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NFL Challenge - 2003 |
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For the 2003 season, members voted in the use of spreads for every game. Members felt the NFL Challenge was the claim to the season's "Best Capper" and the addition of spreads strengthened that claim even more. Another exciting finish to the NFL Challenge as it came down to playoff PVS. Rock made an unheard of recovery to win his first major as he was 2 games back with 3 games to go. Zip Zalapski faultered in the playoffs once again this year. After taking the regular season title, Zip finished the playoffs 4th out of 4 (and was in first going into the Super Bowl) for the 2nd consecutive season. Montross was unable to recover from a tough loss Philly in the NFC Championship and lost the PVS in the Super Bowl with the low. BZer Zielinski came so close to becoming the first NFL Challenge Champion to repeat but the Pats were unable to cover the spread. Constantino was the last TF Group member to not have a tournament championship. Congrats!
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Final Standings
Weekly Recaps
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Esta Esta pulled in a $5 spot from LL by taking the low in the TB game. A week 1 carry-over and the year-end pott grows from $160 to $190. The TB victory kept the standings tight after week 1 as only Roxie faultered and fell back 3 games early in the season. Attached are the week 1 results, now that we're in the swing of things, spreads will be posted on Wednesdays and Final picks will be e-mail on Friday afternoons. Favs went 8-7 this week as the points came into play on only 1 game (Car/Jax). Good luck this season, may the best capper win! Any questions on the format, just give me a jingle. OUT
LL (playoffs) Solid week from Esta at 9-5 to take the cash and more importantly, hop over MM to claim the last playoff spot for now. All eyes remain on Lucky Larry as another week with 8 wins pushes his streak to 5 consecutive weeks, hitting at a scorching 60% vs. the spreads. Although the record for consecutive weeks at or above 8 wins is 17 weeks by Bubba 2-Team, in the 2000 and 2001 seasons, we are now in a new era with the spreads and LL is writing his own record. LL needed the cover from Indy to keep the streak alive and got it with an amazing 21 point comeback by Indy with 4 minutes to play, marking the first time in League history a team has come back from 21 down and win with only 4 minutes remainings. Now that is one comeback this sports writer would like to get for his own account. LL has opened up a 5 game lead on his closest competitors and is set to try and take his 2nd NFL Challenge Championship (won in 2001). Another tough week for the BZer, just can seem to string together a complete week. The East Coast Offense just isn't catching on in its new environment. MM has followed up a solid start with 2 consecutive sub-8 win weeks and has since dropped out of playoff contention. Bubba 2-Team went back to his roots and broke out the FAV Offense, only to go 6-8 and sit at 10 back. As a whole, we have 4 out of 8 competitors hitting above 50% on the season. Our expert analysts are expecting that number to fall to 1 or 2 by season's end. BD may have put it best when he said, "let me hit at 50% each week and I'm guaranteed a playoff spot". At the 5 week mark, our LCSN analysts give a quick break down on each competitor LL: unprecidented action we're seeing with LL right now. Our analysts are pretty good at getting the info, but it just seems that LL is hitting on all cylinders right now...... walking away with the pool, happily married with wife and kid, and hanging around with the man........ either LL has broken the curse or realistically, nothing is locked up for the pone just yet, stay tuned. BD: 3 yrs after the inception of the NFL Challenge, BD finally seems to be on board for all 4 of the TF Major tournaments. Not sure why this chipper hasn't gotten in before, a solid start to the season puts him 5 back in 2nd place Zip: After taking the regular season title last year, Zippy folded in the playoffs, but once again Zippy is in solid position to try for his 3rd consecutive major and keep the chance at a Grand Slam alive. Unfortunately for Zip, you can't win 'em all and he's struggled mightily with the man Esta: This brings us to our 2nd competitor who just seems to be making all the right moves......Cinderelly, if you will...... we still trying to figure out when the last time this guy had to pay the man...... after a bit of a hiccup at the c-no, Esta put up solid numbers and is now back in the playoff picture.... MM: Late breaking info on MM doesn't look good as the love triangle heats up again. We've already seen how the Love Triangle has affected him in past season, finishing last in 2002 (29 games back) and 2nd to last (17 games back) in 2001 and 2nd to last (-19 games) in 2000. My question is this: Has the love triangle REALLY been going for 3 years now??? Wow, that guy is good! Rock: Rock-solid. Period. Guy just doesn't lose with the man and remains in the playoff hunt only 1 back of Esta Bubz: Struggling hard this season with the man and with the Challenge........ we answer both questions here.......... 1) with the man, bubz just hasn't been putting in any teasers and 2) you just don't get the free 6 in the NFL Challenge BZer: The wife has taken every ounce of energy out of this guy on home improvements, its no wonder why he sits in last place with virtually no time for research. BZer now has 5 consecutive weeks below 8 wins. Update on reversal plays: All the same plays split this weekend at 1-1 (winner on St Louis, loser on Miami), bringing the season record to 3-3
1 different reversal plays went 2-1(winners on Cleve, Dallas, loser on Chicago), bringing the season record to 5-2 Leaderboard:
Zippy (playoffs) The big moves continue to occur in this new season with the spreads. Larry Legends took the fall this week after being featured on the cover of LCSN the magazine for his streak of 5 consecutive weeks with 8 or more wins against the spread. LL's story this week is just another example of how we know the gambling gods do exist. LL was able to hang a giant number up on the man this week, but only went 4-10 in the Challenge, once again showing that you can't have your pie and eat it too. If one thing is going too well, then something else has to go to the sh$tter to balance out the kharma. However, Zippy Chippy was able to buck the trend, scraping a 7-spot from le bonnet, while also posting a solid 10-4 record in the Challenge, picking up 6 games on the Legend and moving into first place. Zip grabbed the cash this week with a SF winner Sunday night; Carry-Over remains at $215. All the talk this week is of the Zippy Hex....... the myth of the hex continues to grow week to week. After suffering the hex 2 weeks ago, BD Copson was heard saying,"I think Zip only put a 1/2-hex onto LL for those comments Larry made about Red Sox fans......... I got the full-hex, a thrashing by le bonnet, for my comments directed at the Zipster." Most club members have been staying clear of the Z-man in the club. With LL's weak showing, the race has really tightened up with Zip, LL, BD, and Montross currently in the playoffs, and the rest of the pack just 2-3 games out. BZer Coat-tails finally was able to get the East Coast Offense on track at 9-5, an important turnaround, as a tough start to the season hurt his chances at a repeat. Esta Big Popper also had a disappointing weekend at 5-9, yet scraped out another non-losing week to the man. Bubba 2-Team may be starting his rebound, rumor has it he posted a solid week with the man and hit for 7-7 in the pool to stop the bleeding...... GL to all, I'll post lines on Wednesday, my apologies for last week's lateness. PS, don't forget making payments on your dues, especially you winners that can debit your satchel account directly to Esta's account. -Zip
Current Standings
Zip (playoffs) The gambling gods continue to cause havoc at the Losers Club, as Esta Carrier was the victim this week. Big Popper put up solid numbers in the Challenge, winning his second week of the season at 9-5, only to get stung by the man over the weekend. Once again proving its tough to be hitting on all cylinders at one time. Big Popper picked up 2 games on Montross and bumped MM out of the playoffs for the time being based on PVS (Esta=135, MM=140 - lower is better). Looking up and down the leader board, we see the defending champion slowly making a move, climbing up to 6th place and sitting just 2 spots out of playoff contention (and holding the best PVS). BD Copson has hit a bit of a mid-season slump as he is into his 3rd consecutive week below 50%, however a strong early season run has kept him in the playoff hunt. Other News: Carry-over remains at $215 as we had our 3rd consecutive week with a winner. 1 pick diff Reversal plays continue to be hot, as we had 2 easy winners on Dallas and Cincy. That brings these plays to 7-2 on the season. We had no All the same Reversal plays, as those picks are 3-3 on the season. TF Group Sponsers the First Annual Poker Playoff - October 24, 2003 We're gearing up for our Fall Classic Gamble-Boozefest Weekend with the introduction of our 4th major, The Poker Playoff. The festivities begin Thursday night with a run south for a warm-up session and to get a good feel for the caads. Friday morning/afternoon, we have scheduled a leisurely round of golf for all those available. The local forecast is calling for sunny skies and temperatures around 50. Prior to the tourney, pizza and brew at the BZer's around 6pm, with tournament sign in beginning at 6:30. Still some dissention on the start time of the tournament as we wait to see the final turn out (LET'S GO BUBZ, chicken bawk-bawk! You ever been in Friday night traffic in NY, your guests won't be in til late). Larry Legends has thrown some early jabs at the tournament committee about the starting time, however we have tried to pursuade all competitors to join in the afternoon links session to avoid any conficts with getting to the tourney on time. GL to all, this weeks picks will be due at the tournament Friday night since I will be out of the office. -Zip
