My Mountain Town 2015 Pick 5 Contest!

It's that time of year again! This is our annual contest in which each week we try to guess who we think will not necessarily win, but beat the spreads on the games as chosen by supposed experts. Pick 5 games each week


Here are the rules from last year .

1) Pick any 5 games each week. We play against the spread according to the following website. We use the "Opening Lines" which never change to keep it simple. www.covers.com/odds/football/nfl-spreads.aspx

2) You must make your choices before the games start. This doesn't mean before the first game of the week, but rather whatever games you pick (ie if picking the Thursday game, do it by Thursday night before kick-off, the Sunday games by 10:59am, 1:59pm, or 8:19pm, or whenever kick off is for each game). The time is recorded on your post when submitted so don't wait too long. Once you post a pick, you are locked into that pick. No changes. Doesn't matter if your whole team comes down with the flu and they don't play, or the starting quarterback gets a hangnail.

3) If you forget to pick until after the games have started, you are out of luck. No pick = a loss so if you don't pick at all that will be 5 losses you receive for the week.

4) Post all picks on this thread. This is the official sheet. Please feel free to quote other participant's picks that you see in order to officially record them (editing to change picks is not allowed so this confirms the choices).

5) Each week we will record a score for each contestant, keeping track of correct/wins, incorrect/losses, and ties. Ties will not matter except in the case of a tie-breaker needed between 2 contestants after the final pick (which is the Superbowl). In other words, only correct picks matter.

For those new to picking games, here's an example.
The line is Dallas +3 @ NY Giants. If you pick Dallas, you are saying you think Dallas will either win outright, or lose but by less than 3 points. Basically, you add 3 points to the Dallas total score, then compare that to the final actual game score of the Giants. So if the game ended with Dallas 17, Giants 21, you add 3 to the Dallas score, which gives you 20, but you lose because that doesn't beat the Giants score of 21. If, however, the game ended with Dallas 19, Giants 20, then you'd win. If it ended Dallas 17, Giants 20, then you'd have a Tie.

If you see Pickum as the spread, it means that the game is essentially at even 50/50 odds - just pick who you think will win, doesn't matter what the final score is.

Make sense? Feel free to PM us or post on this thread with questions. Prizes: $250 to the My Mountain Town advertiser(s) of your choice, paid in gift certificates.

Here is this week's Opening Lines for pre-season if you'd like to practice before it counts (Renegade, I always seem to mess this up the first time every year getting something backwards, can you check me? Thx!). Good luck everyone!

Thu, Aug 13, 7:30 PM ET
N.Y. Jets +4 @ Detroit
New Orleans +3 @ Baltimore
Green Bay +3 @ New England


Thu, Aug 13, 8:00 PM ET
Washington +2.5 @ Cleveland
Miami +1 @ Chicago


Thu, Aug 13, 10:00 PM ET
Dallas +2.5 @ San Diego


Fri, Aug 14, 7:00 PM ET
Carolina +3 @ Buffalo
Tennessee +3 @ Atlanta


Fri, Aug 14, 7:30 PM ET
N.Y. Giants +3 @ Cincinnati
Pittsburgh pickem @ Jacksonville


Fri, Aug 14, 10:00 PM ET
Denver +5.5 @ Seattle
St. Louis +1 @ Oakland


Sat, Aug 15, 8:00 PM ET
Tampa Bay +3.5 @ Minnesota
San Francisco +3 @ Houston


Sat, Aug 15, 9:00 PM ET
Kansas City +2.5 @ Arizona


Sun, Aug 16, 1:00 PM ET
Indianapolis +3.5 @ Philadelphia

If you're offering, I won't turn it down! You are an angel - thank you Renegade!

Just for giggles, I'm going to go with Baltimore and New England tonight and Pittsburgh tomorrow night. Pre-season games are such a wild card but I want to see if my gut is speaking nonsense to me or not.

That works for me. Does anyone else who participated before or are planning to play again have any objections (or suggestions)? If so, please post them here!

Yes, it starts with the first real game but you are welcome to practice picking on any of the pre-season games.

Post your picks on this thread!

Final scores of the games (in blue), winners of the spread highlighted in green:

3 N.Y. Jets +4 @ Detroit 23
27 New Orleans +3 @ Baltimore 30 TIE
22 Green Bay +3 @ New England 11
20 Washington +2.5 @ Cleveland 17
10 Miami +1 @ Chicago 27
7 Dallas +2.5 @ San Diego 17
25 Carolina +3 @ Buffalo 24
24 Tennessee +3 @ Atlanta 31
10 N.Y. Giants +3 @ Cincinnati 23
21 Pittsburgh pickem @ Jacksonville 23
22 Denver +5.5 @ Seattle 20
3 St. Louis +1 @ Oakland 18
16 Tampa Bay +3.5 @ Minnesota 26
10 San Francisco +3 @ Houston 23
34 Kansas City +2.5 @ Arizona 19
10 Indianapolis +3.5 @ Philadelphia 36

So, I had chosen Baltimore, New England, and Pittsburgh. I ended up with a Tie and 2 losses.
Ashley chose:
Tampa - L
San Fran - L
KC - W
Ind - L

Good thing this doesn't count for real!