For football fanatic Rob Ford, losing the city hall NFL pool three weeks in a row must be infuriating.

But to lose to left-winger Joe Mihevc, who makes his selections based on — among other things — the number of vowels in a team’s name?

Well “it must just drive him nuts. And I love it,” gloats Mihevc, grinning.

For the third week in a row, Ford has lost the weekly football pool to a political foe. Newbie councillor Josh Colle won first. Then progressive John Filion. Then Mihevc, who correctly called 10 out of 15 games over the weekend. Ford came second with 7 winning picks.

According to Mihevc and Filion, it was an uncharacteristically strong showing from the mayor.

“He hardly ever wins week to week, and he’s never won the overall. I constantly remind him that he obviously knows nothing about football. He (jokes) we’re left-wing cheaters,” said Filion.

The small football pool is one of the few examples of inter-political camaraderie left at the increasingly polarized city hall.

The weekly $20 pool began in 2008 with Mihevc, Filion and Ford, who sit near each other on the council floor. Colle, who was first elected in 2010, joined this year.

“We get lots of laughs over it. Joe and I collect lots of money. And I actually get to see a very different side of Rob than what you normally saw in his role as councillor and now mayor,” said Filion. “I’ve actually come to know him as a person through the football pool … There’s a sense of humour. You might even say warmth.”

Football is Ford’s passion.

He is a former player, has mused about bringing an NFL team to Toronto, and currently coaches the Don Bosco Catholic Secondary School team. He can often be spotted combing through the weekly box scores during lulls in council meetings.

Mihevc, on the other hand, intends to make his next week’s selection based on which team’s first letter is closest to “Z.”

“Despite all his planning, he still can’t win. There was one year, just to harass Rob, I put a monkey in the pool and just picked at complete random,” laughs Filion. The monkey won.

Ford’s office did not respond to a request for comment about the monkey.

The winnings are donated to charity. The mayor’s portion was delivered to Mihevc’s office in an envelope from an office assistant.

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To be fair to Ford, deputy mayor Doug Holyday notes that Ford selected Kansas City over Green Bay and Indianapolis over Tennessee.

“Those are marvelous calls. I’ll bet you not many people in any football pool have Kansas City and Indianapolis … Maybe he knows more than we think.” When a reporter chuckles, he hastily adds: “I’m talking about football!”