2008 NFL ATS Pick 'Em: The 1/3 Report

PRELUDE

We here at King of Arguments feel that we owe this to the 20 members of the Pick 'Em League. The last two weeks have been anything but stellar with regards to the K.O.A. so this is our way of saying "We're sorry." Every single member has done a tremendous job of getting their picks in and providing hilarious comments. On top of that, the results are off-the-charts. The standings are flat out ridiculous. 16 of our 20 members are at .500 or above. The ratings for the weekly blog posts have been just as impressive, but we have let you down the past two weeks.

Without further ado, here is the 1/3 report for our league. Enjoy.

MOST SURPRISING MEMBER

Okay, so a certain individual doesn't join until a week into the season and is immediately bestowed the worst record in the league. Fast-forward five weeks later and this member is currently tied for second place. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention he doesn't watch football, and gets his weekly Browns update from a Priest at school? Believe it.

Let me introduce you to Josh Florence who has taken this league by storm. Several other members have already commented on how incredible his week two performance was (going 13-2), but Josh has not let off the gas peddle.

If somehow, after filling in when we had a member drop, Josh was able to win this entire league, then we all will have witnessed the sequel to the Miracle On Ice.

So let me pose a question, do you believe in miracles?

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

In a time where political campaigns are going overwhelmingly negative, I hate to contribute to the cause, so this will be brief.

Sara Normand, who is always a force in any fantasy endeavor and who last year led this league for a healthy number of weeks, just has not gotten on track yet in 2008. Granted, she is overseas and is probably not watching too much NFL. However, she did the same thing in 2007, traveling around Australia.

Currently she is one of only four members who are below the .500 mark, but if she can steady the ship (went 9-5 in week six) long enough, she might just pass enough guys to collect some cash.

Here is Sara's response after learning she had earned this 1/3 honor.

"I agree!!! I will say that in Australia we were lucky enough to have ESPN at our house. Ireland doesn't have ESPN at all. And I'm also working, whereas in Australia I had class for an hour a day basically. So yeah, I've seen only one NFL game the entire season, and that sucks. They've got me watching this stupid sport called "hurling"... and I like to compare it to that "quidditch" game from Harry Potter where they fly around on brooms and no I don't watch or read Harry Potter."

QUOTES OF THE WEEK

One of the most popular posts here at K.O.A. was the introductions of our entire league. Spots were filled rapidly and even pictures were sent to use for individual bios. It was the most successful entry until Romeo's Letter to Brady by far surpassed it.

I'm just putting this out there. The Year-End Awards Banquet will be even better. The biggest award that night will the annual Quote Of The Year, a collection of the 17 quotes of the week. Every one will be sent a ballot, and all votes will be equal, with mine counting twice (sorry, rules are rules). Also, loyal readers (NON-league members) who make themselves known, also will be sent a ballot.

Order your tuxes now.

In a perfect world we would all physically gather to have this banquet, but that just does not seem a reality at this point in time. Maybe down the road.

Here are the six quote of the week winners:

Week One - Devin Frank: "Luke Florence is at this game + God hates Luke Florence = Pick Dallas."

Week Two - Alex Lucius: "St. Louis is the worst team probably in the history of the world. If France had a football team, they would beat the Rams."

Week Three - Matt Barnes: "With every loss, Detroit is devaluing the wonderful American classic that is 'The Lion King.'"

Week Four - Jeff Normand: "Taking a page out of Romeo's book ... reach into pocket ... flip it ... Atlanta."

Week Five - Jeff Normand: " Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my! The Wizard of Oz told me to pick all three teams, but the Lion shows no courage so I will pick the Bears. My favorite movie!"

Week Six - Kevin Hunt: "Wished they had the young coach back. It's 4 a.m. I forget his name. Lane Kiffin. Rhymes with Tiffin. He still loses."

As you can tell, serious comments don't qualify, that's not what this award is about. This award is about the person who was a tad creative (maybe a little tipsy in some cases) and created a memorable quote. I'm not trying to give everyone at least one quote of the week. It doesn't work that way. You have to earn it. Best of luck the rest of the way.

SPECIAL SECTION THANK-YOU
(still working on the names of the two awards)

At the year-end banquet, there will be two awards involving these special sections. The first will be for the all encompassing, special section of the year. The second will be for the individual special section, meaning the one column that really stood out a particular week.

These are for members who take a little extra time and write up pretty much whatever they want to. The two members who have done this the most so far this year have been Andrew "Chewy" Reinhart and Ryan "Po" Polito.

Chewy's "Chew On This" section typically talks about NFL offensive and/or defensive line-men, because that is what Chewy was during high-school. Also, Chewy has said that these guys, especially the o-linemen, do not get enough credit. Chewy is giving them the credit each week.

