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Friday, December 06, 2002
(SOMEWHAT) NEW COLUMNS I've been remiss about promoting columns lately. To bring us up to speed, last week in FrontPage, I wrote Jumping the Gun on Saudi Arabia. And in this week's FP, I have Ramadan Terror. Wednesday, December 04, 2002
WEINKOPF.COM FOOTBALL POOL WEEK 13 UPDATE: WILD WILD RETURN! 
Reports of Jersey Girl's fourth-consecutive win were greatly exaggerated. This week's winner, WildStyle75 Stacey (pictured, left), has bolstered her hold on first place overall. IT LOOKED like she was fading fast. WildStyle75 Stacey, our longtime pool leader, had fallen three weeks in a row to Jersey Girl Cris, the defending champion of the Weinkopf.com Football Pool. In some places, it was even falsely reported that in Week 13, she had lost again. Don't believe a word of it. WildStyle is back, having bested the pride of the Garden State 86-81, and hanging on to a narrow, 13-point lead on the season. The One To Watch? WildStyle had a great week, but she will not be the next OTW. Getting OTW honors takes more than just winning on a given week. The title is meant to signify a trend, a pooler who is on fire, who is slowly taking over, whether loudly or quietly. Now that the hex has (just barely) managed to do its job on Jersey Girl (who, if you ask me, seems to thrive in the spotlight), it's time for a new candidate. That would be Bruiser Tim Nicely, who missed the first two weeks of the pool and languished in the bottom two spots for most of the season. Quietly but steadily, Tim has been on a tear these last few weeks, culminating in this week’s 79-point finish, which has propelled him into 11th place. In fact, had the evil Oakland Raiders scored a single additional point in their MNF match-up against the New York Jests, Bruiser and At Least I’m Not a Zebra Elizabeth (80) would have tied for first-place on the week with 95 points apiece. Now trailing Grogan’s Heroes Kenny (69) by a mere three points, the Bruiser stands a credible chance of becoming the first pool bottom-dweller to crack the Top Ten. His story is amazing, and it makes him a natural for the One To Watch title. Easy Week? Either we’ve all been struck with a late, sudden case of football virtuosity, or Week 13 was just easier to call than usual. Maybe, finally, the NFL is just starting to make sense this season. Whatever the case, an astonishing 9 out of 20 poolers cracked the 70-point plateau this week. In addition to those named above, that list includes Stinky Cheese Tara (74), boy wonder Padawan Ebin (74), NevadaNiner Jason (75), and yours truly, the Mighty Mighty Pats Fan (79). Put it this way: If the three-year old could crack the seventy mark, it had to be an easy week. Even last week’s stinker, Brother Barrio Bravo Matthew Rubush scored an impressive 72 points, proving that the One Not To Watch honor is still doing its wonders. So, who next? Easy pick for this week’s ONTW designation: Hoboken Orphans Chris. In a week of abundance, Jersey’s less-celebrated pooler had a point-scoring famine with 26. That was by far the worst performance of the week, a full 15 points behind Cappuccino Commando Charles, who couldn’t bring himself to pick anyone in the Baltimore-Cincinnati contest and assigned the game no confidence points. (Free advice, Charles: Always pick against the Bungles, even if they’re given 72 points.) Had Hoboken Orphans put in a more typical performance, he could easily be in the seventh-place spot currently held by Barrio Bravo. Instead, his stinker has dropped him from the Top Ten to a disappointing 12th place (which, BTW, is still better than yours truly, who struggles at 14th). Sad but true Still, the most disappointing performance of the week belongs to Steel Man Joe (0) who, unlike Schizophobes Glen (61) and Blitzburgh Brawler Ben Kepple (54) couldn’t manage to get his picks in on time. That marks Joe’s third bungle of the year, and puts him with that other three-time no-show, the Brawler, at the very bottom of the heap. Family fun time Now for the family updates: Yours truly had the joy of watching the Thanksgiving games with brother-in-law “When’s Baseball Season Start?” Bob, who went 0-2 on his random-picking scheme (or, as Al Gore would call it, a “risky random-picking scheme”), while I went 2-0 for 28 points. Silly Bob picked the Lions over the Mighty Mighty Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots, who now hold first place in the AFC East after Drew Bledsoe’s Buffalo Jills killed the Miami Mammals up in Orchard Park. (Take that, Flipper Lynn!) Bob’s anemic 55-point performance was no match for my awesome 79, and so I have inched closer on the season tally, which I now trail 8-5. (Bob, by the way, has slipped to fourth place overall behind New York Lancers Dave, who scored a mediocre, but Bob-beating 59 points on the week.) In the Familia Rubush, Brother Matthew’s 72 points beat Hail to the Redskins Scott’s 57, putting Matthew in a 7-6 lead for the season. Mrs. Zebra Elizabeth’s 80 points were enough to keep her hopes alive against husband Grogan’s Heroes Kenny’s 69. Season tally—He: 8, She: 4. And by the slimmest of margins, (75-74) NevadaNiner Jason was able to defeat son Padawan Ebin, and hang on for the season, trailing 8-5. To answer last week’s questions Is Jersey Girl Cris unstoppable? Still an open question. Will WildStyle75 keep on crumbling? No -- so far, she's managed to hang on. How low can Bob go? Fourth and sinking … And some new questions … Can Grogan’s Heroes Kenny hold off Bruiser and hang on to his spot in the Top Ten? Will Cappuccino Commando Charles make all his picks this week? Which intra-familial contender will clinch a season victory first? These answers and more all forthcoming. Stay tuned! Yours, Chris, The Mighty Mighty Pats Fan |
