Rules & Cy-Hawk

Many of you have seen this already, but since we have a lot of newcomers this year I thought I'd send out a complete rules list one more time to get everyone on the same page.

But first, I have to unveil the new Cy-Hawk trophy...and it's a beauty. The mighty Cyclone-Hawkeye rivalry is introducing a new trophy this year...and no, I'm not making this up this is what it actually looks like!

Who wouldn't be fired up to play for the "average Iowa family around a barrel of corn that represents Iowa values." Wow, just when I didn't think you couldn't be any dumber...

For those of you that are fans or non-haters of the Hawkeyes and/or Cyclones, I'm sorry for what you may read over the next 5 months...I can't help it.

Anyway, on to the rules...

RULES


- $100/guy is due to me before the first games begin (SEPT 1st)

- Pick 15 games per week (5 NFL, 5 NCAA, 5 others of your choice from either NCAA and/or NFL)

- Week 1 we'll make 15 NCAA picks with no NFL games scheduled, and weeks 14-18 we pick 10 NFL games only since NCAA is done

- 250 total picks throughout the year

- Game lists and spreads are taken from opening lines on the USA TODAY website

- I will send out the list on Monday and/or Tuesday to everyone

- Picks are due back by NOON on THURSDAY each week --> this allows everyone to have the preview before the THUR games begin

- TIES = LOSSES, you actually have to win to earn a W…a team you picked at -3 that only wins by 3 will be considered a loss

PAYOUTS

- $50 to the weekly winner

- If there is a tie at the top, the $50 prize will carry over to the next week and that will be worth $100 and all will be eligible to win it…one tie, all tie - carryovers will continue until there is a winner.

- $300 to best regular season record, $100 to 2nd place

- $200 to post-season highest point total (explanation below) $100 to Bowl Champion

POST-SEASON

- This is a completely separate contest once the regular season is complete - everyone starts over at 0-0 for this round

- Post-season consists of 2 parts…the BOWLS and the NFL Playoffs

- All games are given a point value in the post-season and we will make picks on all of the games

- Weightings will be equal for NFL and NCAA so they will both be worth 1/2 of the total for POST-SEASON Points

I will send out a Weekly Preview on THURSDAY once I have collected all the picks, and a Weekly Review on Monday before MNF.

I make my picks on MON/TUES - so I'm not influenced by all of the other picks coming in…which should be obvious by my past results (lifetime I'm in dead last).

That's it, pretty simple. If you have any questions please let me know and I'll get you all the info you need. So you have about 1 more week to study up or pray a lot or whatever else might work for you when trying to beat the smaaat kids that make these numbers. Good Luck!

New Players Update

Football Challenge 2011 is catching on enough to make this my full time gig. We've added 3 more players, so we are up to a ridiculous 16 for this year...nearly doubling our total from last year.

This also changes our payout structure quite a bit...I put more weight into the weekly wins rather than the total payouts, so here it is:

$50/wk to the weekly winner - 18 weeks
$300 to 1st place overall in the regular season
$100 to 2nd place overall in the regular season
$200 to 1st place in the post-season
$100 to Bowl Champion

Grand Total of $1600 in payouts.

First lines have been posted for NCAA week 1 - I will send them again on Monday 8/29.

I'll send out a rundown of all 16 players for this year in the near future...maybe tomorrow...so everyone has at least some familiarity with who you are competing against.

Good luck gentlemen!

Week 1 Lines

Gentlemen - we will be officially underway with Football Challenge 2011 in exactly 3 weeks.

However, you don't have to wait that long to start checking out the opening week lines. Remember, in week 1 we only pick NCAA games because that's all we have for this week. So I will need you to pick 15 games off of this list. Obviously, I don't need these picks for another 3 weeks, but since the numbers are available I figured I'd send them out. Enjoy on this beautiful Thursday afternoon.

If you have questions on my abbreviations please let me know...I tried to make them as intuitive as I could. Once again, these are the opening lines from the USA TODAY website that we will use each week.

NTEX
FIU -12.5

MISST
MEM 24

UNLV
WIS -32.5

WF
SYR -6

BGU
IDAHO -8.5

WKY
UK -18

TCU
BAY 10

UTST
AUB -28

NW
BC -7

MIAOH
MIZZ -19

AKR
OHIOST -33.5

MDTN
PUR -15

KENT
ALA -33.5

WMU
MICH -14.5

UCLA
HOU -4.5

ARKST
ILL -15

MN
USC -18.5

ULM
FSU -28.5

USF
ND -8.5

TROY
CLEM -13

BYU
OLE 1

SJST
STAN -28

BUFF
PITT -26

COLST
NM 3.5

FRES
CAL -6

FAU
FLA -31

BALLST
IND -6

ULL
OKST -34

RICE
TEX -22

ARMY
NILL -13

ECU
SC -15

OHIO
NMST 10.5

TULSA
OK -22

BOISE
GEO 2.5

ORE
LSU -3

LT
SOMISS -11.5

COL
HAW -7.5

MARSH
WV -19

SMU
A&M -13.5

MIA
MARY 4

PGA Championship Pool

Here are the tiers for the 4th and final major pool of the year. Same rules as before (we will change the format next year). Pick 1 golfer from each tier and the guy who has his team of 5 accumulate the most prize money is the winner. $10/guy to enter - max of 1 entry per guy. Payouts will be roughly 60% for 1st, 30% for 2nd, 10% for 3rd. I will send an update Friday night with who made the cut and who didn't.

