Week 10

So, so close to a new weekly winner. Sorry Cheryl.

Bob coupled a 10-4 in the NFL with an 8-2 in the SEC and SoCon to post a 34-13 that gave him his second victory of the season and allowed him to hold off Cheryl by a game. Cheryl went a contest-best 11-2 in scratchers and it looked for a moment like she was going to end the Hunters' long run of futility, but, alas, it was not to be. Still, she whipped Lonnie's ass by five games. That has to count for something.

Cullen and Amy, meanwhile, tied for third at 30-17, while at the other end of the spectrum I was a cool 27-20, the worst in the field, a week after I nearly took the lead. Luckily, Chris was only a game better to blow the chance to give himself a little breathing room, and Chip and Rob were a paltry 29-18 and 28-19, respectively, to remain locked in a tie for third - a thousandth of a point ahead of Kristy. In other words, things remain ridiculously tight. Which reminds me ...

... I'm going to encourage you all to check my scores. At the risk of rubbing more salt in Cheryl's wound, I had her tied with Bob until I went back and found a mistake in the SEC. With things this close, things really could come down to a game. So PLEASE make sure I'm right.

Here are the standings and the schedule. There aren't quite as many games this week, but, as usual, scratchers are a beast. Do well there, and you'll win the week. Unless your name is Cheryl.

Overall standings
(Weekly winner in bold; worst week in red)

1. Chris 34-8, 37-14, 35-13, 28-19, 28-19, 32-10, 30-16, 29-17, 28-19 (253-116, .686)
2. Ron 33-9, 38-13, 37-11, 29-18, 27-20, 26-16, 27-19, 34-12, 27-20 (251-118, .680)
3. Chip 33-9, 41-10, 32-16, 28-19, 30-17, 30-12, 25-21, 29-17, 28-19 (251-119, .678)
4. Rob 31-11, 37-14, 31-17, 29-18, 29-18, 30-12, 29-17, 34-12, 29-18 (250-119, .678)
5. Kristy 30-12, 39-12, 27-21, 31-16, 28-19, 31-11, 28-18, 32-14, 30-17 (249-119, .677)
6. Cullen 35-7, 38-13, 31-17, 28-19, 26-21, 25-17, 27-19, 32-14, 31-16 (247-122, .669)
7. Bob 31-11, 34-17, 31-17, 34-13, 26-21. 28-14, 24-22, 28-18, 34-13 (246-124, .665)
8. Cheryl 29-13, 35-16, 33-15, 26-21, 27-20, 27-15, 27-19, 30-16, 33-14 (241-128, .653)
9. Amy 32-10, 40-11, 29-19, 30-17, 28-19, 25-17, 24-22, 26-20, 30-17 (240-130, .649)
10. Lonnie 30-12, 37-14, 28-20, 27-20, 26-21, 24-18, 28-18, 31-15, 28-19 (233-136, .631)
11. Lane 30-12, 34-17, 30-18, 28-19, 27-20, 28-14, 25-21, 25-21, 28-19 (230-140, .622)
12. Dad 28-14, 0-51, 30-18, 25-22, 32-15, 24-18, 22-24, 24-22, 29-18 (214-151, .586)

Games
ACC

Miami at Virginia
Florida State at Georgia Tech
Clemson at Boston College
Duke at Wake Forest

SEC

Auburn at Mississippi
Tulsa at Arkansas
Kentucky at Mississippi State
Arkansas State at Alabama
Florida at Georgia
Tennessee at South Carolina
Tulane at Louisiana State

SoCon

Wofford at Appalachian State (Friday)
Georgia Southern at Citadel
Chattanooga at Western Carolina
Furman at Samford

Big 12/Pac 10 headliners

Colorado at Texas A&M
Oregon at California
Texas at Texas Tech

Scratchers

South Florida at Cincinnati (Thursday)
Central Michigan at Indiana
West Virginia at Connecticut
Northwestern at Minnesota
Pittsburgh at Notre Dame
Fresno State at Louisiana Tech
Michigan at Purdue
Wisconsin at Michigan State
Iowa at Illinois
Northern Iowa at Western Illinois
Rice at Texas-El Paso
East Carolina at Central Florida (Sunday)

NFL

New York Jets at Buffalo
Detroit at Chicago
Jacksonville at Cincinnati
Baltimore at Cleveland
Green Bay at Tennessee
Arizona at St. Louis
Houston at Minnesota
Tampa Bay at Kansas City
Miami at Denver
Atlanta at Oakland
Dallas at New York Giants
Philadelphia at Seattle
New England at Indianapolis
Pittsburgh at Washington (Monday)

Week 9

Another week, another different weekly winner. Sort of. Another week, another repeat winner. Sort of.

