game each week, and continues along until their pick loses.  You are limited in that you can only pick a given team one time during the season.  Of the 24 participants, six were eliminated in week one, six more in week two, two in week three, five in week four, and one in week six.  So only four of our 24 players made it past week 7.  Week 11 saw the elimination of Michael Arvold and Ali Jian, giving them a tie for the Bronze trophy.  Bob Waldman and son Billy Waldman then slugged it out until Billy fell in week 16.  That gave Bob the Gold, and he was able to continue through all 17 weeks picking winners and giving him a perfect undefeated season.  Over the entire Yahoo population only 1.04% made it through the season unscathed, so we can all be very proud of Bob's performance!  Congrats to all trophy winners!

  MLB World Series - 2008  (16 players)

  1st Place - Tom McClure (30/45)      2nd Place - Len Bergstrom (28/45)      3rd Place - Steve Mayhew (26/45)

Summary: We had sixteen players, with 8 picking Boston to win it all, 6 picking the Dodgers, 2 picking Tampa Bay, and zero picking Philadelphia.  So, of course, Philly won it all, giving all our players relatively low scores.  Tom McClure and Len Bergstrom were the only two players to even pick the World Series participants (Tampa Bay vs. Philadelphia) correctly, and that led to their 1-2 finish in our standings.  For Tom, this was his maiden entry into the Waldarry Hall of Champions, a nice way to come in with a Gold Medal.  This is Len's first entry since he also took the Silver in the NBA Playoffs in 2007.  In a hot contest for third place, Steve Mayhew squeaked it out by one point over George and Joe, letting Steve follow up his Gold in the MLB regular season with a Bronze in the World Series pool - most impressive!

  MLB Regular Season - 2008  (14 players)

  1st Place - Steve Mayhew (118/164)      2nd Place - Jessie Novak-Cramer (112/164)      3rd Place - Billy Waldman (109/164)

  NBA Playoffs 2008  (13 players)

1st Place - Pam Wood (64/64)     2nd Place - Penny Bergstrom (63/64)     3rd Place - Joe Milano  (63/64)

Summary: Pam Wood has pulled off a Waldarry Sports Pool first - a perfect score!  Pam got every series correct from the first round through the championship for a perfect 64 out of 64 score.  This was the year the Boston Celtics returned to the top, and 8 of our 13 contestants picked them to take it all.  Three took LA, who also made it to the finals, and one each went down earlier with Detroit and San Antonio.  When the Celtics took out the Lakers in a six game finale, Pam notched her perfection, and Penny and Joe tied one point shy of the top.  Penny also had the Celtics, but she had New Orleans and not San Antonio in an earlier round.  Joe Milano, who finished third, was perfect right until the very end, where he had LA over Boston.  Penny took the tie for having the correct champion.  And finally, twin brothers Larry and Billy showed how close they really are, finishing 12th and 13th respectively - quite a showing.

  NBA Regular Season 2007-2008  (11 players)

1st Place - Billy Waldman (113/162)     2nd Place - Joyce Fubini (110/162)     3rd Place - Pam Wood (108/162)

Summary: In the early season, Len, Chris, Enrique and Larry fought over the top spots.  At about the 75% point in the season it was still very tight, and Joyce, Pam, Steve, Joe, Enrique and Billy were all jumping around for the top positions.  At the 80% point Billy Waldman vaulted to the top and did not let go.  Joyce, Pam and Joe fought it out for the 2, 3 and 4 slots.  Billy stayed on to claim the Gold, Joyce Fubini grabbed the Silver, and Pam Wood nudged out Joe Milano on the last day of the season to take the Bronze.  It is interesting to note that Steve Mayhew was the only player that picked three correct champions (Boston, Detroit and Utah), but his overall standings picks were mid-range, and his picking of the number of games won by each team was the lowest in the pool (9 right out of 30).  Both Billy and Joyce had Detroit and Utah as correct champions, and Pam had Boston and Detroit.  Chris was the only one who correctly chose Orlando to win their division, and nobody had the LA Lakers or the New Orleans Saints to come out on top.  As a matter of fact, everybody had New Orleans coming in fourth!  Billy had the best overall standings with 96 out of a possible 120 points, and Joe had the best prediction for team wins, with 15 of the 30 teams being correctly within 5.  A special congratulations to Joyce Fubini on her first entry into the Waldarry Hall of Champions, to Billy Waldman on his second Gold Medal (he took the NFL 2006-2007 regular season top spot), and to Pam Wood for taking back-to-back Bronze medals (she just took third in the March Madness College basketball pool).

