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Viking Pride Brings Happy Returns:
Kevin Sabbe wins Week 10
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Aided by 150 yards of total offense by his Minnesota Vikings (and not one 
yard more), Kevin Sabbe won his 11th week of his life, and lays claim to 
being the greatest "weekly winner" in FunkyPool history.  Since he entered 
the pool seven years ago, he's averaged more than a win and a half a season, 
the only participant to do that.
     Bill Elllis also profited from some team pride -- his Packer win earned 
him his first money since exactly one year ago.  Robert Emerton finished 
3rd, earning money for the 8th time this season.  Farnsworth, Patrick 
Godsey, Hassanali also finished wth money.  The playoff picture remained the 
same, and the standings in general remain virtually unchanged -- Bill Ellis 
moved from 11th to 6th, and Jen Retsek moved in the opposite direction; 
otherwise things are pretty static.
    In actual NFL news, Wyatt's Dolphins gagged against Sullivan's Patriots. 
  Sabbe's Vikings silenced Scott's Giants for the week (Manning looked 
great, by the way, good luck in the Super Bowl).  And Kathy's Broncos razed 
Raider Nation within about 15 minutes.


If Only...
-------------
the Giants had won, Bill would've won by 8.
the Raiders or Falcons had won, Farnsworth would've won the week.


Random Stats!
--------------------
- Kevin's weekly win is the 11th of his life, putting him 5th on the 
all-time list, tied with Money Retsek.  Kevin is now the all-time leader in 
"weekly wins per season."

- After just 5 seasons of participation, Eric Franzen has now finished in 
last place 14 times, placing him 3rd on the all-time list.

- Pool leader Mr. Emerton is the only one of us to earn over 70% of his 
points wagered on "swing games."  2nd place Eric Emerton is the only other 
poolster to earn over 65%.

- It has now been 92 weeks since Eric Emerton, winner of 3 Slates, has won 
the week.

- Jason Sullivan and Jen Alley are 9-0 in Bears games.
- Scott Wyatt is the only one to be 9-0 in Cardinal games.
- Scott and Tully Wyatt are the only two poolsters to be perfect (18-0) in Raider games.
- Money is the only one who is 9-0 with the Ravens.
- DOliver is the only one to be 9-0 with the Jets.
- Ken Vis and Jen Alley are the only two to be 9-0 with the Bengals.

- Emerton finally missed a Bills game (KC 4).
- Kurt Schwartz finally missed with the Giants (NYG 12).

- Mike Godsey is 4-14 with games involving New England or New Orleans.  
Regaining points lost on these teams would put Godsey in 2nd place overall.
- Wego finally got a Cowboy game right (barely).  Everybody has now gotten 
every team right at least once.
- Chris Sabbe is 5-22 games involving the Broncos, Jaguars, and Redskins.  
Regaining the points lost on these three teams would put Saab in 2nd place.

- The pool in general has a winning record with every team except Dallas and 
Denver.
- Nobody has yet to win a single point by picking San Francisco.

- As a pool, we're 53% with our 2-picks, but we're sitting at 41% in the 
1-spot.
- Jason Sullivan was 27-0 with his 14-, 12-, and 11-picks.  This week he 
missed both his 14- and his 11-pick.
- Robert Emerton is 2-8 with his 1-picks.
- Diane Emerton is 1-9 with her 1-pick.
- Adam Jennings is 2-8 with his 8-pick, while he has a winning record with 
all his other picks which are 6 and higher.
- Chris Sabbe both has a losing record with his 1-, 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-picks. 
  So does Wego.


Picks of the Week
-------------------------
Six registered voters this week, and 3 of them thought that Kevin Sabbe's 
"2" on Green Bay was the most premier.  The other three voters propped the 
Team Pride of Bill Ellis (Green Bay), Kathy (Denver), and Kevin Sabbe again 
(Minnesota).  It is Kevin's 7th POW, tying him with Jennings on the all-time 
list.
      Five different picks were deemed "clowny" but only Eric Franzen's "9" 
on St. Louis registered multiple clownings.  Also nominated were Wego's 
Houston pick (nice try), Sullivan's Atlanta pick, Sabbe's costly Raider 
pick, and Godsey's (correct) Tampa Bay pick.  It is Franzen's 4th COW.



