12-year-old wins ESPN Bracket Challenge, is too young to claim prize
A 12-year-old was better than 11.5 million fans.
When ESPN extends its March Madness Bracket Challenge, many users have their hopes and dreams crushed in the early going. So the blow isn't so bad.
Yet a young Sam Holtz out of Hawthorn Woods, Ill., managed to finish tied atop the challenge, beating out millions of entries. But because of his age, he will not be allowed to enter his name into a random contest to win a trip for two to Maui or a $20,000 Best Buy gift card, according to Lee Filas of the Daily Herald.
"The great thing is that this kid beat all these experts out there," ESPN spokesman Kevin Ota said. "He beat all of our commentators, all these celebrities, all the college experts. That's what makes this so awesome. The prize really is secondary."
Holtz missed only six games on the entire bracket, scoring 100 percent on the Sweet 16, Elite Eight, Final Four and the national championship.
So forget Dick Vitale, what's this kid's secret?
"There is no secret," Holtz said. "There was some luck, and I studied ESPN.com. I just picked the teams that I felt had the best players."
No secret? Baloney.