Sep 1994 Straight Up (Lotus 1-2-3 Spreadsheet) Started in Toronto in 1994 as an office pool at Norwich Union Life by Gilles Lefebvre (1994-96) with approximately 25 players. Back then it was straight up picks. Pick Sheets would be handed out on Tuesdays and eventually faxed over to additional players at Marsh Canada a few years later when the pool took on additional players. Functions were used and macros were added for automation and to calculate the winner, and to sort the order of players by total wins. The Pick Sheet was printed from the spreadsheet as it was integrated within the Lotus 1-2-3 Spreadsheet. |
Sep 1997 Derek Smith (1997-99) takes over the pool Gilles passes the torch to Derek who runs the pool for another year after leaving Norwich Union for RBC Insurance in 1998. Derek had a weekly write-up named 'Trash Talkin'with Tough Dee' to announce the weekly winner via email, and to show the up-to-date standings. |
Sep 1998 Against the Spread (Lotus 1-2-3 Spreadsheet) Point Spread is now being used for the full NFL schedule after being introduced in the last week of the month in the last few years. |
Sep 2000 Pool goes online and named 4thandinches.ca The last passing of the torch was to Jules Brazeau who brings the pool online. The 4th and Inches name and logo are introduced. With word of mouth, the pool grows to average 65 players per year including a dozen or more players from the United States. Against The Spread (Online Form) - "Submit Picks" form now online. The Lotus 1-2-3 Spreadsheet continues to be used. |
Sep 2004 to Present Against the Spread (Database) MySQL database is created and the pool is now a 100% online application. Hall of Fame and statistics going back to 2006 are added to the website. |