Week 13 MVP Award Winner –
Drummer Boy (27 Points)
As the eighteenth year of The Football Club got underway this season, nobody was drumming up better picks over the first 3 weeks than Drummer Boy. He opened the year with back to back MVP Award Runner-Ups. In addition, he took over 1st Place during Weeks 2 and 3, at one point holding a 7 Point lead over the rest of the club. But instead of running away with the title (as sometimes happens), Drummer Boy lost his timing just a little bit when it comes to making great picks. And for a professional musician such as himself, that can bring your confidence down a notch. But I’m happy to report that in Week 13, Drummer Boy got his groove back by scoring 27 Points to win the MVP Award for the week. This catapulted him back up the standings into 8th Place, only 15 Points away from the top spot. Drummer Boy made some truly brilliant picks last week, getting both Games of the Week correct with Balt and TB. Also, he was 1 of only 4 players to correctly pick Hou over NE on Sunday night (with the others being Badwater Nessie, MJD Hogg, and Captain Insano). If Drummer Boy can keep up his momentum, he will likely find himself in the Top Five in the next week or two and can even still challenge for the club title. The Week 13 MVP Award Runner-Up was shared by old friends (and rivals) Slick Chick and The Cat. They both scored 25 Points and moved up in the standings. Slick Chick was 1 of only 2 players to get the Double Stakes of Ten-Den, while The Cat was 1 of only 3 players to get the Triple Crown of Cin-Pit-LAR. As a result, The Cat has suddenly pounced into 1st Place and stunned the entire club. It has been 19 years since The Cat absolutely dominated the the club and won his only Club Championship, ending the season 32 Points ahead of the 2nd Place player. That remains the largest margin of victory in club history. I still remember giving him a framed certificate with a gold ribbon certifying that he had won the 2000 Club Championship and The Cat proudly displayed that in the laundry room of the apartment complex that he was managing for everyone to see. This season is much different, of course. Even though he could potentially win it all, it is doubtful that The Cat will be running away with the title. There is such a logjam at the top, as the Top Nine players are all within 15 Points of 1st Place. At the end of any given week, any player in the top half of the standings could find themselves the #1 player in the club. Rounding out the Top Five, Fearless Tuna remains in 2nd Place (1 Point behind), Mr. T reaches a new peak of 3rd Place (3 Points behind), and Double-Double & Halibut J-Bird are tied for 4th Place (5 Points behind). Speaking of Mr. T, he has been named our November Player of the Month. It was really tough to choose someone for the honor as so many players did well during November. But I thought that Mr. T really stood out because over the past 5 weeks, he moved up the standings every single week. He went from 12th to 11th to 6th to 5th and now to 3rd Place. That was quite remarkable and Mr. T is well deserving to be our Player of the Month.
The Wild Card Round of the Super Bowl Tournament took place last week, and 4 of the top 8 seeds were upset and eliminated from the tournament. The unexpected casualties included #2 seed Fearless Tuna, #1 seed The Cat, #3 seed Nighthawk, and #4 seed freespirit. In the match of the week, (2) The Rickster tied (7) Halibut J-Bird by a score of 14-14 to eliminate him. Thus, 3 of the current Top 4 players in the club were eliminated from Head to Head competition. It just goes to show that Head to Head matches are a completely different competition to play and be successful at. Defending champion (4) Bob Swerski def. (5) Captain Jack Sparrow by a score of 22-11 to advance to the next round and keep his repeat title hopes alive. I’m really anxious to see how (4) Bob Swerski does in his showdown with club legend (3) Hoosier Daddy this week during the Divisional Round. And a shout-out and congrats to MJD Hogg, who knocked me out of the tournament, causing me to be a fish out of water. (7) MJD Hogg now gets to face off with (1) Double-Double this week. Both Hoosier Daddy and MJD Hogg have each won 5 straight matches and are the hottest players left in the tournament. There may be no stopping them from having a brotherly showdown in the Conference Round during Week 15. Another great match this week in the Wild Card Round will be (8) Drummer Boy at (2) The Rickster. Can Drummer Boy follow-up his shocking defeat of #1 seed The Cat by knocking off #2 seed The Rickster? This could be a battle for the ages between these two great players. And finally, Alhambra teammates will be squaring off with (6) Slick Chick at (5) Mr. T. Only one can survive and make the Conference Round. Who will it be? In addition, keep in mind that the First Round of the Pro Bowl Tournament starts this week. The two matches this week are (6) The Black Pearl at (3) Daddy & His Boys and (5) The Supernovas at (4) Alhambra. Which two of these four teams will advance to the Final Four?