Ram_Buck fends off his pursuers and wins the Grand Prize from Quality Audio Video!

Quality Audio Video is now offering RamNationers sizzling deals on HDTV and other audio/video equipment. If you're shopping for TVs for the holidays, please give QAV first shot. Click here for a list of the deals. Call 303-870-3478 to order!

Week 14 Recap -- Ram_Buck saw a 37" Samsung LCD HDTV in his sights, and did everything in his power not to give it up. After turning a two-game deficit in Week 12 into a two-game lead in Week 13 (seizing the lead from 98ram), Ram_Buck needed to turn in one last good performance in Week 14 to win the championship. And with a 9 this week, he did just that, and earned the grand prize from Quality Audio Video. Ram_Buck finished with a field-best 116 wins (55.8%) in the Season Total and 106 wins in the Contest Total (factoring throw-outs of each contestant's two worst weeks), which was two better than the runner-up.

Ram_Buck started the season off slow, going 7, 4, and 6 over the first three weeks, which turned out to be his three lowest scores of the season. The 4 and the 6 were his throw-outs, leaving a trio of 7s as his next-lowest scores. He also had a pair of 11s (including the one last week that vaulted him into the lead) and a 12. He didn't win an individual week, but he had enough good scores, and avoided multiple-week meltdowns. Congratulations to Ram_Buck! (Email us to arrange collecting your prize.)

We also have three other contestants who have earned prizes courtesy of Rams Bookstore. SteamboatRamFan, who was in second place heading into the final week, also matched Ram_Buck's 9, but needed an 11 to tie, and thus finished at 104 in the Contest Total -- good for second place. He finished at 115 wins (55.3%) in the Season Total, which is also solid. He too avoided multiple-week meltdowns, but didn't have as many big weeks as Ram_Buck. But, for his efforts, he wins a $75 store credit to Rams Bookstore. Taking third place at 103 wins was ramdogg, who also recorded an all-important 9 this week to seal his position and earn him a $50 store credit. Taking fourth place ($25 store credit) at 102 was jcl508, a contestant who had challenged for the lead all year long. Like the contestants ahead of him, he used a 9 this week to climb into the last prize spot, edging out 98ram and HawkRamFan who also were at 102, but jcl508 owned a better season total (113 compared to the others' 112) and percentage of 54.3% (compared to 53.8%). It has to be particularly heartbreaking for 98ram, who just a few weeks ago had held a two-game lead over the field for three weeks straight, but succumbed to te pressure. He lost his mojo so bad that he used a coin flip to determine his picks this week, and the coin failed him with only 7 correct picks. HawkRamFan showed that his second-place finish in 2007 was no fluke, as he narrowly missed finishing "in the prizes".

Our top 25 finishers looks like this:

1. Ram_Buck
2. SteamboatRamFan
3. ramdogg
4. jcl508
t5. 98ram
t5. HawkRam Fan
7. colorscolor
8. DRZRAM
9. whadaino
10. I Bleed Green
t11. StateFair Child
t11. Wheat Ridge Buff
13. stapleton ram
14. Suga'Mama
15. autumnatic
16. TK61
17. Q.Ram
18. gocanesgo
t19. csuramie
t19. dougw65
t21. RamsRule
t21. txRam
23. Rock n Ram
24. WEB
25. BigHorn

One particular note of interest is gocanes go, who one the individual week with 11 correct picks. He earns a hat or T-shirt from Rams Bookstore for his efforts. (Simply email RamNation staff to arrange collecting your prize.) But, more interesting is his 18th-place finish. If you notice, he missed turning in an entry form in two of the first three weeks. If he had registered, say, an 8 and 9 in those weeks, he would have tied for first place, since his only two real bad weeks were a 4 and a 6. Instead, he had to use the 0s as his throw-outs and count the 4 and 6. That is why it is imperative for you contestants to get your entries in each week! There's always next year!

Wrapping up the season with a whimper...and Toilet Bowl award are StateFairChild, MrTgo49ers, and TC Titans. It was an unceremonious end for StateFairChild, who had been near the top of the leaderboard for much of the year. Regardless, he finishes in a tie for 11th. The field also fizzled out, with a 47.2% winning percentage this week, which tied for fourth-lowest average of the season. It also gave the field eight sub-.500 weeks, compared to just six plus-.500 weeks and a season average of 49%. Vegas would have made money off us this year, but the field was relatively respectable.

