Week 13 NFL Picks Against a 5-Year-Old

Under the gun today, so just a couple of quick notes.

• The kid had a nice bounce back week with 9 correct picks.  Every time he looks like he's out of it he comes roaring back.  He's back to within striking distance of .500.
• I interrupted the kid from playing with his toys when we ran down the list of games last week.  He wasn't paying much attention and picked the home teams for all the games (except for Carolina, which is his favorite team).  Turned out to be a decent strategy.
• Uncle J had a rough week.  I had a very good week.  The 1st place lead is now 7 games.
• My strategy in picking Cowboys games continues to pay dividends.
• JDaddy is hanging in there!

Week 12 Results
CDog: 11-3-2
5-Year-Old: 9-5-2
JDaddy: 7-7-2
Uncle J: 5-9-2

Overall Results
CDog: 95-76-5
Uncle J: 88-83-5
5-Year-Old: 84-87-5
JDaddy: 81-90-5


Week 13 Picks

Game	JDaddy	CDog	5 Year Old	Uncle J
New Orleans (+3.5) at Atlanta	New Orleans	Atlanta	Atlanta	Atlanta
Seattle (+3.5) at Chicago	Chicago	Seattle	Chicago	Chicago
Minnesota (+8) at Green Bay	Green Bay	Minnesota	Green Bay	Minnesota
San Francisco (-7) at St. Louis	San Francisco	San Francisco	St. Louis	San Francisco
Arizona (+4.5) at NY Jets	NY Jets	NY Jets	NY Jets	NY Jets
Carolina (-3) at Kansas City	Carolina	Carolina	Carolina	Carolina
Indianapolis (+4.5) at Detroit	Detroit	Indianapolis	Detroit	Detroit
Jacksonville (+5.5) at Buffalo	Jacksonville	Buffalo	Jacksonville	Buffalo
New England (-7.5) at Miami	New England	Miami	Miami	New England
Houston (-6) at Tennessee	Houston	Houston	Tennessee	Houston
Tampa Bay (+7) at Denver	Denver	Denver	Denver	Tampa Bay
Pittsburgh (+8) at Baltimore	Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh	Baltimore	Baltimore
Cleveland (PK) at Oakland	Oakland	Cleveland	Oakland	Cleveland
Cincinnati (-2.5) at San Diego	Cincinnati	Cincinnati	San Diego	Cincinnati
Philadelphia (+10) at Dallas	Dallas	Philadelphia	Dallas	Dallas
NY Giants (-2.5) at Washington	Washington	NY Giants	Washington	NY Giants

Polar Bears Win! and Words From Woody

Last Friday I found myself at "Goat Field" in Groesbeck, Texas. After a 34 year absence I was about to see the Frost Polar Bears (my high school team) play football. The last time had been in 1978 and from 1970-73 I had been a member of the team myself. But I was here for this year's team. Frost was in the playoffs and would be facing a team that had beaten them 53-0 last year.

And it was a terrific game. The Polar Bears won 16-12 with a goal line stand as time was running out. The team will now move on to the next level this Friday against the Mount Enterprise Wildcats. The Polar Bears stand 11-1 and the eleven wins are the second most in school history.

With me at the game was my son, son-in-law, and two of my grandsons. None of them attended Frost, but they joined in the excitement with me. I travel home and attend High School games each Thanksgiving weekend, once taking in 5 in a two day period. But this year for the first time, one of those games was played by the Bears! I wrote once about my love of Polar Bear football. I found last Friday that even as time and distance got in the way, I still feel the same.

I saw my sixth grade girlfriend Vickie, and Keith Speer who was one of those Polar Bears I looked up to as a kid. I am sure there were folks there I did not recognize or who did not recognize me. But there were mostly new names and families That I did not know or they me.

But on my side of "Goat Field" we were all cheering for the blue and white with their punishing running game and motivated young coach, Eric Blenden. But none were cheering louder than my high school teammate and friend Gary Woods. Gary was a two time All District selection when we played, and his son Woody plays for the Polar Bears (and scored the night's first TD). I had made plans to touch base with him and caught him just before game time. I am pretty sure Gary is a motivated parent and is probably hoarse after every game. We did catch a glimpse of each other during the game somehow we were teammates again.

