I probably should get this out there right away. I am a tool. More pointedly, I am a sports tool. I was one of those kids who was always picked last on the playground for games not cause I was terrible (Though, I really wasn't good....I mean I was a average height, pudgy, and Jewish...you do the math). I was picked last because I was so goddamn annoying. I would play harder, be more competitive, and talk more then anyone else out there. On the playground, as in real life, if you aren't the best one out there...you should really keep your mouth shut and stop throwing elbows. I never learned that lesson. I would be kicked out of games on a consistent basis (one time even by my own mother). Kids stopped picking me because I was determent to the team. Who wants a chubby Jewish kid who riled up the other team and wasn't very good himself on their team? Not anyone I knew, that's for sure.
Point being, to this day...I love sports. I love the hypotheticals of sports...the what ifs. So of course...I love the website whatifsports.com. You can take any team from any year and matchup them up against any other team and see who wins. And that's just the most basic thing this website does. You can also sign up and pay to play seasons with teams you construct yourself using historical players. I am cheap....so I don't do that. But the concept seems pretty cool.
Anyway, I've been wasting time recently playing the would-be NFL playoffs using their simulation engine. Each week I've looked at the remaining schedule of each NFL team and predicting their final records based on results using the simulations. And then I play the playoffs. Each week, of course, has a slightly different result. I think they anticipate people like me doing this because after each week of football, they update the teams' records and slightly alter the teams' ratings depending on the week's outcomes. It is pretty awesome. Yes, I am a tool.
So this week's playoffs came out like this:
AFC
1. Indy Colts
2. San Diego Chargers
3. New England Patriots
4. Cinncy Bengals
5. Baltimore Ravens
6. Denver Broncos
4 Cinncy over 5 Baltimore
3 New England over 6 Denver
1 Indy over 4 Cinncy
2 San Diego over 3 New England
1 Indy over 2 San Diego
Indy in the Super Bowl....complete chalk, I know. But the NFC is rather odd...
NFC
1. New Orleans
2. Minnesota
3. Philly
4. Arizona
5. Green Bay
6. New York Giants (yup...if Dallas losses to Philly....this is a big possibility)
4 Arizona over Green Bay
6 New York Giants over Philly
2 Minnesota over 4 Arizona
6 New York Giants over 1 New Orleans
6 New York Giants over 2 Minnesota in OT
A huge run by the Giants...which set up...
1 Indy vs. 6 New York Giants
A Manning Super Bowl!
Super Bowl: 30 Indy 20 New York Giants
So Indy wins according to this week's ratings and simulations at whatifsports.com
This is what I spent my afternoon doing. Yup, I told you I am a tool.
