Week 16 MVP Award Winner –
My Wife Loves Jimmy G (27 Points)
Top Five player My Wife Loves Jimmy G continues to serve notice on the club that there is no stopping his domination. Not only has he spent most of the season in the Top Five (all but three weeks) and reached a Peak Position of #2, but he has now won his second MVP. My Wife Loves Jimmy G scored 27 Points last week to claim the Week 16 MVP Award, adding that to his Week 5 MVP, Week 7 MVP Runner-Up, and Week 10 MVP Runner-Up. And it was only two seasons ago when he finished as the overall Runner-Up to 2022 Club Champion Rad Dad. My Wife Loves Jimmy G’s huge week resulted from him being the only person in the entire club to correctly pick the shocking Triple Crown result of Carolina – Detroit – Washington. That was a truly brilliant Triple Crown to pick right, something that no other club member was willing to attempt. The Week 16 MVP Award Runner-Up was current #6 player MJD Hogg, who scored 23 Points. MJD Hogg has been all business this season, making great picks week after week. Along the way, he has secured 3 MVP Awards and 3 Weeks at #1, along with the September Player of the Month Award. MJD Hogg has had a truly outstanding year in the club. There was some minor shuffling in the Top Five this past week, but nothing is even close to being settled. The most interesting development is that we now have a tie for 1st Place, with both Drummer Boy & Stinkerbell sharing the top spot with 383 Points each. Bob Swerski struggled last week and only scored 12 Points, which dropped him down to 3rd Place, although he is only 2 Points behind the leaders. However, he cannot afford another low-scoring week if he wants to stay in serious contention. In 4th Place we have Double-Double (18 Points back) and in 5th Place we have My Wife Loves Jimmy G (24 Points back). I’m not sure if either of those two players can get back into contention without taking some serious risks this week, while there is still some time left to do so. But with both of them playing in the Pro Bowl Tournament, it might not be smart to do so.
The Super Bowl Championship match is set with (9) Fearless Tuna (5-8-1) at (2) Shaylene (9-4). (The following information is copy and pasted over from the Super Bowl Tournament Page.) The Super Bowl Championship match between Fearless Tuna and Shaylene has to be one of the most unlikely finals of all time. Nobody expected either of these two players to advance all the way to the championship round, but here they are. Fearless Tuna is now a 4-time Super Bowl finalist, having lost all three of his previous appearances to the eventual champions. He lost in 2023 (which was just last season) to My Wife Loves Jimmy G by 5 Points. Before that, he lost in 2010 to The Rickster by 8 Points. And before that, he also lost in 2005 to The Rickster by 12 Points. As you can see, Fearless Tuna has gotten a little closer to victory every single time he has reached the final. And this time, he is facing off against a family member, his stepmom Shaylene. As far as Shaylene goes, she made it to the Divisional Round last year before losing to Viking Blood. And in 2022, she was knocked off in the First Round by her grandson Young Tuna. So she has never made it past the Divisional Round when playing solo (in some past seasons she has joined forces with Roadrunner and they played together). To analyze how this season’s championship match might turn out, let’s take a look back at the performances of the two players this season in Head to Head Weekly and then the Super Bowl Tournament. Fearless Tuna was the worst player this season in Head to Head Weekly, posting a career low record of 1-8-1. And he didn’t pick up that lone victory until the final week of the regular season. But since then, he has been on an absolute tear, pulling off four consecutive stunning upsets in the tournament. In succession, he knocked off #8 seed Captain Insano, #1 seed Hoosier Daddy, #5 seed Captain Jack Sparrow, and #6 seed Double-Double. That has been quite a path to the final for Fearless Tuna, and now he is just one win away from finishing off a miracle run for the ages. Shaylene, on the other hand, had a fantastic regular season, finishing as the Division Four champion with a record of 6-4. In the tournament, she has also done well, defeating #7 seed New York City Sewer Rat, #8 seed Rad Dad, and #4 seed Nighthawk. During the Super Bowl Tournament, Fearless Tuna has posted an average score of 25.6 Points per week. In contrast, Shaylene has posted a lower average score of 19.8 Points per week. Based on their average scores during the tournament, I would have to establish Fearless Tuna as a clear 5 Point favorite, despite being the lowest seed in the entire tournament. He has just been playing too strong lately and it does not seem likely that he is going to let this golden opportunity to finally raise the Super Bowl Head to Head trophy slip away. Regardless, it will be interesting to see how it all plays out on the field this Sunday and who becomes our 2024 Super Bowl Head to Head Champion. No matter what, a member of the Tuna family is guaranteed to be the next champion.
The Pro Bowl Team Championship match is set with (2) Daddy & His Boys (9-4) at (1) Wild Animals (9-3-1). (The following information is copy and pasted over from the Pro Bowl Tournament Page.) The 2024 Pro Bowl Team Championship match is a rematch for the ages between this season’s best teams and top two seeds. This is the third time in club history in which these two teams have met in the title match, with the previous two meetings happening in 2021 and 2007. In 2021, (1) Wild Animals def. (2) Daddy & His Boys 61-54. But in 2007, (2) Daddy & His Boys def. (1) Wild Animals 61-57. Notice how close and similar both scores were. And notice, too, that in all three finals that Wild Animals have been the #1 seed and Daddy & His Boys have been the #2 seed. As stated on the Pro Bowl Team Champs Hall of Fame page, “Wild Animals have established themselves as the greatest Pro Bowl team of all time, having now won 5 titles (as of 2023). Just barely behind them, Daddy & His Boys have won 3 titles.” With this in mind, this is a golden opportunity for both teams. If Wild Animals were to win this match, they would have 6 titles, which would double the amount of Daddy & His Boys and make it nearly impossible for them to ever be caught. However, if Daddy & His Boys were to win this match, they would close the gap to 5-4 and only have one less title than Wild Animals. That would put them in prime position to catch up to and potentially even pass Wild Animals in the next few years. So a lot is at stake in this match. To get an idea as to who might have the edge in this 2024 championship match, let’s take a look back at their meetings during the Pro Bowl Weekly regular season. This season, they played each other three times, with Wild Animals winning 2 of the 3 matches. In Week 6, Daddy & His Boys def. Wild Animals 93-91. Then, in Week 11, Wild Animals def. Daddy & His Boys 61-55. Finally, in Week 14, Wild Animals def. Daddy & His Boys 66-64. Notice that all three matches were extremely close and went down to the wire. Daddy & His Boys consists of (current ranking) #1 Drummer Boy, #6 MJD Hogg, and team captain #10 Hoosier Daddy. Wild Animals consists of (current ranking) #4 Double-Double,#5 My Wife Loves Jimmy G, and team captain #7 The Rickster. Notice that all six players are in the Top Ten, so we can expect an outstanding championship match. This match will be so close that the best I can do is establish Wild Animals as a mere 1 Point favorite. But actually, I wouldn’t be surprised if this match ends up finishing in a tie. It will be very interesting to see which team ends up winning it all and raising the team championship banner.