Get me your 5 picks and $10 by the time they tee off on Thursday morning.

Thanks.

James

TIER 1
1 Rory McIlroy
2 Lee Westwood
3 Luke Donald
4 Phil Mickelson
5 Tiger Woods
6 Adam Scott
7 Dustin Johnson
8 Steve Stricker
9 Jason Day
10 Rickie Fowler
11 Martin Kaymer
12 Nick Watney
13 Matt Kuchar

TIER 2
14 Sergio Garcia
15 Charl Schwartzel
16 Zach Johnson
17 Hunter Mahan
18 Bubba Watson
19 David Toms
20 K.J. Choi
21 Anthony Kim
22 Graeme McDowell
23 Jim Furyk
24 Padraig Harrington
25 Justin Rose
26 Retief Goosen
27 Robert Karlsson
28 Geoff Ogilvy
29 Y-E Yang
30 Brandt Snedeker
31 Webb Simpson
32 Fredrik Jacobson
33 Martin Laird
34 Ryan Moore
35 Bo Van Pelt
36 Gary Woodland
37 Lucas Glover
38 Ryo Ishikawa

TIER 3
39 Paul Casey
40 Charles Howell III
41 Sean O'Hair
42 Ian Poulter
43 Matteo Manassero
44 Ernie Els
45 Aaron Baddeley
46 Andres Romero
47 Bill Haas
48 Stewart Cink
49 Francesco Molinari
50 Peter Hanson
51 Angel Cabrera
52 Simon Dyson
53 Darren Clarke
54 Ross Fisher
55 J.B. Holmes
56 Louis Oosthuizen
57 Davis Love III
58 Jeff Overton
59 Brendon De Jonge
60 Robert Allenby
61 Keegan Bradley
62 Kyung-Tae Kim
63 Trevor Immelman
64 Alexander Noren
65 Jonathan Byrd
66 Camilo Villegas
67 Rory Sabbatini
68 Alvaro Quiros
69 Anders Hansen
70 Ben Crane
71 Spencer Levin
72 Vijay Singh
73 Thomas Bjorn
74 Richard Green
75 Kevin Streelman
76 Charley Hoffman
77 Ricky Barnes
78 Ryan Palmer
80 John Senden
81 Chris Kirk
82 Brian Gay
83 Steve Marino
84 Edoardo Molinari
85 Jason Dufner
86 Miguel Angel Jimenez
87 Bryce Molder
88 Kevin Na

TIER 4
89 Scott Stallings
90 Jhonattan Vegas
91 Brian Davis
92 Robert Garrigus
93 Scott Verplank
94 Raphael Jacquelin
95 Heath Slocum
96 D.A. Points
97 Cameron Tringale
98 Seung-yul Noh
99 Charlie Wi
100 John Rollins
101 Brandt Jobe
102 Stephen Gallacher
103 Jamie Donaldson
104 Thomas Aiken
105 Jerry Kelly
106 Johan Edfors
107 Ryuji Imada
108 Tommy Gainey
109 J.J. Henry
110 Brendan Steele
111 Johnson Wagner
112 Shaun Micheel
114 David Horsey
115 Fredrik Andersson Hed
116 Gregory Bourdy
117 Bill Lunde
118 Pablo Larrazabal
119 Harrison Frazar
120 Steve Elkington
121 Wen-Chong Liang
122 Yuta Ikeda
123 Arjun Atwal
124 Jose Maria Olazabal
125 Rocco Mediate

TIER 5
126 Craig Stevens
127 Tetsuji Hiratsuka
128 Bob Sowards
129 Daniel Balin
130 Mike Northern
131 Faber Jamerson
132 Brendan Jones
133 David Hutsell
134 Mark Brooks
135 John Daly
136 Jerry Pate
137 Jeff Sorenson
138 Sean Dougherty
139 Stuart Smith
140 Rob Moss
141 Dan Olsen
142 D.J. Trahan
143 Brad Lardon
144 Scott Erdmann
145 Mike Small
146 Hiroyuki Fujita
147 Marty Jertson
149 Rich Beem
150 Larry Nelson
151 Tom Gillis
152 Mark Wilson
154 Michael Bradley
155 Robert McClellan
156 Brian Cairns
157 Steve Schneiter
158 Todd Camplin
159 Scott Piercy
160 Jeff Coston
161 Kris Blanks
162 Chad Campbell
163 Kevin Chappell
164 Paul Goydos
165 Marc Leishman
166 Carl Pettersson
167 Kyle Stanley
168 Chris Stroud
169 Roland Thatcher
170 Jimmy Walker

Football - it's almost here!!

