Wow, ladies and gentleman! What a SABOWL offseason it has been. Marked with excitement, controversy, scandal, smugness, disappointment, jealousy, joy, and familial love – those are just a sample of what we’ve experienced and a foretaste of the themes we are going to see at work over the next few weeks. In anticipation of that, I proudly declare that the SABOWL XIII Locker Room is now open!

As we jump into the excitement today, I feel I must let you know the SABOWL has run into some tough situations over the past few months and we are grateful that some prominent coaches have stepped up to defend the SABOWL’s glory.

The first incident occurred when an unnamed SABOWLer woke up from a glorious dream in which they were proudly hoisting the SABOWL above their fire place. They woke up loudly exclaiming “Finally, she’s mine, all mine!!” You can imagine the disappointment when loved ones had to break the news that it was all a dream! I don’t want to go too much into what followed other than to share Jim Harbaugh’s defense of the SABOWL.

Secondly, an interviewer became aware of the SABOWL’s coverage of Mike Gundy and asked him about what he thought about the SABOWL’s flattery of his coaching successes. In true Mike Gundy style, he thought the 3/4s SABOWL site was inaccurate fiction that embarrassed him. He went on to say that he doubts that the SABOWL trophy itself has offspring before stating the following:

Lastly a little bit of praise. After ripping apart the college playoff system, Mike Leach was shown a picture of the SABOWL mascot.

We loved his response:

We’ve got a great season ahead! Stay tuned today as we get spreadsheets uploaded and have a great SABOWL kickoff today. See you in the Locker Room SABOWLers!

Welcome to SABOWL XII everyone!

In a world where nobody gets along and each day’s news brings another reason to disagree, today we step into the one true reason to disagree…The SABOWL!The beauty and mystery of the SABOWL is that it simultaneously draws our family closer together & farther apart.

This season we will be unified in our hope for the glorious presence of the SABOWL to fill our home and most of us will be unified in crushing, devastating defeat. We’ve got a great season in store for us!

So many storylines to follow:
– Could No-Mo-Amacho-Joe possibly repeat his title?
– Will Josh be able to rebound from experiencing such an excruciating last minute defeat last year in the closest SABOWL race in SABOWL history?
– Could Izabella establish herself as a force to be reckoned with?
– Will Julian be this year’s coming of age story?
– Will Jonathan pick Georgia Tech to win even though they didn’t make a bowl game this year?
– How many times will Mike Gundy make an appearance this season?
– Where is the SABOWL? Historically bar-mitzvah’s correspond with SABOWL-napping and the I-TEAM is exploring some leads as this post is going live.
– How many times will Danny declare the SABOWL rigged, bemoan the spread, and quit before he is actually eliminated from contention (or wins)?

As you can see, with all these questions floating out there, we’ve got an exciting SABOWL season ahead of us!

Some notes as we enjoy today’s festivities:

• The site will be brought up to SABOWL XII standards this evening with a public spreadsheet and other updates.
• SABOWL for Kids info will be coming soon.
• The Locker Room is now open…enjoy!

Well folks, its taken me a few days to process it but we have the first 3-way-tie for the SABOWL in SABOWL history!

The best I can discern from SABOWL history and an in depth search through my gmail is that the tiebreaker is this:

(1) Each competitor must predict the combined total number of points that will be scored in the National Championship by both teams. The person closest without going over wins.
(2) The tiebreaker for the tiebreaker is a prediction of how many points will be scored via field goal during the game.

Is this correct? If so,…

My recommendation would be for all competitors to send this information to Jonathan before 5 PM EST on Monday, January 9th.

This is a great SABOWL ending, handfull of games and basically a 4-way tie for the lead!

Here’s my best analysis on the scenarios playing out today.
– Florida win would make a 4 way tie. 5 Sabo’s left. If Iowa wins, Joe wins.
– Wisconsin win would eliminate Rebecca. 4 Sabo’s left. Western Michigan wins and Rebecca is in it and needs Penn State, Oklahoma, and Clemson wins to take it to a tiebreaker with Josh and Joe.
– USC win takes it down to the Oklahoma/Auburn game to determine if Izabowla or Jim wins the SABOWL. Penn State win means its a tiebreaker between Josh and Joe for the SABOWL.
– A Penn State win and an Oklahoma win would make it a three way tie breaker between Josh, Joe, and Izabowla.

