The tragic events of
Tuesday, September 11, 2001 are unprecedented in history
and will never be
forgotten during our lifetimes. We shall all remember where we were
when
the news began to spread much as those who were alive on December 7, 1941 and
November 22, 1963 have those moments frozen in time in their minds. The postponement
of
most sporting events in the six days that followed was appropriate and
allowed us
to reflect upon the significance of those events, contemplate
the consequences
and most importantly pay tribute to those whose lives were
lost or forever
changed at the hands of those despicable terrorists.
Our coverage of sporting events now resumes after this period of grieving, prayer,
rememberance and reflection. Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the
the victims, their familes, loved ones, friends and the lives they touched. Ours
is
a strong country, the best in the history of the world. Sports will continue
to be a
bond that unites us, strengthens us and shows the world that we will
not be defeated.
Each week we will present the selections of some of the nation's leading handicapers
as they compete for cash prizes and handicapping acclaim. Three such contests have
attracted national notoriety. Two of the contests, those sponsored by the Las
Vegas Hilton and the Sunset Station Hotel and Casino, are season-long
contests with the same contestants making selections each week against the Las Vegas
pointspread. The third contest, sponsored by the the Stardust Race & Sports
Book, is an invitational tournament with 16 invited handicappers participating
in a one-on-one elimination format that runs for 15 weeks with just one of the 16
contestants surviving and winning the single prize.
Out of respect for the
handicappers who participate in the season-long contests, and thereby provide selections
each week, we will not reveal the names of the individuals, many of whom have their
own consulting servies for which they charge a fee for selections. The identities
are known to those of us who reside in, or travel weekly to, Las Vegas. Clients of
Logical Approach may telephone our offices if they would like further details on
the contestants and/or selections.
We will be identifying the participants
in the Stardust Invitational because of its unique head-to-head format and because
the successful participants will only appear a handful of times over the course of
the season, with the winner advancing and the loser being eliminated.
Contest Format -- 16 nationally prominent celebrities & handicappers
have been invited by the management of the Stardust Race & Sports Book to compete
for a winner-take-all $10,000 prize. Each week two contestants are matched against
each other in a head to head meeting with each handicapper making 7 selections against
the pointspread at the Stardust using the line at approximately 8:30 PM (the contest
airs over radio station KDWN (AM 720) at 9:00 PM and is also available for broadcast
on the Internet). One of the 7 selections is designated as a Best Bet. The winner
is determined by the handicapper having the greater winning percentage with all selections
rated equally. The Best Bet is used only as a tie breaker in the event both handicappers
have the same record on all 7 selections. Pushes are ignored (thus 5-2 would lose
to 4-1-2). The winner will be the handicapper who successfully wins a total of 4
matches with the finals to be held in week 16, December 28, 2001. The weekly contest
is held in the Race & Sports Book at the Stardust at 9:00 PM on Fridays and is
open to the public.
Mike Orkin's Selections --
Dallas Cowboys + 6 1/2 over San Francisco
49ers -- WIN
Jacksonville Jaguars - 4 over Kansas City Chiefs -- LOSE
Tennessee
Titans - 6 1/2 over Cleveland Browns -- LOSE
Carolina Panthers - 1 over Arizona
Cardinals -- LOSE
Miami Dolphins - 7 over Atlanta Falcons -- PUSH
Denver Broncos
Pick 'em over Oakland Raiders -- WIN
Best Bet: Tampa Bay Buccaneers - 1 1/2
over Baltimore Ravens -- WIN
Bert Osborne's Selections
Dallas
Cowboys + 6 1/2 over San Francisco 49ers -- WIN
Michigan State + 5 1/2 over Fresno
State -- WIN
Baltimore Ravens & Tampa Bay Buccaneers UNDER 34 -- WIN
Pittsburgh
Steelers & Cincinnati Bengals UNDER 33 1/2 -- LOSE
U of Cincinnati + 3 1/2
over Toledo -- LOSE
Michigan + 4 over U of Tennessee -- LOSE
(BEST BET)
: Purdue + 8 over Washington State -- WIN
NEXT WEEK: Contest has ended
-- See ya next fall
UPCOMING MATCHES --
None Until Next
Season
Roster of This Season's Contestants --
Chip Chirimbes
Dave
Cokin
Bob Donahue
Patrick Forsythe
Pete Korner
Tim Jeffrey
Tom Mack
Napoleon
McCallum
Stephen Nover
Mike Orkin
Bert Osborne
Tim Trushel
Dave Tuley
Stanford
Wong
Bubba Youngblood
Lance Zeirlein
Results of Previous Matches
First
Round Results--
Dave Cokin (3-4) defeated Chip Chirimbes (1-6)
Pete Korner
(5-2) defeated Lance Zeirlein (4-3)
Tim Trushel (5-2) defeated Tim Jeffrey (4-3)
Patrick
Forsythe (3-3-1) defeated Bubba Youngblood (1-6)
Stephen Nover (4-3) defeated
Tom Mack (3-4)
Bob Donahue (6-1) defeated Napoleon McCallum (4-3)
Bert Osborne
(3-4) defeated Dave Tuley (2-5)
Mike Orkin (3-4) defeated Stanford Wong (2-4-1)
Second
Round Results
Patrick Forsythe (5-2) defeated Tim Trushel (4-3)
Dave Cokin
(3-3-1) defeated Pete Korner (2-5)
Mike Orkin (4-3) defeated Bob Donahue (3-3-1)
Bert
Osborne (5-2) dfeated Stephen Nover (4-3)
Semi-Finals
Mike Orkin
* (7-0) defeated Patrick Forsythe (2-5)
Bert Osborne (4-3) defeated Dave Cokin
(2-4-1)
FINALS
Bert Osborne (4-3) defeated Mike Orkin (3-3-1)
Through
the 15 weeks of this season's contest, the handicappers
combined to go 105-99-6
overall for 51.5% including Best Bets going 14-15-1 for 48.3%
* There
was some confusion about Mike Orkin's selection in the Dallas/Seattle game. The selection
was originally listed as being on Seattle based on the radio broadcast of the handicapping
contest but the sheet prepared and handed out by the Stardust reported the selection
as Dallas. Upon a review of the broadcast of the event it is clear the selection
was on Seattle and the Stardust's handout was in error. Congratulations to Mike Orkin
for achieving the first ever 7-0 week in the seven season history of the Stardust
Invitational!