Standings
Zip (playoffs) Defining week last week as the playoff contenders created a little room with the bottom 4 of the group. LL posted a solid 11 win week to grab the cash and pull into a tie for 2nd place. Montross struggled with a 6 win week and fell 3 games behind Esta for the final playoff spot. Don't know why BZer abandoned the East Coast Offense in favor of the FAV offense this week after he posted 3 consecutive weeks of 8 wins or better. The gambling gods continue to have their fun as this weeks top contenders (esta 10 wins, LL 11 wins) both got stung by the man. This week, Zip Zalapski will attempt to tie LL's record of 5 consecutive weeks of 8 or more wins Lines posted on reversalsports.com Reversal plays went down hard this week, ATS reversal plays were 0-1 (4-5 season) and 1D reversal plays were 0-2 (7-5 season) BZer, don't forget your picks today! GL to all! -Zip
Standings
Zip (playoffs) Things tightened up a bit this week and its no longer a clear playoff picture. BZer pulled out the HOME-Offense at the perfect time, hitting at 10-4 to take the cash this week and more importantly move up in the standings to sit 1 game out of the playoffs at 5 back. When asked about the move up, BZer was quoted as saying, "these kids don't have the experience I have. The season begins after the mid point of the season, week 10. These youngsters are so quick to call last year's championship a fluke...... never count the BZer out" Esta "Big Popper" continues to tear it up in the pool as he went 9-5 and moved into 2nd place, just 2 games behind the leader. In past years, Big Pop has been more focused on action with the bonnet, but this year, he seems focused on claiming the championship. Esta hasn't held a TF Group Major since the 2001 TankFest Tournament of Champions. Montross, Rock, and Bubz just seem to be having a hard time putting together the big week. All had mediocre weeks and sit at the bottom of the pack at from 3-7 games out. Most interesting is MM's slide, he's flirting with his 4th consecutive season of a last or second to last finish. Zip Zalapski's bid to tie LL for 5 consecutive weeks of 8 or more wins was disappointing. Zip hit at just 5-9 and now sits just 2 games ahead of Esta. BD Copson, struggled a bit, but didn't lose any ground on the leader and remains in a playoff slot. LL continues to slide a bit, pulling up the rear at 4-10. After looking like he might run away with the regular season, LL now sits just 1 up on the BZer for the final playoff spot. Reversal plays were 1-0 on Philly last night to bring ATS reversal plays to 5-5 on the season. No 1D plays this week, they stand at 7-5 for the season.
Standings
Zippy (playoffs) BZer remains red-hot hitting for 11 wins and taking a 5-spot from BD on points last night. BZer moves into 3rd place and into the playoffs with 2 consecutive weeks above 10 wins and now looks like he may be peaking at the right time of the season. BZer has put himself in position to be the first NFL Challege competitor to win back to back championships. Bigg Dogg shared the lead this week, also hitting at 11-5 and moved into a tie with games won with Zippy at 87 games. Zippy holds onto the leader spot with a 3 point edge in the PVS (points-variance-statistic). Zippy continues to play fairly conservative, hitting at 8-8 and we have to wonder if he gets caught in a trap with risk-less play. We've seen it time and time again in the Loser's Club that the person who is consverative gets popped in the end. Roxie and Montross continue to tread water, 3 games out of the playoffs, but still plenty of time to make a run with 6 weeks to go. Esta put up a 6-10 record but remains in the the 4th and final playoff spot. What has happened to Luck Laru..... cruising in 1st place through week 5, LL has hit a wall and has hit for 5 wins or less 4 out of the last 6 weeks. Still, the legend is only 4 games back of a playoff spot and needs to recover with a few solid weeks. Bubba 2-team has really struggled with the new system this year, hitting for over 8 wins just 1 time all season long. At 12 back, Bubz may be looking at the top draft pick next year. He may have to pull out a heavy dose of risk picks in the remaining weeks to make a run. The one reversal play lost on Tennesse as the Jax hung on for the cover. That has evened out the 1D reversal plays to stand at 7-6 on the season. ATS (all the same) plays are 5-5 YTD.