Is this close to right?

Am I the only one who hasn’t slept in 48 hours?

Also, on a bit of a sour note. SABOWL compliance officers are investigating the Michael and Christina branch of the Sabo family for a potential illegal SABOWL training program after Jack’s 9-0 Kids SABOWL start and Izabowla’s inaugural SABOWL effort. I-Team update expected in the locker room, inside sources are saying that a conspiracy is afoot that could call into question the 3 SABOWL’s previously won by the family in question.

Today we hit the halfway point in SABOWL XI! We’re 21 games in with 23 games to go and only 6 games separating first place from last place…this is anyone’s SABOWL! We have had a total of 80 Locker Room comments in the last 48 hours, the SABOWL is showing signs of life!

To spice things up a little more, I’m going to post some bold predictions of things that will take place during the rest of SABOWL XI…

Bold Predictions for the rest of SABOWL XI:
*Danny picked the favorite to win in 12 of the remaining games. In 8 of those games, the favored team will win but will not cover the spread, thus losing.
*The Amateur’s strong start will fade and he will finish in the middle of the pack as the SABOWL’s way of punishing a competitor for using a moniker.
*Ellen will get feisty in the Locker Room after repeated comments implying she can’t win a SABOWL. By feisty, I mean she will tell Michael to “Please, hush.”
*Georgia Tech will win their bowl game and cover the spread for an impressive and astounding second year in a row.
*Rebecca will post a novel length comment in the Locker Room and then go on a 5 game winning streak.
*Stephen will select the college he plans to attend and then change his mind after said college costs him an important SABOWL victory.
*Jonathan will continue to develop his conspiracy theory in unhealthy ways ultimately leading him to create a blog about the SABOWL faking its death and moving to a Caribbean island.
*The SABOWL will put a restraining order on Jimmy after he fills it with hot, delicious coffee on New Year’s Eve and proceeds to drink from it until its empty.
*The Kids SABOWL will come down to a nail biting conclusion during the National Championship game.
*Josh will become the first back-to-back SABOWL champion in SABOWL history, books will be written, a parade will be held, and secret meetings will take place to try to keep him out of SABOWL XII.

An Important Announcement…
KIDS SABOWL XI is live! Little Sabo’s with parental assistance fill out the selection form here before 11:30 AM on Friday.

Things to Watch and more Bold Predictions for Today’s Games…

Today’s picks:
Today’s games:
Pitt favored over Northwestern by 5.5
Pitt’s RB James Conner will run for over 250 yards in his last collegiate game. Derek Jeter will cause a delay in the game after insisting he take a few ground balls at short in preparation for his return to the Yankees in 2017 now that A-Rod is gone.

Miami favored over West Virginia by 3.5
Miami’s QB, Brad Kaaya, will pass for 300 yards and 4 touchdowns as Miami cruises to a victory. The story of this game will be the odd press conferences:
– Georgia Tech will announce at half-time that they are finally going to drop Russell Athletic and no longer be the only college team wearing Russell uniforms.
– After the game, in effort to brand himself Brad Kaaya will conclude each sentence about how awesome his performance was by yelling “Kaaya” and making karate chop motions.

Utah favored over Indiana by 8.5
Indiana’s QB, Richard Lagow, will throw 3 interceptions in the first half giving Utah a comfortable lead to ride throughout the second half. We have an advance preview of Lagow’s interaction with his coach after interception #3…

It’s a new day, almost a new year and it feels like the SABOWL is on its way to being great again…especially as long as I stay in the lead. We’ve got a great slate of games ahead of us today and truly a lot of competitors still in the mix to take SABOWL XI home!

Some of you are feeling a little dejected, you’re hovering around .500 and doubting your chances. I get it. You’re staring at the screen looking like this guy.

