The Pool

I hate to lose.
I came in here today fired up ready to let loose because I thought I had a bad week in the football pool. Was distracted yesterday and couldn't keep an eye on outcomes. Actually we had a fabulous family day yesterday, the kind where you don't mind being distracted from football.
I drank pumpkin beer with a shot of vanilla Stoli.
And they say I can't change.
I did not have a bad week in the pool. Relatively. I only got eight right but no one else displayed any brilliance either so I am hanging in there.
Overall I am sixth out of twelve, two games out of first.
Pretty respectable considering that I have flipped and I have flopped.
I have a fair amount of football knowledge, my cells are saturated with love of football and it has been marinating for 48 years.
But I am not a detail guy. That's why I was an accountant for over twenty hideous years.
So I don't carry a lot of facts around in my head.
I try to make the obvious picks and go with a completely unfounded gut pick once in a while. Like this week. I should have picked Tampa Bay against Minnesota. I wanted to. If I did I would have been the only one in the pool to do it. My gut told me to do it but all the evidence was against it and I wussied out.
That's one of the problems. When to go with your gut. You have to know when your gut is intuitive and when it is emotional.
I make emotional gut picks and get screwed every time. Like when I pick against the Giants. They really piss me off.
Then there is the informed system of making risky picks. When I have a game that I want to go against the tide I go to my go to guy. This years it's Chris Mortensen. Actually I'll look at Peter king's picks, Craig's pick and Chris Collinsworth. But Mortensen is kicking ass this year so if I am out on a limb and he is going with it, so will I.
But you gotta be careful. You gotta catch the rhythm. A couple of weeks ago he picked the Browns when most people weren't and I doubted him. I picked against the Browns and lost.
The next week he picked the Browns again when most people weren't and I went with it.
The Browns lost.
So now my vibe with Chris is off and I have to be careful. There's a yin and yang with these things and right now I am yinning when he is yanging. Very dangerous for my standing in the pool.
In addition this year I am competing against my sons in this pool for the first time.
They cheat. One son has a friend who, I think, works for the Bruins, so he obviously has an in into the world of professional sports. I am sure he shares this knowledge with my son who uses it against me.
My other son has been into sports since before he was born. And he IS a detail guy. He is a formidable foe who uses his knowledge against me, which is unfair because his brain is young and thriving and mine is failing at an exponentially increasing rate.
My lovely wife is in the pool. She is superficially knowledgeable about football but she ain't no expert.
In Week 1 she beat everybody in the pool. This week she is beating everybody as well.
I think she cheats too. Maybe she is in collusion with my two traitorous sons.
I got a lot on the line this year. I have owned this pool. I won it two years in a row. I don't think anyone else has done that.
I also finished in last place last year.
I need a victory this year. None of my other efforts are being rewarded. I need to regain my position of prominence in this pool.
I have mocked up a Chris Mortensen voodoo doll and shrine in my pick room.
I'll be all right. I am feeling supernaturally confidant.