Nemmers Scrum

This week’s collection of games was a bummer. Whoever came up with this list of games is cruel and mean. Despite it all, congratulations to Dana who was the lone competitor to achieve a perfect 5 points. I achieved a perfect zero, which ended up working out in my favor thanks to rule enhancements – more on that later.

As promised, I used the blank check Emily left me to rewrite the rulebook. Below is the standings using the old rules with Charlie and Adam at the top. You’ll notice myself and a herd of Hergies at the bottom. How lame is that? Clearly we need to fix the rules to make things right.

A zero is still perfect. If you don’t believe me, just try to score a donut on purpose next week. It’s very challenging and perfection in its own right. So to reward those of us who picked the magic combo of Colts-Texans-Rams I transposed the digits in their total scores. This works out wonderfully for Whoosie and I (woo hoo!!). It is less than ideal for Fletcher and Bill, but I’ll still sleep well tonight. Progress as promised!

So congratulations to me for being at the top of the standings once again where I belong. You’re welcome.

I have other rule enhancements to make next week, but they require the commissioner to have extreme jet lag for me to execute. Fingers crossed that I will hold the power throughout the weekend.

This week we have three new fun games to choose from:

Chargers at Bengals
Football Team at Raiders
Patriots at Bills

Send your picks to me this week as Emily will be flying.

cheers!
Kevin

Welcome back to the Scrum Blog. In case you didn’t hear the big news, the Scrum Queen is traveling and has exercised questionable judgment by transferring power to Kevin, the Mad King.

I considered instituting certain rule changes. One under consideration is whether a Rams power pick should be worth 15 points or a Colts upset victory should be worth 10.  These points would apply regardless of game outcome. They both seem like reasonable changes to try for one week, but I’ve decided to leave the rules as-is and simply doctor the results to put myself at the top of the standings at the end of the weekend.

Emily received a lot of adorable holiday pictures this past week which she’d love to share. However, I haven’t seen them and will do one better by sharing adorable photos of myself instead. Three enthusiastic dogs photo bombed the selfie session.

This week there is a lot of confidence in the Buccaneers and Texans with a pretty good split on the Packers-Rams game. Four different teams are selected as the power pick.

Best of luck to everyone who picked the same picks as me.

Go Steelers!

The Dallas Chocolate Festival is in full swing with one day to go. Thanks to everyone for getting your picks back to me, it’s been a busy week and we’re anxious for the return of our regular commissioner. This pool could use some stability!

This season we welcome two new additions to the pool from the younger generation: Heidi Lillegard and Fletcher Mantooth. Most of the other usual suspects have signed up for a total of 22 participants. Some may equate that as 1 winner (me) and 21 losers (you), but that sounds a little harsh.

Week 1 is always a nail biter. The sure things are never sure and the long shots may be winners. This week we have 7 different picks ranging from the new-look Browns to some of the old Super Bowl favorites. The Eagles and Seahawks were the popular picks – there will be a lot of eyes on those two games.

The picks are pasted below and the blog is up. Let the games begin!

Welcome to another season. Last call for this year’s players! We hope to see some new faces as well as the return of some past players.

Our commissioner is sitting out this week as she finalizes preparations for the 10th annual Dallas Chocolate Festival I will be keeping the commissioner’s iron throne warm and handle the first round of picks. She will return next week.

In past years, I was able to share a nice TV interview with Emily and one of the artisan chocolate makers as they plug the festival. This year, she was behind the scenes and not on camera. But she did manage to photo bomb the interview prior walking behind the set several times trying to get a selfie with Ice Cube or Nancy Lieberman. Check out her skills on the local ABC morning show.

Kickoff for the season is Thursday night. If you’d like to pick the Packers-Bears game, please email or text me your pick before 7pm Thursday. Otherwise, all week one picks are due Friday midnight.

And remember… no free rides. Send in your ten bucks before I deploy the hired goons to take it from you!

Kevin

Wait a minute. Have the games started already? Where did all these strikes come from?

A lot of fine players were scratching their heads after a rough opening weekend. Nine people earned strikes after the first games, advancing perilously close to the Cliffs of Elimination. So much for mulligans, those nine are now playing for keeps.

The commissioner’s entourage escorted her back into the office. She’s still arranging the old oak desk, grinding coffee beans, and sorting through her football files. She will be back in business tomorrow and ready to accept your Week 2 picks.

