Week 4 NFL Picks Against a 5-Year-Old

I'm sorry to announce that it hasn't been a good week for the 5-year-old.  Following a 5-11 Week 3-which unbelievably wasn't the worst of the bunch-the kid decided to do a teeth plant into a ceramic flower pot.  He was playing around the house, fell down, and yada yada yada, he is now staying home from school and watching movies with a pacifier in his mouth. Not fun. But on the bright side, he is learning how to milk an injury for all it's worth in order to stay home from school.

Here at the Cheap Seats, we too were impacted by the outcome of the Seattle/Green Bay game. The ruling of a touchdown prevented us from having anyone finish at or above .500 for the week. Remember how I said the kid's 5-11 week wasn't the worst performance? He has JDaddy to thank. He pulled out a 4-12 record.

The absolute worst thing that can happen to a team is for all 4 of us to pick it as a winner. We were 0-4 in that scenario last week. Remember kids, gambling is bad.

Here are the standings after Week 3.

Week 3
CDog: 7-9
Uncle J: 5-11
5-Year-Old: 5-11
JDaddy: 4-12

Overall
Uncle J: 26-21-1
CDog: 22-25-1
5-Year-Old: 20-27-1
JDaddy: 17-30-1

JDaddyDu Mascot League: Wampus Cats and Blizzards Are No More

With all of the great team mascots in the Lone Star State, there is a lot of competition to be in the JDaddyDu  Mascot League. But, there are requirements! And the simplest is that a team HAS GOT TO WIN A GAME!  And so at 0-3, the Itasca Wampus Cats and the Winters Blizzards have fallen out of the JML.  The ‘Cats fell to the Polar Bears 39-14 and the Blizzards were led out of town by the previously winless, and near Mascot League member, Hamlin Pied Pipers 40-0.

Our crack team sports reporters have scoured hundreds of suggestions and have looked at great combinations of mascot uniqueness and team talent. The results are in, and making their debut in our Top 10 will be the Mason High School “Punchers” and 6 Man Football power,  Trent High School Gorillas. Both undefeated and worthy of a spot on the list.

Mason makes the jump near the top of our list while Trent, although undefeated is in the middle of the pack.

It is tough to lose the top spot after a win, so the top 2 remain the same this week, but with a state champion now in the mix, how long the Ricebirds and Polar Bears stay 1-2 is anyone’s guess.

This weeks standings;

               Team                             Record         Last Week                      This Week’s Opp.

1.      El Campo Ricebirds            4-0               W (16-7)                             Bellville

2.      Frost Polar Bears               4-0               W (39-14)                           Perrin-Whitt

3.      Mason Punchers                4-0               W (64-7)                             San Saba

4.      Hutto Hippos                      3-1               W (69-6)                             Elgin

5.      Trent Gorillas                      4-0               W (50-44)                           Highland

6.      Texas City Stingarees          2-1               BYE                                     Goose Creek Mem.

7.      Springtown Porcupines     2-2                L  (20-28)                            Graham

8.      Grandview Zebras              2-2                L  (34-42)                            Maypearl

9.      Brazosport Exporters         2-2                L  (23-59)                            Bay City

10.   New Braunfels Unicorns    1-3                L  (13-24)                            SA East Central  

Week 3 NFL Picks Against a 5-Year-Old

After a slow start to the season, your beloved 5-year-old picked up the pace in Week 2.  Starting with picking the Packers on Thursday and ending with picking the Falcons on Monday, he had a nice week.  The only problem?  Our new participant, Uncle J, continues his quest to lap the field by Thanksgiving.  There must be something in the sea-breeze air that contains an ability to pick football games.

However, the kid is now tied for 2nd.  Again, the only problem?  His competition ain't that steep.  So wish him luck.

Off-Topic Side Note

Some of you may know that the 5-year-old in question here is a Type 1 diabetic.  Each year our family participates in a walk sponsored by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation in order to raise money toward finding a cure for Type 1 Diabetes (and have a lot of fun).

