Standings through Week 13…

1. Eric – Hutcinson, MN – 142 points
2. James – Lake Elmo, MN – 128 points
3. ME! – Minneapolis, MN – 127 points
3. Clayton – Utica, NY – 127 points
5. David – Corona, CA – 126 points
6. Susan – Lake Elmo, MN – 124 points
6. Michael – Amherst, NY – 124 points
8. Felix – New York, NY – 123 points
8. Jamin – Gresham, OR – 123 points
8. Daniel – North Tonawanda, NY – 123 points
11. Clifford – Voorhees, NJ – 122 points
11. Ron – Chino Hills, CA – 122 points
11. Josh – Westerville, OH – 122 points
14. Curtis – Stewart, MN – 121 points
14. Jason – Powell, OH – 121 points
14. Ethan – Indianapolis, IN – 121 points
14. Eddie – Nashville, TN – 121 points
14. James – Houston, TX – 121 points
19. Justin – Jersey City, NJ – 120 points
19. Lisa – Rocky Hill, CT – 120 points
19. Nick – Yakima, WA – 120 points
19. Jeff – Laguna Hills, CA – 120 points
19. John – Tulsa, OK – 120 points
19. Norman – San Francisco, CA – 120 points
19. Steve – Fort Worth, TX – 120 points
19. John – Hartland, MI – 120 points
19. Dan – Pompano Beach, FL – 120 points
19. John – Winooski, VT – 120 points
19. Karen – Tonawanda, NY - 120 points
19. Jim – Loudonville, NY – 120 points
31. Chris – Evanston, IL – 119 points
31. Colin – New York, NY – 119 points
31. Everett – Port Charlotte, FL – 119 points
31. Sedrick – Katy, TX – 119 points
31. Mike – Mequon, WI – 119 points
31. Ray – Fort Worth, TX – 119 points
31. Daniel – Lansing, KA – 119 points
31. Gary – Los Angeles, CA – 119 points
31. David – Roswell, GA – 119 points
31. Eileen – Arlington Heights, IL – 119 points
31. Derek – Bakersfield, CA – 119 points
31. Darin – New Hope, MN – 119 points
31. John – Oregon, WI – 119 points
31. Joel – Miami Gardens, FL – 119 points
46. Rick – Olney, MD – 118 points
46. Russ – Phoenix, AZ – 118 points
46. Nick – Phoenix, AZ – 118 points
46. James – Georgetown, KT – 118 points
46. Matt – Cortland, OH – 118 points
46. Timothy – Fox Lake, IL – 118 points

The consolation prizes for the Second Act Fantasy Football challenge will be three iPod Nano’s. We will be drawing from a list of email addresses of those of you who participated in 13 or more weeks of the Challenge. These names will be announced after the season has ended when we announce the winner… which is looking to be Eric. Hang in there though, and you could win a iPod Nano!

In NFL News…
The Vikings are in the playoff hunt. Last week that statement sounded ridiculous… it kind of still does. But it’s a fact now, so we’ll all have to try to deal with that. Adrian Peterson’s knee seems alright. Kenoy Kennedy’s ankles are probably sore from getting juked at the goal line… TWICE! I thought his mind might explode on Peterson’s second TD.

In non-Vikings news, I was surprised to see Arizona beat Cleveland. Even on that last play, I agree with the call, but I’d like to see Arizona get screwed by that call to make up for them knocking the Vikes out of the playoffs three years ago.

Miami Sucks… still.

New York Giants played an awful game and still won. Chicago is done for. I think if New Orleans had won, they would be the front runners for the sixth playoff spot. The Giants should hold on, so that means there’s about 7 teams vying for the 6th spot in the NFC. That’ll be nice and interesting.

Don’t forget about Thursday’s game, and good luck in week 14!

Go Hawks!

Come on Browns.

Will the Pats be beaten? The only chance I see that happening is next week against the Steelers. Although it wont happen I would love to see Miami beat the Pats (It would take more then the stars aligning to accomplish that task).

Is it official yet? The Miami Dolphins being the worst team ever, that is? This was their last best chance to win a game this season, and I just can't see them winning any of their remaining games. The 76-77 Succaneers did lose more consecutive games over the course of 2 seasons, but with this Dolphins team, I don't think that record is safe.

The Vikings... I didn't get to see the game, but I DID pick them, so it's amazing that they actually won. I'd like to see this Vikings team that can score 40 points a game. (even though some came from the Defense) They probably still should draft a quarterback. Maybe they make the playoffs, but really, what does it matter? They get a worse draft pick, and they aren't likely to beat Green Bay or Dallas, and certainly not New England or a healthy Indianapolis team should they manage to make it to the Super Bowl. I'm not saying they can't make it there next year, but with the QB situation and receivers who can't receive (Troy Williamson), they won't go far this postseason.

As far as the other games... Arizona is a decent team, and that game could have gone either way, as the score showed. They play at Seattle this week, and remember they pulled the upset (which I picked them to do) early in the season against the Seahawks. How Good/Bad are New Orleans, Washington, Tennessee and San Diego? You think they are going to be good, and they lose. You think they aren't going to do anything, and they win... then you think they're back on track, and they just get back to losing. I suppose football wouldn't be nearly as interesting if all of the games were so easily predictable.

14-1 with one game left this week! I thought about changing my pick after hearing Saturday that Reggie Bush would be out, but even if ATL does win, I don't think anyone will be catching me.

ARI @ SEA: SEA
CAR @ JAC: JAC
CHI @ WAS: WAS
CLE @ NYJ: CLE
DAL @ DET: DAL
IND @ BAL: IND
KC @ DEN: DEN
MIA @ BUF: BUF
MIN @ SF: MIN
NO @ ATL: NO
NYG @ PHI: PHI
OAK @ GB: GB
PIT @ NE: NE
SD @ TEN: SD
STL @ CIN: CIN
TB @ HOU: HOU

Eric, I thought I might catch you a bit going 14-1 so far too (I missed the Hou/TB game). Oh well, could you just not turn your picks in next week to make it a little more interesting? You would probably still win anyways.

@Matt - Thanks for the great contest. Since Eric looks to be some abnormal game picker and has a 14 game lead on second place (places 2 through 46 are only 10 games apart), will there be a prize for second place to give some of us that are close to second a chance to win something? Just thought it would be nice if us that seem to be fighting for second now would have a chance to win something based on our picks. Thanks again for a fun contest!

@Josh - There will be consolation prizes. We're going to draw for three iPod Nano's at the end of the season. The only participants eligible to win will be those that participated in 13+ weeks of the challenge (My guess is that's going to be about 400 people). So it won't be so much performance based, as it will be "thanks for participating"/anyone who meets this criteria can win type of drawing.