Back-to-Back For Nicolet
Steven Nicolet
Mar 06, 2002
NEWORLEANS(AP) - It came down to a last second field goal, but
Steven Nicolet defeats
Brent Van Wieren in a dramatic upset to become the first Picker
ever to win Back-To-Back PYX championships.
 Van Wieren, making his first ever trip to the Super Bowl, was listed
as the favorite by the majority of PYX experts across the country.
It was the closest finish since
Jon Schulz defeated
David Seelye in PYX Bowl I. In that game, Schulz won by 1 yard,
as Tennessee stretched towards the end zone only to come up short.
This year, Brent picked the St. Louis Rams while Steven chose the
underdog New England Patriots.
Not only did Nicolet capture consecutive crowns, he also becomes the
lowest seeded picker ever to claim a Super Pyx Bowl Championships
(he only made the play-offs because he was 8th place in his
conference while only ranking #22 overall)..
Barely making the play-offs, as an 8th seed, he squeaked by
top-seeded
Peter Tadros in the first round, defeated Division winner Jamie
Maatman in 2nd round action and pounded perennial power
Gary Bonn in the Final Four to propel him into another PYX Bowl.
While at the same time, Hamilton High School pulls a three-peat.
Each Picker,
Jon Schulz and
Steven Nicolet, graduated from Hamilton in 1987. They have won
the last 3 PYX Bowls in a row. Interesting enough, even if Nicolet
would have lost this year,
Brent Van Wieren also graduated from that same Hamilton class.
The Hamilton Dynasty is alive and well. Will they win a 4th
consecutive championship next year?
Another major story of the weekend was the announcement that
Kevin Haranczak will be next years' Commissioner. He was a
member of the APC while Co-Commissioner
Jeff Nichols was a member of the NPC. It was agreed upon during
the regular season that who ever wins (APC or the NPC) the PYX Bowl
will decide the fate of the Commissioner's Office. Van Wieren
represented Nichols and the NPC while Nicolet represented Haranczak
and the APC. Clearly upset by this outcome, Nichols made no comment
to the press as he disappeared to Comstock Park following the Super
Bowl.
"I want to thank the New England Patriots,
Steven Nicolet and Jesus Christ for making this the greatest day
of my life," remarked Haranczak at the press conference following
the victory.
"Mark my words - I will be making a series of drastic changes to the
PYX League next year. Don't be surprised to see a number of pickers
not returning; it's time to clean house!"
Haranczack would not offer any details, other than saying that he
plans to unveil a strict screening process for league membership and
that there will definitely be a couple of pickers who will receive a
banishment from picking.Haranczak also
unveiled the new spelling of the Picks...it will now officially be
The PYX. Rumor has it that Haranczak simply misspelled the
word. Haranczak denied the rumor in a written statement that
read, "We have a new Commmishioner,
a new Pyx league and a new begininng!"
So concludes the 7th season of the PYX. Stay tuned as a number of
controversies are sure to develop over the summer.
Associated Press
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