Diabetes research has produced amazing breakthroughs in the last few years that makes life as a diabetic easier.  Also, the steps being taken towards a functioning artificial pancreas are promising.  But we still long for the day that the kid-and millions others like him-no longer has to do the daily rounds of finger pricks and injections and no longer has to count every carb he puts in his body.

Many people falsely assume that a child "grows out of" Type 1 Diabetes.  That's 100% incorrect.  A Type 1 Diabetic will be a diabetic for the rest of his or her life, unless a cure is discovered.  You can read all about JDRF and the research being done to cure Type 1 Diabetes on their webpage.

If you are interested in helping us raise money, simply go to my JDRF page and make a donation.  Thanks!

Now, back to football.

Week 2 Results
Uncle J: 10-5-1
5-Year-Old: 9-6-1
CDog: 7-8-1
JDaddy: 6-9-1

Overall Results
Uncle J: 21-10-1
5-Year-Old: 15-16-1
CDog: 15-16-1
JDaddy: 13-18-1

Week 3 Mascot Football...... Ricebirds and Polar Bears Lead The Way!

Led by the 68-0 shellacking of Pasadena by the Texas City Stingarees, The JDaddyDu Mascot League finished week with a 7-3 record and an overall record of 17-13 in the young 2012 season.

Romps were the story of the weekend as the Ricebirds (3-0) pecked their way to a 56-7 win over Bay City, the Hippos won by 35 and the Porcupines stuck it to Trimble Tech 43-0.

On the flip side, the Unicorns were poked 21-51 and the Wampus Cats stayed winless after getting de-clawed by Meridien 0-26.

The Blizzards also remained winless while the Polar Bears cooled off Gateway Academy 28-6 to stay unbeaten.

For one of the few times this year, two of our teams meet on the gridiron as the Polar Bears and Wampus Cats square off on Sept. 21st at 7:30 in Frost.


                  

Rank          Team                            Last Week   Record      Next Week

1.         El Campo Rice Birds              W 56-7           3-0            Foster

2.         Frost Polar Bears                   W 28-6           3-0            Itasca

3.         Texas City Stingarees             W 68-0           2-1            Goose Creek

4.         Springtown Porcupines           W 43-0           2-1            Gainesville

5.         Hutto Hippos                         W 35-0            2-1            Cedar Creek

6.         Grandview Zebras                  W 49-21         2-1             Lorena

7.         Brazosport Exporters             W 22-19          2-1            Wharton             

8.         New Braunfels Unicorns          L 21-51          1-2             SA Johnson

9.         Winters Blizzards                     L 7-15            0-3             Hamlin 

10.        Itasca Wampus Cats               L 0-26            0-3             Frost       



Experts vs. a 5-Year-Old - Week 2 NFL Picks

The first week came and went.  What did we learn?  We learned that the new guy knows how to pick football games as well as he can pick a guitar.  I knew we should have vetted him a little closer when he asked to play.

On the other side of things, the 5-year-old is off to a slow start.  He must have spent a Dirk-like summer basking in the glow of his victory last year.  Sorry kid, 2012 is a new year.

Here's how we did.

Uncle J: 11-5
CDog: 8-8
JDaddy: 7-9
5-Year-Old: 6-10

Texas High School Mascot Madness!

As just about everyone I have ever met knows, I went to high school in Frost, Texas and proudly played football for the Frost Polar Bears. Just Google "mascots" and the Bears will be in any Top 10 list.

With a 2-0 start for my old team, I began to wonder, "How the Texas City Stingarees did last night?" So at JDaddydu we are going to track our favorite teams from around the state and see if being wacky also means success in 2012.

The JDaddy Conference was 5-5 in week 2.

These are our Top 10, but I am sure many of you have your own favorites. Let us hear how they did.

