Week 8 MVP Award Winner –
Captain Jack Sparrow (28 Points)
When Captain Jack Sparrow took last season off for the installation of new sails, ship repairs, and deck plank scrubbing, the club greatly missed his presence and fun banter. So everyone was very happy at the start of this season when he announced on Club Chat: “Surprise Matey’s. I’m Baaaack. Did you miss the old Captain? The Black Pearl is a beauty with her 49 cannons and a full wind in her sail. Ahoy Mates we sail into uncharted football waters. Shiver me timbers. The best to you all. Beware the Kracken lives. AARR I feel a Pirates Life for me. That might make a good song. YoHo Yoho a pirates life for me. Ketchy seems I may have heard that song before. I wonder where??”. Taking a season (or more) off and then returning to the club can result in some rust showing when making picks. And that’s what happened with Captain Jack as he recovered from Scurvy and then tried to go into weekly club battles with opposing ships. He was forced to admit after a few weeks that “Meself (walked the plank) dismal jus’ dismal. I will be hopin’ fer better sailin’. Maybe it’s time t’ check in on the Kracken.” The good news for Captain Jack is that he has gotten past the rough seas and has sailed away with the Week 8 MVP Award. His huge 28 Point week started with a brilliant switch away from the Autopicker to Green Bay on Thursday night. This was the first time that the Autopicker (7-1) has lost this season, and only Captain Jack along with The Sad Salmon, Slick Chick, and The Cat were smart enough to change their pick. (Well done to all four players!) Then on Sunday, Captain Jack correctly picked Phil with TJ, both Games of the Week, and the Sunday night game to increase his Point total. Captain Jack Sparrow now has his sights set firmly on sailing into the Top Ten and maybe even more distant seas in the coming weeks. The Week 8 MVP Award Runner-Up was Stinkerbell, who scored 26 Points and has flown up the standings into 3rd Place. We will never forget her legendary rookie season in 2018 when she won 2 MVPs, logged 13 Weeks at #1, and finished as the Club Champion Runner-Up in 2nd Place only 5 Points away from the title. At one point during that season she held a 17 Point lead in 1st Place, which is quite amazing (and also shows that no 1st Place lead in the club is ever safe). Could she return to 1st Place once again this season? It certainly could happen based on her consistent play lately. We will be keeping a close eye on her over the next few weeks as family members Bob Swerski, Nighthawk, and Baby Hazel cheer on her renewed success. The Top Five had a bit of reshuffling last week, as was expected. You might recall that in last week’s column, I mentioned that there was only a 10 Point gap between #2 and #12 in the standings. But there was no change at the very top as Drummer Boy remained at #1 for the fourth consecutive week. After struggling the week before, he regained his form last week as he scored 20 Points and increased his 1st Place lead to double digits for the first time. In view of Drummer Boy’s outstanding play over the past month, he was named the October Player of the Month. Moving into 2nd Place after being in 11th Place only 2 weeks ago was Rad Dad, who was also in the running for the Player of the Month award due to such strong play in October. Rad Dad now stands only 10 Points behind Drummer Boy and has become a serious threat for the club title. Rounding out the Top Five are tied for #3 The Rickster & Stinkerbell (11 Points back) and #5 Captain Insano (12 Points back). Captain Insano responded strongly to my column mention last week by ending his Triple Jeopardy losing streak when he correctly picked Phil with TJ. In conclusion, I wanted to mention there were some disastrous last-second switches last week. I have noticed over the years that a majority of the time when a club member changes their pick just before kickoff, it usually backfires and results in a loss of Points. Not always, but most of the time. And last week, 6 players made disastrous last-second switches which cost them a combined 30 Points. I came very close myself to making the last-second switch from Dallas to Minnesota when the starting QB was ruled out, but wisely held off. So just be careful of not trusting your original picks. The same goes for switching away from the Autopicker. Last week, it worked out great and was the right decision. But in the previous 7 weeks, 16 players had switched away from the Autopicker and each lost 2 Points for doing so.
Over in Head to Head Weekly, there were several fierce showdowns between high-scoring players. Three matches that stood out were Drummer Boy def. Double-Double 20-19, Captain Jack Sparrow def. Hoosier Daddy 28-23, and Rad Dad def. The Icelandic Cod 25-22. In Pro Bowl Team Weekly, Wild Animals narrowly remained undefeated but had their 6-game winning streak snapped as they tied The Polar Bears 57-57. But the biggest story in Pro Bowl Weekly has to be the reemergence of defending champions The Gridiron Guardians as a serious contender. Last week, The Gridiron Guardians def. Tough Puffins 66-58 to reach a 3-game winning streak and move into 2nd Place in the team standings.