A New Era

Remember this post?

Well, just in the last two weeks I've accepted the #1 job on my board, Illinois made the Final Four, and I'm breaking 100 at the golf simulator. And the job is remote, so I can hopefully live healthier as well. And did you see the clips of Mahomes throwing? Maybe things really are turning around.

Bracket Recap

Eve won the bracket contest for the first time. For the second year in a row, Adam got the champion correctly but didn't win the contest. Harrison came close to winning for the 4th time.

I did four brackets and couldn't crack 1000 in any of them.

I shot a 97

Coming into today, my previous long drive was 201--I had only hit over 200 yards once in my life. In my warm up, I hit a drive 213 yards. Then on the 12th hole, I hit a drive 230 yards. 

In October 2025, my longest drive was 166 yards. Today it was 230 yards. That's crazy. 

February 2, 2026

4 pars

6 bogeys

4 doubles

4 triples or worse

0 mulligans

total score 99

April 6, 2026

3 pars

9 bogeys

3 doubles

3 triples or worse

0 mulligans

total score 97

Today I made par on a par 4 (twice) and a par 3 (once).

My par + bogey count today: 12

Double or worse: 6

Last time it was 10 and 8. 

Also there were three holes where I left my putt less than a foot short on a good line. So very easily could be talking about a 95 right now.

I did hit into two water hazards today, but the drop zone was near the green so, it didn't blow up my round. 

The first holes are always rough. I did a longer warm-up to mitigate that but it just is what it is.

I played holes 6-9, just one over par. Three pars and a bogey over that stretch. And then I continued the next four holes, bogey every time. If you apply that stretch to 9 holes, that's 42 or an 84 over 18. 

I'm defintely still improving and still left a ton of scoring out there. Plenty of room to get better.

Bracket Contests with Upset Bonus Scoring

A friend sent me a screenshot of their bracket contest with bonus points based on what seeds advance.

I looked it at and it brought back memories of this post. Back in 2014, I was trying to solve how to do a bracket scoring system that properly weights upsets.

Who's offering this?

Well, on ncaa.com, they have something called Upset Bonus Scoring:

But CBS, apparently allows custom scoring, which is what my friend was using. Unfortuanetly, as the brackets are closed for this year, I'll have to wait until next year to play around with it to see what options they really have. But for now, let's go back to my 2014 blog post and see if this new system is better than my old thoughts. 

- - -

In this new scoring system...

Getting one 15-seed correct in the first round is worth 20 points. Getting 3 2-seeds correct is worth 21 points.

Getting one 6-seed in the third round is worth 21 points. Getting 3 2-seeds is worth 51 points.

Getting a 3 in the title is worth 33 pts. Getting a 1 in the title is worth 31 points. 

Unfortunately, this system doesn't reward upsets enough to make it interesting. It still rewards chalk from top to bottom.

It seems that the best model I had in 2014 was:

Seed X Value per round. For starters, I'll use 1-2-3-5-10-20.

But perhaps Seed X value per round with 2-3-5-8-13-21 is even better.

Maybe I'll remember next year to try a CBS bracket with custom scoring.

Quintuple Crown

 

Well, it looks like I've got to make this post myself.  Hoagie Middle East here, resident Lions fan, mostly NFL loser my whole life.  

Last year, Hoagie Central won the triple crown in our homemade fantasy leagues (Eliminator, Ironman and Ironman Warfare).  I've historically done well in the playoffs.

Somehow we forgot that he won the triple crown and when I clinched it this year (with ease, I should add), I thought I was the first.  With hubris, I started talking about the quintuple crown (we do two fantasy leagues in the playoffs).

Well, after sweating things out after a poor Ironman draft, somehow the combo of Kenneth Walker and Jason Myers pulled out the impossible in the Super Bowl and delivered the title.

Dare I say impossible feat?

2020-2024 Dynasty

I was on kind of a heater. It coincided with the rise of Patrick Mahomes. Not unrelated entirely.

This started in 2020. Mark coined that Year of the Fym. It wasn't the first time I had an exceptional year. But it was the start of an incredible run. So I'm going to trying to condense the run I've been on into just the brass tacks. 

