But a crazy idea he hatched more than 30 years ago to increase interest in college football bowl games with readers of The Alpena News took hold immediately and continues to be an annual tradition in many households.

Started in 1989, Hart’s Beat the Geek contest is still a staple in the sports pages of The News every December and draws the interest of sports fans and non-sports fans alike.

The 2020 winner of the contest won’t be crowned for a few more weeks, but the popularity of the contest continues to endure each winter as evidenced by the hundreds of entries that flood the News’ mailbox from local residents, former residents, families and out-of-state relatives among others.

“It’s a little fun competitive thing we do, for bragging rights in our house,” Bill Bright, whose family plays every year, said. “Everybody does it on their own, so we don’t know who picked what and then we follow all the games.”

News File Photo News Sports Editor Rodney Hart, who portrayed the News’ resident prognosticator the Geek, introduced readers to the contest in November 1989.

The premise of the contest is simple: pick the winners from a slate of bowl games and try to beat the Geek, the News’ resident prognosticator.

But the contest is about more than just picking games in many households. It’s a chance to make things a little more competitive during the bowl season. It’s a chance to earn bragging rights among your family and friends for a year. It’s a chance to prove you really know your stuff when it comes to college football and that you know more than the Geek.

In the midst of bowl game expansion and at least two different national title formats, the contest has seen more than its fair share of close finishes and different strategies used as players young and old try to earn the honor of having beat the Geek.

“It got be a tradition for people,” former News Sports Editor Chris Dobrowolski said. “They got into it and it became something to do every year.”

TRYING SOMETHING NEW

This drawing by Eric Lindsay was used on the annual Beat The Geek entry form for many years.

“Here’s food for thought: Try beating this Geek!” read the headline of Hart’s column on November 29, 1989, in which he introduced readers to a slate of 18 bowl games and dared them to try their best to beat the Geek.

The inaugural contest included well-known bowl games such as the Orange Bowl (Notre Dame vs. Colorado), Rose Bowl (Michigan vs. USC) and Cotton Bowl (Tennessee vs. Arkansas), but also featured several long-gone classics like the John Hancock Bowl, Hall of Fame Bowl and Copper Bowl.

“I have no idea how I came up with the idea of the contest or The Geek,” Hart said. “Back then I was trying to do as much new stuff as possible, and (News Publisher) Bill (Speer) will tell you I pushed the envelope many times when I was sports editor, and that was from the start.”

The News ran annual predictions in the 1970s from Major Amos B. Hoople, the Father of the Bowls, who gave readers his predictions of several bowl games, along with a final score.

But Hart’s idea was something brand new and gave readers–sports fans and non-sports fans, young and old, men and women–a way to interact with the paper by participating in the contest, which promised the winner an assortment of goodies from local businesses.

The 1996-97 Beat the Geek entry form.

“He has this idea of ‘Hey, let’s look at the bowl games and let’s try to pick the winners and make it a contest,'” Speer said of Hart. “Then he came to me with Beat the Geek (and) I looked at him and that point (his) hair was a little disheveled and the glasses were down his nose a little bit and I said, ‘You know what? That is perfect! Let’s call it Beat the Geek’. The rest is obviously history.”

The inaugural contest was an instant hit with more than 300 entries counted. By the mid 1990s, that number almost tripled.

In all, 26 people beat the Geek’s 13-5 record and four players finished with 15-3 records, bringing the tiebreaker into play for the first time: the number of points scored in the Rose Bowl game between Michigan and USC.

After sifting through more than 300 entry forms, Jim Dwyer was declared the winner until a mathematical error was discovered a few days later. As a result, Gary Mason was also declared a winner, giving the News co-winners in its inaugural contest.

Vicky Lindsay, who was a neighbor of Hart’s, helped correct entries in the early days and remembers going through hundreds of entries on New Year’s Day. Most of the bowl games were played on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, making it easy and quick to determine a winner.

“Rodney would come over with his stack of cut-out entry forms and he would sit, spread them out and go over them with highlighters until we got to the end,” Lindsay said. “This back when a lot of games were played on the same day. We would start (checking) in the morning and it was all day long.”

A MASTER PROGNOSTICATOR?

The annual arrival of the contest has brought with it plenty of boasting and teasing from the Geek, who has claimed to be a peerless, fearless prognosticator.

The numbers however, tell a much different story.

In 30 years, the Geek has finished .500 five times and finished with a losing record four times. Since the contest expanded to include 20 games beginning with the 1999-2000 bowl slate, the Geek has averaged 11 correct answers per year and has only picked more than 12 games correctly four times.

The Geek went 15-4 and just 41 people could lay claim to beating the Geek in 1998, but over the years hundreds of entries have proven more than good enough to beat the Geek.

In 2006, more than 350 entries Beat the Geek after the Geek went an abysmal 7-13.

“I think the Geek probably overstated his picking ability because it seemed like there were always more and more people who beat the Geek,” Dobrowolski said. “A lot people would write into the Geek and it was always fun, lighthearted and jokey. You got to see some of the same names year after year.”

The identity of the Geek was a closely guarded secret for many years and Hart denied he was the Geek any time someone asked.

Years later, Hart admits the Geek was an alter ego he got to revisit once a year. After Hart left, the News’ sports editors continued to take up the Geek mantle.

