2018 COAS Pigskin Pick 'Em: Week 8

As we near the end of October, the coalition marches on in our quest to pick NFL games against the spread!

I increased my space from the cellar after last week, taking four of the seven disputed games with Adam. But I'm looking up at a majority of the field as I still haven't really recovered from my disaster Sunday a few weeks ago. You can view the standings here, bearing in mind a picking error has Adam's number off by one.

Kristen maintains her tenuous one game lead on her brother as the gains she made in the early slate on Sunday were wiped away by dinnertime. They now have Aiden and even Jen on their tails, the former of whom has been on something of a hot streak the last few weeks. You can view how we've all picked in relation to each other here, noting that we continue to suck when we all come to an agreement after the Titans back door covered in their near victory across the pond.

Moving onto this week, Adam and I once again disagree on seven games out of 14. Let's get to the picks!

2018 COAS Pigskin Pick 'Em: Week 7

Week 7 was a much better showing for the coalition than Week 6 was, and thus we saunter on in our quest to correctly pick NFL games against the spread.

I redeemed myself following my worst week ever, taking three and a half of the six and a half disputed games between Adam and myself; his refusal to pick the Seahawks-Raiders game in London this past week gave me a free point and now has me up two games on him. Note that in the records below, the game Adam refused to pick is being counted as a loss; it's easier than trying to consider it a tie and means I don't have to refuse to pick a game to try and even things out. Disregard the fact that the ESPN standings have him within one game of me; those are off due to a picking error that is accounted for.

Looking at the rest of the group, Kristen is still hanging onto her narrow lead in the group that she's held since Week 2. Her comment: "You don't need to know anything about football. Also, football is stupid." I agree to an extent with her first comment, seeing as the standings speak for themselves, but I disagree with the second. She has her reasons though, and I fully understand them.

Her brother Joe remains just a game back, and they've got a reasonably comfortable cushion on the rest of us. You can see how we've all picked in relation to each other here. There are a couple fun stats from there that I want to share: collectively the group has gone hero 22 times; Adam's wife Jen has half of those (and got six of them right so far), and Joe remains the only one yet to go hero. But when we all agree... we suck. We have six consensus picks so far this year; we've missed all of them.

Moving on to Week 7, Adam and I disagree on seven games out of 14. Let's get to it!

2018 COAS Pigskin Pick 'Em: Week 6

I think last week was a week that... most of the coalition would like to forget as we move on to our sixth week of picking NFL games.

To be fair, when I say "most of the coalition," I mainly mean me. Adam took four of our six disputed games and he has pulled within one game of me for the column lead (note that the ESPN standings have us tied due to a picking error a couple weeks ago). But I had a historically bad Sunday, missing literally every afternoon game. If I hadn't swept the entire primetime slate I would have broken Geoffrey Clark's mark for worst week in contest history. That horrific day took me from being around the 91st percentile among all ESPN Pigskin Pick 'Em players down to the 62nd. Life comes at you fast.

Meanwhile, among the rest of the group I'm thankful for the early advantage over Adam as that's what's now keeping me out of the group basement. I'm now tied with Aiden, who had the best week of the group, and a game behind Jen, who split a pair of hero picks over the weekend. Kristen remains a game up for first place in the group on Joe, who followed up an on fire weekend with a bit of a dud. You can view how we've all picked in relation to each other here.

As I attempt to cling to my lead over Adam and try to climb back up in the standings, some weird things are happening in the column this week. Adam and I disagree on six and a half games out of the 15. How does this work, you ask? Read on and find out.

2018 COAS Pigskin Pick 'Em: Week 5

With the conclusion of tonight's game, we will hit the quarter pole of the 2018 NFL season. And since the week starts tonight, it's time for the coalition to get back to work!

I took three of five disputed games from Adam last week to push my lead over him back to three. You can view the standings here, but with an asterisk: Adam goofed on one of his picks on ESPN, and by precedent, the picks on Confessions of a Sportscaster override what shows up on ESPN. You can view the correct standings, plus a breakdown of how we've all picked in relation to each other here.

