RB Fan takes the championship in impressive fashion; JoeybtheRealAD whips the field for the final weekly prize

Week 14 (Final) Recap--It may have been anticlimatic, but RB Fan put himself in a position to sit back, relax, and not worry about Week 14 thanks to a fairly insurmountable lead. And despite his season-low-tying 7 this week (tying for two other 7s earlier this season), RB Fan cruised to the Rams Bookstore Pigskin Pick'em Contest Championship with 109 wins in the "Contest Total" (factoring in throwing out each contestant's worst two weeks), which was three wins ahead of the next-closest challenger and third most all-time. He had 123 total wins, which was the most total wins in contest history, topping the previous best of 120 set by Whammy Rammy in 2006. His season-ending winning percentage of 58.6% is second behind only RambleOn's amazing 59.1% in a 13-week 2005 season.

RB Fan's best finish in his previous three years of competing in the contest was a tie of 40th in 2006. That was the year his brother-in-law CSU_Rams_Rule introduced him to the contest. You see, RB Fan isn't even a CSU fan. He was just a casual college football fan back then, but with the excitement of the Rams Bookstore Pigskin Pick'em contest and a rooting interest in teams each week, he has become a much larger college football fan. The "RB" in his handle stands for Redondo Beach, where he lives, and he's never been to Colorado. He says to tell all the Ram fans out in Fort Collins, "Hello". He may have to make his first trip out to collect his prizes. We'd like to congratulate RB Fan on his championship! For his efforts, he earns a $100 store credit to Rams Bookstore.

The other two prize winners earned their way in also. Lvgolfer02 has been battling near the top for the last few weeks, and used a 10 this week to maintain that second-place spot. He needed that 10 also, since RambleOn and StateFair Child recorded a 10 and 11, respectively to make a push. Lvgolfer02 finishes at 106 wins in the Contest Total to take second place (and a $50 store credit to Rams Bookstore), while RambleOn finishes at 105 wins to take third (earning a $25 store credit). (All winners should Email RamNation staff to arrange collecting your prizes!) RambleOn used his second consecutive 10 to move from a six-way tie of fourth place into sole possession of second place. StateFair Child nearly put himself into the prizes with an impressive 11 this week, but finishes in a tie of fourth with Young RAMC at 104 Contest Wins (and 112 Season Wins). Peanuts The Bulldog finished in fifth place, also at 104 wins (but only 104 in the Season Total since he missed two weeks).

The top 20 looked like this:

1. RB Fan
2. lvgolfer02
3. RambleOn (2005 champ)
4. StateFair Child (2002 champ under the name "tRAMpledunderfoot)
5. Young RAMC (2007 champ, 2005 2nd place, 2002 3rd place)
6. Peanuts the Bulldog
7. Ro Sham Bo
8. JoeyBtherealAD (this week's winner)
9. PKmustGO (sister-in-law to champ RB Fan)
10. Teton Ram
11. crafdog (2007 5th place)
12. Olympic Oak
13. FormerRam
t14. 123RamsRamsRams
t14. fairitout
t16. buffskinner
t16. txRam
18. asudevil88
19. Ram fan 93
t20. Ram_Buck (2008 champ)
t20. RamMan

As for the final weekly prize of the year, JoeybtherealAD seized it with a very impressive 13. JoeyB finished the season on a tear, with a 9, 11 (runner-up honors), and 13 to vault into eighth place. For his efforts, he earns a hat or T-shirt of his choice, courtesy of Rams Bookstore. Way to go, Joey! Runner-up for the week went to "emmanator", who tied with StateFair Child and Stapleton Ram at 11 wins, but emmanator nailed the total score tiebreaker in the Florida/Alabama game of 45 points (final score was 32-13). StateFair Child was just one point off at 46, while Stapleton Ram guessed 56. EzStreetRam finished the season on a down note, taking the Toilet Bowl this week with a 3. Don't worry, EZ, the Bowl Pick'em is coming up and you can redeem yourself!

Lastly, the field as a whole failed in our mission to reach the .500 mark for jut the second time in contest history. The field recorded a 49.4% winning percentage this week, which didn't affect our mark of 49.7%. Unfortunately, the 45.9% in Week 13 doomed the field's chances. However, on a good note, the 49.7% final winning percentage is second best all time, behind only the incredible 51% mark in 2006. So, good job field!

We want to thank you for playing this year and making the contest a blast as always. Congrats to our winners, and remember to email us ASAP to arrange collecting your store credit. Also, any weekly winners who haven't collected yet also need to email us. For those of you who had rough seasons, don't worry, it happens to the best of us. And, you'll see this week, we'll be launching the Rams Bookstore Bowl Pick'em contest, which works the same way...and everyone starts over from scratch! We'll track everyone's progress with standings updates after each bowl game day is complete. So, get ready!

And as always, please join me in thanking Rams Bookstore for their ninth year of sponsorship to this contest. When you're in need of CSU memorabilia, gear, or school books, Rams Bookstore should be your first choice!

--Joel Cantalamessa
(Good SHEPHERD)

Contest details/rules

Each weekly winner can pick a T-shirt or hat of his/her choice from Rams Bookstore. Season winners win gift certificates to Rams Bookstore.

Prizes:

Each weekly winner will receive their choice of CSU T-shirt or hat, compliments of Rams Bookstore. The top three finishers will receive gift certificates to 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 Florida State is favored by 4.5 vs. Miami, and Florida State wins by more than 4.5 points, they win "against the spread." If Florida State does not win by more than 4.5 points, then Miami 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