The 2013 ITB Suicide Contest Thread
 

Our favorite game is back...no not NFL football but the annual ITB Suicide Contest. Don't know if Keith has any goodies left in the closet but maybe a t-shirt will be at stake.

For the uninitiated, the quick rules for the game are that you choose one game each week where you declare which team wins. If that team loses, you're out of the contest. If your team wins, you continue to the next week but you are forbidden from choosing that team again for the rest of the game, making each week a little harder because you'll have fewer good teams left to choose from.

Obviously, whichever game you choose, you have to call it before that game kicks off and you can't change your mind after the game you select has begun (i.e. don't call Tennessee and then change your selection to San Diego at halftime of the Tennessee game.)

Here's your Week 1 schedule: (all times Central)

THUR. September 5th

Baltimore at Denver (7:30 pm, NBC)

SUN. September 8th

Atlanta at New Orleans (Noon, Fox)
Cincinnati at Chicago (Noon, CBS)
Kansas City at Jacksonville (Noon, CBS)
Miami at Cleveland (Noon, CBS)
Minnesota at Detroit (Noon, Fox)
New England at Buffalo (Noon, CBS)
Oakland at Indianapolis (Noon, CBS)
Seattle at Carolina (Noon, Fox)
Tampa Bay at NY Jets (Noon, Fox)
Tennessee at Pittsburgh (Noon, CBS)
Arizona at St. Louis (3:25 pm, Fox)
Green Bay at San Francisco (3:25 pm, Fox)
NY Giants at Dallas (7:30 pm, NBC)

MON., September 9th

Philadelphia at Washington (6:10 pm, ESPN)
Houston at San Diego (9:20 pm, ESPN)

Post replies on this same thread with name of city. Good luck to all.

You're assuming that no one is going to pick the Jets. Which is perfectly reasonable.

Week 1 - Indy

Fairly obvious that you have to specify Giants or Jets. And, there's a good contest to see which division is the weakest - AFC East (Buffalo, Jets, Dolphins) or AFC West (Raiders, Chiefs, Chargers). Throw in the Browns, Titans and Jaguars and the AFC is almost already narrowed down the field to a playoff contingent. Seven teams have a legit shot at the playoffs and one could argue that the Patriots and Broncos are prohibitive favorites to win their divisions leaving four playoff spots among the Texans, Colts, Steelers, Ravens and Bengals.

And yet I suspect some here will hit the panic button if the Texans start 2-3 which is quite possible if you check the schedule. Never fear. Even if that happens, 10-6 is almost guaranteed unless they get hit with a rash of injuries or misfortune.

But let me see if I can put my jinxing to work in week one:

Wk 1: Indianapolis

Wow... I can only see 3, maybe 4, games on that schedule where there is a (somewhat) clear pick-em favorite. And of those, only 1 (Indy) is at home.

Week 1: Indy

True, not many good choices this first week.

Week 1 - Indy

Rather than try to get cute I'm going to go with Indy like everyone else.

Week 1: IND

I like to be different, but that usually gets me in trouble, so

Week 1 Indy

Uh, I'm going with Indy, also.

1: Indianapolis

This has the making of the quickest contest ever......

1) Indianapolis (ha ha)

Ha, we did have a "Son of Survivor" contest in 2008 because a lot of people crapped out early. That was the year too that Ike caused some to miss making a pick too.

We had one like that last year because it was all over before September.

Yes. Yes, it was

It's unanimous!

Indianapolis Colts

And we all skate by......

I would have been happy to have lost. I suspect we all would have.

Ya, it was win/win. Colts win, we all win. Colts lose, we all still win.

And we all still play Son of Suicide Contest next week anyway. So yeah, I was pretty bummed. We missed a good opportunity to gain a half game on the Patriots this afternoon as well. The Colts, Pats, and Ravens all losing in Week 1 was a dream scenario. Oh well.

I'm getting in late but am afforded the rare choice between 2 Monday games. I'll go Houston.

Week 1 - Indy
Week 2 - New England

Ah. Now I better understand your silent freakout.