Standings
BD (playoffs) - MM took a $5 spot from Esta by hitting with Tampa and the low, year end pott grows another $30 to stand at $275. - BD's 8-8 record this week was good enough to grab the top spot away from Zippy, who's conservative play gave him a 7-9 showing. - The Playoff picture has really tightened up. BZer hit the Sunday and Monday night game to salvage a 4 win week. Even with a big stumble this week, he maintains the final playoff spot over MM with a 12 point lead in the PVS (points variance statistic), both with 89 wins on the season. As we head down the last 5 weeks, PVS will become more and more important. Rock has quietly put himself in great position to make a run at the playoffs, sitting just 1 game back of MM and BZer - The Legend continues to struggle, the 6 wins this week was his best total in the last 3 weeks, however the Legend has only hit for 8 or more wins just once in the last 7 weeks, this after opening the season by setting the record for consecutive weeks of 8 or more wins at 5. Still, he sits just 4 games out of a playoff spot, and I know the legend is focused on maintaining the best average placing in the history of TF, so he'll need to move up from that 7th spot to keep that stat in good shape. - Bubba 2-Team just can't get a handle on the new format of the NFL Challenge this year... looking at Bubba's chart, he has only hit for 8 or more wins 3 out of the 12 weeks. Quite a change from his glory days of NFL-C-2000-2002. - No reversal plays this past week - Tie breaker rules = At this point in the season I like to review the tie-breaker rules. Playoff spots go to the top 4 in games picked, if there is a tie it goes to regular season PVS We need to identify the final tie breaker: Let me know if anybody has any thoughts or I will pick one prior to next week.
1) Go to week 1 and see who had the
better record, if tied, go to week 2, etc - I'll post all the lines tonight, I'll be in on Friday so get them to me by the afternoon.
OUT
Standings
Zip (playoffs) BZer Coat-tails came back strong after a 4 week total last week to tie the week and take a 5-spot from the Zipper on the points, with a couple of ties the last few weeks, the year end pott stands at $305. Zip regained the lead as BD was only able to post a 6 win week, with 4 weeks to go, we continue to predict Zip will play a conservative week each week. After catching the BZer last week, MM stumbled a bit at 7 wins and now sits 3 games out of the playoffs. Rock continues to post solid scores but just can't seem to make up ground on the playoff contenders. Still at only 2 games back of the BZer, he's setting himself up for a nice Week 17 back door. LL finally was able to put up a solid 9 win week, but we're questioning whether it may be too little too late. At 5 games out of the playoffs, time is becoming a factor. Bubba 2-Team and the FAV offense continues to tread water, hitting for 8-8 and sitting 14 games back, as shocking as it is, Bubba remains the only competitor yet to pull in some cash. Esta Big Popper continues to put up solid numbers with 9 wins, sitting 3 back and in playoff contention. The 1D Reversal play hit with the Jets last night to bring the season record to 8-6 Currently, 6 of the 8 players are hitting above 50% for the season
Week 14 Standings
Week 15 Standings
Week 16
Standings Currently the BZer has a slight edge in PVS of
the 4.
