FanPost

KD's 10-for-10 - 2013 Week #5 Update

Traitor or fan? We had this conversation a lot last year when a flame war broke out on 10-for-10. We had impassioned opinions flying about whether it was appropriate for a real Cowboys fan to pick the Cowboys to lose on 10-for-10. This week, I don't think any on here hoped for the Cowboys to lose, but three other perspectives were well-represented: picked Denver to win but hoped to be wrong; picked Dallas to win out of loyalty but expected to be wrong; and, those that picked Dallas to win because they believed that the Cowboys would win.

This week was historic. I can't say that it never happened before, as I do not have access to KD's records (and, I don't know that I want to know the answer). There may have been a week during the Cowboys abysmal 2010 season when more 10-for-10 participants picked the Cowboys to lose than to win. It had never happened on my watch.

This is my third year as KD's volunteer scorekeeper, and thirty-ninth regular season week to record and tabulate our entries. Some weeks, we are unanimous picking the Cowboys. In other weeks, a handful pick against them. Even this year, we have consistently and convincingly picked our team to win - 242-0 over the Giants, 193-10 over the Chiefs, 194-5 over the Rams, and 197-1 over the Chargers.

Again, since I didn't participate in BTB until late-season in 2010, and didn't participate in KD's FanPost inaugural season of 10-for-10, I had never seen a week where the majority picked against the Cowboys.

I have now seen it - 106-81 picked the Broncos - and, I hope I never see it again.

Well, rant over. On to my weekly report...

We added four new players this week, but we had a few more fall by the wayside. So, we dropped a little this week, but still have the seventh highest participation total in our four-year history.

Here is the participation table:

Participation
Week Played This Week Missed This Week Total
1 242 0 242
2 207 49 256
3 199 60 259
4 198 67 265
5 189 80 269

Last week, I brought back a table of "worst unanimous 10-for-10 losses", as we came close in two games (all but one missed one game, and all but three missed another). I will not reprint that table this week, but we did it again (all but one missed one game, and all but three missed another).

As a consensus, we got more right this week than wrong. We had a bunch of games that almost everyone played - same games, same winner. We usually have one or two that we split more evenly - either it's an even match and we can't all pile onto our favorite. Or, it's a matchup of two bad teams and we neither know how to predict or care about the result.

This week, we had two bigger games that were tossups, with fairly heavy participation. We picked, by a narrow 60-58 margin, the Colts to give the Seahawks their first loss. We were even tighter in the match between our division friends. One person, not wanting to see either team win, instead of skipping that game, picked a tie. Ironically, that pick, if it had been for the Giants, would have made our consensus a tie, as the other ninety-seven were split 49-48.

After those two close games, the next closest to evenly split was... Denver-Dallas (sigh).

Here are our results this week:

Week #5 Results (Home in CAPS)
Win Winners (we're great) Lose
171 ST. LOUIS Jacksonville 3
130 GREEN BAY Detroit 15
125 Kansas City TENNESSEE 22
108 SAN FRANCISCO Houston 20
106 Denver DALLAS 81
102 New Orleans CHICAGO 26
66 CLEVELAND Buffalo 9
Win Losers (we're bleep) Lose
3 OAKLAND San Diego 167
1 New York Jets ATLANTA 165
42 CINCINNATI New England 99
25 Baltimore MIAMI 89
31 ARIZONA Carolina 65
Win Pretty Even (we're indecisive) Lose
60 INDIANAPOLIS Seattle 58
49.5 Philadelphia NEW YORK GIANTS 48.5

There are still four teams - Denver (another sigh), Jacksonville, New Orleans, and St. Louis - that we have picked correctly week as a group.

Here's a look at how we have picked each team, each week (first letter - our pick; second letter - actual result):

