Sports Then and Now

Even losses by a number of prohibitive favorites and the New Year’s Day Debacle by the Big Ten couldn’t derail the Sports Then and Now Zultan as he completed the 2010 season with a strong showing in the second annual Sports Then and Now College Football Bowl Challenge.

The Zultan posted a solid 15-10 bowl record, including a 3-2 record in BCS games.

A large field of would-be prognosticators struggled against the challenge of bowl season. The large number of early upsets made it tough for some challengers to get a solid start to the season. Overall, more than half the participants in the bowl challenge finished with a losing record.

Surprising losses by Nebraska, Missouri, Clemson and South Carolina along with poor performances by one-time “big boys” Miami, Georgia and Georgia Tech was difficult to overcome.

Then there was the abysmal New Year’s Day performance by the Big Ten. Many contestants were blindsided by the five losses suffered by the conference on that single day.

Miraculously, there were nine who overcame the odds to post a better record than the Zultan.

Leading the way was Martin Oravets (Sheffield Lake, OH), Michael Wilson (no city given) and Duane Bowers (Dallas, TX) with 18-7 records. Eric Stipp (Dublin, OH) and one unnamed participant finished with a 17-8 record and Angie Webb (Norwalk, IA), Thomas Cornelis (Washington, DC), Dallas Palmer (New Virginia, IA) and Morgan Brazitis (Wilmington, DE) posted marks of 16-9. The winner of the $100 PayPal gift certificate was Duane Bowers.

All who participated in the Bowl Challenge were entered into a drawing for one of three $15 iTunes gift cards. The winners of those prizes are Faron Hall (Sierra Vista, AZ), Karen Clark (Redfield, AR) and Diane Boettcher (Lawrenceville, GA).

Special thanks to our Zultan for another great year of reading the tea leaves and predicting the college football winners. Only the Zultan knows if he will continue to share his wisdom next year, but be sure and check back in late August to find out.

As was the case for most of the 2010 season, the Sports Then and Now College Football Zultan proved that his skill for prognosticating was superior to nearly all who dared challenge his greatness.

Facing a record number of challengers during the Sports Then and Now Bowl Challenge, Zultan overcame a sluggish start to pick winners in 13 of the 20 bowl matchups included in the contest.

Among the legions of entries, only seven participants were able to match the Zultan’s mark and just four contestants proved to be better at predicting the turbulent landscape of the college bowls than the omnipotent one.

Topping the masses was Nathan Meloy from Appleton, Wisconsin with an impressive 16 of 20. Ryan Sparrow from Channahon, Illinois, Dean Studt from Noblesville, Indiana and Jeff Coffey from Columbus, Ohio all finished with records of 14-6.

Not only did Nathan have the best score, but he also won the drawing for the $100 merchandise gift card. To be eligible for the drawing, contestants had to “Beat the Zultan” during the Bowl Challenge.

All participants were eligible to win one of two copies of the CD “Best of College Football Fight Songs.” Winning those CDs were Scott Carpenter of Rogers, Arkansas and Max Woodham from Johns Creek, Georgia.

Special thanks to the Zultan (JA Allen) for providing his expertise throughout the 2009 season. He will be resting up in preparation for an even better performance in 2010. Overall, more than 400 individuals from across the country (as well as a few international participants) participated in the “Top the Zultan” Challenge during the 2009 season.

Be sure to check Sports Then and Now throughout the year for not only great stories about current and past sports history, but also for exciting contests and interactive opportunities.

Currently, anyone who registers for the Sports Then and Now daily updates between now and January 15, 2010 will be eligible to win one of two copies of the book “When the Game Was Ours” featuring legendary NBA stars Larry Bird and Magic Johnson.

Yes, he is back all bright-eyed and bushy tailed!

Zultan, the all-seeing seer, has listened to your pleas to return and has decided to accede to your wishes to predict winners of the upcoming bowl games played by the Big Ten and other less illustrious conferences. (That had to be said in deference to my insistent, strapping Big Ten in-laws.)

There are, as you well know, 34 bowl games including seven Big Ten matchups—but Zultan only has time and space to consider the top 20. It is the holiday season and Zultan is in heavy demand helping the Big Guy in the Red Suit calculate his future after being evicted from Notre Dame land.

As usual you are free to challenge Zultan to see if you can outguess the mighty prognosticator—but the road ahead is filled with pitfalls and disappointment. They don’t call me a seer for nothing!

Click here to enter your own picks to see if you can best the mighty Zultan—and win a prize for your efforts—a $100 gift card at Best Buy, WalMart, or Target—you choose.

All who enter regardless of results will also be eligible to win a CD titled “The Best College Football Fight Songs”—a significant find because Zultan actually performs on one track of this rare CD! Two lucky winners will be awarded a CD at the conclusion of the contest. Read the rest of this entry →