The Come-On
 |
You're about to be offered the thrill of a lifetime --
the chance to participate in the
2024
Football Pool! The annual Football Pool has a long and glorious
history going back to the Purdue
University Computer Science Department in the late 1970's;
it moved to Portland (along with the Tolopkas) in 1981. |
The Rules
First, be warned that this is a high-stakes venture. Participants
will make picks for all 17 weeks of the NFL season (more about
that later); at season's end, all participants go out for pizza
and the winners get treated by the losers. Total investment is
$2 per person for the entire season, which covers the cost of
pizza and trophy engraving (see below). Actually, we've got lazy enough that sometimes we don't even go for the pizza. Nonetheless, we're talking MAJOR thrills if you win!
The Football Pool is really divided up into two separate (and
non-equal) competitions: the Weekend Competition and the Monday
Night Competition. For the Weekend Competition, you must choose
the winning teams in the weekend NFL contests. You score one
point for each one that you get correct. For the Monday Night
Competition, you must choose the final score of the game. You
get 20 points for selecting the correct team as the winner,
and anywhere from 0 to 80 additional points depending on how
close your predicted score came to the actual score. (Be warned
that you really don't want to know the details
of the algorithm used. Suffice it to say that several crack
numerical analysts at Purdue University graduated later than
they might have otherwise.) Thus, you score somewhere between
0 and 100 points for the Monday night game. (Actually, you get
a 20 point bonus for correctly predicting a tie, so a score
of 120 is theoretically possible.)
Each participant gets to play in both Competitions; the scores
of the Competitions are kept separately. At season's end, the
top two finishers in the Weekend Competition and the top finisher
in the Monday Night Competition are declared the winners, and
collect free pizza, temporary possession of the magnificent
trophy, laser-engraved awards, and (most importantly) bragging
rights for the next year.
Spouses and other family participants are welcome; sign them
up the same way you sign up for yourself. It's also OK
to invite friends to participate, but please don't post the
URL on a message board or otherwise invite the whole world since
(a) I don't really have time to administer that many players,
and (b) I prefer not having to flee to the Caribbean because
I'm running an illegal gambling operation.
Sounds Great; How Do I Sign Up???
In 1997, the Football Pool moved to the World Wide Web, so participating
is easier than ever. No special software needed -- any old browser
will do! Here's how it works:
- After you finish reading these rules, head to the enrollment
form (which you can also reach off the FBP
Home Page), fill it in, and submit it. (Submitting it
is easy; just press the button on the form when you're through
filling it in.)
- To enroll, you'll need to choose a username and a password
(greater than
6
characters) that you'll use to identify yourself to the Pool.
Choose something you'll have an easy time remembering, but
don't choose the same password you use for any of your real
computing needs since the Pool is not secure. Try to remember
your password; it makes the FBP Commissioner really cranky
when you forget it. Passwords are case-sensitive, so
be sure to remember where you've used upper and lower case
letters.
- You'll also be prompted for your Internet mail address
(for example, tolopka@home.com)
so that the FBP Commissioner can communicate with you as needed.
If you want to use an Intel EMail address, be sure to use
the Internet form of the address (for example, Joseph.K.Blow@intel.com).
- Each week, you need to be sure you've made
your picks before the start time for each game played
that week. Weeks with early games are noted on the FBP
Home Page so you'll notice (at least, that's the plan!).
- To make picks, signin and select the Make Picks link off
the FBP Home Page, fill in the form, and submit it. You can
make changes to any game that has not reached its
start time. Once the game has started it will
lock and you will not be allowed to enter a different pick
for the game. Be sure to read the rules about what happens if you fail to get your picks in on time so that you know your best options.
- Check the Official Standings
that get posted following the end of the Monday Night game
each week. (Strictly speaking, you don't have to do
this, but then how will you know whether to chortle in paroxysms
of joy or gnash your teeth in the depths of despair?)
That's all there is to it -- piece of cake, huh?
We Do It All For You
The Football Pool has lots of whizzies to help you along. Here's
some of the fascinating stuff you can do:
- When making picks, click on the History link next to any
game to see how the two teams have fared.
- See or print a schedule for any week in the season, so you
can plan ahead.
- See any team's complete schedule for the year.
- See the NFL League Standings.
- See final scores of any past week.
- See the computer-predicted score for each game being played
in a given week. The Pool Predictor account in the
Standings will show you how well the prediction algorithm
is performing throughout the season. (Be aware that Pool Predictor
has never won a title, so beware of trusting it too far!)
[Note: It has finished as high as third place
in both competitions!]
- Get current team stats (team record, total offensive/defensive
production).
- Use the "pick ahead" feature which allows you to
make picks for any week of the season that has not yet
been played. If you're going to be out of the office on
a job, or on vacation, or whatever, make your picks ahead
of time. You can always modify your picks up until the day
that games are being played for that week.
- See the picks that your arch-rival made for the week so
that you can compare your results as games are played over
the weekend. However, you can only see your opponents' picks
after games have started and the Pool is locked for
that week. Up until games lock for the week, you'll see only
dashes for the picks of your friends (and friendly enemies)
-- wouldn't want you to take advantage of them! Note that
you can turn this feature on and off when you list the Weekend
and Monday standings via a link at the top of the Standings
page.
