Millions celebrate around the nation as Mark captures 2006 Picks title

Champagne corks were popping, people were dancing in the streets, and confetti was falling everywhere.  Couples were embracing with joy, horns were tooting, streamers were flying, and fireworks lit the skies from sea to shining sea.  It was quite a reaction to Mark winning his third championship Sunday night in the 2006 Sunday Football Picks.  Wow!

Even Dick Clark joined in the fun by hosting a huge party from Times Square in New York City, where millions of people gathered after Week 17 of the Picks drew to a close just an hour before midnight.  The crowds in New York and other major cities across the country were thrilled with Mark's big accomplishment as they celebrated in wild fashion.  His shaky 8-7 performance was enough to secure the title with a 139-88 record, four games better than Ali and QT Pie.

"This is a wonderful time of year, when people across our great nation get together and celebrate all night long," said Ryan Seacrest, who co-hosted the East Coast Picks party with Dick Clark on ABC-TV.  "It's an amazing night, and an amazing experience to be here in Times Square."

It's not clear why Times Square was chosen as the site of the massive street party instead of downtown Lombard near Picks Central headquarters, but why question a good thing?  Picks members watched on TV as a big flashing ball -- possibly the shape of a football, but that wasn't confirmed -- slowly dropped in Times Square as the crowd counted down the seconds for whatever reason.  Singer Christina Aguilera joined Seacrest on the air and planted a kiss on his lips just after the stroke of midnight, probably thinking he resembled Mark, and knowing that's as close as she would get to the Picks champ that night.

"This has been so much fun!" said Aguilera, not previously known for being an NFL fan and loyal follower of the Sunday Football Picks.  She must have found the Picks website at some point during the season and got hooked on the weekly stories.

New York City was first to celebrate Mark's achievement, followed by Chicago an hour later, by Denver an hour after that, and by Las Vegas and Hollywood a full three hours after the East Coast party.  It seemed like each Picks party wanted its own time on national television, so the festivities were delayed in a calculated fashion.  Perhaps Chicago should have gone first since it's the regional hometown of the Picks, but again, why question it?  Picks fans know what they're doing, and there are more of them than anyone could have imagined.  Maybe the Sunday Football Picks have become more popular than the NFL itself.

Ali made a valiant try at her first Picks title, being the frontrunner for the first half of the season.  But Mark tied her in Week 9, and then took a small lead that he held to the finish.  Nicki had the year's best weekly record by going 13-2 in Week 2.