LTOB "USATF Pick-N-Win Contest" Contest Results: Pre

Drumroll, please....

Who's now tied for 35th Overall in the USATF Pick-N-Win contest? JEREMY'S now tied for 35th Overall in the USATF Pick-N-Win contest, that's who.

I overcame goose-eggs in 3 events by picking 12 events correctly, thus managing my highest point total for the season, and my highest overall finish in the USATF contest. As a result of my recent tear, yet another person didn't even bother to enter picks, faced with the hopelessness of trying to surmount me. (hehehe.... "mount me"...)

Here are the full results:

PTS - (USATF PLACE) - NAME - (Season-long USATF place)
153 ( 25) - Giving Less (again) (35)
144 ( 62) - Running Down a Dream
141 ( 73) - Hutch-in-the-Clutch
133 (135) - Four Toes (79)
127 (196) - LessThanOurBest.com
123 (231) - Sulphur Springs
121 (252) - Optimal Training
n/a (n/a) - Columbia, SC Runner
n/a (n/a) - Simon Says
96 (569) - Predicted Winners

Kudos to Katie for jumping into the Top 100, overall in the season-long standings at USATF. I have to look at Hutch-in-the-Marc-Jacobs-Clutch and wonder what could have been, had he played the game from the start...

Just one meet the go: the grand-daddy of the mall! Questions abound: will my head get any bigger? Will Predicted Winners get back on the right side of "100" and out of the place-of-shame behind the non-starters? Will more people get bored and quit? Check back at the end of June to find out!

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Fantasy Track 3: Prefontaine Classic

We complete the trilogy of "regular season" fantasy track with the Prefontaine Classic this weekend. Without a doubt, the end of this trilogy will be more Return of the King and less Godfather 3Of course, we can't escape the possibility of a Back to the Future 3 scenerio.

The rules are simple: CLICK HERE, sign up (if you haven't already), make your picks (once they are posted), then put your team name and your best trash talk in the comments below. If you win, we will send a flippin' sweet-azz prize to you via USPS. If you lose, we will mock your lack of knowledge and make fun of your PR's. Just like in non-fantasy track!

So get started. And while your making your picks, remember: To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.

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LTOB "USATF Pick-N-Win Contest" Contest Results: RBK GP

So... that was some meet. We had only sporadic rain, a near WR in the pole vault, and a couple of pretty impressive 5k's. So, not a bad night of track. Of course, my stomach was tied in knots all evening, as I was at the venue and, thus, unable to check my scores after each event. (I really need to invest in one of those computer-phone things with the Internet and everything. What are those called? The "Zune"?)

But now I've had a chance to check the scores, and I've compiled the results... which you can view, after the jump.

EAT IT AMERICA. Poonia pulled out (Ben said he didn't even know that was physically possible) and I still won. And you might think I'm glad we don't need to give out a prize now, but no: I'm keeping the would-be prize for myself.

PTS - place in USATF contest in parentheses - Overall place in USATF contest, after entry name
144 (111) - GivingLess (66)
128 (293) - Four Toes (105)
126 (317) - Running Down a Dream
126 (317) - Sulphur Springs
114 (513) - Optimal Training
114 (513) - LessThanOurBest.com
104 (649) - Columbia, SC Runner
n/a (n/a) - Simon Says
93 (763) - Predicted Winners

People have been congratulating me all weekend, and telling me how impressively I stuck it to "katie," and asking How did you do it? Well, all I can say is, you would be surprised how easy it is to slip laxative into athletes' water bottles when you bring along your hot cousin who isn't afraid to show a little cleavage. With a mirror wedged in there to shine a light in their eyes.

I'm now officially planning to attend the Pre Classic, so I can once again ensure my supremacy.

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IAAF Hopping on the USATF Gravy Train

The IAAF is now offering their own spin on fantasy athletics, this time, called "Fantasy Athletics." It looks like they are offering a more robust game-playing experience, with the option to do a "buddy league" -- which I can only imagine allows you to join a sub-league for bragging rights among friends and folks you've only met on the Internet.

But what I'm MOST excited about is that the IAAF's game will allow you to compete against "celebrity teams." Now, they haven't announced yet which celebrities will be lending their names to the teams surely to be picked by some know-it-all IAAF statistician, but I think we can all agree on one person that we hope will be in there: Miley Cyrus.

I expect her team name to be "Hannah You Your Ass."

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Fantasy Track 2: RBK Grand Prix

Here's your reminder to make your picks and get your entry in for the LTOB "USATF Fantasy Track Pick 'N Win Contest" Contest. Last week, "Katie" won with her entry "Four Toes" -- we're still waiting for Katie to send us her contact information so we can send her the prize from last week. Katie: LessThanOurBest@gmail.com -- I promise, we won't sell your information to hardly anyone.

This week The Show pitches its tent on Randall's Island in New York City for the Reebok Grand Prix. Among the highlights, we've got a showdown between Usain Bolt and Tyson Gay in the 100m, AND we've got LTOB in attendance to make certain our predictions come to pass.