2020

Chiefs win Super Bowl LIV

I won my first Gold Addy

Leaned into Medium and reached #1

Got a basketball hoop and started playing every day

Starting losing weight

My office moved to Overland Park, cutting my commute in half

We elected a normal President

2021

Got vaccinated

Got promoted to ACD

Lost a ton of weight

Made a healthy cookbook

Got back into my favorite bands + disc golf

Got a new hairstyle

Family trips to Chicago, NYC at Christmas

Luxury cruise to Greek Isles (best solo vacation ever), another work trip to Cancun

2022

The Avs won the Stanley Cup

The Chiefs beat the Bills in 13 seconds

Work trip to NYC where I saw Chris Rock as a surprise guest

I started Letterboxd and got really into movies

Family trip to Portland/Seattle

Vegas Sportsbook Getaway #1 plus a Family trip to Las Vegas

2023

Chiefs Win Super Bowl LVII

Family trip to Hawaii (best family vacation ever)

Another family trip to Boston/Cape Cod

Vegas Sportsbook Getaway #2 (my best sportsbook day)

Work trips to Asheville, Shreveport, and Cleveland

Got a ps5

2024

Chiefs Win Super Bowl LVIII

Got promoted to Creative Director

Felt at peace, having reached all my lifelong goals

Won my first Best In Show Addy

Made two albums of music with AI tools

Vegas Sportsbook Getaway #3

Niraj and I took a trip to San Diego

Family trips to Chicago + LA/Universal

Work trip to Salt Lake City

Family University of Illinois fall football trip

2025 was kind of a rough year overall. Started with some issues at work that it seemed like I overcame, then some personal issues, then ended with a job layoff (which forced us to cancel our London vacation plans) and the Chiefs having a dud year plus Mahomes ACL injury, plus Mark won every single fantasy football head-to-head. It wasn't all bad. We had a nice family vacation to DC/Baltimore for Brit's graduation. I turned into a golf guy, I made more music, I had a great Sportsbook getaway with Niraj. But the year was clearly not a part of the 2020-2024 run. 

A job layoff is basically the torn ACL of the ad industry. But just like Mahomes, even if it takes a rebuilding year, I'm coming back.

Super Bowl LX

This all worked out great for me. 

The one year that the Chiefs with Patrick Mahomes are not in the AFC Championship game...

The Patriots got exposed as frauds in the Super Bowl. They get the Super Bowl Loss Hangover. Most importantly, they don't get 7 franchise Super Bowls. The top of the Mountain is still Pats/Steelers with 6. The Chiefs are sitting at 4. Mahomes is 30. The idea that by the time Mahomes is 42, the Chiefs could be at 6 or 7 is not that crazy.

Also, this Seahawks defense was legit. I know it's blasphemy, but which would help the Chiefs win the most Super Bowls?

1. Drag a 10-7 wild card team to the Super Bowl and get hammered by the Seahawks dominant defense and be saddled with another Super Bowl Loss Hangover.

2. Mini-tank for a year, get a top 10 pick, feel rejuvenated and motivated and get a 3rd place schedule in 2026. 

We've seen that actually being an awful team in the NFL does not lead to turnarounds. But we have seen good teams be bad for a year and have it pay off. The one year Peyton Manning got hurt, the Colts drafted Andrew Luck and stayed good. 

Also, hilarious that the year that Mahomes sits it out, none of Burrow/Lamar/Allen even make it to the AFC Championship. 

The Broncos will still have a good defense, but they wasted the year where they had a horseshoe up the ass. Now they get the first-place schedule. (The 17th game has made this have a bigger impact with 3 affected games instead of just 2)

And I owned the Seahawks and Patriots in Calcutta. Plus, the Rams for good measure. 

- - -

I delivered the following prediction in a voice message, so for posterity:

Before LX, I thought this Patriots SB appearance was not good for their chances of winning a Super Bowl from 2025-2035. I didn't think they were ready to win this year and I though this hangover would hurt their chances in the next two years. Maybe they come back in 3-5 years but I think they would have been better off falling short of the big game. Stay hungry. 

