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Week 9 MVP Award Winner –
The Sad Salmon (23 Points)

Second-year veteran player The Sad Salmon went through a lot of changes in the off-season.  He got married to fellow club member The Icelandic Cod and moved across the country from Florida to Sonoma County.  Those two big changes made me think he might change his name to The Happy Salmon.  However, he remained sad as this season started for some unknown reason (possibly because he would like to see the Miami Dolphins win the Super Bowl soon).  In looking back at his stellar rookie season, The Sad Salmon finished in the Top Ten, won the Rookie of the Year Award, held a Peak Position of #2, won 1 MVP Award, and tied for the league lead of Most Sunday Night / 6 Point Games.  That’s a lot of great accomplishments to be proud of.  And as we reach the midpoint in this season, The Sad Salmon is making outstanding picks once again.  Last week, he spawned 23 Points to win the Week 9 MVP Award.  He now swims only 12 Points away from surfacing in the Top Five.  The Sad Salmon might consider dedicating this MVP Award win to his wife The Icelandic Cod, since he convinced her a week ago to change one pick that ended up costing her the MVP Award.  The Week 9 MVP Award Runner-Ups are Hoosier Daddy & freespirit, who both scored 21 Points.  Hoosier Daddy and The Sad Salmon were the only two players in the entire club last week to correctly pick the challenging Triple Crown of Mia-Atl-KC and claim those 7 Points.  freespirit was the one and only player in the entire club to correctly pick Ten over LAR on Sunday night and claim those 6 Points.  All three players are to be commended for making such bold picks that resulted in huge payoffs in the Current Standings.  On most weeks, just picking straight favorites is not a good path to success in the club.  There are just too many upsets in games for that to be a viable strategy to reach or stay in the Top Five.  And that’s what these three brilliant players have shown us.  In looking at the current Top Five, Drummer Boy remains in 1st Place and has increased his lead over the pack to 11 Points.  However, he should take note of the Current Standings from last season at this same time.  At the start of Week 10 last season, Nighthawk was in 1st Place with a 3 Point lead.  And our eventual winner Mr. T was 15 Points behind him in 8th Place.  What does that show?  That with half a season left to play (including an extra week on the schedule), Drummer Boy’s lead is far from safe. He will need to continue to make great picks as he did during the first half of the season in order to have a chance of staying in 1st Place or even in the Top Five.  In 2nd Place are Captain Insano and Stinkerbell.  Captain Insano got another Triple Jeopardy game correct last week and has improved his record with that category to 2-6.  Stinkerbell has reached a new Peak Position at #2. She had warned on Club Chat that other players “better put your masks back on because you will be choking on my pixie dust as I fly to first place”.  And with the way she is playing lately, that very well could prove true.  In 4th Place are Double-Double and Rad Dad (13 Points back).

In Head to Head Weekly, we had four games decided by a single Point.  They were The Cat def. Slick Chick 15-14, Drummer Boy def. Fearless Tuna 15-14, Double-Double def. Captain Jack Sparrow 18-17, and freespirit def. Bob Swerski 21-20.  In Pro Bowl Team Weekly, all three matches were decided by 2 Points or less.  They were Daddy & His Boys def. The Polar Bears 45-43, McTriple Play def. Tough Puffins 50-49, and Wild Animals def. The Gridiron Guardians 45-44.  With the result of that last match listed, Wild Animals have improved to a stunning record of 7-0-1.  How much longer can they stay undefeated?  On the flip side, what tough losses those were for The Polar Bears, Tough Puffins, and The Gridiron Guardians.  Don’t give up, teams.

Here is a copy of the Week 9 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 all of the club’s picks for Week 9.  It was another week of upsets and very challenging picks with only 4 players managing to score 20 or more Points.

Week 9 full picks now posted.  (Sun morn 9:10 am).  All players are welcome to view my picks once they have turned their own in for the week.

