I'm Just Like The Cubs

Would you rather your team never gets to the playoffs rather than blowing out, without so much as a wimper, in the first round?

How do the Redskins lose that game at home? I guess it's because "this is the NFL, and on any given Sunday" anything can happen - either that, or they somehow knew they were the heaviest picked team in the weekly suicide pools throughout our great gambling nation. I spoke with (and this isn't scientific, just a bunch of guys at the local pub) a few other suicide pool participants - all but one had picked the 'Skins (that guy had New Orleans, who played like a team is supposed to play at home against a weaker opponent).

Anyway...congratulations to the four remaining contestants, good luck and don't forget to make your picks.

~ Max

Avoiding The Big Upset

The Week 6 Power Rankings were released on ESPN today - so I updated the graph that shows who has picked which teams so far and it's a little surprising that there are four teams ranked in the "Top 10" (as if these rankings actually mean anything) that haven't been chosen by any of the seven remaining players in the pool. (click the image to enlarge)

Nobody has used the Titans (5-0), Redskins (4-1), Broncos (4-1) nor Bears (3-2). They are a combined, 16-4.

Good luck surviving.

~ Max

The Magnificent 7

The name of the game is survival. Keeping a strong team for that safe pick until later does you no good if you're not alive long enough to use it. Five weeks ago we started with 28 hopefuls, now we're down to seven. There are only two undefeated teams left, the Tennessee Titans - and oddly enough, nobody has picked them through the first five weeks and the NY Giants - who have been picked by four of the remaining seven contestants.

I thought it would be interesting to compare which teams have been picked by each remaining survivor and to also see which of the current Top 10 (according to ESPN's Power Rankings) are available to be chosen in the upcoming weeks. I'm sure the rankings will change some for next week since the Eagles, Bills, Chargers and Buccaneers all lost. (click on the image to enlarge)


Good luck (and I'm still alive!!!)

~ Max

Eight Left Heading Into Week 5

Four more players were eliminated yesterday. Three lost when the Redskins upset the Cowboys and another one bit the dust because the Broncos have no defense and they proved it against their arch rivals KC. That one wasn't nearly as big of a surprise to me since the Broncos rarely win there. Mike Shannahan's record is now 3-12 at Arrowhead.

Three people survived by the skin of their teeth. Jacksonville hung on to beat the Texans by a field goal in OT.

How about the Raiders attempting that 76 yard field goal against the Chargers? Or how about the Bears defense stopping the Iggles on four straight shots at the goal line to wrap up their win and move to 2-2.

Good luck next week.

~ Max

Five More Bite Dust

Miami??? Wow! Four people had picked the Patriots to win yesterday and Ronnie Brown taking four direct snaps for touchdowns might mean that the Dolphins don't need a QB :-)

The Colts dropped their second game of the season, costing one other person life in the pool. The Buffalo Bills (picked by 5 players) needed a last second field goal to get by the Oakland Raiders at home. Oakland had a 9 point lead, late in the fourth quarter and I'm sure there were a few people questioning their faith at some point in that game.

My pick is the only one left to go this week, yup, I've got the Chargers tonight. Something has to give, Favre is 5-0 against the Bolts and is usually awesome on MNF - but I think (read, hope) that Rivers and Co. can put this one in the win column tonight in order to avoid going to 0-3 and trailing the AFC West leading Broncos (I love the sound of that!) by three games.

If the Chargers pull off the win, there will be 12 left going into week 4.

~ Max

17 Remain

We lost another 3 players last week. Now there are seventeen entries remaining.

What's a bigger surprise? The Packers at 2-0 minus future HOF quarterback, Brett Favre. OR The San Diego Chargers, favored by many to reach the Superbowl, sitting at 0-2. Discuss...

We lost one player this week due to a "no pick". I did make attempts to reach him, but was unsuccessful. For those of you who don't know, Fannon is a force to be reckoned with in these things - so it's bittersweet that this happened - I was looking forward to the challenge.

You can avoid this from happening to you - you can pick several weeks in advance (all the way through the end of the season if you wish). That way, if you do forget or find yourself stranded out of town or out of power, you will at least have a pick logged.

Good luck to everyone this weekend.
~Max

Now That's Crazy

What a wild first week we've had so far. So far? Because we have two, count 'em two, Monday Night Football games tonight. However, nobody picked any of tonight's teams for their eliminator choice.

Week 1 is in the books as far as our pool goes, every pick has played and the result is we have 20 entries advancing to next week - and it could have been worse (better ;-) if either the Dolphins or the Chiefs could execute at the end of their games.

At this rate, we might be starting a new pool around week 5 ;-)

Go Broncos!
Max