If you had to bet on Pats Super Bowls over the next ten years and Chiefs Super Bowls, I'm taking Chiefs and it's not close.

I shot a 99

In the middle of the round I was hitting my driver 186. Then by the end I got a 191 twice. And then on 18, I hit a shot 201 yards. All of these were personal bests. 

In October, my longest drive was 166. 

In November, my longest drive was 180.

Today, I hit 201. 

According to this, I'll get my PGA Tour Card by August.

Let's break it down. Also, this was a no mulligan round. The one mulligan on the screen was when the simulator didn't read the ball properly (I was chipping and it thought I was putting.)

A little history for context.

October 26, 2025

1 par
5 bogeys

4 doubles

8 triples or worse

15 mulligans

total score 119

November 12, 2025

1 par

5 bogeys

5 doubles

7 triples or worse

8 mulligans

total score 110

November 26, 2025

3 pars

5 bogeys

7 doubles

3 triples or worse

3 mulligans

total score 99

February 2, 2026

4 pars

6 bogeys

4 doubles

4 triples or worse

0 mulligans

total score 99

Some notes. 

Last time, my pars came on a par 3 (two of them) and a par 4 (one.)

Today, my pars came on a par 3 (one) par 4 (one) and par 5 (two). 

Adding that bit of distance from 175ish to 190ish brought par 5 from my worst hole to just like any other hole. That alone, is a huge confidence boost. The only bad par 5 I had, was my first of the day. My third shot hit a tree and bounced backwards, a net negative. Other than that, I was solid on par 5s. 

This was the first time my par+bogey count was better than my double+triples count. 

There were a number of holes where the putting was a problem. Look, it's part of the game. But it can be frustrating when you finally get on the green in 3 shots, have a par putt in front of you, and then you three putt for a double or four putt for a triple. 

I mentioned the tree incident on hole 3. There was also the water incident on hole 16. First shot in the water, penalty drop. Third shot, also in the water, penalty drop. Fifth shot is 29 yards away. I get up and down from 29. So two penalty strokes but managed to salvage a triple instead of a quadruple or worse. 

The goal was always to break 100. 

With four holes to go, I was on 79. Those four holes have a par of 16. So to break 100, I'm only allowed to go +4 over the final four holes. 

I go par, triple bogey, par, bogey. 

Look at holes 9 through 18, but remove 11 and 16. That's 8 holes of the last 10, where I finished a combined +6. Okay fine, add back in hole 11. That's +9 over 9 holes, just removing the water incident. That's a 45. In other words, on pace for a 90. 

I guess that's not super different from just looking at the back nine and seeing that I turned in a 48. 

Making putts is important. I got a par on 9 and 17 by making 12-foot putts. 

The funny thing about breaking 100 today...I still left so much scoring out there. The tree, the water, the bad putting. 

If you gave me 20 attempts at each hole, I bet I could par every hole at least once. So the challenge of golf isn't that I can't do it once. It's putting together the best version of each hole together in the same round. 

The above paragraph might be very obvious. But that is drastically different than basically every sport out there. I cannot dunk. I cannot survive one play on a NFL field. I cannot hit a MLB pitch if you gave me 20,000 attempts.

But to sit here and say, I'm good enough to make par on any hole, given a large handful of chances, that's actually crazy. 

I'm not sure if I should say the next goal is to hit 95, or if I should just say, I hope next time to improve on today. Let's just go with that.