To top it off, I got to meet Woody after the game and told him how happy I was for them and wished them well. He shook my hand and said he had heard a lot about me. (Uh-Oh). But as I hugged him and told him bye, he looked at me and said "Once a Polar Bear, always a Polar Bear". Not sure if this kid will even remember he said it..... But I sure will.

Go Polar Bears!

Woody and Gary



Week 12 NFL Picks Against a 5-Year-Old - Thanksgiving Edition

Much like the NFL's version of Week 11, our Week 11 picks were listless and uninspiring.  3 of us finished 7-7 and the other one finished 6-8.  Kind of like watching a Cleveland/Dallas overtime "thriller."

Speaking of the Cowboys, I'm trying to formulate a post at just how far the Cowboys have fallen on my radar.  It's a sad realization when it dawns on you that you're just not a "die-hard" like you used to be.  But I'm at that point, for various reasons, and hopefully I'll be able to explain in a coherent manner.

But this week is not the week to dwell on those things.  It's the season of the year where we take time to say what we're thankful for.  So here are my top 5 things I'm currently thankful for in the sports world.

5. Keith Olbermann

Yeah, I can't believe it either.  It's amazing how much I dislike his commentary on one subject, but love his commentary on another.  MLB Network needs more Keith Olbermann.  He and Brian Kenny were such greatness on Tuesday morning's version of  Hot Stove.

4.The NHL Lockout
Maybe it's cause I'm getting more cynical as I get older, but watching one group of people that has lost touch with the reality of the world battling another group of people that has lost touch with the reality of the world really makes my day.  I guess if the lockout brings more stability to the support then it's a good thing, but does anyone really think that's the case?

3. Dirk Nowitzki

Hurry back, big fella.

2. Melky Cabrera and Bartolo Colon

It's good to know that users of PEDs really feel the pain of their decisions and don't profit from the outlying seasons that PEDs helped create.

1. Johnny Football

No surprise here.  He looks like Brick Heck and he's in line to be the first Aggie Heisman winner since John David Crow.  I can't wait until 2016 when he gets the Tebow coverage from ESPN.

Back to the picks.  You'll notice that there are two races forming.  The kid better watch out.  He's about to get passed.

Week 11 Results
CDog: 7-7
Uncle J: 7-7
JDaddy: 7-7
5-Year-Old: 6-8

Overall Results
CDog: 84-73-3
Uncle J: 83-74-3
5-Year-Old: 75-82-3
JDaddy:74-83-3

Week 11 NFL Picks Against a 5-Year-Old

Wow.  What a week.  For me at least.  The first 8 games on our list went into the win column.  My 11 correct picks are a personal best, I think.  I haven't gone back to actually check, but I think that I would have remembered 11 wins.

The poor kid took a step back today.  After climbing out of the hole to get close to .500 he had a rough week.

And JDaddy.  I mean, ummm.  Maybe he got a concussion too.

