Week 16...

In the riveting last-place battle, both players had decent scores but Verna's 7-win week was one less than Tricia's, putting her in the lead.

In the big-money battle for best score, it's likely that Josh, Mary, and Sara will finish 1-2-3--but there are enough games different between them that there could be some shuffling--and Sara could even be knocked out of the top three by the folks just behind her at 143.

Saturday night update: Everyone in the top six had the Giants winning over Washington, so only Mary Alexander slips one game (meaning we can almost crown Josh). Likewise, both Tricia and Verna had the Giants--so no change in those standings, either.

Leaderboard after week 16:
Josh: 150
Mary: 148
Sara: 145
Jim P, Brian M, Lars: 143
Deane: 142

Last Place Money-Back Board:
Verna: 101
Tricia: 102

Mary 7, 148
Mike 6, 135
Deane 5, 142
Josh 8, 150
Verna 7, 101
Cody 4, 126
SL 9, 126
Steve D 8, 123
Troy 8, 131
Wayne 7, 136
Karen 10, 134
George 6, 136
Les 6, 121
Lil 8, 142
Sara 6, 145
Lars 8, 143
Steve & Jessica 6, 135
J Steve 6, 141
John 7, 133
Mike M 7, 134
Bruce 7, 129
Brad M 5, 133
Brian M 8, 143
Jim M 6, 131
Adam 6, 135
Jennifer P 8, 120
Jim P 8, 143
Dominic 7, 129
Gene S 8, 119
Tricia 8, 102
Beryl 6, 114
Jenny S 5, 123
Julia 9, 126
Bob 7, 126
Bruce W 6, 133
Kurt 4, 134

Week 15

Although the action atop the NFL Pool leaderboard has been riveting, take a look at the Battle For Last Place: Verna Davidson and Tricia Spencer are locked in a tie! They battled to a draw last week (eight wins apiece), after Verna hammered Tricia with a 3-win week in Week 13. Best (or worst) of luck to each of you!

As for the top of the standings, there are eight people left with a good chance at money: Josh clings to his lead, but the competition for first place is fierce--none fiercer than his mother-in-law, one game back.

Leader board:
Josh: 142
Mary: 141
Sara: 139
Deane: 137
Lars, J Steve, Brian M, Jim P: 135

Last place board: (money back!)
Verna: 94
Tricia: 94
Beryl: 108

Mike: 9, 121
Mary: 13, 141
Deane: 10, 137
Josh: 10, 142
Verna: 8, 94
Cody: 8, 122
SL: 4, 117
Steve D: 7, 115
Troy: 9, 123
Wayne: 8, 129
Karen: 8, 124
George: 9, 130
Les: 9, 115
Lil: 9, 134
Sara: 10, 139
Lars: 8, 135
Steve & Jessica: 9, 129
J Steve: 11, 135
John J: 6, 126
Mike M: 9, 127
Bruce M: 10, 122
Brad M: 7, 128
Brian: 11, 135
Jim M: 7, 125
Adam: 9, 129
Jennifer P: 7, 112
Jim P: 9, 135
Dominic: 9, 122
Gene: 6, 111
Tricia: 8, 94
Beryl: 7, 108
Jenny S: 6, 118
Julia S: 5, 117
Bob: 10, 119
Bruce W: 9, 127
Kurt W: 8, 130

Week 14: Ferrisriffic!!

Sara Ferris had two straight weeks of good results while everybody has run facefirst into a gambling buzzsaw. She's gained six games on the leader, Josh. She's gained six games on the former second-place picker, Mary, and moved ahead of her. She's gained 10 games on one former third-place picker, Lil Doddington, and 8 games on the other (Jim Peck). She's gained 11 points on me. Enough of your witchcraft, Ferris!!

Below, you'll find a mysterious "+1" or "-1" included with all scores--that accounts for us cleaning up an error we made way back on Week 7. Thanks to Lars & Angie for noticing the error and calling it to our attention--we'd scored it with Jacksonville winning, but Houston won. Everybody's score changes by one except mine (we scored mine correctly originally).

Here's the "Advanstar Alumni Leader Board" with three weeks left:

Josh: 132
Sara: 129
Mary: 128
Deane & Lars: 127
Jim P: 126
Lil D: 125
Brian & J Steve: 124

Results for Week 14 (adjusted to correct week seven error):

Mike: 7+1=120
Mary: 8-1=128
Deane: 9+1=127
Josh: 8-1=132
Verna: 3+1=86
Cody: 5-1=114
SL: 4-1=113
Steve: 8-1=108
Troy: 5-1=114
Wayne: 6-1=121
Karen: 6-1=116
George: 7-1=121
Les: 6-1=106
Lil: 7-1=125
Sara: 10-1=129
Lars: 6+1=127
Steve & Jessica: 4-1=120
J Steve: 6-1=124
John J: 5-1=120
Mike : 6-1=118
Bruce: 7+1=112
Brad: 6-1=121
Brian: 7-1=124
Jim M: 9-1=118
Adam: 5-0=120
Jennifer P: 9-1=105
Jim P: 7-1=126
Dominic: 3+1=113
Gene: 6+1=105
Tricia: 7-1=86
Beryl: 7-1=101
Jenny S: 7-1=112
Julia S: 4+1=112
Bob S: 8-1=109
Bruce W: 8-1=118
Kurt W: 6-1=122

Week 13: Yeegs.

This was a terrible week in the football pool for everybody except Sara Ferris. Congratulations, Sara. For the rest of us, a score of 9 was outstanding. A score of 8 was quite good. A score of 7 was about average. And a score of 5, like mine, was common. Joey Harrington's Dolphins lost. The Raiders got beaten in Oakland by Houston. Dallas won. All in all, from my standpoint, not a lot to like about week 13.

If you're at or above 120, you're in the thick of things for the Big Payday.

Mary: 7, 121
Mike: 8, 112
Deane: 7, 117
Josh: 7, 125
Verna: 7, 82
Cody: 9, 110
SL: 7, 110
Steve: 8, 101
Troy: 8, 110
Wayne: 9, 116
Karen: 8, 111
George: 7, 115
Les: 6, 101
Lil: 4, 119
Sara: 11, 120
Lars: 9, 120
Steve & Jessica: 5, 117
J Steve: 9, 119
John J: 6, 116
Mike: 7, 113
Bruce: 7, 104
Brad: 8, 116
Brian: 8, 118
Jim M: 6, 111
Adam: 5, 115
Jennifer P: 5, 97
Jim P: 6, 120
Dominic: 7, 109
Gene: 6, 98
Tricia: 7, 80
Beryl: 8, 98
Jenny S: 7, 106
Julia: 9, 107
Bob: 8, 102
Bruce W: 10, 111
Kurt: 6, 117