NASCAR format places pickers on new track

"Picks panel fans better buckle up," picks panel administrator John Adams said. "There's going to be a wild ride to the finish line."

Translation: The picks panel administrator likes NASCAR's new championship format so much, he has decided to emulate it.

After the first 10 weeks of the season, the top 12 pickers will enter a "picks pool" to compete for the championship and the coveted Arf Adams Memorial Trophy. The other 12 pickers will continue to pick but won't be eligible for the championship.

"This assures us of a dramatic finish," Adams said. "No matter how far ahead the leader is after 10 weeks, any one of the top 12 pickers will have a chance to win the title in the last four weeks."

"Why should you penalize someone who has picked outstanding all season along?" News Sentinel reporter John Adams asked picks panel administrator John Adams at the press conference. "Doesn't this cheapen the championship?"

"No, it enhances the championship," Adams told Adams. "It's one thing to pick well during the regular season. It's quite another to pick well in the heat of a playoff.

"The real champions rise to the occasion."

Adams said after 10 weeks, the top 12 pickers will be lined up one-half game apart. For example, the leader after 10 weeks will have a half-game lead over the second-place picker, and a one-game lead over the third-place picker. The 12th-place picker will be six games back.

If you have any questions about the new format, you can log on to our new pay Web site, pickspanelXtra.com.

Another Change: The top picker each week will receive five bonus points, according to the picks panel administrator. If there's a tie, no one will receive bonus points.

"We want to encourage pickers to take chances," Adams said. "You have to take chances to be the top picker in any given week. Risk takers should be rewarded."

And Another: The minimum number of underdog picks will be raised from two to three this week, Adams said.

"I don't know how many different ways I have to make this point," Adams said. "We don't want pickers playing it safe."

Russo Rules: Veteran picker Rick Russo earned four bonus points last week when he picked all 14 games correctly. Russo is the first member of the Knoxville picks panel to have a perfect week in nine years.

On The Defensive: Attorney Doug Anderson said the threatened multi-million lawsuit against picker Jim Wogan was a farce and would never go to trial.

A Knoxville mother reportedly has threatened the suit against Wogan, charging that her 6-year-old daughter was scared by a hairdryer during a sportscasters' free seminar in West Knoxville last weekend.

"The kid wasn't even crying when she left," Anderson said. "If her parents want to see real trauma, I'll hit them with a countersuit that will curl their hair."

Fans Want To Know: One picture has been worth a thousand questions this picks season.

"What's with that Dave Hooker picture?" a number of picks fans have asked. "It looks as though you took two different faces and merged them into one. It's freaky looking."

Picks Panel Administrator Response: That's all Dave. It's against journalism ethics to alter a photo for publication.

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