JELLO'S PICK 'EM CONTEST 2008
Introduction
We are playing for fun and bragging rights -- no wagering, please.
The premise is simple: Each player selects one game during each of the 17 weeks of the NFL season. Point spreads are not in play -- you merely have to select the winner of the game. At the end of the season, the player with the best record wins. Simple, right?
OK, there's a catch: You cannot select the same team twice. So if you select the Patriots in Week One, for example, you cannot select the Patriots again this year. Thus, you have to select wisely.
Hints
I've been involved in this type of pool many times, and I've learned a few key strategies. �
1. It's best to script your selections before the season begins. You can always deviate from the script if circumstances warrant, but if you don't plan ahead you'll find yourself in Week 17, praying for Brodie Croyle to engineer a last-minute drive to beat the Bengals. ... in Cincinnati ... in the snow ... with a bum arm. Nobody wants that headache. Remember, you're going to have to rely on some .500 teams at one point or another, so plan ahead and take those teams when they're most likely to win.
2. MOST IMPORTANT: Stick with safe plays early in the year. More often than not, a ton of people lose in Week One because they took a chance on a team that was an uncertain commodity. This means you don't pick the Redskins in Week One. There, I said it. There no reason to take a sketchy team -- if you plan wisely, you�ll have decent plays available each week. So play it safe until teams have established themselves.
3. There's no reason to ever select a road team. Period. And never ... ever ... select an underdog.
4. Watch the competition. If you know who your foes can and can't select, it could be helpful. The Web site will track everyone's selections for the season.
Rules
1. I can't have this become a mountain of work, so I'm asking that you merely e-mail your selections to a special address I've set up. Please don't use the Forum for anything other than trash-talk and Bowa's polls. The deadline will generally be Saturday night, but it will be earlier in weeks in which there is a Thursday or Saturday game.
2. As I said, I don't want to have to deal with chasing people down for their selections, so if you forget to submit a selection, you'll be assigned a team automatically. Likewise, if you select a team that you've already selected, I'll automatically select another team for you.
Automatic selections will be determined via the point spreads. I'll start with the biggest favorite on the board and continue through the games until I find the first team that's still available to you.
3. Again, I don't want to have to spend another season waiting until 2 a.m. on Saturday night for the same three people to submit their picks. I hate to do this, but those who've created problems in the past aren't welcome this year. If you want to have something fun to track from week to week, please join. If you're not serious, or if you're going to drop out after two weeks, please save us all some time. Sorry to sound like Steve Barkan there. I'm really a nice guy. ... I just hate making past-season baseball sets or anything else that takes me away from playing softball and drinking frozen margaritas.
4. The contest is for Forum members only. You must use your Forum ID as your handle. That's to ensure that there are no ringers and no double-dippers. I want to keep this to a manageable number of players.
5. As usual, Randy Myers can't participate.
Ready to Start?
Week One selection is due by 8 p.m. ET, Thursday, September 4. ... CLICK TO SUBMIT!