Friday, September 7, 2007

Pensive BlogDog

As explained in a post last Friday (check out “The debut of BlogDog” in the archives), my dog, Norm, will be predicting the outcome of each Air Force game this season.

The BlogDog made a triumphant debut, correctly predicting a Falcons victory over South Carolina State.

But it got much harder this week, as BlogDog went back and forth – quite literally.

To review, I hold up a mini-replica Air Force helmet and the mini-replica helmet of the opponent they are facing that week. Whichever one Norm goes to first (best three out of five times) is the one he thinks is going to win.

If Norm picks the same helmet three times in a row, he’s thinking blowout. If he chooses one team three times and the other team once, he’s thinking the game will be decided by about seven to 10 points. If he chooses one team three times and the other one twice, he’s predicting a close game.

Here’s how it unfolded this week. Norm went to the Air Force helmet first, then the Utah helmet, then back to Air Force, then back to Utah. Then, on the deciding vote, with his prediction on the line, he went to …

His tennis ball.

But from the tennis ball – eventually – he went to the Air Force helmet.

So here’s how I’m interpreting it. … BlogDog is thinking a close game. And going to the tennis ball before casting his deciding vote was a sign. Norm and I watched the Federer-Roddick U.S. Open match the other night and the first two sets went to tiebreakers. Because Norm went to the tennis ball on his deciding vote, he thinks the Air Force-Utah game will be decided by the football equivalent of a tiebreaker. … Overtime.

Norm’s pick: Air Force 20, Utah 17 (OT)
Norm’s record to date: 1-0





Above: BlogDog makes his pick.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love the BlogDog!

V9

Anonymous said...

What a fun way to "predict" a winner! If Norm the BlogDog picks this one accurately (meaning the OT), I think you ought to consider patenting your system! I'm really looking forward to this game. Keep up the good work, Jake! GO FALCONS!

jake.schaller said...

Thanks guys. I'll pass along the kudos to the BlogDog.

Anonymous said...

I LOVE NORM! I'M BETTING WITH HIM FROM HERE ON OUT.

Anonymous said...

BlogDog knows his stuff! I blame the interpreter for calling for OT :)

jake.schaller said...

Yeah, I probably just misunderstood BlogDog. I'll give him a treat when I get back home. But then he needs to hit the books -- it's a short week before the TCU game.