Panel stymied in Week Six by upsets, turn in worst week so far
Well Week Six of Pigskin Prognosticators is in the books, and now that things are well underway I’ve noticed that, despite one slate after another of tough-to-call games, it remains a close contest. In all of my years doing such panels at papers around the country, I’ve never seen a competition where so few wins separate first from last.
That’s the bright side. The not-so-bright side is that our Prognosticators put up the worst numbers of the season so far in Week Six, going a lessthan-impressive 16-34 with their picks. Contributing the most aroma to the collective stinker that was Week Six was the Recorder’s editor Matt Sarr. After putting up an impressive 8-2 record in Week Five, Matt went 1-9 in Week Six. 1-9? Ouch. Perhaps Matt felt a bit too confident as he picked his Week Six winners and skipped on doing his homework like the other Prognosticators. I did notice that he looked a little green around the gills in the office earlier this week; perhaps it was motion sickness from plummeting from the penthouse to the outhouse in the matter of a week.
Chin up, Matt —your fellow pickers didn’t do that much better than you, and it’s still close enough that anything can happen. Matt currently sits in fourth place overall with a record of 2632-2.
Coming in at 3-7 for Week Six was Suncrest Bank’s Gary Gostanian. Gary claims he’s been easing his foot off the gas pedal after a strong start for the sake of parity and pity, but with the picks as tricky as they are, he might just want to feel around on the floorboard and make sure he hasn’t lost track of the gas pedal altogether. Gary is currently taking up the rear spot on our panel with an overall record of 25-33-2.
Pickers Judy Hall, Milt Stowe and David Horowitz all went 4-6 in Week Six. All three picked the Texans over the Cowboys, and Mayor Stowe was the only Prognosticator to pick the Jets over the Broncos. Judy’s still in the lead overall with a record of 31-272, followed by Mayor Stowe at 29-29-2 and David Horowitz with a record of 28-30-2.
Even though all Prognosticators finished below .500 for the week, it really is hard to tease them too much after a week with many surprise outcomes. All our panelists missed the boat on the Red River Showdown, as Texas proved yet again they are a force to be reckoned with by knocking off No. 7 Oklahoma.
They all picked LSU to prevail over Florida in Gainesville as well, but that didn’t work out the way they wanted either, with Florida winning 2719.
The panel was unanimous in picking the 49ers over the Arizona Cardinals and the Titans over the Bills, but again, no luck.
Net result: 0-20 for the panel as a whole on those four games alone.
But hope springs eternal with Week Seven, and our prognosticators are once again ready to put their sports acumen to the test. Week Seven features several compelling games in both college and the pros, including a Top 25 matchup in the Pac-12, when No. 7 Washington visits No. 17 Oregon and another in the SEC when No. 13 LSU hosts No. 2 Georgia.
Panelists will also have some tough sledding on the NFL side with what figure to be some close contests (at least on paper) when the Kansas City Chiefs visit the New England Patriots, the Washington Redskins host the Carolina Panthers and the Chicago Bears visit the Miami Dolphins.
We never said the Recorder’s Pigskin Prognosticators contest would be easy, but we do try to make it fun. Thanks once again to our panel for being such good sports, and best of luck in Week Seven.
If you readers have been enjoying following the trials and tribulations of the Pigskin Prognosticators thus far, don’t forget to show your gratitude by stopping in at Deli Delicious and thanking them for sponsoring our contest weekly. While you are there, take the opportunity to try some of their delicious offerings. You will be glad you did.
Until next week, have a blessed week and keep rooting for your favorite Prognosticators.