Even though I tried really hard to let Tim win, it turns out that even my worst is good enough. My noble quest to cede a shred of glory to my pining older brother came down to the last game of the year but, alas, the Colts won easily and I had to settle for my seventh championship instead.
The seven titles are a record, breaking the mark of six held by me. And six is three times the number of titles held by anyone else. It’s an embarrassment of titles, really. I would give some away if I chose to do such a thing but, alas, I have chosen not to.
In honor of the Biblically significant number of championships, here are seven takeaways from the 2018 season:
- Trying is overrated. Ailis beat five players with her near-total adherence to a hands-off, home-teams-only strategy. In fact, she would’ve caught three more if she hadn’t cost herself two points by trying in Week 16.
- Uncle Ed was quite contrary this year. Some weeks it worked: He took the win in Week 9 by being the only person to call the 3-6 Broncos to beat the Chargers in LA. Other weeks it did not: Picking the Bills, Jets and Niners all to win on the road spelled doom for him in Week 4. Still, we here at McManus Picks applaud the boldness.
- Trying is underrated. For the second year in a row, Ciara had perfect participation and it paid off. She claimed fifth, good for the best finish of her career.
- Brady claimed the Rince Tachran trophy this year, finished tied for sixth overall and I think is ready to be called up to the big leagues. Brad, as it turns out, is not bad.
- Trying will be required next year. The last two years were turbulent and the Commish’s “Speak softly and that’s about it” approach to leadership has gently guided us into a mild kind of chaos. Expect stricter rules next year, unless you’re a really cute child.
- Around mid-season, Matt got going on some sort of consecutive-numbers kick when choosing nicknames. Highlights include “Matty Two Kittens,” “Matty 7 Beers” and “Matty 11 Donuts.” After skipping 12 for Heaven knows why, it culminated this week in “Matty 13 problems but a pick ain’t one…”. Following along with this was truly perplexing but oddly riveting.
- On the seventh takeaway, I rested.
Great season everyone. Don’t forgot to workout during the off-season by doing lots of sports gambling or something.
McManus Picks 