'Dogs run free this week

Man, there's a lot of sports on television this weekend. Got sucked into it yesterday. Can't afford to do it again today.

But!

In just two short days, we'll be starting up our revived charity pro football underdog game, the game where readers try to pick an NFL underdog every week that will win its game outright. If your 'dog wins, you get the number of points your team was favored to lose by. The player with the most points at the end of the (longer than ever) season is the winner.

There is a modest entry fee, and all proceeds go to charity, in that the winner gets to pick an eligible charity that gets the dough. If more than 10 players play, the second place finisher will also get to designate a small portion of the pool to his or her eligible charity. If more than 20 players play, the third place finisher will also get to designate a small portion of the pool to his or her eligible charity. So far we've got around 15 'dog aficionados who have expressed an interest.

The full rules are here. If you want to play, you can do so for free the first week, provided your fee is in by the 15th.

In the past, this has been a lot of fun, and some good causes have benefited. That's the idea for this year. 

I know that things are different now than they were when our original game was in its heyday. You can gamble on any sport, any time. Fantasy football is huge. But if you give our underdog madness a shot, you'll be doing a good deed in a way that you can't do anywhere else.

If you're interested, just send let me know by email at dogpdx21@gmail.com, and I'll get you started.