Picks/Results for Each Team/Each Week
Team Wk 1 Wk 2 Wk 3 Wk 4 Wk 5 Wk 6 Wk 7 Wk 8 Wk 9 Wk 10 Wk 11 Wk 12 Wk 13 Wk 14 Wk 15 Wk 16 Wk 17 W L
Denver WW WW WW WW WW 5 0
Jacksonville LL LL LL LL LL 5 0
New Orleans WW WW WW WW WW 5 0
St Louis WW LL LL LL WW 5 0
Houston WW WW WL LL LL 4 1
Kansas City WW LW WW WW WW 4 1
New York Giants LL LL WL LL LL 4 1
Oakland LL WW LL LL LW 4 1
Seattle WW LW WW WW LL 4 1
Tennessee LW LL WW WW LL 4 1
Green Bay LL WW WL Bye WW 3 1
Tampa Bay WL LL LL LL Bye 3 1
Washington WL LL LL WW Bye 3 1
Arizona LL LW LL WW LW 3 2
Buffalo LL WW WL LW LL 3 2
Chicago LW WW WW WL LL 3 2
Dallas WW WL WW WL LL 3 2
Detroit WW WL WW LW LL 3 2
Indianapolis WW WL LW WW WW 3 2
New England WW WW WW LW WL 3 2
Philadelphia LW WL LL LL WW 3 2
San Francisco WW WL WL WW WW 3 2
Carolina LL LL LW Bye WL 2 2
Minnesota LL LL WL LW Bye 2 2
Pittsburgh WL LL LL WL Bye 2 2
Atlanta LL WW WL WL WL 2 3
Baltimore LL WW LW WL LW 2 3
Cleveland WL LL LW LW WW 2 3
New York Jets LW LL LW LL LW 2 3
San Diego LL LW LL LW WL 2 3
Cincinnati WL WW LW WL LW 1 4
Miami LW LW LW LL WL 1 4
Total 98 56

For the second week in a row, we outpicked the Front Page Writers. Each week, One.Cool.Customer hosts a pick-em page where all the FPWs offer picks in every game for the week. I track their consensus picks for each game and compare it to our consensus for each game. Last week, we gained two games and caught them. This week, we again got two right that they missed, and now have a lead on them. The two games we beat them? We picked Denver, and they picked Dallas (a final sigh). And, as mentioned above, we narrowly picked the Eagles, and they had the Giants. We last led them last year after week #5. They took the lead in week #6, and held it the rest of the way.

2013 10-for-10 Consensus vs. Front Page Writers
Week 10-for-10 Wins 10-for-10 Losses Front Page Wins Front Page Losses
1 11 5 11 5
2 11 5 12 4
3 9 7 10 6
4 9 6 7 8
5 9 5 7 7
Total 49 28 47 30

Well, another week has come and gone, and the Hall of Fame has no new entries. Some came close, and may have even gone to bed Sunday night thinking that they were locks (8-for-8 with only two "gimme" picks remaining - SD over Oak and Atl over NYJ). They ended up with the best scores of the week - 8-for-10 - as those two locks both lost. Only nine did that well, and twenty-one more posted 7-for-10. Most were mired in mediocrity this week, as the vast majority of us only got 4, 5, or 6 right.

Our overall leader had one of the 7-for-10s. Only those nine who scored 8-for-10 gained any ground, and none of those were near the top. Most of us lost ground. I lost three games to him as I was one of the ones who only got four right this week.

Congratulations to lsttexas for holding onto the lead for a second consecutive week, and for extending it. He is now two ahead of his nearest pursuers.

Here are the top scores this week, and the top scores on the overall leaderboard. KD will have all 269 names when he posts the complete leaderboard on his next contest page.

