Ut oh, it looks like the House has started to show up! The members opened the season with three consecutive wins, but the House rebounded in weeks 4 and 5 with decisive victories. The membership posted 9 wins out of 14 to The House’s 11. The House has now posted 11 wins in consecutive weeks. The simulation of the week on Madden NFL 10 for the Xbox 360 came in third place with an 8-6 record. The tally stands at Members 3, House 2 so far in 2009. Tune in tomorrow when the NFL week 6 picks and predictions are released. Read the rest of this entry »

The TMRzoo “Beat the House” Week 5 picks and predictions are live and voting is now open. The House finally emerged victorious for the first time in 2009 in week 4. The membership’s 10 correct picks weren’t enough to top the House’s 11. The Madden 10 simulation on the Xbox 360 was the top dog with 12. Get your week 5 picks in now and try your best to Beat the House and move up the TMR Leaderboard in the process. Read the rest of this entry »

The NFL Offensive, Defensive and Special Teams Players of the Week for Week 4 of the 2009 NFL Season have been announced and are shown below. Not too many people guessed this week’s selections correctly, more members selected the defensive players than offensive, and no member selected a winning trio. Better luck next week.

This week’s Nickent Golf NFL Players of the Week are:
Read the rest of this entry »

Everyone won in week 4, but it was the Madden Sim that had the best pick set for the week. That doesn’t happen very often. The bye weeks kicked in during week 4, so the total picks correct were down, but the winning percentages were up. The membership posted 10 wins to The House’s 11. As mentioned, the simulation of the week on Madden NFL 10 on the Xbox 360 came in first with a 12-2 record. The tally stands at Members 3, House 1 so far in 2009. Tune in tomorrow when the NFL week 5 picks and predictions are released. Read the rest of this entry »

The NFL Football Week 5 Picks and Predictions have been posted by our expert and available for your voting pleasure. The football Guru known as Cletus, posted an impressive 11 out 14 correct in week 4, and has not stopped bragging around the office since. If you could, please check out his Beat the House picks and predictions contest entry page and agree or disagree with his week 5 picks in an attempt to shut him up… and win yourself some prizes in the process.

Last week the DVD and AXE Hair prize packs were not won because the House wasn’t beaten. You can also win a Jagermeister 6-Bottle shot cooler for correctly guessing the NFL players of the week. Make sure you get your entries in because voting closes at kickoff of the first game on Sunday. You can get to the page by clicking the link in this paragraph or the graphic of the bikini babes holding the Lombardi Trophy to your right. Read the rest of this entry »

The TMRzoo “Beat the House” Week 4 picks and predictions are live and voting is now open. The third (and second, and first) time was a charm for the members as they Beat the House in week 3. The House posted a decent 12 wins to the collective membership’s superior 13. Unlike week 3, the fourth week saw some pretty good pick sets. The Madden 10 simulation on the Xbox 360 only earned 9 correct picks. Get your week 4 picks in now and try your best to Beat the House and move up the TMR Leaderboard in the process. Read the rest of this entry »

The NFL Offensive, Defensive and Special Teams Players of the Week for Week 3 of the 2009 NFL Season have been announced and are shown below. Not too many people guessed this week’s selections correctly, and no member selected a winning trio. Better luck next week.

This week’s Nickent Golf NFL Players of the Week are:
Read the rest of this entry »

It appears that everyone did well in week 3, some better than others… and one of us was perfect. The membership posted 13 wins to The House’s 12 and the simulation of the week on Madden NFL 10 on the Xbox 360 came in third with a 9-7 record. The tally stands at Members 3, House 0, Sim 0 so far in 2009. The members are +6 in picks already… a pretty big span with only three weeks in the books.

The weekly and total stats are as follows:

The Challenge
Three games were not favored by the members this week… Titans at Jets, Jaguars at Texans and Miami at San Diego. Only one of those games fell the way the House predicted so the House has been beaten for the third time in as many week this season.

As the #1 seed in the AFC with a 13-3 record just last season, the Titans needed to avoid going 0-3 in 2009 and matching their 2008 loss total before week 4 even starts. The House had faith in them, but 60% of voting members did not… and accurately so. The red-hot Jets came out with a 14-0 lead in the first quarter and never looked back.

