Picks panel administrator John Adams is considering "massive changes" on the panel for next season, according to an e-mail obtained by the News Sentinel.

"We've got too many pickers picking not to lose," Adams wrote in an e-mail to pickers. "And we can't continue that way."

Adams initially had "no comment" when News Sentinel investigative reporter John Adams asked him about the e-mail. Later, he acknowledged he wasn't pleased with the pickers.

"The e-mail was intended for pickers only," an obviously perturbed Adams told Adams. "I consider pickers family, and I don't like discussing family business in the newspaper.

"But unfortunately, one member of our family doesn't adhere to the same standards and leaked the story. And since I realize you place 'getting the story' ahead of all human endeavors, I don't think there's any point in asking you not to run the story."

Adams told Adams he had been dissatisfied for sometime with pickers playing it safe. Last week, he raised the minimum number of upset picks from three to four. Earlier this season, he implemented a bonus system, giving the top picker of the week five bonus points.

"You can't legislate courage," Adams told Adams. "I have tried to send a message, but it has been ignored for the most part."

Adams said he contracted an independent firm to evaluate all pickers over a two-year period. The conclusion of that study: "No guts."

"The study confirmed what I suspected," Adams told Adams. "Most pickers rarely will pick more than the minimum number of upsets. They're so afraid of making a mistake, so afraid of being kicked off the panel, they won't pick a long shot.

"Sure, you want your pickers to be successful. But you also have to remember this is entertainment. People don't pay for a subscription to pickspanelxtra.com to read that 24 pickers predict Tennessee will beat Vanderbilt.

"You can get somebody off the street to do that. In fact, we have gotten pickers off the street. But that's another story."

Adams told Adams that a reader survey reflected the disdain readers have for pickers who play it safe. Dr. Julius Quackenstein, the picks panel psychiatrist, wasn't surprised by the survey results.

"Most people want to take chances but they're afraid to," Quackenstein said. "Consequently, there's a lot of self-loathing about this. They hate that quality in themselves. But they hate seeing it in others even more.

"They pull for pickers who take chances and seek to live vicariously through them. It's all rather pathetic. But that's the world in which we live."

Adams told Adams he wrote the e-mail to the pickers to get their attention, a "last-chance sort of thing."

"I want to see somebody pick a double-digit underdog every now and then," Adams told Adams. "I want to see somebody pick a game that makes a reader say, 'Wow!'"

Adams wasn't critical of all the pickers, just most of them.

"Chuck Cavalaris and Jim Wogan aren't afraid to take chances," Adams said. "Both picked Notre Dame, which was a seven-point underdog against UT."

The upset pick helped Cavalaris earn five bonus points for the best record of the week. That enabled him to jump from fourth to first in the standings.

Adams wouldn't say how many pickers might be kicked off but said it could be as many as 20. He said he had a number of substitutes waiting in the wings and already has received more than 300 applications from other aspiring pickers for next year.

"We'll see if our pickers can change their habits," he said. "If the pickers can't change, we'll change the pickers."

John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knews.com.