Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. At all times, it’s certainly better to be both. A case in point may involve the winner of this week’s Blue Dot Services Playoff Payoff Football Pick’em contest.

 

Bridgeport’s Lou Aragona not only had to be good to top the field of more than 200 individuals competing. He also needed to be a little bit lucky.

 

Aragona finished the week at 30-4 to lead the pack, but he had company. Perennial content JT Hilton also finished with a 30-4 mark, but Aragona’s luck was with him as he was chosen by a blind draw by a member of the Bridgeport Parks and Recreation staff.

 

Thanks to his skill and a little bit of luck, Aragona takes home the weekly prize. Aragona walks away with a gift certificate from the Mountaineer Grille, which is situated just off Interstate 79 and below the Meadowbrook Mall as part of the Shops of Benny’s Place. Aragona needs to contact Hannah Cantrell by emailing hannah@connect-bridgeport.com to claim the prize. Cantrell will get in touch with Aragona no later than Monday of next week, but likely prior to that.

 

Despite a huge slate of games, plenty of individuals had strong weeks along with Aragona and Hilton. Five individuals – Danny Knight, Scott Schield, James Hayes II, Duke Ware and Paul Fulks – all finished the week at 29-5 to tie for third place.

 

The logjam for the No. 8 spot was even larger with eight individuals knotted up. The group of John Pulice, Greg Scalise, Melissa Evans, Michael Cross, Jordan Nuzum, Kevin Carbacio, Jay Krohe and John Minnocci all finished at 28-6.

Rounding out the top 25 were 17 prognosticators that finished tied for 16^th place. Jason Jimmie, James Stutler, Russ Colley, Kelly Ayoob, Bill Montgomery, Michael Mann, Patsy Sabatelli, Mike Watkins, Adam Holbert, Ryan Chandler, Justin Steven, Tyrone Lockett, Doug Sayers, Gooch Holbert, Dan McNamee, Logan Somerville and Derrick Bramer all had strong weeks as they finished 27-7.

 

As for the overall leader, it’s a one-man show after two weeks of competition. Scott Schield is in the pole position with a 50-8 (86.21 percent) record, while Kevin Carbacio and JT Hilton are knotted up in second place (84.48 percent), while this week’s winner Louis Aragona and James Hayes II both stand at 48-10  (82.76 percent).

 

Things begin to get a bit crowded at the No. 6 position as 12 individuals are all even. Duke Ware, Greg Scalise, Doug  Marquette, Danny Knight,  Michael Cross, John Pulice, Paul Fulks, Derrick Bramer, Jordan Nuzum, Jamie Guy, Chris Nutter and John Minnocci all stand at 47-11 (81.03 percent).

 

Rounding out the top 25 in the overall standings are 13 more that have been strong in their forecasts. The group of Jay Krohe, Michael Mann, Brian Martin, Bill Montgomery, Jayson Nicewarner, Fred Spicer, Jeff Weimer, Dan McNamee, Kelly Ayoob, Ryan Chandler, Mike Watkins, Jarrod Hall and Scott Nicewarner has an overall mark of 46-12 (79.31 percent).

 

For those that had a bad week, or for individuals looking to participate for the first time but think it’s going to cost them, it’s not a problem. Just as last year, the worst two weeks of the picks will be eliminated from the final standings. What that means is that if you have missed the first two weeks, it will not count as long as you pick the remainder of the weeks.

 

For those that want to participate, it’s easy. If you are registered on Connect-Bridgeport.com, you can pick immediately by signing in and scrolling down the right side of the home page until you see the “Playoff Payoff” icon. If you are not registered go to the top of the page at www.connect-bridgeport.com and click on the "Sign Up" icon on the top right hand side of the home page. Once registered, you are free to pick.

 

Even if you begin picking after the first two weeks, you will still be eligible for weekly prizes that will be announced. 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.