This weeks winners:
Bob - 10-3 (+2.5)
Patrick - 10-3 (+2.5)
Jonathan - 10-3 (+2)
Jeremy - 8-5
Joel - 8-5
John 8-5
Jarrett 7-6
Roger 7-6
I think week 8 was the first time this season when the MNF game was meaningful for our pool. AND WHAT A GAME IT WAS! (However, I'm sure I would have a different perspective if I had been on the losing end of that game.)
In case you missed it, the game was tied 20-20 with less than a minute left and the Chargers on the Chief's 15-yard line. Everyone knew that San Diego would soon kick a game-winning field goal. BUT EVERYONE WAS WRONG!
What happened? Philip Rivers fumbled the snap and the Chiefs recovered. The game went into overtime and the rest is history. (Are the Chargers the least-clutch team in NFL history?)
For Philip Rivers, it was "the worst day ever." For me, checking the score this morning gave me a nice start to my day. (I now wish I had stayed up to see the end of the Chargers/Chiefs game--or at least PVRed it. Unfortunately, I turned the TV off right before this play.)
Was week 8 the start of John's fall back down to earth? Or was it simply a bump in the road? Time will tell.
--Jonathan
It seems some folks are a bit put off that some of the weekly recaps are too much Joel-focused, and not enough them-focused. So I'll attempt to stroke a few egos this week. But first, the objective stuff.
Best pick of the week: Steelers over Patriots. (I would've given this to Pat for his Vikings pick, but his Cowboys pick nullified it.)
Worst pick of the week: Cowboys over Eagles.
Critical game of the week: Chargers at Chiefs. (If this had gone the other way, Bob would have won outright and there would have been a 5-way tie for second).
Kudos to Bob for a stellar week. He didn't even pick the Chargers/Chiefs game, and he still tied for first place. Kudos to Pat for a stellar week. He picked the Cowboys over the Eagles, and he still tied for first place. Kudos to Jonathan for a stellar week. He kind of tied for first, but didn't have a loner pick. He actually gained ground on John. Kudos to Jeremy for doing as well as John. Kudos to John for doing as well as Jeremy. Kudos to Roger for correctly going against his Browns. I know it's hard, but you're getting better at it this year. Kudos to Jarrett for ... um ... picking KC.
We're about half-way done the pool now, and John has broken 100 points. I'm not sure he's catchable, even for you guys who think you're close. He's just statistically too consistent. It's like election night, when the liberals/democrats are winning, and you're thinking, "But wait, only 20% of the polls are reporting! There's still a chance we'll come back! What if every remaining voter votes conservative/republican?", but you know it's just not going to happen. Sorry to burst everyone's bubbles (except for John's). Note: this does not mean we're officially projecting John as the 2011 pool winner.
--Joel
14 comments:
If Joel can't catch John, he doesn't want anyone else to think they can.
Anyone having any trouble making comments?
The above comment (by me) is like your ISP saying, "If you're having trouble connecting to the internet, you can find help on our website."
Kudos to Joel for a great recap!!!
A weak attempt by Joel to try and get John complacent with what? an 8 or 9 point cushion and 9 weeks left? One lousy pick a week x 9
Is he dumb enough to fall for that - I don't think so. ;)
For the record the New Orleans pick was probably the worst on week 8.
(I only posted this because I was asked to see if it would let me post comments - I sign in to Google first btw)
I changed how comments are made to the blog after Joel notified me that he has been unable to do so.
Das is a test from Joel
@yesisaiditfirst:
No attempt at making John complacent. There's no such thing as complacency in the pool. What does that mean? He doesn't pound the mouse button as hard or something? He'll submit his best picks each week like he has been doing, and he'll do well. In fact, "complacency" is the name of John's game (same for Jeremy). That's why he's so hard to catch, because he's too conservative to ever have a week where he's much worse than everyone else. So the only way to catch him is to have multiple stellar weeks, with no poor weeks in between, and that's extremely difficult.
@Joel
Not sure how many people (other than Patrick) do much research before they submit their picks, but, if they do, complacency would be not bothering to do much.
So if Patrick can't catch John, does that mean you can't catch me?
And was that a shot at John and Jeremy?
I would be thrilled, but quite surprised, if I catch anyone ahead of me. I've had no good weeks yet, and I don't think I've ever made up this much ground on anyone in the past.
It was no shot at John and Jeremy; they've had more success than anyone else in recent years, so I can't shoot at that.
@ Joel
You know you've had an uneventful season so far when you don't even have your name in the blog labels yet.
Complacent could be: (a) not bothering to make picks for a week or (b)not respecting even the most obvious knowledge making picks (like picking the Colts even though their QB is on IR) or (c) a favorite of Jonathans when he gets hopelessly behind - not even looking at the standings because of the embarrassment or (d) thinking you are sooo good that any pick you make cant hurt you or believing the press clippings when people say you are too far ahead..
We usually have a player that makes a second half run every year...just saying (who might it be?)
I dont think any of us have time to research all the games. If I had time to research the games I wouldnt be getting tagged with worst pick of the week every week....right?
Every team will look awful in a game or two this year - were just guessing most of the time.
The standings still need to be updated to capture the week 8 results. Doesn't the blog administrator frown on late recaps?
The week 8 results were not available when I was doing this week's post, so I decided to wait until after this week.
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