2020 COAS Pigskin Pick 'Em: Week 8

The coalition returns to action here for Week 8 of the NFL season, and for some of us... we need to get our act in gear.

The good news is, a week after I screwed up on ESPN, Adam did this past week as well by picking the Raiders here, but the Bucs on ESPN, so now he and I both have one more point on ESPN than we should. You can view those standings, bearing that adjustment in mind, here.

Error aside, Adam took four of six disputed games last week, which looking back on it is something of a miracle. And I think all of us can say... at least we aren't Joe, who I'm pretty sure just had the worst week in contest history. You can view how we've picked in relation to each other, with correct standings, here. Groupwise now, Adam has taken a narrow group lead, with Geoffrey and I hot on his tail, and Jim made a nice run this past week with some good hero picks.

This week, Adam and I disagree on seven games out of 14. Let's get to it!

2020 COAS Pigskin Pick 'Em: Week 7

It was kind of a rough week on the whole for the coalition, so we're back at it again in Week 7 to try and right the ship!

It was nice to not have any games have to be postponed this past week, so there's no weird information from last week about a game that wasn't played. But of the games that were, Adam took two of the three disputed games last week to pull back within a game of the lead. You now have to ignore the ESPN standings as for once I'm the one who screwed up; I picked the Patriots in the column, but took the Broncos on ESPN, and by rule, the column is what counts, so I have one more point than I should.

You can view accurate standings, as well as how we've picked in relation to each other, here. This week, Adam and I disagree on six games out of 14. Let's get to it!

2020 COAS Pigskin Pick 'Em: Week 6

A day later than usual, the coalition is back as we continue our quest to pick NFL games against the spread!

It's been a chaotic past couple weeks in the NFL with COVID forcing some postponements of games, which has cut the number of games down a couple, while also giving us some Tuesday Night Football this past week. That chaos also pushed Thursday Night Football back a few days this week, hence why this got posted on a Friday instead of a Thursday.

In amidst last weeks chaos, I took four of six disputed games from Adam to take the group lead outright. It would befit the alternating year pattern Adam and I have established since he joined me, but there's still a ton of games left to play, so I'm not counting my money just yet. You can view how the coalition has picked in relation to each other here.

This week Adam and I disagree on only three games out of the scheduled 14. Let's get to it!

2020 COAS Pigskin Pick 'Em: Week 5

We're just under a quarter of the way through the 2020 NFL season already somehow, and the coalition is back at it as we prepare for Week 5!

The standings remain relatively tight through four weeks, though there is enough separation between the top and the rest. Though now, the lead saw a bit of a change as, after taking three of five disputed games from Adam last week, I've moved back into a tie with him for first place. Great Reversal indeed.

You can view how we've all picked in relation to each other here. We're doing better on a consensus basis than we have in years past, and hero picks have been all right to date on the whole. I have the most correct, and only one less than the rest of the group combined, while Adam has the second-best rate on hero picks in the group with the second-biggest sample size.

This week, pending his picks passing their COVID test (which he said they tested positive for being awesome), Adam and I disagree on six games out of 15. Let's get to it!

Introducing Confessions of a Sportscaster: The Podcast

Confessions of a Sportscaster has been relatively quiet for much of 2020. What with the pandemic, adjusting to working from home while trying to keep two young kids entertained and content, and the lack of sports for several months, there wasn't a lot to write about or a lot of time to do said writing even when sports started to return.

But with things continuing to change and evolve in our world, I think it's time Confessions of a Sportscaster starts to evolve with it. And what better way than for someone who worked at a college radio station for four years, interned for a couple commercial stations in Chicago during that same time, and also spent some time as a part time producer at a commercial station once out of college, than for me to get back into the audio game?

Introducing Confessions of a Sportscaster: The Podcast.

Future episodes to come.

2019 Death to the BCS Playoffs: Fast Forward

We're starting to see something of a return to normalcy now. The Stanley Cup Final is complete, the NBA Finals are underway, the MLB Playoffs are about to begin... and football is more or less in full swing. The NFL has gone on with minimal hitches, and the FBS is starting to get back to normal as some conferences are already playing and others are coming back soon.

This would normally be where I'd be announcing the 2020 Death to the BCS Playoffs. Problem is, given the way the schedules are set up, with different conferences starting later, I don't think it's a fair year or a good year to do the Death to the BCS Playoffs. Fortunately, I still have the 2019 bracket to go through!

I built this bracket out way back in December, when the word "pandemic" wasn't on anyone's mind, North Central was coming off a huge upset of Mount Union en route to a national title, and I was in the midst of a long basketball layoff. Teams were not in on my simulator in time to do the playoff in real time like I had for the first few years, but now that they are, and we're in full swing of football, it's time to attack this again.

You can view the official bracket, which will include final scores when we're done, here. All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Let's play some football!

2020 COAS Pigskin Pick 'Em: Week 4

The coalition marches on as we approach Week 4 of the NFL season!

We ended up regressing to the mean a little bit in Week 3; after hitting on eight of our first ten consensus picks, we went just 2-3 on those games last week. You can view how we've all picked in relation to each other here.

On a micro level, I took three of five disputed games from Adam last week to narrow the deficit to a single game in the standings. We're also starting to see a little bit of a split between the top and the bottom of the standings. Whether this is a part of what Adam has deemed The Great Reversal or not remains to be seen.

Once again this week Adam and I disagree on five games out of 15. Let's get to it!