Contest Format -- Twelve reputable and nationally or regionally prominent
handicappers have been invited to participate in the contest. Each contestant makes
6 selections against the pointspread (generally Thursday noon lines are used),
designating one selection as a Best Bet. Each regular winner is worth 2 points; a
Best Bet winner is worth 3 points, all pushes (including Best Bets) are worth 1 points;
losers are worth 0 points. The top four contestants after 15 weeks advance to the
semi-final with the top two advancing to a head-to-head final in week 17. With 13
points available to be won each week, through 15 weeks a 'perfect score' would be
195 points.
In week 16 the top four finishers from the first fifteen weeks
will compete according the same rules except that this phase of the contest runs
just one week. The top two finishers in week 16 will compete head-to-head in week
17 for the 2001 Sunset Station Handicapping Championship and $5,000 winner-take-all
first prize.
Selections &
Results for the 2001 Contest
Please note that the selections are not listed
in the same order as the Contestants are listed above. Since most of the Contestants
also offer their selections for sale to clients, in order to achieve an ethical balance
between providing solid handicapping information to the public free of charge and
retaining the integrity of the handicappers to their paying clients, the names of
the specific contestants are not being disclosed as to the identity of whose selections
are whose but the same Contestant's selections will be provided in the same spot
each week. In other words, Contestant # 1 will ALWAYS be Contestant # 1 throughout
the season so that you may track the performance of each Contestant week by week.
This
weekend is the Contest Finals and Congratulations are in order for
Brent Crow
and Bryan Leonard who have advanced to the Finals.
For the Finals selections
are rated for tie breaker purposes. Thus, each handicapper's
second through sixth
selection are shown below, followed by their Best Bet.
Selections
of Contestant # 1 (Finished tied forn 6th place with 99 points; Best Bets 9-3-2)
(BEST
BET) :
Selections of Contestant # 2 (Finished tied for 4th place
with 103 points; Best Bets 9-5-0)
Finals Selections --
# 2 -- Arkansas/Oklahoma
UNDER 47 1/2 -- WIN
# 3 -- Texas Tech & Iowa UNDER 61 -- WIN
# 4 -- Buffalo
Bills & N Y Jets OVER 37 -- LOSE
# 5 -- Miami Dolphins - 7 over Atlanta Falcons
-- PUSH
# 6 -- Denver Broncos Pick 'em over Oakland Raiders -- WIN
(BEST
BET) -- Arizona Cardinals & Carolina Panthers OVER 39 -- LOSE
Selections
of Contestant # 3 (Finished in 8th place with 98 points; Best Bets 8-6-0)
(BEST BET) --
Selections of Contestant # 4 (Finished tied for
9th place with 97 points; Best Bets 9-5-0)
(BEST BET)
--
Selections of Contestant # 5 (Finished in 11th place with
92 points; Best Bets 9-5-0)
(BEST BET) --
Selections
of Contestant # 6 (Finished tied for 4th place with 103 points; Best Bets 10-4-0)
Did
not advance to semi-finals due to tie-breaker loss to Contestant # 2
in final
week of regular contest
(BEST BET) --
Selections
of Contestant # 7 (Finished tied for 9th place with 97 points; Best Bets 8-6-0)
(BEST
BET) --
Selections of Contestant # 8 (Finished in 1st place with
121 points; Best Bets 10-3-1 *)
* Won Best Bets Title
Advanced
to Semi-finals Round
(BEST BET) --
Selections
of Contestant # 9 (Finished tied for 2nd place with 104 points; Best Bets 6-7-1)
Finals
Selections
# 2 -- Kansas City Chiefs & Jacksonville Jaguars OVER 40 --
WIN
# 3 -- Louisville - 3 over BYU -- WIN
# 4 -- Chicago Bears - 3 1/2 over
Detroit Lions -- WIN
# 5 -- Dallas Cowboys + 6 1/2 over San Francisco 49ers --
WIN
# 6 -- Arizona Cardinals + 1 over Carolina Panthers -- WIN
(BEST BET)
-- Kansas City Chiefs + 4 1/2 over Jacksonville Jaguars -- WIN
Selections
of Contestant # 10 (Finished tied for 6th place with 99 points; Best Bets 4-9-1)
(BEST
BET) --
Selections of Contestant # 11 (Finished tied for
2nd place with 104 points; Best Bets 8-6-0)
Advance to Semi-finals Round
(BEST
BET) --
Selections of Contestant # 12 (Finished in 12th place
with 91 points; Best Bets 7-7-0)
(BEST BET) --
Contest Format -- The SuperContest is open to anyone who pays the entry
fee. Each entrant pays a $1,500 entry fee with 90% of the fees being returned
to the winners. Only the top 20 places (and ties) are paid. Historically, a 60%
winning percentage will finish in the Top Twenty. Each contestant must make five
selections each week vs. the pointspread (generally the lines at the Hilton as of
noon on Tuesdays). Each winning selection counts 1 point; a push counts 1/2 point;
losses are 0 points.
