Oddly, despite pacing the pool with 21 correct picks (that's 84%), he didn't tab any games on the nose. Among those 21 keepers were five upsets (Humanitarian, Insight, Papajohns, Fiesta and Orange). Spaeth closed out the schedule in style with six correct selections.
B.Sylvester, wife of the human Q-Tip (who we suspect influenced selections to some degree), locked horns for the lead throughout the second half. She/he registered a pair of perfectos (Music City and Alamo) among 19 correct picks and circled six underdogs (Champs Sports, Armed Forces, Insight, Gator, Papajohns and Fiesta) to tie for the pool's top spot in upsets. Sylvester rumbled out of the chute with five in a row and was rolling at the end with another five straight until the bullish run was drowned by the Tide.
Colt (Tracy Walker) was a consistent contender who posted a sixpack from the Sun through the Gator bowls. Among 20 correct knows picks, just the Music City Bowl was immaculate. Colt came through with a trio of upsets (Insight, Gator and Fiesta).
Using terminology that he should be able to understand, Propaine (Ed Paine) knocked three aces into the cup (Music City, Insight and Alamo) and recorded 19 pars including the final six holes...er, bowls. He scrambled four times to post unlikely pars (Champs Sports, Armed Forces, Fiesta and Orange).
No knows picker got off to a faster start than Daryl Miller who drilled nine in a row to help him pace the pool until halftime. The patient dentist ended-up with 20 keepers, but only had one perfecto (Humanitarian) and just two correct underdog selections (Champs Sports and Armed Forces).
2006 Knows Bowl champ as EFRESH, Shae (Lipp) made a second appearance in the chips, saving his best for the second half including a pair of six in a row streaks. Shae picked 19 correct, including the Insight Bowl on the schnozola, and hit five upsets (Insight, Gator, Rose, Fiesta and Orange).
McPicker (Greg McPherson) stumbled badly early and languished in 142nd place at the end of the first quarter. Considering that he only picked two of the opening seven bowls correctly, his 17 positive selections and seventh place finish were quite remarkable. In fact, it's the farthest back that any entrant has ever come to finish in the chips. McPicker began to streak in the Armed Forces Bowl and continued with ten in succession through the International Bowl. He had a pair of immaculates (Insight and Chick-fil-a) and a pool tying high six underdogs paid dividends (Armed Forces, Insight, Gator, Rose, Fiesta and Orange).
The final moola maker, Joe (DeFina) squeezed into eighth with 19 correct, but none on the money. He vaulted into contention with seven right in a row from the Chick-fil-a through the International bowls and profited with four correct upsets (Armed Forces, Gator, Rose and Fiesta).
Left holding the dreaded empty sack as the 26th Knows Bowl bagboy, Jeff Mertes looked like a lock for 7th place until the closing moments of the BCS Championship. His 18 correct prognostications, three perfectos and four upsets didn't quite get 'er done.
Eight of this year's bowl games were considered to be upsets - Champs Sports [Wisconsin], Armed Forces [Air Force], Insight [Iowa St.], Gator [Florida St.], Rose [Ohio St.], Papajohns [Connecticut], Fiesta [Boise St.] and Orange [Iowa]. The biggest upset, according to Knows Bowl XXVI prognosticators, was Ohio State's victory in the Rose Bowl that only 14.8% correctly predicted. Three bowls went to overtime - Outback, Liberty and GMAC - and three were considered to be 'toss-ups' by pool prognosticators - Meineke/Pitt 51.0%, Holiday/Nebraska 51.0% and Capital One/Penn St. 51.6%. The pool's Consensus (average) of entered picks and spreads finished 54th.
1. Kirk Spaeth: [1,396] First Qtr-19th, Halftime-4th, Third Qtr-2nd.
2. B.Sylvester (Barb Sylvester): [767] First Qtr-19th, Halftime-4th, Third Qtr-2nd.
3. Colt (Tracy Walker): [488] First Qtr-7th, Halftime-8th, Third Qtr-3rd.
4. Propaine (Ed Paine): [314] First Qtr-30th, Halftime-2nd, Third Qtr-17th.
5. Daryl Miller: [210] First Qtr-1st, Halftime-1st, Third Qtr-6th.
6. Shae (Lipp): [140] First Qtr-70th, Halftime-37th, Third Qtr-33rd.
7. McPicker (Greg McPherson): [105] First Qtr-142nd, Halftime-34th, Third Qtr-12th.
8. Joe (DeFina): [70] First Qtr-58th, Halftime-29th, Third Qtr-5th.
9. Jeff Mertes: [Bagboy] First Qtr-60th, Halftime-3rd, Third Qtr-11th.
10. Kelly Sly (Kelly Sylvester): First Qtr-19th, Halftime-5th, Third Qtr-4th.
11. Kate Etherington: First Qtr-30th, Halftime-19th, Third Qtr-12th.
12. Phil Johnson: First Qtr-3rd, Halftime-34th, Third Qtr-43rd.
13. TJ Walker: First Qtr-35th, Halftime-14th, Third Qtr-32nd.
14. Bret Hammond: First Qtr-58th, Halftime-69th, Third Qtr-8th.
15. Beagle (Susan Valdez): First Qtr-25th, Halftime-21st, Third Qtr-17th.
16. H2OBoyz II (Bill Zacher): First Qtr-2nd, Halftime-9th, Third Qtr-8th.
17. Wildbunch (Willis Colwell): First Qtr-46th, Halftime-22nd, Third Qtr-23rd.
18. Annieoaklie 2 (Anna Coen): First Qtr-119th, Halftime-51st, Third Qtr-21st.
19. The Edge (Ed Paine): First Qtr-6th, Halftime-14th, Third Qtr-20th.
20. Darren Spaeth: First Qtr-25th, Halftime-29th, Third Qtr-7th.
Kirk Spaeth, last year's 'bagboy' left holding an empty sack one spot out of the chips, lugged a full load this time around while claiming the title of Knows Bowl XXVI champion. The Spaethcadet twin flirted with perfection until the final 47 seconds in the BCS Championship game, but happily settled for 'good enough' to overtake B. (Barb) Sylvester in the finale. Although Sylvester's Knows Bowl lead swelled to 29 points after a pair of Texas field goals early in the last contest, Spaeth stuck a pin in the shoulder of a Colt McCoy voodoo doll that sent the Longhorn's signal-caller into neverland for most of the game with a numb arm. McCoy's sidelining was enough of an opening for the Spaethcadet to collect an all-time record bag full of dough.