NEW ENTRANTS, PUT YOUR TEAM NAME IN A COMMENT, BELOW. Returning contestants, feel free to let the trash talking begin.

***Update: You can pick your teams HERE!***

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LTOB "Pick-N-Win Contest" Contest Results: adidas Classic

Results after the jump.

It. Was. A TRAP! kate comes on here and posts her picks all innocently... so we "get inspired" to have this little contest and who wins? KATE. We thought, for a brief moment, that we were geniuses. We see now, that we were merely pawns in the machinations of a female mind-control game. Again.

PTS - place in USATF contest in parentheses
147 ( 41st) - Four Toes
139 (110th) - Giving Less
136 (138th) - Optimal Training
132 (204th) - Predicted Winners
111 (650th) - Simon Says
110 (674th) - LessThanOurBest.com
110 (674th) - Running Down a Dream
105 (785th) - Sulphur Springs

Oh, one more thing: we forgot to mention that there's one stipulation that goes with this contest. Should you win in a given week, you are required to take a photograph of yourself WITH THE PRIZE and send it to us for posting. Failure to do so will result in blatant slander and public humiliation. I can see it now: What They Didn't Tell You was that KATE has a fetish for LICKING DIRTY TOES DIPPED IN HOT SAUCE.

And finally, as a point of reference, dougcowles won the USATF contest this week, with 162 points, and 12 correct winners picked. In other words... MUCH better chance to win something over here.

On that note, let the lamenting about such-and-such an athlete begin!

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LTOB Announces 1st-Ever Announcement of LTOB-Sanctioned Contest

We here at LTOB are proud to announce our FIRST OFFICIAL (I CAN'T CAPS ANY HARDER) CONTEST! After seeing the conversation over at the Fantasy Track post raging like WILDFIRE, we have decided to offer a prize to the LTOB reader who racks up the top score in the USATF's Pick-N-Win Game, run in conjunction with the VISA Championship Series.

What is the prize you ask? Good question! I'm glad you asked! Shows you're interested!

The meets being contested are this weekend's adidas Track Classic, the Reebok Grand Prix (May 31st), the Nike Prefontaine Classic (June 8) and the US Olympic Trials (June 27-July 6). The USATF offers prizes on a meet-ly and a comprehensive basis, so why can't we?

Just enter your team-name in the comments section beneath the post corresponding to the upcoming meet. For the adidas Classic, we will use the already started thread linked above and HERE. As long as you post your team's name before the first event of the meet begins, you will be eligible to win that week's great prize.

So get to it and WIN BIG!

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Fantasy Track!

Most of you might already be aware of this, but the fossils wise elders over at USATF are actually doing something specifically geared toward track fans. This might be Visa's idea (in fact I'm sure it is) but USATF, in their infinite generosity, actually allowed it!

Track fans can now play fantasy track in a way similiar (but very different) to fantasy football or baseball. They also ran this for indoor, apparently. I wasn't informed. While the Visa Championship Series fantasy track is still in its most basic stage, meaning it is not nearly as "in-depth" and "fun" as your typical fantasy sports league, I like the idea a lot.



You can pick your team here. It's FREE! And you might win stuff too, but that's not the point really, now is it?

As it works now, you simply pick who you think will win in each event, men's and women's, at the next Visa championship series meet (Adidas Track Classic is this Sunday). After you pick your team, throw your team name and/or picks in the comments section below and we'll see who knows best (hint: According to many women, I'm great at "living in a fantasy world, you idiot" so I'm thinking this might be the perfect game for me).

It would be great if they ranked athletes (say 1-10 points, 10 being the top ranked in each event) and you could only use so many points to choose your team (say 75). Clearly, they are trying to make this as basic as possible so that they can get as many people to play as possible. Not a bad thing, I suppose.

Without further ado, my picks:

Team Name: LessThanOurBest.com (free pub aimed at anyone who looks toward the bottom of the leader board)

Men's Events
100m - Walace Spearmon (Gay is entered in 200m too, so I figure he'll scratch the 100)
200m - Tyson Gay
400m - Jeremy Wariner
800m - David Krummenaker (haven't decided yet if they accidentally put up a starting list from 2004)
1500m - Bernard Lagat
3000m - Jorge Torres
5000m - Markos Geneti
110m hurdles - Allen Johnson
400m hurdles - Bershawn Jackson (Bershawn is a great name isn't it)
Shot Put - Adam Nelson

Women's Events
100m - Lauryn Williams
200m - Allyson Felix
400m - Dee Dee Trotter
800m - Alice Schmidt
1500m - Shannon Rowbury (the mac of the minute right now)
3000m - Kara Goucher
100m hurdles - LoLo Jones
High Jump - Amy Acuff (hellooooo playboy)
Pole Vault - Jenn Stuczynski (she's Russian right? they always win the women's pole vault)

**Overall a pretty conservative list. Allen Johnson and Amy Acuff could be considered two lazy picks as they might be "old" (but they both had good seasons last year). Krummenacker is risky too, of course. But I really want Krummenacker to make a comeback, so that counts for something right? (no, it doesn't).

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