It's nice to be nominated....

A friend of Scott's from "the Wah" runs a football pool based each week on the game played by the San Francisco 49ers. Alas, how to describe it both in brief and detail. There is a grid of 100 hundred squares (10 X 10). Each week along the horizontal, the numbers 0 through 9 are randomly assigned and represent the last digit of the total points scored that week by the 49ers. Along the vertical, the numbers 0 through 10 are randomly assigned and represent the visiting teams final point total.

50 out of the 100 squares are purchased ($10 a game for a total of $160) and the balance are left blank. If the last digits of the 49ers and visiting team correspond to a blank square, the $500 winnings from that week are rolled over to the following game. There have been 10 games so far this year and someone hit the square on the second game. However, since that time, there have been seven consecutive games in which the digits landed on a blank square. This made the pot $4,000 for this weeks game against my hometown Seattle Seahawks.

Scott and I went to the game, my annual trek to Candlestick (I refuse to call it by its now official name) to watch the 7-2 NFC Division leading Seattle Seahawks try and extend their five game winning streak against the 2-7 San Francisco 49ers. The starting quarterback this week was Ken Dorsey but you heard it here first, but I predict that by the end of the 2006-07 season, Cody Pickett will be the regular starting quarterback and not the millions earning first in the draft pick, Alex Smith. You heard it here first: Cody Pickett.

This week, Scott had 9 for San Francisco and 4 for Seattle. The game unfolded this way,

Seattle 3 San Francisco 0
Seattle 3 San Francisco 3
Seattle 10 San Francisco 3
Seattle 10 San Francisco 6
Seattle 17 San Francisco 6
Seattle 17 San Francisco 9
Seattle 17 San Francisco 12
Seattle 24 San Francisco 12

At this point, with about nine minutes left in the third quarter, a touchdown and extra point would put Scott in the catbirds seat. However, one must know that this is the same 49ers team that had NOT scored a touchdown in three games.

Alas, the Seahawks scored a field goal and the score was

Seattle 27 San Francisco 12

However, the first play of the 4th quarter brought the 49ers scored a touchdown.

Seattle 27 San Francisco 19

We were on. Instead of the 49ers needing to score a touchdown, it was now the Seahawks that needed to make it into the endzone, a much better proposition than before. The clock ticked down, at first this was desired as to run out the clock, but it then became the enemy.

In the end, the 49ers scored a last minute touchdown to make the game 27-25 but missed the two point conversion and Seattle left town with a win.

Addendum: At halftime, a great moment occurred as Steve Young was presented with his Hall of Fame ring. The speech that he gave was heartfelt and moving, even to one who has never been a fan of the 49ers. You could tell that he wasn't using hollow words to thank all those who were a part of his success in football. One strange thing of note, however, was every 49ers inducted into the Hall of Fame was present except for Joe Montana.