The 2012 Parker Football Bowl Challenge

I haven't mentioned anything about our annual Football Bowl Challenge this year. I had planned to mention it at the end of last year along with about 40 other things; but, alas, time got away from me and I never wrote about it. The Parker Bowl Challenge is perhaps one of my favorite things about football season. I look forward to filling out my picks and turning them in before the bowl season starts and then tallying the records after each game.

You may recall that I won the Parker Football Bowl Challenge last year and was able to proudly and prominently display the trophy for a year at my house. I handed the trophy over to the family patriarch (my dad) on December 13 before the beginning of bowl season on December 15. Everyone turned their picks in by December 14 and we waited day-by-day with baited breath to see who would win. I had a the worst start of anyone and was 3-3 after the first six games - even my mother was ahead of me! Eventually I went ahead of my mother and then went on a six game winning streak to come from behind and tie my dad for the lead. My dad updated the chart about mid-way through the bowl games and had highlighted in green games where we all had the same pick; but, I found a couple of mistakes in that green highlighting and pointed them out and was then asked, "Are you trying to win?" Absolutely!

Then, my brother, in a weird pick, chose Northwestern over Mississippi State and it was a three-way tie for first place between me my dad and Justin, all with a record of 13-11. Since we had all picked Alabama to win the National Championship, the bowl challenge came down to the next to the last bowl game of the season on January 06 when Arkansas State faced Kent State in the GoDaddy.com Bowl down in Mobile. My dad picked Arkansas State and Justin and I had Kent State. If Arkansas State won then my dad would win and if Kent State won, then it would come down to the tiebreaker which was picking the score of the National Championship game.

Well, Arkansas State won and so did my dad. He has officially been crowned the 2012 Parker Bowl Challenge Champion and for the first time since we've had a trophy (this is the third year I think) he gets to proudly and prominently display the trophy in the spot of his choosing. This is also the first year the challenge has come down to the wire; usually there is a clear winner with about five or six games to go. The final standings are as follows:

Champion: Steve with a record of 23-12
Runners Up: Justin and Natasha, each with a record of 22-13
Last, but not least: Deb with a record of 17-18