In what is surely some foreshadowing of this weekend's Furman-Snatchalachin State showdown Rob and I tied for the Week 8 title with matching 34-12s, two games ahead of Kristy and Cullen, who tied for third at 32-12. I beat everyone by losing only seven games in college (thank you, 6-0 in the ACC), but Rob gained the two games he needed to match me with a contest-best 11-3 in the NFL.

Our overall leader Chris, meanwhile, stumbled to a 29-17, while Chip also went 29-17 to allow me to vault English boy into a virtual tie with Asheville Tourists boy in first overall. Rob, meanwhile, is now also a game back of Chip for third overall, while Kristy is a game back of Rob.

Now, technically, Lonnie didn't finish third (he finished fifth), but his 31-15 was the third-best score, and I wanted to take what may be my only chance this year to give him some props. Cheryl, meanwhile, bucked conventional wisdom by beating everyone in scratchers (8-3) and notching an impressive 10-4 NFL performance and still not doing very well overall thanks to a fairly brutal showing in the rest of the college games (2-2 in the SoCon; 3-2 in the SEC? - in the words of Cosmo Kramer YOU REALLY BLEW IT, CHERYL).

Nobody was worse than 8-6 in the NFL - except Lane and dad, who solidified their hold on spots 11 and 12 in the standings with a pair of 5-9s on their way to 25-21 and 24-22 scores, respectively. Worse, neither gets to drop them because Lane went 25-21 last week and dad is shackled to his Week 2 0-51.

Here are the standings and the games. Lots of toughies this week, and lots of good ones. Don't forget we've got one Thursday and Friday. And let me know if I made a mistake.

Standings after Week 7
(weekly winners in bold; worst week in red)
Chris 34-8, 37-14, 35-13, 28-19, 28-19, 32-10, 30-16, 29-17 (225-97, .699)
Ron 33-9, 38-13, 37-11, 29-18, 27-20, 26-16, 27-19, 34-12 (224-98, .696)
Chip 33-9, 41-10, 32-16, 28-19, 30-17, 30-12, 25-21, 29-17 (223-100, .690)
Rob 31-11, 37-14, 31-17, 29-18, 29-18, 30-12, 29-17, 34-12 (221-101, .686)
Kristy 30-12, 39-12, 27-21, 31-16, 28-19, 31-11, 28-18, 32-14 (219-102, .682)
Cullen 35-7, 38-13, 31-17, 28-19, 26-21, 25-17, 27-19, 32-14 (216-106, .671)
Bob 31-11, 34-17, 31-17, 34-13, 26-21. 28-14, 24-22, 28-18 (212-111, .656)
Amy 32-10, 40-11, 29-19, 30-17, 28-19, 25-17, 24-22, 26-20 (210-113, .650)
Cheryl 29-13, 35-16, 33-15, 26-21, 27-20, 27-15, 27-19, 30-16 (208-114, .646)
Lonnie 30-12, 37-14, 28-20, 27-20, 26-21, 24-18, 28-18, 31-15 (205-117, .637)
Lane 30-12, 34-17, 30-18, 28-19, 27-20, 28-14, 25-21, 25-21 (202-121, .625)
Dad 28-14, 0-51, 30-18, 25-22, 32-15, 24-18, 22-24, 24-22 (185-133, .582)

Games
ACC
Boston College at North Carolina
Wake Forest at Miami
Duke at Vanderbilt
Virginia at Georgia Tech
Virginia Tech at Florida State
North Carolina State at Maryland

SEC
Auburn at West Virginia (Thursday)
Kentucky at Florida
Georgia at Louisiana State
Mississippi at Arkansas
Middle Tennessee State at Mississippi State
Alabama at Tennessee

SoCon
Georgia Southern at Western Carolina
Wofford at Elon
Citadel at Samford
Furman at Appalachian State

Pac 10/Big 12 headliners
Texas Tech at Kansas
Oklahoma State at Texas
Texas A&M at Iowa State
Oregon at Arizona State

Scratchers
Boise State at San Jose State (Friday)
Cincinnati at Connecticut
Minnesota at Purdue
Illinois at Wisconsin
Louisiana Tech at Army
Rice at Tulane
Michigan State at Michigan
South Florida at Louisville
James Madison at Villanova
Weber State at Northern Arizona
Florida Atlantic at Louisiana-Monroe
Pennsylvania State at Ohio State
Nevada at Hawaii

NFL
Tampa Bay at Dallas
Washington at Detroit
Buffalo at Miami
St. Louis at New England
San Diego at New Orleans
Kansas City at New York Jets
Atlanta at Philadelphia
Arizona at Carolina
Oakland at Baltimore
Cincinnati at Houston
Cleveland at Jacksonville
New York Giants at Pittsburgh
Seattle at San Francisco
Indianapolis at Tennessee (Monday)

Week 8

Well, the streak of new winners has been broken - and that's not good for anybody not named Chris Smith.

