Grid champs; Michigan, Sherwin

Beyond Golf — 09 December 2023 by Jim Street

One of the best things about being the one who pilots the ship is the fact you know more about the vessel than anyone else.

Sames goes for the 2023 College Football Pick’em World Championship Competition Poll.

After reeling off a nine-game winning streak between Dec. 16-23, GolfersWest.com co-founder Bob Sherwin conquered the latest version of one of the most watched, most celebrated, most popular Bowl Picks on Earth (Nobody picks the winners the way GW.com does — NOBODY!

Well, at least Sherwin knows best how to Pick’em.

He finished with an impressive 30-17 mark, followed by Candace Oehler (23-19), Jim Street, (22-20) and Kirby Arnold (21-21).

You can throw out the records when it comes to this, which is another way of saying we haven’t kept a good track of the results over the years. It’s safe to say that all four have won at least once. Sherwin becomes a back-to-back champ, having narrowly edged Arnold by just one last season.

All four had foolish rooting interests in the bowl games this year, particularly with our longtime coverage and association with University Washington athletics, Oehler’s alma mater. Arnold grew up in Missouri and paid close attention to the Cotton Bowl where Ohio State whipped Missouri. Street went to San Jose State and favored the mighty Spartans against Coastal Carolina in the Hawaii Bowl. Oops. And Sherwin, a Bowling Green grad, ignored all odds and common sense to favor his Fighting Falcons against Minnesota in Detroit’s Quick Lane Bowl.

To recap:

(boldface=winner)

Bob (30-17) Jim (22-20) Kirby (21-21) Candace (23-19)

Myrtle Beach/Dec. 16 OHIO OHIO OHIO OHIO

Celebration/Dec. 16 FA&M FA&M FA&M FA&M

New Orleans/Dec. 16 LOUIS JACKST JACK ST JACKST

Cure/Dec. 16 MIAMI(O) APP ST APP ST MIAMI(O)

New Mexico/Dec. 16 FRESNO NM ST NM ST NM ST

LA Bowl/Dec. 16 UCLA UCLA UCLA BOISE ST

Independence/Dec. 16 TTECH TTECH TTECH TTECH

Famous Toastery/Dec. 18 WKY OLD DOM OLD DOM WKU

FrIsno Bowl/Dec. 19 UTSA UTSA UTSA UTSA

Boca Raton/Dec. 21 USF SYRA USF SYRA

Gasparilla/Dec. 22 GATECH UCF GATECH UCF

Birmingham/Dec. 23 DUKE TROY TROY TROY

Camellia/Dec. 23 N ILL ARKST ARK ST N ILL

Armed Forces/Dec. 23 JMU JMU JMU AIR F

Famous Potato/Dec. 23 UTAHST UTAHST UTAHST UTAHST (GA.ST)

68 Ventures/Dec. 23 SALAB SALAB SALAB SALAB

Las Vegas/Dec. 23 UTAH UTAH UTAH UTAH (NW)

Hawaii/Dec. 23 COAST SJS SJS SJS

Quick Lane/Dec. 26 BG MINN BG BG

First Responder/Dec. 26 RICE TEXST TEXST TEXST

Guaranteed Rate/Dec. 26 KAN KAN KAN UNLV

Military/Dec. 27 VATECH VATECH TULANE VATECH

Duke’s Mayo/Dec. 27 NCAR WVA WVA WVA

Holiday/Dec. 27 USC LOUIS LOUIS LOUIS

Texas/Dec. 27 OKLAST TXA&M TXA&M TXA&M

Fenway/Dec. 28 SMU SMU SMU SMU (BC)

Pinstripe/Dec. 28 MIA(F) MIA MIA MIA (Rutgers)

Pop Tarts/Dec. 28 NCST KANST NCST NCST

Alamo/Dec. 28 OKLA ARIZ OKLA ARIZ

Gator/Dec. 29 CLEM CLEM CLEM CLEM

Tony Tiger/Dec. 29 ND ND ND ND

Liberty/Dec. 29 MEMP IOWST IOWA ST IOWAST

Cotton/Dec. 29 OSU OSU MIZZOU!!! OSU

Peach/Dec. 30 PENNST PENNST PENNST PENNST (Ole Miss)

Music City/Dec. 30 MARY AUB AUB MARY

Orange/Dec. 30 GA GA GA GA

Arizona/Dec. 30 TOL TOL TOL TOL (Wyom)

ReliaQuest/Jan. 1 LSU LSU LSU LSU

Citrus/Jan. 1 TENN TENN TENN TENN

Fiesta/Jan. 1 ORE ORE ORE ORE

Rose/Jan. 1 ALAB ALAB ALAB MICH

Sugar/Jan. 1 WASH WASH WASH WASH!!!

Nat. Champ/Jan. 8 WASH WASH WASH!!

About Author

Jim Street

Jim’s 40-year sportswriting career started with the San Jose Mercury-News in 1970 and ended on a full-time basis on October 31, 2010 following a 10-year stint with MLB.com. He grew up in Dorris, Calif., several long drives from the nearest golf course. His first tee shot was a week before being inducted into the Army in 1968. Upon his return from Vietnam, where he was a war correspondent for the 9th Infantry Division, Jim took up golf semi-seriously while working for the Mercury-News and covered numerous tournaments, including the U.S. Open in 1982, when Tom Watson made the shot of his life on the 17th hole at Pebble Beach. Jim also covered several Bing Crosby Pro-Am tournaments, the women’s U.S. Open, and other golfing events in the San Francisco area. He has a 17-handicap, made his first and only hole-in-one on March 12, 2018 at Sand Point Country Club in Seattle and witnessed the first round Ken Griffey Jr. ever played – at Arizona State during Spring Training in 1990. Pebble Beach Golf Links, the Kapalua Plantation Course, Pinehurst No. 2, Spyglass Hill, Winged Foot, Torrey Pines, Medinah, Chambers Bay, North Berwick, Gleneagles and Castle Stuart in Scotland, and numerous gems in Hawaii are among the courses he has had the pleasure of playing. Hitting the ball down the middle of the fairway is not a strong part of Jim’s game, but he is known (in his own mind) as the best putter not on tour. Most of Jim’s writing career was spent covering Major League Baseball, a tenure that started with the Oakland Athletics, who won 101 games in 1971, and ended with the Seattle Mariners, who lost 101 games in 2010. Symmetry is a wonderful thing. He currently lives in Seattle and has an 8-year-old grandson, Andrew, who is the club's current junior champion at his home course (Oakmont CC) in Glendale, Calif.