You've been, Strategified

Strategy. So it breaks down like this: it’s legal to create it, it’s legal to implement it, and if you’re the member of a hockey pool, it’s legal to argue it. It’s legal to change it, which doesn’t really matter ‘cause – get a load of this – if you win the Pool it’s illegal for them to question it. Questioning your Strategy is a right the NHL Poolies don’t have.

The post-season Pool I’m swimming around in is a warm soupy mess of mind games. The rules lull you into a peaceful and happy place where you ‘simply pick the winners’ and giggle at the flare and pizzazz conjured up by a clever little point-scoring scheme; on the surface the waters are calm.

Queue the behind the scenes coverage of my final round battle with the bracket. I’m in contention, but with only one series remaining I need to somehow pick the winner, pick a different team than the leader, and figure out a way to make both those question-marks coincide…

the Mind Map:
I want Chicago to win, and think that Chicago will win, but for the pool that doesn’t matter. If I have any hope of moving forward I need to pick for points, and pick away from the pack. So based on the assumption that the favoured team is Chicago, and that most people will think Chicago, I am going with Philadelphia... However, I am somewhat worried that everyone else is thinking the same thing, that this plan of mine isn’t so wily, and that I could ‘pick away’ from a group that’s picking away from themselves. I also realize that although no one in their right mind would consider Phili a Cup Contender, ‘right mind’ checked out of the game back when the Eastern Conference Finals cast seed 7 vs seed 8 in the starring roles. I need to pick opposite what I think everyone else thinks everyone else might pick. I’m pretty sure that instead of making the pull-move that everyone is anticipating, I don’t need to make the move at all, I just need to skate around everyone. I need Chicago. I’m going with Chicago to win the Stanley Cup.

Craziness accomplished. I submit my pick with crossed fingers and a few muttered regrets. A couple deep breaths later I gave my head a shake and realized that there was no way that anyone else was plugging that kind of brain power into this glorified guess. What was I thinking?! I’m not in a starring contest with Pierre McGuire here, I’m trying to outsmart an office full of EngiNerd Boys who can’t pronounce Toews. Chicago? Erroneous! Quit thinking Jack, all it does is get you into trouble.

Ten minutes later the official predictions were send out. Everyone picked Phili. Unbelievable! John Nash and I are laughing it up right now with the Goldblum and his Jurassic Park dinos – Game Theory versus the Butterflies, god the playoffs are a blast!

So we're back to the surface level fun:

- Chicago wins, I win, the world embrases my genius, and I let the tale get taller as I tell the story for years and years and years...

- Philadelphia wins, we never speak of this nonesense again, the blog post randomly disappears, and if the truth of my pick resurfaces, I kill the messanger, or I pretend I thought we were picking the loser...

Strategy. The key is to ignore your heart and listen to your big brain... then overthink it, then become your hearts biatch, then throw out all logic, then count to 10... then second guess your gut, hate yourself when you wake up at square-one, go back to the big brain, ignore it, question your heart, flip a coin, take a nap... then look at a blank piece of paper, turn it over, circle some things and scribble some arrows, pace like a lunatic, tell no one, then go back to your first decision, and pick the opposite... or something like that. If it works, tell everyone, if it doesn't, just say you didn't try, wink, and let a smile creep up one side of your face - people will just be confused and forget the whole thing.

Go Hawks, Own your crazy, and Good luck your your next big decision. Unleash your Strategification!