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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.

Here is a copy of the Week 2 Current Standings for those who are having trouble viewing it on their screens (usually due to viewing site on cell phone or tablet). Remember that there is much more detailed information that can be read on the actual Current Standings Page (but using a computer is necessary due to the tables).

Here are the club’s picks for Week 2.  Young Tuna wins the Week 2 MVP Award with 36 Points and Viking Blood wins the MVP Award Runner-Up with 26 Points.

Week 2 full picks now posted (Sat 6:20pm).  All players are welcome to view my picks once they have turned their own in for the week.  Last week I was out of town so I texted my picks to Double-Double before kickoff instead of posting here.

Week 1 MVP Award Winner –
Captain Jack Sparrow (26 Points)

2011 Club Champion Captain Jack Sparrow scored 26 Points to start the season in 1st Place and claim the Week 1 MVP Award.  Captain Jack stayed far away from Triple Jeopardy (which proved to be the downfall of 6 club members this week) but would have gotten it correct as he had Miami.  He ended up claming all 3 Regular Games and 2 of the 3 Point Spread Games.  Captain Jack’s most brilliant pick combination this week was taking Cleveland and Las Vegas (two underdogs), which got him 4 Points as this week’s only Double Stakes winner.  Finally, he was 1 of only 8 club members to take the NY Jets on Monday night and score the 6 Point prize.  Captain Jack is no doubt firing the Black Pearl’s cannons in celebration of securing a guaranteed Peak Position of #1 for the whole season.  But rather than walking the plank in the coming weeks, he is no doubt hoping to catch the wind in his sails and continue moving forward at the top of the standings.  His last extremely successful season was in 2018 when his finished in 3rd Place behind then Club Champion Double-Double and Runner-Up Stinkerbell.  So he is due for a huge year.  The Week 1 MVP Award Runner-Up was a tie between married couple (and my parents) Roadrunner & Shaylene.  They both ended up scoring 25 Points and were also the only two club members to correctly pick the Triple Crown of Atlanta, New Orleans & LA Rams to claim the 7 Point prize.  Roadrunner is serving notice that his 3rd Place finish and 5 Weeks at #1 last season were no fluke.  He is ready to keep his foot on the pedal and burn rubber all season long.  Keeping the Top Five in the family somehow (and no – the club is not rigged), we have myself (Fearless Tuna) and Young Tuna tied in 4th Place with 20 Points.  We will see how long the four members of the Tuna family can manage to stay in the Top Five, but it would be nice to have at least one representative stay there all season if possible.  Last season, as you’ll recall, Rad Dad won the 2022 Club Championship and My Wife Loves Jimmy G was the Runner-Up.  So how did both fare in Week 1?  Rad Dad debuted in 13th Place with 13 Points and My Wife Loves Jimmy G debuted in 7th Place (tied with Viking Blood) with 18 Points.  So they both have a little rust to shake off after the long off-season.  Speaking of Viking Blood, her husband The Sad Salmon was the only club member to switch away from The Autopicker on Thursday night and correctly pick Detroit for the 2 Points.  However, then he decided not to do the club this season.  That’s totally understandable but he will be missed.  At least he gave us one final display of his brilliant picking skills before leaving and heading to Hard Rock Stadium.  Also not participating this season is Nighthawk, who is busy taking care of baby Clay who recently turned 1 month old.  Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Nighthawk on the new baby boy!  On another note, sometime this week or next week, I plan to start up Head to Head Weekly and Pro Bowl Team Weekly for this season.  So look for that to begin shortly.  And that’s all we have for this week.