Week 2 MVP Award Winner –
Young Tuna (36 Points)
Second year player Young Tuna delivered the best performance of his juvenile life as he escaped the cannery and scored 36 Points to win the Week 2 MVP Award and move into 1st Place in the Current Standings. While quite a few players are caught in the net of making bad picks early in the season, Young Tuna has caught a strong current and is off to a very fast start. During our family trip to American Samoa this summer, I stopped by the StarKist tuna plant in Pago Pago to show Young Tuna the statue of Charlie the Tuna (which my own club logo is based on). Perhaps this brief visit provided the inspiration to help Young Tuna get off to such a successful start in this 22nd Year edition of the club. Young Tuna’s huge week included getting both Monday night games, the Double Stakes, both Games of the Week, the Sunday night game, and the Triple Crown. It doesn’t get much better than that. So how does Young Tuna make his picks? His dad does not provide any help at all, after doing so backfired last season and cost him an MVP Award. Instead, I print out a hard copy of the picks and leave it on the desk in his room. He then takes about 5 minutes at some point in the week, selects his winners, and turns in his picks sheet. It is great to see Young Tuna win an MVP Award this early in the season and secure at least 1 Week at #1 (with a 9-Point lead to top it all off). The Week 2 MVP Award Runner-Up went to Viking Blood, whom many consider to be one of the biggest threats to win the club title this season. Viking Blood scored 26 Points which included getting the Double Stakes, both Games of the Week, and the Sunday night game correct. I’m not sure if The Sad Salmon is giving her any inside tips about who to pick or if she’s making all her picks herself, but either way she has become a serious contender early in the season as she moves into 3rd Place. On one of my three lifetime trips to Iceland, I stopped by the Sun Voyager, which is a large steel sculpture of a viking ship located on the waterfront in Reykjavik. If you’ve never seen a photograph of it, check it out online. But I can just imagine Viking Blood setting off in a real life Sun Voyager, rowing past other club members on her way to the top of the standings. The Top Five after the first two weeks consists of #1 Young Tuna, #2 Roadrunner (9 Points back), tied for #3 Viking Blood & Shaylene (12 Points back), and #5 Captain Jack Sparrow (14 Points back). If you are lower down in the standings, even in the Bottom Five, hang in there. It’s very early in the season and things can change very quickly for you in the standings with just one or two great weeks. Triple Jeopardy has already reared its ugly head and been devastating to many club members. The club is a combined 2-12 at picking TJ this season. That means 20 Points have already been left on the table and lost due to players picking too risky. Captain Insano is not in that group of players. Perhaps his current trip to Ireland has helped him see that avoiding TJ can lead to greener pastures and less rainy days in the club. So far, the only two players in the club to correctly pick a TJ game have been Shaylene and Drummer Boy. Well done to both of them. On a final note, be sure to check out who you are playing in Head to Head Weekly and Pro Bowl Team Weekly this week. After a one year hiatus, those two contests have returned to the club.