Week 14 MVP Award Winner –
Bob Swerski (38 Points)
Bob Swerski has had a season of highs and lows in 2021. For starters, in Week 3 he scored 28 Points to win the MVP Award and move into 1st Place in the Points standings. After logging 2 Weeks at #1, he was named the September Player of the Month Award winner. But then he had a few off weeks. In Week 10, he only managed to score 2 Points for the entire week. At his press conference after Week 10, he stated: “Hey der sports fans, after last week’s performance I should change my name to Bob WORSEski. I guess the pressure of living with Stinkerbell got to me. Ok heading to Ditka’s sports bar to drown sorrows with lots of beer, pork chops and sausages.” He followed that up with a dismal 6 Point performance in Week 12. But we are happy to report that his visit to Ditka’s sports bar has finally paid off as he had an incredible performance last week. He must have ordered an extra plate of sausages. Tying for the highest score of the year, Bob Swerski scored 38 Points to win the Week 14 MVP Award. With all of the picks that he turned in, Bob only missed one single game – Carolina losing to Atlanta. And even with that, he wisely avoided selecting Triple Jeopardy (unlike 9 others). Bob dedicated this MVP Award win to his (and Stinkerbell’s) newest grandson Cristian Mateo Garcia, who was born on 11/24/21. The Week 14 MVP Award Runner-Up went to Fearless Tuna & MJD Hogg, who both scored 31 Points. While this has been a terrible season of picks for myself personally, I’m happy to have won 1 MVP Award, 1 MVP Award Runner-Up, and a Peak Position of #3. And MJD Hogg has put himself squarely back into the race for the club title. After last week’s good showing, he moved into 6th Place and is knocking on the door of the Top Five being only 8 Points out. Speaking of the Top Five, #1 player Drummer Boy stepped up last week and delivered a solid 28 Point performance to solidify his hold on the top spot. One thing currently missing from his resume is an MVP Award, but he came close last week with the 4th best score. In fact, had Arizona won on Monday night, he would have won the MVP for the week and put the doubters to rest. #2 player The Sad Salmon described his 25 Point week on Club Chat as “a bit of an off week”. However, 13 other club members would disagree with that statement, as they wish they had scored that high. Stinkerbell moved into 3rd Place all by herself, while just behind her tied for 4th Place are Captain Insano & Double-Double (both 16 Points back).
The Wild Card Round of the Super Bowl Tournament took place last week and there were some utterly shocking results. In the first match of Conference One, (1) Drummer Boy def. (9) Hoosier Daddy 28-18 to finally get revenge for his Super Bowl championship match loss in 2019. Next up, we had an upset as (7) Captain Jack Sparrow def. (2) Double-Double 22-19 to advance by a field goal. Then we had a walkover as (3) freespirit def. (6) The Cat 18-bye week. When you take a bye week (see club rules for more details), you are not allowed to win your Head to Head match. And The Cat was busy on a 5-day move so there was no way he could make picks last week and get them in on time. Thus, freespirit advances by default. In a battle of titans, (5) Bob Swerski def. (4) Captain Insano 38-22. There’s simply no way to win a match when you play against the MVP for the week, so Captain Insano was sent packing. In the first match of Conference Two, we had the most shocking Head to Head result of the year, and perhaps of the decade. In a major upset nobody saw coming, (9) Slick Chick def. (1) The Rickster 25-20 to send the defending champ out of the tournament. Even though he lost early this season, The Rickster will still hold his Hall of Fame record 4 Super Bowl championship trophies high, knowing that nobody will be able to match that record for a long time to come (if ever). In the next match, we saw a veteran player beat the rookie when (7) MJD Hogg def. (2) The Icelandic Cod 31-16. Despite this loss, The Icelandic Cod can be proud of her Head to Head season as she won her division and posted a winning record of 6-4-1 in the regular season. One of the closest matches was between two legends of the club, as (6) Nighthawk def. (3) Rad Dad 23-19. And then finally, (4) The Sad Salmon def. (5) Mr. T 25-10 in stunning fashion, claiming the win by more than two touchdowns.
The Pro Bowl Tournament starts up this week. The two best teams in the regular season both received bye weeks into the Final Four. They are (1) Wild Animals (8-3-2) and (2) Daddy & His Boys (7-5-1). This presents an interesting opportunity, as Daddy & His Boys and Wild Animals are the only two Pro Bowl teams to have won 3 Pro Bowl championships. Could one of them jump ahead of the other this season and claim a 4th title, which would establish that team as the undisputed greatest of all time? We will find out in a few weeks. In the meantime, we have two First Round matches set for this week. They are (6) Polar Bears (4-7-2) at (3) McTriple Play (5-6-2) and (5) Tough Puffins (5-7-1) at defending champions (4) The Gridiron Guardians (5-6-2).