Game Rules
"Hey, a rule is a rule, and let's face it, without rules there's chaos."
-Kramer Seinfeld
Pigskin Pick 'Em Pool (Entry fee = $75/season):
This will be the same as last year; everything will be done on ESPN.com. This is a year-long pool and is pretty straight forward; you pick the winners each week with a non-spread format. The person with the most correct picks at the end of the season wins. Payout structure for the pool is winner take all for 4 or less players, 80%/20% (1st/2nd) for 5-9 players, and 70%/20%/10% (1st/2nd/3rd) for 10 or more players. If you play this pool then you also agree to the following bonus/penalty provisions.
Perfect Pick Bonus: If someone has a perfect week they win $5 from each player even if one or more of the games are ties.
Pink Dolpin of the Year (PDY) Penalty: The player who finishes last in the pool will pay each player $5. If the Bottom Dweller gets totally shut out for the year (no winnings from any of the pools) they will not have to pay this penalty. Otherwise, that would just be piling on.
Pink Dolpin of the Week (PDW): The player who has the lowest pick total for the week will be duly awarded the Pink Dolpin of the Week. It doesn't cost you a thing to enjoy your week of shame!
If you're in the ESPN "Tim's Football" group by the Sept 5th game kickoff time then your money is in the pot.
Skins Pool (Entry fee = $5/week):
This is a weekly pool that can carry over to the next week with the pot growing. If you have the highest pick total for the week you win the Skins pot outright and then next week’s pot resets to $5 times the number of players.
I'll use 2010's Skins pool as an example, go to 2010 Standings and look at the aqua color. We had 8 players in the Skins pool and in Week 1 49er Bashers had the highest weekly total of 11 and therefore won the Skin outright for $40. In Week 2 we had 6 people tie with 10 correct picks so then the Skin carried over to Week 3 and was worth $80. In Week 3 49er Bashers once again had the highest weekly total with 10 and won the Skins for $80.
So the Skin only carries over if there is a tie at the top. If you have a bad week then you want players to tie at the top so you can have a chance to win it all the next week.
(Exception for Skins carry-overs: If you get a zero for the week you won’t carry-over because you suck whether you forgot to do your picks or even worse attempted them. That player will also forfeit any money he/she already has in the Skins pot. For example, if the Skins were going to carry over for a 4th week and someone got a zero for the 3rd week then they would owe $15 and not be able to participate until the Skins were won outright.)
If there is a Skins carryover into Week 18 then the Tim's Football Week 18 Tiebreakers will decide the winner.
You have to play the year-long Pigskin Pick ’Em pool in order to play the Skins pool. You don’t have to play the Skins pool every week but you must tell me before the first game of the week that you don’t want to play. So in other words, it’s assumed that everyone is playing Skins every week unless I hear otherwise. If you sit out a contest you have to wait until someone wins the current pot before you can play again.
Eliminator Pool (Entry fee = $25/contest)
All you have to do is pick one winning team a week, simple, right? But there’s a catch, you can’t pick the same team twice in any one contest. So if you pick New England in Week 1 then you can’t pick them in any other week until a new contest starts. If your team loses (or ties) during the week then you’re out of the contest. The last player standing wins the whole pot. Everything is handled at ESPN.com. If we have more than 1 contest (likely) you'll have to sign-up for a new ESPN.com account or use an old sign-in from last year.
If any remaining players all pick losing teams (before Week 17) then the following tiebreaker will decide the winner. The player with the team scoring the most points the previous week will win. All previous week point totals will be considered until there’s a winner. For example, if the 2 remaining players pick Pittsburgh in Week 6 and they lose then whichever team those 2 players picked in Week 5 having the highest point total will win. If there’s still a tie then it goes to Week 4, Week 3, and so on. If there’s still a tie then the pot is split equally.
If you forget to make your pick before the first game of the week starts you can still pick a later game. For example, if you forget to pick a team on Sunday then you’ll have the Monday night game to choose. If you fail to pick a team you won’t be considered for any tiebreakers and you'll lose your $25 for the contest.
If 2 or more players survive in Week 18 then the Tim's Football Week 18 Tiebreakers will decide the winner.
If you're in the ESPN Eliminator group then your money is in the pot. You can join a new contest late unless somebody has already made a pick in an earlier game.
33 Points Pool (Entry fee = $3/week)
This is kind of a lottery pool, so all you need is luck. If your team scores 33 points in any week you win the pot! Once I know who is playing this pool then there will be a random drawing to determine each player’s “teams” for the year. Each player will keep the same teams for the whole year and there may be more than one contest. There are 32 NFL teams so players will each end up with a few teams and there may be some unpicked teams.
The pot keeps building until someone’s team scores 33 points. The weekly pot then resets to $3 times the number of players. If 2 or more players tie for the week (2 or more teams score 33 pts.) then they’ll split the pot. If a picked team(s) and an unpicked team both score 33 points in the same week then the pot will be divided equally but the unpicked team's share will carry over into the new pot. If one or more unpicked teams score 33 points in Week 18 it will not affect the pot.
Kill Pot Twist: If an unpicked team scores 33 points by themselves then the weekly stakes double to $6 until a picked team scores 33 points and then the stakes reset to $3/week.
