LMK Article "49ers vs Rams, 24-24 tie: Win or loss?"

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San Francisco 49ers vs. St. Louis Rams, 24-24 Tie: Win or Loss?

There are winners and there are losers. And sometimes there is neither.

Football is one of America’s favorite sports. Currently, there are 32 teams listed with the National Football League (“NFL”), each team playing 16 games in a 17 week period. At some point, you or someone close to you will be involved in a pool or some other form of friendly competitive betting to pick the winning team. One of the most common types of football pools is the Survivor Pool (Pick a team. If they win, you move on. If they lose, you’re out).

So what do you do if there is a tie?

The game held on Sunday, November 11, 2012, between the San Francisco 49ers and the St. Louis Rams has people asking: Is a tie considered a win or a loss? Of the 28 teams playing in Week 10 (4 teams had a bye week), San Francisco was favored to win by 11 points and seemed like a solid bet.

Before 1974, the teams would play until sudden death overtime - whoever scores first wins. On December 25, 2011, the NFL Network presented a one-hour special, commemorating the 40^th anniversary of “The Longest Game Ever” played between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Miami Dolphins on December 25, 1971, which went into double overtime after 82 minutes and 40 seconds of play and ended with the Dolphin’s victory over the Chiefs, 27-24.

In 1974, the NFL decided that overtime would only consist of one-fifteen minute period. If a team scored during that fifteen minute period, the game immediately ended. If neither team scored during the fifteen minute period, the game resulted in a tie. Since the rule change in 1974, there have only been 18 games that ended in a tie. The last time this happened was on November 16, 2008, when the Philadelphia Eagles met the Cincinnati Bengals (13-13). Four years later, on Sunday, November 11^th, the San Francisco 49ers faced the St. Louis Rams and became a part of NFL history with their 24-24 tie.

Which leads us to the question, what happens in a football pool when there is a tie? Is it considered a loss and you’re out? Or is it considered a win and you move on to the next week?

There is room for debate.

Dictionary.com defines “tie” as, “to make or be the same score; be equal in contest.” A loose interpretation would be that a tie is neither a win nor a loss. In a Survivor Pool, since the team that was chosen did not outright lose, then you should be able to advance to the next week.

However, a majority of the sources found online using the keywords, “NFL Survivor Pool Tie” will say that "Ties are not wins," or "Games that end in a tie are a loss."

According to one online reference, FunOfficePools.com, the "Commissioners are free to interpret ties in any way they want."  In the Survivor Pool I joined, I chose San Francisco.  Argument upon argument was made.  But in the end, the friend running the pool decided that the ties was a loss and I, along with 4 other people, was out.  

How would you decide?