ScooterDaMan takes inaugural MNS title
Congratulations on winning, what do you plan on doing with your new TV and computer?
The TV is going to make a great addition to my family room. I know my son can't wait to get "Tiger Woods Golf" and "Madden" up on that screen, and I am sure our NFL Sunday crowd might grow a bit next year. As far as the laptop, I think there is going to be some family discussion on the best way to use that.
What was the most challenging part of the game?
I would have to say getting the Bill Simmons' questions correct, although I truly enjoy reading his material and I usually don't miss an article. But for some reason I was not able to consistently do well on his questions. They were intriguing, but I guess there is a reason why I don't gamble.
What aspect of the game did you find easiest?
I don't want to say anything was easy, but with each passing week there was more structure in the way I approached some of the games like Stump the Schwab, 4th Quarter Quiz and Predict the Play. At the start of the year, I was trying to listen to everything that was said and jot down things that popped up on the screen to prepare for the quiz which became a bit overwhelming. By the end of the year, I was writing down less, but was still able to recall or have an idea when the quiz came along. With each passing week I added Web site favorites which I relied on to find my information for the STS questions, making that part of the game smoother.
| Who is ScooterDaMan |
|---|
My name is Doug Dammann. I am 44 years old and have been married for almost 20 years. I live in a small Eastern Iowa town with a population of around 700. I have always enjoyed my sports, particularly the NFL, MLB, College Football and Basketball like most of the country. My sports of choice are currently bowling in the winter (four leagues), golf and softball in the summer. I have two teenage children whom I am attempting to corrupt into the life of a sports fanatic along with me. "Monday Night Football" has been part of my sports viewing for 30 years or so and I look forward to it continuing. |
What advice would you give to other players who are looking to improve next year?
I guess that would depend on the person. I am a more technical minded individual, and I like data, so I created spreadsheets to review and compute stats for whom I would like to start on my fantasy section. I jot down things like, who was on [Tony] Kornheiser's fantasy team, or [Joe] Theismann's key to victory, so they would be easily found if needed during the 4QQ.
Over the season I got a feeling for what types of things I thought would be asked, when certain questions on predict the play might would pop up, etc. I tried to have answers ready ahead of time just in case the question came up. I guess that is what made this season so fun for me; the anticipation of what might happen, not only in the football game, but the Surround game as well.
Were you ever worried about your competition, like EaglesFan1980, catching up?
I was surprised when I won my first week, and then even more surprised when I won my second. At first I was just waiting for someone to overtake me when I jumped into the overall lead. I kept an eye on EaglesFan1980 and the others, watching where they finished each week. Throughout the night I would see when they popped into the top 10. But I didn't really change my strategies because of it.
As a Dolphins fan, what improvements would you like to see in 2007?
All I would like to see is stability at quarterback before the Jason Taylor/Zach Thomas era comes to an end. In retrospect it is easy to say Drew Brees was the answer. Personally I would have preferred him from the start, but [Daunte] Culpepper and [Joey] Harrington are what we ended up with. I would like to see them draft their future quarterback and then find a solid free agent QB who will be willing to make the run with this defense. Truthfully, with solid, not necessarily great QB play this year, I believe there were two or three wins out there to be had.
Anything else you want to add?
When I started this [Monday Night Surround], it appeared to be an interesting way to play along with the "Monday Night" game. As each week passed, I found more ways to research the Schwab questions, more ways to play the fantasy game in an attempt to maximize points, better ways to take notes for the 4QQ, etc. I became competitive in trying to better my point total or position from the previous week and I actually looked forward to playing each game.
The research I found to be interesting, finding out little tidbits about a player, team or coach that you didn't know before. I marveled at EaglesFan1980's ability to find the answers to all the questions each week and I tried to do the same. All I can say is it has been fun to play along, and I want to thank ESPN and all those individuals involved with making this year's "Monday Night Football" season a whole lot of fun.
