Quick Hits: Contest Updates and Last-Minute Games Thoughts

T-minus one week, everyone.

Not that it should be a shock to anyone who's followed the sport for the past few years, but the Games will be kicking off two days earlier than originally scheduled, beginning with "The Beach" on Wednesday, July 23. We know a little bit about what's to come at this year's Games, but as usual, most of the weekend is still unknown. As we head down the home stretch here, I wanted to get one more post in to hit on a few topics.

[UPDATED 7/23 WITH LATEST PICKS]
First, the CFG Analysis Games Pick 'Em is now almost closed, and we've got 25 people entered as of the time of this writing. I sort of consider this a test run since there's nothing to give away and I haven't really done a whole lot of advertising, but I think we've already got enough entries to at least make things interesting and iron out any kinks for next year and beyond (that being said, anyone on the fence about entering, go ahead and throw your hat in the ring - the more, the merrier). What I think is intriguing about the set-up for this contest is that there are a lot of different strategies to employ, and we've already seen a few different ones come up.

One way to evaluate that is to look at how aggressive people have been with their wagers. For each competitor so far, I've calculated the maximum payoff they could have in the event that they hit on all six picks. These range from less than 60 points to over 600 at this point. The top 4 potential payoffs so far are:

1. jayfo - 628.5 points (including 6 on Eric Carmody to go top 10 and 3 on Kenneth Leverich to podium)
2. J Weezy - 345.1 points (including going with Noah Ohlsen for win, podium and top 10 on the men's side, as well as 10 points on Alessandra Pichelli to go top 10)
3. kie - 325.0 points (including 15 points on Julie Foucher to win and a high-paying pick of Lucas Parker to podium)
4. John Nail - 298.2 points (including a clever 13-point wager on Alissandra Pichelli to go top 10)

It's also been fascinating to see which athletes are being picked most often. Remember, these are not necessarily the athletes people think are most likely to make finish in certain spots, but rather the athletes where people believe my predictions are most understated. And since my picks are largely based on Regional results, what that really boils down to is the athletes who people expect to improve on their Regional performances.

The athletes with the most points wagered on them so far are:

1. Julie Foucher - 92 points
2. Rich Froning - 74 points
3. Camille Leblanc-Bazinet - 32 points

[END OF 7/23 UPDATE]

Clearly people are liking Julie Foucher to win with roughly a 6:1 payoff, but even more impressive is that people are almost exclusively picking Rich Froning to win despite a payoff of less than 1:1. Then again, it's hard to bet against a man who has won the Games three years in a row and has finished atop the Cross-Regional leaderboard three years in a row. 

As noted before, the payoffs will be adjusted if and when athletes withdraw prior to competition. So far, Rory Zambard has withdrawn. I have adjusted the payoffs already, but the effect is minimal, so I won't be re-posting the predictions. If one of the favorites drops off, I will likely re-post the picks. You are allowed to adjust your picks at any time before Wednesday's opening event for any reason.

Now, onto the Games themselves.  At this point, we know at least something about 5 events, but three have at least some portion left in doubt. For instance, all we know about "The Beach" is that, well, it's at the beach. And we do know there will be two sled push events, but we don't know the weight. The weight there could make a huge difference; I like Jason Khalipa's chances a lot better with a 300-lb. sled than a 100-lb. one.

With that in mind, here are a handful of thoughts on what has been released and what could be to come:

• The events released so far are a pretty decent balance between strength and conditioning, so I don't think the remaining events will really be biased either way. What we haven't seen yet is any sort of high skill gymnastic movements, so I'd expect those to be coming Friday and Saturday night as well as Sunday.
• For those who read this blog on a regular basis, you may recall that the "Triple 3" combines the three movements that fall into the "Pure Conditioning" group. Without question, this is going to be a test of exactly that: conditioning. Especially at this level, I don't see these athletes having too much trouble with 300 double-unders. The row is basically just a long warm-up here, and I don't think the athletes will separate much there. I think this is all going to come down to who has the lungs left on that 3 mile run.
• Given the other events on Friday, I'm not sure that "The Beach" will actually include much running. We already have a 3-mile run and the two sled pushes on Friday, so they may not be doing a whole lot more running (plus you throw in the 300 double-unders, and there are going to be some sore calves come Saturday morning). My hunch (hope?) is that "The Beach" includes some unique stuff like paddle boarding or some sort of object carry through the water.
• Interesting that they put the one-rep max overhead squat on Wednesday when hardly anyone will be watching. Typically the max lift events have been highlighted at the Games in the past, so I'm not sure why they buried this one at the beginning. It also seems a little repetitive considering the amount of overhead squat and heavy snatches at the Regionals. 
• I wouldn't rule out another max lift somewhere in the weekend. What I would LOVE to see is a heavy ladder, but with several reps per minute. I was in a competition a couple years ago that had 20 double-unders plus 3 clean-and-jerks each minute, and that got serious in a hurry.
• Will the two sled events both be worth 100 points? I hope not. I like the idea of having these small events that are worth 50 points to diversify the competition without weighting one particular skill too much.

That's it for today. Unless there are any major updates needed to the contest page, I expect you won't hear from me again until the Games begin. The goal is to post daily updates on the contest standings, and maybe a few quick thoughts on each day's happenings.

Until then, good luck with your training, and get your mind right for the Games!