Week 12 MVP Award Winner –
Rad Dad (31 Points)
Rad Dad finally got his season on track last week as he scored 31 Points to win the Week 12 MVP Award. It has been perhaps the most difficult season of his career so far. During the last two seasons of club play, Rad Dad finished the year in 6th Place (2018) and 3rd Place (2012). But this season, after reaching a peak position of #8, Rad Dad has struggled week after week to make good picks and figure out which teams are going to win the important games. So it is good to see Rad Dad shake off the rust and have a huge week. And Rad Dad’s huge week couldn’t have come at a better time for him as he was battling for his survival in the First Round of the Super Bowl Tournament. Being the MVP for the week is a great way to ensure that you survive (in most cases) to play another week in the Super Bowl Tournament. Let’s see if Rad Dad can keep up his momentum and perhaps close out the final five weeks of the season with more MVP Awards and perhaps even a climb up the standings into the Top Ten or even the Top Five. The Week 12 MVP Award Runner-Up went to Halibut J-Bird with 30 Points. Halibut J-Bird may have been frustrated last week when he saw freespirit take over 1st Place once again and log her 4th week at #1. That topped Halibut J-Bird’s previous league best of having 3 weeks at #1. Thus, he really stepped up this week when he needed it the most and made yet another week of great picks. Let’s not forget that Halibut J-Bird has not been a part of the club since 2008. But his return has had a huge impact and he has now caught back up to freespirit and matched her league best 4 weeks at #1. Halibut J-Bird is currently locked in an epic struggle between himself, #2 player Fearless Tuna, and #3 player The Rickster. These three players are currently each separated by only 1 single Point. This is truly an all-out battle for the top spot in the club. And not far behind is #4 player The Cat (6 Points behind), and co-#5 players Double-Double & Mr. T (7 Points behind). Any one of these players could jump into 1st Place if they should have a huge Week 13. It is nice to see Mr. T enter the Top Five for the first time this season. As I mentioned last week, Mr. T has been quietly working his way up the standings and becoming a serious threat to those at the top. If this trend continues, Mr. T could find himself in 1st Place in a matter of one or two weeks. One thing I wanted to mention is that with Rad Dad winning the Week 12 MVP Award and Mr. T reaching the Top Five, all players in the club have now achieved a special Year Honor. The 2019 Year Honors can be found at the bottom of the Current Standings page. A Year Honor is accomplished by winning at least one MVP Award or reaching the Top Five at some point during the season. Everyone in the club has now done that, which is outstanding to see the accolades spread around so evenly. Finally, a note about the risk of selecting Triple Jeopardy. As you no doubt realize, Triple Jeopardy is a very risky option. Last week, 12 out of 18 club members took Atl with TJ and lost -2 Points from their final score. Meanwhile, six very smart club members avoided the TJ trap – Mr. T, Stinkerbell, Halibut J-Bird, Nighthawk, Rad Dad, and The Rickster. Getting a TJ pick wrong can adversely affect your placement in the standings, get you eliminated from the Super Bowl Tournament, and result in your Pro Bowl team losing. In fact, had I personally not selected TJ last week, I would have been in 1st Place in the standings. So sometimes it can be very costly.
The Super Bowl Tournament got underway last week with two First Round matches. These are the matches that nobody wants to play as it can result in a quick elimination before the main Wild Card Round gets underway. In the first match, Rad Dad def. Stinkerbell 31-23 to move on. Rad Dad had won only one match the entire season before showing up big to stun one of the club’s best players and eliminate her early. In the second match, Drummer Boy tied Captain Insano 22-22 to advance due to his higher seeding tiebreaker. During the Wild Card Round this week, there are eight matches to be played. The field of sixteen remaining players will be whittled down to eight after this week. Upset alerts are being sent out to the four division winners and top seeds in the tournament – Double-Double, Fearless Tuna, The Cat, and The Rickster. If these four players do not make their best picks this week, they could be upset and sent packing early. The match of the week has to be (7) Halibut J-Bird (3-5-2) at (2) The Rickster (5-3-2). Despite being the #1 player in the club, Halibut J-Bird has struggled in Head to Head play this season. That has set up this early tournament showdown between the #1 and #3 players in the club. Only one of them will be able to move on to the Divisional Round, while the other will be done with Head to Head play for the season. The four hottest players coming into the tournament are Fearless Tuna (5 game winning streak), Hoosier Daddy & MJD Hogg (4 game winning streaks), and The Cat (3 game winning streak). But let’s see how they respond now that serious pressure is on. Also, defending Super Bowl Tournament Champion Bob Swerski begins his title defense this week with a rematch against Captain Jack Sparrow. Last season, Bob Swerski narrowly def. Captain Jack Sparrow 21-19 in the Divisional Round. So Captain Jack Sparrow will be looking for revenge while Bob Swerski will be looking to continue to be the player to beat.