Jacksonville at Houston was a hard-fought contest against division opponents. The score flip-flopped back and forth throughout the game but it was the Jags who emerged victorious in the end, as the House predicted. Anyone else want to pad their stats against the Texans? They’ve given up 31 points in consecutive weeks… and 24 in week 1.

The third game in disagreement was Miami visiting San Diego. The House thought that the Dolphins could use the same ball-control offense that they almost held the Colts off with one week prior. Especially with L.T. watching from the sidelines. It never happened. Miami could only muster field goals until late in the fourth quarter but still fell short to the tune of 23-13. The Dolphins are another team that has almost matched their loss total of all last season already.

With the House losing 2 out of the three games in question, it falls again so prizes are to be awarded. This week we have some extra special prizes to award. For the first time in the history of the Beat the House competition, which spans two websites, a member picked all 16 games correctly. That is worth a trip to the prize closet and then some, so C_hawkfan, we’ll let you take your pick of DVDs, as well as giving you the Nerf Pro Grip, but since you were perfect, you have hit the Playboy.com perfect pick set and are entitled to a full-year’s subscription to the Cyber Club… or a prize equivalent in value. We’ll be in touch C, congrats again!

The second part of our competition, the Nickent Players of the Week, will be decided on Wednesday when the NFL announces the top performers for week 3. The prize is a full set of golf clubs and we actually had a winner in week 1. The odds are on your side, so go for it!

Tune back in on Thursday morning to once again agree or disagree with the House’s NFL week 4 picks and predictions.

The Fantasy
Overall, the personal stats looked low in week 3. After Peyton and MJD, there is a significant drop-off in scoring. We even have a backup QB in the top 5 this week.

The top five week 3 fantasy players were:

Peyton Manning
Quarterback – Indianapolis Colts
In 31-10 win over the Arizona Cardinals
- 24/35 for 379 yards, 4 TDs, 1 INT.

Maurice Jones-Drew
Running Back – Jacksonville Jaguars
In 31-24 win over the Houston Texans
- 23 carries for 119 yards, 3 TDs.

Santana Moss
Wide Receiver – Washington Redskins
In 19-14 loss to the Detroit Lions?
- 10 catches for 178 yards, 1 TD.

Kevin Kolb
Quarterback – Philadelphia Eagles
In 34-14 win over the Kansas City Chiefs
- 24/34 for 327 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs.

Aaron Rodgers
Quarterback – Green Bay Packers
In 27-24 win over the San Francisco 49ers
- 13/23 for 269 yards, 2 TDs. 8 carries for 38 yards, 1 TDs.

To review the Week 3 picks, visit the Beat the House main picks page. The week 4 picks and predictions will be up early Thursday morning. Make sure you get your picks in early to move up the leaderboard and get another shot at beating the house. Check in often, the board can drastically change over the remainder of the football season.

Stay tuned to see who will be named the Nickent Players of the Week and if any members have won another full set of golf clubs. We’ll update you as soon as the players of the week are announced.

For all other NFL and sports updates, check out the TMRzoo Sports Zone.

See you next week.

The NFL Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week for Week 2 of the 2009 NFL Season have been announced and are shown below. Nobody picked a single one of this week’s players of the week… and just one week after multiple members guessed correctly and we awarded our first set of clubs. Better luck next week. Read the rest of this entry »

The TMRzoo “Beat the House” Week 3 picks and predictions are live and voting is now open. In week 2, the House fell for the second consecutive time! The House posted a paltry 8 wins to the collective membership’s 10. It was a dreadful week for picks overall. The Madden 10 simulation on the Xbox 360 only earned 7 correct picks. Get your week 3 picks in now and try your best to Beat the House and move up the TMR Leaderboard in the process. Read the rest of this entry »

Week 2 saw quite a few surprises and upsets. The biggest upset, of course, was that the House was beaten for the second time in as many weeks. The membership threw up a 10-6 record to the House’s 8-8 sub-par effort. The simulation of the week on Madden NFL 10 on the Xbox 360 fared the worst with a 7-9 record. So it is Members 1, House 0 so far in 2009. The members are +5 in picks.