Fantasy, Calcutta & Bracket Hall of Fame

March Madness Bracket Challenge
2026: Eve

2025: Kirat

2024: Niraj

2023: Grant

2022: Bridget
2021: Harrison

2020: COVID-19
2019: Harrison
2018: Missy
2017: Mark
2016: Dave
2015: Savan
2014: Harrison
2013: Savan
2012: Mark
2010: Matt
2009: Dave
2008: Niraj
2006: Sakina
2005: Adam
2003: Nirali
2002: Aton

March Madness Calcutta
2026: Mark

2025: Kirat

2024: Kirat

2023: Niraj

2022: Matt
2021: Kirat 

2020: COVID-19
2019: Mark
2018: Kirat & Matt (co-champions)
2017: Kirat
2016: Dave
2015: Niraj
2014: Mark
2013: Niraj
2012: Matt
2011: Savan
2010: Matt
2009: Niraj

NHL Playoffs Calcutta
2025: Mark

2024: Dave

2023: Dave

2022: Dave

2021: Mark

2020: Mark

2019: Mark
2018: Dave
2017: Mark
2016: Dave
2015: Dave
2014: Mark
2013: Mark
2012: Mark

 

NBA Calcutta
2020: Dave

NFL Calcutta
2025: Dave

2024: Dave

2023: Kirat
2022: Mark

2021: Dave
2020: Dave

2019: Dave
2018: Kirat
2017: Dave
2016: Mark
2015: Niraj
2014: Dave
2013: Mark
2012: Savan
2011: Dave
2010: Dave

World Cup Calcutta
2022: Niraj

2018: Matt

Fantasy Football - Ironman

2025: Mark

2024: Dave

2023: Dave

2022: Dave
2021: Dave

Fantasy Football - Eliminator

2025: Mark
2024: Dave

2023: Mark

2022: Mark
2021: Dave

2020: Mark

2019: Dave

2018: Dave

Fantasy Football - Warfare

2025: Mark
2024: Dave

Fantasy Football - Ironman Playoffs

2025: Mark

2024: Mark

2023: Dave

Fantasy Football - Playoffs

2025: Mark

2024: Mark

2023: Dave

2022: Dave
2021: Mark

2020: Mark

2019: Mark

2018: Mark

2017: Dave

2016: Dave

2015: Mark

2014: Mark

2013: Mark

2012: Dave

2011: Stevo

2010: Niraj

2009: Stevo

2008: Matt

2007: Dave

2006: Mark

2005: Matt

2004: Dave

2003: Mark

Fantasy Football - Draft League

2017: BS Super Bowl IX: Jon (defeated Drake)

2016: BS Super Bowl VIII: Dave (defeated Mac)

2015: BS Super Bowl VII: Stevo (defeated Niraj)

2014: BS Super Bowl VI: Mac (defeated Dave)

2013: BS Super Bowl V: Bobby (defeated Mac)

2012: BS Super Bowl IV: Mark (defeated Spencer)

2011: BS Super Bowl III: Mark (defeated Mac)

2010: BS Super Bowl II: Harlan (defeated Mark)

2009: BS Super Bowl I: Mark (defeated Stevo)

2008: Construda Super Bowl II: Dynomite Kings (defeated Matt)

2007: Construda Super Bowl I: Mark (defeated Dave)

Fantasy Football - Home Team Challenge

2008: Dave

2007: Dave
2006: Mark
2005: Mark

2004: Mark

2003: Dave

College Football Playoff Bracket

2024: Mark

Despite my best efforts to find them, no records exist for who won the March Madness Bracket Contest in 2011, 2007 or 2004.

Divisional Round Recap: Angel + Devil

I was eagerly awaiting Bills-Broncos because I knew one of them had to lose. As a Chiefs fan, I was ready to focus on the fall of my rivals. 

But the game was...interesting. So here's my Angel and Devil inside me: 

Angel

Look, both teams played well and proved they belong in the playoffs. They each scored 30, was an entertaining game, both QBs made big plays, both defenses earned turnovers, and there were calls that could have gone either way. Hard to hate on either team for their showing. 

Devil

Whooo boy. Josh Allen and Pat Mahomes both became starters in 2018. Some people like Bill Simmons have said Allen is the best QB in the league. Let's check the fucking tape, eh?

Allen is 8-7 in the playoffs. He's never earned a bye in the playoffs. He's 0-4 against Mahomes in the playoffs. 0-2 in AFC Championship games. He just got his coach fired. 1 MVP. 

Mahomes is 17-4 in the playoffs, plus five times earned a bye. 5-2 in AFC Championship games. 3 Super Bowl wins. 2 MVP. 3 Super Bowl MVP.

