Scuttleball 2018: We have a champion

Kris Mathews – 2018 champion

In its 30th year, Scuttleball pool brought together the sailing community to see what sailors knew about men’s college basketball. Beyond busting and boasting egos, an extra incentive was for the funds raised to go towards helping Jim Hahn from Ronstan who suffered a catastrophic accident that has left him paralyzed from the waist down.

Jim Hahn submits this report following the national championship title game on April 2:

The dust has cleared and Villanova took top ranking for the second time in three years. A lot was riding on this last game with Jenn Leary, my sister in-law, and Kris Mathews vying for the win depending on who won the Final.

But as the ball bounces, this was not the year for Michigan so Kris takes the 2018 title along with a $1500 Ronstan gift certificate, instant rock-star status, and bragging rights at any regatta in the world. Together we salute Kris Mathews, a Newporter and project manager/captain of the Interlodge Sailing Team.

The Villanova win knocked Jenn down to tenth, with second place going to my good friend Rob Beach who comes away with a $1200 Harken gift certificate. In third place is Sue Mikulski who will receive $1000 from Lewmar while the fourth place $500 Spinlock gift certificate goes to an old Layline customer of mine, Robin Team.

Lastly, the Cook’s Trophy goes to William McAllister for a hard fought battle but I am afraid the shifts just did not go your way. I want to send a huge thanks to all the companies that donated their generous gifts to this year’s Scuttleball pool.

Looking through the standings a few things popped out at me. Oakley Jones (Harken), I know you pretty well and I just don’t see you as a big college basketball fan. What was your secret to ending up 7th…..luck or skill? Jenn Leary, you were so close to being a contender but you had to go and pick Michigan … if you had listened to your nephew he would have steered you in the right direction.

Looking at the power players in the hardware business, Ted Winston of Spinlock (62) narrowly beat out Harcourt Schutz of Lewmar (64) followed by the illustrious Scot West, Supreme Leader of Ronstan (119), and Bill Goggins of Harken (140).

I do have to pat myself on the back and mention that I took top billing in the Hahn house. For a guy who knows absolutely zero about college basketball I ended up 127th whereas Nick, who spent hours researching his picks ended up 155th and Alix who knows a lot and is also super lucky ended up 207th.

I also want to send a heartfelt thanks to everyone who participated. I cannot tell you how much the generous contribution means to our family. At this stage we are just starting to get our heads around what my accident means to us in a lot of different aspects and we have a long road ahead of us but all of your support goes a long way in making the road a bit smoother.

I have been overwhelmed by all the support the marine industry has put forward since I had my accident. I have had hundreds of texts, e-mails, messages, and calls from folks in the marine industry. Some of these people I have known for decades and some only for a short time.

Having all these people check in on me did a lot of good for my head which was, and still is, needed as I come to terms with the new normal. This just shows me that our little niche of an industry is filled with really good and caring people. I am proud to be a part of it and to have gotten to know a lot of you.

Lastly I want to send a huge thanks to Brandon Flack and Arthur Libby for thinking of me for the 2018 edition of Scuttleball pool.

See you all back here for Scuttleball 2019! – Jim

———————-
From the Scuttleball team:
It was a pleasure to redirect the devious nature of this pool to such an angelic personality with good cause such as Mr. Hahn. Signing up sponsors on Jim’s behalf was as close as I will ever come to being the prettiest person at the ball… literally your company and their competitors were tripping over themselves lining up to help. That’s what this sport and little industry many of us call home is all about!

Speaking of help… Turns out Oakley Jones has a neighbor who does know a thing or two about basketball. Sunday night, right after the brackets were out, he dug into his phone and sent his buddy a text looking for advice. Turns out he was not the only one… as his friend is ANDY FREAKING KATZ!

For those non balling sailors, Andy is a former ESPN host and THE expert on college basketball for the NCAA today. Andy has 500,000 twitter fans following his every thought on the tournament! I’d love to have seen his face when sailing bar stool buddy Oakley asks him if he knows anything about this “bracket thing” right after he was on national TV sharing his picks with America. Nice call Oakley!

And the winners… please reach out to us (at kirsten@socialnavigator.net) to get your prizes!

$1500 Ronstan 1st place to – Kris Matthews with 1357 points and 44 correct picks!
$1200 Harken 2nd place to – Rob Beach with 1329 points and 43 correct picks!
$1200 Lewmar 3rd place to – Sue Mikulski with 1203 points and 39 correct picks!
$500 Spinlock 4th place to – Robin Team with 1172 and 40 correct picks!

Of course, there was a battle for DFL with Scott Pakenham (Beaker) giving it a go with ZERO teams in the final 8… stick with Lasers big dog. However, the 2018 Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy Award will go to Andrew Smitty, past bartender at Annapolis Yacht Club and winner of a lifetime subscription to Scuttlebutt! Smitty may have set a new record with just 4 teams in the sweet 16 and picking only 17 right out of 63 games! Astoundingly bad job Andrew!

Complete results – Facebook

See ya next year,

Brandon, Arthur, JB & Kirsten
Socialnavigator.net