The time has come to decide whether we're going to play the pro football underdog pool again this year -- the regular season starts on September 9. The pool would operate pretty much the same way it did last year, but this year we'd start with the very first week's regular season action. Players kiss $20 goodbye -- it all goes to charity -- and slug it out, season-long, for glory and the right to designate which charity gets the pot. With enough players, we can have multiple charities benefit, as we did last year.

The object of the game is to pick each week one NFL underdog that's going to win its game outright. Each successful pick wins points for the player equal to the number of points by which that 'dog was predicted by the oddsmakers to lose. The player with the most points at the end of the playoffs is pool champ.

We reflected on the game at its conclusion last season as follows:

Picking 'dogs for NFL upsets is a great diversion. Each week the players root for an upset, without the benefit of the point spread, which keeps things relatively wholesome. And yet the professional oddsmakers' predictions are still relevant, in that they set up the payoff for a correct pick. Some players pile up points slowly and steadily, while others unleash long bombs, at least as the season winds down. And having a skin in the game, however minor, keeps the players' eyes fixed on the Big Daddies more intently than they otherwise might be.