Scene: Saturday, lunchwise: howtheyscored and that shrewd and knavish sprite, groug, standing alone. They had been talking about football like normal people, but suddenly they start talking like crazy people about Oberon knows what.

howtheyscored
About the games go swifter than a punt,
     And Kyle Orton of the Bears look thou hunt:
     All fancy-sick he is, and full of pep
     With wins and wins, that cost the pundits' rep.
     By some illusion see thou bring him here:
     I'll charm his eyes against defenders who appear. 

groug
I go, I go; look how I go;
    Swift as the flight of a Drew Brees throw.  [Exit groug] 

howtheyscored
Lint fluff of this yellow towel,
    Hit with accuracy foul,
    Sink in apple of his eye.
    When the safety he doth espy,
    Lo, the games this week are mine
    By which count sabotage is fine.
    To let groug score once, by and by,
    Is a simple charity. 

[Re-Enter groug]

groug
Captain of our hairy band,
    Kyle Orton is here at hand,
    And the tool, was watching film,
    Hoping for a winner's helm.
    With that, shall this week's games we see?

[groug takes a quick look at all of your predictions]

groug
    Lord, what fools these mortals be!

howtheyscored (To Himself)
Them and you, the noise you'll make    
    When 15 points this week I take!

Scene: Monday, nightwise: howtheyscored and groug reconvene, again alone. 

groug
LOL howtheyscored.
     HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAAHAHAHHAHAH GOOD PLAN JERK. 

howtheyscored
You suck.
     You thankless puck.

Want scores?

Tennessee @ 49ers:

1. CB30, groug (22)
2. Ninerfromacrossthepond (28)

Pittsburgh @ Denver:

1. nacho49 (0) - Little did Puck-groug know what we were conspiring to do!
2. PHUT!, sfgfan, etb2 (6)
3. shulkdog, nocal81, Dub4lif3, groug, whobob, LASVEGASNINER (8)
4. YoungWillis, jpgarfunkle, Ninerfromacrossthepond (12)
5. illini49er, bayboy, RBoogy29, CB30, 5-0 (14)

Dallas @ Philadelphia:

1. RBoogy29, nacho49 (8)
2. Ten-Man (14)
3. JoeO (16)
4. groug (20)
5. gbears16 (22)

Baltimore @ Cincinnati:

1. fortyniners (10)
2. ZeroIndulgence (14)
3. Drew K, J2daZ (18)
4. danknerd49, grantmp, Dubs fan in Boston, groug, howtheyscored, SpurredOn, leaping_larry, Fooch (26)
5. nocal81, gbears16, wjackalope, beecharmer (28)

Arizona @ Chicago:

1. groug (16)
2. grantmp, DuikeBuike, sfgfan (20)
3. illini49er (22)
4. hudd07, 5-0, albertoleecho (26)
5. Dubs fan in Boston, rlott#42, jpgarfunkle (28)

San Diego @ New York Giants:

1. danknerd49, Dubs fan in Boston (6)
2. groug (10)
3. shulkdog, 49erLou, etb2 (12)
4. LASVEGASNINER, SpurredOn (14)
5. PHUT! (18)

That makes our week 9 leaderboard look like this:

So, ummm... I'm not sure what all that above was. Shakespeare scholars assert that howtheyscored was so confident about his predictions going into Sunday that he struck a deal with the heretofore hapless groug, such that they would sabotage the eyes of Kyle Orton and allow groug the advantage of points in the one particular game. Unbeknownst to howtheyscored, leading scholars say, groug was pulling the ol' one-two. While he was away, fetching Orton, he in fact went around the rest of the league and rigged all of the other games, before bringing Orton to howtheyscored as though nothing had happened. Then he called me a fool.

Sadly, it's true. Not the iambic babbletameter. The fool part. I was a fool. As were many of you. Not groug, though. He took full advantage. I think he probably had the best week. I'm not going to make sure I'm right about that. It just seems fairly obvious.

Then cassusriff and jpgarfunkle moved forward. The top is getting more and more interesting by the week, and I believe we actually have our first tie for first of the season (big ups to PHUT! for that).

And how about nacho49 nailing that Steelers prediction? Good for you! Puts you square in the top 20, looking to strike.

I think Ninerfromacrossthepond, RBoogy29, and danknerd49 also had good weeks.

Kudos to me and ro128487 for laying big fat eggs (his bigger than mine this week).

I'm going to hurry this up because I know Fooch will be posting the new games tonight and I don't want to be too late on this one. Congrats all! Let's finish strong over the last half of the year!

And check your darned scores.

My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress when she walks treads on the ground.
     And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
     As any she belied with false compare.