A year ago, Salem News assistant sports editor Matt Williams gave away the lead in our annual football picks standings in the final week.
The veteran scribe and gridiron guru wasn’t about to let that happen again.
Williams’ 5-3 showing picking the state championship games at Gillette Stadium last week was enough to deliver the title. His 117-40 record (.745) outpaced the competition as he won the picks title for the third in the last four seasons (and fifth since joining the News full-time in 2008).
Though he may be diminutive in stature, Williams built a sizeable lead by having a perfect 13-0 record in Week 6 and then having the best mark on Thanksgiving Day at 12-3. His propensity to bug various coaches about the quality of their opponents and review potential matchups on YouTube and Hudl paid off big-time.
Nick Giannino had his best showing ever in the picks, going 114-43 (.726) to finish in second place. He had the best record picking Super Bowls (6-2, getting only the two games involving local teams wrong) and also had the best upset picks record at 7-6.
Newcomer Bill Newell finished in third at 111-46 (.707). The longtime voice of North Shore sports for MSO and co-host of our weekly sports podcast went 4-4 in the Super Bowls and 5-8 picking upsets.
Defending champion and executive sports editor Phil Stacey finished up at 107-50 (.682) with a 5-3 showing in Super Bowls and a 5-8 mark in upsets. No doubt he took some chances to try and make up ground after falling behind in September … but winning our first-ever Thanksgiving Fantasy contest is no doubt a healthy consolation prize for the boss.