Week 17 - The End

For the first time there is a three way tie at the top. Also for the first time the winners have a loss.

Going into Week 17 Matthew Valcho, Gabe Cate, and Ralph Berry were tied at 15-1. I figured there were some easy games this week, but I didn't figure that each contestant would have a different pick. Matthew picked Atlanta, Gabe picked Pittsburgh, and Ralph had Baltimore. When I saw these selections I thought one just might lose. Then the games began. Pittsburgh crushed Cleveland, Baltimore crushed Jacksonville, but Atlanta was in tight against St. Louis, could Matthew be the one who gets KO'ed? No! Fortunately, Atlanta pulled it out with 45 yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter.

So all three ended up at 16-1 and will split both first and second place money. Each receives $513.33.

Of special note, Ralph Berry is the second repeat champion, joining my father as a King of the Hill master.

Until next year...Here We Go Steelers!

George

Week 16 Summary

All four alive in the contest lost on Sunday. Here's what that means.

First and foremost, I am out. I was alive in the loser's bracket and now I have two losses. Say goodbye George. DEN is terrible. How can they lose at home with a playoff birth on the line? I shied away from NO because I thought DET might rise up and win one. What a bad mistake!

The three remaining all now have one lose. Therefore, the "fine print" comes into play. All three continue playing and split both the winner's bracket and loser's bracket money. The three will be playing for $1540 next weekend. If all three win they'll split the pot.

Alive are Gabe Cate, Ralph Berry, and my son Matthew Valcho.

By the way these guys selected HOU to beat OAK and/or TB to beat SD.

Week 14 and 15 Summary

Nothing has changed. Everyone picked a winner the past two weeks.

3 alive for first.
1 has one loss.
41 are out.

The Fine Print

This was first published in 2006. I'm re-publishing now because there are three alive in the winner's bracket, with tonight's game pending, and only one in the loser's bracket.

The Fine Print

If multiple players remain in the winner's bracket and they all lose on the same weekend, they will drop into the loser’s bracket and play will continue (in this situation the winner of the loser’s bracket will get 1st and 2nd place money). Players already in the loser's bracket will have a new chance at the championship.

Continuing...if there are three players or fewer in the loser’s bracket, and none remaining in the winner's bracket, and all lose on the same weekend, the combined pot will be split evenly. If there are more than three players in the loser's bracket who all lose on the same weekend (again with no one remaining in the winner's bracket), all will continue until a winner is determined. In this situation, the team selected cannot be used again.

The winner's bracket and loser's bracket are separate pools. The winner of the winner's bracket will have his/her $10 refunded, as they will not participate in the loser's bracket.

Week 13 Summary

Two more dropped out this weekend. Geoff Mince and Brady Valcho (my nephew who is 1 year old) both picked BUF to beat SF. SF won at BUF in a 10-3 slugfest.

My son Matthew "Noodle" Valcho, Gabe Cate, and Ralph Berry continue to pick winners. But it gets a little tougher each week as the good teams are gone and other teams have little to play for. Four weeks to go.

One entry remains in the second place bracket and that's me.

3 alive for first.
1 has one loss.
41 are out.

Week 12 Summary

Well, we finally had some movement. Two dropped from the second place bracket. My Dad (previous two time champion) and Greg Brent both lost with DEN at home against the lowly Raiders. Denver must be the worst team leading a division.

3 alive for first.
3 have one loss.
39 are out.

Week 11 Summary

All eight survived another week.

3 alive for first.
5 have one loss.
37 are out.

Week 10 Summary

All eight survived another week.

Noodle almost won it, but KC went for two and the win (instead of playing for a tie and OT) and did not make it in the final seconds.

3 alive for first.
5 have one loss.
37 are out.

Week 9 Summary

There were numerous close games. Tampa Bay pulled it out in OT. Chicago came back from a big deficit and beat Detroit. Tennessee stayed unbeaten in OT. Each of these games had some of our players nervous. But in the end only three lost. All three dropped from the second place bracket.

