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What could be better to build the bond between father and daughter than a little gambling on NFL games? Mind you, Samantha is only 15 months old, but if she continues to pick games like she did, she'll have a long career ahead of her.
Let me take you back a few weeks. SPiN producer Roland Liwag does this great NFL pick 'em feature. All season long he has been trying to see how many different ways you can pick winners in NFL games and track overall records. He has the "SPiN dog," a quarter, slips of paper inside a hat and a random non-sports fan. For Week 9, he even had a psychic.
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| Indy it is, Samantha. (Provided to CBSSports.com) |
Hmmmm ... since she doesn't really talk, it would be hard for me to see if she wanted to participate, but being the good father I am ... I forced her to do it. The question we had was, "How can we get her to make picks in an unbiased way?" We can't ask her, because every conversation would go like this:
Me: "Hey sweetie, who do you like this week -- Jacksonville or Tennessee?"
Samantha: "Da-da-da-ba-ba (followed by a high-pitched scream)"
Me: "I'm sorry, did you say Jacksonville or Tennessee, I didn't understand that last part."
So we had to somehow use her toys. We first thought about taking some and taping the team name on them, but the possibility of her ripping off the paper the team was written on and eating it was too great, so that was out. Gambling is one thing, but I wouldn't be a good father if I let her eat paper!
After diving into the toy box and seeing what I could use, it was an easy decision. She has these great Fisher Price blocks with the 26 letters of the alphabet on them. So we could use letters to represent each team and have her choose between two of them.
The goal was simple -- finish at least .500 and beat the SPiN Dog.
I need to set the bar a little higher, because after totaling up her picks, it's time for a little vacation. Make that a "business trip" to Las Vegas!
Here's a quick comparison of overall records (not counting tonight's MNF results):
SPiN EXPERTS:
1. Roland Liwag (76-66; 6-7 ATS for Week 10)
2. Coin Toss (73-69; 10-3 ATS for Week 10)
3. SPiN Dog (71-71; 5-8 ATS for Week 10)
4. Non-Sports Fan (71-71; 7-6 ATS for Week 10)
5. Slips of Paper Picked From Hat (63-79; 8-5 ATS for Week 10)
NFL EXPERTS:
1. Clark Judge (80-62; 8-5 ATS for Week 10)
2. Jim Harmon (78-64; 8-5 ATS for Week 10)
3. Pete Prisco (77-65; 6-7 ATS for Week 10)
4. Ron Davis (67-75; 5-8 ATS for Week 10)
5. Dave Richard (66-76; 4-9 ATS for Week 10)
Last week's guest expert, the psychic, went 7-7. And on to the baby's Week 10 picks (Note: Comments were written before the games were played):
