Weekly Gridiron Picks Sponsored By Riverside Lunch: Week 1

What good is a dadblamed sports website without its own Pigskin Pick ‘Em Contest?

Last year we featured a panel of so-called experts and a celebrity guest each week, and that was fun. We decided to take it up a notch, and thanks to the good folks down at Riverside Lunch, home of the best dang burgers in Charlottesville (just ask all the Wahoo basketball players over the past several years if you don’t believe me), we’re letting all of you in on the fun!

Led by our veteran and site namesake, Jerry “Hootie” Ratcliffe, we have assembled a star-studded panel of pigskin prognosticators, including Scott Ratcliffe, Chris Graham, Scott German, Gary Shook, Mark Mincer and Lee Shifflett.

Scott Ratcliffe is a chip off the ol’ block and turns in outstanding work for the site. Chris is the mastermind behind the Augusta Free Press Online and co-wrote “Team of Destiny, Virginia’s march to the national basketball championship” with Hootie. Scott German, a sportswriter along with Graham, is also part of the Augusta/JR.com team.

Shook is president of Blue Ridge Bank, now the largest bank in Charlottesville and growing every day, and a major sponsor of our website and radio show. Mincer is owner of the fabled Mincer’s on the Corner (and Stonefield), and also a major sponsor. Check out their advertisements on our site.

Lee Shifflett, another true-blue Wahoo, is owner/operator of Riverside Lunch, where all of Charlottesville meets. Lee & Riverside are sponsoring this wonderful weekly contest and providing prize gift certificates to our weekly winners in addition to contributing to the grand-prize winner, which we are putting together for a blowout at the end of the season. Trust me, you will really want to win the grand prize, and stay tuned throughout the season for further details.

For all the picks, rules and regulations and all that jazz, see below. Email us your picks and join the fun!

 

JerryRatcliffe.Com Weekly Gridiron Picks

Sponsored by Riverside Lunch

“Flat Out… Still the Best Burgers in Town”

 

Weekly Panel:

Scott German — Augusta Free Press

Chris Graham — Augusta Free Press

Mark Mincer — Mincer’s UVA Imprinted Sportswear

Jerry Ratcliffe — JerryRatcliffe.Com

Scott Ratcliffe — JerryRatcliffe.Com

Lee Shifflett — Riverside Lunch

Gary Shook — Blue Ridge Bank

Celebrity Guest Pickers:

A celebrity guest picker will join the panel each week throughout the season.

How to Play:

Beginning the week of August 26, we’ll pick every ACC game all season long, plus the best of the rest from around college football (20 total games per week).

Fans can submit their own picks each week (sent to weeklygridironpicks@gmail.com, with “WEEK 1 PICKS” in the subject line) no later than NOON on the day of the first game that week (traditionally Thursday). The weekly list of games will be posted each week to our website (jerryratcliffe.com) no later than noon on Tuesday.

Tiebreaker:

Predict the score of the UVA game (or another designated big game if the ‘Hoos are on a bye week).

Fans will predict the final score (i.e. Virginia 35, Duke 21 … that fan’s total score for the tiebreaker would be 56). The fan whose total score is closest to the actual total score will be declared the winner. If somehow two or more fans have the same total score (or are the same distance from the total score), the fan who is closer to UVA’s score will win (“Team A” if UVA is not playing that week).

IMPORTANT NOTE: You must include a tiebreaker with your entry, or it will not be eligible to win.

Prizes:

The weekly winner will receive a gift certificate from Riverside Lunch and will automatically qualify to compete for the grand prize (TBD) during bowl season.

If a fan is named the weekly winner, he/she may still compete in the remaining weekly contests, but will not be eligible again for the weekly prize.

Week 1 Picks:

This week’s celebrity guest picker is former UVA All-American guard Elton Brown.

Brown, known as “Big E” when he starred for Al Groh’s Wahoos, was an All-American guard at Virginia, then went on to a stellar career in the NFL with the Arizona Cardinals.

“These days I am currently working at The Apprentice School (college) serving as the Run Game Coordinator, Offensive Line Coach & Recruiting Coordinator,” Big E tells us. “I spend my free time going to watch my youth organization, Shutdown 757 Falcons, compete on weekends.

“I have high hopes for my Cavs this year. As we continue to see great strides each year under the leadership of Coach Mendenhall, I believe this is the year the Commonwealth Cup comes back to Charlottesville.”

Click on the graphic below for the entire grid (the number to the right in green is the opening line, brought to you by our friend Anthony Esposito, Professional Sports Handicapper at krackwins.com):

How ‘Bout Them ‘Hoos?

All seven panelists — along with former-Cavalier guest picker Elton Brown — went with UVA to get it done in this pivotal August ACC clash at Pitt. Brown typed for his UVA pick, “We already know the answer to this — HOOS.”

Clean Sweeps

(Teams that were unanimously picked to win this week):

• VIRGINIA
• Clemson
• Alabama
• Syracuse
• Notre Dame
• Georgia
• Oklahoma

Not bad company for the Cavaliers, eh?

Running Solo

Picks made by just one panelist:

• East Carolina (Elton Brown; at NC State) — Tall task for the Pirates being a huge road underdog. Can Big E’s upset selection come true?

• BYU (Chris Graham; vs Utah) — In this in-state clash, the Utes hold the edge on paper, but can Bronco’s former squad prevail in Provo?

• South Florida (Scott German; vs Wisconsin) — The Bulls open with a tough top-20 opponent out of the Big Ten, but do they have what it takes to pull off the upset?

• Colorado State (Gary Shook; vs Colorado) — In yet another backyard, in-state affair, the Buffaloes are a 10-point favorite in the Mile High City.

• Oregon State (Scott German; vs Oklahoma State) — German goes out on a bit of a limb in this one, as the Beavers are a significant underdog, but if there are indeed upsets in Tampa and Corvallis this week, Scott could quickly jump to the top of the heap.

Once a weekly fan winner is determined, we will announce it with the following week’s picks, as well as send them a shoutout on social media. We will contact winners via the email address they used to submit their picks, in order to get their contact information to redeem their prize.

Enough talking … Let the games begin!