2011 Champions

Well, we finally have winners in this year’s King of the Hill. Both winning entries went 16-1.

Jeff Fowler, a friend who lives in Maryland, and loves the Redskins, gets half the pot.

The other half goes to George and Doris Melissinos. They are my sister-in-law’s parents, who live in Florida.

Congratulations! I’ll send checks in the next couple of days. Also, everyone, now that we have winners, I’ll be cashing the checks I have sitting here!

Thanks for playing this year, George

Previous Champions:
King I - Doug Horstman (11 weeks)
King II - Paul Bowman (5 weeks)
King III - Dick Hein (14 weeks)
King IV - Kevin Kelley and Rusty Atkinson (11 weeks)
King V - Ralph Berry (13 weeks)
King VI - Josie Valcho (9 weeks) My Mom
King VII - George Valcho (8 weeks) My Dad
King VIII - Mike Boggs and Tim Swigor (17 weeks - undefeated all year)
King IX - Mike Gilbert (15 weeks)
King X - George Valcho (9 weeks) My Dad again
King XI - Matthew Valcho, Gabe Cate, and Ralph Berry (tied at 16-1)
King XII - Charles Semon, Nancy MacAskill, Paul Bowman and George Melissinos (tied at 16-1)
King XIII - George Valcho (14 weeks) not my Dad, me

King XIV - Jeff Fowler and George & Doris Melissinos (tied at 16-1)

Week 14 Summary

All three again picked a winner.

0 vying for first
3 in with a second chance (for all the money)
35 out

Week 13 Summary

All three advanced.

0 vying for first
3 in with a second chance (for all the money)
35 out

Week 12 Summary - No Change

All three advanced with ATL over MIN.

0 vying for first
3 in with a second chance (for all the money)
35 out

Week 11 Summary - Tebowed

One of the four remaining entries lost and is out. My Dad had NYJ against DEN on Thursday night. My Dad was Tebowed!

0 vying for first
3 in with a second chance
35 out

Week 10 Summary - Wipe Out

This was a wipe out week. Most had PHI and they were beaten by AZ. Both leaders lost, and dropped into a tie with only two in the losers bracket who did not have PHI.

Now there are four remaining with one lose. When this occurs the first place and second place pools are combined. These four are now playing for all the money.

0 vying for first
4 in with a second chance (for all the money)
34 out

Week 9 Summary - Down to Two

There was only one loser last week, and it was significant!

Lincoln Barrett, playing from Japan, picked NE. NE was upset at home by the New York Football Giants!

Remaining in a tussle for all the money are my Dad, who is trying to win King for the third time, and Gabe Cate who is attempting to win his second title. I guess some people have a knack for this.

Counts:
2 vying for first
15 in with a second chance
21 out

Week 8 Summary

Three continue to battle for the championship. BAL fell behind AZ by 21, and NYG fell behind MIA, but both eventually won and all three of our leaders survived.

We had 2 losers last week, both lost for the second time and are out. Say goodbye to my brother Matt and Tim Swigor. Both had NO against STL. Another shocker in this wild season.

I'll be dialed in to PIT vs. BAL on Sunday night. Can anyone believe the Steelers lead the AFC after how bad they have looked? I am stunned. If they beat BAL, the sky is the limit! A BIG if in this important game.

Counts:
3 vying for first
14 in with a second chance
21 out

Week 7 Summary

Wow, I just remembered to post.

There were 5 losing picks last weekend. All five lost for the second time and are OUT!

Three had BAL, one had OAK and one did not make a pick!

Counts:

3 vying for first
16 in with a second chance
19 out

Week 6 Summary

This is much easier to write...only one loser this past weekend.

Peter Black lost for the second time and is out. Peter selected NO against TB...at TB. Another division rivalry causes a loss. TB was destroyed two weeks ago at SF, but they turned it around.

I still can't get over the NYG game in Week 5. What a disaster. Then, they too come back and beat a good BUF team. This is a crazy year in the NFL.

Counts:

3 vying for first
21 in with a second chance
14 out

Week 5 Summary - Ouch

There were 19 entries battling for first when the games started. Afterward, there were only three. That's right, 16 entries lost for the first time with NYG. Another three lost for the second time, and another lost for the second time with IND. In total there were 20 losing picks from 29 entries.

The NYG loss is one of the biggest upsets since I started this contest. And one of the biggest since ESPN started hosting the Eliminator Challenge. In all ESPN groups, 52% of the entries picked NYG.

So, Gabe Cate, Lincoln Barrett and my dad are the only three entries alive for first place. I'm not going to name all of the losers! There are 22 remaining for second.

I never gave the NYG pick a second thought. It was a perfect pick from my perspective. I've mentioned this numerous times, and refer to it all the time in my summaries. I look for a home team, playing a team in a different division with a worse record. NYG had all of this. In addition, SEA had to travel across the country. My philosophy resulted in 20 straight weeks of winners dating to the beginning of last season, I suppose it had to end at some point.

Counts:

3 vying for first
22 in with a second chance
13 out

Week 4 Summary

As you can tell, I'm holding off on the summaries this year, to combine them with a reminder.

Last weekend there were seven losing picks involving BUF and PHI. Five of the losing picks were second time losers and these five are out of the competition: Chris Parker, Josie Valcho (my mom) on both entries!!!, George Valcho (my dad) on one of his entries, and Paul Bowman. Note that mom, dad and Paul Bowman are previous champions.

