Week 2 Update: Final Results

Here's a look at how I did in Week 2.

I did better this week than last with a total of 12 wins. I felt really good about this week, but then WVU and Boston College lost. Coming soon will be Week 3's schedule, so keep an eye out.

Also, today I took a second to contact Dick Vitale from ESPN through his personal website. He was a close, personal friend of Jimmy Valvano and I'm hoping that my appeal to Vitale will get some sort of reply.

Quick Thanks

I just wanted to take a second to thank two of my good friends, Briana Emma and Zach Mongiovi for their contributions to "Pick'em For Progress."

Briana has agreed to give me a set amount donation while Zach has pledged to give $2 for every $5 that I can raise with my predictions.

My ultimate goal is a donation of $500 to the Jimmy V Foundation, and if I select enough correct games (plus the other donations and pledges) we should get there easily.

Thanks again to you two, the first two to go out on a limb and agree to contribute.

Facebook Group Created

For all of you out there with access to Facebook, I have created a Facebook group that will be the proverbial "co-host" for Pick'em For Progress. You can find the Facebook group by following this link (I've used TinyURL to condense the URL so it's easier to remember/use) http://tinyurl.com/6k5ym8.

I want to thank my friends for their support thus far. All of this isn't easy to put together, so the kind words I've heard so far make it all the more worthwhile. Keep an eye on both this blog and the Facebook group for more updates!

Week 2 Update: Schedule

That's the Week 2 schedule of games. Most of the main conference games were picked because, well they should be great contests, or at the very least, entertaining. When I first started out doing this back in July, I wanted to leave some room to add good games as they pop up during the season and we have two of those here.

East Carolina shocked the ACC by beating Virginia Tech this weekend. Who would have thought? I remember watching this game last year, it was the first football game since the VA Tech shootings, and as I watched I sort of felt "C'mon ECU, please let them win." I don't remember the final score, but I remember thinking at times that VA Tech was going to lose on such an important day for their campus. I guess ECU decided to let them off the hook for a year. I don't think ECU has a shot against West Virginia, but I wouldn't be that surprised this time. I hope it's a good game at least.

I didn't originally pick the Miami/Florida game because I didn't know what to expect from either team. Florida talked about how they were going to limit Tebow's role and they have a lot of new faces that have to prove themselves. As for Miami, the historically great team has been far from that lately, and with a convincing win against Charleston Southern (who? exactly) maybe they can get back into form. Both teams have a lot to prove, so it should be interesting.

The conference games are all relatively easy to predict. There are always a few curveballs, but things should stay pretty regular still in Week 2. I like Cinci and Southern Miss. but I don't think either has a serious shot to pull off an upset, but if they do, you heard it hear first! My pick for the most entertaining game all week goes to Nevada vs Texas Tech. Texas Tech is always at the top of the nation in offense, and Nevada employs a pretty explosive offense themselves. I would guess the total score will be upwards of 75 points.

I hope everybody had a great kickoff weekend. I know I got my fill of football, but I can't wait to get some more. Also, the NFL kicks off on Thursday, so keep an eye on that. Can life get any better?

Week 1 Update: Final Results

Below is an image I captured of my excel spreadsheet of my picks/results for Week 1. Each week after the games are played (or during if I'm excited about how well I'm doing!!) I'll post the picture here. I did relatively well this week, 11 out of 15 picks correct. Remember, I picked the winners of these games about a month ago when I was bored at work. So I'm pretty souped!

In a little bit, I'm going to post information for Week 2 (schedule, some basic thoughts). Keep an eye out.

Also, follow me on Twitter. It's easy and you can get updates directly to your cell phone or to your own Twitter account. Find my page here.

Introduction...

Welcome everybody,

I'm a huge sports fan, and as such, I spend a lot of my time watching ESPN. Throughout the years I have seen Jimmy Valvano's ESPY speech a handful of times. For the uninitiated, Jimmy V was the head basketball coach for NC State (1983 NCAA Champs) and died of cancer in April of 1993. The Jimmy V Foundation was set up following his passing, and has been a leading "charitable organization dedicated to saving lives by helping to find a cure for cancer." "The foundation seeks to make a difference by generating broad-based support for cancer research and by creating an urgent awareness among all Americans of the importance of the war against cancer. The V Foundation performs these dual roles through advocacy, education, fundraising, and philanthropy. Its motto is 'Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up.'" (JimmyV.org)

While Jimmy V is surely not the only person to be affected by the disease, I was always touched by his case. Jimmy V experienced a roller coaster ride in his last few months on this Earth and his words and actions have always struck a chord with me (I will include his speech below). ESPN has recently begun using their worldwide reach to reach out and try and raise awareness (and money) for cancer research. Most people believe that their small contributions can't help, however, I have become to feel that is not the case. While listening to the Mike and Mike morning radio show on ESPN 1050am, I began to feel that any dollar could make the difference.

Lately, I've begun working with a new start-up company called Sportvantage. At Sportvantage my main tasks include writing articles and creating/moderating our interactive online games. One of my pet projects is my College Pick'em (in a nutshell: I selected 1 major game from each conference plus four other big games and chose the winners of all the games before the season).

I've always wanted to donate to a worthy cause like the Jimmy V Foundation, but I felt I never had the right motivation. Somewhere along the way it dawned on me, I cold combine my College Pick'em and my desire to donate. With every correct selection, I will donate $1 at the end of the season.

I urge you to comment on this if you have been impacted by cancer, or if you support what I'm doing. Also, if anybody would like to match my donation, I would gladly add your pledge to mine and showcase your charity on this site.

In future posts I will introduce more background information about myself and my motivations but I don't want to bore you right out of the gate. So, I will leave you with the words of Jimmy Valvano from his 1993 ESPY Speech:

"I'm a very emotional and passionate man. I can't help it. That's being the son of Rocco and Angelina Valvano. It comes with the territory. We hug, we kiss, we love. When people say to me how do you get through life or each day, it's the same thing. To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. Number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special...It's so important to know where you are. I know where I am right now. How do you go from where you are to where you want to be? I think you have to have an enthusiasm for life. You have to have a dream, a goal. You have to be willing to work for it...I just got one last thing, I urge all of you, all of you, to enjoy your life, the precious moments you have. To spend each day with some laughter and some thought, to get you're emotions going. To be enthusiastic every day and as Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "Nothing great could be accomplished without enthusiasm," to keep your dreams alive in spite of problems whatever you have. The ability to be able to work hard for your dreams to come true, to become a reality....I got one last thing and I said it before, and I want to say it again. Cancer can take away all my physical abilities. It cannot touch my mind, it cannot touch my heart and it cannot touch my soul. And those three things are going to carry on forever."

[I have edited out portions of the speech, to read the entire speech please visit: http://jimmyv.org/rememberingjim/espy.cfm]