Friday, October 19, 2012

Bik's Week 7 Picks: TEP Sports Drinking Games Part 1

The Scripps National Spelling Bee doesn’t seem like it would be an overly entertaining affair to watch. But insert a few friends, good natured ribbing, alcohol, and a competitive streak – you can make pretty much anything entertaining. So the first event in the The Extra Period: Drinking Game Series is in fact The Scripps National Spelling Bee held annually in Late May – Early June. I know what you’re thinking and let me just stop you there. “But this isn’t a sporting event!” Sure technically the competitors aren’t ATHLETES but would you really call some of the Golfers on the PGA Tour athletes? I figure if ESPN wants to air it – that makes it a sporting event.

The Set-Up:
How to set-up your game alongside this event is paramount to the success of the evening. Here’s what you need:

Your casual drink (most likely a beer) and a stiffer drink (most likely a harder alcohol needed for penalized consumption).
A live viewing of The Scripps National Spelling Bee from Round 4 onwards.
A list of the competitors still in the competition at the beginning of Round 4.

The Draft:
The reason you start at Round 4 is because there’s just too many competitors before this stage and also ESPN doesn’t broadcast until Round 4. Also once Round 4 begins, the list of the final 50 competitors is released online and you can use this for your draft. How many spellers you wish to choose is up to you and really up to how much you plan to consume for the event. I’d stick to no more than 8 spellers, pending on the size of your party. If you have 5 or less people in your party, stick to the 8. 6 people go with 7 spellers. 7 or 8 people go with 6 spellers. 9 or 10 people go with 5 spellers.

Now if you happened to do some pre-bee scouting and know a bit about the spellers, then kudos to you, but really if everyone walks in with a clean slate not knowing about anybody it works out better. Select a draft order in any way you please (for this example let’s say you pick names out of a hat). Once you have a draft order begin selecting spellers. Once you’ve met the necessary roster requirements, you are ready to begin.

The Rules:
It’s pretty simple:
A speller gets a word wrong and is eliminated – the owner who OWNS THE SPELLER, has a shot of their stiffer drink.
A speller gets a word correct – the rest of the owners who DO NOT OWN THE SPELLER drink from their casual drink.
A speller runs out of time and is eliminated – the owner who OWNS THE SPELLER has a shot of their stiffer drink and a drink from their casual drink. There’s no excuse for poor clock management in a spelling bee.

Now there might be incidents that you just don’t plan for and we’re going to place those under a Wild-Card Drink. If such a moment unfolds like this or this or this, as a group you collectively decide if a moment is worth a Wild-Card Drink, and subsequently take a drink from your casual drink.

We’re aiming for longevity in the night, so since more correct words will occur than incorrect words that’s why the penalties/rewards are doled out in that way.

Look forward to the 2013 Scripps National Spelling Bee when you play this courtesy of The Extra Period.

Now onto the Week 7 Picks. Home team in CAPS.

Seahawks (+8) over 49ERS
49ers won 13-6.

Titans (+3) over BILLS
Both teams finally got a much needed win last week but who looked better doing it. The Bills in Arizona or the Titans at home to the Steelers. I gotta say I really liked the way Titans played last Thursday and with the added rest, plus the Cardinals bruised running game failed to take advantage of the Bills inability to stop the run, I think we could see a decent game from Chris Johnson.

VIKINGS (-6.5) over Cardinals
Jared Allen – meet a defensive line that is falling apart. I trusted Christian Ponder on the road last week and that was a mistake. I trust Ponder at home.

Browns(+2.5) over COLTS
Am I seriously picking the Browns in back to back weeks?!?! What is happening!!! But this is really about me picking against the Colts run defense. It’s putrid. Fantasy football owners are waiting with baited breath to see if Trent Richardson will be healthy but I think even if Montario Hardesty (on the all-name team) starts, he’ll be a factor.

TEXANS (-7) over Ravens
No Webb, No Suggs, No Lewis, potentially no Ngata... The Ravens have some backdoor cover potential here but I think an extra week to figure out life without Brian Cushing will have done the Texans some good.

Packers (-5.5) over RAMS
Last week’s formula for Green Bay was: Rodgers + Dome + Angry demeanour + National Audience x “Eff You Game” = Beating the +3.5.... This week’s formula is a bit simpler: Rodgers + Dome = Unstoppable.

Dallas (-2.5) over PANTHERS
Unless it was back to back bye weeks for the Panthers to solve all of their issues, it’s just not going to matter. Not sure how this team fixes itself. They’re just terrible on all sides of the ball.

Redskins (+6) over GIANTS
This is me officially drinking the RG3 Kool-Aid. At first I found it a bit annoying because he was in EVERY commercial and you just couldn’t get away from it – but after watching that 78 yard run he had, I’m buying in. I know I’m late to this party, but let me in.

BUCCANEERS (+2.5) over Saints
A home underdog against a defence that is allergic to tackling. Sure.

PATRIOTS (-10.5) over Jets
Like it or not – but the Patriots are having trouble closing opponents. Their last 4 losses (going back to Super-Bowl) all have them with a lead, and WITH THE BALL in the 4th quarter. A chance to seal games used to be Brady n’ Bellichick’s speciality, but in recent years that just hasn’t been the case. But this week they play Sanchez and the Jets in a division where 3-3 is not the same as 3-3. Patriots Roll.

RAIDERS (-6) over Jaguars
A large part of me actually likes the Jags in this but Raiders took the game to the Falcons, (ALLEGEDLY the league’s best team). Add in the fact that the Jags are an East Coast team travelling cross-coast. That’s never a good thing.

BENGALS (+1) over Steelers
Steelers are playing very un-Steeler like football and the Bengals look like they’ll get 1st round pick Dre Kirkpatrick into the lineup. That could be both good and bad for them considering the Steelers have shown a potent passing attack. But I’m still going to take the home underdog here.

BEARS (-6.5) over Lions
The Lions somehow haven’t figured out how to get the ball to MegaTron in the red-zone. It’s getting worrisome now. I know he’s torched the Bears in the past but this ball-hawking crew of the Bears is going to be keyed on it and it’s not like Stafford has shown his ability to not turn the ball over. Could there be a future passing of the torch in this game? Could Stafford be on the same career trajectory arc as Jay Cutler? What better way for Cutler to pass the torch to Stafford than on Monday Night Football.

This Week: 1-0
Last Week: 6-8
Season: 45-45-1

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