FIVE POINT OH. Who would’ve thought we would have made it this far with the TQBR Prediction Game? R. Kelly’s still stuck at TP.3 Reloaded, and hasn’t released any new episodes of Trapped in a Closet in years. Yet in the span of 2010, TQBR Prediction Game will have gone from No Point Oh to FIVE POINT OH.
We begin, as is sometimes the case for Update #1, with a tie for first place, this one between Team Skullduggery aka PJ, Pretty Toney, Not Sure aka Jay Ari Yin and Bundy Bears aka ALEXMAC. But there’s a virtual tie that goes 10 more deep, because 14 people picked the correct winner of both Manny Pacquiao-Antonio Margarito and Sergio Martinez-Paul Williams II.
Picking the winner of Pacquiao-Margarito — that was a snap. Eight, though, saw a unanimous decision for Pacquiao, good for a 100 point accuracy bonus. Only four people picked Margarito at all. Martinez-Williams II wasn’t so easy. Fourteen people went with Martinez, 15 with Williams. Of those people who went with Martinez, four correctly called a knockout, and two — Bundy Bears and Not Sure — got the closest to the precise round of said KO, albeit six rounds later than the actual 2nd round flattening.
For that reason, Bundy Bears and Not Sure get the “most impressive call of the weekend” award. (Nobody got any upset points because the odds were precisely even at the time I wrote the entry.) Least impressive call of the weekend? Baron, partly out of loyalty to Margarito and partly because Martinez-Williams II was a coin flip, ended up the only person to predict both fights incorrectly. We still love you, Baron.
Strict enforcement of the rules robbed people of some points (I’m practically a dominatrix on late entries), as did some folk predicting for one fight and not another (some of whom were clearly one-time predictors, but I leave them up because it’ll make us all feel better later when we’re morose over not being in 1st place). But never fear, scofflaws! The finishing stretch is loaded up with any number of pick ’em fights with upset potential. You can recover.
Next up in 5.0 eligibility, for instance, are three fights this weekend that we’ll preview throughout the week: Juan Manuel Marquez-Michael Katsidis, Arthur Abraham-Carl Froch and Andre Ward-Sakio Bika. Have your predictions ready by 11:59 p.m. Friday to insert in the appropriate preview and prediction blog posts; the last thing I’d want to do is disqualify your picks because you caught a tryptophan coma and failed to predict in time.
For no good reason other than that it’s nearing the season, here’s an advertisement of Santa Claus smoking a cigarette (h/t EB).
Now, to your standings. As always, please notify me of any tabulation errors and we can adjudicate:
STANDINGS
Team Skullduggery (PJ): 1100
Pretty Toney: 1100
Not Sure (Jay Ari Yin): 1100
Bundy Bears (ALEXMAC): 1100
stickfigure: 1050
The Garbageman (ScottB): 1050
AskTheBoxer: 1050
BenOlson: 1050
Internet Tough Guy (Dobbler): 1000
Philly Shell (Hit Dog): 1000
Basque Country: 1000
The Flying Cintrons (Queensberry Wench): 1000
beccapooka: 1000
NattyChamps (DukeShadeBlue): 1000
Team CusNazimSteward RoachDundee (edub): 600
Neon Leon’s Two Front Teeth (Andrew Harrison): 600
David Schraub: 600
Manila Ice: 600
ArnoldO: 600
THE COMEBACK KID (cNcEDDIE): 600
Ako si Navarette: 600
Todd Aguiar: 550
Paul Williams’ Campaign Manager (Tim Starks): 500
cguenard: 500
Orbital Bone Surgeons (IrvinRyan): 500
Team Atlas (Sam Fong): 500
fadeintobolivian: 500
Gumbercules (BigMaxy): 500
Team Spacely’s Sprockets (willfrank): 500
Yuriorkis Gamboa Constrictor (Scott Kraus): 500
Apemantus: 500
Paul Kelly: 500
Cardscott5: 500
Stiff Jab: 500
ShortFuse (RoWyN): 500
the legend: 500
Miggs 88: 500
joebentvice: 500
nick63: 500
Datu punol: 500
Noypi: 500
reneth: 500
Dachs: 500
Melzor Uchiha: 500
baron: 0
Unifythebelts: 0
audley harrison jab of the century (FlorencioR): 0
Arthur Billette: 0
