Notes from the "General" Andy Babb:

ENCINO, California – The first two weeks of the Brandissimo! NFLRZ challenge have set a “take no prisoners” attitude where smack-talking and tears succinctly describe the pins-and-needles atmosphere. And it’s no wonder why: with winners routinely ordering the most expensive items on the menu for their free lunches, the stakes are clearly immense.

“CPK Jambalaya and a Pepsi,” said last week’s winner Mark Aguilar. “My life just doesn’t get any better than that.”

Disappointed losers are looking for any way to get an advantage. Allison Zimmer bought a new, faster car so she can spend less time on the road and more time playing the game of the week: “It’s worth the investment” Zimmer said. “Dean thinks I am crazy but he just doesn’t understand the prestige that goes along with winning a free lunch.”

Others are taking the competition a step further. “I’ve purchased 10,000 postcards and will eat one each day I don’t win the contest” said a clearly frustrated Josh Fisher. “I’d rather go 15 rounds with a women’s professional roller derby team than lose the NFLRZ contest again” said a clearly confused David Snyder.

Last week’s random drawing winner Ajay was more philosophical than most, offering this tidbit: “Steadiness (sattva), activity (rajas), and dullness (tamas), are known as the three gunas, or qualities. Because of the intertwined relationship between the soul and these dispositions, an imbalance in disposition causes the world to evolve. Liberation occurs with the realization that the soul and the dispositions are different. Samkhya is a dualistic philosophy, but there are differences between Samkhya and other forms of dualism.”

Ajay also picked out this week’s game: Blitz Bots.