March 1, 2017 at 1:16 p.m.
Sowinski makes history in the 2016-17 Pigskin Pick'em
Sowinski makes history in the 2016-17 Pigskin Pick'em
By Kayla Thomason-
She finished with a record of 177-87-2.
"This was my first year (participating)," she said. "I thought it was kind of silly to start with, because I'm not a big football person, but once I got into it, it was a lot of fun, something to make me pay a little more attention to the games and it seemed like the weekly obligation kind of made the winter go by faster."
Not being a huge football fan, Sowinski said she did not expect to be among the leaders, let along the champion.
"It's kind of a hoot because I figured I'd end up in last place," she said. "But once I actually started to see myself sneak into the lead, I got sort of competitive and spent more time 'studying so I could stay there."
Sowinski said she grew more serious about the competition as she saw how well she was doing, then it was nose to the grindstone and heavy studying.
"Initially, I was pretty flippant," she admitted. " I just planned to always pick the Packers, and would pick against the Vikings and the Bears and the 49ers ... my least favorite teams. Oh, and when in doubt, I would choose the winners by who had the nicest uniforms. Once it was time to actually fill in my first week's picks, though, I decided I should make use of available resources. I talked to people who know way more about football than I do and even nosed around online at injury reports and 'expert opinions'. And, at my husband's suggestion, I would pick home teams when I didn't have any other clue."
As the season progressed and a win became a possibility, some of the Green Bay Packer games became hard to pick, she added.
"Earlier in the season when they (the Green Bay Packers) weren't doing well and I was pretty certain they'd lose, I was torn between 'loyalty' and wanting to be right ... and the same thing during the playoffs."
While the football teams had rivalries on the field, Sowinski had a rivalry of her own.
Being a credit union employee, she initially had Joe Sturzl of Nicolet National Bank as her main rival, but that changed as the season progressed. "I had chosen Joe Sturzl as my guy to beat as a friendly competition between a credit union person and a banker, but as the season wore on, I was working hard to stay ahead of Todd Johnson and Jeremy (Mayo)!"
Sowinski was pleased to have had the chance to play in the Pigskin Pick 'Em, and had interesting conversations with people about it along the way.
"This was way more amusing than I thought it would be," she said. "Of course, winning was a big part of the fun, but the conversations I had were really entertaining, too. Other players and just folks I'd run into would either encourage me, sympathize with me when I'd had a bad week, want to know my 'secret' or tease me that my husband must be making all my picks."
As the winner, Sowinski got to award the $500 prize to an organization of her choice. She picked the American Cancer Society's Bark for Life.
"I've participated in several Bark for Life fundraising events - I love events where I can bring my dogs - and even though the money all goes to the American Cancer Society, the 'Bark' events are a way to draw a different group of people and supplement the fundraising," she said.
Luck smiled on another rookie this year as Todd Johnson of First Weber Realty in Rhinelander came in second place with a record of 171-93-2.
"It was a fun experience," he said. "I was a bit surprised at how many people actually followed the picks each week."
Although second place is good, he was hoping to take the title.
"Second place was OK but I was hoping to be able to catch up to Diane," Johnson said. "I had a couple rough weeks early in the season and was never able to catch her. She was very consistent all year long."
He noted he didn't have much of a strategy, other than following his gut, which apparently made some good picks to land him that high in the rankings.
"I didn't really have a set strategy," he said. "It was more a gut feel from week to week."
Like Sowinski, Packers games caused him the most anxiety.
"Packers games always caused the most stress," Johnson said. "I picked them to win every game. Picking with your heart is not a good strategy for success."
When the season started, he was eyeing several specific players as rivals, but switched his focus to Sowinski as she took the lead.
"Going into the season my biggest rivals were Ken Zuiker, Mark Senoraske and Jeremy Mayo, since I see them a lot during the summer at the ballpark," he said. "As the season progressed Diane became everyone's rival."
Johnson chose the Hodag Diamond Club as his organization if he had won.
"I was playing for the Hodag Diamond Club, a group that supports the Rhinelander baseball programs," he said. "I chose this group because I have coached Little League, Babe Ruth and have assisted with the Legion Team."
The defending co-champion - River News sports editor Jeremy Mayo - slid to third place this year with a record of 168-96-2, and even though he didn't place as well as he did last year, he said he thought he played better.
"It was what it was," he said. "I actually feel like I had a better year picking games than I did last year. Diane and Todd just got out on a hot streak, built an early lead and were difficult to catch. With how close most NFL games are nowadays, sure there's still plenty of skill involved in picking, but it comes down to a little luck to. A penalty here, a missed field goal there. With as much parity as there is in the league, sometimes that's the difference in winning and losing."
Mayo applied the same strategy that got him his tie last year.
"I look at some statistics analytically as a guide but, in the end, I go with my gut," he said. "How a team passes the eye-ball test still goes a long way. I was way off on some teams this year, had a pretty good feel for some others."
The Green Bay Packers apparently caused a lot of stress for football fans, especially those playing Pigskin Pick 'Em, as it was hard to deviate from their loyalty.
"It's always hard to pick against the Packers, because it's not a popular pick but, when they were in the midst of their November swoon it seemed like the logical pick," Mayo said. "I caught a little flack for it, but still got more games right than I did wrong."
In the start of the season Mayo's rivals were fellow sport guys - and that rivalry continued between them - but as an overall rival, Sowinski had put a target on her back.
"Diane (was my rival), obviously because she won," Mayo laughed. "Actually, there were a group of us with baseball/softball ties between myself, Todd Johnson, Ken Zuiker, Mark Senoraske and D.J. DeMeyer (The Shadow). I wanted to have some bragging rights on this group. Second in class to Todd wasn't too shabby."
He is ready to brush off the dirt and go head-to-head with defending champion Sowinski next year.
"Third place is a pretty respectable finish, but you can bet I'll be gunning for No. 1 next year!" he said.
Mayo had chosen the Rhinelander Athletic Booster Club if he had won, not only because he covers Rhinelander sports for his job but because he feels it's the role he plays within the community.
Mayo held a spot on the ABC board for four years.
Although he didn't fare as well as he may have liked, Mayo offered heartfelt congratulations to the winner.
"I just want to congratulate Diane Sowinski again on winning the title. The American Cancer Society and Bark for Life is a very worthy cause and it's nice to see the money stay local and do some good around here," he said. "I want to thank all of the contestants for playing and ponying up some money for the contest, which always ends up going to a good cause. Thanks to Kids Korner Pizza for sponsoring the online contest, and congratulations to online winner, Mike Wells. Looking forward to potentially matching wits against him next year."
Coming in fourth place was The Shadow - revealed to be RHS fotball coach D.J. DeMeyer - with a score of 165-99-2. Fifth was Dave Havel with 160-104-2. Don Thelsen took sixth place with 159-105-2. Hot on his heels was Joe Sturzl with 158-106-2 and Ken Zulker with 157-107-2. Ninth place was Brett Aylesworth with 154-110-2. Bringing up the rear was Mark Senoraske with 148-116-2.
Mayo is mulling over some possible changes to next year's Pigskin Pick 'Em, so stay tuned.
"I'm kicking around some changes to the contest structure for next year," he hinted. "Without going into too much detail, I'd like to see more emphasis placed on the playoffs and have more people in the running later in the contest. Have some ideas of how to accomplish that, but we'll see what comes of it."
Kayla Breese may be reached at [email protected].
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