What Week 10 standings mean: A closer look
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With seven weeks still to go until playoffs, it's easy to say that there's 
lots of football left in the season, from now on there are 16 games a week, 
and we're finally free to loosen up a little and make the picks we feel good 
about -- and maybe make our move.  It's also easy to say "fuck this season.  
How long until Christmas?"  But which guy saying which statement is the 
bigger a-hole?  Weekly Update takes a closer look.
       Stats for the last two seasons are unavailable, but looking at every 
other season, it appears Robert Emerton's place at the top is relatively 
stable.  According to the stats we have, every person who has ever been in 
first place in Week 10 has finished no worse than 3rd place.  The lone 
exception is way back in 1996, when Mike Godsey was 22 points up on 
everybody, and plummeted all the way to 7th place by the time it was over.
      The bright side for everybody else, however, is just because Mr. 
Emerton appears to have a lock on a medal finish, the Slate is hardly his.  
In 4 of the 7 years where we have Week 10 Standings, the poolster at the top 
in Week 10 eventually took home the Slate, but in 3 of those seasons, the 
FunkyChampion came from behind, and inspirationally enough, from way behind. 
  In 2000, Eric Emerton was in 7th place in the tenth week; in '96, Sabbe 
was 41 points back in 6th place; and in the most dramatic comeback of them 
all, Dylan Retsek was 67 points back (14th place) before storming back for 
his second straight championship.
      But doesn't Mr. Emerton's 24-point lead seem bigger than years prior?  
Indeed, his lead over 2nd place is the biggest Week 10 lead in the recorded 
history of the FunkyPool.  Also, his 37 points over Jason Sullivan is the 
biggest Week 10 lead over 3rd place in our recorded history.  On the bright 
side, the only recorded season that compares to this one was 1996, when 
Godsey led by 22 and 35 points, and that's the season when everything turned 
upside down in the last seven weeks.  So maybe there's hope after all.
    The conclusion in all of this: Give up, Sabbe.  The Raiders aren't 
making the playoffs, and neither are you.  But for the rest of some of us: 
Remember, if Money can come back from 67 points down to win the Slate, then 
you probably can't.  But at least it's physically possible.  Maybe.

Eventual Slate Winners standing in Week 10:
2002: 1st
2001: 1st
2000: 7th
1999: 14th
1998: 1st
1997: 1st
1996: 6th

Week 10 Leads over second and third place:
2003: Mr Emerton; 24, 37
2002: Eric Emerton; 2, 4 *
2001: Mike Godsey; 5, 23 *
2000: DOliver; 1, 7 (finished 2nd)
1999: Jason Giordano; 11, 15 (finished 3rd)
1998: Dylan Retsek; 19, 30 *
1997: Jim McKean; 0, 32 *
1996: Mike Godsey; 22, 35 (finished 7th)
* eventually won Slate


Next Week
---------------
Sickened by the fact that both Viking Pride and Packer Pride cashed in at 
FunkyCentral?  No worries: Vikings are at Green Bay this Monday night.  
Might be interesting to see what the newly-confident Bill Ellis and Kevin 
Sabbe do for that game.  In other action, Godsey's set to exhibit some 
Bengal Pride against the Colts.  With Wyatt's Dolphins at Adam's Browns, and 
Diane's Bills at Patrick's Chargers, we could have some entertaining 
rivalries but probably will not.
     Two of Franzen's three weekly wins have come in Week 11; Chris Sabbe 
and Dylan Retsek have also won Week 11 twice each.  Mike Godsey has always 
done pathetically poorly in Week 11, with only 1 of his 63 money finishes 
coming in this week; with his teams playing games at Atlanta and against the 
Colts, it doesn't look pretty for Gotz.

See ya then...