I'm A Man

I'm ... you know.

Pick Six 2014: Calling All Entries

The AP preseason poll came out Sunday, and that means it's time for the Eighth Annual TMMPF Pick Six Game. 

If you've played before, you know the rules. If you are new, it's real easy. The AP Top 25 is divided into five groups: 1-5, 6-10, etc. You pick one team from each grouping: 

A: Florida State, Alabama, Oregon, Oklahoma, Ohio State

B: Auburn, UCLA, Michigan State, South Carolina, Baylor

C: Stanford, Georgia, Louisiana State, Wisconsin, Southern Cal
D: Clemson, Notre Dame, Ole Miss, Arizona State, Kansas State

E: Texas A&M, Nebraska, North Carolina, Missouri, Washington

Then pick one unranked team. The goal is to have the highest ranked teams at the end of the season. The game ends with the final AP poll after the national championship game. 

Grab a cold one. Research makes you thirsty.

SAME AS LAST YEAR: 

1) The scoreboard will be updated on Sunday evenings, or Monday morning usually at the latest. 

2) College football now has a four-team playoff. While this may make the on-field action more interesting, it doesn't affect the Pick Six. We still use the final AP poll.

NEW THIS YEAR: 1) I will send out occasional email updates to replace the weekly blog report. You'll always have access to the latest scoreboard. 

2) Free Points: I will award eight bonus points (in honor of the 8th annual game) if you correctly pick the winner of the wide open ACC Coastal Division. No penalty for incorrect guesses, so have at it. The teams are: Duke, Georgia Tech, Miami, North Carolina, Pitt, Virginia, Virginia Tech. 

THE PRIZE: 

A college football-themed piece of kitsch of my choosing. Past prizes include a Tennessee beer coozie, an Alabama flag and a Texas finger puppet. 

Cuddle up to a prominent Group F nominee. 

WHAT TO DO:

Submit your six schools, bonus ACC pick and team name to tmmpf (dot) blog at googlemail by the deadline of Thursday, August 28 at 5pm Central. Picks needs to be in before the first game of the year, which is 8/28. If you played before, you can keep your team name or choose a new one. Don't write "OU" for Group A or I will give you Oglethorpe University. 

It's more fun when those in your household play too, so be sure to invite your spouse, kids, etc. Dogs and cats can play too! Quigley the cat won in 2010. 

Any questions, write to me. We look forward to another fun year, and good luck!

MPF004

P62013: The Winner

The national championship game was three weeks ago tonight. The poll came out, I updated the standings ... and forgot to write the final post of the Pick Six game.

Well tonight I can finally announce what you might have already known if you checked out the link above. And if you're asking yourself, did I win?

Nope, I'm a Frayed Knot.

Because "Nope, I'm a Frayed Knot." dominated the 2013 game, finishing with 119 points. He was 10 points ahead of "No F'n Clue," the only other player above 100 points.

The standings are color-coded: green means the team won the bowl game, red means lost, black means didn't make a bowl.

Thanks again to everyone who played. I hope you had fun. Frayed Knot, your prize will be in the mail shortly.

BEST OF MPF 2013

BEST DAY: July 14. On my last day in Rome, I spent the entire day walking around, with Tina and by myself, seeing the sights and churches I hadn't visited yet. Runner-up: March 7. I was in New York City for the first time since leaving in 2007. I went to the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, walked the streets, saw my old boss Zach, and flew home to Chicago.

WEIRDEST WEEK: Boston Marathon. There was a race, a bomb, a whodunit, a manhunt, a game of hide and seek, a capture and a cathartic Red Sox game. (April 15-20)

BEST WEEK: Rome. We spent five days in the Eternal City, seeing churches, ruins and great restaurants. It is an amazing and incredible city. (July 9-14)

This is my favorite of the pictures I took in Rome.

BEST SONG: "Royals" by Lorde (you can watch the video clip here). Runners-up: "Sirens" by Pearl Jam, "Supersoaker" by the Kings of Leon.

BEST ALBUM: Would you believe I didn't buy that much music, and almost nothing released this year. I haven't even listened to two new records I got for Christmas. So based on the two songs I've heard, I'll say "Lightning Bolt" by Pearl Jam.

BEST TV SHOW: "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" (Fox). Runner-up: "Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood" (PBS).

BEST MOVIE: I didn't see any movies made in 2013.

BEST PICTURE: It's usually me and one other person, but of all the great photos of my kid, I loved this one.

BEST WATCHING OF OKLAHOMA: The musical at the Lyric Opera (May 11).

WORST WATCHING OF OKLAHOMA: The Sooner beating the Fighting Irish at Notre Dame Stadium (October 28).

BEST BEER: Gumballhead by Three Floyds. Runner-up: Celebration by Sierra Nevada.

BEST CAT STORY: The cat sanctuary in Rome. Feral cats are taken in, fixed, and adopted out. They also have an awesome URL: romancats.com. Runner-up: The cat who got lost 200 miles from home and made it back safely.

BEST PRESS: My involvement in a high school band competition got written up in the Knights of Columbus magazine.

BEST COMMERCIAL: Bill Hader and his crappy smartphone (T Mobile, I think). A very close second: Mr. Met and the Phillie Fanatic (MasterCard).



BEST CONCERT EXPERIENCE: Pearl Jam at Wrigley Field. The band played for an hour, then we sat through a two-and-a-half-hour rain delay. The band started again around midnight and played until 2am. (July 19)

BEST NEW SPORT: After being fascinated for the last few Olympics, I finally had the chance to play curling. It was as much fun as I thought, possibly more (Feb. 18).

WORST SIGN OF THE DECLINE OF PUBLISHING: The Onion stopped printing its newspaper in the last few remaining cities, including Chicago.

Peace and best wishes in 2014! --MPF004.