June 11, 2018

The 14th Annual chicobangs Memorial SpoFi CFL Pick 'Em: This is the week we've all been waiting for. Maybe it's today. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe the day after. But sometime this week we will look up at the blue June sky, take a deep breath of pollen-choked air, feel the warmth of the sun on our faces, and finally put away that damn snow shovel. Oh yeah, and the CFL season starts this week too.

posted by DrJohnEvans to fantasy at 10:25 AM - 15 comments

THE PICK 'EM - What we do

It's a Canadian tradition: every June, we celebrate the reappearance of the sun by drop-kicking a frozen pig through the last remaining pair of icicles. Then we go back inside to watch football until there's more than 6 hours of sunlight each day (July 27 through August 8). We kill time by picking winners and spreads for each game. Why not join us?

THE SEASON - When we do it

The season kicks off this Thursday night and runs for 20 weeks through the summer. There are generally four games per week, mostly running from Thursday to Sunday.

If you're in Canada, you'll find the games on TSN. If you're in the States or elsewhere, there's some sort of newfangled streaming option, along with occasional games on ESPN during the Johnny Manziel Football Hour.

THE RULES - How we do it

Here's how it 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, 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)
Hamilton by 151 point (nailed spread only)
Hamilton 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.

All times are EDT.

Edmonton (Preview) @ Winnipeg Blue Bombers (Preview) - Thursday, June 14, 8:30pm

Toronto Argonauts (Preview) @ Saskatchewan Roughriders (Preview) - Friday, June 15, 9:00pm

Hamilton Tiger-Cats (Preview) @ Calgary Stampeders (Preview) - Saturday, June 16, 7:00pm

Montreal Alouettes (Preview) @ B.C. Lions (Preview) - Saturday, June 16, 10:00pm

Good luck!

posted by DrJohnEvans at 10:25 AM on June 11, 2018

Nice of you Canadians to take Johnny off our hands, I'm sure he will provide some interesting off the field news stories in the near future.

Edmonton by 6

Saskatchewan by 3

Calgary by 13

B.C. by 8

posted by ic23b at 01:09 PM on June 11, 2018

Edmonton by 10

Toronto by 4

Calgary by 4

BC by 9

posted by cixelsyd at 02:22 PM on June 11, 2018

Winnipeg by 6

Toronto by 16

Calgary by 11

British Columbia by 8

posted by tommybiden at 03:34 PM on June 11, 2018

Edmonton by 3

Saskatchewan by 14

Calgary by 10

BC by 21

posted by jagsnumberone at 04:47 PM on June 11, 2018

Edmonton by 13

Toronto by 4

Calgary by 18

BC by 12

posted by tahoemoj at 06:29 PM on June 11, 2018

Winnipeg by 12
Toronto by 3
Hamilton by 4
Montreal by 6

posted by bender at 06:59 PM on June 12, 2018

Winnipeg by 10
Saskatchewan by 10
Calgary by 10
B.C. by 3

posted by DrJohnEvans at 12:44 PM on June 13, 2018

Edmonton by 4
BC by 7
Toronto by 10
Calgary by 4

posted by scooby10672 at 05:07 AM on June 14, 2018

Wait until Johnny learns how wonderful is Edmonton in October (BRRRR)!

Edmonton by 9

Saskatchewan by 12

Manziels by 6 (as per TSN/ESPN demand to league office)

British Columbia by 16

posted by jjzucal at 12:16 PM on June 14, 2018

I submit the following as I ponder the possibility of Dr. John imposing a 20% tariff on points earned by those of us from the USA.

He who has one clock always knows the time. He who has 2 clocks is never sure. So it is with quarterbacks. Nonetheless, Edmonton by 8 .

It is a really interesting year in sports for the big town on the lake. Toronto by 17

Tigercats look to be ready to pounce on some people. Hamilton by 6

Does "BC" stand for British Columbia or Being Confused? Montreal by 12

posted by Howard_T at 01:55 PM on June 14, 2018

footballs back! Yee ha!

Eddie by eight

Argonauts by a field goal

stamps by eight

Lions by six

posted by argoal at 04:25 PM on June 14, 2018

Edmonton by 10

Toronto by 3

Calgary by 4

BC by 8

posted by Reever at 04:47 PM on June 14, 2018

Edmonton by 13. You're not in South Dakota any more, Chris Streveler.

Toronto by 9. Because my late grandmother's nurse was James Wilder Jr.'s aunt (and presumably still is).

Calgary by 13. I did not have Calgary by 59 last year.

British Columbia by 6. The Alouettes, like the Jaguars, always suffer out west.

Ottawa by infinity.

posted by rcade at 08:24 PM on June 14, 2018

Wpg by 4; Tor by 3; Cal by 4; BC by 4.

posted by JPR at 10:32 PM on June 14, 2018

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