Nemmers Scrum

Good morning footballers!

Despite rain covering nearly the entire state of Texas this morning, I am feeling pretty good.  First off, the State Fair starts today!!!!  Woo Hoo, bring on the Corn Dogs and Pig Races.  Secondly, of the 15 of us left in the pool, 8 different teams were picked this week.  Way to mix it up!  All this excitement should be the perfect thing to keep me distracted from watching the Rangers melt down on the way to the post season.  And, congrats to the early birds:  Paul, Howie and Kevin  – they correctly picked the Ravens on Thursday night and can now enjoy watching the rest of us sweating it out.

Here’s the picks for week 4:

And just like that, ladies and gentlemen, we have a competition on our hands!  Lots of strikes this week; only 4 of 18 players didn’t get a strike.

I would like to take this opportunity to publicly apologize to Uncle Howie for mocking his Cowboys pick on Saturday.  Silly me, indeed.  My hat is off to him, being the only person left in the pool without a strike.  Well played, Mr. Senn, well played.  I am also having a bit of envy that Mike Ditka did not show up in a dream to help me with my pick, as he had for some others.

So, while we are busy licking our wounds and sharpening our strategies for next week, let’s take a minute to bid a fond farewell to our first 3 eliminated players:  Tyler, Mary Senn and Team Sherburne.  Thanks for playing – better luck to ya next year!  (p.s.  Tyler and Mary, you still owe your $10)

Week four picks – get ’em in on time.  If you want the Browns or the Ravens, then make sure to have your pick in before Thursday night kick off.  And, no Steelers or Colts in week 4, as they are both having their bye week.

Here are the picks for week 3.  It looks like 9 people went with New Orleans,  4 with SF, 3 with da Bears, and a pick of the Colts and the Cowboys (really Howie?), to keep it interesting.  So, as much as I hate to cheer against the cutest birthmark in the NFL (that would be Drew Brees) I’m hoping that the Chiefs dominate and shake this pool up a bit.  Good luck to everyone – or well, at least the half that didn’t pick the Saints.  

Well, even a Cardinals fumble with less than a minute to go wasn’t enough to keep the Pats from shanking that field goal wide left.  And with that – 4 players join Tyler with a strike.  Jim also takes a hit for his Vikings pick.  I’m just one step closer to taking all your $$$$!  Get those picks in by Friday – unless you want to pick the Giants or the Panthers – then you’ll need your pick in by kickoff on Thursday night.  

With 7 different teams picked, there will be lots to cheer for (and against) this week for sure.  Clearly the herd went with Cincy, with 8 people picking them.  And, because nobody picked the Monday Night game –  I should be able to get the weekend’s results posted on Monday morning.  Good luck, Fooballers!

Whew!  It was a close one for all those Detroit and Philly-pickers this past week.  But, in the end, only Tyler didn’t get a win.  So, 1 strike for him, everyone else is still good.  Thanks so much for everyone getting their picks in on time.  Jim thinks that he should get an extra bonus because his team won by the biggest spread – I think he should be penalized because his Ravens pick on Monday night screwed up my schedule of posting on Monday morning.  Oh well.  The good news is, we’re all in for another week.  So, bust out those research skills and pick yourself a winner!  Results from week 1 are posted below:

Before we start making picks:

Hello all Nemmers’ Scrum participants!  I’m very excited to relieve you of your $10 – er, I mean – very excited that you’ve all decided to play in this King of the Hill pool.  Here are the rules: just so that once things get rolling, we have it all spelled out.

1.  Each week, pick the winner of 1 game (straight winner, no spread).  If this team wins, you move on to the next week; if this team loses, then you get a “strike”.  On your second loss, you are eliminated from the pool.

2.  You can only pick a team one time.  I know some of you may have blind loyalty to a certain team, but even the Packers, Cowboys or Bears can only be picked once.  I will do my best to spot check this each week; but it is your responsibility to keep up with who you pick.  If you dupe a pick, you will get a strike for that week.

3.  Picks are due by the end of the day Friday.  This gives me Saturday to put the chart together before Sunday’s games.  If you would like to pick a game that is earlier in the week – like the Wednesday night season opener, or the Thursday night NFL Network games late in the season, you may do so, just get your pick in before the start of the game.  Everyone else, Friday is fine.

4.  If you don’t send in a pick – you will be assigned the “loser pick of the week”  This will typically be a team that has very little chance of winning (like the Dolphins, or last year’s Colts).  I will send out reminders as best as I can, but if I don’t hear from you by the time I sit down to the compile the list on Saturday, then you get the “loser pick”.

5.  The last contestant standing takes the pot.  Last year, we had a 2 people left at the end, and their choice was to arm wrestle for all of it or split it. They split it.  This year, we are starting in week 1 rather than a couple weeks in, but still have the 2 strike elimination.  So, I am thinking this will eliminate people a bit quicker.

6.  Cost is $10 to play.  You can send me a check or give me the $ at Bart’s wedding.

7.  Join the blog to talk smack.  Remember that there are some younger people playing – so easy on the Jimmy the Greek references.  And, if you feel the need to talk trash to Grandpa Bill, you gotta give him a call, as at 93, he’s not a blog kind of guy.  You can also subscribe to the blog, and then you will get an email each time the blog updates are posted.

If you have questions, feel free to ask them here, or send me an email.