  NCAA March Madness 2008  (37 players)

1st Place - Robert Kitts (146/192)     2nd Place - Craig Thomas (144/192)     3rd Place - Pam Wood (141/192)

Summary: This was the first time that all four number one seeds made it to the final four - North Carolina, UCLA, Memphis and Kansas.  We had 16 picking UCLA, 9 with NC, 8 with Kansas, and 3 with Memphis (one had 2nd seed Texas).   In two upsets, Memphis and Kansas knocked off UCLA and NC in the semis, setting up the evenly matched Memphis-Kansas championship game.  Only two of our players (Robert Kitts and Bob Waldman) had the right two teams in the final. Memphis (and Bob W.) were up by 9 points with 2:12 to go, blew the lead and then lost to Kansas in overtime.  This gave Robert Kitts his first entry into the Waldarry Hall of Champions with a Gold!  Craig Thomas, who had  Kansas over UCLA in the final also made his maiden entry into the Hall with the Silver, and Pam Wood, a Hall veteran, took the Bronze, also with a Kansas over UCLA final projection.  Congratulations to Robert and Craig on joining the prestigious Hall of Champions, and Pam on another entry.

  NFL Playoffs 2008  (24 players)

1st Place - Raj Soma (40/48)     2nd Place - George Rosevally (38/48)     3rd Place -  Bob Waldman (37/48)

Summary: The New England Patriots went 16-0 through the regular season and were odds-on favorites to take it all.  Twenty-one of our twenty-four players picked them to be Superbowl champions, with the other three votes going to Indianapolis.  San Diego knocked off Indy in Round 2, and New England continued their roll on to the Superbowl.  In the meantime the wild card Giants took out Tampa Bay, Dallas, and Green Bay, on their very unexpected march to the Superbowl.  In a most exciting final game, the NY Giants scored a touchdown in the last minute to hand New England their first loss of the season, 17-14, and cap their wild ride to the NFL Championship.  Raj Soma had put his faith in the Giants and gave them 9 points in the final round, giving him 40 of the possible 48 points, and the Gold Medal in our pool.  This is his first Gold Medal, which he can now add to his weekly wins, one this season and one last season.  George Rosevally had the upstart Giants with a relatively strong 6 in the final round and was able to use that to hit 38 points and a solid spot in second place.  This is George's first entry into the Waldarry Hall of Champions!  In a dogfight for third place, with three players (Bob, Len and Evans) tied for third at 37, Bob came away with the prize based upon his 6 points for the Giants in the Championship, and 10 points earned in the semi-final round.  Congratulations to our three winners, and of course to the New York Giants!

  NFL Regular Season - 2007-2008  (50 players)

1st Place - Pam Wood (1581/2067)       2nd Place - Ali Jian (1580/2067)       3rd Place - Kate Nowicki (1574/2067)

Summary: This was about as exciting as it gets.  Pam Wood (nickname Newport Girl) bounced around between second and sixth all season, and then used a spectacular week-winning final week to jump into first place and take the Gold.  It came down to the very last game of the season, with Tennessee's 16-10 victory over Indianapolis to give her the one point edge that she needed.  Ali Jian (Turbanator) had several weeks in first place and won week 11, ultimately taking home the Silver.  Kate Nowicki (KaK AtaK) also held first place periodically, and in the end held on for the Bronze Trophy and her first entry into the Hall of Champions.  Unlike last year when there were five repeat weekly winners, this year there was only one, and it was Bill Brewster (ctdragons) who managed to win three weeks, weeks 6, 8 and 10.  All in all this was a great pool - congratulations to all weekly winners, and of course to our grand champions!

