LOCK OF THE WEEK
 To get back to football, I must confess that I will not be putting 14 points on the Patriots this weekend. That's because you'd have to be a fool not to bet the ranch on Cleveland (-4.5) over Cincinnati. Is there any safer bet in the world than a bet against the Bungles? Heck, I'm not even concerned about sharing this one with y'all because I'm sure y'all have already picked the same way.
So between the Browns and the Pats, that should be an instant 27 points for everyone in the poll, no?
PS--Congrats to the Soininens!
posted by Chris Weinkopf @
12:11 PM
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9/26/2003  |
OK, this is my last "Hey, have you seen a picture of my kids" post
Mac and Auggie Scagel enjoying a few strawberries at Gigi's (Elizabeth's grandmother) house in Tyler, TX 07/22/03
By the way, it seems NIN Jason's, MMPF Chris' and my class at MX is catching up to us in the "biologically extraneous" category.
Mark Fry and his wife have two boys about the same age as mine. Sam Adams and the former Courtney Stone had twins earlier this year. John Soininen and the former Lisa McGinley had a daughter, Eleanor Alice Soininen (Ellie) last month. And Tim Harrmann and his wife Kara are expecting in late march. With Chris and Mighty Mighty MK and Elizabeth and I also expecting in March, that's a goodly number of little "Son/Daughter of '91" coming into the world. Any others I don't know about?
And here's an ancillary question: would either NIN or MMPF consider sending their kids to MX? My answer, no and hell no!
Lisa and Ellie Soininen
posted by Kenny @
10:26 AM
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The Donnybrook in the District (well, N. VA, anyway)
There ain't nothing unconfirmed about Mac's Pats-fan status. The boy bleeds silver, blue, and red (maybe I should have a doctor take a look at that).
And I have, as a show of total team loyalty, picked the Pats for the maximum in every week they play.
Of course, the reason I have done that is during the SB year, I continually said to myself, "Nah, they're gonna screw it up this week," and consistently bet against them. No more, my friends. My apostasy has come to an end.
The 'skins and their red-neck "ball coach" are going down hard!
P.S. - in the event of a losing streak, my apostasy will return faster than you can say "big dig".
posted by Kenny @
10:42 PM
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9/25/2003 |
PATS v. SKINS
By my estimation, there are at least three Skins fans in this pool -- Un Dia Normal Matthew, Hail to the Redskins Scott, and Spurrier Fan Cris. Then there are three confirmed Pats fans -- Stinky Cheese Chris, Grogan's Heroes Kenny, and yours truly, the MMPF -- plus at least two unconfirmed, I Can Throw the Ball Mac and Mighty Mighty MonnieMoo Monica.
All of which should make for a good matchup this weekend. Pats have NINE injured starters, but when has a little adversity ever stopped America's team? Stay tuned for the Massacre at FedEx this weekend!
PS--It will be interesting to see whether fans pick their respective teams, and how many confidence points they give them ...
posted by Chris Weinkopf @
5:29 PM
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I'VE CREATED A MONSTER
The blame completely belongs with me. I started it. But our new blog has rapidly turned into the "Post Pictures of Your Kids Site." Or, in this case of NinerInchNails Jason, post a picture of your kid ... and someone else's kid ... and a really tall door. (Jason, ever heard of the crop feature?) But hey, they're cute kids, and more important, they're the future of the Weinkopf.com Football Pool. Question is: How many of us who pretend to know something about football will they beat?
As an aside, Bob "An Unverified Groin Injury" Smiley, my brother-in-law, reports that unlike last year (when he was "When's Baseball Season Start?"), his picks aren't random this year, but carefully chosen, based on the sage comments he hears from entertainment-industry types on the set of the TV show he works on.
From the looks of things so far, Bob, you might have been better off sticking to random ...
posted by Chris Weinkopf @
5:11 PM
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9/23/2003 |
Ebin Hirschman graciously posing for the press after accepting his lifetime achievement award from the Institute for Advanced Toddler Gaming Research. To his left is the 1996 winner and award presenter Famous Four Knuckler George
SUPERBATMAN EBIN SAYS: 3 WEEKS IS NOTHIN'!!!!