Week 10
CDog: 11-3
Uncle J: 7-7
5-Year-Old: 5-9
JDaddy: 5-9

Overall
CDog: 77-66-3
Uncle J: 76-67-3
5-Year-Old: 69-74-3
JDaddy: 67-76-3

Week 11 Picks

Game	JDaddy	CDog	5 Year Old	Uncle J
Miami (+1.5) at Buffalo	Buffalo	Miami	Miami	Buffalo
Philadelphia (+3.5) at Washington	Washington	Washington	Washington	Washington
Green Bay (-3.5) at Detroit	Detroit	Green Bay	Detroit	Green Bay
Arizona (+10) at Atlanta	Atlanta	Arizona	Arizona	Arizona
Tampa Bay (-1.5) at Carolina	Tampa Bay	Tampa Bay	Carolina	Carolina
Cleveland (+8) at Dallas	Dallas	Cleveland	Dallas	Dallas
NY Jets (+3.5) at St. Louis	St. Louis	St. Louis	St. Louis	St. Louis
Indianapolis (+9) at New England	Indianapolis	Indianapolis	New England	Indianapolis
Jacksonville (+15.5) at Houston	Jacksonville	Jacksonville	Houston	Jacksonville
Cincinnati (-3.5) at Kansas City	Cincinnati	Cincinnati	Kansas City	Kansas City
New Orleans (-5) at Oakland	New Orleans	Oakland	Oakland	New Orleans
San Diego (+7.5) at Denver	Denver	Denver	San Diego	Denver
Baltimore (-3.5) at Pittsburgh	Baltimore	Baltimore	Pittsburgh	Baltimore
Chicago (+5) at San Francisco	San Francisco	Chicago	San Francisco	San Francisco

Week 10 NFL Picks Against a 5-Year-Old

What a week we just had!  I'm not talking about Election 2012, but instead I'm talking about our Week 9 picks.  Uncle J was brought back to life-and the lead-with an 11-3 week.  JDaddy continues his slow climb out of the pit of despair with a 10-4 week.  The kid finished over .500 as well.  I was the only one dragging us back, but I'm still on the good side of break-even for the season.

If you go through our list from last week, Uncle J picked the first 9 games correctly.  Can he keep it up?

Here's how the picks went last week.

Week 9
Uncle J: 11-3
JDaddy: 10-4
5-Year-Old: 8-6
CDog: 6-8

Overall
Uncle J: 69-60-3
CDog: 66-63-3
5-Year-Old: 64-65-3
JDaddy: 62-67-3

Week 10 Picks

Game	JDaddy	CDog	5 Year Old	Uncle J
Indianapolis (-3.5) at Jacksonville	Indianapolis	Indianapolis	Jacksonville	Indianapolis
Buffalo (+11) at New England	New England	Buffalo	New England	New England
NY Giants (-4) at Cincinnati	NY Giants	Cincinattie	NY Giants	NY Giants
San Diego (+3) at Tampa Bay	Tampa Bay	Tampa Bay	Tampa Bay	Tampa Bay
Denver (-4) at Carolina	Denver	Denver	Carolina	Denver
Tennessee (+6) at Miami	Miami	Tennessee	Miami	Tennessee
Oakland (+7.5) at Baltimore	Oakland	Baltimore	Baltimore	Oakland
Atlanta (-2.5) at New Orleans	Atlanta	Atlanta	New Orleans	Atlanta
Detroit (-2.5) at Minnesota	Detroit	Minnesota	Detroit	Minnesota
NY Jets (+6) at Seattle	Seattle	Seattle	Seattle	NY Jets
Dallas (-1.5) at Philadelphia	Dallas	Philadelphia	Dallas	Dallas
St. Louis (+11.5) at San Francisco	San Francisco	St. Louis	San Francisco	St. Louis
Houston (+1) at Chicago	Chicago	Houston	Chicago	Chicago
Kansas City (+12.5) at Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh

Week 9 NFL Picks Against a 5-Year-Old

I hope everyone had a great Halloween.  The 5-year-old went as Mario.  What's funny is that to me, Mario is a little plumber that likes mushrooms and saving princesses, but to the 5-year-old, Mario is a racecar driver.  He'll never understand how awesome this is.

Speaking of Halloween, Uncle J's picks were pretty scary last week.  After dominating through 7 weeks, he took a nose dive in Week 8.  4-10 has landed him in second place, with the kid breathing down his neck.  JDaddy continues his long climb out of the hole.

Lastly, the war zone has a new face, as TJ Kool has shown up on the scene.  If you want to keep up, you can check out his thoughts here.

Here's how the picks went last week.

Week 8
JDaddy: 8-6
CDog: 8-6
5-Year-Old: 7-7
Uncle J: 4-10

Overall
CDog: 60-55-3
Uncle J: 58-57-3
5-Year-Old: 56-59-3
JDaddy: 52-63-3