There have been many comparisons drawn between the Gehlke Bros. Football Y2K season and this year's bizarre presidential election -- at least in this space -- but there were no hanging chads or calls for recounts following Sean's decisive performance in Week 17. The Junior Bro's success in taking three out of four splits in the season's final week secured a four-game victory over Glenn, giving Sean his largest lead of the season and his second picks championship in as many years.
Despite the margin of victory, Glenn was very much in the contest right to the end. Coming into the week trailing by two games following an excrutiating Week 16 that saw Sean survive a potential disaster, Glenn had one last opportunity to tie things up with two splits on Saturday. After the Giants beat Jacksonville to clinch NFC homefield advantage through the playoffs, the Senior Bro. was unable to cash in when Buffalo hammered Seattle in the nightcap. That left bleak prospects for Sunday splits, and out of sheer desperation Glenn was forced to create some unlikely opportunities. Unfortunately for him, Arizona fell flat on its ... er, tush in Washington. And then St. Louis added insult to injury by dumping New Orleans to win a playoff berth.
In retrospect there was little Glenn could have done Sunday, as most of the expected winners won. Sean breezed through the week with a 12-3 record. Glenn finished 10-5 and Benji was 8-7. We all correctly guessed victories for Denver, Philadelphia, Pittsburg, Oakland and Tennessee. We all missed the loss by Kansas City.
Now for some interesting season-ending statistics: Through 248 games, Sean finished with an overall record of 158-90 (63.7 percent), Glenn was four games back at 154-94 (62.1 percent) and Benji was 21 games out at 137-111 (55.2 percent). All of us improved over our individual records from 1999 (Sean at 61.3 percent, Glenn with 59.3 and Benji at 54.4). Glenn compiled the best weekly record most often this season, winning outright on five weekends and tying three times, Sean won four and tied three, and Benji won four and tied two. Benji achieved the single best weekend (Week 7) with a 13-1 record, but he also had the single worst weekend (Week 10) at 5-10. In all there were 58 splits this year (down nine from 1999), with Sean winning 31 and Glenn taking 27. Of the 14 weeks in which there were two or more splits, neither Bro. was able to sweep, which just shows how close this season was.
| Week 17 — Results
G = Glenn's picks S = Sean 's picks B = Benji's picks Winners in bold |
| Saturday, December 23, 2000 |
S Jacksonville @ New York Giants GB
San Francisco @ Denver GSB
S Buffalo @ Seattle GB
| Sunday, December 24, 2000 |
G Arizona @ Washington SB
Chicago @ Detroit GSB
Cincinnati @ Philadelphia GSB
GSB Kansas City @ Atlanta
GS Miami @ New England B
B New York Jets @ Baltimore GS
SB St. Louis @ New Orleans G
B Tampa Bay @ Green Bay GS
GSB Pittsburgh @ San Diego
Carolina @ Oakland GSB
B Minnesota @ Indianapolis GS
| Monday, December 25, 2000 |
Dallas @ Tennessee GSB
| Bye: Cleveland |
| Gehlke Bros. Football Picks 2000 |
This page last updated Tuesday, December 26, 2000 @ 00:05 hrs.