Monday, December 10, 2007

Second annual Runway Bowl Challenge

(UPDATED, 12/11, 4:23 p.m.)

Instead of picking the bowl games against the spread like last season, I figured I'd make it more interesting (and easier) by creating the challenge through a private group in the Yahoo! contest.

You only pick the winners (no spreads), but you're able to rank the games between 1-32 in order of how confident you are in each game. Points are earned based on the number you assign each pick. For example, if I'm supremely confident UConn will defeat Wake Forest in the Meineke bowl, I'd rank it 32. If UConn wins, I get 32 points. If UConn loses, I get zero. Simply pick a winner, and drag it to your assigned ranking. It's easy once you sign up (you need a Yahoo ID.)

Follow this link. Click "Join Public or Private Group". The click "Join Group".

Group ID# is 26267. Password is: runway.

I am the defending champ, and since regular season challenge winner SeanO's Ghost as gone double-or-nothing on his prize, the bowl challenge winner can still take over the blog for a day is entitled to several plates of wings with the Ghost and his posse of high school coaches from the valley.

Enjoy!

UPDATE: To appease the angry, Shelton-based Ghost, here are the picks with spreads. Feel free to enter this way by clicking "comments" below and doing and cut-and-paste.

Chip's picks

Dec. 20: Pointsetta Bowl (San Diego, Calif.): Utah (-8) over Navy
Dec. 21: New Orleans Bowl (New Orleans, La.): Florida Atlantic (-2.5) over Memphis
Dec. 22: PapaJohns.com Bowl (Birmingham, Ala.): Cincinnati (-11.5) over Southern Miss
Dec. 22: New Mexico Bowl (Albuquerque, N.M.): Nevada (+3) over New Mexico
Dec. 22: Las Vegas Bowl (Las Vegas, Nev.): BYU (-7) over UCLA
Dec. 23: Hawaii Bowl (Honolulu, Hawaii): East Carolina (+10.5) over Boise State
Dec. 26: Motor City Bowl (Detroit, Mich.): Central Michigan (+8.5) over Purdue
Dec. 27: Holiday Bowl (San Diego, Calif.): Texas (-2) over Arizona State
Dec. 28: Champ Sports Bowl (Orlando, Fla.): Boston College (-3.5) over Michigan State
Dec. 28: Emerald Bowl (San Francisco, Calif.): Oregon State (-4) over Maryland
Dec. 28: Texas Bowl (Houston, Texas): Houston (+3.5) over Texas Christian
Dec. 29: Meineke Car Care Bowl (Charlotte, N.C.): UConn (+3) over Wake Forest
Dec. 29: Liberty Bowl (Memphis, Tenn.): Central Florida (-3) over Mississippi State
Dec. 29: Alamo Bowl (San Antonio, Texas): Texas A&M (+5.5) over Penn State
Dec. 30: Independence Bowl (Shreveport, La.): Alabama (-3.5) over Colorado
Dec. 31: Armed Forces Bowl (Fort Worth, Texas): California (-3.5) over Air Force
Dec. 31: Sun Bowl (El Paso, Texas): South Florida (-6.5) over Oregon
Dec. 31: Humanitarian Bowl (Boise, Idaho): Georgia Tech (-4) over Fresno State
Dec. 31: Music City Bowl (Nashville, Tenn.): Kentucky (-1) over Florida State
Dec. 31: Chick-fil-A Bowl (Atlanta, Ga.): Auburn (+2) over Clemson
Dec. 31: Insight Bowl (Tempe, Ariz.): Oklahoma State (-4) over Indiana
Jan. 1: Outback Bowl (Tampa, Fla.): Tennessee (-3.5) over Wisconsin
Jan. 1: Cotton Bowl (Dallas, Texas): Missouri (-3) over Arkansas
Jan. 1: Capital One Bowl (Orlando, Fla.): Michigan (+9.5) over Florida
Jan. 1: Gator Bowl (Jacksonville, Fla.): Virginia (+5.5) over Texas Tech
Jan. 1: Rose Bowl (Pasadena, Calif.): Illinois (+13.5) over Southern California
Jan. 1: Sugar Bowl (New Orleans, La.): Hawaii (+9) over Georgia
Jan. 2: Fiesta Bowl (Glendale, Ariz.): West Virginia (+7) over Oklahoma
Jan. 3: Orange Bowl (Miami, Fla.): Virginia Tech (-4) over Kansas
Jan. 5: International Bowl (Toronto, Ont.): Rutgers (-9.5) over Ball State
Jan. 6 GMAC Bowl (Mobile, Ala.): Tulsa (-4.5) over Bowling Green
Jan. 7: BCS championship game: LSU (-4.5) over Ohio State

13 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Booooooo....The Ghost strongly objects to the format of not picking against the spread! Isn't the object of picking games with a spread that it's tougher?

