June 24, 2007

The 3rd Annual chicobangs Memorial SpoFi CFL Pick 'Em: is finally upon us. The summer is here, the FieldTurf is gleaming, the kick-return blocking rules have been changed back to the old-school styles: it's time for CFL football. Become a part of SpoFi's most entertaining three-down summer pastime and make your picks inside.

posted by DrJohnEvans to fantasy at 04:17 PM - 19 comments

THE PICK 'EM - What we do Faced with long days of summer idleness, we're left with no other choice but to spend our time picking the winners in the week-to-week action of the world's best pointy-ended–ball summer sport. THE SEASON - When we do it The season kicks off this Thursday night and runs for 19 weeks through the summer. There are generally four games per week, running from Thursday to Sunday. If you're in Canada, you'll find the games on TSN, RDS, or CBC. If you're in the States, there's a fairly decent U.S. Broadcast Schedule for DISH, Comcast, or NESN watchers. And if that's not enough for you, there will be live pay-per-view webcasts of all games available. THE RULES - How we do it Here's how she works. You pick who you think will win, and by how much. You then get points based on the result:

  • picked the winner? You get 1 point.
  • picked the winner, and a spread within the Margin of Error? You get 2 points.
  • picked the winner, and you nailed the spread right on? You get 3 points.
  • didn't pick the winner, but nailed the spread right on? You get 1 point.
What's the Margin of Error? It's a window around the spread that's defined as spread - round(0.3 * spread) <= Margin of Error <= spread + round(0.3 * spread) So you can get rewarded for being close to the spread even if you're not spot-on. The bigger the spread, the bigger the margin of error, so you don't have to be as accurate when predicting a blowout as you would when predicting a close game. Here are some examples:
Actual Spread Margin Starts at Margin Ends at
111
435
759
11814
201426
So if you picked Toronto by 15 for this week, here's how you'd fare given certain outcomes:
OutcomeYour score
Toronto by 202 points (winner + spread within MoE)
Toronto by 101 point (winner only)
Toronto by 153 points (winner + nailed spread)
B.C. by 151 point (nailed spread only)
B.C. by 430 points (and deservedly so)
Any questions? THE GAMES, WEEK ONE - Where we start In lieu of attempting to sum up each team's status in a single sentence, for this opening week I'm just linking to season preview pages for each of 'em. Want more? Check out the pre-season TSN Power Rankings. All times are EDT. B.C. Lions @ Toronto Argonauts - Thursday, June 28, 6:30pm Winnipeg Blue Bombers @ Edmonton Eskimos - Thursday, June 28, 9:30pm Saskatchewan Roughriders @ Montréal Alouettes - Friday, June 29, 7:30pm Hamilton Tiger-Cats @ Calgary Stampeders - Saturday, June 30, 6:30pm Good luck!

posted by DrJohnEvans at 04:17 PM on June 24, 2007

B.C. by 5 Edmonton by 12 Montreal by 21 Calgary by 3

posted by DrJohnEvans at 04:26 PM on June 24, 2007

BC by 10 Winnipeg by 8 Saskatchewan by 15 Calgary by 7 My picks are based entirely by the bolded small paragraphs at the top of the team pages that DJE linked to.

posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 05:02 PM on June 24, 2007

BC by 6 Edmonton by 3 Montreal by 10 Calgary by 6

posted by dfleming at 05:32 PM on June 24, 2007

Hooray for the CFL! Hooray for the CFL pick 'em! Hooray! Hooray! Toronto by 10 Eskimos by 7 Alouettes by 5 Tiger-Cats by 7 Thanks for the broadcast schedules.

posted by apoch at 07:47 PM on June 24, 2007

I know you guys can't live without me: Tronno by 5 Edmonton by 13 The guys in the berets by 9 Calgary by 3 My picks are based on the sports pages of The New Light of Myanmar. Since that's the only thing I've got to read at the moment.