Green Bay (38) - 3 vs. N Y GIANTS (22)
INDIANAPOLIS (16) - 2
1/2 vs. Denver (32)
WASHINGTON (29) - 3 1/2 vs. Arizona (12)
TENNESSEE (29)
- 5 1/2 vs. Cincinnati (14)
Dallas (28) - 1 1/2 vs. DETROIT (15)
New England
(33) - 6 1/2 vs. CAROLINA (34)
San Francisco (28) - 2 1/2 vs. NEW ORLEANS (28)
CHICAGO
(35) - 6 1/2 vs. Jacksonville (41)
PITTSBURGH (29) - 7 vs. Cleveland (27)
ST
LOUIS (20) - 14 1/2 vs. Atlanta (12)
MIAMI (18) - 6 1/2 vs. Buffalo (47)
OAKLAND
(29) - 4 1/2 vs. N Y Jets (45)
SEATTLE (22) - 4 1/2 vs. Kansas City
(64)
TAMPA BAY (29) - 3 vs. Philadelphia ( 7)
BALTIMORE (11) - 11 1/2 vs.
Minnesota (26)
Top 5 selections are in Bold type
#
in parentheses indicates contestants selecting that team
(i.e. 38 contestants
took Green Bay - 3 over N Y GIANTS)
HOME TEAM is in CAPS
* There
may be weeks when fewer than all contestants submit entries
(Only 164 Contestants
submitted selections for week 17)
THESE SELECTIONS WILL BE AVAILABLE BY ABOUT 8 AM PDT SATURDAY MORNINGS
Currently
the Leader is at 50-27-3 (64.4 %)
There are 4 contestants at 47-29-4 (61.3
%) or better
There are 6 contestants at 48-32-0 (60.0 %) or better
Green
Bay ( 3) - 3 vs. N Y GIANTS ( 6)
INDIANAPOLIS ( 3) - 2 1/2 vs. Denver (
2)
WASHINGTON ( 3) - 3 1/2 vs. Arizona ( 3)
TENNESSEE ( 1) - 5 1/2 vs. Cincinnati
( 1)
Dallas ( 1) - 1 1/2 vs. DETROIT ( 2)
New England ( 0) - 6 1/2 vs. CAROLINA
( 5)
San Francisco ( 3) - 2 1/2 vs. NEW ORLEANS ( 6)
CHICAGO ( 1) -
6 1/2 vs. Jacksonville ( 8)
PITTSBURGH ( 3) - 7 vs. Cleveland ( 5)
ST
LOUIS ( 1) - 14 1/2 vs. Atlanta ( 1)
MIAMI ( 3) - 6 1/2 vs. Buffalo ( 4)
OAKLAND
( 3) - 4 1/2 vs. N Y Jets ( 2)
SEATTLE ( 1) - 4 1/2 vs. Kansas City ( 7)
TAMPA
BAY ( 3) - 3 vs. Philadelphia ( 1)
BALTIMORE ( 0) - 11 1/2 vs. Minnesota ( 3)
Top
3 selection(s) will be shown in Bold type
Individual Selections
of the 6 Contestants hitting 60% or better --
Tony Salinas (51.5 Pts) -- NYG
-- JAX -- CLEV -- BUFF -- NYJ -- Second Place Finisher - Congratulations!
Trushel
(49.5 Pts) -- IND -- WASH -- NO -- KC -- TB -- Third Place Finisher - Congratulations!
The
Bud Man (49.5 Pts) -- NYG -- WASH -- JAX -- CLEV -- SEAT
Juss Teen (49 Pts) --
NYG -- DENV -- OAKL -- PHIL -- MINN
James Pronovich (48.5 Pts) -- WASH -- CARO
-- NO -- ATL -- OAKL
Bruno's Boys (48.5 Pts) -- GB -- TENN -- SF -- CHI -- PITT
- WINNER (Tie Breaker) - CONGRATULATIONS!