Week 6 MVP Award Winner–
freespirit (24 Points)
Week 6 did not go well for most club members. There were a large number of upsets that many people did not see coming or successfully predict. As a result, the entire club was shaken up and the Current Standings turned upside down with players rising and falling unexpectedly. Nowhere was this more true than the Top Five. While it seemed like Iceman and Papa Tuna had a strong grip on the #1 position of the club and perhaps like they might be battling it out all season for the club title… how quickly things have changed. By correctly picking 5 major upsets (Ten over Pit, Den over SD, NYG over SF, GB over Hou & Det over Phil), freespirit overtook the top two players, won the Week 6 MVP Award with 24 Points, and became the new #1 player in the club. Of course, the NYG and Det upsets did not help her, since other favored teams in the Double Stakes and Triple Crown also lost, but the damage was done. So with that, we welcome our fourth #1 player of the 2012 season. Now we will see how freespirit will fare with the spotlight directly on her shoulders and everybody aiming to overtake her. Can she become the club’s second female player in the last three years to win the club title? Or will the pressure get to her and will she end up being tripped up by bad picks? Only time will tell, but for now, freespirit gets to enjoy her time at the top of the standings. The interesting thing about the shakeup at the top is that literally anybody from the Top Five could jump all the way to #1 in a single week with an MVP caliber showing. Looking further down the standings, everyone down to 11th Place is less than 20 Points away from being in 1st. And with over half a season of picks left, the race for the club title is far from over. Both Papa Tuna (13 Points) and Iceman (10 Points) picked very badly last week and have lost their momentum. But Captain Insano (#4 / 17 Points), Catfish (#5 / 17 Points), and Hoosier Daddy (#6 / 22 Points) all had strong weeks considering that it was a low scoring week with lots of upsets. These players all need to be watched out for as they are proving to be very dangerous. Hoosier Daddy especially has rebounded well and is picking at an extremely high level, making up for some early season struggles. I also like what I’m seeing from Double-Double, Bane, Caveman, Staubach & TK-421. They had strong weeks and are looking to build on that momentum with an excellent showing this week.
Over in Head to Head we had one of the most stunning results of the season. If you’ll recall, going into last week, Mr. T was 4-0 and looking to continue his march to perfection, which has never before been accomplished in the club. The closest anyone has ever come was two years ago when Hoosier Daddy also started out 4-0, before he lost the next match to Speak Now Tuna to end up 4-1 at the halfway mark. Hoosier then went on to win his final five matches to end up 9-1. The interesting thing is that the only match he lost that season was a week in which he posted 26 Points, which should have been good enough to beat anybody. However, Speak Now Tuna won the MVP Award that week, so there was no way that Hoosier could have beat him. Fast forward to this season and Mr. T was also sitting at 4-0, wondering if he could reach the halfway mark and be a perfect 5-0. To put it simply, Mr. T had a terrible week last week, scoring only 9 Points. So when it was all said and done, Mr. T probably gave up and figured his run at perfection was over. But it wasn’t to be. Mr. T was squaring off against long-time rival C Master V. And C Master V also turned out to have a terrible week, scoring only 8 Points. Thus, Mr. T was able to squeak out a defensive victory by the narrowest of margins 9-8 and remain undefeated, becoming the first player in a decade or so to reach 5-0. And now Mr. T is halfway there after sweeping all the games in his division. Can he win five more consecutive matches and reach the ultimate record of perfection in Head to Head? Time will tell, but we can’t help but cheer him on. This week starts up Head to Head play outside of players’ own divisions. To begin, I have set up a number of fun “grudge” matches which should provide for some good battles. Moving on to Pro Bowl Team Weekly, what an epic showdown we had this past week between two of the greatest teams that the club has ever seen– Daddy & His Boys and Wild Animals. Both teams went into this showdown with matching 3-1 records, which were tied for the best records in the league. So something had to give. And something did in a big way. Daddy & His Boys scored a landslide victory by caging Wild Animals 54-37. And Mighty Megalodons continue to impress as they defeated struggling Beasts of the Bay to reach 4-1. It is somewhat shocking to see them atop the league, tied with Daddy & His Boys for the best record. It seems like they might have their jaws set on winning the Pro Bowl Team title this season.