JDaddys Mascot League



Team                                                    W/L                       Score                                   2012 Record

Frost Polar Bears                                  W                          29-16                                   2-0

Grandview Zebras                                 L                           28-29                                   1-1

Itasca Wampus Cats                              L                            0-20                                   0-2

Hutto Hippos                                          L                            9-35                                   1-1

Brazosport Exporters                            W                          44-20                                   1-1

Texas City Stingarees                             L                           21-34                                  1-1

New Braunfels Unicorns                       W                          41-29                                  1-1

Winters Blizzards                                   L                            7-47                                   0-2

El Campo Ricebirds                               W                          55-20                                  2-0

Springtown Porcupines                         W                          37-30                                  1-1

Experts vs. a 5-Year-Old - Week 1 NFL Picks

The first game of the season is done.  Half of us picked correctly, the other half missed. But just like in football, there is a long way to go in our season selections.  The Cowboys could very well go 1-15 while the Giants could still repeat as champions.  Still, though, I'm going to walk around a little taller today knowing that I have a 1 game lead on the 5-Year-Old (who's still 4 until next week, by the way).  Come Tuesday morning, he'll probably be back in the lead.

If you missed our first post (and if you did, it's here) you will find we have a new challenger this year.  Uncle J joins us from Corpus Christi, TX.  Lets hope he fairs better than JDaddy and I did last season.

On to the picks...

Cowboys at Giants Predictions Against a 5-Year-Old

You've seen our season predictions.  Now it's time to get down to the business of making our weekly picks.  Last year, JDaddy and I went up against a 4-year-old.  It didn't turn out so well.  You'll be happy to know that we're doing it again this year!  Except this year the kid is now 5, so he's practically an expert by now.  No need to make fun of us this year if we lose.

Credit: Cory Dugan

And we have a special guest joining us this year.  Jim Dugan, famous crooner from Corpus Christi, TX asked to take on the kid this year.  Like a replacement official, Uncle J, as we'll call him, has no idea what he's in for.

The way this works is that the experts in the competition pick against the lines.  The kid will just pick winners.  If you want to explain to a 5-year-old about betting lines, be my guest.  But until he learns the intricacies of gambling, he's just going to guess who will win the game.

With today being Opening Night of the NFL season, we'll get started with the Dallas Cowboys against the New York Giants.  We'll release the rest of Week 1 later in the week.

Michael Young and Leadership

In the last couple of years, Rangers fans have had a lot of cool moments.  Alex Rodriguez staring at strike 3 in Game 6 of the 2010 ALCS is at the top for me.  Derek Holland's Game 4 of the 2011 World Series is close behind.  What Michael Young did yesterday may not have been on that level, but it was still perhaps the coolest moment of 2012 so far.

In the 9th inning, after Nelson Cruz was drilled in the back and the benches emptied, Young deposited the very next pitch into the seats in left-center.  He sprinted around the bases, almost took Dave Anderson's hand off at 3rd base, slapped Nellie on the head at homeplate, and muttered some choice words about the Royals' pitcher on the way back to the dugout.  Cool.

Young is having a terrible season at the plate.  He continues to be in the lineup because his manager respects his veteran leadership.  All season I have hated that excuse, because eventually grounding into predictable double plays outweighs all the leadership in the world. 

But as Young reached the dugout, and the entire Rangers bench seemed to be on the top step screaming at the Royals, I realized that Young's leadership really means something.  Leadership didn't hit the homerun.  The homerun came more from the fact that even an aging veteran mired in a bad season can hit fat pitches out of the park.  But what if David Murphy or Mike Napoli had hit the homerun?  It still would have been cool, but not as cool as Michael Young hitting the homerun.  Despite all that has been said about Young this year-and I've said plenty-this is still his team.  He takes care of his boys.

The other day my 4-year-old son acted like a 4-year-old.  The result was me talking to him about why I, a very mild mannered person, get so angry when he disrespects his mom.  I told him that because I love and care so much for her, him, and his sister, that I will go after anyone who hits, yells, or disrespects any of them.  I get the feeling that's what the Rangers see in Michael Young, and especially what they saw yesterday.  The family was disrespected.  It was up to the father of the team to get the revenge.  And that's why he's in the lineup and why Wash doesn't even consider taking him out or dropping him in the order.

If Wash insists on playing him, I certainly think they are a better team with him hitting at the bottom of the lineup.  But after yesterday, I'll stop complaining as much because I saw what leadership can bring.  The Rangers seem to have played the entire season waiting for the playoffs.  Now is the time to begin to peak.  Maybe Michael Young's homerun will get them on their way.