Week 8 MVP Award Winner –
Captain Jack Sparrow (28 Points)

When Captain Jack Sparrow took last season off for the installation of new sails, ship repairs, and deck plank scrubbing, the club greatly missed his presence and fun banter.  So everyone was very happy at the start of this season when he announced on Club Chat: “Surprise Matey’s. I’m Baaaack. Did you miss the old Captain? The Black Pearl is a beauty with her 49 cannons and a full wind in her sail. Ahoy Mates we sail into uncharted football waters. Shiver me timbers. The best to you all. Beware the Kracken lives. AARR I feel a Pirates Life for me. That might make a good song. YoHo Yoho a pirates life for me. Ketchy seems I may have heard that song before. I wonder where??”.  Taking a season (or more) off and then returning to the club can result in some rust showing when making picks.  And that’s what happened with Captain Jack as he recovered from Scurvy and then tried to go into weekly club battles with opposing ships.  He was forced to admit after a few weeks that “Meself (walked the plank) dismal jus’ dismal. I will be hopin’ fer better sailin’. Maybe it’s time t’ check in on the Kracken.”  The good news for Captain Jack is that he has gotten past the rough seas and has sailed away with the Week 8 MVP Award.  His huge 28 Point week started with a brilliant switch away from the Autopicker to Green Bay on Thursday night.  This was the first time that the Autopicker (7-1) has lost this season, and only Captain Jack along with The Sad Salmon, Slick Chick, and The Cat were smart enough to change their pick.  (Well done to all four players!)  Then on Sunday, Captain Jack correctly picked Phil with TJ, both Games of the Week, and the Sunday night game to increase his Point total.  Captain Jack Sparrow now has his sights set firmly on sailing into the Top Ten and maybe even more distant seas in the coming weeks.  The Week 8 MVP Award Runner-Up was Stinkerbell, who scored 26 Points and has flown up the standings into 3rd Place.  We will never forget her legendary rookie season in 2018 when she won 2 MVPs, logged 13 Weeks at #1, and finished as the Club Champion Runner-Up in 2nd Place only 5 Points away from the title.  At one point during that season she held a 17 Point lead in 1st Place, which is quite amazing (and also shows that no 1st Place lead in the club is ever safe).  Could she return to 1st Place once again this season?  It certainly could happen based on her consistent play lately.  We will be keeping a close eye on her over the next few weeks as family members Bob Swerski, Nighthawk, and Baby Hazel cheer on her renewed success.  The Top Five had a bit of reshuffling last week, as was expected.  You might recall that in last week’s column, I mentioned that there was only a 10 Point gap between #2 and #12 in the standings.  But there was no change at the very top as Drummer Boy remained at #1 for the fourth consecutive week.  After struggling the week before, he regained his form last week as he scored 20 Points and increased his 1st Place lead to double digits for the first time.  In view of Drummer Boy’s outstanding play over the past month, he was named the October Player of the Month.  Moving into 2nd Place after being in 11th Place only 2 weeks ago was Rad Dad, who was also in the running for the Player of the Month award due to such strong play in October.  Rad Dad now stands only 10 Points behind Drummer Boy and has become a serious threat for the club title.  Rounding out the Top Five are tied for #3 The Rickster & Stinkerbell (11 Points back) and #5 Captain Insano (12 Points back).  Captain Insano responded strongly to my column mention last week by ending his Triple Jeopardy losing streak when he correctly picked Phil with TJ.  In conclusion, I wanted to mention there were some disastrous last-second switches last week.  I have noticed over the years that a majority of the time when a club member changes their pick just before kickoff, it usually backfires and results in a loss of Points.  Not always, but most of the time.  And last week, 6 players made disastrous last-second switches which cost them a combined 30 Points.  I came very close myself to making the last-second switch from Dallas to Minnesota when the starting QB was ruled out, but wisely held off.  So just be careful of not trusting your original picks.  The same goes for switching away from the Autopicker.  Last week, it worked out great and was the right decision.  But in the previous 7 weeks, 16 players had switched away from the Autopicker and each lost 2 Points for doing so.

Over in Head to Head Weekly, there were several fierce showdowns between high-scoring players.  Three matches that stood out were Drummer Boy def. Double-Double 20-19, Captain Jack Sparrow def. Hoosier Daddy 28-23, and Rad Dad def. The Icelandic Cod 25-22.  In Pro Bowl Team Weekly, Wild Animals narrowly remained undefeated but had their 6-game winning streak snapped as they tied The Polar Bears 57-57.  But the biggest story in Pro Bowl Weekly has to be the reemergence of defending champions The Gridiron Guardians as a serious contender.  Last week, The Gridiron Guardians def. Tough Puffins 66-58 to reach a 3-game winning streak and move into 2nd Place in the team standings.