August 03, 2021

The 16th Annual chicobangs Memorial SpoFi CFL Pick 'Em: This is the week we've all been waiting for. Canadians everywhere will slowly emerge from their lockdowns, blinking in the bright sunshine. We will stretch our cramped limbs, stroke our luxurious lockdown beards, and finally, boldly, proudly, do that which we have dreamed of for nearly two years: pick CFL games. Join us.

posted by DrJohnEvans to fantasy at 05:18 PM - 18 comments

THE PICK 'EM - What we do

The Canadian tradition is back! Every summer, 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. We kill time by picking winners and spreads for each game. Why not join us?

THE SEASON - When we do it

This season has been shortened to better match the Canadian summer. There were just too many snow-outs in previous Julys. Also something about a virus. There are generally four games per week, mostly running from Thursday to Sunday.

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.

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 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. Some previews are still in the works; will update as they become available.

All times are EDT.

Hamilton Tiger-Cats (Preview) @ Winnipeg Blue Bombers (Preview) - Thursday, August 5, 8:30pm

B.C. Lions (Preview) @ Saskatchewan Roughriders (Preview) - Friday, August 6, 9:30pm

Toronto Argonauts (Preview) @ Calgary Stampeders (Preview) - Saturday, August 7, 7:00pm

Ottawa Redblacks (Preview) @ Edmonton Elks (Preview) - Saturday, August 7, 10:00pm

Good luck!

posted by DrJohnEvans at 05:19 PM on August 03, 2021

My favourite SpoFi Pick'Em!

Hamilton by 11

Saskatchewan by 11

Toronto by 11

Ottawa by 11

posted by tommybiden at 06:51 PM on August 03, 2021

Hamilton by 10

BC by 7

Calgary by 14

Edmonton by 16

posted by jagsnumberone at 12:45 AM on August 04, 2021

My goodness is it that time already? What happened to May, June, and July? Even though the talking heads are already starting their blather about NFL training camps, football seems so far away. Well anyway we'll give the CFL pick 'em another shot. Consider me a blind hog, and any picks I get right will be my delicious acorns.

Hamilton by 13.

Saskatchewan by 17

Calgary by 9

Ottawa by 7

posted by Howard_T at 01:41 AM on August 04, 2021

Winnipeg by 7

Saskatchewan by 10

Calgary by 13

Ottawa by 7

posted by cixelsyd at 10:33 AM on August 04, 2021

It has been too long, CFL. I look forward to relearning all of your rules.

Hamilton by 9. Even winning the Grey Cup in the Before Time isn't enough to make me pick the Blue Bombers here.

B.C. by 7. Rooting hard for former Dallas Cowboy and current Lion Lucky Whitehead, the only CFL player who once had to pay a ransom to get his dog back.

Calgary by 20. In football Toronto is the Jacksonville of the north. Calgary should keep rollin' rollin' rollin' rollin'.

Edmonton by 9. I've been hearing about Elks running back James Wilder Jr. since he was a freshman at Florida State, thanks to his aunt who was one of my grandmother's home-care nurses.

posted by rcade at 07:20 PM on August 04, 2021

Winnipeg by10

Saskatchewan 6

Calgary by 17

Edmonton by 23

posted by ic23b at 09:21 PM on August 04, 2021

hammy by 8

riders by 4

stamps by 5

Eddie by 7

thanks CFL & Pete for bringing us all back together again!

posted by argoal at 10:31 AM on August 05, 2021

TiCats by 8

Lions by 10

Stampeders by 17

Elks by 6

posted by wfrazerjr at 10:42 AM on August 05, 2021

Winnipeg by 10
Saskatchewan by 14
Calgary by 5
Ottawa by 3

posted by DrJohnEvans at 11:08 AM on August 05, 2021

Hamilton by 4

Saskatchewan by 7

Calgary by 10

Edmonton by 4

posted by scooby10672 at 05:23 PM on August 05, 2021

It's back! At least for now!

Hamilton by 6

Calgary by 7

Saskatchewan by 3

Edmonton by 10

posted by Reever at 05:44 PM on August 05, 2021

Winner predictions on the league's pick 'em:

Winnipeg: 52%
Saskatchewan: 86%
Calgary: 87%
Edmonton: 88%

posted by rcade at 06:44 PM on August 05, 2021

As I take time away from the Olympics to celebrate on ESPN2 ...

Calgary by 10

Saskatchewan by 13

Edmonton by 18

(Obviously late on Winnipeg-Hamilton)

posted by jjzucal at 09:58 PM on August 05, 2021

BC by 3

Calgary by 10

Elks by a nose, ummm, by 4

posted by rumple at 01:11 PM on August 06, 2021

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