Participants,

Welcome to the 37^th Edition of the Hewes Super Bowl Trophy!!  We finally have determined the 14 teams that will compete for this year’s Super Bowl (SB59), and the playoffs start this Saturday with 2 of the 6 Super Wild Card Weekend games!  Get your naps in early in the day this weekend because the schedule has late games (i.e., kickoff around 8:00pm EST or so) on Saturday, Sunday and Monday nights.

We’re disappointed that Ben the Butler has retired after 13 injury riddled seasons.  He was hoping to get his medical release before the playoffs, but his extensive rehab has resulted in his decision.  We wish him well in the future!

However, we’re pleased to announce that City Kid and THE Chosen One are now official participants in the HSBT.  We wish them well in their rookie seasons (but not too well).

We also know that everyone is licking their chops in anticipation of wrestling away the coveted trophy from JTB, who pulled it away from Comeback Kid after his 3-year reign.  Comeback Kid did recently mention that he is primed to re-capture the trophy this year!  The smack talk has already started!!

A few reminders before the real action begins as the 10 participants (a league record) prepare to battle it out.

RULES
Please read the “League Rules” (found on our home page at www.hewessbt.com) to become reacquainted with all you need to know.  I’m available to answer any questions.

MAKING YOUR PICKS
All picks are officially submitted on our site, using the “Submit Picks” tab.  Enter the team names and respective score you believe will be the final game score for each game.  Once you have submitted your scores, they will be time-stamped and sent via email to THE Commish, who will load them to the site.  THE Commish will not look at any game score submissions until all scores have been submitted in the same manner.  Please – no last-minute frantic text messages with your scores.

To accommodate our 2 newest participants, I will ask Ben the Butler to work carefully with City Kid on submitting his picks.  I will also ask Greg the Great to do the same with THE Chosen One.  Both new participants have email addresses, so theoretically everything should work just fine.  As well, I will be in the Seattle area for a few weeks in January and will also be available to assist THE Chosen One, as needed.

KEEPING TRACK
Visit the “Standings” tab to get real-time updated game scores and your points as games are in progress.  This interactive feature was implemented several years ago and has received numerous kudos from the serious game watchers (that have a strong correlation to the eventual HSBT winners).

In-game smack talk will also be available using the Slack app from your device.  For more details on how to get in the action during the games, please contact Greg the Great.

REMINDERS (As I Do Every Year)

1. Picks for ALL 6 Super Wild Card Weekend games are to be submitted no later than 4:30pm EST on Saturday, January 11 (which is just prior to the kickoff of the 1st playoff game).
2. Any pick not submitted on time will result in a 25-point penalty for that game (meaning you will get -25 points for those games).
3. No “partial scores” are to be submitted.  We did have this occur several years ago and it went something like this:  “Chicago 24, SF”.  This will also result in the aforementioned -25 points.

It’s shaping up to be another great year, with maybe 11 or 12 (or all 14!!) teams thinking they have the inside track on winning the Super Bowl.  With 10 participants and a total of 13 games in the 4^th year of the expanded playoff format, it very well could be a record-setting year for the HSBT?  Pete the Terp set the benchmark with 1,322 points in 2016 (with a 10-1 record).  Will that hold?

I also want to be sure everyone is aware that I will be traveling to the Seattle area for almost 3 weeks, beginning January 12.  This will most likely reduce my in-game scoring attention and analysis and prediction emails.  My apologies in advance.  I will promise to let all participants know the weekly standings.

Lastly, the “Participants” tab on our website has been updated to reflect the participant changes.  Take a look!

Until then I remain,

THE Commish