Will the boss's daughter be running the show?

Amanda Brock is many things besides my boss's daughter. She is a good enough golfer to play for the Havre High golf team the last three years, she is anxiously awaiting her high school graduation and of course she's a Bobcat fan. Well, nobody's perfect.

For this week's armchair quarterback guest picker, we decided to put the Brock family to the test by having Amanda go head-to-head against her dad, Harvey, and the rest of our panel of experts.

Among other things, Amanda is blunt. If you ask her opinion, she'll give it to you and she won't sugarcoat it, especially when it comes to the Bobcat-Grizzly rivalry.

"I can't wait until November 22 because the Grizzlies are getting their butts kicked," she said.

Excuse me?

Why don't you tell us how you really feel Amanda?

"The Bobcats are actually pretty good this year," she said. "They're going to beat the Griz again this year. I'm tired of listening to all the Griz fans whining about the snow and all of the injuries in last year's game. Their nothing but excuses, excuses, excuses."

She's so sure about the outcome of this year's game that she's willing to bet on it.

Initially, she turned down my wager of $50, stating a lack of funds from a lack of employment.

So instead, we bet on personal embarrassment instead.

If by some act of God or Mother Nature, the Bobcats win their second straight game against UM, I will - besides throwing a gigantic, fist-pounding, arm-flailing, screaming, whining, child-like temper tantrum - wear any Montana State clothing she chooses to work and to a Havre High basketball game.

And when the Griz win - and they are going to win - Amanda will have to wear the Grizzly clothes of my choice to a day of school and also a Havre High basketball game.

It's a lock. She might as well prepare to wear the maroon and silver. Besides, if the Griz lose, wearing Montana State clothing will be the least of my concerns.

So you would think that a diehard Cat fan like Amanda would be heading to Bozeman next fall? Nope, she has a more practical approach to college. She is going to attend Montana State University-Northern to get her basics taken care of before heading to a different school to get her degree in engineering.

"I'm going to Northern next year," she said. "My dad's paying for it, so why not get my basics here."

She is even getting a head start this spring by taking at least a class or two at Northern.

I guess we know who's paying for that, as well.

It won't be the only thing Harvey is paying for if he loses to Amanda in this week's picks.

Besides the obvious comments from George and myself, Amanda also takes a special pride in beating her dad in competitions, especially golf.

"I beat him this year in Polson," she said. "Brittany (Job) and I both beat him. He shot like a 110. His excuse was that he hadn't played in two weeks. Whatever, we still beat him."

Luckily for Harvey, Amanda admitted she isn't exactly familiar with high school football. So instead of researching her high school picks, she enlisted the help of her friend and Havre High cheerleader Dani Kane.

The duo decided to go with Big Sandy over Wibaux, Belgrade over Dillon in an upset and Thompson Falls over Baker in an even bigger upset.

"I don't even know where Baker or Thompson Falls are at," she said. "And Belgrade is the only team to beat Havre this season."

In the college games, she went with her beloved Bobcats to beat Eastern Washington while picking Montana Tech to upset UM-Western since former Pony players Levi Briese and Justin Kegel play of the Diggers.

She also went with the Miami Hurricanes, the Michigan State Spartans and Virginia Tech Hokies to all win.

But the most conspicuous pick was the Griz defeating Sacramento State.

What about all that whining stuff?

"The team they're playing is terrible," she said. "The Cats beat them by 50, so the Griz should squeak by."

In pro games, she went with the Carolina Panthers to defeat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a key NFC matchup.

"Tampa Bay isn't that good, they win a game then lose two," Amanda said. "Besides, I'll pick against Tampa Bay just because they are Chazz Hurlburt's favorite team."

Amanda also picked the Titans over the Dolphins, the Cowboys to defeat the Bills and St. Louis to knock off Baltimore.

Her remaining two picks have personal interest. She picked the Philadelphia Eagles to beat Green Bay out of spite.

"The Packers beat my Vikings last weekend," Amanda said. "I'd never pick the Packers."

She also went with Seattle to defeat Washington because she has Seahawks' running back Shaun Alexander and quarterback Matt Hasselback on her fantasy football team.

After making her picks, Amanda wanted to see her dad's picks to compare and maybe change, but we don't allow that here. A pick made is a pick played.

Still, Amanda seemed pretty confident about her chances of beating her dad this week.

"He doesn't watch a lot of sports," she said. "He usually has them on TV, but he's sleeping through them. He's just a good guesser."

We'll see if Harvey's good guessing will get him some revenge for his daughter announcing he shot a 110 at Polson's Mission Bay Golf Club.

One thing is for certain, come Nov. 22, Amanda better like the colors of maroon and silver.

Last week was pretty rough for all of our guessers in the NFL - with Minnesota, Cincinnati and Miami all costing our panelists.

I won the week with a 13-5 record which still leaves me close to last place overall - something that George reminds me of every week. Wells and Barry came in with 12-6 records while George and Harvey each had 11-7 records.

Last week's guest, Vince Huntsberger, finished 10-8 but almost called the Billings Central upset over Dillon. Still, it just goes to show that all of his book learnin' and doctor classes don't mean nothin' in football pickin'. Ain't that right, smart boy?

As always, we are looking for guest guessers each week. Thanks for the current suggestions, we are definitely going to use them. We just have to wait until just the right week, so the games scheduled can allow us to make fun of our guest as much as possible.