She conquered Campaign 54, and now Ali takes aim at 2006 Picks title

The 27th season of the Sunday Football Picks might be another captivating chapter in the success story of the girl affectionately known as the Teenage Bird.  Ali outsmarted her foes in Week 1 with a 10-3 record to grab sole possession of first place for the first time in her six-year Picks career.

Whatever her goal may be -- whether it's acing a middle school vocabulary test, memorizing the lyrics to every song she owns, or devouring eight Reese's peanut butter cups in three minutes -- she uses a persistent effort to make things happen.  "You can do anything if you try hard" has been the Teenage Bird's motto since she was a toddler.

Her achievement on Sunday included the incredible pick of the Atlanta Falcons over the highly rated Carolina Panthers, who are considered by some experts to be the best team in the NFL this year.  The Falcons cruised 20-6 on the road, and Ali added three more beautiful underdog victories to look like a 2006 football genius.

"Soy tan talentosa en que puedo destruir mis competiciones," said the seventh grader who likes to show off her knowledge of foreign languages.  Between her Spanish sentences and Pig Latin phrases, her father remains baffled at what comes out of her mouth.

Before the new Picks season started, one of Ali's challenges was Campaign 54, a year-long objective to reach a height of 54 inches by summer 2006 so she could ride any roller coaster on Earth.  At least 12 months of cramming extra dinner and desserts into her expanding belly resulted in the growth she needed.  Campaign 54 was declared a success in June when she rode the Batman and Superman coasters at Six Flags Great America during a school field trip.

Another big challenge the Teenage Bird recently toppled was independently traveling to Park View School.  The half-mile journey requires her to cross five streets, count driveways and recognize landmarks along the way.  Her ability to remain calm and problem solve when accidentally getting off track might be her most impressive skill.  Any area of the neighborhood soon will be part of Ali's domain.