Commentary

A football season tradition

Ten dollars is a paltry price for dozens of opportunities to gloat about nailing a 5-0 week or vent over losing a fourth quarter lead, so a check was mailed hours after the address of “Poolsville” corporate headquarters was provided in an email.

Maybe the quick turnaround is reaction to the “Snooze, you lose” idiom, but the CEO/scorekeeper of the season-long contest has a waiting list and swears participation is at a max.

Anticipating his initial correspondence of the season began weeks ago when a CBS email encouraged recipients to “Flex your football knowledge, Start a pick ‘em pool today,” about the same time a relative asked when to expect “Poolsville’s” first games. The same 60-year-old leaned on an uncle last year to get into the contest, fared well during bowl season and talked often about barely missing the $50 for sixth place. Intrigued, his best friend wanted in and was jacked when invited.

When the 10-inch tall, gold-painted Ramon Escobar Trophy was first offered more than a dozen years ago, the participation limit was set at 150, but word spread and, last season, there were 178.

The man who sniffs out five difficult games weekly swears “It WILL NOT break 180!”

We’ll see.

Other journalists participate, but the group is diverse with business owners, insurance agents, delivery drivers, physicians, lawyers, a priest-to-be in the seminary, graphic designers, school principals, teachers, pharmaceutical salespeople, psychiatrists, real estate agents, coaches, pilots, marketing and public relations folks, college professors, military personnel and students.

The defending champion is in food services. Next were a computer systems analyst and the owner of a fence construction business in Austin.

More than two-dozen players are women, almost a third live outside Arkansas, most SEC schools are represented along with many Big 12 schools and some from the Pac-12 — allegiances that enable the man in charge to include editorial comment in his weekly update — and Little Rock Catholic High links 50 players.

From $900 for first to a $50 gift card for last, all entry fees go for prizes — a far cry from years ago when a friend bought a $100 square in a Super Bowl contest and the organizer pocketed $1,000 for his trouble.

Weekly results include subgroups, such as the Shields-Yada Cup where eight people related by marriage compete for a pot of gumbo at a Little Rock restaurant.

Others include:

—Battle for the Paddle, former classmates at an elementary school where the coach’s paddle hung in the locker room and a student signed it after a paddling.

—Elder-Ruffcorn Golden Mic, folks who worked together at KARN when broadcasting legends and genuine good guys Jim Elder and Lowell Ruffcorn did sports and news.

If guaranteed anonymity, maybe one day there will be a subgroup of administrators and teachers at Catholic High.

Inevitably, when tough losses are rehashed and outsiders learn the betting line is strictly to identify underdogs worth bonus points, there is an unspoken pshaw. Picking at least 4-of-5 every week should be a breeze, the uninformed contend.

“Not so fast, my friend!” says the Poolsville boss.

He has increased the difficulty by reducing bowl games included in the contest and recent winning records were 64-33, 62-34 and 64-35. In the 10 previous years, 71-40 was the minimum winning record and Vivian Howlett recorded a competition-best 84-28 in 2011.

For a taste of the task, pick this week’s games and try to ignore the extra point available for a W by Northwestern or Boise State:

—Northwestern-Stanford - Stanford by 6.

—Virginia Tech-Boston College - Tech by 2.

—Boise State-Florida State - Florida State by 5.

—Oregon-Auburn - Auburn by 3.

—Virginia-Pittsburgh - Virginia by 3.

No matter what happens this year, Richard Diamond has a lock on Poolsville heartbreak.

The president of an Atlanta company that sells paint, wall covering, drywall and such, would have won if Alabama prevailed in the national championship game on Jan. 9, 2017.

The lead changed hands for the third time in the fourth quarter when Deshaun Watson’s 2-yard TD pass ended a nine-play, 2:06 drive with one second left and Clemson won 35-31, ending Alabama’s streak of winning 96 straight when leading by double digits after three quarters.

Even worse, Diamond backed alma mater and SEC champion Georgia a year later and was home free until Ben Baldwin earned bonus points for an Alabama victory … in overtime.

Details are excruciating.

Trailing 13-0 at half, Alabama benched Jalen Hurts for freshman Tua Tagovailoa.

On fourth-and-goal, Tagovailoa’s 7-yard touchdown pass tied the score at 20 with 3:49 to play. Alabama missed a 36-yard field goal late and Georgia began OT with a 51-yard three-pointer

On first down, Tagovailoa lost 16 yards. Unperturbed, his next pass was good for 41 yards and a victory.

No wonder Diamond’s 2019 entry included: “Looking forward to the very last play of the very last game so I can nail down my 2nd place.”

For Razorback fans, college football begins at 11 a.m. Saturday with Ole Miss at Memphis. For Poolsville partisans, the season kicks off four hours later at Stanford and Boston College.