Eventually, I'll get the graphics software ported too, and then
you'll get to see the contour plot that shows you why you got
such a lousy score for your Monday night pick. (I suppose it's
only fair for me to point out that I've been making this particular
promise for about a decade, so I wouldn't pin my future happiness
on its fulfillment if I were you.)
No Experience Necessary
Be aware that a deep knowledge of football is neither required
nor necessarily desirable:
- Manfred Koch finished 1st in 1983, having never watched American
football.
- The "Home Teams" account, which simply chooses a 17-16 score
each week, was actually the high-scorer in the Monday Night
competition in 1985 and 1996 (we decided not to mount a pizza
on the disk drive).
- In 1988, Michael Swieczkowski won the Monday Night competition
while participating from Germany.
- In 2003, Paul Chatterton outlasted online Pool Predictor account
by only 5 points for the Monday Night championship (which says
more about our football prognostication capabilities than it
does about the brilliance of the Predictor algorithm).
- In 2012, the Weekend Competition was claimed by Richa Advani
at the age of 7, who made her picks "based on colors and
emotions" and showed her competitive spirit by saying "Dad,
I don't care about being first. I don't even like football."
- Amy Paschal won the Monday Night competition in 1995, and
after reading an early version of this document that omitted
her contributions to FBP history wrote to say:
"I'm hurt that you didn't mention me under the
no experience necessary section. I consider myself as clueless
as anyone."
The defending champions are Howard Heck (first in the Weekend Competition) and Alan Hevner (Monday Competition). We'll undoubtedly see
the annual renewal of the Advani arch-rivalries, as well as the perennial assault on the top of
the standings launched by the dynamic Richardson duo (Pat &
Priscilla). And with any luck, we may once again have participants
in Massachusetts, Maryland, Ohio, Kentucky, Florida, California,
and Minnesota.
Get Your Picks In On Time (Scoring
and Defaults)
Picksfor a game may be entered and revised up
until the start time of the game. After that, the game will lock and you will not be allowed
to enter a different pick for the game. Be sure to watch
for weeks with early games. Weeks with early games are
noted on the FBP Home Page.
Games are automatically locked out on the entry form according
to their scheduled date and time.
Note: times displayed on the schedule are Eastern
time zone.
If you don't get your picks in on a given week, your score
for the week is 90% of the median of the scores of the players
who do pick. That way, missing a week doesn't put you at too
big a disadvantage while not offering any advantage, either.
*** NEW *** The
following new rule changes were implemented for the 2011 season
and are still in effect:
-
You can make picks for a game until that game begins.
-
If you make NO picks for the Weekend competition in a given
week, you receve the default Weekend score for the Weekend
competition for that week.
-
If you make ONE OR MORE picks for the Weekend competition
in a given week, you are scored normally for the picks you
made. Any picks that were omitted score zero points.
-
If you DO NOT make a Monday Night pick in a given week, you
receive the default Monday Night score for the Monday Night
competition for that week.
- If you DO make a Monday Night pick in a given week, you are
scored normally for your pick.
-
The Weekend and Monday Night competitions are now considered
SEPARATELY for purposes of default scoring. That is, you
can receive a default score for one competition while
being scored normally for the other competition. For example:
If you fail to make Weekend picks but do make a Monday
Night pick, then you receive the default score for that
week in the Weekend Competition but are scored normally
for the Monday Night competition.
Here's an example of how the new rules work. I know that
YOU are always prompt and get your picks made early, but pretend
for a minute that there was a Thursday game and the game got
under way before you made your picks for the week. Before
the 2011 season, you would have no choice -- you'd get the
default scores for the Weekend and Monday Night competitions
for that week, regardless of whether you picked other games
before they started. Starting with the 2011 season, you now
have some options:
-
Make no picks at all. This will result in getting the
default scores for both the Weekend and Monday Night competitions.
-
Make picks for the remaining Weekend and Monday Night games.
In this case, you'll receive normal scoring for both competitions
based on your picks. Any picks that you fail to make (because
you didn't get your pick in on time, or because you ignored
it) scores zero.
-
Pick the Monday Night game score, but do not make picks
for the remaining games of the Weekend Competition for that
week. In this case, you'll receive default scoring for the
Weekend Competition, but you'll get normal scoring for the
Monday Night competition.
-
Pick the remaining Weekend games, but ignore the Monday
Night game. (I don't know why you would do this, but you
could.) In this case, you receive normal scoring for the
Weekend Competion (with no credit for the game(s) you missed),
and default scoring or the Monday Night competition.
The NFL season starts
Thursday
,
September 5
,
2024
and runs for
18
weeks. Picks can be made beginning immediately. You can still
join the pool after the season has begun (you start with the
default median scores for the weeks you missed). Encourage other
folks to join in; the more, the merrier (and the more patsies
there are to pay for the pizza!).
Any Other Questions?
If you've got any other questions, please ask your FBP Commissioner
(i.e., me). I'll be happy to help you out. Or you can just yell
at me when things break. Either way, it'll make you feel better.
Last Things Last
I typically finish this note each year by announcing that THIS
will be my year to win it all. And this year will be no different.
It's time I got my name back on that trophy, so back off -- the
Weekend title is MINE!
Good Luck (you'll need it),
Steve Tolopka
FBP Commissioner
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