Any other objecters to this format?

December 11, 2007 3:33 PM 
Blogger Chip Malafronte said...

Agreed, Ghost. But I think the 32 game format kept some away last year. It was a 30-minute process to get picks in.

That said, I'd be happy to post the games with spreads and let anyone who wants to challenge do so that way.

December 11, 2007 4:14 PM 
Blogger Chip Malafronte said...

Chip's pix
Dec. 20: Pointsetta Bowl (San Diego, Calif.): Utah (-8) over Navy
Dec. 21: New Orleans Bowl (New Orleans, La.): Florida Atlantic (-2.5) over Memphis
Dec. 22: PapaJohns.com Bowl (Birmingham, Ala.): Cincinnati (-11.5) over Southern Miss
Dec. 22: New Mexico Bowl (Albuquerque, N.M.): Nevada (+3) over New Mexico
Dec. 22: Las Vegas Bowl (Las Vegas, Nev.): BYU (-7) over UCLA
Dec. 23: Hawaii Bowl (Honolulu, Hawaii): East Carolina (+10.5) over Boise State
Dec. 26: Motor City Bowl (Detroit, Mich.): Central Michigan (+8.5) over Purdue
Dec. 27: Holiday Bowl (San Diego, Calif.): Texas (-2) over Arizona State
Dec. 28: Champ Sports Bowl (Orlando, Fla.): Boston College (-3.5) over Michigan State
Dec. 28: Emerald Bowl (San Francisco, Calif.): Oregon State (-4) over Maryland
Dec. 28: Texas Bowl (Houston, Texas): Houston (+3.5) over Texas Christian
Dec. 29: Meineke Car Care Bowl (Charlotte, N.C.): UConn (+3) over Wake Forest
Dec. 29: Liberty Bowl (Memphis, Tenn.): Central Florida (-3) over Mississippi State
Dec. 29: Alamo Bowl (San Antonio, Texas): Texas A&M (+5.5) over Penn State
Dec. 30: Independence Bowl (Shreveport, La.): Alabama (-3.5) over Colorado
Dec. 31: Armed Forces Bowl (Fort Worth, Texas): California (-3.5) over Air Force
Dec. 31: Sun Bowl (El Paso, Texas): South Florida (-6.5) over Oregon
Dec. 31: Humanitarian Bowl (Boise, Idaho): Georgia Tech (-4) over Fresno State
Dec. 31: Music City Bowl (Nashville, Tenn.): Kentucky (-1) over Florida State
Dec. 31: Chick-fil-A Bowl (Atlanta, Ga.): Auburn (+2) over Clemson
Dec. 31: Insight Bowl (Tempe, Ariz.): Oklahoma State (-4) over Indiana
Jan. 1: Outback Bowl (Tampa, Fla.): Tennessee (-3.5) over Wisconsin
Jan. 1: Cotton Bowl (Dallas, Texas): Missouri (-3) over Arkansas
Jan. 1: Capital One Bowl (Orlando, Fla.): Michigan (+9.5) over Florida
Jan. 1: Gator Bowl (Jacksonville, Fla.): Virginia (+5.5) over Texas Tech
Jan. 1: Rose Bowl (Pasadena, Calif.): Illinois (+13.5) over Southern California
Jan. 1: Sugar Bowl (New Orleans, La.): Hawaii (+9) over Georgia
Jan. 2: Fiesta Bowl (Glendale, Ariz.): West Virginia (+7) over Oklahoma
Jan. 3: Orange Bowl (Miami, Fla.): Virginia Tech (-4) over Kansas
Jan. 5: International Bowl (Toronto, Ont.): Rutgers (-9.5) over Ball State
Jan. 6 GMAC Bowl (Mobile, Ala.): Tulsa (-4.5) over Bowling Green
Jan. 7: BCS championship game: LSU (-4.5) over Ohio State

December 11, 2007 4:23 PM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Betting without the spread is for wusses and ninconpoops! Baaaaa humbug!!

Here it goes. See ya in Charlotte...

Ghost (2007 Runway Champion) picks

Dec. 20: Pointsetta Bowl: Navy
Dec. 21: New Orleans Bowl: Florida Atlantic
(Fla. Atlantic made a bowl?)

Dec. 22: Papa Johns.com Bowl: Cincinnati
(gee, i thought cincy was going to the sun bowl???)

