Week 14 Prediction Games: The Results

Jeff Garcia just threw an incomplete pass on fourth down to lose to Steve Burlein, Wesley Walls, William Floyd, Kevin Greene, Eric Davis, Eric Metcalf, the great Tshimanga Biakabutuka, and their 1999 Carolina Panthers. Who could have predicted that Steve Burlein would have broken out like this!? He's well on his way to throwing for over 4400 yards and 36 touchdowns! Surely, he's well on his way to the only Pro Bowl of his career too.

And how could I forget Mushin Muhammad? Talk about a breakout season! He has a shot this year at catching 100 passes and will undoubtedly go over 1000 yards for the first time in his young, promising career. I wouldn't be surprised to see him in the Pro Bowl for years to come. This kid is going to be a stud. Hell, he's already a stud.

It sure is too bad about that Rae Carruth, though.

At least, that's the only way that I ever think about the Carolina Panthers. I don't know about you. I even like Jake Delhomme, but all I ever see when I watch them play is Steve Burlein. Hell, Steve Bono was his backup that season! For some reason, I really hated that team at the time. I'm sure it had to do with the fact that they beat the crap out of us, but when I think of them now, I'm not filled with hate at all. It's all comical to me. Look at all those former 49ers! Wesley Walls, William Floyd, Eric Davis, Kevin Greene, Steve Bono, George Seifert.

And that's why I think it's so funny when I see them play. I also think of Trent Dilfer and creamsicles whenever I think of the Bucs, but that's a story for another time.

Anyway, I thought I'd provide a little bit of levity before we get down to the tragic results. Three people died in the making of these results, and a puppy suffered a severely stubbed toe. I know, I know... Puppy!

NY Jets @ 49ers:

1. Dub4lif3, Fooch (6)
2. illini49er (8)
3. howtheyscored, J2daZ (10)

Tampa Bay @ Carolina:

1. Florida Danny (20)
2. bayboy, Ninerfromacrossthepond, howtheyscored (22)
3. Mike Hawk (24)

Washington @ Baltimore:

1. Ninerfromacrossthepond (0) - We've all said it once already, but: Wow.
2. bayboy, groug (6)
3. Niner Fan Lost in WI, Ninjames, Florida Danny (8)

Atlanta @ New Orleans:

1. StrictlyFootball (2)
2. albertoleecho, Niner Fan Lost in Wi (4)
3. groug (8)

Miami @ Buffalo:

1. JerseyNinerFan (8)
2. 49erLou, Dub4lif3, howtheyscored (12)
3. bayboy, Number22Drew (14)

Dallas @ Pittsburgh:

1. howtheyscored, J2daZ (2)
2. jtoj (6)
3. wjackalope, good as gold, Ninerfromacrossthepond, Mike Hawk (8)

And that makes our week 14 leaderboard look like this:

1. Ninerfromacrossthepond – 55
2. wjackalope – 49
3. Niner Fan Lost in WI – 47
4. albertoleecho – 44
5. jtoj – 42
6. proudcanadian99 – 39
7. 49erLou – 38
7. Number22Drew – 38
9. marcello – 36
10. StrictlyFootball – 35
11. bayboy – 34
11. groug – 34
13. howtheyscored – 33
14. Fooch – 32
15. Josh from Hollywood – 31
16. JerseyNinerFan – 29
17. illini49er – 28
17. Mike Hawk – 28
19. sfgfan – 26
20. Ninjames – 24
21. good as gold – 22
22. ro128487 – 19
22. SuperFly – 19
22. Vote4Gore – 19
25. J2daZ – 17
26. Florida Danny – 16
26. sam23 – 16
26. sancho8297 – 16
29. CB30 – 15
29. UnleashTheGore – 15
31. Rishi – 13
32. 408 – 12
33. Netsky – 12
34. youngbuckeroo – 11
35. mojorisin’ – 9
35. montasmob69 – 9
35. shlecko – 9
38. Dub4lif3 – 7
39. PHUT! – 6
40. etb2 – 5
40. gatling – 5
42. Ali4President – 4
42. camwoody – 4
42. zonedogs – 4
45. BallHead – 3
45. bondslegend – 3
45. Niners_Are_The_NFL – 3
45. The Golden One – 3
45. zenbits – 3
50. Ceradecke – 2
50. KingofDucks1987 – 2
50. ProfessorBigelow – 2
53. DiegoAsFan – 1
53. jfainsf49 – 1

I think we have to acknowledge that the big winner this week was, without question, me. By that same token, the big loser just has to be Josh from Hollywood. I mean, he fell behind me in the rankings. And I suck!

But boy howdy is Ninerfromacrossthepond on a hell of a roll! He pulled another perfect score this week, and topped it off with 3 extra points to vault not only into first place, but into a verifiable commanding lead. This was an amazing comeback, and it would be hard to argue that he could have done it at a better time. Making this move during the stretch run is a major coup.

Meanwhile, wjackalope, albertoleecho, and Niner Fan Lost in WI continue to chip away at each other, and all remain within a very reasonable distance of first place. If any of them play the way that they were playing not even a few weeks ago, first place is still very much up for grabs.

All that out of the way, I'm really enjoying watching some of our big spoilers go. J2daZ, Florida Danny, and Dub4lif3 all played spoiler this week, stealing valuable points from some of our so-called top players. And whether they're just playing for the hell of it, or are practicing for the playoffs, I have to say that I enjoy watching them go.

I'm pleased to say that while I do suck (or, rather, while I have sucked lately), I had my best week in a long time and immediately rekindled my hopes to have a chance at defending my head-to-head title. There's still a ways to go for me to climb back into the top 8, but I have 3 weeks to push this boulder over that hill. I mean, how hard can that be?

And Fooch, well, he's still in it, isn't he?

It goes a long way back, some twenty years. All my life I had been looking for something, and everywhere I turned someone tried to tell me what it was. I accepted their answers too, though they were often in contradiction and even self-contradictory. I was naïve. I was looking for myself and asking everyone except myself questions which I, and only I, could answer. It took me a long time and much painful boomeranging of my expectations to achieve a realization everyone else appears to have been born with: That I am nobody but myself. But first I had to discover that I am in invisible man!

(That's right, you got sushi-rolled! I just couldn't get myself to do it up Rick-style after I slipped and tumbled into the most dastardly RickRoll of all time... ten minutes later I just couldn't put anybody else through that. At least, not without warning them. For God's sake, DO NOT click that link.)