Saturday, October 14, 2017

Local ESPN College Football Pick 'Em contest picks up steam this week

The sixth weekend of our local ESPN College Football Pick ‘Em Contest closed out last Saturday and here’s the Top 10 in the local standings this week.

Phig Newton and “Murder Creek Man 78” were tied for the No. 1 spot in the standings, and Travis Presley was in third place. Ricky Taylor and Sharon Peacock were tied for fourth place.

Mike Dailey was in sole possession of the No. 6 spot. We had a four-way tie for seventh place between Hunter Norris, Arthur Ingram III, David Parker and yours truly. Defending champion Drew Skipper was next in the No. 11 spot.

With that said, if you’re playing in the contest and didn’t make the Top 10, don’t give up. The contest will run for a total of 14 weeks, and we’ve got eight more weeks to go. Remember, it’s a marathon, not a sprint.

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This coming Saturday, there will be seven football games involving SEC teams and six games that will feature head-to-head matchups between SEC teams. Here are my predictions for that slate of games. I like Alabama over Arkansas, Auburn over LSU, Tennessee over South Carolina, Ole Miss over Vanderbilt, Florida over Texas A&M, Georgia over Missouri and Mississippi State over BYU.

Last week: 4-2. So far this year: 46-11.

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Big news out of the Atlanta Braves camp this week had to do with the firing of General Manager John Coppolella and the renewal of on-field manager Brian Snitker’s contract. The Braves cut Coppolella loose after it came out that Major League Baseball was investigating him for alleged improper dealings with international players. Most onlookers believe that the Coppolella situation will result in the Braves losing its chance to sign a top international prospect.

On the other side of the coin, the Braves gave Snitker a vote of confidence by agreeing to bring him back on board next season. Snitker is generally seen as the type of manager who can build a stable clubhouse and provides solid guidance for young, up-and-coming players. The drawback for Snitker is that he isn’t highly regarded for his sometimes questionable on-field strategy.

With that said, the MLB playoffs are in full swing. As of Monday, eight teams were still in the hunt for a World Series title as Division League series continued from coast to coast between Houston and Boston, Cleveland and the New York Yankees, Washington and the Chicago Cubs, and Arizona and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Houston and Cleveland appear destined to face each other in the American League Championship Series, while it’s looking like the Dodgers and the Nationals will end up in the National League Championship Series. If that comes to pass, I look for Houston and the Nationals to end up in the World Series.


Of those two, I look for Houston to win, which will be good for the Houston area in light of the hurricane earlier this year. Plus, one of Houston’s top pitchers is a guy named Brad Peacock, who I’m claiming as a distant cousin whether he is or not.

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