Top Scores This Week
Week #5 Score Week #5 Score Overall Score Overall Score
BigHat in NewTexas 8 CarloRue 6 lsttexas 39 Max2 34
Chad Loveland 8 castaway42 6 Aggie Man 37 mdlusk 34
jstaubach 8 CDMac24 6 rhodri2112 37 meisternance 34
Luc in Chile 8 Cowboy Joe 6 Baloo. 36 Mikhaili 34
mdlusk 8 cowboy1966 6 beastygaming 36 MUTTS 34
Pasipple 8 CowboyinExile 6 BigHat in NewTexas 36 nicomachus 34
Sean N 8 CowboysBarry 6 cowboy1966 36 Pasipple 34
Through Thick And Thin 8 cowdog 6 I am Ironman!!! 36 Rex Pfister 34
Wreck'emCowboys 8 cwby4lf 6 jamesvb 36 Sean N 34
Aggie Man 7 Dalai Luke 6 JDobermans 36 Smax17177 34
beastygaming 7 dsmith12 6 jstaubach 36 Tallgrass Prairie 34
boys.camncrew 7 Enja 6 Seatown7 36 ziggy 19 34
Bvanzanman 7 geof 6 swanhooch 36 1Bullseye 33
CowboyBaby 7 Hookem Up 6 Useful_Idiot_ 36 Allan Uy 33
HLCJ69 7 Howleyesque 6 Wreck'emCowboys 36 Antonio S 33
jakezze01 7 ibleedcowboyblue 6 bookiebuster 35 Bvanzanman 33
jamesvb 7 illcowboy 6 CarloRue 35 Canadian Cowboy_74 33
lsttexas 7 JDobermans 6 CowboyBaby 35 cowboyswin 33
lucke 7 Jebediah Flibberbrush 6 HonorTheStar 35 dsmith12 33
Max2 7 ketom1220 6 neon greon 35 EchoEcho 33
meisternance 7 letsgtld 6 NorthStar99 35 Enja 33
neon greon 7 mikemc68 6 Realist Larry 35 illcowboy 33
NorthStar99 7 MUTTS 6 skinny post 35 jockmeister 33
Oh Hai Doggy 7 nicomachus 6 spur_for_life 35 jtiddahr 33
Sandmann 7 Nord15 6 Through Thick And Thin 35 KD Drummond 33
swanhooch 7 Psycho Star 6 Travlr 35 ketom1220 33
traceabides 7 rhodri2112 6 9_to_88 all day 34 letsgtld 33
TwoBitWhackJob 7 Ride Together, Die Together 6 BigBad Joe 34 mikemc68 33
Useful_Idiot_ 7 Seatown7 6 boys.camncrew 34 Nord15 33
VictoryorDeath 7 Shakeepuddn 6 CDMac24 34 Panzer84 33
1Bullseye 6 sirjason22 6 CowboyinExile 34 Specific 33
9_to_88 all day 6 skinny post 6 CowboysBarry 34 Tennessee_Jed 33
Allan Uy 6 Smax17177 6 cowdog 34 traceabides 33
Archie Barberio 6 StarloverinWNC 6 cwby4lf 34 VictoryorDeath 33
Babygirl71 6 suddendeath88 6 geof 34 wittenfan 33
Baloo. 6 Switters023 6 HLCJ69 34 27 tied with 32
Baloo86 6 Tallgrass Prairie 6 Hookem Up 34 19 tied with 31
Bertangalo 6 Tennessee_Jed 6 hookerhome 34 18 tied with 30
BishopWest 6 TheDemolitionDan 6 Howleyesque 34 9 tied with 29
bookiebuster 6 Travlr 6 jakezze01 34 7 tied with 28
camrin55 6 Trivial 6 Jebediah Flibberbrush 34 5 tied with 27
Canadian Cowboy_74 6 ziggy 19 6 Lajitas Lava 34 6 tied with 26

This week's schedule is interesting. Only two teams have byes this week (Atlanta and Miami); Cowboy and Redskins are featured on NBC Sunday Night Football; and, this is about the time each season we begin to evaluate teams based on what they are doing this year, instead of their reputation from previous years. Some of this week's matchups will put those evaluations to the test.

If you wish to make early picks on here for week #6, I ask you honor these guidelines:

  • Make your winners bold. The easiest way is to use asterisks before and after your selection. For example, *New York Giants* at CHICAGO will look like New York Giants at CHICAGO; or, New York Giants at *CHICAGO* will look like New York Giants at CHICAGO.
  • Be sure to pick the Cowboys game. This is mandatory.
  • Once you have made your ten selections, please delete the other four games. That makes my life easier when I am tabulating close to two hundred picks each week.
  • Please don't pick the Thursday night game after it has kicked off (or, worse, include it in picks that you post on Saturday or Sunday morning).
  • When KD puts up his new contest page, please stop posting picks on here and post them on KD's page. It is easier on me if only one page is actively posting picks. I will still monitor both pages and will record your picks, wherever they are posted.

Week #6 (only fifteen games):

Thursday, October 10:

New York Giants at CHICAGO

Sunday, October 13:

Green Bay at BALTIMORE

Cincinnati at BUFFALO

Detroit at CLEVELAND

St. Louis at HOUSTON

Oakland at KANSAS CITY

Carolina at MINNESOTA

Pittsburgh at NEW YORK JETS

Philadelphia at TAMPA BAY

Jacksonville at DENVER

Tennessee at SEATTLE

New Orleans at NEW ENGLAND

Arizona at SAN FRANCISCO

Washington at DALLAS (mandatory; must include)

Monday, October 14:

Indianapolis at SAN DIEGO

Another user-created commentary provided by a BTB reader.