Wishing well is lovely, but not needed by Ali to climb from fifth to third

The cute Little Bird used her bravery and imbedded NFL knowledge to deliver an impressive 9-4 record on Sunday, moving her from fifth place to third place in a heartbeat.  Ali is now just four games behind first-place Mark as she takes aim at her first title in the treasured Sunday Football Picks.

Some think Ali's success in Week 6 was due to a new wooden wishing well bought by her parents at the Galena Country Fair the previous day.  The spur-of-the-moment bargain purchase (aren't they all?) might have granted its first wish for the Little Bird.  But sources close to the family confirmed Tuesday that the beautiful front-yard centerpiece does not really make dreams come true.  It's just another decoration at the estate.

So instead of singing like Hilary Duff that her picks were "What Dreams are Made Of," Ali said "Why Not?" as she took a crazy chance and did a crazy dance.  The Little Bird was the only person gutsy enough to choose the Chiefs in Green Bay, and the Cowboys against the Eagles.  She got both games right!

D.J. and Nicki held several secret underwater meetings to fool their father in "keep away" at the pool during that second weekend in Galena, but obviously a decent Picks strategy was never discussed.  Their 8-5 and 7-6 records were nothing to write home about, and dad got the last laugh by going 10-3.

The Wonder Twin powers of siblings Mark and QT short-circuited with weak 7-6 records for both.  Maybe Zan and Jayna spent too much time getting involved in the silly debate between the almighty Picks Gods and the Picks Oversight Committee instead of focusing on important matters at hand.  One can only surmise.