Knows Bowl champ gives more than Lipp service to winning

XXII was a jack-in-the-box of surprises including eleven upsets (out of 24 bowls), a bunch of uncharacteristic low-ball spreads with only three blow-outs, and the popping-up of ‘young’ Knows pickers making it to the upper echelon.

EFRESH 22 (Shae Lipp), a high school freshman of the Lipp clan that has more or less only been able to give ‘lip’ service to winning a Knows Bowl since well before his birth, showed ‘the old men’ a thing or two about football prognostication.  Undaunted by going 32 points in the hole after fumbling the opening snap in the Fort Worth Bowl (Kansas 42  Houston 13), he picked nine of the next eleven correct with a trio of immaculate prognostications – Insight (Arizona St.-5), Holiday (Oklahoma-3), and Music City (Virginia-3) – to become a contender.  Shae had enough oomph to hold on to the top spot despite being clipped 13 points in the Rose Bowl partially because both the officiating crew and instant replay equipment “malfunctioned” to allow an obvious Texas non-touchdown run to stand late in the second quarter.  In all, he paced the pool with 16 correct winning predictions and becomes the youngest champion in the Knows Bowl’s 22-year history.

After a skein of six correct picks, including three immaculates – Houston (TCU-3), Cotton (Alabama-3) and Capital (Wisconsin-14) – Ryan Homchick seemed to have the mojo necessary to send the Knows Bowl crown cross-country from the Apple Capital to the Big Apple.  However, he bumbled to the finish line with a trio of consecutive boo-boos, and had to settle for second despite co-leading entries with four smack-dab on the money forecasts after adding the Motor City (Memphis-7) to the three perfectos previously noted.

It’s one thing to succumb to the fearless forecasting of a grid knowledgeable ninth grader, but third place finisher Superstar Shelby (Myers) took the youth movement to a new level.  You see, Shelby is just eight years old and obviously filled-out her own entry form (very neatly, I might add), far more astutely than her dad Robb could ever have done it.  She certainly wasn’t encumbered by “expert” predictions and correctly circled a bunch of upsets including Nebraska, Utah, Virginia, Missouri, Tulsa, Wisconsin and Texas.  Sure, Shelby had some bowsers mixed in, but, hey, she’s only eight for crying out loud, and managed to get 14 correct with one perfect pick in the Music City Bowl.

Fourth place went to Results Guy (Rod Steele) whose best stretch was five consecutive right team selections from the Motor City through the Alamo Bowl.  The run included an immaculate prognostication in the Champs Sports (Clemson-9).  He followed that streak up with five straight miscues, though, including a 38 point loss in the Emerald Bowl by tabbing Georgia Tech-10.  Results Guy closed with positive picks in the Orange and Rose Bowls to climb the standings and completed the schedule with 14 correct winning forecasts.

The ‘kid korps’ struck again as Tyler Spaeth nailed down fifth.  He blasted out of the blocks with six consecutive correct selections, including an on the nose forecast in the Motor City, and finished the slate with a correct pick in the Orange Bowl as well as an immaculate prognostication in the Rose (Texas-3).  Tyler had previously recorded a perfect forecast in the Music City Bowl and finished nicely with 15 winning selections.

Sharp Uno (Sally Sharp) kicked it up a notch making six straight correct picks from the Outback through the Orange Bowl with her only immaculate forecast registered in the Sugar (West Virginia-3) to take sixth.  In all, Sharp Uno had 15 correct team predictions.

A four way knot at (93) developed among Neighbor Kids Mom (Carol Doris), The Geek (Joe Gaspers), PM1 (Pat McNutt) and Kirk Spaeth.  Carol got the nod for seventh place by correctly picking Texas while Joey The Geek, PM1 and Kirk Spaeth fizzled with USC and its inches short fourth down tater tote in the Rose Bowl tiebreaker.  The Geek finished eighth, the last payoff spot, by nosing-out PM1 by a point in the Granddaddy of Bowls while Kirk Spaeth took it on the chin with USC-10.

Neighbor Kids Mom vaulted into contention late by being right on the moola in the Orange Bowl (Penn St.-3) and followed through with a correct pick in the Rose, selecting Texas-6.  She totaled 14 correct team predictions with a pair – Holiday and Orange – perfect.

Joey The Geek’s strength came early by opening with six winning selections including his only immaculate pick in the Hawaii Bowl (Nevada-1), but followed with four straight misses.  From then on he hopscotched to finish with 14 correct.

Although PM1 had one more right selection, while matching The Geek’s total of  but a single forecast on the button, a blip at the Emerald Bowl with Georgia Tech-11 resulted in a crucial loss of 39 points.  Ultimately, it was enough to leave him holding an empty bag just out of the money.

Tyler’s uncle, Kirk Spaeth, hampered by only picking 13 winning teams right, was bolstered by being a pool co-leader with four immaculates – Motor City, Holiday, Houston and Sugar.  That final sweet pick of perfection ended the Spaethcadet’s high flying euphoria as a pair of closing flame-outs caused a crash to neverland.