Please send Emily your pick by kick-off Thursday, if you’re taking the early game. Otherwise, all other picks are due Friday at midnight.

Week 1 is here! Thanks for your patience this weekend. It took a little longer to poke the stragglers since we were downtown all weekend working the festival. We have excellent participation this season and everyone’s picks are in!

Happy Labor Day! Thanks to everyone for responding and signing up for another season of the Nemmers Scrum football pool. Once again, we have a good turnout and I’m looking forward to another exciting season. Since the commissioner is busy planning for next weekend’s Dallas Chocolate Festival, I am sitting in to do the books and collect your picks.

It’s time to make your first pick. If you’re choosing the opening Thursday night game, I need to receive you pick prior to kickoff Thursday night. Otherwise, all other picks are due midnight Friday night. The first two weeks seem to be the toughest and some good teams struggle to find their groove and some of the 2017 bad teams decide they want to win in 2018. Pick wisely – either by studying deep analytics or picking the team with the coolest helmets. Whichever scheme works for you.

This past week was especially hard on the family as we lost one of our players and one of my favorite people on the planet, Howie Senn. I was friends with the Senns before I ever met a Nemmers. Howie’s passing was an unexpected shock and he will be sorely missed. We discussed whether we should postpone the start of the pool, but decided the family activity and distraction was important right now. So I have an extra Terrible Towel on hand and am ready for competition.

On the lighter side, we welcome two new rookies to the pool this year: Calvin and Violet. Molly innocently joined the pool last year, asked for the instructions, and then proceeded to destroy us. She now holds the trophy and has her photo on the wall of fame. Watch out for the rookies!

Email me your pick or send a text. And if we don’t have your cash, now’s the time to ante up!

cheers!
Kevin

Do you hear that sound? It’s the cool wind of optimism as another football season blows into town. The Nemmers Scrum football pool is revving up. Is this your year? Are you ready? Of course you are!

Just like last year, Emily is in the final crunch preparing for the Dallas Chocolate Festival, so I’m standing in as the proxy-vice-assistant commissioner. My job is to rally the eager participants and wrangle a few party-poopers who might consider skipping this season (boo!)

The rules are pretty much the same as last year, except that if the season starts to go really long….I don’t want to be scrambling in the playoffs again this year, so if it goes past week 13 we’re gonna make it a little harder for the remaining contestants.

The Rules:

1. Send Emily $10. Your credit is no good here, so ante up!

2. Each week send Emily one pick. Send it only to her, not the whole group, so that everyone can make their own pick. Email her or send a text. (except week 1, which will go to Kevin)

3. If you team wins, you advance. If your team does not win, you get a strike. On your second strike, you are eliminated. You can only pick any team once each season. This is self-policing. If you accidentally submit a team you’ve already used, catch the commissioner before kick-off to reconcile! Ties count as a loss.

The football season starts on Thursday September 6. We don’t want the pool to drag as many weeks as it did last year, so prior to week 1 we may add some tie-breaker rule additions for the late season prior to the pool.

Interested? Send me and Emily an email to get you on the list and then shoot Emily a crisp Hamilton ($10) or beam it via the interwebs using PayPal, Venmo, or QuickPay. We’re good at accepting money so we’ll take whatever method you choose.

I included a long list of family in this email, but I don’t have email addresses for everyone. If someone in your household wants to play, they’re invited.

Finally, here’s a link to the blog: where you can check out the rules and all. Bookmark the Nemmers Scrum page so you can check each week’s announcements. Check out our Champions page for the smiling faces of previous winners.

So… are you in?

The football pool season got off to a relatively smooth start this weekend, with only a few surprises. Paul and Kevin were knocked quickly by trusting the Super Bowl champs on Thursday. Equally surprising was the collapse of Cincinnati and the rise of Jacksonville to knock off the Texans. Paul, Dan, Sam, and I all took our first strike. It’s a tough way to kick off the season!

The (proxy) Commissioner’s Pick of the Week goes to Gabe who believed in the Rams (4-12 last season) and watched them win by 37 Sunday.

Week 2 usually offers its share of surprises before the teams settle in and we figure out who’s who this season. The commissioner is back on duty, so please send your picks to Emily prior to Friday evening. If you’re picking the Thursday game, please send at least an hour before kickoff.

And how is our commissioner? She pulled out another successful 3-days of chocolate with the Dallas Chocolate Festival. Here are some photos from the festival. These are taken by friends and the Dallas Observer.