Ebin Hirschman, aka SuperBatman Ebin, would like to convey his sincere sympathies to fellow tykes and adults who believe that three weeks of outperformance proves something. "If I wasn't properly toilet trained, all of this premature boasting would have made me crap in my pants from laughter! It shouldn't take a four year-old to figure out that this is a long season with ample opportunity for both success and failure. I plan on ending the season the right way - on top - and couldn't give a Happy Meal's ass about the standings until then."
posted by Jason @
4:45 PM
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THERE IS ... ANOTHER ... SCAGEL
Kenny, given the phenomenal success of the Scagel clan, my only question is: Where's Auggie? If you got your second child into the mix, you could easily have four of the top five positions. Man, after you have the next one in March, you guys will be unstoppable. (These Catholics and their relentless breeding!)
On another note: To think, I felt kind of funny because I use Finesse -- with conditioner no less. That's about as metro as I'm willing to get. (Actually, I sometimes use hand mositurizer, too, but only a few days a year, when the air gets really dry.)
posted by Chris Weinkopf @
3:18 PM
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King of the Kiddies
My son is a football prodigy. There is no denying it. His instincts are impeccable.
You have no idea how gratifying an experience it can be when your 4 year old son comes up to you while you're watching the game and says "Look Daddy, football! I love football!" Of course, he will two minutes later scream, "Daddy, I want to watch SpongeBob!" But hey, could be worse.
After consulting with Dr. Hirschman at the Institute for Advanced Toddler Gambling Research, and working out several trial methods, Mac and I have hit on the perfect procedure for picking games. We go to espn.com, read all the insider info and watch NFL Matchup. We discuss all of the relevant injury reports and watch tape of the last week's games.
We then go to NFL.com, where all the matchups are listed with logos, and Mac picks the logo he likes (no, no, Daddy, I like the DOLPHIN, not the horse-thing [Buffalo]). No promting whatsoever from me. His picks are his own. Confidence points are assigned randomly (I put my cursor on a game and my wife yells out a random number between 1 and 14 or 16).
That being said, I like to think it is more than just luck. You should see him make an open-field tackle on his brother! Or how he can execute the perfect spin move when I'm running after him trying to get the scissors out of his hands. I smell Div I scholarship offers . . . .
posted by Kenny @
1:45 PM
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Hirschman, You're a Wuss
Right, "my sister got it for me." You make me sick, Jason. Next thing you know you'll be calling stuff on little pieces of bread canapes and cooing over the imminent arrival of the new Pottery Barn catalog. Man, you think you know a guy and then he gets all metrosexual on 'ya.
BTW, can we start a pool on how long it will take before you want to shoot the next guy who uses the term "metrosexual". This one is going to have the shortest shelf-life since the Macarana. And will be twice as annoying.
No knock on WS75, though. Great article, Stacey.
posted by Kenny @
1:29 PM
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CHANGING OF THE (RIGHT)-GUARD
Is it the Rise of the Metrasexuals? Perhaps I should give some credit for strong start in the 2003 pool to my supply of high-end 'Bumble and Bumble' shampoo. According to Stacey's article (which is quite funny), as a XY, I should be using that toxic sludge called Pert Plus All In One.
But in my defense, my sister worked in product and marketing at Bumble and Bumble, and gave me free products ... heck, how could I turn down two dozen FREE bottles of shampoo? I'm still a traditional meat and potatoes man, damn it, I don't care what anyone else thinks ... even if I do drive a Volkswagen. And use fancy shampoo.
By the way, the Bumble and Bumble conditioner is just fab.
posted by Jason @
1:00 PM
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HASBEENS?
Maybe WildStyle 75 has been spending too much time beating up on poor metrosexuals. Last year's champ is faring pretty poorly at 17th place this year. Her friend and previous champion, Jersey Girl Cris, is doing little better at 12th. Dave "Why Nots" Coher, a perennial contender in years past (as Lakewood/New York Lancers), hangs on to #11. And Flipper Lynn, who held 5th place just about all of last year, is so far coming in at a dismal 22nd.
