Saturday, December 17, 2005

The Origins of the Pie Championship Series

The Pie Championship Series (or PCS) began in 2003, when Paul Otto and Brian South wanted to promote unity and camaraderie through competition.

In the beginning, the original and sole Event was the College Football Bowl Games. In this event--originally--Paul and Brian traded picks as to who would win each postseason matchup (with the exception of Notre Dame and Ohio State). For each correct call, the winner was to get a pie from the loser. This never happened.

Instead, it was determined that instead of just one Event, multiple Events throughout the year would occur, and the winner of the majority of those events would get a single pie (theoretically baked by Mom) and taken out to dinner by the loser. Also, and most importantly, the winner receives the PCS Cup for one year and is entered on the Log of PCS Victors. Taunting while in possession of the PCS Cup has always been frowned upon, but in recent years this rule has been enforced very loosely.

The events for the 2004 and 2005 seasons of the PCS were as follows:

1. NCAA College Football Bowl Games
2. National Football League Postseason
3. NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament
4. Fantasy Baseball
5. Major League Baseball Postseason

For the 2006 PCS, two more events have been added:

1. Fantasy Football
2. NCAA College Football Bowl Games
3. National Football League Postseason
4. NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament
5. Major League Baseball All-Star Game
6. Fantasy Baseball
7. Major League Baseball Postseason

While highly competitive, the PCS is also extremely exclusive; only members of the Otto/South Family are permitted to apply for membership. And since Mom shows no interest in becoming a member--and Brian has no children (or even a girlfriend at the time of writing)--it appears that it will be a two-participant competition for the foreseeable future.

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