In the 10 seasons listed here's how many times a team has scored 33 points: (2012-2021: 3, 6, 7, 12, 12, 13, 11, 8, 11, & 16). So there could be some decent sized pots.
If no picked team scores 33 points in Week 18 then the Tim's Football Week 18 Tiebreakers will decide the winner.
If a player drops out then their teams will be given to the first person on the waiting list. If there's no waiting list then their teams will be randomly distributed equally among the other players or else become unpicked teams. If a player drops out during a contest they forfeit any money they have in the pot.
You don’t have to play the 33 Points pool every contest but you must tell me before the first game of the new contest that you don’t want to play. So in other words, it’s assumed that everyone is playing the 33 Points pool every contest unless I hear otherwise.
Week 18 Tiebreakers
At TimsFootball.com I don’t like ties that much, I want to make it clear who the winners and losers are. The tiebreakers below will be used for all pools in Week 18 if needed. The tiebreaker game will be ESPN’s tiebreaker game in Week 18 (unless determined otherwise). Players will be given a deadline (sometime after Week 17) to submit their tiebreaker totals. If a player fails to submit their totals before the deadline, they will not be considered for any tiebreakers – no exceptions.
The player who comes closest to the below totals wins. The tiebreakers will go in this order:
1. Total combined* points
2. Total combined* yardage
3. Total combined* first downs
4. Coin flip(s)
*Combined means for both teams and the ESPN.com box score stats will be used.
Eligibility
If you have the money to play (or lose) and have a pulse before Week 1 you’re eligible. Once you start playing these pools your money is in the pot. It's like Vegas, try grabbing your money back once it's on the table. You may have walked into the casino but you'll be limping out.
Commissioner
If something unusual comes up then we’ll try to vote on it. Otherwise, the Commissioner (that’s me) has the final say. My number one priority is fairness. Everyone is ultimately responsible for entering their own picks on ESPN.com. You can have someone else enter them for you but I won’t be able to do it out of fairness to the other players.
When to Pay
Everything is settled at the end of the season. Most pools are done in a pre-pay fashion which means there aren't any collection hassles at the end of the pool. This pool is different (for now) and everyone pays at the end. This minimizes money changing hands and also gives everyone use of their money during the pool (especially the people who lose). Prompt payment at the end is required. My definition of prompt is 1 week after the end of the pool otherwise you'll owe an extra $50/week that you're late. Any late fees will go into the next year's Pick'Em pot. If you bring someone into the pool (friend, relative, etc.) you're responsible for them paying if they don't. Don’t make me send out some cyber thugs!
ESPN Pool Signup
Pigskin Pick ‘Em and Eliminator Challenge Pools
(If you need help please notify me, the following steps may not be exact - ESPN mobile may differ.)
1. Go to ESPN.com
2. Hover over Fantasy (upper right) and then click on Pigskin Pick'em or Eliminator Challenge
3. If you've never registered then click on "Log In" (upper right - person in circle) and click on "Sign Up" (Remember your member name and password!!!)
4. If you have already registered then click on "Log In" (upper right - person in a circle) and log in
5. Click on "Standard" "Play Now" button (If you had to log in first then you'll have to go to Fantasy first and down to Pigskin Pick'em or Eliminator Challenge)
6. Click on "Groups" in between "Make Picks" and "Leaderboard"
7. In "Search Groups" box, type in: "Tim's Football" (without quotation marks) and hit enter
8. Join the group by entering the password given, you should see your team name in the group along with other teams like Dingle Berries, Cubsfan28, etc.
9. To rename your team click on your team in the group, then click on the gear sign to the right of your team name, a new page appears and then simply change your team name and hit "Save"
10. Make sure to enter your picks for the week. You can make picks for future weeks by scrolling the various weeks on the picks page. There is no "Save" button for the picks, it simply shows a blue box around your pick
11. To see the other group member picks click on the Tim's Football group, and then click on Group Picks next to Group Results
12. Repeat the process for the other pool if you're playing both pools
ESPN Pool Tips
Making your picks on ESPN.com: I’ve never had a glitch happen to me in all the years I’ve been doing their pools but other people say it’s happened to them. Your team pick will simply have a blue box around it in the Pick'em pool. So make sure you have 16 blue boxes if there are 16 games that week!
Week 1 picks: Everyone should get all of their picks in before the first game of the season (Thursday game - Sept 5th) just to be safe. You should be able to change any picks (other than Thursday) after the Thursday game if you desire.
Seeing other people’s picks: The only time you’ll be able to see someone else’s pick(s) is after the game or wave of games starts (it’s then “locked”). Also, even though I created the league I can’t see your picks until everyone else can. To see someone else's picks go to the "Tim's Football" group and then click on that person's team name or to see everyone's picks click on "Group Picks".
Waiting to make your picks: Some people wait for last minute injuries, weather conditions, etc. to get an “edge” but ESPN.com can get bogged down just before the first game so it may not take your picks. Once again a zero is a zero.
ESPN.com prizes: You’ll notice that you can predict the score (not required) for the Monday night game every week. This doesn’t affect our pool it’s just for their weekly prize but I still put in some scores every week. ESPN also has an overall grand prize winner.
Standings: The standings are displayed when you click on “Tim's Football” group. The Standings are also on this site.