posted by owlhouse at 07:56 AM on June 25, 2007

ok so I am too late but I have been and will be in the hospital for the next 60 days due to complications of my paraplegia. Well that and 2 broken legs. I pulled the dead, alive, dead, alive, Game a bit too long I guess. Ed-23 Winni-23 Bc-10 Toronto-4 Saskach-14 Montreal 17 Hamitonlton-21 Calgery-17

posted by Folkways at 11:37 AM on June 25, 2007

Toronto by 6 Edmonton by 11 Montreal by 7 Calgary by 8 My picks are based entirely on my stunning good looks and winning charm.

posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 03:35 PM on June 25, 2007

Argos by 6 ... the Leos are gonna have to claw their way back to the top this season. EE by 3 ... you know I gotta take the green & gold, but this year it's gonna pay off! Samsquanch by 8 ... I think the Riders are gonna make their fans even more proud this season under the watchful eye of Kent Austin. And, as much as it hurts to say this ... Stamps by a deuce. But, I'm thinkin' that the boys from the Hammer are gonna be tough on everyone this year though. DJE, you get points in my book for bringin' us back together, brah! Good luck, all ... and may the '07/08 season be one to remember for the CFL and its incredible fans!!! p.s. my picks are based on an indescribable desire to NOT get a Costanza this year! ;)

posted by Spitztengle at 10:53 PM on June 25, 2007

Yikes, Folkways, I hope things get a little less bumpy for you. You are of course more than welcome to make the next two months' worth of picks in advance, although that'd be quite a spot of work.

posted by DrJohnEvans at 09:56 AM on June 27, 2007

Oh, hell yeah! Thanks for your continuing patronage of the football arts, Doc. As the single week points record holder, I'm once again ready to dominate. "Dominate" = finishing one point ahead of Weedy Argos by 5 Bombers by 10 'Ettes by 7 Stamps by 4 folkways - legs are overrated. Best wishes.

posted by The_Black_Hand at 11:02 AM on June 27, 2007

These picks are based on my level of arousal while listening to a Sarah McLachlan CD. B.C. by 14 Edmonton by 6 Montreal by 10 Calgary by 3 Best wishes, folkways.

posted by MrFrisby at 05:11 PM on June 27, 2007

Lions by 13 Eskimos by 8 Alouettes by 11 Stampeders by 6 Best wishes on your hospital stay, Folkways.

posted by gspm at 09:25 PM on June 27, 2007

Not too bad of an opening half. Defence rules the day for the first quarter as both offences show signs of rust. B.C. opens the scoring with a blocked punt TD, and tacks on a field goal, but the Argos capitalize on a dropped punt return TO and score a TD of their own. B.C. bounces back by marching it right up the field... only to miss the field goal attempt and get burned by a CFL-record-setting 129-yard missed FG return touchdown from Bashir Levingston. 15-10 Toronto at half. I may even have to watch the second half.

posted by DrJohnEvans at 07:08 PM on June 28, 2007

I wished I could've caught the BC-Toronto game ... it would've given me a comparison for what, by all accounts, was a helluva display of CFL football in Edmonton. That includes my account ... it was one of those games that guarantees that I won't be able to talk tomorrow. Stegall tied the CFL TD record with the tying score late in the fourth. OT was nail-biting. I knew it'd be squeaker. The BC-TO game surprised me ... closer than I thought the Argos would let it be (in a loss to boot, darnit anyway :( I'd love to hear about what people who got to watch the games have to say about the officiating though ... it was sketchy at best in the EE-Wpg game.

posted by Spitztengle at 04:09 AM on June 29, 2007

Ricky Ray, ladies and gentlemen! What a show.

posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 08:57 AM on June 29, 2007

I think "the show" happened right here. Folkways becomes only the second CFL pick 'em player in SpoFi history to pick a tie—and he NAILS IT. Wow. Granted, the score he picked was wrong, but we go by spreads, of course.

posted by DrJohnEvans at 09:52 AM on June 29, 2007

Oh, and I thought the officiating in the B.C.-Toronto game was fine. Pretty seamless, anyway. The new/old blocking rules were called to a T, and the only missed call of significance was the (minimal) hold on Arland Bruce on the Argos' last play from scrimmage.

posted by DrJohnEvans at 09:55 AM on June 29, 2007

Of course, you'll have to translate all of that for me. Thanks.

posted by owlhouse at 08:06 AM on June 30, 2007

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