The official countdown to football is on...my calendar says 36 days until that opening THURSDAY.

And as a little bonus, we'll have NFL Football to watch and wager on once again this year.

Not much to discuss today, but here are a couple of quick bits of info for you all in case you haven't been following all the football news of the last couple weeks:

1) Our favorite former head coach/TE coach has found a new job, and shocking to most of us, it's not coaching football. I think TE Timmy has found a much better fit in his new gig as a sideline reporter for FOX SPORTS College Football coverage. Clearly FOX didn't realize the formula for a good sideline reporter...female & hot...Brew fits neither criteria and adds in a nice helping of smug and annoying. This won't go well. But on the bright side, the rest of the country will be able see the incompetance that was running our program the last 4 years and realize, holy crap - MN actually went to 2 bowls with this bozo?!? They must have some talent!

2) Some early lines are out on most games on the NCAA schedule. One that I would be 6 figures on in Vegas right now if I could is this:

ILL at MIN (+15)
Really? Zookers are more than 2 TD's better than us at the Bank? Where is the cash machine and how much cash is inside. Can I take this line as my game of the year 5-star lock right now?

I promise I'll only have 4-5 more games of the year the rest of the way...per week.

Study up - scrounge up your cash - get ready for some Football!

OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP Pool 2011

Major #3 of the year starts on Thursday. Same rules apply as before:

1. $10 per guy to enter (1 entry per guy max)
2. Pick 1 golfer from each tier for a 5 man team
3. Winner is the guy with the 5 man team that makes the most prize money
4. Tiebreaker is the top score for your 5th tier player
5. Get me your picks and $$$ by Wednesday night or early THUR morning. This one starts much earlier on THUR than the Masters or US Open, so the timing will be a little limited for getting your picks in on time.

Here are the tiers:
TIER 1
1 Rory McIlroy
2 Lee Westwood
3 Luke Donald
4 Martin Kaymer
5 Graeme McDowell
6 Sergio Garcia
7 Steve Stricker
8 Jason Day
9 K.J. Choi
10 Nick Watney
11 Charl Schwartzel
12 Dustin Johnson
13 Justin Rose
14 Matt Kuchar
15 Padraig Harrington
16 Phil Mickelson
17 Retief Goosen

TIER 2
18 Adam Scott
19 Angel Cabrera
20 Ernie Els
21 Ian Poulter
22 Paul Casey
23 Francesco Molinari
24 Fredrik Jacobson
25 Henrik Stenson
26 Hunter Mahan
27 Louis Oosthuizen
28 Matteo Manassero
29 Peter Hanson
30 Rickie Fowler
31 Robert Karlsson
32 Ross Fisher
33 Y-E Yang
34 Alvaro Quiros
35 Bubba Watson
36 Geoff Ogilvy
37 Jim Furyk
38 Stewart Cink
39 Zach Johnson
40 Bo Van Pelt
41 Brandt Snedeker
42 Charles Howell III
43 Edoardo Molinari
44 Jeff Overton
45 Martin Laird
46 Robert Allenby
47 Robert Rock
48 Simon Dyson


TIER 3
49 Aaron Baddeley
50 Brian Davis
51 Ryan Moore
52 Alexander Noren
53 Anders Hansen
54 Anthony Kim
55 Ben Crane
56 Ben Curtis
57 Bill Haas
58 Camilo Villegas
59 Darren Clarke
60 Davis Love III
61 J.B. Holmes
62 Jonathan Byrd
63 Miguel Angel Jimenez
64 Nicolas Colsaerts
65 Paul Lawrie
66 Ryan Palmer
67 Ryo Ishikawa
68 Sean O'Hair
69 Steve Marino
70 Thomas Aiken
71 Trevor Immelman
72 Vijay Singh
73 Webb Simpson
74 Chad Campbell
75 Gary Woodland
76 George Coetzee
77 Gregory Bourdy
78 Lucas Glover
79 Mark Wilson
80 Pablo Larrazabal
81 Rhys Davies
82 Richard Green
83 Spencer Levin


