Ta-Nehisi Coates

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Read Em And Weep--This Week's Pick Em Ratings

12 Nov 2009 03:00 pm

Wow. Blood on the walls. Mostly mine. Sg and Dwayne are still killing it. I liked to take this opportunity to hype Dwayne's book. My man isn't just a master of the spread--he's sick with the word-play, too.

Rank

Pick Set Name

Total Points

W-L

1

sgwhiteinfla

517

67-45

2

DBetts

511

69-43

3

Singapore Slingers

508

59-53

4

BisonMightyBison

506

64-48

5

Go Bengals!

503

64-48

6

altonsmith101

502

64-48

7

Odoacer's Guesses

500

67-45

8

Capt. Zubaz

499

65-47

9

Electric Messiah

497

61-51

10

lheger

496

59-53

11

Bearable

496

61-51

12

drlemur

492

61-51

13

dondrapersdemons

490

60-52

14

Chi Picks

488

59-53

15

Bright Green Future

488

59-53

16

wolfpack

486

64-48

17

BlindHope

485

60-52

18

Team Mulva

484

64-48

19

The Blue Lanterns

483

65-47

20

Juba

483

61-51

21

bloodstar

482

59-53

22

Wonderlic My Balls

481

57-55

23

thegunner1981

481

61-51

24

Blandas

479

65-47

25

Replacements

478

63-49

26

Jerry's Kids

477

56-56

27

ScoutAbouts

477

60-52

28

szspeak

476

61-51

29

SKI's Selections

476

60-52

30

Shark Week Every Week

475

61-51

31

Also.

474

59-53

32

Who We Thought They Were

473

56-56

33

Wookies

473

56-56

34

Blowed Up

472

57-55

35

Please Dont Hit the Scoreboard

472

59-53

36

BreakerBaker

472

54-58

37

Weehawken Toffees

472

58-54

38

Karate Fists FTW

466

61-51

39

Pickin' the nose

465

58-54

40

Dirk Diggler

463

60-52

41

tinare

461

61-51

42

Will in STL

461

54-58

43

allusionist

460

55-57

44

jenawesome

459

63-49

45

Go Sqaudron Go

459

59-53

46

Dan W

458

60-52

47

Josh's Picks

457

58-54

48

Defpotec

456

58-54

49

BetterThanYou

456

59-53

50

Cambridge Royal Giants

455

52-60

51

Incertus(Brian)

