Pickin’ ain’t always easy.

One of the great things about covering football in Shelby County is that often what you think will happen in a game, doesn’t come close.

Last week it seemed that Briarwood was inexperienced and had no chance at upsetting Vestavia Hills, who is possibly the favorite to win Class 6A, Region 6. But with the help of three Vestavia turnovers, a few rolls of the dice by the Lions’ coaching staff and a blocked field goal, Briarwood came out on top by a point. And that was with five turnovers.

This is just one example of how anything can happen with football in Alabama, especially in Shelby County.

While games like this can sometimes throw off your picks each week, it also makes them exciting.

Spain Park kept me guessing the entire year last year, as did Montevallo with its injuries.

Each week, we offer you a chance to join in on the action with our Pigskin Picks on Page 3B. All it costs you to play is the cost of the paper, a stamp and/or gas to drop off your entry.

We all enjoy picking games, because it’s a fun, friendly competition. When we’re right, we feel a little bit more like Kirk Herbstreit. When we’re wrong, we hope we’re not Lee Corso, to whom fans hold up signs like one seen during Saturday’s ESPN “Game Day” that read “Corso, Pick Clemson. Roll Tide.”

Corso did pick Clemson, and the Tide rolled.

As fans, sometimes we just whimsically make picks. Other times we try to study the teams each week and give the most educated guess. Some go as far as to make spread sheets to know which team should out play another.

Fans get serious about their picks, and so do we.

The Reporter will do its best to provide you with the information you need for your picks in two avenues.

One is our weekly preview on Page 2B. Here, I will break down each game with a brief synopsis and make my pick for the week.

Also, fans can hear Austin Phillips and I discuss the week’s biggest games and make our picks each week on “Game Night” — a new weekly highlights and preview show on shelbycountyreporter.com/videos.

The show will go on the site on Thursdays and will be filmed at the site of the game of the week.