  MLB World Series - 2007  (12 players)

  1st Place - Michael Arvold (39/45)      2nd Place - Pam Wood (37/45)      3rd Place - Barry Shuman (37/45)

Summary: All 12 players picked Boston to beat Cleveland in the ALCS and they came back from a 3-1 deficit to take that series.  Nine out of 12 chose Colorado to down Arizona in the NLCS and they swept them in four.  Eleven of the 12 players took Boston to win it all, and win it all they did, sweeping Colorado in four games.  Winner Michael had Boston in 7 (right on), Colorado in 6 versus actual 4, and Boston in 5 versus actual 4.  Pam and Barry tied for second place with the same picks of Colorado and Boston in 6 and then Boston in 5.  Pam took the tie-breaker forecasting an average of 9.45 runs per game versus Barry's 9.21.  Actual came in at 9.87, a very high-scoring series.  All three award winners are making  their second entries into the Waldarry Hall of Champions, with Michael picking up his first Gold!  Note that Barry is following up on the Gold Medal he received for the baseball regular season pool that just ended, and Pam took second in last year's NFL Playoff Pool.  Very well done folks!

  MLB Regular Season - 2007  (9 players)

  1st Place - Barry Shuman (127/164)      2nd Place - Billy Waldman (120/164)      3rd Place - Bob Waldman (116/164)

Summary: It was an exciting season.  Barry took the lead around mid-season and never let go.  Billy came up to challenge a bit, but needed San Diego to take the NL West to have a chance and that just did not happen.  Bob & Len settled into a fight for third place late in the season, and Bob was able to pull it out by three points over Len.  With the late folds by the Mets and the Dodgers, and St. Louis going nowhere all season, only three players (Barry, Billy & Bob) had two of the six champions picked correctly.  Barry and Bob had Boston and the LA Angels, and Billy had Boston and Cleveland.  Not one player had a single National League Champion picked correctly (Philly, the Cubs and Arizona took the titles).  As to predicting the number of wins per team, Barry came within ten wins for an astounding 27 of the 30 teams! For overall placement of teams throughout the standings, Barry led with 96 points, Billy second with 94, and then it dropped to Len and Bob with 88.  Billy and Bob were the only players to have a division forecast perfectly - Boston, New York, Toronto, Baltimore, and Tampa Bay in the AL East.  The worst individual placement pick was Bob picking Arizona to finish last in the NL West and they won the division championship.  That was the only zero awarded for team placement.  Congratulations to Barry on his first entry into the Waldarry Hall of Champions (with a Gold no less!), and welcome back to Billy & Bob.

  NBA Playoffs 2007  (14 players)

1st Place - Joe Milano (57/64)     2nd Place - Len Bergstrom (57/64)     3rd Place - Michael Arvold  (56/64)

Summary: We had 8 of the 14 entrants picking best season record Dallas to go all the way, and they were eliminated in the first round by 8th seeded Golden State.  Chicago knocked off Miami (who had one player pick them as champs), also in the first round.  Two people picked Phoenix, who went down to San Antonio in the second round, and the three who picked San Antonio to go all the way got it right this time.  When Cleveland upset Detroit in the semi-finals it shook up our standings a bit, and then San Antonio aced Cleveland in four straight games to take the finals.  Joe Milano rode San Antonio through to take 57 of the 64 points and the Gold medal.  It is his first top three trophy in the Waldarry Hall of Champions, although he did take home one weekly winning in the NFL Regular Season pool.  Len Bergstrom continued to show his basketball prowess, following up his NCAA March Madness Gold with a Silver in this pool.  Len had San Antonio with only 15 out of 16 in the finals, but his earlier picks gave him the edge against Michael and Larry who had San Antonio going all the way, but some mess-ups earlier.  And finally, congrats to Michael Arvold, who makes his grand entry into the Waldarry Hall of Champions with the Bronze medal, as his San Antonio pick landed him a total of 56 points and third place overall. Great going, Joe, Len & Michael.

