Golly, it’s been quite a stretch since we had an update in the ol’ Prediction GameTM. And at long last, we shook up what was effectively a nine-way tie, thanks to a four-fight sequence where a whopping eight people picked all four fights correctly — and all of them are in a better neighborhood because of it.
The big winners are David Schraub and Doug Fischer’s Ponytail aka ALEXMAC, who are perfect so far in 2.0, which goes to show that if you want to be a success in 3.0, you’d be wise to pick a name that has a “sch” in it. The other four-for-four contestants were Hit Dog, PJ Prediction King, Manila Ice aka JB, Arthur Billette, Cardscott5 and DukeShadeBlue. (One person went 0-4, the otherwise wonderful beccapooka. Sorry, bp. Those initials don’t seem to be so lucky right now.)
But we can’t forget the individual heroes, along with a healthy helping of rudimentary statistical analysis. Irvin Ryan aka PI Joe, whom we sometimes call “The Oracle” around these parts for his tendency to call fights exactly right when he gets ’em right (and he often does), called an 11th round knockout for Amir Khan over Paulie Malignaggi, as did the inspiringly-named team individuality. Three people picked the 10th round, so I bet they were wishing Paulie hadn’t talked the ring doctors into giving him another round. Thirteen people went with Malignaggi overall, three by knockout. Malignaggi by knockout! That’s a pick that I’d call, politely, “high-risk.” You are some silly sonsofbitches sometimes, but I love you.
Going back in time a ways, I had to make a strange ruling on Paul Williams-Kermit Cintron. It was a split decision that ended in the 4th round, but only one person predicted anything arguably closer than a UD — The Queensberry Wench, with a majority decision — and her prediction was late, so it didn’t count. Every time someone’s late with a prediction, I die a little inside, but on this occasion it was a gift to many others: A whole slew of people who went with Williams by unanimous decision got the accuracy bonus points. Cintron was a popular upset pick in the rest of the world but not here; a mere three people called him for the win, which he appeared to stand a real chance of getting if not for the bizarre catapult act. Thirteen people picked Victor Ortiz by unanimous decision for a more clear-cut accuracy bonus, so they won’t all get listed here; nine people thought Campbell would pull off the upset, but they were wrong. Interesting that Campbell wasn’t a more popular upset pick, either.
Lastly, here’s where the TQBR Prediction Game contestants showed their real precognitive capabilities: 23 of you picked Michael Katsidis to beat Kevin Mitchell, the betting favorite. Mitchell was a narrow favorite, to be sure, but that so many of you correctly bucked the odds was cool, plus it got you the upset bonus points. ShortFuse aka RoWyN was as close to the mark as anyone else, picking a 2nd round knockout that was only one round premature, so he gets the accuracy bonus on this one.
We’ll be back in action this week with a TQBR Prediction Game 2.0-worthy doubleheader on Showtime: Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez IV and Yonnhy Perez-Abner Mares. After that, the game will take a rest before heading into what is likely the final weekend of this iteration, June 5. In the meantime, I give you your standings, with a recommendation you closely examine previous posts here, here, here and here to ensure I didn’t make any tabulation errors, as I fear I very well might have with so many scores to tabulate:
STANDINGS
David Schraub: 4150
Doug Fischer’s Ponytail (ALEXMAC): 3950
stickfigure: 3500
Migs88: 3500
PI Joe (Irvin Ryan): 3500
PJ Prediction King (PJ): 3500
Apemantus: 3450
Chris: 3450
Cardscott5: 3450
Bigmaxy: 3400
Manila Ice (JB): 3350
Arthur Billette: 3300
cNcEDDIE: 3000
johnkzoo: 2950
Team Great Santini (willfrank): 2900
Drederick Tatum (Scott Kraus): 2800
Team Tell Me I’m The Greatest (me): 2800
nazarioz: 2800
D.C. Senators (edub): 2750
DukeShadeBlue: 2750
Geordie Dancer (Andrew Harrison): 2650
epark88: 2450
Unifythebelts: 2350
The Weasel (Funky Badger): 2300
ShortFuse (RoWyN): 2250
Hit Dog: 2250
Southern Comfort (Dobbler): 2250
Paul Kelly: 2200
sam.fong: 2200
the legend: 2200
Ben Olson: 2000
team individuality: 1900
Malignant Narcissism (Eric Naff): 1800
Not Sure (Jay Ari Yin): 1750
fadein2bolivian: 1700
Team Fingermonkey (ScottB): 1700
BOB77: 1600
The Queensberry Fools (Eugene Dammrod): 1200
Pretty Toney: 1200
I likea da predictions (morelandj): 1200
beccapooka: 1150
Queensberry Wench: 500
Jordan Adair: 500
gavaniacono: 500
College Wolf: 500
gavia: 0
PalookaJoe: 0
Stats: 0
Fish Hook Combo (FlorencioR): 0
Burbank Baker: 0
venom.0420: 0
Paolo: 0
Donkey Puncher (Brian.McNeeley): 0
BoricuaBasher: 0
