I really didn't mean to jinx us. For the superstitious among us, I apologize.

Not to jinx anyone, but I had 9-for-9 twice last year and was also just a Cowboys win from perfection. Cowboys lost each time (to the Cardinals and Giants), keeping me out of the Hall.

After two horrible weeks on 10-for-10, this weekend looked great. In most of our games, the teams we overwhelmingly picked either won handily, squeaked out wins, or narrowly avoided a loss. There were a couple of hiccups early Sunday afternoon with Detroit and Seattle disappointing the majority of us. I was gotten later in the afternoon by picking Tampa Bay over the Redskins.

But, to those who avoided those traps, the weekend was full of success, with a record number poised to bust down the door of KD's Hall of Fame.

Our previous record for 10-for-10s in one week was nineteen, set in week #12 last year. That week was a similar star-alignment as this week appeared to be. That weekend was Thanksgiving weekend; the Cowboys had dodged a bullet on Thanksgiving Day by eking out a win over the Dolphins; and our consensus picks were an incredible 14-2. The only two games we picked wrong as a group were Washington at Seattle (hey, Seattle is a tough place for visiting teams to win) and San Diego hosting Denver (early days of Tebow Time).

EDIT - I mis-scored mehrans9 this week (see comments below). He was another of the 9-for-9s that were on the brink of immortality until Monday night's crash and burn.

This week, we had twenty-six perfect picks through the Sunday afternoon games. Seventeen were 9-for-9 and nine were 8-for-8. Seven of those nine had the Giants, and only two had the Eagles on Sunday night. Twenty-five of the twenty-six also had the Cowboys. So, if the Giants and Cowboys won, there would have been a new record established with twenty-five perfect 10-for-10s in one week.

But, there were dark clouds hovering on the horizon. The Giants lost to the Eagles in dramatic fashion, missing a last-second long field goal that would have won the game. So, seven bit the dust, and only nineteen were left standing - not enough for a record, but a serious chunk of celebration. One of those was confident, and asked how many others had accomplished what he was about to accomplish - being a two-time 10-for-10 Hall inductee. I answered that he and one other had the potential to join mdlusk as the only two-time 10-for-10 successes.

In my assumption that almost everyone had picked the Cowboys, I had erroneously put in one of my Gameday summaries (on KD's page) that all of the perfect Sunday pickers had the Cowboys on Monday night. I caught and corrected my mistake. Oops, there was one Bears pick as well. So, we were guaranteed at least one Hall inductee this week. (eighteen if the Cowboys won and one if the Bears won).

[end edit]

Before recognizing the newest member of KD's Hall, let me share with you the other statistics that I offer each week.

First, after a record-setting first week, our weekly participation has fallen off. However, we still have added new players each week, and have now crossed over the 250 mark in individual players - a new record that grows each week.

Both of those trends continued this week as we added another five new players, but only had 168 entries of one kind or another.

We had 168 entries this week, but even after my admonitions of Don't Be That Guy, some still were. There were only 165 picks on the Cowboys and Bears. The missing three?

For the fourth week in a row, at least one person has made an early game pick (Wednesday/Thursday Game Only) and failed to return for the other nine picks. We had two this week with that dubious honor.

One of KD's mandates is "must pick the Cowboys game". We had one this week submit ten games, but failed to include Cowboys-Bears.

One interesting (and amusing) twist came this week when two players made 10-for-10 picks on the weekend and included Cleveland and Baltimore (the already-played Thursday game). To their credit, both picked Baltimore. I replied on both entries, "Nice try", and graciously offered them a chance to substitute another pick for that one. One did, but the other one did not. So, he only got nine counted this week.

In the Other Than That, Mrs. Lincoln, How Did You Like the Play? category, we did have one of our better overall records this week. Before Monday night, our biggest loss was a game only picked by a a little over half our players. The other three Sunday losses were part of the four games played by the smallest number of people.

A lot of us were in great shape until Monday night. Even after the debacle on Monday night, we still had a 10-5 record as a consensus. Remember, two teams had byes this week, so there were only fifteen games. Here's how we did picking this weekend:

Where's Phil Jackson when you need him? Unfortunately, KD's Hall doesn't have a place for asterisks (*-picked against the Cowboys). So, without further fanfare, let's welcome the newest member of the 10-for-10 Hall of Fame: j-man. His winning scorecard is split between a Thursday Game Only pick on my FanPost and his other nine entries here on KD's contest page.

We also have a new overall leader. Congratulations, D_Carter, for rising to the top this week. Last week's overall leader, The Penguin, didn't make it back this week. I think that is the first time since I have been keeping score that the overall leader took the week off. Well, he is now in a ten-way tie for 132nd.

Here are the top scores from week #4, along with those at the top overall. If you're not listed here, you didn't do well this week or you're too far off the overall pace. Look for KD's new page to include you, as he lists every score in the overall leaderboard.

Finally, the Cowboys are off this week, and are guaranteed not to lose. There are fourteen games this week, and this is the one week of the year when it is not mandatory to pick the Cowboys game. Again, if you want to make a Thursday Game Only pick on my FanPost, you may do it here. Otherwise, I'll see you next week.

The Thursday game is interesting this week as it is the annual pilgrimage of the Cardinals back to their previous home in St. Louis. These aren't those Cardinals - no Jim Hart, Mel Gray, Roger Wehrli, Larry Wilson, Conrad Dobler, Dan Dierdorf, or Terry Metcalf. If you want to pick this game, copy paste one of these lines into a new comment:

*Arizona* at ST. LOUIS

Arizona at *ST. LOUIS*