By JIMMY D / Fantasy Football & Election betting | Jimmy's archive

So you picked Tom Brady and Deion Branch Sunday in your NFL playoff pool and figured if they played well, not only would you win your pool, but your beloved Patriots would be winners too.

Wrong. Branch caught eight passes for 153 yards and that handsome, square-jawed Brady threw for 341 yards, but Denver ended their run of 10 straight playoff wins.

Three fumbles and two picks by New England kept Denver at home to Pittsburgh, which also claimed an improbable win at Indy.

Colts kicker Mike Vanderjagt might be a little surlier in his TSN commercials this off-season, after his ugly shank at the end of that 21-18 loss. He can thank Jerome Bettis for the opportunity to become a goat. Amazing, crazy rollercoaster ride of a finish.

Next weekend shapes up well for Carolina wideout Steve Smith, left wide open inexplicably for 12 catches, 218 yards and two long scores against the Bears.

The Seahawks expect to have Shaun Alexander back from his concussion, but Seattle ranked just 25th against the pass during the season. Consider this when making your fantasy or Pro Line selections this week, especially on the OVER/UNDER.

Check also on the status of Panther DE Julius Peppers and make sure Nick Goings is going in your lineup, after starting RB DeShaun Foster broke his ankle.

Julien ousted in Montreal

If you have any Montreal Canadiens on your pool roster who do not exactly thrive on the defensive side of the puck, you might watch closely in the next week or two. The Habs sacked coach Claude Julien, GM Bob Gainey moved behind the bench and he hired his longtime pal Guy Carbonneau as the new bench boss.

For those of you too young to remember, Bob and Guy were two of the best in the business as defensive forwards (the Frank Selke Trophy was basically created to acknowledge Gainey's prowess) with Guy winning three and Gainey winning four.

Carbonneau also replaced Gainey as captain of the Habs in 1989.

Gainey has already fingered Saku Koivu, Alexei Kovalev and Andrei Markov as players who must produce and you know they will also be expected to play responsibly on defence. Markov responded with two goals and two assists in his next game.

The Habs had lost 18 of 25, meaning Jose Theodore’s usually reliable fantasy production was absent as well.

Politics is a gamble

Just one week before Canadians go to the polls, a reader asked how those election odds had changed in the past week. With Mr. Harper’s Conservatives enjoying an upswing in the polls, you knew the odds were going to change dramatically from two weeks back when the Libs were favored.

And presto, PinnacleSports.com has swung the odds on which party will win more seats to -1550 for the Conservatives to +1250 for the Liberals. For the uninitiated, that means you need to risk $15.50 just to win $1 on Harper, but if you believe Martin can turn it around before next Monday, a $1 stake returns $12.50.

Boston Pizza Contest Update

If you thought Sunday’s finishes in Colts/Steelers and Panthers/Bears games were stressful, imagine how it felt for Jimmy Cook of Coldbrook and Ryan White of Timberlea.

After a full season of battling toe-to-toe for supremacy in the Jimmy D Boston Pizza Pick ‘Em Challenge, these two prognosticators were tied heading into the weekend.

Cook went 3-1 and White was just 2-2, leaving a winner-take-all situation next weekend on the NFC and AFC title games. We will have a couple of tiebreakers in there to make sure this doesn’t end in a stalemate.

A surprising number of contestants picked Pittsburgh, but nobody went 4-0 because many also picked the Patriots. So when we calculated the OVER/UNDER tiebreaker, Frank Smith of Halifax won the week (he had 154 for total score, the actual total was 159).

Frank was a latecomer to the pool, but seems to have caught on nicely, as this was his second win in four weeks. Could be some solid competition for Cook and White next season.

One final week of picks for a weekly prize and the big Super Bowl party for eight, log on to www.JimmyDSports.com to research and make your picks.

In the meantime, stay busy and stay lucky.

Jimmy D