Are we seeing a changing of the guard?
posted by Chris Weinkopf @
12:39 PM
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CALLING ALL METROESEXUALS
If that's you, or if you don't know what "metrosexual" means, or if you just want to know what another w.com pooler is up to, see Stacey WildStyle 75 Pressman's ESPN column on the matter.
posted by Chris Weinkopf @
12:36 PM
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This week's champ, the MMPF, as shown in a pic taken a few months ago, in Patriots t-shirt and with the Mighty Mighty Monniemoo.
WEINKOPF.COM FOOTBALL POOL III WEEK 3
MIGHTY MIGHTY RETURN
What a long, tedious start it has been to the 2003 pool, thanks to the Internet demons at our ex-host, Hawk Communications. For two weeks, there were no pool posts, and so we all had to fumble around in the dark, Fortunately Ben “Iron City Steel Co.” Kepple saved the day with a fine recommendation for a new host (vervehosting.com), and now we are back in business!
In more ways than one! Yours truly is back in business with a mighty mighty triumph on the week, first place and 91 points. (With a big assist from the Raiders, who, by playing so pitifully last night, denied Dave “Why Nots” Coher the 14 points he could have used to take the win.) And the Mighty Mighty New Englad Patriots are back, too, with two straight victories.
Anyway, I need to get my gloating in now, as, if the past two years are any indication, the opportunities will be few and far between this year.
And I’d be remiss if I failed to acknowledge the winners of Week 1 and Weeks 2. In the opener, it was Jason “NinerInchNails” Hirschman with an awesome, record setting 111 points. Then, last week, Lone Star Lizzie Scagel won the day with 103. But amazingly, Geoff “Go Lions! No Really” Brown — who has yet to win a week — sits atop first place with Jason at 197 points. Then, sitting a mere 15 points back in third is Mr. Lizzie Scagel, “Grogan’s Heroes” Kenny, who, unlike his wife, hasn’t won a week, but is still ahead of her in the overall standings.
Lizzie, it turns out is tied for fourth with — of all people — her and Ken’s four-year old son, Mac “I Can Throw the Ball!” Scagel, who is easily embarrassing all of us who can tie our own shoes. All in all, this has been an awesome start for the Scagel family, which owns three of the top five spots.
There are also two other youngsters in this year’s pool. Returning from last year is four-year old SuperBatman Ebin Hirschman, and my own Mighty Mighty MonnieMoo Monica, who, at a mere eight months, has so far struggled in the pool. Three weeks into the kids contest, it’s all Mac, who leads fellow tots 3-0-0.
Now for an important procedural manner: This year, as the new web page should suggest — the Weinkopf.com Football Pool is going to be more than simply a weekly update; it is going to be a full-time blog, with updates coming around the clock. That means witty asides and observations will come throughout the week, not just in one Tuesday post, and not just from me.
That’s right, folks. Watch your e-mail accounts because Weinkopf.com/Football is an open blog for poolers. You’ll soon be getting e-mail messages telling you how to log in and post for yourself. So please, post often — whether it’s predictions, taunts, smack-talk, NFL observations, shared links, or simple chatter. You’re what makes this pool great.
And stay tuned .I’ve said a lot less than usual in this post because I plan to say more in future blogs. We still have some introductions to do, as well as check out how the intra-pool rivalries are coming along. Thanks for your patience, and welcome to another great year in the Weinkopf.com Football Pool!
Best,
Chris, the Mighty Mighty Pats Fan
posted by Chris Weinkopf @
7:15 AM
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IT'S A NEW YEAR
Well, it's taken much figuring, but all systems are go, and Weinkopf.com III -- the blog -- is ready to start in earnest!
Mark this page -- it will be the online headquarters for this year's pool. And, this being an open blog, please come post often!
posted by Chris Weinkopf @
9:26 PM
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9/22/2003 |
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