Chris carded a 30-16 to beat Rob by a game and Kristy by two compliments of a sick 10-2 in scratchers that made me go back and make sure I got his e-mail before Saturday's games. Sadly, I did. More importantly, Chris broke his tie with Chip to move into first overall with his second consecutive weekly triumph.

Rob jumped into second after he was the only person in the pool with the cajones to take the Browns last night. Chris, Rob, I and Cullen all went 8-6 in the NFL - best in the pool - while, at the other end of the spectrum, Lonnie and Amy were 6-8. Not much of a spectrum. A crazy week in college was the difference, as outside of Chris we ranged from bad to awful.

Chip (25-21), Amy (24-22), Bob (24-22) and Lane (25-21) were so awful they got to drop the week - but we're all piling up some pretty crappy weeks. Jeez, why don't we pick some easier games?

Here are the updated standings, followed by the games. We've got two on Thursday, but nothing on Friday.

Standings
(Weekly win in bold; worst week in red)
Chris 34-8, 37-14, 35-13, 28-19, 28-19, 32-10, 30-16 (196-80, .710)
Chip 33-9, 41-10, 32-16, 28-19, 30-17, 30-12, 25-21 (194-83, .700)
Ron 33-9, 38-13, 37-11, 29-18, 27-20, 26-16, 27-19 (190-86, .688)
Kristy 30-12, 39-12, 27-21, 31-16, 28-19, 31-11, 28-18 (187-88, .680)
Rob 31-11, 37-14, 31-17, 29-18, 29-18, 30-12, 29-17 (187-89, .678)
Cullen 35-7, 38-13, 31-17, 28-19, 26-21, 25-17, 27-19 (184-92, .667)
Amy 32-10, 40-11, 29-19, 30-17, 28-19, 25-17, 24-22 (184-93, .664)
Bob 31-11, 34-17, 31-17, 34-13, 26-21. 28-14, 24-22 (184-93, .664)
Cheryl 29-13, 35-16, 33-15, 26-21, 27-20, 27-15, 27-19 (178-98, .645)
Lane 30-12, 34-17, 30-18, 28-19, 27-20, 28-14, 25-21 (177-100, .639)
Lonnie 30-12, 37-14, 28-20, 27-20, 26-21, 24-18, 28-18 (174-102, .630)
Dad 28-14, 0-51, 30-18, 25-22, 32-15, 24-18, 22-24 (161-111, .592)

Week 7
ACC
Florida State at North Carolina State (Thursday)
Wake Forest at Maryland
Georgia Tech at Clemson
North Carolina at Virginia
Miami at Duke
Virginia Tech at Boston College

SEC
Vanderbilt at Georgia
Mississippi at Alabama
Arkansas at Kentucky
Mississippi State at Tennessee
Louisiana State at South Carolina

SoCon
Western Carolina at Wofford
Citadel at Furman
Elon at Chattanooga
Appalachian State at Georgia Southern

Pac 10/Big 12 headliners
Nebraska at Iowa State
Kansas at Oklahoma
Stanford at California-Los Angeles
Kansas State at Colorado
Missouri at Texas
California at Arizona

Scratchers
Brigham Young at Texas Christian (Thursday)
Connecticut at Rutgers
Akron at Eastern Michigan
Pittsburgh at Navy
Ohio State at Michigan State
Richmond at Massachusetts
Marshall at Alabama-Birmingham
North Dakota State at Northern Iowa
Cal Poly at South Dakota State
Florida Atlantic at Western Kentucky
San Jose State at New Mexico State

NFL
San Diego at Buffalo
Minnesota at Chicago
Pittsburgh at Cincinnati
Tennessee at Kansas City
Dallas St. Louis
Baltimore at Miami
San Francisco at New York Giants
New Orleans at Carolina
Detroit at Houston
New York Jets at Oakland
Indianapolis at Green Bay
Cleveland at Washington
Seattle at Tampa Bay
Denver at New England (Monday)

Week 7 standings, games

It's looking more and more like the rest of you guys HAVE to win a week.

Chris became our sixth winner in as many tries so far, carding a 32-10 that broke Kristy's heart (and hopes for her first first) by a single game thanks to a perfect, and unmatched, 4-0 performance in the SoCon. Amazingly, he was the only person to pick Elon. And, yes, Bob and I will make him pay for not respecting our authority.

Chip and Rob tied for third at 30-12, both going 10-4 in the NFL. Cheryl and dad managed to do that as well, but let's just say they weren't quite as efficient in college.