Week 2 Schedule, Wk 1 Results
 

There were no losers for a change in Week 1 although nobody had a cakewalk either. Here's who is not available:

Arky, Chuck, Foo'Ball Fool, HPF Bob, Keith, Machoneil, Nconroe, Painekiller, Popanot, Warren, WMH - IND
Barrett - HOU

Week 2 Schedule:

THUR. September 12th

NY Jets at New England (7:25 pm, NFLN)

SUN. September 15th

Carolina at Buffalo (Noon, Fox)
Cleveland at Baltimore (Noon, CBS)
Dallas at Kansas City (Noon, Fox)
Miami at Indianapolis (Noon, CBS)
Minnesota at Chicago (Noon, Fox)
San Diego at Philadelphia (Noon, CBS)
St. Louis at Atlanta (Noon, Fox)
Tennessee at Houston (Noon, CBS)
Washington at Green Bay (Noon, Fox)
Detroit at Arizona (3:05 pm, Fox)
New Orleans at Tampa Bay (3:05 pm, Fox)
Denver at NY Giants (3:25 pm, CBS)
Jacksonville at Oakland (3:25 pm, CBS)
San Francisco at Seattle (7:30 pm, NBC)

MON., September 16th

Pittsburgh at Cincinnati (7:40 pm, ESPN)

WMH has already chosen NE for Thursday night.
Good luck to the rest of you.

Week 1 - Indy
Week 2 - Baltimore

1: Indianapolis
2: New England

Several interesting choices. The Pats are an obvious one but they have an easy schedule and I'm not sure I want that option off my board this early.

The Falcons shouldn't be 0-2 so a home date against the Rams is a good choice but, again, do I want the Falcons off my selection board this early?

Likewise, the Packers ought not start 0-2 and they have a home date against a Redskin team on a short week. Even with RG3 bouncing back, can I trust the Pack to win this?

I'm tempted to take the Bengals at home over Pittsburgh who looked very vulnerable the way Tennessee destroyed them. But those are the Steelers and those are the Bengals. A risky play.

Oakland looked surprisingly stable against Indy in week one and return home to face the Quagmires. Taking the Raiders means choosing a team you wouldn't expect to need later in the season. Another risky play.

Could the Super Bowl champs fall to 0-2 against the Browns at home? Not likely, but their wallets looked fat and happy in the second half on Thursday night.

Then there's Houston at home against the Titties. Even with a short week, the Texans ought to pull it out but do I really want to test the jinx?

After careful consideration, I'm going with...

Green Bay. They won't have many other opportunities on their early schedule where I would regret choosing them this week.

Week 1: Ind
Week 2: New England

I've burned myself in the past trying to be cute. This time I'll just go with the big favorite. I can always regret burning the good choices later.

Week 1: Indy
Week 2: Houston

Week 1 - Indy
Week 2 - Baltimore

1-Indianapolis
2-New England

1) Indianapolis
2) Kansas City

What FF said.

1. Indy
2. New England

week 1: Houston
week 2: New England

1) Indy
2) Houston

Week 2 Results, Week 3 Schedule
 

I didn't notice any casualties this week but I'm still reviewing:

Arky: IND, BAL
Barrett: HOU, NE
Chuck: IND, NE
Foo'ball Fool: IND, NE
HPF Bob: IND, GB (shoulda went with my gut on the Raiders)
Keith: IND, NE
Machoneil: IND, KC (ballsy pick there)
Nconroe: IND, BAL
Painekiller: IND, HOU
Popanot: IND, HOU
Warren: IND, NE
WMH: IND, NE

It's 12 for 12! Congrats to everyone.

Week 3 starts with Andy Reid returning to Philadelphia:

THUR. September 19th

Kansas City at Philadelphia (7:25 pm, NFLN)

SUN. September 22nd

Arizona at New Orleans (Noon, Fox)
Cleveland at Minnesota (Noon, CBS)
Detroit at Washington (Noon, Fox)
Green Bay at Cincinnati (Noon, Fox)
Houston at Baltimore (Noon, CBS)
NY Giants at Carolina (Noon, Fox)
San Diego at Tennessee (Noon, CBS)
St. Louis at Dallas (Noon, Fox)
Tampa Bay at New England (Noon, Fox)
Atlanta at Miami (3:05 pm, Fox)
Buffalo at NY Jets (3:05 pm, Fox)
Indianapolis at San Francisco (3:25 pm, CBS)
Jacksonville at Seattle (3:25 pm, CBS)
Chicago at Pittsburgh (7:30 pm, NBC)

MON., September 16th

Oakland at Denver (7:40 pm, ESPN)

Good luck to all!

Week 1: IND
Week 2: GB
Week 3: SEA

Even if this is a trap game and even if Seattle comes out flat, I don't see any way the Quagmires are going to be able to bring it in Seattle's house. Lock city, baby!

I'd like to get fancy here and not shoot the SEA bullet so early in the season and against such an awful team, but being fancy usually gets me eliminated early in this game. So...

Week 1: IND
Week 2: HOU
Week 3: SEA

Week 1: Ind
Week 2: New England
Week 3: Seattle

After Week 2, is there really a trap game? I thought I had a sure thing picking New England. Those of us that picked Houston did, too. We all got by, but only by the skin of our teeth!