Ha! It's Back! RealJohnBoy's A2K NFL "Pick-Um" Game!

Week #11:

Chicago
Baltimore
NYJets
Cincinnati
Cleveland
Green Bay
Tennessee
Arizona
Dallas
Pittsburgh
New Orleans
Tampa Bay
Atlanta
Indianapolis
Philadelphia
Denver, 28-24

Thanks, but I don't need your letter of direction.

Well Beth --you did say somebody on 7-6 " shouldn't win and it was incorrect. If 7-6 is the best score it should win. And will win.

Week #11 Schedule:
Thursday night, November 18th-
Miami
Sunday, November 21st, early-
Baltimore
NYJets
Cincinnati
Cleveland
Green Bay
Tennessee
Arizona
Dallas
Pittsburgh
Sunday, late-
New Orleans
Tampa Bay
Atlanta
New England
Sunday night-
NY Giants
Monday night-
Denver (24-21)

Miami
Baltimore
NYJets
Buffalo
Cleveland
Minnesota
Tennessee
Kansas City
Dallas
Pittsburgh
New Orleans
Tampa Bay
Atlanta
New England
NY Giants
San Diego 35-13

WEEK #10-
It wasn't our worst outing of the season. We went .456 as a group compared to .447 back in Week #5. But it was brutal with us getting hurt badly by Miami's win over Tennessee, Denver's victory versus Kansas City and Dallas' triumph against the NY Giants. In just those 3 games we were 4-65. Awesomely bad!
Congratulations to LiontamerX on managing to go 9-5 to win the week. Rhys, Spendius, JPB, Osso and EhBeth did okay, considering, at 8-6. Breaking even at 7-7 were Panzade, Lmur, Mz Cowdoc, McGentrix, Edgar and Jespah. Alex, George, Ragman, JPB and Johnboy finished at 6-8. Fbaezer, CoastalRat and Tico came in at 5-9 while Cowdoc and Mysteryman stumbled in at 4-10. And AndyClubber got clubbed, going just 3-11.
CoinToss50/50 was 7-7. The best ESPN guy went 10-4 while the worst was 5-9.

AndyClubber is despondent after his beloved Steelers got pummeled by the Patriots and then he goes 3-11 here.
He is a big boxing fan and one of his favorites is Manny Pacquino who fought Antonio Margarito Saturday night. Pacquino is 4" shorter than Margarito and, at weigh-in was 6 lbs lighter. But between weigh in and fight time the latter added 15 lbs. Pacquiono, called the "Philippines Piston," not only won a unanimous decision but probably won every round.
It may be hyperbole, but some are calling Pacquiono one of the best boxers ever.

As the Bears are in AFC North and the Dolphins in AFC East what is at stake in Thursday's game?

Actually, you probably meant the Bears are in the NFC North. But good question.

I was at this game in 1985 in Miami. It turned out to be one of the greatest Monday Night Football games ever


http://espn.go.com/abcsports/mnf/s/greatestgames/chicagomiami1985.html

Perhaps the Bears still hunger for revenge.

Not as bad as the experts here predicting the Chelsea home game with Sunderland on Sunday. Sunderland, with a long trip to negotiate, long for us I mean, went into the game 12 points behind Chelsea in the league table. Chelsea had not conceded a goal in six previous home matches while scoring 17 themselves. They are odds on to win the title. (It's like your Superbowl).

Not an expert picked Sunderland and they won 3-0. Even the Sunderland manager was astounded.

STANDINGS AFTER WEEK #10-
1) Spendius (91-53 .631) holds on to 1st place
2) LiontamerX (89-55 .618) moves up from 3rd and is 2 games back
3) JPB (87-57 .604) slips from 2nd and is now 4 games out of 1st
4) Ragman (85-59 .590) stays in 4th but is a bit further back then he was
5) EhBeth (.576) remains in 5th
6) Panzade (.569) drops from 5th
7) McGentrix (.566) climbs from 8th
8) Mz Cowdoc (.562) gains one from 9th
9) Osso (.548) is up two notches from 11th
10) AndyClubber (.541) slumps from 5th
11) Cowdoc (.534) slips from 10th
12) Edgar (.531) is up from 13th
13) Tico (.527) falls from 11th
14) Rhys (.520) moves up 2 spaces
15) CoastalRat (.513) declines from 14th
15) JohnBoy remains in 15th
17) George (.507) holds 17th
18) Region (.506) advances two from 20th
18) Jespah climbs one rung
20) Mysteryman (.493) slumps from 18th
21) Lmur (.486) sticks in 21st
22) Alex (.468) gets out of the cellar
23) Fbaezer (.458) moves into the cellar

