EMERTONS SLIP, BUT RETAIN CONTROL
2 former champions gain 33 on the leader
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And that's why they play the regular season.  FunkyLeader Eric Emerton 
stumbled through the third-worst opening playoff round for a top seed in the 
history of the pool, and his second-place father finished next-to-last, but 
both men still hold a tight grip on 2006 Slate.  Eric, in fact, managed to 
extend his lead from 24 to 28 points.
     It was only the second time in FunkyHistory that a leader has given up 
more than 30 points to two different participants in the opening week, but 
the key for the Emerton Dynasty was giving up the big points to the right 
people.  Two-time Champion Money Retsek, current Champion Bill Ellis, and 
Tully Wyatt gained 33, 33, and 27 points respectively, but none of those 
three poolsters are within 50 points of Emerton overall.  The player with 
the most to gain, Mr. Emerton, did even worse than Eric, and third-place 
Robert Hassanali could only manage a trivial four points.
    The "weekly win" may be bittersweet for Money, who could be within
single digits of Emerton had he remembered to submit picks in Week 15.  As 
it is, he's still 57 points off the pace, but only 29 points out of 
qualifying for the FunkyBowl.
    On the flip side, DOliver's Hail Mary dropped to the turf -- he finished 
in last place for the week, and was eliminated in 12th place overall.  It 
was ultimately a disappointing season for Dylan, who once finished no worse 
than 11th for 8 straight seasons, but quite a comeback from his atrocious 
season last year.  Double-Dub's dubious double-dozen on the G-Men sunk her 
as well -- she was eliminated in 11th place overall.  It was an average 
season for Kathy: 4 times she has finished better; four times worse.  Scott 
Wyatt went down with his team -- the only game he missed -- and finished 
tied for 9th place overall.  It was a quality season for Scott overall, and 
the 4th time he has finished in the Top Ten.  Kurt Schwartz's chances were 
torn at the knee on Carson Palmer's first pass attempt, and he finished tied 
with Scott in 9th overall.  Relatively speaking, it's difficult to rate 
Kurt's year -- a man who has finished 17th, 2nd, and 25th.  On the other 
hand, it's really easy: it's his second-best season ever.
    Meanwhile, Bill Ellis and Funky Wyatt were the only two poolsters to get 
all four games correct, and they survived in 6th and 8th place respectively. 
  Jason Sullivan made a move at the Slate, but Eli Manning sent the ex-champ 
back to 7th place.  All three of these players are at their own plateau, 
about 70 points off the lead, and needing to make a relatively aggressive 
move to make the Final Four.
    At the next plateau, about 55 off the pace, sit a plummetting Hassanali, 
a rushing Retsek, and a stationary Diane Emerton.  Odds are, unless somebody 
from the "back three" makes a rush, 2 of these 3 poolsters will join the
Emerton Boys for the Conference Championships.
    At a plateau of his own, Robert Emerton falls to 28 back of Eric, and is 
almost exactly his lead on the triumverate chaing him from behind.  Anyone 
who thinks he has a chance at catching Eric must likewise concede the chance 
he won't even make the FunkyBowl.

In the "second-chance playoffs," the Godsey Boys looked like they were
going 
to tie for the lead until Godsey's delightful afternoon of watching 
highlight after highlight of Eli throwing horrible passes turned into a 
gruesome afternoon of watching highlight after highlight of Palmer's knee 
bending sideways.  Keith Wengronowitz takes a two-touchdown lead over 
Kendoggie Vis, and has declared that he has the pool "in the bag."  The
$20 
entry from the Godseys has reportedly already been desseminated at a local 
liquor store.

Stat of the Week:
------------------------
If Mr. Emerton had picked the games perfectly, he'd not only be winning the 
pool, he'd be leading Eric by 51 points.  Hassanali, Diane, and Sullivan 
could also be wearing the yellow jersey if they had picked the weekend 
perfectly.



Next week:
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Washington at Seattle
New England at Denver
Pittsburgh at Indy
Carolina at Chicago

The "back three" (Bill Ellis, Jason Sullivan, and Tully Wyatt) will probably
have to make an aggressive move or two to earn one of the top 4 spots, but 
it's impossible to say where they might attack.

The "middle three" (Hassanali, Money, and Diane) have more complex issues:
They have to fend off the bombs from the back three, yet compete each other 
to make the next round, and/or take a mad rush at the Slate themselves.  
This is the week to lie low and make the Final Four, but it's also the week 
to go for the hardware (remember, next week there are only two games).   We 
expect Diane to play it safe, with Money and Hassanali going for bust.

For Robert Emerton, he has a FunkyBowl ticket to protect, but again, if he's 
going to make an honest try at the engraving, this would be the best weekend 
to do so.  If last week is any indication, he'll play it safe and just try 
to make the Big Game.

With his father playing it safe, we expect Eric to sit on his 28-point lead, 
run the ball conservatively, and then see where he's at for the Conference 
Championships.  But he surprised us last week with the Carolina upset pick 
-- maybe he's got more surprises for this week.


See ya then....