Week 17 Recap
back to top
Zip (Regular Season Champ) Congratulations to our regular season champ Zip Zalapski and the 3 other playoff contenders Montross, Rock,and the defending champion BZer. GL to all! It was another exciting season and the playoffs look to be even better as Zip and BZer make their second consecutive appearance, while MM and Rock look to make a solid first run. Playoff numbers will be posted on Wednesday, we'll try to recruit Esta Carrier to collect picks so here is no conflict of interest or advantage to Zippy. The Players: BZer Zielinski continued his charge to a 2nd
consecutive NFL Challenge championship with a solid 10-6, winning the final
week, taking the cabbage and clearly having the most momemtum going into the
playoffs out of all competitors. After struggling in the beginning of the
season, BZer hit rock bottom in week 5, sitting in last place and 12 games back
of the leader. Since then, BZer has been on a tear, hitting for 8 wins or more
9 out of the final 12 weeks of the season. With last season's championship
experience, BZer is clearly one of the favorites to repeat. Montross Montessi just didn't have enough in the tank to challenge the Zipper for the regular season title as MM hit for only 6 wins as well. It was enough for MM to get into the playoffs and assure him of a top 4 NFL Challenge finish for the first time in his career. MM's top draft picks the past 3 years finally played up to their potential, however our LCSN analysts feel that MM's club is still fairly young and lacks the experience to make solid run. A solid, solid week with the man this week maybe just what MM needs to counter his lack of experience. Constantino Rocca is also making his first playoff appearance, searching for his first TF Group Major title, the only remaining active member to have zero majors to his name. Our analysts cannot confirm this, but rumor has it, Roxie was getting popped by le bonnet going into the late game yesterday. A rough week for Rock could play heavily on his psychy going into a playoff run. We feel that if Rock's weekly fig is over 2 banjos he will have no chance at a major this year........................... BREAKING NEWS, Roxie's fig has been confirmed in the area of about 250. This does not fair well for his chances. The Chasers: Esta Big Popper's 7-9 showing just wasn't enough to make a run at BZer's and Rock's solid weeks. Big Popper's strategy on the PVS worked out as he had the low PVS for the season, unfortunately for him, it didn't come into play. The Big Popper continues to search for his first major since the 2001 TF-ToC Championship which he teamed up with MM for. BP has yet to win a TF Major solo, always claiming that action with the man is more important. BD Copson continues to spiral. After maintaining a playoff spot for the entire season, BD's 5 win week dropped him out of the playoff race in Week 17. The Big Dogg looked to be a strong competitor after taking the first annual Poker Playoff in the fall and looked solid throughout the season, however, his run of bad luck in 2003 has hurt him in all aspects of his game. LC members continue to keep their thoughts and prayers with the BD with hopes of a better 2004. Luck Laru made a big statement this past weekend. With his playoff hopes done, Luck Laru passed on his picks, taking all the FAVs by default and ending the season in 7th place. Club President Zip Zalapski issued a cautionary statement to LL, similar to the one issued to Esta Big Pop in Week 15, "It is unfortunate Luck Laru was unable to finish out the season, we hope 1 man's action does not degrade the prestige of the NFL Challenge and we, the Losers Club, in no way endorse LL's actions. This is just one club member's opinion and we hope all other LC members will honor the history and prestige of the final Major of 2003: The NFL Challenge" Bubba 2-Team finished up a disappointing season at 7-9. Bubz became the 3rd player in NFL Challenge history to have no cash winnings for the entire season. Bubz struggled this year with the new format, hitting above 8 wins only 2 times all season. By hitting for only 7 wins, Bubz also failed to tie LL's record of 5 consecutive weeks at 8 or more wins vs the spread. With the first draft pick this year, Bubz will have to head back to the tapes in the offseason and see just exactly went wrong and what can be improved on. Reversal Plays Summary Stats Final PVS: Esta 223, Bubz 225, BZer 228, Zip 230, BD 232, MM 233, LL 237, Rock 238
Champion
back to top Another exciting finish to the NFL Challenge as it came down to playoff PVS. Rock made an unheard of recovery to win his first major as he was 2 games back with 3 games to go. Zip Zalapski faultered in the playoffs once again this year. After taking the regular season title, Zip finished the playoffs 4th out of 4 (and was in first going into the Super Bowl) for the 2nd consecutive season. Montross was unable to recover from a tough loss Philly in the NFC Championship and lost the PVS in the Super Bowl with the low. BZer Zielinski came so close to becoming the first NFL Challenge Champion to repeat but the Pats were unable to cover the spread. Final 2003 NFL Challenge Standings 1. Rock +$185
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