Dec. 22: New Mexico Bowl: New Mexico (this bowl should be abolished immediately)

Dec. 22: Las Vegas Bowl: BYU
(ucla lost to ND! at home, to boot)

Dec. 23: Hawaii Bowl: Boise State
(love skip holtz from 1-aa days but can't go against bluefieldU)

Dec. 26: Motor City Bowl: Purdue (Never, ever, pick a MAC team against a major conference in a bowl game)

Dec. 27: Holiday Bowl: Texas
(Don't forget to visit Shamu!)

Dec. 28: Champ Sports Bowl: Boston College
(Champ sports bowl? Thought BC was going to the Orange or Gator?)

Dec. 28: Emerald Bowl: Oregon State (this is the lock of the century)

Dec. 28: Texas Bowl: Texas Christian
(Do they miss Rutgers?)

Dec. 29: Meineke Car Care Bowl: Connecticut
(This game will be tight, probably tighter than 3)

Dec. 29: Liberty Bowl: Central Florida (thought george o'leary would have looked good in national flag blue)

Dec. 29: Alamo Bowl: Texas AM
(will joePa rent a car in san antonio?)

Dec. 30: Independence Bowl: Alabama
(Bama preps for its run toward national title next year)

Dec. 31: Armed Forces Bowl: California
(Does Cal underachieve EVERY year?)

Dec. 31: Sun Bowl: South Florida
(What? No UConn? I thought Sun Bowl guy handed out pamphlets to..., oh never mind!)

Dec. 31: Humanitarian Bowl: Georgia Tech (Nothing Humanitarian about trip Boise)

Dec. 31: Music City Bowl: Florida State
(Joe has viewing options on NYE)


Dec. 31: Chick-fil-A Bowl: Auburn
(Best non-BCS game)

Dec. 31: Insight Bowl : Oklahoma State
(Indiana? Seriously?)

Jan. 1: Outback Bowl: Wisconsin
(Game features the two most overrated college teams in the nation)

Jan. 1: Cotton Bowl: Missouri
(Bad start for BobbyP)

Jan. 1: Capital One Bowl: Florida
(home game for gators)

Jan. 1: Gator Bowl: Virginia
(Texas Tech will make this game SO much more attractive. Big 12... blah blah blah)

Jan. 1: Rose Bowl: Southern California
(Illini gets 17 million to get pounded)

Jan. 1: Sugar Bowl: Georgia
(Hawaiian's in New Orleans. Interesting)

Jan. 2: Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma
(Can someone please wake up Steve Slaton!)

Jan. 3: Orange Bowl: Kansas
(Gotta love the fat coach!)

Jan. 5: International Bowl: Rutgers
(big east bowl affiliation is awful! a game no one cares about on Jan. 5)

Jan. 6 GMAC Bowl: Tulsa
(can't wait for this one. i'd rather watch a knicks-grizzlies game)


Jan. 7: BCS championship game: LSU
(it's time for a playoff! please!!!!

December 14, 2007 3:29 PM 
Blogger Ian said...

So which one is the official Runway poll.

December 14, 2007 4:19 PM 
Blogger Chip Malafronte said...

Ian,

The official Runway contest is on Yahoo. This is merely to appease the Finicky Ghost.

December 14, 2007 5:15 PM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

yahoo keeps telling me that either the id or the password in incorrect. any clue?

woodbridge wally

December 15, 2007 9:20 AM 
Blogger Chip Malafronte said...

Wally,

Password and ID seem to be working. Password might be case sensative (should be lowercase). Give it another go.

Group ID: 26267
Password: runway

December 15, 2007 10:21 AM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

not working.

any word on edsall to michigan?

December 15, 2007 10:29 AM 
Blogger Chip Malafronte said...

Do you have a Yahoo ID? You need to sign in to Yahoo for it to work.

We likely won't hear anything on Edsall and Michigan until Tuesday, when he meets the media for open practice. And then, he'll probably say its only a rumor.

December 15, 2007 11:13 AM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey Ghost,

Why don't you join the Yahoo contest? Over 30 are entered so far. You're the only one picking spreads.

December 15, 2007 11:43 AM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ok, Ok, I'll try.

Let's see. I'm very confident the Poinsetta Bowl will have nice red flowers so I rank it 32. Or is it 1?

Ok, I feel strongly that the Papajohns.com bowl will have pizza for sale there. Rank it 27, or maybe 23. Liberty Bowl? How about 16, or maybe 17...but that means I'll have to make the Sun Bowl 17, or is it 26?

You're right. It's much quicker to rank games by a confidence level (??) than it is against the spread. What will Yahoo think of next?

December 17, 2007 8:15 AM 
Blogger Chip Malafronte said...

Now Ghost, if your daughter said she didn't like broccoli even though she's never tasted it, wouldn't you tell she might like it if she just gives it a try?

December 17, 2007 2:57 PM 

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