So Texas Tech megafan John Sullivan sent me an e-mail protesting his 0-0 in the standings and claimed he sent in his picks on time. Turns out he was right... and he got a 5-0. He sent me an e-mail with a time stamp of "September 2, 2009 8:41:34 AM CDT" that asked if there was room for one more person in the pool and instructed me to send him a PayPal invoice. Had I scrolled farther down I would have noticed that his picks for Week 1 were included in that e-mail. The standings have been officially revised to correct my error, so make that four people with a 5-0 in Week 1.
Showing posts with label Pool insider. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pool insider. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Pool Insider: Standings revision
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Pool Insider: The Plot Against the Big 12
Last week, I received a complaint about no Big 12 games making the weekly five, and this week I got the following additional complaints...
"I assume we are going to start seeing some Big 12 games as they start firing up. We have Ark-Texas next week, Tech-a&m, Tech-Nebraska, Texas-OU..." -- John Sully
"There seems to be a lot of bias by 'the one who picks the games' this week to pick everything in the south. You know, contrary to popular belief, there are other football conferences besides the SEC and ACC. But, I realize that Nebraska is off and I appreciate NOT having Notre Dame in this week and therefore you probably had slim pickings." -- Ryan Husker
So let me address these complaints. First, there is absolutely no bias against the Big 12 in the football pool. In fact, I would prefer that Arkansas be in the Big 12 instead of the SEC. Second, the games are picked with total disregard for conference affiliation. Games are picked using a formula to balance the games featuring the top teams in the country and the games that will be the most competitive. That's how you get the games. They basically pick themselves.
Why are there so many ACC games in the pool thus far? It is a very balanced conference with fairly good teams and they start playing conference games in the ACC right from the get go. So while the Big 12 teams are mostly getting their easy non-conference games out of the way, the ACC is already fighting for the belt.
It's funny because I also get complaints when enough SEC teams don't make the weekly five. For instance, this week people want to know where the Alabama-Arkansas game is. I'll tell you where it is, it's on Raycom. That is typically a sign it is not exactly the biggest game in the country.
The South will typically be represented more because there is better football in the South. That's why you have CBS paying $55 million and ESPN paying $2 billion for rights to the SEC.
"I assume we are going to start seeing some Big 12 games as they start firing up. We have Ark-Texas next week, Tech-a&m, Tech-Nebraska, Texas-OU..." -- John Sully
"There seems to be a lot of bias by 'the one who picks the games' this week to pick everything in the south. You know, contrary to popular belief, there are other football conferences besides the SEC and ACC. But, I realize that Nebraska is off and I appreciate NOT having Notre Dame in this week and therefore you probably had slim pickings." -- Ryan Husker
So let me address these complaints. First, there is absolutely no bias against the Big 12 in the football pool. In fact, I would prefer that Arkansas be in the Big 12 instead of the SEC. Second, the games are picked with total disregard for conference affiliation. Games are picked using a formula to balance the games featuring the top teams in the country and the games that will be the most competitive. That's how you get the games. They basically pick themselves.
Why are there so many ACC games in the pool thus far? It is a very balanced conference with fairly good teams and they start playing conference games in the ACC right from the get go. So while the Big 12 teams are mostly getting their easy non-conference games out of the way, the ACC is already fighting for the belt.
It's funny because I also get complaints when enough SEC teams don't make the weekly five. For instance, this week people want to know where the Alabama-Arkansas game is. I'll tell you where it is, it's on Raycom. That is typically a sign it is not exactly the biggest game in the country.
The South will typically be represented more because there is better football in the South. That's why you have CBS paying $55 million and ESPN paying $2 billion for rights to the SEC.
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Pool insider: The first standings
So you see yourself in the standings tied with many others at 7 (3-2) and wonder why you have been placed at the bottom of this group rather than the top. This is a common question I get at the beginning of every season. You're not at the bottom because I have something against you.
Rather than go with alphabetical order, which I've always thought was a kind of boring way to organize since having to sit in front of Eanes all those years, I've organized the standings by order of entry. So if you are tied with someone right now and they are placed above you in the order, it's simply by who entered the pool first. It seemed like a fair thing to do.
But that pretty much only lasts for Week 1. After this week, everyone gets jumbled around and the weekly score comes into play in ordering participants who are tied.
Just as a bit of completely unnecessary trivia, Mike Beranek was the last person to enter the pool this year. So that's why he sits at the bottom of the 4 (2-3) list.
On another note, I have been waiting years for Mike P.'s wife to enter the basketball pool so that I could give her a certain nickname in the standings. Well, she finally entered the football pool. So enter The LZA.
Rather than go with alphabetical order, which I've always thought was a kind of boring way to organize since having to sit in front of Eanes all those years, I've organized the standings by order of entry. So if you are tied with someone right now and they are placed above you in the order, it's simply by who entered the pool first. It seemed like a fair thing to do.
But that pretty much only lasts for Week 1. After this week, everyone gets jumbled around and the weekly score comes into play in ordering participants who are tied.
Just as a bit of completely unnecessary trivia, Mike Beranek was the last person to enter the pool this year. So that's why he sits at the bottom of the 4 (2-3) list.
On another note, I have been waiting years for Mike P.'s wife to enter the basketball pool so that I could give her a certain nickname in the standings. Well, she finally entered the football pool. So enter The LZA.
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