The spouse of one of most well-known former television sportscasters is showing she’s also got game. Fairmont’s Traci Stingo was one of seven individuals to finish this week’s Dyer Group Playoff Payoff with a 26-5 record and was the only one to win the blind draw.

 

While not winning the top prize, Bridgeport’s Gerald Hull proved to have a little bit of luck. Finishing with the same mark, he was the individual drawn for the choice of the second prize.

 

Thanks to her skill, Stingo will need to email Ben Queen at www.benqueenphotography.com with her address and contact information along with her choice of a gift card from Buffalo Wild Wings or a small cheesecake from Almost Heaven Desserts. Hull will receive the prize not chosen by Stingo, but also need to email Queen with his contact information.

 

Stingo's husband, Dave, was the long-time sports anchor at WDTV and was involved with the inceptions of The Fifth Quarter.

 

Joining Stingo and Hull at the top of the week three picks were Amber Gaines, James Hayes II, Jason Hartman, Tommy Stewart and Chad Reppert. All finished 26-5.

 

After that was a 15-way tie for the No. 8 spot. The group that finished the week 25-6 includes Spencer Tyce, Chuck Morrison, Clark Riley, Gary Romano, David Marshall, Timmy Thompson, Dana Arbogast, Tom Surock, Pat Boyles, Jeff Yoho, Aaron Williams, Grant Burton, Joseph Pecarro, Rob Stallman and Gary Lhotsky.

 

Rounding out the top 25 is a 24-way deadlock for the No. 23 spot. The group of Michael Mann, Sharon Stutler, Jimmy Stutler, Jeff Weimer, Steve Alfred, Vernon Louk, Zachary Markley, Chris Oliverio, Jeff Muller, Duke Ware, Eric Carpenter, Mike Alastanos, W.J. Bramer, John Satterfield, John Hart, Joe Teter, Michael Perry, Jeremy Cook, Marcus Derosa, JT Hilton, Jason Young, Bill Tichenor, Brad Ling and Brandon Price all finished 24-7.

 

In the overall standings, Timmy Thompson stands by himself with a 76-13 mark. A four-way tie for second feathers Traci Stingo, Chad Reppert, Amber Gaines and Aaron Williams at 75-14.

 

Five in the field are tied for sixth place. Dan McNamee, James Hayes II, Louis Aragona, Michael Mann and Jason Young all come in at 74-15. Five more are tied at No. 11 with James Burton II, Tanner Hill, Jimmy Stutler, Joseph Pecarro and Duke Ware all posting 73-16 marks.

 

Round out the overall top 25 is a 15-way deadlock for the No. 16 spot. Jeff Muller, Jeff Yoho, Brian Martin, Tom Surock, Jason Hartman, Joe Teter, Hugh Gainer, Aaron Mann, Sharon Stutler, Don Cumming, Bill Montgomery, JT Hilton, David Marshall, Chuck Morrison and Clark Riley are all at 72-17.

 

The prize packages are still being put together for the year. However, one of the top prizes include a $500 gift certificate from the Meadowbrook Mall. The top three pickers will be awarded prizes at the end of the contest, which usually goes into December. The overall winner has their choice of the three prizes, while the second-place winner will have their choice then of the final two remaining prizes.

 

So, if you missed the first week of picks does that mean you can’t win in the overall prize selection? It would be difficult at this point, but not impossible. Here’s the good news.

 

What makes the Carder Motors Playoff Payoff competition unique is that once the contest is over you don’t necessarily know who the winner is even though you will see your weekly overall ranking and Connect-Bridgeport will post the weekly and overall top 25 throughout the contest. At the end of the year, everyone that competes has their two worst weeks dropped and then the winner is announced based on the highest winning percentage.

 

That means you can register now and two of the first three week will be eliminated in the final totals. Even after that, you can still enter and win weekly prizes.

 

If you are a registered member of Connect-Bridgeport's Web site, all you must do is make sure you're signed in and the click the Playoff Payoff icon on the home page that can be found by scrolling down to the left. If you're not registered, go to the top of the home page and register. It takes less than a minute.

 

Another unique aspect of the competition is that you can make changes to your picks leading up to games on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Individuals can make their picks for Friday’s games and can change them until 6 p.m. Friday. Games that are listed on Saturday and Sunday can be entered and changed as many times as necessary until 11 a.m. each day of the picks.

 

Unfortunately, there are occasional schedule changes - usually on the prep football side - that staff does not catch; usually games moved to Thursday or a time change bumped up. 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.

 

You must use your actual name to compete. Nicknames or aliases will not be recognized for weekly or overall prizes.