454

59-53

52

Child OfAnNFCEastDivorce

454

60-52

53

Baba Booey

453

57-55

54

Districto Federal

453

54-58

55

TObills

452

56-56

56

Fightin' Gremlins

451

58-54

57

Shoestring Tackle

451

56-56

58

CitizenE

449

58-54

59

The Best Guesses

449

62-50

60

N0chance - mjnewton

448

61-51

61

At Least We Got Herschel

447

56-56

62

I Dream of Mangini

447

56-56

63

TW Andrews

446

58-54

64

AZfootballfan

446

54-58

65

Torgo3

444

57-55

66

Death Panel

444

55-57

67

Seymour's Ghost

443

56-56

68

Tom Brady's Achilles Ankle

443

57-55

69

leland

443

53-59

70

scoundrels

442

57-55

71

Egan's Picks

442

60-52

72

jennifer_oh_jenny

441

59-53

73

the oxford set

441

59-53

74

The Ballad of Ron Mexico

438

56-56

75

motownjunk

435

57-55

76

Turf on Your Tonsils

434

56-56

77

J-Dubs Pix

433

55-57

78

VandelayIndustries

433

59-53

79

ticats

431

56-56

80

sean_in_nh

431

56-56

81

Jesse S

430

55-57

82

19th St.. Gangsters

430

53-59

83

ClubberMyPredictionisPainLang

430

58-54

84

daveintexas

428

59-53

85

The Foulness

428

60-52

86

Eric F

426

54-58

87

OGWiseman

426

52-60

88

DW

424

55-57

89

Da Demondeacs

423

58-54

90

Waimea Rancheros

422

56-56

91

drbec4dacolts

422

54-58

92

Eric K

421

63-49

93

DougEMI

420

53-59

94

obscene

419

56-56

95

Gobblegobblegobble

417

55-57

96

Far East Beasts

417

54-58

97

thephoenixnyc

416

51-61

98

Hot Sauce Committee

415

52-60

99

Steven Donegal

415

53-59

100

Bevo's Ballsack

411

48-64

101

brooklynj

411

51-61

102

Persia's Picks

410

58-54

103

earninghemistway

404

48-64

104

CJ_in_Harlem

402

60-52

105

ThrowingDarts

398

49-63

106

the pineapple express

398

48-64

107

Justin C

398

49-63

108

nixpix

393

53-59

109

brendan

388

51-61

110

Burgh AC

383

50-62

111

Green Cup

381

54-58

112

Lincoln Abes

373

46-66

113

roadrunner

371

50-62

114

Law Abiding

364

47-65

115

The Bailoutees

361

57-55

116

Douchemanzadah

358

48-64

117

Imby

355

44-68

118

Johannesburg Prawns

351

44-68

119

DirtyLiberal

347

44-68

120

NYDCWolv

340

49-63

121

ajb498

316

40-72

122

Miskatonic Minions

309

36-76

123

TheBulge

303

39-73

124

bertie

301

38-74

125

BrockAun's Picks

216

24-88

126

bourbon renewal

215

27-85

127

Jordan

213

50-62

128

Orton Hears Some Booooos

209

32-80

129

DC Texans

181

25-87

130

Tim Allen Is Not Very Funny

179

24-88

131

CerebralOllie

178

35-77

132

H.N.I.C.

170

20-92

133

beauzeau

167

22-90

134

VandyGirl

161

32-80

135

the fighting dogs

156

19-93

136

AndrewG

153

18-94

137

BruceCrew

144

21-91

138

Pats Guy

72

9-103

139

Team Better Than You

70

8-104

140

A-Web

68

8-104

141

bobcats

16

14-98

142

MarcFein

16

11-101

143

l

0

22-62

144

Ellis Carver

0

13-99

145

Ghetto Defendant

0

0-112

146

AJCinSC

0

0-112

147

What's a Pick Set?

0

0-112

148

viktor vaughn

0

10-102

 

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Comments (24)

36!?! Missing my chance on half of the games from two weeks ago really hurt. Who does everybody have tonight? Bears or Niners?

Persia (Replying to: BreakerBaker)

Coming from place 102, can I say I have zero sympathy?

I went with the Niners. I think.

Niners. But only one confidence point. I don't think much of either team (but I've been wrong more than I've been right this year, so it's not like I have a lot of confidence points on myself at this point).

D-Sel (Replying to: D-Sel)

Damn. Only one confidence point... That could the only game I get right all week.

Niners, but only just barely.

Melanie (Replying to: BreakerBaker)

Bears. I think I gave it 5 or 6 points.

BreakerBaker (Replying to: BreakerBaker)

I went with the Bears and what now appears to have been too many confidence points. God. That game sucked.

I'll hijack this football thread to point folks to a WSJ article on research showing that Australian football, played without protective gear, produces some 25% fewer head injuries than our version. (Several weeks ago, I engaged in a long discussion spanning several threads about relative rates of injury, and the role of protective gear. What we all lacked were good comparative data; here's the info.)

The tragi-comic money quote:

"Without the helmet, they wouldn't hit their head in stupid plays," says P. David Halstead, technical director for the Nocsae, the group that sets helmet-safety standards. But without helmets, the game "wouldn't be football," he says.

I had my second worst week and yet still moved up four spots. That's a testament to how brutal things were for everyone last week.

