Pick Em Ratings!

Here's at you. Let's talk football.

Rank	Pick Set Name	Total Pts	W-L
1	Bear Down	173	20-10
2	Dirty Kings	159	19-11
3	Drinking Milkshakes	137	19-11
4	Cromartie's Kids	136	16-14
5	TW Andrews	136	17-13
6	clindahl	129	16-14
7	DBetts	128	16-14
8	Bengals Fan In Eagles Land	126	16-14
9	ParkAveMarauders	125	17-13
10	An Unlikely Scenario	124	16-14
11	brooklynj	124	17-13
12	Hot Sauce Committee	122	15-15
13	mjnewt0n	122	17-13
14	Cromartie's Other Kids	121	15-15
15	Truffle Shuffle	121	17-13
16	InchoateBlackRage	119	16-14
17	Maneating Anteaters	119	13-17
18	d'douche d'souza	118	14-16
19	taylor16's picks	118	14-16
20	ThePineappleExpress (wiliwili)	118	12-18
21	Anonymous Josh	117	16-14
22	the angry left	116	15-15
23	Ticats	113	15-15
24	Red Terror	112	15-15
25	At Least We Got Herschel	111	14-16
26	randomliberal	110	12-18
27	motownjunkboy's picks	110	14-16
28	Rhialto	108	12-18
29	Andrew	107	15-15
30	itsnotrocketscience	106	14-16
31	cisko	106	16-14
32	ChildOfAnNFCEastDivorce	105	13-17
33	SamRam's Attempt ...	105	13-17
34	For-Real Football	103	13-17
35	Electric Messiah	102	15-15
36	Red Devils	102	13-17
37	Crunkster	101	15-15
38	BreakerBaker	100	14-16
39	daveintexas	100	11-19
40	rusty_spatula	100	12-18
41	Chi Picks	98	13-17
42	Go Horns!	98	12-18
43	shorthope	98	12-18
44	The Pick-It Line	97	12-18
45	I too need emancipation	95	11-19
46	Imby	95	12-18
47	Eric F	95	12-18
48	Larry Centers is still the man	95	12-18
49	Seas' Auks	95	13-17
50	thegunner1981	95	13-17
51	Lawndale High (Dan Fox)	93	10-20
52	The Laterals	92	12-18
53	Eric k	92	12-18
54	Persia's Picks	91	13-17
55	DougEMI	90	13-17
56	hhex65	90	13-17
57	sengesong	88	11-19
58	Derangement Syndrome	88	11-19
59	Old Pembrokians	88	7-23
60	bmk12000	84	13-17
61	Jerry's Kids 2011	84	11-19
62	DoctorBoll	84	12-18
63	CitizenE	83	10-20
64	House Money	82	10-20
65	Fleur De Brees	81	12-18
66	ChickEn Star Rocket	80	10-20
67	Hypnotoad	80	12-18
68	GMcG	80	11-19
69	Jorah	76	9-21
70	It'll be another 10 years...	71	7-23
71	Juba's Isaacson-Tarbell Picks	66	7-23
72	Tashard's Choice	59	9-21
73	Cubicle Commando	51	7-23
74	Honore Ballsack	50	7-23
75	s_v	44	10-20
76	Nonobscene	42	6-24
77	West bound	42	7-7
78	NicsPics	31	11-19
79	puntsonthird	0	8-22
80	Boost Mobile	0	0-30
81	scott.w.weaver	0	0-30
82	priestree	0	0-30

About the Author

Ta-Nehisi Coates is a national correspondent for The Atlantic, where he writes about culture, politics, and social issues. He is the author of The Beautiful Struggle and Between the World and Me.

Twitter

The world has many coming-of-age traditions: sweet sixteens, bar mitzvahs, quinceañeras. But in one African country, 'initiation' is endangering the health of girls and boys.

CHIRADZULU, Malawi — A slight frame gives her the appearance of a child, but the hardened look Grace Mwase wears makes her seem older than her 14 years. In many villages across Malawi, a largely agrarian sliver of a country in southern Africa, custom dictates that both boys and girls as young as eight attend a rite of passage known as “initiation,” after which they are no longer seen as children. The practice is most entrenched in the country's south, where Mwase's Golden Village is located.

Mwase was just 10 when she was led, along with about a dozen other girls, to remote huts outside her village during winter vacation from school in August. The girls were accompanied by older women from their village in Chiradzulu district, near the border with Mozambique. The women, known as anamkungwi, or “key leaders,” told them that when they returned to their villages they should cook and clean—and have sex. According to Mwase, most of the two weeks she spent at the initiation camp were dedicated to learning how to engage in sexual acts. She had been excited for this time with friends away from home, but that feeling quickly gave way to dread as she learned the true purpose of initiation.