February 2, 2018 at 1:06 p.m.
Mayo and Stein to square off for Pigskin Pick'em honors
Mayo and Stein to square off for Pigskin Pick'em honors
By Kayla Thomason-
Stein and Mayo outlasted eight other local football prognosticators to advance to the championship. The winner will receive a $500 prize to donate to the charity of his choice. This year's contest featured a new format that made for a more exciting finish.
"To me, the format was an overwhelming success and I definitely anticipate doing it again next year," Mayo said of the system that awarded bonus points to players for having the best weekly and regular season record, while heavily weighting the postseason. "You look at how things shook out this year, and entering the conference championship games, there were still five players who mathematically had a chance of getting into the final two. Leah Van Zile entered the playoff in ninth place and 15 games out of first. Under the old format, her season's over. Here she was a Tom Brady to Danny Amendola touchdown away from playing for the championship. That's exactly what we hoped to create with this format."
Going into championship Sunday, Stein has an overall record of 180-86 while Mayo sits at 173-93, but all that matters is which of the two correctly predicts the winner of the big game. Stein is picking the New England Patriots to win the Super Bowl, while Mayo has Philadelphia in an upset.
Stein, a Pigskin Pick'em rookie, said he was surprised by how well he did.
"I have never considered myself 'good' at picking winners for any event," he explained. "I'm pretty sure it was beginner's luck."
His strategy was very simple - make a decision and don't second-guess it.
"I didn't overthink my picks," he said. "Once a choice was made, I put it out of my head."
If Stein wins, the $500 donation will go to Wild Instincts.
"They do a ton of work that goes on behind the scenes for all of us who enjoy Northern Wisconsin's wildlife," he said of his choice. "They can always use more support."
Mayo, who is playing for the Rhinelander Athletic Booster club, said he was pleased with his performance this year.
"I'm satisfied with how the season has gone," he said. "Luckily, I got off to a good start and banked some playoff points early on, which definitely helped down the stretch. I mean, you look at the field, and there was really no slouch in the bunch. Everybody came to play and it was really a fun, competitive board all season long."
Mayo stuck to his usual analytical approach to making picks, but noted that a number of injuries to key players prompted a fair amount of guesswork as well.
"What made this season so difficult was the number of key players who were injured and trying to quantify the affect their losses would have on their respective teams," he said. "The Packers lose Aaron Rodgers and their season goes down the tubes. The Eagles lose Carson Wentz and somehow rally around Nick Foles to reach the Super Bowl. That led to a lot more guesswork this year. You really had to evaluate teams week-to-week this year, opposed to their body of work as a whole."
Both still have a little more guesswork to do. Stein's going with the chalk and taking the Patriots 31-17, while Mayo may be picking with his heart with a 23-21 Philly win.
"I went on their history and the odds," Stein said, explaining why he's siding with the Patriots. "As far as the score that I picked, that was the first one that popped into my head!"
Mayo countered, "On paper, New England is the better team, no doubt, but there have been so many distractions for them over the postseason between the alleged rift between Brady, coach Bill Belichick and owner Robert Kraft, Brady's hand injury prior to the AFC title game and Rob Gronkowski's concussion. As experienced as they are, my gut tells me it will catch up with them here.
"Even if I'm wrong, at least I can watch the Super Bowl with a clear conscience, pulling for the Patriots to lose!" he added.
Leah Van Zile of Wisconsin Public Service, just missed a chance at the championship with Jacksonville's loss to New England, dropping her to fourth place. She finished with a score of 166-99.
"I was surprised at how well I did, but I was also optimistic the entire time," she said. "It got exciting there for a bit when I realized there was still a slim chance I could make it to the championship. You just never know with sports how it's going to end up!"
This year's mystery guest prognosticator "The Shadow" was a basketball man, Rhinelander High School head boys' basketball coach Derek Lemmens, who finished fifth with an overall score of 172-94.
"(Being 'The Shadow') was an enjoyable experience and forced me to pay a little more attention to teams other than the Packers," he said. "I thought I did well considering how little I typically follow the NFL. I have always enjoyed watching football, but probably couldn't name three players on any given team."
Todd Johnson of First Weber Realty, last year's runner-up, finished in third place.
Mike Hastreiter, owner of Bucketheads and The Woodpecker, was sixth, followed by Zach Ready (Hodag Gridiron Club president), Matt Steingraber, (YMCA of the Northwoods), Rhinelander Police Chief Lloyd Gauthier and George Allen (Habitat for Humanity).
Mayo thanked all of the prognosticators for their time and willingness to make their picks public.
"I'd like to thank all the guests we had on the board this year," he said. "Between their knowledge and the format change, I'd say this has been the most enjoyable board I've been a part of. It's not easy to put yourself out there with your picks (especially if you are picking against the Packers), but this group made it a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to next year."
Kayla Breese may be reached at [email protected].
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