Before we log off for the regular season (stay tuned for the upcoming Bowl Pick'em Contest where everyone starts from scratch), we must thank our two incredible sponsors, Quality Audio Video and Rams Bookstore. Tyson Rabani, owner of Quality Audio Video, and a CSU alumnus and Ram fan, approached us prior to the season wanting to sponsor the contest and donate a wonderful grand prize -- the Samsung LCD HDTV. I hope you Ram fans reward his generosity towards us by giving him some business, whether it be a new home theater, or purchasing a new HDTV or other audio/video equipment. He has great deals for RamNationers...click here for a list of the deals...and call 303-870-3478 for more information and to order! Also, check out their website to see the work they do on home theaters and entertainment systems at www.goqav.com. Rams Bookstore has sponsored this contest since its inception eight years ago, and has provided weekly prizes and season prizes every year. I hope you all think of Rams Bookstore first when you need new CSU gear.

--Joel Cantalamessa
(Good SHEPHERD)

Contest details/rules

The grand prize is a 37" Samsung LCD HDTV, courtesy of Quality Audio Video.

Prizes:

Each weekly winner will receive their choice of CSU T-shirt or hat, compliments of Rams Bookstore. The contestant with the most correct picks at the end of the season will receive a 37" Samsung LCD HDTV grand prize courtesy of Quality Audio Video, Inc. The second- and third-place finishers will also receive prizes courtesy of Rams Bookstore.

Rules:

• Each week contestants will pick a winner in 15 games.
• Contestant's should make their picks "against the spread". For instance, if Michigan is favored by 3.5 vs. Utah, and Michigan wins by more than 3.5 points, they win "against the spread." If Michigan does not win by more than 3.5 points, then Utah wins "against the spread," even though they might lose the game.
• The weekly winner will be the contestant with the most correct picks.
• In the event of a tie between contestants at the end of a week, the first tiebreaker is the total points scored in the "tiebreaker" game (usually a game involving CSU). The contestant that picks closest to the total points scored wins the tiebreaker. If total points does not break the tie, then total yards will be used. Again, closest guess to the total yards gained from scrimmage by both teams during that game will win the tiebreaker. If a tie is still unbroken, both contestants will receive a prize
• Please have picks in each Friday by 4 p.m. MST, with the exception of Thanksgiving week, when picks will be due by Wednesday afternoon. We will send out a reminder that week.
• Please submit only one entry form per contestant.
• The system is set up so that if you want to change your picks before the weekly deadline, you simply have to to resumbit your entry, and it will overwrite the exisiting entry.

Season Contest:

• In addition to each weekly contest, there is a contest for the entire 14-week season in which totals will be kept over the course of the season.
• The season winners will be the contestant's with the most correct picks throughout the season, while dropping your worst two weekly win totals. If you miss a week or have a bad week, you can drop that week against your season total. This allows for contestants who may miss the first week, or who may miss a week during the season for whatever reason to remain in contention for the title.
• If there is a tie between contestants at the season, the highest win percentage for all weeks will be the first tiebreaker. (A contestant must have participated in 11 or more weeks to be eligible.) If the tie is not broken by win percentage, then there will be a final playoff during the Conference Championship weekend, between contestants who are tied.

Guidelines and other notes:

The contest administrator (Q.Ram) will determine the weekly games on the following basis:

1. All games involving MWC teams.
2. All games involving two teams rated in the Top 25 AP Poll or receiving votes.
3. At least one game involving each of the eight biggest conferences.
4. Any other games of note (rivalry games or games involving Top 10 teams).

Please note that CSU games will not be included because the contest administrator (Q.Ram) is highly superstitious and doesn’t believe in betting on games in which he is emotionally involved. (Most of us are CSU fans, and we would all pick CSU to win every week anyway, so that game would be a wash.)

CSU games will, however, be used for the Tiebreaker game, unless they are on a Thursday night.

Results will typically be posted the following Monday. Please track your picks and make sure you are credited with the right amount of wins. Q.Ram has been known on a very, very rare occurrence to make a mistake, and we will correct errors up until the following week has been played.

Q.Ram will make his picks known on the message board prior to deadline, so that everyone will know the contest administrator is not rigging the game to win all of the prizes. (Neither he or any of the contest administrators or QAV employees/family members are eligible to win the grand prize.)

Remember, if you are in the market for audio/video equipment and/or installation, please give QAV first shot at your business. Also, if you are in the market for text books and CSU gear, Rams Bookstore should be your first choice. Their sponsorship is what helps make RamNation go.

All registered posters are welcome to join the contest, but remember all you Ram foes out there...the prizes are limited to what Rams Bookstore has in stock, which is primarily CSU-related gear! Thanks and best of luck to everyone (except Buffaloes, Cowboys, and Falcons).

--Q.Ram, Good SHEP, and CSURamFan