'Bracketbucks' Winners Named

The name is spelled M-E-R-I-C-L-E, but it's pronounced M-I-R-A-C-L-E. And its owner, Paul Mericle, of Kingston, Pa., won't mind if you notice the irony.

Mericle tallied 1,990 of the possible 2,000 points to capture top honors in the 2003 Bracketbucks Basketball Contest and claim the grand prize of $25,000.

Mericle emerged with the victory after Tiebreaker 1 separated him from a second contestant, Don Metz, of Traverse City, Mich., who also tallied 1,990 points. Miracle's guess that 136 points would be scored in the championship game was closer to the actual total of 159 than was Metz's guess of 119 point.

The contest, in conjunction with the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, ran in 100 American newspapers, including the Times-Union, in March.

The local winner was Terry Kirchenstein, Valparaiso, who scored 1,930 points and will receive the local prize of a Big Screen TV from Rock Bottom Warehouse.

"What is this, April Fool's Day a couple weeks late?" asked a skeptical Mericle when informed of his big strike by Tim McGovern, president of POWER POINTS Inc., the Denver-based company that runs Bracketbucks. "Who is this really?"

According to McGovern, nearly 400,000 contestants entered this year's contest, and Mericle was one of about two dozen of them who correctly selected all four of the Final Four teams: Syracuse, Kansas, Texas and Marquette. Syracuse defeated Kansas 81-78 in the championship game. Mericle predicted it would come down to Syracuse versus Kansas and that Syracuse would win. The only blemishes on his entry form came in early rounds where he missed one three-pointer and seven one-pointers. "I love March Madness," said the father of four. "I follow college hoops pretty closely."

Mericle, parts manager at Wyoming Valley Motors in Larksville, said he would use the $25,000 to pay off his house. "That's just about what I have left on it," he said. McGovern did some quick math and added, "With the interest he won't be paying on that mortgage anymore, this prize might actually be worth double the 25 grand or more. It's like loaves and fishes. Heck, it's another miracle!"

Mericle entered the contest through the Citizens Voice newspaper in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.