The more recent win-loss records for most of us seem to imply that the oddsmakers have caught up with the ebb and flow of each team and adjusted the spreads accordingly. Is this sort of "marketplace correction" something that happens by mid-season every year? Or is this year a fluke? I've never done this before, so I honestly don't know.

After week one, my goal was to win the league. Now, I just want to finish in the top 100. I don't want to say that there will be "technical difficulties" getting the rankings out if I slip much further but, you know, I'm pretty sure the 5th Amendment or something will kick in and stop me from having to take part in my own humiliation.

I actually feel decent about my picks this week, which should last for about another 6-7 hours before the pain begins.

I was doing pretty well with picks until about two weeks ago, when I said to my friends, "I'm doing really well with picks this year. I should move to Vegas or something." Since then, the gambling gods have replayed the Gimp scene from Pulp Fiction, with me as Marcellus Wallace. I got three right two weeks ago. Three!!!

Congrats on the book, Dwayne. Looks interesting.

Down to 17. Ah well, last week was bad for me. This week will turn it around though! I have confidence, however misplaced it may be.

The Foulness is at 85 and totally humbled by picking against the Vegas lines. Those Vegas guys are good at their jobs. The Foulness is bad at picking confidence points.

Coates, what's your pick em team name? Victory is out of the question for me, so I gotta set my sights on beating the blogger.

mjnewt0n (Replying to: thefoulness)

I feel ya' foulness...

The blogger and I are having a "mediocrity battle", and his abysmal week allowed him to fall to position 61, one position, (and 1 confidence point) below me.

I'm looking right at you Coates...

Anyway, now I will take the opportunity to bad mouth this confidence point thing. It kinda sucks.

The whole point of this exercise is really us against the Vegas Oddsmakers. It's a gambling thing. That's the whole point of point spreads.

So. I think the won-loss against the spread is more the measurement. In that I am (barely) holding my head above water.

Think of it this way.

Let's say you bet 5$ on every pick with the spread. If for every win you get 5$ but every time you lose you pay the book 6$.

Now how are all of you doing?

Me? Well I've won 305$ (61x5) and lost 306$ (51x6). I'm down a buck to the book.

Foulness, you've won 300$ and lost $312, you're down 12$

Coates, you've won 280$ and lost 336$. You're down 56$. No big deal unless you are betting more than 5$ a game.

If you are, then you should start worrying about your kneecaps.

from 24 to 97 like a lead balloon

I'm letting my two week old pick this week.

39. Not too bad. I am feeling my picks from my gut this week, no analysis whatsoever.

I feel AWESOME after getting less than 30 pts and still at #1. Well actually.....surprised as hell is more like it lol. That just shows that last week was a mofo for everybody. But I would like to take the time out to big up Singapore Slingers in 3rd place. Check out the wins vs the points. What that means is if you are really gonna put money down on some games (not suggestions you would or should) you should be looking at their high confidence pts picks and rolling with those. That is damned impressive if you ask me to have like 8-10 less wins than the cats in front of you but only be back 9 pts from having the lead. And I don't know who that person is, just wanna give em a shout out cuz I think they deserve it.

Well now that I have caught my second wind and we are officially in the 2nd half of the season starting tonight Imma hit you with a Ric Flair quote.

"I don't care if you like it, or you don't like it, sit back and watch it, cuz I'm the best, going. today WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO"

Brang it!

I don't know if anyone has brought this up in a prior thread but is there a contest for best name? some of these names made me smirk.

Since I started my reverse-psych strategy against the spread boys (make picks as best I can, then reverse them all wholesale) I have moved up more than 40 places.

From 35-25! My goal is a top 20 finish. I might get there.

Well at the half, anything but sanguine. Still, best moment for a 49er fan so far was that shoulder bump jump between Gore and Tom Rathman on the sideline after the score.

Ah yes, 4 confidence points already. So now everyone has seen SF's offensive line and qb. But Jay Cutler, Denver fans--you're better off believe me. 5 picks to win by 4 points--we'll take it and spread for now.

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