George Melissinos and Chris Williams had Buffalo at home and they lost to the New York Football Jets. Buffalo started strong but is fading.

Andy Guess had Denver at home against Miami. Miami is now 4-4 and Denver must be bad.

3 alive for first.
5 have one loss.
37 are out.

Week 8 Summary - Better Late than Never

Week 8 was two Sundays ago. I've been busy, what can I say?

There were two losing picks. Paul Buckley took Pittsburgh over the New York Football Giants. It was a close game, but NYG prevailed after a bad snap but substitute long snapper James Harrison.

Chris Parker did not enter a pick.

Both dropped from the second place bracket.

3 alive for first.
8 have one loss.
34 are out.

Week 7 Summary - That Was Easy

All players vying for first and second placed picked a winner. The counts remain the same:

3 alive for first.
10 have one loss.
32 are out.

The Final Three

There are only three left for the championship:

My son Matthew "Noodle" Valcho. Playing for his college fund!

Gabe Cate, a Shreveport native who works with me at Bowman Systems.

Ralph Berry, previous Champion and fellow Steeler fan.

Good Luck!

Week 6 Update

I was hoping to do a video update, but I ran out of time.

There were 19 losing entries in Week 6. 17 of those, including me, had the Washington Redskins. The Skins gave a game away to STL. The other loser had NE. One entry made no pick.

Out of the game completely are:

Andy Bardach
Mike Boggs
Paul Bowman
Jeff Fowler
Doug Horstman (Previous Champion)
Nancy MacAskill
Dana Melissinos
Ryan Melissinos
Evan Mince
Kim Parker
Tim Krisher
Tim Swigor
Steve Taylor
Matthew Valcho (brother)
Judy Williams

Dropping into the second place Bracket were:

Greg Brent
Chris Parker
George Valcho (me)
George Valcho (dad)


3 alive for first.
10 have one loss.
32 are out.

Week 5 Update

There was only one loser in Week 5. Dave Parker is out. He had the Green Bay Packers.

7 alive for first.
21 have one loss.
17 are out.

Week 4 Video Update

7 alive for first.
22 have one loss.
16 are out.

Week 4 Quick Summary

There were at least 15 losers this week. 9 had DEN and 6 had the Cows. There are two unexposed picks (both with one loss) and I'm guessing they have the Steelers on Monday night.

There are only 7 left alive for first place.

Gabe Cate
Ralph Berry (previous champion)
Greg Brent
Chris Parker
George Valcho (me)
George Valcho (my Dad, previous two time champion)
Matthew Valcho (my son)

A more detailed summary will be forthcoming.

Week 3 Summary

We had two drop completely out this week. Steve Baker and Sam Heermans both lost for the second time with New England. Sam will have to find solace in the success of the Redskins. Steve, however, follows the Browns, he has little hope for a good season!

Four entries dropped into the second place bracket, all had New England.

I'm surprised that only six lost with NE. NE was available to many but most had the good sense to avoid this huge upset.

16 alive for first.
21 have one loss.
8 are out.

Payouts

There are 45 entries. But I play one for free.

The winner gets 44 x 25 or $1,100.

Second place is worth $440.

Week 2 Summary

Before I get to Week 2 I need to address something from Week 1.

Tim Swigor played two picks and lost with both of them. Way to go Tim!!!

Now for Week 2. Six of the Week 1 losers also lost in Week 2. This group is out of contention. One of the losers is Tim Swigor. Way to go Tim!!! The others are George and Doris Melissinos who share a pick (one of them must be in trouble), Gaile Valcho, Renee Setta, Jana Heermans, and Alex Guess. Thanks for playing.

On Sunday night I was wondering why two entries didn't make a pick. It turns out Paul Buckley and Paul Bowman each selected the Cowboys. That was a white-knuckler, but it turned out OK. Whew!

Already we are down to 20, from 45, for the winner's portion. 39 remain alive for second place.

