WEEK 17 - Regular Season Final
WEEK 17
The Guest Picker Update: Doug Howe showed consistency by using his second -10 in a row to catapult him on to another week with his win over Scott Holtzman. To keep this competition fair, we’ve added two competitors for him this week. Jim McTeigue of Triumph Golf and Andrea Huguely of American Airlines. Jim goes way back with the Savants and with Doug as a left coast guy. His understanding of those west coast teams should have taken any advantage that Doug had away. But, alas it didn’t. Andrea, the best of the picking Huguelys, was brought on to show off her skills on a worldwide basis. OK, so this probably doesn’t even qualify as local, but it is public. After all their picks, Doug prevailed with a win. What is in store for the GP competition for the playoffs? A new and improved competition sure to keep us all at the edges of our seats.
This Week’s Headlines: The Savants Regular Season Picks Officially Pronounced Dead. What a season! None of the Savants finished above zero. Dick lost every pick for 7 straight weeks, and he ends up tied for first. Rand has a 100 point lead with two weeks left and managed to limp to a tie. Tom turns a -30 with 4 weeks left in the season into a -230. And the newest Savant, Frank Gore (fka The Goracle) fit right in with a tidy -150 for the year. The good news - they can’t get any worse (oh, we can only hope). Congratulations to Rand and Dick for their first place tie. A trophy presentation will be announced shortly. What will we see in the playoffs? Can Dick stay hot by picking the Cows? Will Rand abandon the 4 corners defense? Will Tom ever get another pick right? Will Frank regain his nickname in time for the offseason? On to the playoffs.
Final Regular Season Standings
Dick -100 +50 = -50
Tom -180 - 50 = -230
Rand -20 -30 = -50
The Goracle -100 -50 = -150
This Week’s Guest Pickers
Doug Howe +30 versus Jim McTeigue -30 versus Andrea Huguely +10
This week’s picks
Dick: $50 on Dallas -3. Dick rides to the top of the pick list by coming home to roost with his Cows. Will the confidence carryover into the playoffs? +++
Tom: $50 on Dallas/Philly Over 48. Tom choosing the whatever vacation pick works the same as his other picks. XXX.
Rand: $10 on San Diego -4. The Chargers show that even a non-caring team can beat the Redskins - but they can’t cover. XXX.
$10 on Tennesee -4.5. Rand’s Titans win, but not enough for his pick to cover. XXX
$10 on Philly/Dallas Under 48. Rand is right on top of the Cows dominant defense as the total was never in doubt. +++.
$10 on Denver -13. Let’s see, suspend your only playmaker before a must win game to get into the playoffs. Youth - you gotta love it. XXX.
$10 on Jacksonville +1.5. Rand who successfully picked against the pathetic Jaguars for the last few weeks suddenly decides to tie his lot with them this week. XXX.
Frank: $50 on Philadelphia +3. Frank can’t ride the Eagles to victory over Dick’s Cows. XXX.
This Week’s Guest Prognosticators - Doug Howe, Jim McTeigue and Andrea Huguely
Doug: $30 on Chicago -3. Doug seems to have taken this pick from the Cassidy school of I see dead people. +++.
$10 on Atlanta -2.5. Atlanta cares enough to play the last week of the season. +++.
$10 on Tennessee -4.5. Doug joins Rand in going down with this pick. XXX.
Jim: $30 on San Diego -4. The Curse of the Redskins sends Jim home. XXX.
$10 on San Francisco -7. Jim does use some local knowledge on this easy pick. +++.
$10 on Philly +3. Don’t ever pick against Cassidy’s Cows and expect to win. XXX.
Andrea: $20 on Dallas -3. That is the best way to get on Cassidy’s best side. +++.
$10 on Denver -13. If only the line would have been +21 instead. XXX
$10 on St.Louis/SF Under 40. Andrea takes a page out of Rand’s playbook with an O/U win. +++.
$10 on Jax/Cle Under 38.5. Mangini’s Brownies close the season with 4 straight wins - and a little offense to sink this pick. XXX.
Note: The Sports Savants do not gamble with real money and do not endorse, recommend or promote doing so. The dollar figures above are in “pretend” money, as a way of measuring our success in the game. Not only is gambling illegal in many jurisdictions, it is also pretty dumb. In the end, the house always wins. That’s why the house has gold plated ceilings, dancing girls, magic shows and enormous fountains out front.
*Unlike last year, the guests will compete against each other. The winner between the guest pickers each week will continue to pick the next week. If they win that week, they keep going. There is one asterisk to that sentence - we are attorneys you know - if a guest picker buys lunch for the Savants at the regular pick’em lunch, they will continue to the next week whether they beat the new guest picker or not.
** Perhaps the Savants have been spending a bit too much time concerning themselves with country club law, private clubs and resorts law, membership law, and related hospitality law matters.
Last Week’s Guest Picker’s Results
Scott Holtzman -30 versus Doug Howe -10