SEMINOLE FOOTBALL PREDIXN DERBY RESULTS WEEK XI: FSU VS. FLORIDA

POS GOAL LINE GURU                                 PREDIXN        DIFFER
=== ============================================== ============== ======
 1. Rae Adams <raead#fn3.freenet.tlh.fl.us>        FSU 24, UFl 20   1.00
 2. GRUE <grue#prism.u-net.com>                    FSU 27, UFl 21   3.00
 3. Bruce D Stilmack <stilmack#wombat.eng.fsu.edu> FSU 27, UFl 20   3.16
 4. Don Beem <dbeem#bellsouth.net>                 FSU 26, UFl 24   3.61
 5. <PSElliott#aol.com>                            FSU 24, UFl 17   4.00
 5. Herb Wills <HWills#FreeNet.TLH.FL.US>          FSU 24, UFl 17   4.00
 7. <Chrispatty#aol.com>                           FSU 27, UFl 17   5.00
 7. John Thurber <JTHURB#aol.com>                  FSU 27, UFl 17   5.00
 9. Allen Risley <arisley#coyote.csusm.edu>        FSU 31, UFl 21   7.00
10. Christopher Lee Gore <clgore#bulldog.unca.edu> FSU 17, UFl 16   8.60
11. Todd Bush <bush#mc.edu>                        FSU 31, UFl 27   9.22
12. Greg Reeves <greeves#ix.netcom.com>            FSU 31, UFl 28   9.90
12. Eric Lyman <EJLyman#aol.com>                   FSU 31, UFl 14   9.90
14. Bob Stuke <bstuke#crl.com>                     FSU 34, UFl 21  10.00
15. Rick Workman <rickw267#aol.com>                FSU 34, UFl 23  10.20
16. Al Kelley <kwestlaw#key.net>                   FSU 32, UFl 28  10.63
17. jp <jpjohn#lex.infi.net>                       FSU 33, UFl 27  10.82
18. Jason Samenow <jps9n#virginia.edu>             FSU 31, UFl 30  11.40
18. Thurston Long <machupo#best.com>               FSU 35, UFl 18  11.40
20. Michael Mock <MMock8493#aol.com>               FSU 34, UFl 27  11.66
21. Dr Micheal vanPelt <us005330#mindspring.com>   FSU 32, UFl 12  12.04
22. J. T. Newell <jnewell#shore.intercom.net>      FSU 34, UFl 28  12.21
23. Jerry Thomas <galahad#samurai.reynolds.fsu.edu>FSU 35, UFl 28  13.04
24. Bob Stuke <coachbob#pbfreenet.seflin.lib.fl.us>FSU 33, UFl 31  13.45
25. <NOLES26#aol.com>                              FSU 35, UFl 29  13.60
26. Mike Sukhadwala <msukhadw#garnet.acns.fsu.edu> FSU 38, UFl 24  14.32
27. Michael S Edgerley <msedgerley#juno.com>       FSU 37, UFl 31  16.40
28. Alex Adams <raead#fn3.freenet.tlh.fl.us>       FSU 35, UFl 34  17.03
29. Stephen T. Brown <stbrown#sd.cts.com>          FSU 38, UFl 35  19.80
29. The Standard-Times <stnews#texaswest.com>      FSU 38, UFl 35  19.80
31. Sean Linkenback <showcase#onramp.net>          FSU 42, UFl 30  20.12
32. L. Miller <monkey#atl.mindspring.com>          FSU 31, UFl  0  22.14
33. Kurt Siefken <kas2928#garnet.acns.fsu.edu>     FSU 42, UFl 38  24.76
34. Randolph Langley <langley#scri.fsu.edu>        FSU 56, UFl  7  34.93
35. Zoe Adams <raead#fn3.freenet.tlh.fl.us>        UFl 21, FSU 17  -7.00
35. Todd Mortenson <ToddM#NXUS.com>                UFl 28, FSU 24  -7.00
37. Joey Morris <rjmorris#eos.ncsu.edu>            UFl 27, FSU 20  -7.21
38. Paul Barkowitz <Paul_Barkowitz#transarc.com>   UFl 24, FSU 17  -7.62
39. James Ewing <james.ewing#yale.edu>             UFl 34, FSU 28 -13.60
40. Michael Threapleton <mjt#netrunner.net>        UFl 35, FSU 25 -14.04
41. Osei Luta- King Ampadu <chopsuey#wam.umd.edu>  UFl 35, FSU 28 -14.56
42. Dan Sloan <d-sloan#worldnet.att.net>           UFl 34, FSU 17 -14.76
43. Robby Zilay <rzilay#gte.net>                   UFl 38, FSU 21 -17.26
44. Geoff Wilson <spectrum#grove.ufl.edu>          UFl 38, FSU 17 -18.38
45. Ed Taylor <edtaylor#digital.net>               UFl 41, FSU 28 -20.40
46. R. B. Long <machupo#best.com>                  UFl 42, FSU 24 -21.00

The actual score was Florida State 24, Florida 21.

Tallahassean Rae Adams was the class of the field in this final Predixn Derby of the regular season, her first win as well as her first trip to the top five. Rae's difference of 1.00 ties for the second-best Predixn of the season. From Seminole Territory in the United Kingdom, GRUE was our runner-up with a difference of 3.00. GRUE was a recent visitor on this side of the pond, taking in three Seminole games and apparently took advantage of the scouting opportunity, making a fine predixn in the Big Game. Rounding out the top five were Bruce Stilmack (3.16) and Don Beem (3.61), with P. S. Elliot and yours truly tied for fifth (4.00). Hey, me and Warrick Dunn both peak for the big ones.

