Week 9 MVP Award Winner –
Captain Jack Sparrow (31 Points)
When Captain Jack Sparrow docked the Black Pearl in order to drop off his Week 9 picks at Club Headquarters, he declared: “This is my week. I hope.” Having dealt with some rough currents and stormy seas this season, Captain Jack was hoping to steady his ship and deliver a huge week. And that’s exactly what he did as he scored 31 Points to win the Week 9 MVP Award. With the cannons firing off in celebration, he ordered Saints players to scrub the decks of the Black Pearl, but cut them some slack by not requiring them to walk the plank (see Club Chat for more details). The key to Captain Jack’s success was being 1 of only 2 players in the entire club to correctly pick Jacksonville with Triple Jeopardy. He also got both Games of the Week, the Double Stakes, and the Monday night game correct. Speaking of the Monday night game, had New Orleans won, Slick Chick was lined up to win the MVP Award. Even though she didn’t get it, we are still happy to see Slick Chick moving up the standings and posting strong weeks. It is always a delight to read her posts on Club Chat along with the posts of others who chime in from time to time. We had a three-way tie for the Week 9 MVP Award Runner-Up between Mr. T, Nighthawk & Roadrunner. All three players scored 28 Points and all three managed to pick both Games of the Week correct and find themselves moving up the standings as a result. Moving into 1st Place for the first time this season was Double-Double. Double-Double has a 2 Point lead over his main rival Stinkerbell who finds herself back in 2nd Place. Rounding out the Top Five, we have #3 The Rickster (4 Points back), #4 Drummer Boy (6 Points back), and #5 Rad Dad (7 Points back). But not far behind them are #6 Hoosier Daddy, Mr. T & My Wife Loves Jimmy G (all 9 Points back), and #9 Nighthawk (12 Points back). Now that we are exactly halfway through the season, those players further down in the standings outside of the Top Ten will be looking to turn the page and start making better picks from this point forward. On a personal note, I will be taking Young Tuna to his very first football game this Sunday. We will be attending the Sunday night game featuring LA Chargers @ SF 49ers. With apologies to The Rickster, we will be cheering on the 49ers for this one.
Qualifying for the Pro Bowl Tournament took place last week, and we had some interesting results. The #1 seeded team is Gridiron Guardians, who combined to score 81 Points. It was only two years ago when Gridiron Guardians, led by team captain Rad Dad, won the team title to become the 2020 Pro Bowl XVII Champions. Defending 2021 champs Wild Animals struggled a bit in qualifying, posting 65 Points to claim the #5 seed. With qualifying completed, here are the First Round matches taking place this week: (7) Daddy & His Boys at (2) McTriple Play, (6) Tough Puffins at (3) Tuna Generations, and (5) Wild Animals at (4) The Hulkamaniacs.