Apparently, you don’t have to local to be good at picking games in Connect-Bridgeport.com’s Blue Dot Services Playoff Payoff football pick’em contest. In fact, you don’t even have to live in West Virginia.

 

For the second time this year, Bridgeport High School alum Curt Burner, who lives beyond the borders of the Mountain State, has ascended to the top of the weekly standings. This time, however, he needed a little luck to go with his skill. Burner actually finished tied with Jeff Muller, also who lives out of state, for the top spot with a 25-2 record. Thanks to a blind draw by a member of the Bridgeport Parks and Recreation staff, Burner is this week’s winner.

 

Thanks to his showing, Burner – who is also a member of the Bridgeport High School Hall of Fame – takes home the weekly prize. He walks away with a gift certificate from Mountaineer World, which is situated just off Interstate 79 and below the Meadowbrook Mall as part of the Shops of Benny’s Place. Burner needs to contact Hannah Cantrell by emailing hannah@connect-bridgeport.com to claim the prize. Cantrell will get in touch with Burner no later than Monday of next week, but likely prior to that.

 

While there was a two-way tie for first, there was a three-way deadlock for third. Chris Kerr, Curtis Marozzi and Patsy Sabatelli all finished the week 24-3. That was followed by a six-way tie for sixth place as Kevin Carbacio, Michael Mann, A.J. DeFazio, Andrew Banko, Donnie Lantz and Matt Ash finished with 23-4 records.

 

The first of two huge logjams of voters comes in at the No. 12 spot. Bill Montgomery, David Gillot, Jason Dodd, Hugh Gainer, Tony Masto, Jayson Nicewarner, Chad Morris, Frank Blake and Paul Fulks all come in at 22-5 for the week.

 

Rounding out the top 25 are 12 individuals who are tied at the No. 21 position. The group of John Pulice, Brian Randolph, Brian Martin, Dwight Bullough, Tyler Furbee, Fred Spicer, Steve Sandefur, Matthew Genin, Frank Brown, Robert Marra, Louis Aragona, and J.T. Hill finished the week with a 21-6 record.

 

In the overall standings, Lou Aragona once again has maintained his overall lead. However, the lead shrank back down to one game. Aragona stands at 209-55 (79.17 percent) and Kevin Carbacio is right on his heels at 208-56 (78l79 percent).

Third place is the sole domain of David Gillot with a 205-59 (77.65 percent) record. The first tie comes in at the No. 4 position as A.J. DeFazio, John Pulice and two-time and defending champion Hugh Gainer stand at 203-61 (76.89 percent). A two-way tie is in place at No. 7 and Dan McNamee and Chris Nutter are deadlocked at 202-62 (76.52 percent).

 

In the No. 9 position, Michael Mann and Patsy Sabatelli are all even at 201-63 (76.14 percent). Bill Montgomery stands alone at No. 11 with a 200-64 (75.76 percent) record. Andrew Bank and Casey King stand at 199-65 (75.38 percent) for the No. 12 spot.

 

The first big tie is at No. 14 as six individuals have the same record. The group of Paul Fulks, Jeff Muller, Jason Dodd, Doug Marquette, Jeff Toquinto and Kelly Ayoob has compiled the same record of 198-66 (75 percent).

 

Rounding out the top 25 is a seven-way tie for the No. 20 spot. Tom Fogg, Derrick Bramer, Michael Hustead, Fred Spicer, Danny Knight, Mike Nicewarner, and Greg Scalise end week nine with a picking total of 196-68 (74.24 percent).

 

Anyone can still enter and be eligible for the weekly prizes. The grand prize winner will receive a $500 gift certificate to the Meadowbrook Mall. Second place is a weekend at the Stonewall Jackson Resort, while the third place winner has a prize package that consists of gift certificates to The Wonder Bar, Mia Margherita and more. Remember, those picking will have their worst two weeks of the contest eliminated to help determine the winner.

 

As for the contest itself, each week, a story will detail the weekly winners as well as the overall leaders for the prizes. This year, the weekly winner will receive a gift card to either Mountaineer World or Mountaineer Grille (depending on the week). In the event of a tie, the winner will be chosen by a blind draw by a staff member working at the Benedum Civic Center.

 

Unfortunately, there are occasional schedule changes - usually on the prep football side - that staff does not catch; usually games moved to Thursday. There are also occasional mistakes with the proper teams playing each other. As has been the case in the past, each person will either be given a win for those games when there are schedule changes we miss or a mistake on our end or a or they will simply not be counted for the weekly and final standings.