Update and Gasparilla Bowl preview

 I was pretty much mailing it in the last two days, so I didn’t provide an update after the last bowl game and didn’t provide a preview of tonight’s Boca Raton Bowl.  You know who else was mailing it in in recent history – Syracuse University!!  What a gawd-awful performance by the Orangemen tonight.  This may have been the most lopsided game of the bowl season so far.  It also happened to be the game with the most points wagered on it that ended in an upset.  Contrary to what the eye test would tell you, Syracuse was 2 point favorite tonight.

That was a little shou-out to my wife who absolutely hates the term “eye test”.  Her typical response when hearing that is, “What?  You watched the game.  Is that an ‘eye test’?”  I feel like “eye test” is just a euphemism that sports writers and talking heads on TV to make watching games sound less like lazily watching games and more like something more rigorous.  I think it would be funny if people said this phrase in other venues when they are doing the exact same thing – “No, I’m giving the Real Housewives of Atlanta the eye test”  It sounds ridiculous – and that’s because it is ridiculous.

Anyway, two more games have been played since I last updated the standings so here they are:

For points only:

1. Ally H.: 206 (0)

2. Mike S.: 187 (-71)

3. Moochi the Man: 177 (-18)

4. Sally R.: 172 (-48)

5. Jay H. #2: 170 (-66)

6. Josaih T. #1: 169 (-11)

7. Dylan B.: 169 (-37)

8. Steve M. #2: 165 (-89)

9. Brian K.: 162 (-25)

10. Matt N.: 159 (-56)

11. Michelle L. #2: 158 (-62)

12. Dennis R.: 155 (-35)

13. Jason S.: 151 (-63)

14. Steve Dz.: 147 (-58)

15. Brent E. #2: 144 (-84)

15. Brent E. #3: 144 (-84)

17. Brent E. #1: 138 (-26)

18. Jon F.: 135 (-74)

19. Marc R. #1: 132 (-22)

20. Josaih T. #2: 129 (-51)

21. Hutch H. #1: 129 (-69)

22. Sports Illustrated: 128 (-45)

23. Brent E. #4: 127 (-97)

24. Scott H. #2: 125 (-43)

25. Amber the Beast: 124 (-82)

26. Larry G.: 121 (-52)

27. CAAT #1: 120 (-52)

27. CAAT #3: 120 (-52)

27. CAAT #4: 120 (-52)

30. Hutch H. #2: 119 (-79)

31. Michelle L. #1: 117 (-66)

32. Matt Mal.: 117 (-75)

33. Daniel E.: 117 (-92)

34. Mike N.: 113 (-52)

35. Rich F.: 111 (-71)

36. Jim W.: 110 (-69)

37. Klei R.: 107 (-44)

38. CAAT #2: 106 (-52)

39. Matt Mei.: 103 (-97)

40. Mario M.: 102 (-72)

41. Andrew D.: 101 (-21)

42. Scott H. #1: 100 (-19)

43. Max A. #1: 99 (-65)

44. Jay H. #1: 98 (-19)

45. Pete J. #1: 95 (-73)

46. Howard S.: 92 (-79)

47. Faye N.: 90 (-99)

48. Jim D.: 89 (-20)

49. Steve M. #1: 87 (-56)

50. CAAT #5: 85 (-78)

51. Paul Kr.: 82 (-13)

52. Becky H.: 82 (-75)

53. Max A. #2: 82 (-82)

54. Charlotte N.: 80 (-39)

55. Brett W.: 80 (-47)

56. Pete J. #2: 79 (-89)

57. Damien R.: 78 (-46)

58. Adam E.: 77 (-50)

59. Ryan W.: 77 (-90)

60. Mike W.: 76 (-19)

61. Slave to Trends: 73 (-103)

62. Carrie F.: 65 (-44)

63. Kirt R.: 65 (-123)

64. Henry A.: 63 (-18)

65. Tim N.: 57 (-18)

66. Eric G.: 54 (-20)

67. Brad R.: 46 (-89)

68. Marc R. #2: 40 (-15)

69. Jaxon S.: 36 (-19)

70. Dan Du.: 21 (-100)

…and for net points:

1. Ally H.: 206

2. Moochi the Man: 159

3. Josaih T. #1: 158

4. Brian K.: 137

5. Dylan B.: 132

6. Sally R.: 124

7. Dennis R.: 120

8. Mike S.: 116

9. Brent E. #1: 112

10. Marc R. #1: 110

11. Jay H. #2: 104

12. Matt N.: 103

13. Michelle L. #2: 96

14. Steve Dz.: 89

15. Jason S.: 88

16. Sports Illustrated: 83

17. Scott H. #2: 82

18. Scott H. #1: 81

19. Andrew D.: 80

20. Jay H. #1: 79

21. Josaih T. #2: 78

22. Steve M. #2: 76

23. Larry G.: 69

23. Jim D.: 69

23. Paul Kr.: 69

26. CAAT #1: 68

26. CAAT #3: 68

26. CAAT #4: 68

29. Klei R.: 63

30. Jon F.: 61

30. Mike N.: 61

32. Brent E. #2: 60

32. Brent E. #3: 60

32. Hutch H. #1: 60

35. Mike W.: 57

36. CAAT #2: 54

37. Michelle L. #1: 51

38. Henry A.: 45

39. Amber the Beast: 42

39. Matt Mal.: 42

41. Jim W.: 41

41. Charlotte N.: 41

43. Hutch H. #2: 40

43. Rich F.: 40

45. Tim N.: 39

46. Max A. #1: 34

46. Eric G.: 34

48. Brett W.: 33

49. Damien R.: 32

50. Steve M. #1: 31

51. Brent E. #4: 30

51. Mario M.: 30

53. Adam E.: 27

54. Daniel E.: 25

54. Marc R. #2: 25

56. Pete J. #1: 22

57. Carrie F.: 21

58. Jaxon S.: 17

59. Howard S.: 13

60. CAAT #5: 7

60. Becky H.: 7

62. Matt Mei.: 6

63. Max A. #2: 0

64. Faye N.: -9

65. Pete J. #2: -10

66. Ryan W.: -13

67. Slave to Trends: -30

68. Brad R.: -43

69. Kirt R.: -58

70. Dan Du.: -79

Look at that, we have consensus at the top of both rankings.  That’s what happens when you are the only person to go 10-0.  I know that only 17% of the points have been doled out so far on average so there’s a lot of games to play.  I know the stats are solid on this, but if trends hold, Ally H. will never lose a game this entire pool and cruise to a victory.  Seems like a reasonable assumption based on a sample size of 10 games.  Tough break for everyone else.

There is only one game tomorrow.  Here are the stats:

Gasparilla Bowl

Vegas Line: UCF -4.5

Median Pick: UCF for 11

Average pick: UCF for 6.5

Picks for UCF: 47 (Average Pick: 18.09 points)

Picks for Georgia Tech: 23 (Average Pick: 15.96 points)

Fun fact, there are 3 schools that I attended classes at, and Georgia Tech is the only one that is playing in a bowl game, so guess who I’m pulling for?  You are kind of right and kind of wrong.  I took Georgia Tech for 5 points.  Technically, that means I will be better served having them lose, but there is no way I’m pulling for that.

Also, I feel compelled to make the same lame jokes about how nobody knows what a Gasparilla is.  I feel like this bowl has been around long enough that we all kind of know that a Gasparilla is some kind of pirate flotilla parade.  My favorite naming story about this bowl is how UCF now is officially called “UCF”, not “Central Florida”.  It’s like how KFC no longer officially means “Kentucky Fried Chicken”, it just means the letters K, F & C.  The YMCA also officially changed their named to “The Y” a few years ago.  I find that rebranding kind of funny.  Are they really fooling anyone?  I guess people in non-English speaking countries may not think too hard about it, but anytime I see a group of letters that don’t actually spell a word, I assume they are an acronym and wonder what they stand for.  Still, I’m sure they paid marketing consultants a truckload of money for this advice, so I hope they are satisfied with their low-key deception.  As for UCF, did they want to be somewhat disassociated with Central Florida for some reason?  I’ve never a reason for the change.

Anyway, that whole paragraph is filler because I know next to nothing about either of these 2 teams.  Their records, and the fact that they are playing in this game, probably means that they are mediocre teams.  I feel like that is a pretty solid guess on my part.

I have the day off tomorrow, so I might accidentally find myself watching parts of this game.  It is also supposed to rain here, so it’s watch this game or work on my Lego model of Neuschwanstein Castle (a real thing – it’s something like 7,000 pieces).  My money is on the Lego’s.

Good luck everyone!!!!!