Second Place

Remember that second place goes to the winner of the losers bracket. If you lost in Week 1 you are still in the running for second place.

I guarantee others will be joining you soon.

Week 1 Woes

Three also lost with IND.

Here are the stats from previous Week 1s. The first number is the number of losing selections.

1999 - 23 of 41
2000 - 4 of 51 (7.81%)
2001 - 25 of 59
2002 - 13 of 55
2003 - 39 of 55
2004 - 3 of 55 (5.45%)
2005 - 26 of 58
2006 - 4 of 62 (6.45%)
2007 - 5 of 48
2008 - 16 of 45

You can see that this Week 1 is about average. 2003 was bad year.

One and Done (or Playing for Second Place)

My mom just called, she had San Diego. Are there others?

Yes, I just looked at ESPN and 13 players had SD. Yikes.

This is not uncommon for Week 1. I'll have to go through my archive to report on other stunning first weeks.

Remember, second place is still possible.

Previous Champions

King X (2007) - George Valcho - 10 weeks - My Dad (2 time winner)
King IX - Mike Gilbert - 15 weeks
King VIII - Mike Boggs and Tim Swigor - 17 weeks (undefeated all year)
King VII - George Valcho - 8 weeks - My Dad
King VI - Josie Valcho - 9 weeks - My Mom
King V - Ralph Berry - 13 weeks
King IV - Kevin Kelley and Rusty Atkinson - 11 weeks
King III - Dick Hein - 14 weeks
King II - Paul Bowman - 5 weeks
King I (1998) - Doug Horstman - 11 weeks

Rules of the Game 2008

It’s that time again...the eleventh year of King of the Hill.

Picks will be entered on ESPN’s Eliminator, just like last year.

Eliminator works the same way as King of the Hill, except you can play all year, even if you lose every game.

To enter you will need an ESPN ID and Password. Once you register at ESPN you can go to this link…. http://games.espn.go.com/eliminator/frontpage.

First create an Entry and then “Join a Group”.

Group: GV King of the Hill
Password: kingpicks

To determine our prizes, each week of the regular season you pick one team to win (no point spread). If your team wins, you advance to the next week. If your team loses, you drop into the loser’s bracket. If you lose again, in the loser’s bracket, you are out. I will keep track of this because on ESPN you can lose more than once.

Each week you advance, you again pick one team to win. Here's the catch -- you cannot pick a team more than once during the season, even if the team loses. ESPN enforces this selection.
The last person standing with no losses wins and is "King of the Hill", the last person standing in the loser’s bracket (one loss) gets second place.

Your picks can be entered right up to game time. And they can be entered weeks in advance. Because of this, there is no default pick. If you do not enter a pick it will be counted as a loss. Last year some voiced concern about not having the default pick, so here’s a suggestion. Pick every week of the year right at the start. Then each week simply modify your picks according to current performance. If you miss a week for vacation, as an example, you will already have a pick entered.

The entry fee is $35. The winner’s bracket champion will receive $25 from each entry. The loser’s bracket champion will receive $10 from each entry. I hope to have 50 paid entries - $1,250 and $500 to the champions. You can enter more than once, but not more than twice. To enter twice on ESPN you will need two User IDs.

King of the Hill is limited to people I know. If you don't see someone on this list and you think they would be interested, please tell me (most of you know many of the same people I do). I just don't want some complete stranger winning the pot. If you have a close friend who is interested, please let me know.

And my favorite rule. I play one pick for free (for all this work).

Please let me know if you would like to participate.

I am collecting money now. The season starts September 4th with a Thursday night game. Then on Sunday, September 7th a full schedule is played. I am running behind this year, but please send your money right away. Please mail a check to me at 999 Bay Ridge Dr., Benton, LA 71006.

I can honestly say the worst part about organizing this is running down people who don’t send a check immediately. Please pay $35 right away.

During the season I will update this blog (http://www.gvkingofthehill.blogspot.com) at least once a week. You might want to bookmark it.