5-way tie, er, 4-way tie, minus Horowitz would be nice

At least for one week, I nearly reached my goal when selecting the games we pick in our weekly Fearless Prognosticators contest.

I’ve written before it’s my goal that we all go 5-5 every week and we all finish in a 5-way tie. Actually David Horowitz of Horowitz Jewelers needs to finish at least one game behind so he can’t claim a three-peat.

I try to pick the most difficult games to predict each week and after the first week I can say I’m quite proud of myself. Mary Quijas of Juicy Burger, Dustin Della of Suncrest Bank and J.R. Flores of J.R.’S Barbershop are tied for first after week 1 at 5-5 while Horowitz and yours truly are a game back at 4-6.

Of course the first week is always a difficult one when it comes to predicting what’s going to happen as obviously no trends have been established. And as my 4-6 record indicates the extra 30 seconds of work I put in to pick last week’s games really didn’t pay off.

So I can’t get too excited about last week’s results because last season as the year went on our Fearless Prognosticators did quite well, regulating me to the position of the “Best Last Place Picker in America,” a title I don’t want to have again.

And as the “Best Last Place Picker in America” I’m not ready yet to begin my hotline 1-800-YUCHUMP (please don’t call that number the last time I checked it was actually a real number) in which I offer my picks for $3.99 a minute. And I talk very slowly.

But I’m picking Houston to upset Baltimore this week, believing the Texans have had the extra time to bounce back from their woeful debut at Kansas City.

I’m also looking forward this season to the traditional San Francisco 49ers-los Angeles Rams being restored in tact in which the San Francisco 49ers host the Rams in Santa Clara and the Los Angeles Rams host the 49ers in Inglewood. In front of no fans, of course.

In addition, I’m looking forward to that traditional rivalry between the Oakland-san Antonio-los Angeles-inglewood- Irwindale— and now Las Vegas Raiders when they face the Los Angeles, formerly San Diego Chargers.

Anyway, of course we ask you to frequent the businesses of our Fearless Prognosticators whenever possible while following the conditions in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

And during this difficult times with everything that’s going on we still hope you can have a blessed week.