I had an original thought today based on a movie I saw 10 years ago and not related to a google search I did four months ago for inspirational quotes while writing a SABOWL X champion acceptance speech.  In Million Dollar Baby, Eddie Dupris says that “boxing is an unnatural act. Instead of running from the pain like a sane person would do…you step into it.” SABOWL after SABOWL the majority of us do just that, we step into the pain. Every SABOWL, almost all of us hit the point of no return and then deal with the fallout of our hopes and dreams crashing down. And yet, every next SABOWL we throw our picks back in the ring to try again. Why would we step back into the pain? Because its worth it. Plain and simple the joy that flows from the SABOWL is worth whatever pain we experience from its illusiveness.

Today, almost all of you are still in it. Step into the pain, step into the locker room and let’s continue making the SABOWL great. When you got a SABOWL, you got a responsibility, when the SABOWL is struggling you don’t cry about your picks and give up. You get your self in there and you make that  SABOWL great again.

Games and picks below if you’d like to keep track of how far you falling behind the reigning champion (who is performing incredibly well up to this point in the SABOWL). There is a 90% chance the below picks are accurate so use the SABOWL spreadsheet as your authoritative source.

Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Bowl
North Texas favored over Army by 9.5
Army – Josh, Jimmy, April, Christina, Emily, Michael, Stephen, Izabella, The Amateur
North Texas – Jonathan, Danny/Julian, Rebecca, Ellen, Jim

Military Bowl Presented by Northrop Grumman
Temple favored over Wake Forest by 13.5
Temple – Josh, Christina, Stephen, Jonathan, Danny/Julian, Rebecca, Izabella,
Wake Forest – Jimmy, April, Emily, Michael, Ellen,

National Funding Holiday Bowl
Washington State favored over Minnesota by 6.5
Washington State – everybody but Jonathan, Danny/Julian
Minnessota – Jonathan, Danny/Julian

Motel 6 Cactus Bowl
Boise State favored over Baylor by 8.5
Boise State – Josh, Michael, Danny/Julian, Rebecca, Ellen, The Amateur
Baylor – Jimmy, April, Christina, Emily, Stephen, Jonathan, Izabella, Jim

It’s that special time of year everyone! The SABOWL XI Selection Page is ready for you to enter all your hopes and dreams (and your social security number and major credit card information as well)!

SABOWL XI SELECTIONS

Merry SABOWL everyone!

Selections are due in by 11 AM EST Saturday, December 17th.

It’s taken 8 months for it to finally set in, I won SABOWL X!

5 games behind the leader with 6 unique picks left…that’s usually the time SABOWL syndrome takes over and you give up virtually all hope. SABOWL X proved that anything is possible. I could not be more honored to be a 2 time SABOWL champion, it ranks as one of the highest achievements of my life, even above winning the Woodmen of the World Award for Proficiency in American History in the 8th Grade.

I can’t wait to attempt to overcome all odds and become the first back-to-back SABOWL champion in SABOWL XI.

A word of encouragement for my fellow competitors. In Million Dollar Baby, Eddie Dupris says that “boxing is an unnatural act. Instead of running from the pain like a sane person would do…you step into it.” SABOWL after SABOWL the majority of us do just that, we step into the pain. Every SABOWL, almost all of us hit the point of no return and then deal with the fallout of our hopes and dreams crashing down. And yet, every next SABOWL we throw our picks back in the ring to try again. Why would we step back into the pain? Because its worth it. Plain and simple the joy that flows from the SABOWL is worth whatever pain we experience from its illusiveness.

We are a few short months away from another run at glory, let’s make SABOWL XI the best SABOWL in recent memory!

We are down to four competitors for the SABOWL and that number will likely decline today. Several are still in the running for the Toilet SABOWL so keep your eyes on that as well!

Jimmy (23-11) Tennessee, Florida, Notre Dame, Iowa, Ole Miss

April (21-13) Northwestern, Florida, Notre Dame, Stanford, Ole Miss

Josh (19-15) Tennessee, Michigan, Ohio State, Iowa, Ole Miss

Emily (18-16) Tennessee, Michigan, Ohio State, Iowa, Oklahoma State