Loudoun Could Get 60 Inches of Snow Saturday! OK ... That was a Shameless Headline to Get You to Read Our Final You Pick'Em Column of the Year!

In Line at Giant Buying Milk and TP (aka Ashburn) (Dec. 18, 2009) - Look I'm not saying that people in Ashburn are panicking in the wake of the forecast for 6 to 12 inches of snow Saturday but my neighbor just drove by and she had three cases of Charmin extra soft strapped to the top of her SUV.

So in midst of winterizing my garden gnome collection (don't want the little guys to get frostbite!) ... I thought I would wrap up our high school football You Pick'Em season.

We started in the Dog Days of August and ended in the well ... Dawg Days of December ... with Stone Bridge playing yet again for a state title and Broad Run ... nobody calls in Cornfield High anymore, do they? ... winning back-to-back state titles. More than a decade ago I went to my first Broad Run football game, just as a fan with my son, now 17, who was 4 at the game ... there were about 500 fans in the stadium and 400 were on the visitors side. That might have been the year when Broad Run went winless in football and boys basketball back-to-back.

Now all they do back-to-back is win state football titles and girls soccer titles and back-to-back-to-back in softball! Forget the corn, this high school puts its teams on Wheaties boxes! (Fun Fact: Tiger Woods has appeared on Wheaties boxes 14 times, second most to any athlete next to Michael Jordan at 18, ... wait a minute, Tiger ... 14 times ... hmmmm ... rings a bell, just can't quite place it ... anywho ...)

I digress!

So, Stone Bridge baseball coach Sam "Walk The" Plank emails and tells our crack staff to get on the ball ... surely his 21-14 pick of Broad Run, two points off of the 21-16 win over Amherst County would move him up the all-time leaders board for You Pick'em winners.

Well ... sorry to say but Plank got Ker-Plunked (before video games ... Ker Plunk was big time entertainment in the Sousa household) by not one, not two, but three others picks.

Yes, we had a 3-way tie (much like the voting for Coach of the Year in any Dulles District sport ... favorite reading material during the voting meetings: "Your OK, I'm OK" ... hey, you think that is deep ... don't make me go all "Martin Buber" on you!)

Ryan Rogers, Greg Dawson and Chris Robinson all had 21-17 for the win. For Rogers and Dawson it moved them both up to win No. 7 all-time (they get a free fill-up and 100 Green Stamps! ... sorry kids, you will need to be over 45 to understand Green Stamps). Robinson is a first-time winner ... Way to go all three!

On the Stone Bridge game, Ryan Price, living up to his nickname The Price is Always Right ... wins again, No. 10 all-time and now he is within six wins of the all-time leader Jason (aka The Oracle) Treon. Price had Phoebus winning 24-12, within 11 of the 15-10 final and edging out Robinson (24-14) and Dawson (25-10), who were almost double winners, and Tim Lieb (21-17).

What a great season! Please join us next year ... I promise to not "monkey" around with the URL between now and then!

Fine print: A big shout out to the wife of one local sports writer, we will keep her name anonymous to protect the writer, who says she enjoys our fine print each week. Let's just give her the nickname "Mrs. Lukat" ... all of the fine print this season has been produced by a "content farm" in Round Hill ... fun fact: every 10th employee in the Loudoun Public Schools has "Oblas" as their last name (look it up!) ... Three days after the Stone Bridge-Massaponax Mud Bowl game, the Bulldogs found a pair of cleats, a snare drum, a photo of Ronnie Shaban and the Massaponax starting defensive end buried in the mud ... yes we finally bought a Christmas tree, no it isn't decorated but I did find our two kittens hanging off it this morning, living ornaments, could be a new business venture ... for every photo you buy on VivaLoudoun.com this holiday season, an angel gets its wings ... My nickname in high school was "Smoothie King" ... I realize that didn't sound quite right ... When the in-laws arrive on Dec. 17 and don't leave until New Year's Day, that isn't a "visit", that is grounds for legal residence ... No, I'm not worried they will read the Fine Print, every time they leave town, they slip me a $20 bill and a 12-step brochure ... Whatever holiday you celebrate this season, please enjoy and be safe ... honestly, we can't afford to lose the viewers! Enjoy!


All-time You Pick'Em Winner's List (udpated Dec. 18, 2009)
16 - Jason Treon (aka The Oracle)
10 - John Koren, Ryan Price (aka The Price is Always Right)
9 - Tim Lieb
7 - Greg Dawson, Ryan Rogers, Chris Tully
6 - Jane Baker
5 - Walter (Fan Zero) McCowat, Sam (Walk The) Plank
4 - Ryder Sousa
3 - Kathy Athey, Jamie Eberly, Chuck McDaniel
2 - Jeff Hawes
1 - Steven Balik, Leon Barber, Andrew Berdhal, Zirkle Blakey, Joe Conroy, Larry Hall, Hayden Hawes, Sherrie Kipps, Carl Lukat, Marco Mastrangelo, Patrick McNanley, Phil Murphy, Chris Robinson, Trevor Scales, Dave Scarangella