  NBA Regular Season 2006-2007  (12 players)

1st Place - Penny Bergstrom (122/162)     2nd Place - Len Bergstrom (121/162)     3rd Place - Enrique Rivera (119/162)

Summary: This was our first pool in which we tried to pick the final standings for a full season.  For a while Billy & Enrique were fighting it out at the top, but in the second half of the season husband & wife team Len & Penny began their successful challenge.  None of the 12 players picked Toronto to win the Atlantic Division, and only two players had Utah winning the Northwest.  Five players (Len, Enrique, George, Billy & Larry) had four of the six division champions chosen correctly.  Len was the only player to have two division final standings chosen perfectly from top to bottom, and Penny had forecast the number of wins within 5 for 18 of the 30 teams, which was one better than Enrique for the high in this category.  The final results were very close, with Penny's balance of standings, champions and wins giving her the very slight edge over Len and Enrique.

  NCAA March Madness 2007  (30 players)

1st Place - Len Bergstrom (162/192)     2nd Place - Steve Mayhew (158/192)     3rd Place - Gerald Williams (158/192)

Summary: For a while it looked like 2nd seeds UCLA and Georgetown might sneak into the top, but in the end it was two number one seeds, Florida and Ohio State playing for the title.  Len and Steve both correctly had Florida beating Ohio State for the championship, and that gave them the top two spots in our pool.  Gerald had Florida downing Georgetown, letting him capture the third spot.  One other player had the correct Florida over Ohio State final, but earlier errors relegated him to 149 points and fourth place.

  NFL Playoffs 2007  (30 players)

1st Place - Bob Waldman (46/48)     2nd Place - Pam Wood (45/48)     3rd Place -  Steve Mayhew (45/48)

Summary: The big favorite was San Diego, with 16 of the 30 players choosing them to be champs, and 6 more picking Baltimore.  Both teams were eliminated early, making it a wide open field for everyone.  Only 3 players had Indianapolis to take it all, which they did, downing Chicago in the Superbowl.  Bob's winning entry was perfect except for two first round losses costing him one point each.  Pam also had Indy (and a perfect first round as well), but lost 3 points when New Orleans won in the second round and she only gave them 1 of 4 possible points.  Steve, who edged out Larry for third, only gave Indy 11 out of the possible 12, but still beat Larry (who was the third player giving Indy the full 12) due to some earlier round mishaps in Larry's choices.  Congrats to all winners, especially Pam and Steve who have entered the Hall of Champions for the first time!

  NFL Regular Season - 2006-2007  (42 players)

1st Place - Billy Waldman (1397/2067)     2nd Place - Bob Walter (1385/2067)     3rd Place -  Bill MacDonald (1374/2067)

Summary: It was a very unusual season, as Billy won week one and managed to continue to hold the top spot for the entire season!  The fight for second and third was wicked, and it was just a matter of who held those spots when time ran out.  It was a really good battle all the way.  In another surprise, there were five repeat winners for the weekly results - Billy, Samir, Steve, Ann and Bill R. each won two weeks.  Some very surprising results compared to prior years.

  MLB World Series - 2006  (11 players)

  1st Place - Bob Waldman (25/45)      2nd Place - Larry F. Waldman (24/45)      3rd Place - Penny Bergstrom (21/45)

Summary: St. Louis beat Detroit to win the World Series.  Not one player picked St. Louis to win it all, and the only player that picked St. Louis to win the National League championship picked Oakland to win the American League and the WS.  So the scores were not very good, and Bob's New York over Detroit in 6 games prediction landed him 25 points out of 45, which was good enough for the top spot.

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