And it's over!  Final standings below, huge congrats to Dale C for taking home the top prize this year!  There were 284 paid entries this year, so after deducting $35 for the hosting site (they increased the price for largers pools like ours), Dale and the other winners are splitting almost $2500 this year -- not too shabby!

I'll be in touch with the winners directly to faciliate payment.  Been throttled this last week but should be able to sit down and get it calculated and distributed over the next day or so.  

As you'll see, none of our celeb brackets finished "in the money" this year.  Who came closest?  Bugs Bunny coming in 12th, believe it or not, meaning that the overwhelming majority of us lost to a fictional character whose bracket was probably picked by some Warner Brothers intern somewhere.  Nickelback also performed shockingly well, swooping in from our new arch enemy [checks notes], err, Canada to finish in 19th place.  Former Gator Tim Tebow also fared quite well (22nd), no doubt buoyed by picking his alma mater.

On the other end of things, Less is More officially wins our Futility Award for worst bracket, scoring a stunningly pathetic 91 points, the only bracket to fail to outperform pure dumb luck, i.e., the Coin Flip bracket.  And remember how hot The Rizzler started off?  That did not last, he wrapped up the tournament in 297th place.  Big Yikes!

Ubiquitous sports personalities Jason and Travis Kelce both did pretty awful as well, coming in at 190th and 203rd, respectively.  So while Jason ends up with bragging rights at the this year's Easter brunch table, neither of them have anything to crow about.

As we wrap up 2025's Tournament, here's one more look at One Shining Moment.  Even if you've already seen it, watch it again.  Wonderful as always!

In closing, I don't make any money from this pool, it's 100% just something I do because I enjoy it, but I am going to take advantage of the opportunity to offer a shameless plug for myself and my firm while I'm at it.  As many of you know, I'm an attorney at Carey Danis & Lowe in St. Louis, specializing in class actions, drug and device cases, and large scale toxic exposures.  We have a national practice that is entirely focused on helping injured consumers, and can help you even regardless of where you might be in the country. So, if you or someone you know needs an attorney, please reach out and if I can't help you myself, I may be able to find an attorney who can help.  You have my personal email, feel free to use that or google the firm and call the office directly and ask for me.

Thanks to you all for participating this year!  It's always something I look forward to, and it's a lot of fun having so many people join in the fun!  See you next year!

Jamie