bojack.org
Underdog Pool 2010-11
Official
Rules
All proceeds to charity
LINES:
Every week, sometime on Tuesday, I or my consultant (TRP, who created and runs
the original underdog pool) will log onto USA Today's lines site
(http://covers.usatoday.com/data/odds.aspx#nfl). This site has
multiple lines, and so they'll more likely have something for us by
Tuesday. We will take the first spread given on the RIGHT, but NOT the
opening line (the one on the far left). If there's something wrong with
the USA Today site and we can't
access it, we'll look for Yahoo or ESPN. If there's internet trouble or
something, we'll check the morning newspaper on Wednesday. The spreads will be published as soon as I
have them, on bojack.org.
If I haven't posted lines by late Tuesday evening, feel free to send me a
friendly reminder via e-mail at underdog@bojack.org.
We're
going strictly with the number seen when logging in to look on Tuesday morning
(or Tuesday afternoon, or whenever we look first), and that won't change under
any circumstances. So if, when we check on Tuesday,
NO
LINES: In the event that the USA
Today site has a game with no line posted when we first look, we'll
keep looking until Thursday. If a line is posted before then, we will add
it to the list with the first number we see. If there's no line by
the last time we check on Thursday, that game is not in play. Pick 'em games are also not in play.
PICKS: Each week, you
will pick one (and only one) underdog team on the upcoming weekend's NFL
schedule that you think is going to win its game outright -- that is, straight
up, without the benefit of any point spread. If you pick correctly, you win the
number of points that your underdog team was favored to lose by. The player
with the most points at the end of the season is the winner of the pool, and
gets to designate all (or the lion's share) of the entry fee pot to charity
(see below).
Example
1:
Example
2:
Do you
swing for the fences with a prohibitive underdog?
Or do you try to get 1-3 easier points per week? Your
call.
Your
pick must be made by sending an e-mail message to me at underdog@bojack.org. This year, that’s the only way to get your
pick registered for the week.
DEADLINE: ***YES, I WILL ENFORCE
THIS.*** The deadline for getting your pick in
is midnight Pacific time on Saturday
night/Sunday morning. There is a grace period -- if you have the pick
in by the time I post the picks early Sunday morning, you got away with your tardiness.
But if I post the picks and you desperately try to e-mail in a pick afterwards,
tough. It's an unfair advantage to make your pick after seeing everyone
else's pick, so I do enforce this rule. So -- seriously, don't mess with the
grace period. Do it by Saturday midnight.
Except
in the case of Thursday or Saturday games (see below), I won’t reveal anyone’s
picks, on my blog or otherwise, until the deadline has passed, and at that
point other players’ picks can’t be added or changed. It would probably be to one’s tactical
advantage not to disclose one’s pick publicly (such as on the blog) much before
the deadline, but how you play is up to you.
If
you're picking a Thursday or Saturday game, obviously, that pick has to be to
me before that game kicks off. I will
reveal those picks shortly after the game in question kicks off, but not
before.
If you don't send in a pick, you sit out the week. There is no
"default underdog." No pick, no
points.
SEASON: The pool concludes at the close of the last
game in the final week of the playoffs (not including the Super Bowl, of
course, since there is only one game that week).
WHAT THE POOL IS ABOUT: It's
all for charity. If you win, you will get to direct the pool entry fees to your
favorite charity, which must be a section 501(c)(3)
nonprofit organization. Depending on how many players we get, we may allow
the second- and third-place finishers to designate smaller (much smaller)
portions of the pot to their favorite charities. All entry fees will be paid
to one or more charities.
UPDATE: The prizes will be awarded to charities
designated by our top five finishers, as follows:
First
prize - $500 to player's favorite charity
Second prize - $165 to player's favorite charity
Third prize - $100 to player's favorite charity
Fourth prize - $75 to player's favorite charity
Fifth prize - $50 to player's favorite charity
And so basically,
what's in it for you is bragging rights and the chance
to be a local hero for your favorite charitable cause.
ENTRY FEE: You enter
by sending me $20. Check or money order only, please. E-mail me here and
I'll shoot you my snail mail address. The absolute deadline for my receipt of
your payment is 11:59 p.m. Pacific time on Wednesday, September 15.
You can play the first
week and pay the second week, so long as I receive your payment before midnight
Wednesday night the 15th. If you’re
later than that with the dough, none
of your earlier picks (including Week 1) will count. If you’re late, you’ll start the game the
week after I receive your check or
money order.
PRIVACY: I will be posting everyone's
picks and the standings of the players every week on the blog. Please be sure
to let me know how you wish to be identified in those postings. Any work-safe
nickname will do. If I don't hear otherwise, I'll use your first name, and if
there is more than one player with the same first name, I'll use your last
initial as well.
If any
of this is unreadable or unclear, let me know and I'll give it another
shot.
All
proceeds to charity