"Po's Knowledge Dropping" section discusses who Po thought the most and least dominant people were from the past week in football. They can be league members, individual players, or entire teams. It is up to his discretion, but they are always filled with an impressive amount of BASIC knowledge.

THE MEL KIPER JR. TROPHY

Similar to the Art Ross Trophy in hockey (which goes to the top point earner), the Mel Kiper Trophy is awarded to the person who wins the league outright. Sure, the $200 check is going to be nice, but with it comes the prestige of winning this trophy. Take it from the person who won it last year (speaking with the Borat accent) "it's very nice."

One-third of the way through the season the front-runner for this trophy is no other than Alex Lucius.
Lucius is currently setting a staggering pace, as he has accumulated a 56-32 record, a whopping 24 games over .500. He has a full four game lead over second place and does not show signs of slowing down. It took Lucius just one week to get accustomed to this league and he has blown every single member out of the water.

Will the pressure get to him? Will he fold down the stretch? Can he set some ridiculous record, topping my 150 games won last season? Time will tell.

THE CASEY BLAKE TROPHY

Just as the Mel Kiper Trophy is awarded to the league's best record, the Casey Blake Trophy goes to the league's worst record. Thus far, Brad Bursa shows the most vigor in trying to claim this distinguished award.
Bursa, similarly to Josh and Sara, has not been watching too much football. He is currently out in Denver, Colorado in the middle of his first full year of teaching high school. He got in because his little brother was entered, but was the victim of the old "bait and switch" when his brother dropped out. Give him credit, he has stayed in the league, and has gotten his picks in every single week. The next step will be to make the correct picks, unless he is aiming for the bearded wonder trophy, in which he is well on his way.

The following is a brief message Bursa had for the league.

"See Luke, the problem is I don't have a TV, nor do I have much time to keep up with stats and standings. These flaws lead to tragic downfall, just as the great Greek writer Sophocles described in his play Antigone."

He knows his English, but will he learn 2008 NFL in time?

OTHER RANDOM NOTES

- New guys are dominating this league. Lucius, Braves, Brian, Josh, and Justin are currently the top five in standings. They should be careful however, a pair of crafty veterans (including last season's champ) are sitting right behind them.

- Records of the special picks through six weeks (top record receives the Swami Award).

- Kevin's Ballbuster Pick of the Week: (3-3) - .500%
- The Promise's Promise: (1-4) - .200%
- Maxine Hunt Pick of the Week: (0-6) - .000%

If anyone would like to try and win the Swami Award, come up with a name and start by week eight. It will be based off winning percentage, but you MUST start by week eight to be eligible. I will be having a Maxine Florence pick (after surviving a full year of begging to be included), so maybe other mom's would like to get involved (that's what she said). Or maybe Josh would like to ask his Cleveland Browns Priest to make a pick, or whatever. The more people we have doing this, the better. Just think about it.

- Jake Young has become last year's Jeff Normand. He sends his picks in every week with plenty of time to spare, he always has a comment for each and every single game, and he is currently at 44-44. Jeff last year did the same things in 2007 and went 129-127. These two should go bowling.

- The thoughts of the week have not been as consistent as I would like to see them which is a bit disappointing. Between Alex Lucius and Bart Borer, unique thoughts are to be had. My mother just loved Lucius' section when he talked about volcano tacos. Bart always wishes luck to everyone, except Barnes, which dates to an incident a while back where Barnes would not give Bart a blanket OR a pillow. These need to make a return. The world would be a better place.

- Still waiting for the Michael Grothaus collapse. It's inevitable. Last year he blamed it on the collapse of the Indians. This year it could be anything. But, it will happen. Just watch.

- In the race for the Tiffin Calvert 2004 Graduate of the Year, yours truly holds a slight advantage over Chewy. Those eligible for the award obviously must have graduated from Calvert in 2004. Luke, Devin, Curtis, Bart, Kevin, and Bursa are all in the running. Go Senecas.

- Guys to watch out for in the 2/3 part of the season are Shane Kline, Chris Rapking and Polito. Recently, Shane has been as steady as the stock market, which is scary if he gets hot at the right time. Rapking is as Randy Quaid put it in Major League II: "He's lying in the weeds." Like Jeff Gordon used to do, Rapking is positioning himself nicely for a stab at 1st place. That leaves Polito, who as much as he would hate to admit it, represents the Cleveland Browns. Both came in with high expectations. Both underperformed early. Both have turned it on in recent weeks, giving their fans hope for the remainder of the season. Both still have a ways to go, but the possibility is there, and no one would be surprised if they succeeded or crashed to the ground.

There ya go guys. This is me trying to earn back some of your trust. Trying to show you guys I am committed to this league. Trying to get back on track. In the process of writing this I have decided to NOT post a week six recap, and instead, start fresh with week seven. Why look back, when it looks so good ahead?

Until next time, "read it, roll it, hole it."