I definitely got enough feedback yesterday on a football pick ’em pool to move forward, so I’ve gone ahead and set that up.
I’ve elected to go with an against-the-spread format. (I didn’t see a clear consensus for anything other than not having a straight pick ’em arrangement and ATS is my personal preference, so there.) You’ll pick ten games each week. I’ll prioritize the choices like this: (1) the Georgia game as long as there’s a spread, (2) any SEC-SEC matchups and (3) other games of interest. The site does give the participants the ability to send me notice of particular games you might want picked, so I’ll try to keep that in mind if I get that kind of feedback.
The link to join is here. And here’s some pertinent info from the site administrator:
This [link] will take people to the JOIN page and if they are not currently members, they will have to create an account on our site.
A couple of things you may consider letting people know:1) We do not SPAM. Emails are used to send pick reminders and new pool notifications. Users can turn that off getting emails from us on “YOUR PROFILE” page
2) Username is what they’ll use to log in, so they should remember that and the password. Try not to use spaces since people tend to forget they entered them.
3) PICKS are due prior to KICKOFF or NOON on Saturday depending on the game. We lock the entire pool at noon on Saturday for all games, but early games lock when they start.
4) Players can see everyone’s picks at NOON on Saturday when the entire pool locks down.
5) There is a “CONTACT US” link at the bottom of the page that will send us emails if anyone has any problems. Of course, you can always let me know if there are any problems.
I’ve already set the first week’s games up. Two start on the 30th, which means at least those picks will have to be in by that Thursday. From what I can tell, the site won’t unlock the picks until the 25th, which should still leave you with plenty of time to make them. Let me know if you have any questions or issues with the sign up.
By the way, hope you approve of the name. You know I like naming things after coaches… and we all like a challenge.
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UPDATE: There seems to be an issue with the link all of a sudden. It was working a few minutes ago, but isn’t now. Be patient while I get that addressed. Thanks.
Get The Picture 
Love the name Senator.
I look forward to my upcoming horrible picks……
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Splash!… I’m in!
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Good Go. Hilarious title and no one would have thought that one up, except you. If you don’t get your first picks in by Thurs, what will happen when juxtaposed Sat games hit? Any different outcome other than simply be short of picks in the final tally?
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When I tried to create an account, it glommed back that my user name was already taken. Maybe I entered years ago on a site, but have no password clue. Can we get a reset as new members?
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That’s a question you need to ask at the site.
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It’s a possibility that someone else has already picked the user name you were wanting to use. Then again, if it was indeed you who had entered that user name years ago, you might possibly go to your email account and search for “FunOfficePools.com”. They send you an email with your username and password when you first sign up. Hope that helps.
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The site issues default picks (I think the home teams) if you miss.
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In. But who’s Baby Ruth is that in the deep end?
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Thanks Senator. I’m up for the challenge and I’ve been in this arena.
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Senator, I’ve run a few of these in the past with co-workers and such, and the one suggestion I’d make is to try to stay away from the Thursday night games. Often times it’s a good game that a lot of people would be interested in, but people forget to get their picks in time for those games, so automatically lose one game before they’ve gotten started that week. There is the occasional Saturday where just all the games are terrible, so you almost have to pick the Thursday night game, but it usually led to more complaining than anything from people who forgot to make their picks, especially if they get in the habit of doing them on Saturday mornings or whatever.
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Good point, Rev. I’ve run a few myself and I always tried to stay away from Thursday night games. I made an exception this go around because it’s an unusual weekend and because I really couldn’t pass up offering Vandy-SC.
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Yeah you’re right, we would usually do the first Thursday night of the year since it’s the first game of the season and nobody forgets about that one…..it’s the Thursday nights in the middle of the season that people forget about.
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I’d also include the other weeknights in there too, but since those games are all usually terrible (tues nights, fri nights, etc), probably goes without saying. 🙂
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Don’t mess with my Tuesday night MACtion!
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Thanks for doing this.
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Should’ve named it Rick’s Picks in honor of Neuheisel.
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I’m in. Apparently the link is now functional again.
The name made me laugh.
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Link works for me too. ManBearPicks FTW!
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I’m in, but hurt myself jumping off the diving board…I was going for the directional jump to splash Cojones and missed short and right out-of-bounds.
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I didn’t make it what with not using my name since it was taken. I’m cleaning my name up to go along with my image on this blog. Does anyone know the Spanish word for “asshole”? “Burro” comes to mind.
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I think you made the right choice, most everyone knows how the point spread works in picking a game but confidence points are baffling to many. One question, will the point spreads established be firm for the week, or fluctuate as the line is adjusted? I would suggest locking them in so there will not be arguments over when the pick was made, or which source for spreads are used.
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The site provides the spreads.
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I’m in! The link works now, and I got my confirmation email, so all seems well. Thanks for setting this up, Senator. It should be fun.
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I’m in. Its a race for second place boys! 🙂
thanks Senator
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I,m out, because I don’t want to pick against the Men of Athens but if I pick’em they will lose and everybody will hate me and I’ll have to hide out in the bunker. Y’all have fun but I will not jinx those boys.
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Come on shane, with a points spread to hide behind you can pick the other team and have dozens of reasons for doing so that do not imply you are 100% Dawg. I can assure I will, but it doesn’t mean I don’tt want to be wrong. Let’s say UGA is a 35 point favorite against Buffalo. I might take Buffalo because we need to get some experience for the 3rd team guys, or CMR is being a nice guy, or we wanted to test our new FG kicker’s leg, etc., etc…..lots of reasons. I might take SC + 24 just because we want to keep old Stevie around and whup up on him for a few more years.
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Amen. That’s the point of using the spread. You aren’t picking against the team, rather, the pick is more against the sanity of the spread given by the handicappers.
One of my favorite games to handicap in the past involved the NATS and Duke cfb teams. There is an old rivalry between them and Duke would always win or cover. The analysts didn’t seem to figure that in and it was easy pickings whenever I bet on their play. While teams change, the rivalry never does and I’ll always take a look. Lock in the early bet. Seems I remember others taking Duke and shortening the point spread.
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