TIER 4
84 Charley Hoffman
85 Danny Willett
86 Fredrik Andersson Hed
87 Gregory Havret
88 Jason Dufner
89 Joost Luiten
90 Justin Leonard
91 KT Kim
92 Peter Whiteford
93 Raphael Jacquelin
94 Rory Sabbatini
95 Scott Jamieson
96 Thorbjorn Olesen
97 Tom Lewis
98 Alejandro Canizares
99 Graeme Storm
100 Harrison Frazar
101 Kevin Na
102 Kevin Streelman
103 Kyle Stanley
104 Robert Garrigus
105 Seung-yul Noh
106 Simon Khan
107 Stephen Gallacher
108 Thongchai Jaidee
109 David Duval
110 Gary Boyd
111 Jerry Kelly
112 John Daly
113 Mark Calcavecchia
114 Markus Brier
115 Nathan Green
116 Tetsuji Hiratsuka
117 Todd Hamilton
118 Tom Lehman
119 Tom Watson
120 Yuta Ikeda

TIER 5
121 Bernhard Langer
122 Hiroyuki Fujita
123 Kenneth Ferrie
124 SM Bae
125 Bob Estes
126 Brad Kennedy
127 Bryden Macpherson
128 Francis McGuirk
129 Hiroo Kawai
130 Kurt Barnes
131 Prayad Marksaeng
132 Richard Mcevoy
133 Adam Wootton
134 Andrew Johnston
135 Andy Smith
136 Chih-Bing Lam
137 Chris Tidland
138 Craig Hinton
139 Floris De Vries
140 Jason Knutzon
141 Jung-Gon Hwang
142 Lee Corfield
143 Lucas Bjerregaard
144 Mark Laskey
145 Mark O'Meara
146 Martin Maritz
147 Matthew Millar
148 Neil Schietekat
149 Peter Uihlein
150 Prom Meesawat
151 Rick Kulacz
152 Sandy Lyle
153 Simon Edwards
154 Simon Lilly
155 Tadahiro Takayama
156 Thomas Shadbolt


Questions - let me know. Send me a check, pay me in person, or via paypal to my email address. All options work.

Thanks.

Football Challenge 2011 - Rules

We are at less than 2 months until kick-off, so I figured I would nail down the rule changes for this season and let you all start mentally preparing for what is coming in about 56 days.

So I think we're 12 strong at this point, we continue to grwo every year - I would still be willing to accept any other late comers, but I'm happy at 12 if that's where it ends for 2011.

For those of you that are new - here are the details; and even for those that have been with the Football Challenge for past seasons, we have some modifications that should only improve the league as a whole.

ENTRY FEE = $100/guy
(this is higher than past years, but will be better in the end as you'll see in later points)

PICKS = 15 games per week, 5 must be college and 5 must be NFL...but the other 5 are floaters that can be any combination of the 2. This of course is different in Week 1 when it's only NCAA games and in December where it's only NFL games, and we'll be picking 10 and not 15 in DEC.

TIES = Losses - In the past we have had ties=wins which overinflates our winning % by a bit each year...I will be counting these as losses going forward because you're not winning money on them so you're behind the guys that are winning.

WEEKLY WINNERS = $30 per week to the weekly winner, and if it's a tie we move the $30 as a carry-over to the next week, so that is worth $60. This will add a lot more week to week drama and keep everyone engaged even if you hit a 2-13 stinker early on.

TOTAL WINNERS = These are assuming we stick with 12 guys, here will be the other payouts after the 18 weekly $30 prizes...

REG SEASON = $300 - 1st in regular season, $100 - 2nd in regular season
POST SEASON = $60 Bowl Champion, $200 Total Post Season Champion

Get me your cash or check before we start play, which is the 1st week of September. I believe 9/1 is the opening Thursday, so you have almost 2 months to scrounge up $100, which will provide you about 5 months of entertainment and with any luck a nice ROI.

Games will be due to me by NOON on THURSDAY each week, and I will send out all lines on MONDAY each week. We use the opening lines posted on the USA TODAY website for all games, and lines don't change from what I send out on Monday.

Questions? Concerns? Comments? I take them all - let me know.

I'm excited for the biggest and best year of the Football Challenge ever - hope you all are ready as well.

Stroke The Post, Let's Go!

GOLF Details for Saturday

Here's the scoop guys. We have 9 locked in for next Saturday so here's the plan:

WHERE: STONEBROOKE GOLF (http://www.stonebrooke.com/)

WHEN: 11:10 is the first tee time - will wrap up around 7pm with golf

COST: $58 for 27+cart per guy, also need $$$ for tourney and skins ($40/guy for tourney, $20 per guy for skins)

Since we have an odd number, the only way to do it is to have 3 teams of 3. So there will be 3 groups which we'll determine via a blind draw on Saturday.

You can head directly to the course or meet at my place around 9:30 and we'll head over sometime after that.

After the golf I hope you can all make it back to my place for cards/booze/US OPEN/College World Series/whatever else is happening. I can sleep a bunch of guys at my place, so please make plans to stay if you would like...my rates are cheaper than a DUI.

See you all next Saturday!!