This is a rivalry like Globetrotters vs Generals.

Angel

It sucks that the Broncos won a big game and then Bo Nix suffered an ankle injury in the playoffs. That stinks. 

Devil

The best ability is availability. Hmmm...ankle injury in the playoffs. Yeah, those happen. I seem to recall Mahomes playing through that and winning the Super Bowl 38-35 with one of those. Oh well. If the Broncos are really good, I'm sure they'll just get back here next year with a healthy Bo Nix. Pencil them in. 

Hater's Guide to the Playoffs

The title isn't really accurate. Only if you realize that I am the hater. 

Now you might think, fresh off a dynasty where you promised you could never complain about sports, surely you're not going to be petty and revel in the failure of others. 

1. This isn't complaining. 

2. No, I'm not better than this.

3. Don't call me Shirley. 

Let's see how are the AFC superstars taking advantage of the Chiefs first down year of the Mahomes era?

Justin Herbert 0-3 in the playoffs. What is he training with Lamar in the offseason? Herbert is 27. Derek Carr was 30 when he said questioning if he can win a playoff game is ridiculous. He never did. Just saying. 

Okay so, I actually have to stop my flow here and go on a deep dive on this. 

- - -

I spent for fucking ever trying to find the HC post with Derek Carr and ridiculous. I finally did. The reason it took so long was it was originally on twitter. But I did post the twitter screenshot to Hoagie Central in November 2022. 

Let's lay out the timeline. 

Carr goes to his first playoff game in January 2022. He loses. 

In April 2022, there's a story where Carr responds to his critics. Here's the headline: Derek Carr: Questioning if I can win a playoff game is ridiculous.

When the story breaks, I post on twitter:

Here is the Reddit NFL post at the time.

And then in May 2025 Carr retires, with a playoff record of 0-1. So I would just like to read all those reddit comments saying that he has plenty of time and the debate is stupid and say they were objectively wrong. 

Anways, back to the flow.

_ _ _

When Jim Harbaugh isn't stealing signs it's a lot harder to win championships. Maybe Brady should hire him to coach the Raiders. 

I guess this is why Justin Herbert is Justin Spreadsheet or Justin Sherbert (not as good as ice cream.)

Let's see who else can take advantage of this opportunity to play in the playoffs without Mahomes?

AFC North? Lamar? Burrow? Bueller? Nobody here either huh.

And let's go down to Duval County to check in on wunderkind Liam Cohen turning around the Jags. Congrats on the 13-4 season and it's gone. Turns out TrevorBank is just as reliable as South Park Bank.

Stay tuned next week where I get to celebrate the Broncos getting bounced in their first game or Josh Allen flaming out before the AFC Title Game. Either way I'm a winner!

The Top Ten of 2025

Funny thing, I was a month away from saying another great year. I got laid off this month, which has a way of changing everything about your life in an instant. But I've been down this road before, and it's a little easier the second time around. 

Anyways, such is life. 

10. 60 Yards is the New 50

This is the kind of post that smart people come to Hoagie Central for.

9. this is art

Breaking down one of the worst NFL losses you'll ever see.

8. Birthday Top Golf

Turns out, I'm a golf guy.

7. Breaking 100 with some asterisks

Told you I'm a golf guy.

6. Ravens Drop the Ball Again

Some fun writing here.

5. Buffalo Work Trip

Good trip. Can't take these for granted.

4. Chiefs to Super Bowl LIX

They didn't win, but some fun stats here. 

3. Chiefs vs Colts: I Was There

I took my boys to their first Chiefs game at Arrowhead.

2. The Final White Whale Update

Perhaps the best use of AI to date.

and what was the highlight of my year?

Number One

Best Movies I Saw in 2025

I watched 75 movies this year. 

42 I watched for the first time. 

33 I had seen before.

There were two movies, that both came out in 2025 that fit into both categories. Mission Impossible 8 and The Naked Gun.

I saw 19 movies that came out in 2025. 

The worst was A House of Dynamite. I thought Sinners was wildly overrated, or at least wildly not for me. 

