Warner's turnovers were as annoying as Teddy KGB's Oreo taunting. (Source: Miramax)

It would have actually worked out to be $6,520 after I divided it with my office pool counterpart Dave. We made a pact prior to the season that if either guy got bounced we would split the pot. I don't want to say I carried Dave or anything but he did get eliminated in Week 2 on a Green Bay Packers loss to you guessed it…the Chicago Bears. For a team that doesn't win a whole lot the Bears really know how to pick their spots. Prior to the Giants loss things couldn't have been going anymore smoothly. The pool was made up of 651 participants at a $20 entry fee. The rules were simple: pick a team each week to win straight up. Once a team has been used you can't use them again. So the game is part chance and part strategy. You have to balance, showing a certain level of restraint in using powerhouse teams like the Patriots, Eagles, and Colts against the level of risk you're willing to bank on a lesser team. After eight weeks, the pool had been dwindled down from 651 to 26 people and I still had teams like the Steelers, Chargers, Broncos, Packers, and Vikings on the board. I was like Mike McD, full of confidence sitting at the table with a 9's over Aces full house and then the Giants game happened and it was like watching Teddy KGB pull out the American Airlines and crush me right there and then. I couldn't have been more confident. Mentally I had already spent the money on a nice new big screen HDTV - the kind of TV that would automatically make my place the default setting for any major sporting event. Big mistake in betting: never count on and make plans for the money you don't have. It just makes the loss sting that much more.

Of course not only did I have to deal with the pain of being ousted from a pool I had a very good shot of winning, I also had to handle the outpouring of support given to me. Monday was like a somber period of mourning and celebration of what I had accomplished all rolled into one. I was half surprised that there weren't any flowers, stuffed animals or banners sitting in front of my door. See, as I progressed deeper and deeper into the pool more of my friends and co-workers tracked my progress and would ask me things weekly like: "Are you still alive in that thing?", "How many people are still left?" All this support just boosted my confidence and therefore when I lost I not only had personal disappointment, I had other people I now had to face. On that Monday it seemed like no one could find the words to bring my spirits up; some people couldn't even make eye contact with me, while others reassured me that I should hold my head up high for lasting so long, while others tried to get me to view it as only losing my $20 entry fee and some were just downright worried about my state of being. I appreciated the support but it didn't dull the pain.

	Trump's voiceover work is something you'd expect to see on Canadian television. (Source: NBC.com)

I didn't think things could get worse and then I remembered I still had to face Dave and see his disappointed reaction of knowing that he would not be getting his share of the pot which he had already mentally spent on big down payment for a new a car. Let's just say when we did see each other it was more awkward than watching one of Donald Trump's horrible and obvious voiceovers in the Apprentice. You all know what I'm talking about. Those boardroom voiceovers are so horribly blended into the show that you would swear you were watching Canadian TV. Is it that hard for NBC to match Trump's dubbed redo against his original speech? It's comical to watch the obvious mismatch of contestants' canned reactions to a speech Trump really isn't saying. If they are making changes in editing maybe they could wake George up, dim Bill Rancic's ego down a few notches and perhaps make Trump's squirrel-like pelt of hair more realistic.

I wasn't the only one to feel the pain and mourning of what could have been; the Giants loss took down 24 of us in total and left only two standing after the dust settled. The two remaining teams decided to call it a tie and split the pot. Which brings up an interesting debate: if you were in a winner takes all situation against one other participant, all things being equal, would you take the truce or would you try to win outright? I kinda lean to the winner takes all side of the equation. I mean I always play "next goal wins" rules in road hockey, always go all in when my chips start to get low and always pull off a blockbuster deal at the fantasy trading deadline. Then again I'd gladly take half the pot proceeds right about now.

So now I'm left to ponder what would have been if I had used the San Diego Chargers instead like my instinct was telling me but alas I'm just going to take my tie for 2nd place and try to build on it next year. Note to self for next year: avoid betting with any Kurt Warner run team at all costs.