Perhaps the most interesting thing that happened last week is that I am no longer in second place overall. Kristen still leads the group, but her advantage is a tenuous one game after a monster week by her brother Joe. Joe became just the second person in contest history to start perfect through the early slate of games on a Sunday, and finished the week with the second best mark in a single week in contest history behind my dad, who went 13-3 one week last year. I'm now in a third place log jam with Geoffrey Clark and Adam's wife Jen, who for just picking at random has done pretty well.

Looking ahead to Week 5, Adam and I disagree on six games out of 15. Let's get to it!

COAS Hands Out 2018 MLB Awards

I started doing my research and writing this in the wake of the Cubs falling in Game 163. So I'm bummed. But tradition must hold, and as such, it's time to take a look at the 2018 regular season that was and make my picks for MLB awards.

As I've done in years past, I will look at the candidates for the four major awards in each league, and make my case for each below.

2018 COAS Pigskin Pick 'Em: Week 4

The bye weeks are beginning in the NFL this week, but for the coalition, there are no weeks off as we enter our fourth round of picking games against the spread.

The group kind of regressed in Week 3, though Adam took four of our seven disputed picks last week to cut the column deficit to two games. But we all remain looking up at Kristen at the top of the standings. You can also view a breakdown of how we've picked in relation to each other here. I think the most fun stat from there has to be Adam's wife Jen going 4 of 6 on hero picks through three weeks, and as I understand it she's basically just picking with her eyes closed. Not bad, all things considered, especially since she had the best week out of all of us.

Looking ahead to Week 4, Adam and I disagree on five games out of 15. Let's get to the picks!

When "Roughing the Passer" Has Gone Too Far

Photo by Adam Wesley (USA TODAY Network)

I almost wrote something about this last week in the wake of the Packers getting another game stolen from them by poor officiating. Then it happened again this week, and now I can't hold back anymore.

To be clear, I've long been of the opinion that in most cases, officiating doesn't decide the outcome of games... with some exceptions, of course. And I'm not blaming the officiating for Green Bay's embarrassing loss to the Redskins yesterday. But I am blaming them for their farcical sense of justice. So in case you haven't seen the league's latest nonsense, the two forthcoming tweets sum it up pretty well.

Just to review … this was a penalty ... ~ JW (1/2) pic.twitter.com/1RQ5c7z0kA

— Wilde And Tausch (@WildeAndTausch) September 23, 2018

... but this was not. ~ JW pic.twitter.com/ESLvOtQkhY

— Wilde And Tausch (@WildeAndTausch) September 23, 2018

Like the complete and utter crap penalty on Clay Matthews' hit on Kirk Cousins the week before, I didn't see it in real time. But I was pissed as soon as I saw it. The Alex Smith flag I get more than I do the Cousins one; the Alex Smith takedown involved Matthews landing on Smith, and per the NFL's asinine new rule, it's the correct call. But it is a horrific rule. Combine that with a play on Rodgers that absolutely should have drawn a flag... and it's clear the NFL has no idea what it's doing.

I didn't play organized football, but when defensive players, other quarterbacks, and even former heads of NFL officiating think you've screwed this up, then you have 100 percent screwed this up. The conspiracy theorist inside my head wants the Packers to sue the league for deliberately targeting them with their nonsense, but the rational person in my head knows that's stupid. But I'm dumbfounded at this point. Short of teams refusing to take the field until this gets fixed, I don't know this problem gets resolved.

We talk about how the NFL is supposedly declining and arguably dying and the various causes that go into it. Cord cutting, people boycotting due to anthem protests, and now this nonsense... I'll let Pro Football Weekly's Hub Arkush take it home.

If the NFL continues to pretend last 2 Roughing calls on Clay Matthews aren't complete B.S., I'm just not sure how much longer people will keep watching? League is becoming a total joke and it's truly sad to watch.

— Hub Arkush (@Hub_Arkush) September 23, 2018