“For years people would ask if I was The Geek. I always said no. Truth is, The Geek was an alter ego who lived under the Second Avenue Bridge and I slipped completely into the character when I wrote the columns and stories about the football contest,” Hart said. “It was so much fun! I have no clue how I came up with the idea.”

MAKING THE PICKS

When it comes to making Beat the Geek picks–much like filling out an NCAA Tournament bracket–everyone’s got a strategy.

Some diehard sports fans spend considerable time studying the matchups and players before making their picks.

Others play the odds and send in multiple entries with different picks.

Some use school allegiances to make their choices.

Joanne Wright used what she called the Helmet Method to win the contest in 1992.

“I make notes and watch the scores quite closely. I’ve been picking these games for years,” Wright told The News. “But when all else fails, I just use the Helmet Method. I pick the team that has the best-looking helmet.”

Sometimes the best strategy is to have none at all. Many times over 30 years, some winners–who admit to not being diehard sports fans–filled their picks out quickly and were surprised when they won.

Val Jaskolski did just that when she won in 1993 via tiebreaker, even as she was mocked by a co-worker.

“Personally, I never watch football, but I did during Christmas,” Jaskolski told The News. “I’m surprised. I didn’t waste 15 minutes thinking about them. I just filled it out.”

When Dwyer won, he told Hart that he “was in a hurry and just sort of picked them” before turning in his entry form.

Beverly Zubalik won in 1991, making her picks while cooking dinner one Sunday night, choosing winners as her husband Ernie read them off.

“I wish I could say I planned every one of them,” Zubalik said. “Next year, we’ll do the same thing–I’ll pick and he’ll check.”

DOWN TO THE WIRE

However confident a player might be in their picks, no one strategy has proven foolproof and more often than not, the contest goes down to the wire.

In 30 years, the contest has been decided by a tiebreaker–usually the number of points scored in the national championship game–18 times, including four of the first five years.

In 1999, Rich Zawacki won after beating Lori Faircloths on a second-tiebreaker. In 2003, Danny Tews Jr. and Dale Hart were declared co-winners after tying on the number of correct picks as well as the tiebreaker.

Nowadays, the contest extends into early January with the College Football playoff semifinals and championship game, after which hundreds of entries are examined and graded before a winner is declared.

Years after he was blown away by Hart’s idea for the contest, Speer said he is continually amazed by community’s positive response to Beat the Geek every year.

“It has been phenomenal…Oftentimes, people have no other business to do with us other than to bring their form in and make sure they get it in. I know a lot of people that fill out their entry form and keep a master (list) of what that is, so they know after every game how they fared against the Geek,” Speer said. “It gives them great pleasure to see their name show in print, knowing that they have beat the Geek.”

——

Beat The Geek Winners

Year Winner Games Correct

2018-19 Tim Daoust 16-of-20*

2017-18 Randy Prystash 17-of-20

2016-17 Dennis Dorr 16-of-20*

2015-16 Michael LaMarre 18-of-20

2014-15 Tom Pelleran 16-of-20

2013-14 Aaron Birmingham 14-of-20*

2012-13 Luke McMurray 18-of-20

2011-12 Joel Kendziorski 18-of-20*

2010-11 Daryl Peterson 17-of-20*

2009-10 Shirley Carr 17-of-20*

2008-09 John Kremsreiter 17-of-20

2007-08 Ashley Hamp 17-of-20*

2006-07 Pat Idalski 17-of-20*

2005-06 Jerry Ridgeway 16-of-20

2004-05 Jake Nowaczewski 18-of-20

2003-04 Charles Frederick 15-of-20*

2002-03 Danny Tews Jr. 15-of-20

Dale Hart 15-of-20

(both winners also tied on the tiebreaker)

2001-02 Greg Melville 17-of-20

2000-01 Stan Soltysiak 18-of-20

1999-00 Paula McConnell 16-of-20*

1998-99 Rich Zawacki 15-of-19*

1997-98 Alfred Kerr 19-of-19*

1996-97 Gerald Rhines 15-of-17*

1995-96 Diane Amlotte 14-of-17

1994-95 Fred Siebert 17-of-18

1993-94 Ben Gougeon 17-of-18*

1992-93 Val Jaskolski 14-of-17*

1991-92 Joanne Wright 13-of-16*

1990-91 Beverly Zubalik 14-of-18

1989-90 Jim Dwyer 15-of-18*

Gary Mason 15-of-18*

(Two winners were chosen after a mathematical error)

*Denotes a win on a tiebreaker

The Geek’s Record

Year Games Correct

2018-19 12-of-20

2017-18 13-of-20

2016-17 10-of-20

2015-16 11-of-20

2014-15 9-of-20

2013-14 11-of-20

2012-13 10-of-20

2011-12 11-of-20

2010-11 11-of-20

2009-10 11-of-20

2008-09 12-of-20

2007-08 12-of-20

2006-07 15-of-20

2005-06 7-of-20

2004-05 10-of-20

2003-04 10-of-20

2002-03 9-of-20

2001-02 14-of-20

2000-01 13-of-20

1999-00 12-of-20

1998-99 12-of-19

1997-98 15-of-19

1996-97 9-of-17

1995-96 10-of-17

1994-95 10-of-18

1993-94 14-of-18

1992-93 9-of-17

1991-92 7-of-16

1990-91 9-of-18

1989-90 13-of-18

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