SUPER BOWL PICKS WITH FINAL RESULTS
THE SUPER BOWL PICKS ARE IN - AND THE RESULTS
In nothing short of shocking news, Tom leads the pack after 3 weeks of the playoffs. Only Dick has a chance to catch him. So, how does Tom prepare for the final picks of the year? Go to Maui and bask in the sunshine of course. While the rest of the Savants toil in wet and cold Dallas, will Tom’s change of latitude come back to haunt him? Will new rules for picks instituted by a slight quorum of the Savants while someone was in Maui help or hinder the contest? Dick can possibly finish first or tied for last - which will it be? Can Rand and Frank make up ground - and possible tie for 2nd place. Note that if the last place guys move up it is called a tie for second, but if the second place guy moves down it is called a tie for last. Lots of excitement this weekend - and there are still commercials to watch as well. Congrats to Tom.
The Guest Picker Playoff Challenge: After Doug Howe and Marcia Mayes both put up +50 weeks in the Conference Finals, the two other Guest Pickers couldn’t stand up to their hot picks. Rumor has it that Scott Holtzman actually left one of the Savants his picks that would have been +50 for the weekend - but NOOOOOOO, Scott has to find the satellite internet and change his picks. At least he missed them all so he doesn’t have to worry about being close - pretty much like Dallas against Minnie. On the other hand, Greg Hobbs has pretty much owned the regular season and post season against the other GPs. Unfortunately, he did his own Minnie impersonation - that is Minnie turning over the game against the Saints not the dismantling of the Cows. Oh well, Scott and Greg, we enjoyed having you. So we’re left with two GP’s who rumor has it have spent the greater part of the last two weeks preparing their picks. Will we be able to tell? What will their strategy be in the finals - spread the wealth or go all in on one pick? The excitement is almost too much to endure - but you have to, as the answers to all these questions lie further down in the post. What is this week’s tiebreaker? Peyton Manning passing percentage - to the first decimal point - and note that there was even some pretty big strategy differential here as well. Good luck. Congrats to Marcia.
Playoffs
Dick +50 -50 = 0
Tom +90 +20 = +110
Rand -50 +50 = 0
The Goracle -50 -50 = -100
This Week’s Guest Pickers
Doug Howe -50XXX and Marcia Mayes -50+++
This Week’s Picks
Dick: $50 on Indy/New Orleans Over 56.5. Dick stays true to his playoff affair with the over/unders. Will this be the shootout that everyone is predicting? Or, will the Colt Defense show they are the unsung heroes of the Super run? XXX This pick was doomed early, and doomed late as well. Oh well, a tie for thirdsecond.
Tom: $10 on New Orleans Under 25.5. Picking last, Tom loses his desired pick of Indy -5, so he goes to the 4-corner defense of first place. This pick is contrary to most of the pickers on this site this week, but watch out for that Indy D. XXX Thanks for Frank for taking Indy off the board - Who Dat picking against the Saints.
$10 on Indy Rushing Under 100.5 yards. Tom likes Indy to throw on every down - they’re really good at it - so why run at all? +++ After rushing for 99 easy yards, the Colts call a halt to the running game just in the nick of time.
$10 on Jeremy Shockey Under 3 Catches. If you need a rooting interest, who better to root against than Shockey? Push - technically Shockey won since one of his 3 was a TD.
$10 on Total Field Goals Over 2.5. Tom likes the defenses to bend - but not break - leading to some FGs. +++ Tom gets the field goal-fest right.
$10 on Time of Possession - NO +1:30. Will either one of these teams play ball control - of course not. So, who will take the least amount of time to score. Tom likes the Colts for that. +++ Thanks to the 2nd Quarter, this pick cruises in as well.
Rand: $50 on New Orleans +5. Rand goes with the darling of the ball. Will the Saints be ready for the big stage? Does Rand know something by using the first pick in this week’s contest to take the Saints off the board for the rest of us? +++ Rand uses the first pick to his advantage picking the Super Bowl winner. Rand’s big victory nets him a tie for secondthird.
Frank: $50 on Indy -5. Frank was downright unhappy that Rand took the Saints off the board. So, what is his response? Take the opposite pick. Now that is what our former president (W) would call strategery. Of course at least one other Savant and one of our GPs really like this pick. XXX is it true Frank officially hates picking against the line after this season? Of course not. He just hates picking the wrong team each week.
This Week’s Guest Prognosticators - Doug Howe and Marcia Mayes
Doug: $50 on Indy -5. Doug stays with Indy for the third straight week. And, what has it gotten him so far - well, into the finals. A lot of strategy went into Doug 50′ing up after Marcia - picking first this week - put the whole 50 on her pick. XXX Let’s see, Frank was at lunch, Frank picked Indy, and Doug still picked Indy. But it didn’t matter as Marcia struck out as well. So how’d the completion percentage fare - never mind - 2nd place earned in a fine showing by Doug.
Peyton’s Completion %: 50.1 XXX
Marcia: $50 on New Orleans/Indy Over 56.5. Marcia joins Dick on this one - do they know something. Actually, both of them have seen these 2 offenses, and there is definitely an advantage to that side of the ball in this game. XXX It could have been a close miss - but it was a miss from early on. However, Marcia walks away with the crown after being the closest to Peyton’s completion percentage. Congrats to Marcia.
Peyton’s Completion %: 73.1 +++
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.