The best ESPN expert had a bad week and would now (.611) be in 3rd here. The worst picker there had a good week and would be (.513) in 15th.

Thanks for the clue, I've been avoiding all the press about the fight. I followed boxing somewhat in the, ah, glory days, starting with Marciano when I was fairly young through Clay/Ali.
My sensibilities took over at some point re the, um, culture surrounding the fights, and what can happen with boxers and their brains, including one lifetime friend's father who was a golden gloves guy in california many years long gone.

In fact, she - the friend whose father had major brain damage - and I were walking down Main Street (where our landarch studio was, she catching up with me with a visit) toward Napoleon's cafe at my lunch break, and who should we run into but Mohammed Ali and, I think, his wife. She, the wife, and I looked on as M. Lou audibly gasped and Ali stopped and held her hand and kissed it. Should anyone be interested in heritage, Ali and wife are black, ML is from a mexican family, and I am a pink sort of irishy person. I figure all of us liked the pastry at Napoleon's. This was in the eighties..

His wife had or has probably been through this kind of episode many times. She couldn't have known the background for this one time.

I am not at all fond of the sport of boxing. Coincidentally, I too have met Ali. He lived in the Cville area briefly after he retired and he came in my shop a couple of times with a companion (wife?). She was the customer so I dealt with her but I did have a bit of small talk with him.
In retrospect, he probably was showing early symptoms of the problems that would debilitate him.
A few years ago I was going on a long plane trip and I asked my employees to lend me a book. I was curious as to what they would offer.
AndyClubber's submission was a collection of boxing articles that had originally appeared in The New Yorker back in the post WW2 era. I can't remember the writer's name. I was amused that, while I had no particular interest in the topic, the quality of the writing was amazing.

A good friend of mine had to stay in on Saturday night as she was watching the Pacquino fight on Paper View. She is still delirious with joy with the results.

Moving right along-
Virtue And Victory
The Philadelphia Eagles last night destroyed the Washington Redskins. 58 to 28 or something like that. The Eagles were led by QB Michael Vick, who threw for 4 TD's and ran for 2 more. It was a brilliant performance.
But...
Vick, three or four years ago, was convicted of running a dog fighting ring. His operation, based here in Virginia, was called Bad News Kennel. There were stomach turning videos of what took place there. He was convicted on a number of charges and served 18 months in prison.
He claims he is trying to redeem himself and his reputation and some people accept that. Others, though, grit their teeth, unable to get the images of the Bad News Kennel out of their heads.

i believe i finished 8-6 as well... ?

You are correct. I have JPB as going 8-6 and 6-8! You were 8-6 and she was 6-8.
The standings are accurate. Thanks for pointing out the errors.

Well, sure, the ny'er. I used to be quite interested in sports writing as a phenomenon, ring lardner as an example. This follows from my being allowed into the adult library at fourteen while being momentarily, and I do mean momentarily, like a half hour, interested in horse racing (though I lie, I was interested and still am, what e'er my qualms). Thus I read years and years of "sports stories of the year". There are patterns in sports writing.. from way back.

Miami holds none of the tie-breakers in the AFC wild card race.

And Chicago is fighting for a division title.

what part of won - loss records is confusing you...?

We were talking on another thread about the miserable weather tonight on the east coast of the U.S. We are getting hard, steady rain.
As we head into winter, here is a list of the teams who play in domed NFL stadiums (stadia?):
Indianapolis Colts, Atlanta Falcons, Dallas Cowboys, Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings, New Orleans Saints and St Louis Rams.