WEEK SEVEN... SNIFF... HOLD IT TOGETHER, MATT... TEEN

Well, gang, this is it, the end of the line. We all get off here. Its been a fun ride. I'll save the tearful good-bye for Matty's Yearly Retrospective post, which I'll certainly type up drunk as a skunk's junk in a bunk on a trunk. This week begins with the crapshoot that is Redskins/Giants on Saturday night. The game starts at 8pm EST, so I'll need your final (*sniff*) weekly picks by then.

Heres the schedule for Week 17:

NY "Skunk's Junk" Giants at Washington
Atlanta at Philadelphia
Buffalo at Baltimore
Carolina at New Orleans
Cleveland at Houston
Detroit at Dallas
Green Bay at Chicago
Jacksonville at Kansas City
Miami at Indianapolis
New England at Tennessee
Oakland at NY Jets
Pittsburgh at Cincinnati
Seattle at Tampa Bay
St Louis at Minnesota
Arizona at San Diego
San Francisco at Denver (plus total points)

WINNER AND STANDINGS: WEEK 16

From the homestead...

Thaaaaaaaaats right, I'm back at my 'rents house, down in ol' VA. This is the first post coming to you from the backwater of Washington DC, rather than the mean streets of Filthadelphia.

We had a banner week here at MFSAFP(p!)! Two Firsts this week. The first First, if you will, was that... well, actually it wasn't really a first after all. I thought someone set the record for wins in a week, 14, but that ain't the case. Fourteen wins, what I thought to be the new record was originally posted by Mister Zack Klein in Week 2. And its not even the record for best week, which was posted by my brother (Sandy) who went an incredible 13-1 in Week 5. In any case, the non-record was posted by Mister David Labowitz. Such a great week deserves a great reward, but we don't give out great rewards here at MFSAFP(p!)! Which is fine for Mister Labowitz because he sent his picks in too late to qualify for this week's money anyway. For shame, Mister Labowitz, for shame.

The second First was that, with Mister Labowitz out of the way, there was room for mediocrity to take the proverbial cake. And, sirs, as you all should know by now, I am nothing if not mediocre. Thats right, the winner this week was, essentially through default...


ME!!!

Holy poop on a stick!!
Holy crap on a crutch!!
And holy %#@$*!@&^*&!!!

I'd like to thank all the little people who made this possible, primarily everyone in this pool for all having a week just crappy enough to let me regain a measure of my football prognosticating dignity. I chose 27 points and, as the total points came out to be 23, I managed to beat Karl (34) and George (31) in the total points category. Here's how the week played out:

1. Dave Labowitz, 14-2*
2. Matthew Kory, 9-7
2. Karl Vaillancourt, 9-7
2. Scott Rozsa, 9-7*
2. George Smith, 9-7
6. Joshu Shih, 8-8
6. Andy Harris, 8-8*
8. Matthew Mariam, 7-9*
8. Sandy Kory, 7-9*
8. Joey Bansen, 7-9
8. Jon Stover, 7-9
8. Zack Klein, 7-9
13. Bill Denton, 6-10

[*picks arrived too late for dough]

That puts the year's standings at the following:

1. Joshu Shih, 148-92
2. Joey Bansen, 145-95
3. Matthew Kory, 144-96
4. Jon Stover, 143- 97
4. Andy Harris, 143-97
6. Scott Rozsa, 141-99
6. Karl Vaillancourt, 141-99
6. Sandy Kory, 141-99
9. Zack Klein, 140-100
10. Matthew Mariam, 139-101
11. George Smith, 137-103
12. Dave Labowitz, 131-109
13. Bill Denton, 130-110

This week's games don't begin until Saturday at 8pm EST, so I'll need your last week's picks (WHAAA!!!) by then. Only one more week to go folks. The race for second place is on so don't send 'em in late this week! I'll post the Week 17 schedule later today.

WEEK SIXTEEN

Living in Philadelphia, I'm legally obligated to show you this picture.

