You smell that? That smell that is reminiscent of the first time you run the furnace in the winter? That smell of leather and disappointment? That is the sound of the Pantheon opening its doors at the start of a new season. That’s the sound of another season off football starting. And the start of another football season can only mean one thing.
That’s right — the time has come yet again for us to begin the time honored tradition of Call Your Shot Thursday!
The Rules
If, after all these years, you are somehow still unfamiliar with this tradition, let me assure you that it is actually quite simple to understand. All you need to do is take a look at this weekend’s slate of games for the NFC North and the NFC South (posted in a wonderful list below) and predict the outcome of those games in the comments below.
However, this year there is a new twist. I am going to require the help of our fine prognosticators. To hopefully limit the necessity of scanning through all the comments for called shots, I will be having each one of you update my spreadsheet.
I still want you to post your CYSTs in the comments below, for all the others to mock and ridicule, but you’ll still need to update the spreadsheet if you want them to count.
To update the spreadsheet, you will need to click on the link provided below. Once you have it open (and multiple people can be in there at once), enter your screen name into an empty cell in the first row. Please keep the names clean, as they will be posted in the articles going forward. This will also be your name for the entire season, so make it one that you will remember when you need to update the spreadsheet in later weeks.
After you have entered your screen name, find the games along the left-hand side, and update the greyed-in cells (in your column only!) with your scores. You will only need to fill in the grayed-in cells, as I will take care of the others. Then next week when it is time to call your shots again, you will find your name, and again fill in the boxes in your column.
If you have any questions about this, let me know, and we will work through it together. I sure hope this works.
Once the predictions have been posted, I will make a compare them to the actual results after the games have been played. The results of these prognostications will then be posted for all to see the following week.
Right about now, you may be wondering, “What’s in it for me?” Well, I’m glad you asked. As it has been since the beginning, the first person to correctly predict the final score of a game will receive a $25 gift certificate to NFLShop.com. After that? It’s only bragging rights among the posters here, and really, isn’t that enough?
So if you would like to have your name forever enshrined in the vast expanse that is the internet, simply call your shot in the comment section, and then update the spreadsheet from the link below.
The Games
Now that all that is out of the way, let’s move on to the games! Football is back, baby!
Simply copy and paste this list to the comments, and add your predicted scores after the team names. (Substitute scores for the XX and YY.)
Here is this week’s slate of games:
- Carolina Panthers XX @ Jacksonville Jaguars YY
- Green Bay Packers XX @ Chicago Bears YY
- Detroit Lions XX @ San Diego Chargers YY
- New Orleans Saints XX @ Arizona Cardinals YY
- Tennessee Titans XX @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers YY
- Philadelphia Eagles XX @ Atlanta Falcons YY
- Minnesota Vikings XX @ San Francisco 49ers YY
Here is the link to the spreadsheet. (Only update the cells in your own column.)
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11aazv-Gkdbt684ST3ZvP5U2SHjFqoYGLLq0atXSg8b4/edit?usp=sharing
Good luck, and may the CYSTs be ever in your favor!