Here are the details…

The Challenge
Only two games were not agreed on by the membership. Neither were very close in voting… and one of the final scores was worse. Both games went opposite of the way the House predicted, and therefore the House has been beaten again.

The House believed that Carolina’s week 1 woes were just a farce and they would bounce back with a vengeance in week 2. This was not the case as Atlanta took the lead in the second quarter and never let it go. The Panthers did keep it close though for most of the game, but close only counts in… well, whatever. Panther QB Jake Delhomme had one foot out of the league and another bad day would essentially issue him his AARP card. He did fare well enough to play another day… at least one more.

The second game in disagreement was the New Orleans Saints visiting the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles put up a great defensive effort in week 1, but lost Donovan McNabb to injury in the process. He was a scratch, but a combination of a repeat defensive performance and New Orleans dreadful road record in recent years, could do the Saints in. Nope. Never happened. The Birds kept it close in the first quarter but two quick turnovers in the second half did them in. The House couldn’t be more wrong as New Orleans won in a rout, 48-22.

The San Diego / Baltimore game was a few votes away from being disagreed with. That one did fall the way the House picked it, but there were quite a few upsets in week 2. As we have seen in recent years, this is typical in the “new” NFL.

Congrats go out to the Members for Beating the House again. We have a sole member with the most correct picks – Rob Custer. Now, I also see a Robbie Custer and Robert Custer at the top of the leaderboard and I’m hoping this is the first Grandfather-Father-Son combination in the Beat the House competition. The other alternative is that it is the same member entering multiple entries, and that would be bad… real bad. Since the House was bested, we’re going to ship out a Nerf Pro Grip to the three generations of football fans as well as a DVD prize pack. We’ll be in touch.

The second part of our competition, the Nickent Players of the Week, will be decided on Wednesday when the NFL announces the top dogs for week 2. The prize is a full set of golf clubs and we actually had a winner in week 1. The odds are on your side, so go for it!

Tune back in on Thursday morning to once again agree or disagree with the House’s NFL week 3 picks and predictions.

The Fantasy
This week, three of the top 5 fantasy point earners all played in the same game. Obviously there was many points to go around in the Titans/Texans 34-31 abomination. Chris Johnson, Matt Shaub and Andre Johnson all had amazing games.

The top five week 2 fantasy players were:

Chris Johnson
Running back – Tennessee Titans
In 34-31 loss to the Houston Texans
- 16 carries for 1897 yards, 2 TDs. 9 catches for 87 yards, 1 TD.

Matt Schaub
Quarterback – Houston Texans
In 34-31 win over the Tennessee Titans
- 25/39 for 357 yards, 4 TDs.

Frank Gore
Running back – San Francisco 49ers
In 23-10 win over the Seattle Seahawks
- 16 carries for 207 yards, 2 TDs.

Andre Johnson
Wide Receiver – Houston Texans
In 34-31 win over the Tennessee Titans
- 10 catches for 149 yards, 2 TDs.

Byron Leftwich
Quarterback – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
In 33-20 loss to the Buffalo Bills
- 26/50 for 296 yards, 3 TDs, 2 INTs

To review the Week 2 picks, visit the Beat the House main picks page. The week 3 picks and predictions will be up early Thursday morning. Make sure you get your picks in early to move up the leaderboard and get another shot at beating the house. Check in often, the board can drastically change over the remainder of the football season.

Stay tuned to see who will be named the Nickent Players of the Week and if any members have won another full set of golf clubs. We’ll update you as soon as the players of the week are announced.

For all other NFL and sports updates, check out the TMRzoo Sports Zone.

See you next week.

The NFL Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week for Week 1 of the 2009 NFL Season have been announced. We also have another great announcement, two of these players were correctly guessed and we will be awarding the full set of Nickent Golf clubs for the very first time in two seasons!

Read the rest of this entry »

The TMRzoo “Beat the House” Week 2 picks and predictions are live and voting is now open. In the kickoff week of the 2009 NFL Season we saw the House fall to the membership… and that is the name of the game! The House posted only 10 wins to the collective membership’s 13. The Madden 10 simulation on the Xbox 360 only earned 9 correct picks. Get your week 2 picks in now and try your best to Beat the House and move up the TMR Leaderboard in the process. Read the rest of this entry »

Week One is always a bitch to pick. At least for me it is. You never know which teams are going to carry over their success, or failures, from last season, and who still has enough rust to affect the outcome of the game. Still, it is the role of The House to pick all 16 games correctly, and it didn’t happen, as proven by a mere 10 games picked correctly.