Well, its the Christmas season, which means only one thing: the NFL schedule is getting weirder and weirder. Not content to confuse us with Thursday night football (which nobody can actually watch anyway), Saturday night football, regular Sunday afternoon football, Sunday night football, and then Monday night football, the NFL has added... well, they've added more Monday night football. Monday afternoon football, actually, which, if you live on the west coast, is almost Monday morning football.

WHY NOT JUST PLAY GAMES ON SUNDAYS?!?!?

I don't feel better now.

Send in your picks because the NFL week could start at any moment! (I believe the official start date is 8pm, EST, this Thursday, 12/21.) Here's this week's games.

Minnesota at Green Bay
Kansas City at Oakland
Baltimore at Pittsburgh
Carolina at Atlanta
Chicago at Detroit
Indianapolis at Houston
New England at Jacksonville
New Orleans at NY "If it weren't for my horse, I wouldn't have spent that year in college." Giants
Tampa Bay at Cleveland
Tennessee at Buffalo
Washington at St Louis
Arizona at San Francisco
Cincinnati at Denver
San Diego at Seattle
Philadelphia at Dallas
NY Jets at Miami (plus total points)

Standings: WEEK 15

"Hey! Stop clogging those bases!"

Week 15 is now in the books, and with it another win for Joshu (for more information on this exciting development, scroll down to the Week 15 Update below). So congrats Joshu blah blah blah... Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...wha...huh? Where am I...? Oh! Right, Week 15. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

So, yeah, heres the standings for the week that just was:

1. Joshu Shih, 13-3
2. Karl Vaillancourt, 11-5
Joey, Bansen, 11-5
Jon Stover, 11-5
5. George Smith, 10-6
Matthew Mariam, 10-6
Andy Harris, 10-6
Matthew Kory, 10-6
9. Bill Denton, 9-7
Zack Klein, 9-7
Scott Rozsa, 9-7
12. Dave Labowitz, 8-8
Sandy Kory, 8-8

With only two weeks to go, the overall year-to-date standings look like this:

1. Joshu Shih, 140-84
2. Joey Bansen, 138-86
3. Jon Stover, 136-88
4. Andy Harris, 135-89
Matthew Kory 135-89
6. Sandy Kory, 134-90
7. Zack Klein, 133-91
8. Matthew Mariam, 132-92
Scott Rozsa, 132-92
Karl Vaillancourt, 132-92
11. George Smith, 128-96
12. Bill Denton, 124-100
13. Dave Labowitz, 117- 107

Two weeks to go. Thursday Night Football again this week, so please get me your picks by game time (8pm EST) on Thursday night.

Week 15: Update!

How'd ya like to be that stick?

So, we've got one more game left in Week 15, but while that will play a role in the overall standings, it don't mean squat this week. Thats right, Gents, we have a winner already. And for the fifteenth week in a row, it ain't me! The winner is, in fact, Joshu Shih, who is threatening to just kick our collective ass and then shove our face up it for good measure.

Oww.

In any case, I just wanted to say congrats Joshu, and don't forget to tune in tomorrow for the exciting conclusion to Week 15: By How Much Will We All Lose to Joshu?

Also tomorrow, up to date Yearly Standings! Find out what you have to do to win $280-something bucks in two weeks!

WEEK FIFTEEN

Alee

VS.

Mr. Pickles

Recently got a new cat. I've had a cat for the past eight years. Alee [top] is small, but ferocious. Well, OK, she's not ferocious, but she makes up for it by sleeping a lot. Her life was one huge nap punctuated by occasional eating and pooping. That is, until Mr. Pickles came on the scene. Mr. Pickles [below] is a hard Philly cat from the mean streets. He doesn't take crap from anyone. Also, he likes to play with string.