Chris also kept up his pattern of silently stalking around near the top, waiting for the leader to slip up, and after three weeks he finally got his opportunity. My third straight shitty performance, this time a 26-16, allowed Chris and Chip to jump me into a tie for the overall lead while I slipped to third. Kristy, meanwhile, climbed up to fourth.

Here are the standings and games, again. I've also sent hard copies via pigeon for those of you who requested them.

Overall standings
(Weekly win in bold; worst week in red)
Chip 33-9, 41-10, 32-16, 28-19, 30-17, 30-12 (166-64, .722)
Chris 34-8, 37-14, 35-13, 28-19, 28-19, 32-10 (166-64, .722)
Ron 33-9, 38-13, 37-11, 29-18, 27-20, 26-16 (163-67, .709)
Kristy 30-12, 39-12, 27-21, 31-16, 28-19, 31-11 (159-70, .694)
Bob 31-11, 34-17, 31-17, 34-13, 26-21, 28-14 (158-72, .687)
Rob 31-11, 37-14, 31-17, 29-18, 29-18, 30-12 (158-72, .687)
Cullen 35-7, 38-13, 31-17, 28-19, 26-21, 25-17 (157-73, .683)
Amy 32-10, 40-11, 29-19, 30-17, 28-19, 25-17 (156-74, .678)
Cheryl 29-13, 35-16, 33-15, 26-21, 27-20, 27-15 (151-79, .657)
Lane 30-12, 34-17, 30-18, 28-19, 27-20, 28-14 (150-80, .652)
Lonnie 30-12, 37-14, 28-20, 27-20, 26-21, 24-18 (146-84, .635)
Dad 28-14, 0-51, 30-18, 25-22, 32-15, 24-18 (139-87, .615)

This week's games
ACC
Clemson at Wake Forest (Thursday)
East Carolina at Virginia
Notre Dame at North Carolina
Gardner-Webb at Georgia Tech
Central Florida at Miami

SEC
South Carolina at Kentucky
Vanderbilt at Mississippi State
Tennessee at Georgia
Arkansas at Auburn
Louisiana State at Florida

SoCon
Western Carolina at Furman
Elon at Citadel
Chattanooga at Wofford
Appalachian State at Samford

Pac 10/Big 12 headliners
Texas at Oklahoma
Kansas State at Texas A&M
Nebraska at Texas Tech
Arizona at Stanford
Iowa State at Baylor
Oklahoma State at Missouri

Scratchers
Louisville at Memphis (Friday)
Iowa at Indiana
Eastern Michigan at Army
Ohio at Kent
Michigan State at Northwestern
Western Michigan at Buffalo
James Madison at Richmond
Montana at Eastern Washington
Bowling Green at Akron
Middle Tennessee at Florida International
Western Illinois at North Dakota State
Pennsylvania State at Wisconsin

NFL
Chicago at Atlanta
Baltimore at Indianapolis
Detroit at Minnesota
Oakland at New Orleans
Cincinnati at New York Jets
Carolina at Tampa Bay
St. Louis at Washington
Miami at Houston
Jacksonville at Denver
Dallas at Arizona
Philadelphia at San Francisco
Green Bay at Seattle
New England at San Diego
New York Giants at Cleveland (Monday)

Week 7 games

I haven't done the standings yet (I don't want to know), but here are this week's games so you can get to workin' on 'em:

ACC
Clemson at Wake Forest (Thursday)
East Carolina at Virginia
Notre Dame at North Carolina
Gardner-Webb at Georgia Tech
Central Florida at Miami

SEC
South Carolina at Kentucky
Vanderbilt at Mississippi State
Tennessee at Georgia
Arkansas at Auburn
Louisiana State at Florida

SoCon
Western Carolina at Furman
Elon at Citadel
Chattanooga at Wofford
Appalachian State at Samford

Pac 10/Big 12 headliners
Texas at Oklahoma
Kansas State at Texas A&M
Nebraska at Texas Tech
Arizona at Stanford
Iowa State at Baylor
Oklahoma State at Missouri

Scratchers
Louisville at Memphis (Friday)
Iowa at Indiana
Eastern Michigan at Army
Ohio at Kent
Michigan State at Northwestern
Western Michigan at Buffalo
James Madison at Richmond
Montana at Eastern Washington
Bowling Green at Akron
Middle Tennessee at Florida International
Western Illinois at North Dakota State
Pennsylvania State at Wisconsin

NFL
Chicago at Atlanta
Baltimore at Indianapolis
Detroit at Minnesota
Oakland at New Orleans
Cincinnati at New York Jets
Carolina at Tampa Bay
St. Louis at Washington
Miami at Houston
Jacksonville at Denver
Dallas at Arizona
Philadelphia at San Francisco
Green Bay at Seattle
New England at San Diego
New York Giants at Cleveland (Monday)