Football Pickem Pool

When you click Your Group Members you will see a list of everyone in your group -- that part you already knew.  What we've added today are two more columns:  Picks and P.Points.   This is where you would go to see if everyone in your group has made their picks for the week.  But the P.Points ... those are potential points IF that person picks every game correctly.  

Potential points for any given week may not all be the same because when point multipliers are used, the total possible points can vary.    While you will not know *which* picks your group made until the pick window closes, you will know how many points they could earn if they do well. 

The right most column is Potential Total Points.   This would be the point total for that person IF their current week was 100% correct.   Your Group Members is sorted by this column. 

At the bottom of the picks screen you will see two buttons that looks pretty much like this:

What's the difference?  Plenty.  (well, not really)

They both do the same thing, it's what happens *after* that's different.

Save will save your picks and your points THEN make the bold assumption that you're done with this screen and transport you to Your Group Members page.   This will allow you to see where you stand in potential points (based on your current picks).    At the Group Members page you will be able to confirm that all your picks have indeed been recorded and that all points have been accounted for.    e.g,  ) It IS possible to save a pick, but not assign points.   Some people like to do that -- we don't know why.   (However, it is not possible to assign points, without picking a winner)  

Apply on the other hand will save your data, but leave you in that same screen.  Why do this?   Let's say you're making picks and the phone rings, you get hungry, you run to a meeting, you have alzheimer's and wander off ... League will time-out if you're inactive for 900 seconds... so that when you return and hit SAVE ... nothing is saved!  You're screwed!  All of your hard work will have been tossed into the byte dumpster.   So if you plan to spend more than a few minutes on the pick screen, use Apply every so often to ensure your work-in-process isn't accidentally vaporized.

p.s.,  Apply was used four times in the posting of this message!  ... and wandered off only twice.

We've thought about adding an auto-reminder feature when picks are not selected for a person, but we concluded that's what your group members are for -- and that's why we made it easy to send messages from the Your Group Members screen.  (look at the end of the list, under the last name and you'll see a Send email link)

If you see someone who hasn't made their picks, send them an email, call them -- or do nothing and heckle them for their foolish blunder when the pick window closes.

If you're out of town, in some remote corner where the internet doesn't exist, then call someone in your group - give them your ID and password and have them do a Pick Wizard for you -- that's better than getting all zeros.

Every week begins pretty much like this... no picks, no points.   It's a scary place to start.

I don't care how good you think you are, it's a blank page staring you in the face.   Writer's block.  Point paranoia... E'picktile dysfunction.   I don't care what you call it, it happens every week.

It hits the hardest when you're pressed for time or you just don't really have burning desire to think about what might happen.  Sure, there are 1000 other places to find out what others think, but that takes effort too.  

Enter stage left... the Pick Wizard.

It's not really a wizard, and the results may be just a crappy as the ones you come up with -- but at least if you use this, you have an excuse.    

What is Pick Wizard?   We're about to get to that...

It's simple.  Think of it as cheating, but in a good way because it was our idea.

Pick Wiz will look at whatever everyone else did and make the wild ass assumption that they know what they're doing.  (Did you know that many lay people combined can be more effective than a team of specialists?  It's true.  We just don't remember where that was quoted, so you'll need to take our word for it.)

Pick Wiz will look at all the picks and all the points, then determine a trend based on that group.  Think it stops there?  No way.  It also looks at where the teams are playing and even factors in weather conditions and how many freaks were in the hotel lobby the night before --putting the visiting team at a distinct advantage, depending of course on your coaching style.

In just a few seconds, all your picks are made, along with the mathematically correct point values placed in just the right places.   How much better does that get?

Can we promise you winners each week?   YES!   But only if the rest of the players in League know what they're doing.   (If half the league is faking it, or if everyone is using the Wiz... then hey, the playing field is very level.)

Instructions:

It's pretty simple... 

When you select your Make Picks screen, you will see a Pick Wizard button in the upper right corner.   It will look something like this:

All you need to do is click it -- and all the picks and points will be entered for you.  However your job is NOT done!  If you have any shred of team spirit you will review the selections and make sure you agree with what The Wiz has suggested.  Remember, these are highly accurate mathematically correct SUGGESTIONS that are every bit as good as any guesses you might make.   What's lacking is the emotional content that only you can provide.

So there you have it.   You click Pick Wizard, make a few tweaks, then click Save.   You're done.