After moving in, Mr. Pickles wasted no time drinking Alee's water and eating her food. This lasted for two weeks. I though Alee was just going to take it. But, Alee is nobody's bitch. Certainly not to anyone named Mr. Pickles. Alee waited until the time was right, and I wasn't there. I was walking to class and talking on the phone with my fiance, when there was a loud "MEADOUJALDHF'ALDSF'AEJKF'LD!" in the background. My fiance maintained her cool. "AAAAHHHHHH", she said. "Alee is beating up Mr. Pickles!" At this point, for reasons that are still unclear to me, I turned into a pimp. "Dats riiiight," I said. While the pimp is away, the cats will kick the crap out of each other (apparently).

Things are different now back at the household. Much like the Union Army, Alee hasn't pressed her advantage. She is content to stay upstairs, especially since thats where her food is. Mr. Pickles stays downstairs. Occasionally they'll see each other up the stairway and hiss at one another. But basically we have cat détente at the Kory household. Personally, I think this is the calm before the storm, but then I thought the Redskins would make the playoffs, so what do I know?

So, you might be thinking, what does this have to do with football?

The answer is, nothing. Nothing at all. Here is the slate for Week 15:

San Francisco at Seattle
Dallas at Atlanta
Cleveland at Baltimore
Detroit at Green Bay
Houston at New England
Jacksonville at Tennessee
Miami at Buffalo
NY Jets at Minnesota
Philadelphia at NY "Turtles, Slow But Built To Last" Giants
Pittsburgh at Carolina
Tampa Bay at Chicago
Washington at New Orleans
Denver at Arizona
Kansas City at San Diego
St Louis at Oakland
Cincinnati at Indianapolis (plus total points)

Remember, peeps, I need all your picks by the start of the first game (Thursday, 8pm EST) if you are going to be eligible for the weekly money. Have a great week.

WINNER AND STANDINGS: WEEK 14

"Cummerbunds be bad, yo."

Week 14 is finally over. Wheew... what a relief. Its time to crown the winner, and in the interest of time and my waning sanity, here it is:

1. Andy Harris*, 11-5
2. Zack Klein, 10-6
2. Joshu Shih, 10-6
2. Matthew Kory, 10-6
5. George Smith, 7-9
5. Joey Bansen*, 7-9
5. Dave Labowitz, 7-9
5. Karl Vaillancourt*, 7-9
5. Bill Denton*, 7-9
5. Scott Rozsa, 7-9
5. Matthew Mariam, 7-9
12. Jon Stover, 6-10
13. Sandy Kory, 6-10

The little star means that I received your picks too late for you to be eligible for the weekly prize. This means that the winner of Week 14 came down to total points between the three second place finishers. I picked 21 points, Joshu picked 35 points and Zack picked 36. The total points scored went over 36 which means that the winner is Zack Klein! Congrats to Zack! You thief!

The overall standings changed a lot this week. We had a couple people at the top take a tumble and fall back to the pack. A few in the pack picked up the pace a bit and are now in the hunt. For the most part its a jumble up at the top. Should be an exciting three weeks left. So, the overall standings now look like this:

1. Joshu Shih, 127-81
1. Joey Bansen, 127-81
3. Sandy Kory, 126-82
4. Matthew Kory, 125-83
4. Jon Stover, 125-83
4. Andy Harris, 125-83
7. Zack Klein, 124-84
8. Scott Rozsa, 123-85
9. Matthew Mariam, 122-86
10. Karl Vaillancourt, 121-87
11. George Smith, 118-90
12. Bill Denton, 115-93
13. Dave Labowitz, 109-99

Unlike the weekly prizes, I did not devise a tie-breaker for the final first and second place prizes. So, if you finish tied with someone(s?) at the end of the season, I'll split the money equally for all those that finished tied at that spot.

Two quick reminders:

1) Next week's games start on Thursday night as well, so don't forget to send in your picks. Send them in early if you need to.

2) Here's the prize money we're playing for, just to whet yr collective appetites:

1st Place Overall: $286
2nd Place Overall: $130

This ain't Vegas, but thats still a hefty chunch of change. Think of all the blow you could buy with that, eh? Check back at the end of the day when I post the schedule for Week 15 as well as brightening your day with more witty commentary. Toodles!