Week 16 MVP Award Winner –
Halibut J-Bird (34 Points)
Halibut J-Bird returned to his perch in 1st Place by scoring 34 Points to sink his talons into the Week 16 MVP Award. At just the right time, Halibut J-Bird had an outstanding week which included getting 3 out of 4 Point Spread games, the Double Stakes of NYG-Den, one Game of the Week, the Sunday Night game with GB, and the Triple Crown of Hou-NE-SF. This helped him to fly from 4th Place to 1st Place in the standings. He soared over three other players despite starting the week 12 Points behind the 1st Place player. And I think that goes to show how volatile the Top Five of the standings is right now. Literally any player can move into 1st Place or even fall down to 5th Place. As Drummer Boy said on Club Chat: “I don’t remember any season quite like this where so many players are all pretty close in points. Definitely more interesting.” The Week 16 MVP Award Runner-Up went to Captain Insano, who scored 31 Points while getting both Games of the Week, the Double Stakes, and the Triple Crown. In so doing, Captain Insano has put himself in position to potentially win the club title as well. In fact, any member of the current Top Five could end up winning the Club championship next week. In looking at the Top Five, we currently have #1 Halibut J-Bird, #2 Fearless Tuna (1 Point behind), #3 Double-Double (4 Points behind), #4 Drummer Boy (10 Points behind), and #5 Captain Insano (12 Points behind). With the always crazy Week 17 Picks Sheet (which includes the Quadruple Jeopardy option and an extra Game of the Week), it is impossible to predict which member of the Top Five will end up becoming our 2019 Club Champion. As far as those outside of the Top Five, any players currently sitting in 6th Place to 15th Place have a chance of ending the season in the Top Five if they have a strong MVP caliber week. So please don’t throw in the towel if you are outside of the Top Five but try to make your best picks and close out the season strongly with an MVP Award. That will give you a lot of momentum going into next season. Speaking of which, I am happy to announce that the club has renewed its contract for the next two seasons. It just feels right to make sure that the club reaches at least 20 seasons of play, so it is confirmed that next year we will be returning for season 19. (But there will be no Playoff Picks this season.) As this season comes to an end this week, which player from the Top Five will emerge to become our 2019 Club Champion? Will Halibut J-Bird win his first club title since the 2003 season after returning to the club after a long absence? Will Fearless Tuna win his first-ever club title or will he fall apart in the final week as he usually does? Will Double-Double step up with bold picks and win back-to-back club titles, something that has never happened in club history? Will Drummer Boy rebound from his narrow Super Bowl Tournament loss with amazing picks and become the Club Champion? Or will Captain Insano surprise everyone and continue his furious late charge toward the top to win the title? We will all find out at the end of next week. The next two paragraphs below are copied from the Super Bowl Tournament Page and the Pro Bowl Tournament Page.
Super Bowl XVII Champ Hoosier Daddy (10-4)
Daddy Defeats One of His Boys – Hoosier Daddy has completed an incredible comeback victory to narrowly defeat his teammate Drummer Boy by a final score of 22-21. It was another Super Bowl final for the ages as two teammates from Daddy & His Boys squared off in the Super Bowl Tournament Head to Head championship match. Hoosier Daddy was playing from behind the entire time and only pulled out the victory after the final game ended. The match got underway on Saturday, when Drummer Boy scored an early touchdown and took a 7-0 lead after he correctly picked the Triple Crown of Hou-NE-SF while Hoosier Daddy missed it. Then, the Sunday games took place and Hoosier Daddy made up some ground, but still found himself behind by a score of 21-16. Due to the club’s Flex-Scheduling Rule, the Monday night game was flexed into the 6 Point value as it was deemed more likely to be competitive. Thus, Hoosier Daddy was down by 5 Points, but there were still 6 Points up for grabs. Just by chance, Hoosier Daddy and Drummer Boy both had different picks for Monday night. So that set up a Monday night showdown to determine the 2019 Super Bowl Champion. Green Bay ended up defeating Minnesota, which delivered the 6 Points to Hoosier Daddy and secured his first-ever Super Bowl championship. In his path to the title, Hoosier Daddy defeated Badwater Nessie, Bob Swerski, Double-Double, and Drummer Boy. But at the same time, we need to make special mention of Drummer Boy’s incredible effort and run through the tournament. Drummer Boy survived the First Round and defeated Captain Insano, The Cat, The Rickster, and Slick Chick in route to the final. He just ended up coming up 2 Points short of being able to raise the trophy this time. So we would like to thank both players for putting on an incredible championship match and also for their commendable sportsmanship. Prior to kickoff, Hoosier Daddy stated on Club Chat that “I’d love to win the Super Bowl, but I’m happier with the team trophy, so I’m rooting for my friend and teammate, Drummer Boy!” Drummer Boy replied “Awww, thank you ‘Daddy’! I feel the same.” Congratulations to Hoosier Daddy on becoming our 2019 Super Bowl Head to Head Champion!
Pro Bowl XVI Champs The Supernovas (8-7)
Two-time Champions – The Supernovas have stunned the club by defeating Daddy & His Boys to win their second career Pro Bowl team championship! And The Supernovas did this in dominant fashion, winning the match by a final score of 86-60. In fact, in looking back through the archives it is clear that The Supernovas had the most dominant Pro Bowl Tournament run in club history, as they won their three matches by scores of 27 Points, 26 Points, and 26 Points. Never before had a championship team won all of their matches by such large margins. To say that this was unexpected would be an understatement. The Supernovas struggled through the regular season and just never fully clicked as a team, ending with a losing record of 5 wins and 7 losses and the lowly #5 seed. But then the tournament began and The Supernovas transformed from burned out stars to bright supernovas. They began their tournament run by defeating rookie team #4 seed Alhambra 77-50. Next up in the Final Four, they knocked out the defending champs #1 seed Wild Animals 79-53. And they followed that up in the final by stunning Daddy & His Boys to become two-time champions. The Supernovas had won their only previous Pro Bowl team championship back in 2006, so they are no doubt thrilled to win their second title 13 years (or 8 club seasons) later. In breaking down how their team won the final, let’s take a closer look at each of the three teammates. Halibut J-Bird led the way last week by winning the Week 16 MVP Award and scoring 34 Points. Not far behind was Captain Insano, who won the Week 16 MVP Award Runner-Up with 31 Points. Fearless Tuna added a decent 21 Points of his own and thus you can see how they reached 86 Points. In having both the MVP and the MVP Runner-Up on their squad this week, The Supernovas borrowed a page from Daddy & His Boys, who had done the same in the previous week during the Final Four. When that happens, a team just cannot be stopped no matter what. Speaking of Daddy & His Boys, although they did not win their fourth title, they can hold their heads up high. Daddy & His Boys teammates Hoosier Daddy, MJD Hogg, and Drummer Boy had yet another outstanding run through the tournament and nearly won it all. They just happened to run into a team that experienced a stellar explosion and could not be stopped. Congratulations to The Supernovas on becoming the 2019 Pro Bowl Team Champions!