With the first week of the 2009 NFL season in the books, the results are as follows:

The Challenge
Three games we disagreed with in the kickoff week. Each of the three went the way the collective membership thought it would. The House picked Miami, Detroit and Carolina to win their week 1 contests, but all three failed to do so.

The first contest featured two 2008 playoff teams in the Dolphins and Falcons. Miami couldn’t quite get the ball in the endzone and Atlanta picked up right where they left off last season.

It was Carolina who ran into a brick wall in the Philadelphia Eagles, who are known for slow season starts. Philly routed them in what appeared to be the end of Jake Delhomme’s career in Carolina… or the NFL for that matter.

In a highly criticized pick, The House went with the Lions, coming off of their record 0-16 season, thinking they could muster a win for pride’s sake. No such thing happened, but the Lions did manage to score 27 points and bring the game within 11 points late in the third quarter.

Congrats go out to the Members for Beating the House, especially one in particular, who came as close as you can get to perfection without touching it. FishEater earned 14 wins in the kickoff week, picking only the Seattle/St. Louis game incorrectly. Since the House was bested, we’re going to ship out a Nerf Pro Grip football his way as well as a DVD prize pack. Congrats again. We’ll be in touch.

The second part of our competition, the Nickent Players of the Week, will be decided on Wednesday when the NFL announces the top dogs for week 1. Good Luck!

Tune back in on Thursday morning to once again agree or disagree with the House’s NFL week 2 picks and predictions.

The Fantasy
A few players lit it up right out of the gate. Drew Brees dropped 6 touchdowns on the Lions, an amazing performance and Adrian Peterson, most unshockingly, ran all day and night over the Browns. Rounding out the top 5 are Joe Flacco, Reggie Wayne and the T.O.-less Tony Romo. Here are the details:

Drew Brees
Quarterback – New Orleans Saints
In 45-27 win over the Detroit Lions
- 26/34 for 358 yards, 6 TDs, 1 INT.

Adrian Peterson
Running back – Minnesota Vikings
In 34-20 win over the Cleveland Browns
- 25 carries for 180 yards, 3 TDs.

Joe Flacco
Quarterback – Baltimore Ravens
In 38-24 win over the Kansas City Chiefs
- 26/43 for 307 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT.

Reggie Wayne
Wide Receiver – Indianapolis Colts
In 14-12 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars
- 10 catches for 162 yards, 1 TDs.

Tony Romo
Quarterback – Dallas Cowboys
In 34-21 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- 16/27 for 353 yards, 3 TDs.

To review the Week 1 picks, visit the Beat the House main picks page. The week 2 picks and predictions will be up early Thursday morning. Make sure you get your picks in early to move up the leaderboard and get another shot at beating the house. Check in often, the board can drastically change over the remainder of the football season.

Stay tuned to see who will be named the Nickent Players of the Week and if any members have won the full set of golf clubs this week. We’ll update you as soon as the players of the week are announced.

For all other NFL and sports updates, check out the TMRzoo Sports Zone.

See you next week.

Despite one game already being in the books, the TMR Zoo “Beat the House” competition is still accepting week 1 picks. You won’t win any tie-breakers entering so late, but if you do come in first in picks, you are still eligible to win our first DVD prize pack of the 2009 NFL season or the Nerf Pro Grip football. Voting will remain open until kickoff of the first game on Sunday. Our MLB Double Play contest is still under way, so there is another chance to win some great prizes or a full set of Nickent golf clubs! Read the rest of this entry »

It is unbelievable, I know, but the 2009 NFL season is finally upon us. And what is an NFL season without the TMRzoo’s exclusive football pick’em game “Beat the House”? For those of you joining our little competition for the first time, welcome. For all the returning members, you’ll love the new added bonuses this new and improved version has in store. It all starts Thursday evening with the NFL kick-off game. Click the link below to visit the picks entry page and review the House picks: Read the rest of this entry »