Kim Parker and Andy Guess lost for the first time.

BUF, riding high after and upset of NE, lost on the road to CIN. A typical NFL "letdown" game. Watch out for these. A big win can lead to a loss. This happening in Week 2 as well. BAL blasted PIT in Week 1 and lost on the road in Week 2.

PHI is hard to explain. At home against SF looked like a good pick, but now PHI is 1-3...use caution if you like PHI.

Note that the NFL bye weeks are starting, limiting your options.

Goodbye Hank Williams Jr.

Counts:
19 vying for first
10 in with a second chance
9 out

Week 3 Summary

I thought there was one "easy" game last week, and most everyone picked it. SD over KC. It turned out not to be easy. SD only won by 3. Watch out for those intra-division games.

We had five losers last week. Four picked division match ups. PHI lost to NYG. NE lost to BUF. The other had NYJ. OAK is looking tough.

It's difficult, this time of year, to know who is "for real," and who just had a few easy games. BUF is now the only undefeated team in the AFC.

Of the five losing picks, four lost for the second time and are out for the year. Say goodbye to previous champion Mike Boggs, Chad Swigor, Ryan Melissinos, and Janna Heermans. Steve Taylor dropped into the loser's bracket.

Counts:

21 vying for first

13 in witch a second chance

4 out

Week 2 Summary

A big change from last week...only one loss. My mom had BAL at TEN. TEN pulled the upset. She played two picks this year and is already in the loser's bracket with both!

This week is tough. I see only one "easy" game, and it's between division opponents.

Counts:

22 vying for first

16 in with a second chance

Week 1 Summary

As usual Week 1 was very interesting. I thought, going in, that it was a difficult slate of games. There were numerous division match ups, and good teams on the road.

The results show that it was difficult! Of the 38 entries, 15 picked a losing team. Most had either KC or CLE, but one had DEN.

Talk about lucky, I took NYJ. I thought they would easily handle DAL at home. They didn't "handle" them at all, but won when Romo fell apart at the end.

Kevin Whatley, playing for the second time, advanced to Week 2 in the winner's bracket for the first time. I only mention this because he was embarrassed last year when I called him out in the summary.

Historical Week1 Losses:

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 50
2008 - 25 of 45
2009 - 1 of 44 - BEST EVER
2010 - 6 of 43
2011 - 15 of 38

Check out 2003...now that was a tough Week1.

Counts:

23 vying for first
15 in with a second chance

9-11-11 Early Games - 13 Losses

13 have already lost. 7 took the Chiefs and 6 had the Browns.

Entries & Payouts

I count 38 entries. 37 paid.

Winner gets $1110.

Second Place gets $370.

2011 Rules

It's that time again...the fourteenth year of King of the Hill.

Please let me know if you would like to participate.

I am collecting money now. The season starts September 8th with a Thursday night game. Then on Sunday, September 11th 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:

George Valcho
999 Bay Ridge Dr.
Benton, LA 71006.

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

To enter you will need an ESPN ID and Password. Once you register at ESPN you go to this link...http://games.espn.go.com/eliminator-challenge/en/frontpage. Sign in, set up your eliminator entry and then "Join a Group".

Group: GV King of the Hill

Password: in email

Here's how it works, 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. If you do not enter a pick it will be counted as a loss. So here is some advice...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 $40. The winner's bracket champion will receive $30 from each entry. The loser's bracket champion will receive $10 from each entry. I hope to have 40 paid entries - $1,200 and $400 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).

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

During the season I will update this blog
(http://www.gvkingofthehill.blogspot.com) at least once a week.

Previous Champions:
King I - Doug Horstman (11 weeks)
King II - Paul Bowman (5 weeks)
King III - Dick Hein (14 weeks)
King IV - Kevin Kelley and Rusty Atkinson (11 weeks)
King V - Ralph Berry (13 weeks)
King VI - Josie Valcho (9 weeks) My Mom
King VII - George Valcho (8 weeks) My Dad
King VIII - Mike Boggs and Tim Swigor (17 weeks - undefeated all year)
King IX - Mike Gilbert (15 weeks)
King X - George Valcho (9 weeks) My Dad again
King XI - Matthew Valcho, Gabe Cate, and Ralph Berry (tied at 16-1)
King XII - Charles Semon, Nancy MacAskill, Paul Bowman and George Melissinos (tied at 16-1)

King XIII - George Valcho (14 weeks) not my Dad, me

Tie Breaker Rules - Fine Print
If multiple players remain in the winners bracket and they all lose on the same weekend, they will all 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). If there are two or three players in the loser's bracket, and none remaining in the winner's bracket, and they all lose on the same weekend, the pot will be split evenly. If there are more than three players that all lose and none in the winner's bracket, all will continue until a winner is determined. In this situation, the losing team selected cannot be used again.

Week 16 Summary

All three remaining 1 loss entries lost on Sunday. Therefore they split the second place pot. You can see this "rule" in the fine print of the first post of the year back in August.

Congrats to Lincoln Barrett, Kevin Kelley, and Matthew Valcho for getting a little money back!

These three will split $410.

Once again thanks for playing. Look for an email in August 2011 to start the 2011 contest!