One by-product of all the pre-game hype was that a lot of journalists made predixns in the press. At the suggestion of Bob Stuke, Jr (14th, 10.00), I grabbed a bunch of these that had been collected in the OSCEOLA, and added a few others that I found while wading through all the pre-game stories. These have been scored and rated below, so you can see how you did against the "pros", as well as how they did against one another. Now, there are actually some real, live journalists in the regular Predixn Derby. For instance, Eric Lyman (12th, 9.90) is a former Florida State FLAMBEAU sports writer who is currently down in Peru working for TIME magazine and the Coca Exporters Newsletter. And there was also the mysterious predixn that drifted in from the STANDARD-TIMES (29th, 19.80). However, those guys actually entered; the folks below had to be shanghaied into being here:

POS PULITZER-CLASS PROGNOSTICATOR                  PREDIXN        DIFFER
=== ============================================== ============== ======
 1. Bob Thomas (Florida TIMES-UNION)               FSU 24, UFl 23   2.00
 2. Daniel Mitchell (the OSCEOLA)                  FSU 27, UFl 20   3.16
 3. Jerry Kutz (the OSCEOLA)                       FSU 27, UFl 24   4.24
 4. John Oeschger (the OSCEOLA)                    FSU 28, UFl 17   5.66
 5. Ivan Maisel (NEWSDAY)                          FSU 30, UFl 24   6.71
 6. Jim Henry (the OSCEOLA)                        FSU 31, UFl 24   7.62
 7. Bill Vilona (Pensacola NEWS-JOURNAL)           FSU 31, UFl 27   9.22
 8. Alan Schmadtke (Orlando SENTINEL)              FSU 31, UFl 28   9.90
 9. Rick Jones (the OSCEOLA)                       FSU 38, UFl 17  14.56
10. John Nogowski (Tallahassee DEMOCRAT)           FSU 38, UFl 35  19.80
11. Marty Cohen (GATOR BAIT)                       UFl 23, FSU 20  -4.47
12. Ed Price (Palm Beach POST)                     UFl 24, FSU 20  -5.00
13. Robbie Andreu (Gainesville SUN)                UFl 22, FSU 17  -7.07
14. Chris Harry (Orlando SENTINEL)                 UFl 24, FSU 17  -7.62
14. Steve Ellis (Tallahassee DEMOCRAT)             UFl 28, FSU 27  -7.62
16. Guerry Smith (GATOR BAIT)                      UFl 21, FSU 16  -8.00
17. Jim Harvin (GATOR BAIT)                        UFl 23, FSU 16  -8.25
17. Matt Hayes (Florida TIMES-UNION)               UFl 23, FSU 16  -8.25
19. Mic Huber (Sarasota HERALD-TRIBUNE)            UFl 26, FSU 17  -8.60
20. Jimmy Hyams (Knoxville NEWS-SENTINEL)          UFl 30, FSU 27  -9.49
21. Richard Rosenblatt (Associated Press)          UFl 31, FSU 24 -10.00
21. David Stirt (GATOR BAIT)                       UFl 27, FSU 16 -10.00
23. Pat Dooley (Gainesville SUN)                   UFl 33, FSU 26 -12.17
24. Pete Young (Miami HERALD)                      UFl 27, FSU 13 -12.53
25. Ron Kapriske (Tampa TRIBUNE)                   UFl 37, FSU 28 -16.49
26. Gary Shelton (St Petersburg TIMES)             UFl 89, FSU 86 -92.02

Apparently, being paid doesn't have much to do with how well you make predixns. Note once again AP's Richard Rosenblatt (21st, -10.00); after a fine predixn in the FSU - Southern Miss game, he not only picked Florida to win, but also picked Notre Dame and Syracuse to win this past weekend. I suppose FSU alum Lee Corso also earns a mention; he picked UF to win on ESPN, altho' he didn't stoop so far as to wear a gator hat when he did it. In defense of the journalists, many of them had reasons for their predixns other than what they thought the score would be. For instance, Gary Shelton's pick (UF 89, FSU 86) was his way of showing how close he thought the game would be (he was also predicting multiple overtimes). Also, if you work for GATOR BAIT or the Gainesville SUN, how could you pick FSU and keep your job? Likewise for employees of the OSCEOLA and the Tallahassee DEMOCRAT who would pick UF. In fact, I have to really admire the top media picker, Bob Thomas of Jacksonville's Florida TIMES-UNION, for not only coming so close, but simply for having the guts to pick FSU. Gainesville is nearly a suburb of Jacksonville, and that's always been reflected in the sports pages of the TIMES-UNION. Admittedly, this year the TIMES-UNION was a little less loud in their lizard loving because they had their own brand-new NFL team to write about.

Anyway, that's it for the 1996 regular season. I promise to be back for a Sugar Bowl Predixn Derby just as soon as the Bowl Coalition gets around to actually announcing that the Seminoles are playing Nebraska. I also promise to -try- to do some post-season stats, just as soon as my home computer comes back from the shop. But I do want to thank everyone who put their name on the line this year and sent in a predixn, especially those of you who kept coming back every week. Heck, I even want to thank those of you who know so much about Florida State football that you kept beating me every week. Y'all are the greatest.

Herb Wills, HWILLS@FREENET.TLH.FL.US