Fred's Football Follies 2008 NFL Pool

Fred's Football Follies is now in it's 13th season. This year, we will have the following pools; the Regular Pool, the Playoff Pool, the Weekly SportsBox Pool, the Super Bowl SportsBox Pool, the Confidence Point Pool, the Born To Lose Pool and the Survivor Pools. As in the past, this year's Regular Pool will be based on point spreads. The Playoff Pool will be handled in the same manner as last year. The Survivor Pool has it's own unique method of scoring, complete with the possibility of exclusion by season's end. There will be a second Survivor Pool that will start with Week 5 and continue until we have a winner. The Confidence Point Pool started off small (18 players in 2005 and 15 players in 2006 and 2007), but I keep hoping that more players will start playing this pool. It is really very good and requires some planning. The Born To Lose Pool is a Survivor Pool that requires you to pick the losing team each week. Get more information about the pools below. You must play in the Regular Pool to play in any of the other pools. The Regular Pool pays out to the Weekly, Quarterly, and overall Season winners.

Let's Get Ready To Rumble

SURVIVOR POOL I, II AND BORN TO LOSE POOL

Survivor Pool I will run during the regular season. Unlike the other pools, point spreads will not be used to determine winners or losers. The goal is to stay alive as the season progresses. The Tiebreaker Method will be used in case of ties. The rules for the Survivor Pools are simple:

• Each week, you only have to pick a team that you think will win.
• If your team wins, you keep playing, if they don't then that's one loss, 2 losses and you are out for the ENTIRE Season.
• If you miss a week...its a loss.
• Sounds easy enough right? The only catch is that once you pick a team, you CANNOT pick that team again for the rest of the season.
• You are responsible for making sure you don't pick the same team twice, if you pick the same team twice, it is counted as a loss. If you already have a loss and you pick a duplicate team you are out for the season.
• You can make your Survivor Pool picks on the regular pick sheet.
• Top prize goes to the last one standing, period.
• If the regular season ends, and there are more than one player still playing, the player with the least number of losses, will win the pool. If everyone has the same amount of losses, the pot will be split among the remaining players.

The rules for Survivor Pool II will be the same as above, except that it will start with Week 5 and will only allow one (1) loss before you are eliminated. Starting with Week 3, the Born To Lose Pool will start, and the rules for this pool are the same as the Survivor II pool, except that you have to pick the losing team each week. If the team you pick wins or ties, you are eliminated. You must sign up for these pools at the beginning of the season, as I will have to "tweak" the program to track you if you are going to play in them.

Online Picksheets will be available on Wednesday for each week.

REGULAR POOL

This pool is run each week. The goal is to try and get as many wins as possible based on the point spread. The player with the most wins takes that week's pot. No games will end in a tie as there will be no point spreads with a whole number. All point spreads will have a half point added to any spread with a whole number. This set up will also apply to the quarterly pool, and the overall season pool. The quarterly pool will start with week 1, week 17 will not be part of the quarterly pool, but the wins accumulated for that week will count toward the season pool. The Tiebreaker Method will be used in case two or more players tie for the most wins. Point Spreads will be obtained on Wednesday each week from USA Today, or other sources.

Online Picksheets will be available on Wednesday for each week, except for weeks where there are Thursday Games. During those weeks, the picksheet will be online on Monday.

CONFIDENCE POINT POOL

This pool is run each week. Pool members pick the games straight up and must assign a number to each game based on “how sure” you are that your team will win. If you feel very confident about a team, assign the game a higher number. If you are unsure, give the game a lower number. If your team wins, you win the amount of points you assigned to the game. If you lose, you obviously do not collect any points. If the game turns out to be a tie, you collect half of the points you wagered. This set up will also apply to the quarterly pool, and the overall season pool. The quarterly pool will start with week 1, week 17 will not be part of the quarterly pool, but the points accumulated for that week will count toward the season pool. The Tiebreaker Method will be used in case two or more players tie for the most points. Point Spreads are not used in the Confidence Point Pool

Online Picksheets will be available on Wednesday for each week, except for weeks where there are Thursday Games. During those weeks, the picksheet will be online on Monday..

PLAYOFFS POOL

This year we will use the same scoring method as last year. The method described below will enable me to include the Wildcard Games once again too. As during the regular season, players will need to enter their picks for each round of the Playoffs. Here is a rundown on how the Playoffs will be played (be sure to drop me a line, if you have any questions on this method):

    For each week, including the Wildcard Games:

• Pick the winner of every game + the number of points the winning team will win by
• Automatic 3 Penalty Points for picking the wrong team
• Scoring:
• Winner Picked:
• Game Difference points - Your Predicted Points (positive value)
• Loser Picked:
• 3 Penalty Points + Game Difference points + Your Predicted Points
• The object is to have the LOWEST point total overall

    Example:

• Say San Francisco is playing Dallas in the first Wildcard game and you pick San Francisco by 3
• If San Francisco wins by 3, you get "0" points...the best possible for a game
• If San Francisco wins by 10, you would get 7 points
• Now if Dallas wins by 3, you would get 9 points, 3 for picking the wrong team + you were off by 6 points (game difference of 3 + your predicted for San Francisco of 3)

Along with your entry for the Superbowl you will also enter your estimated total points to be scored. This value will be used as a Tiebreaker, if necessary.

This method seems to make for a much more enjoyable Playoffs. I like the fact that no one is "out of the running" after the first round is finished. Strategy can definitely be used here. Of course, a lot of ground can be made up if you're daring enough to go out on a limb and pick a team to win by a whopping big amount, and have that team come through for you. We saw some pretty big spreads during some of the playoff games last year. Who knows, it could happen again.

A special thanks to Java Junkie (rigby@silcom.com) for passing along his different take on a Playoff Pool.

Picksheets for the playoffs will be ready the Monday following Week 17, just in time for the Wildcard games.

SPORTSBOX POOLS

This pool is run each week for the Monday Night Game. I'm sure you have all seen or played in a similar pool. You pick a square and if the final score of the Monday Night Game matches the square you have, you are the winner. The weekly SportsBox Pool will be limited to the first 25 players that sign up. That way, it is possible that the pot will build up if there is no winner for that week. The SuperBowl Sportsbox pool will only apply to the SuperBowl, and all squares will be sold for that one. There will be quarterly winners, as well as the final score winner (including overtime if necessary) for the SuperBowl SportsBox.

RULES FOR PLAY

Players are to submit picks according to the schedule below. Weekly/Quarterly/Season Pool players are to pick the winners of each game based on the point spreads and the number of games for the week. See The Confidence Point Pool for rules about that pool. Playoff Pool players should follow the rules outlined in the section above. Point spreads will be used in calculating wins or losses. All player's picks are entered into the system and posted to the web page each week on Friday (Wednesday for Thursday game weeks).

Picks will be due according to the following schedule:

TIEBREAKER METHODS:

Please send comments or suggestions to Fred's Follies. Formatting for this page credited to Java Junkie.

Back to Mainpage