Top 5 Movies That Came Out in 2025

Honorable Mention: Mountainhead

5. Now You See Me: Now You Don't

4. Gold & Greed: The Hunt for Fenn’s Treasure

3. The Naked Gun

2. Wake Up Dead Man

1. Mission Impossible 8

Top 10 Movies I Saw in 2025

10. Wake Up Dead Man

9. Airplane!

8. Con Air

7. National Treasure

6. Now You See Me (2013)

5. Inglorious Basterds

4. Apollo 13

3. Game Night

2. John Wick franchise as a whole

1. Mission Impossible franchise as a whole

Also honorable mention to Saturday Night, The Holdovers, Will & Harper as great movies that I saw for the first time in 2025. They didn't come out in 2025 so they don't make the first list and they're not up with the all-time greats of the second list, but still notable.

State of Sports

The last time I did this was March 2022. 

CHIEFS

The Chiefs won Super Bowl LVII in February 2023.

The Chiefs won Super Bowl LVIII in February 2024. 

The Chiefs lost Super Bowl LIX in February 2025. 

My first State of Sports was in 2012. I had never seen the Chiefs win a playoff game. Here was my 2012 entry: Chiefs 1-10 (virtually a shoe-in for the #1 pick now, but there's no good qbs this year)

So while Broncos fans and Chargers fans are gloating that the Chiefs are missing the playoffs this year, I have enough perspective that we've had it too good for a long while. 

This is Mahomes 8th season as a starter. I'll settle for 7 AFC Championship games, 5 Super Bowls, 3 rings.

AVALANCHE

Last time I did this, the Avs were three months away from winning the Stanley Cup. They were the best team in hockey in March of 2022 and June of 2022. 

This year they are the best team in hockey...by a lot. 

And as everyone knows, the goal is to peak in December and take home the President's Trophy. 

Anyways, let's see how they look in May.

ILLINI FOOTBALL

They've actually been good? Ranked. Beating ranked opponents. 

Going to a bowl game in 2022, 2024, 2025. 

Beating a SEC team in a bowl game. 

Will they win a Big Ten Championship game ever? Probably not. 

But it's better to go 8-4 and get invited to a bowl game most years than it is to be 3-9. 

ILLINI BASKETBALL

Underwood is cooking up something. I'd rather try something out there. So we're going with a Balkan roster pipeline and other schools are complaining about us recruiting all these guys. 

They made it to the Elite Eight in March 2024, which is not nothing. 

USMNT

They made the round of 16 in the 2022 World Cup and now get to host the World Cup in 2026. 

And Kansas City is a host city that will see Argentina play one game, and possibly see Ronaldo vs Messi in the knockout round. 

Titles by Calendar year

2020 - Chiefs Super Bowl

2022 - Avs Stanley Cup

2023 - Chiefs Super Bowl

2024 - Chiefs Super Bowl

Pretty, pretty good. 

Chiefs say goodbye to Arrowhead, moving to Kansas in 2031

I'm pretty conflicted on this so let's divide this up. 

Arrowhead Stadium

Sad to say goodbye to a great stadium, great atmosphere built by die-hards and tailgating culture, great name too

Home to personal memories and iconic moments

The same stadium I saw my first NFL game in, the same stadium my kids saw their first NFL game, all Chiefs wins by the way

I love an open-air stadium for atmosphere and having home-field advantage felt like it means more in the KC January weather

This means they're going to stop improving anything at Arrowhead, by 2030 maybe that experience is downgraded 

There was something special about the pyrotechnics and fly-overs and goodyear blimp shots that will be lost in the new dome

New Dome in Kansas

A new stadium should mean lots of bells and whistles and should be fun to experience

Will come with a new locker room, facilities, etc. that should help the players

In theory, could bring high-end events like a Final Four, etc.

Mahomes will be in his late 30's, perhaps a dome helps, idk

Seats will be more expensive, and they're already expensive

I basically don't consider going to December games because of the weather, so who knows

It goes without saying, that this keeps them in KC long-term and that's the most important thing, so for that alone, I'd rather them get this deal done then continue to drag out