The Football Club

Week 14 MVP Award Winner –
Bob Swerski (32 Points)

This has truly been a season to remember for Bob Swerski.  He has been lighting up the scoreboard all season long by posting numbers that most players only dream about.  For 9 straight weeks now, he has scored 21 or more Points each time.  On 4 different weeks this season, he scored 32 or more Points.  He was the November Player of the Month Award winner.  And to top things off, he just won the Week 14 MVP Award by scoring 32 Points (on a week when only 37 Points were available).  Last season, Bob Swerski finished in 17th Place, 95 Points behind winner Drummer Boy.  But now, he has passed up Drummer Boy in the standings and taken over 1st Place for the second time this season.  Seeing this, Drummer Boy congratulated Bob Swerski on Club Chat and hinted that Bob might be getting some help in making his picks from a certain former NFL coach.  Bob Swerski won the MVP in part by being 1 of only 6 players in the club to correctly pick Seattle in the Game of the Week.  He also was 1 of only 7 players to wisely avoid picking Tennessee with Triple Jeopardy in the Regular Game.  The Week 14 MVP Award Runner-Up was none other than Bob’s son Nighthawk, who scored 30 Points.  Nighthawk has been busy playing in the snow with his eyasses, but he warmed up enough once he got back inside his eyrie to turn in some outstanding picks.  (It’s time for everyone to learn their two new words of the week.)  Nighthawk is now just 2 Points away from flying back inside the Top Ten and reaching 9th Place.  I’m sure he would love nothing more than to be a Top Ten finisher this season despite starting the club 2 weeks late and being at a huge disadvantage 30 Points behind the leader.  The Top Five is currently a fierce battleground right now with the top three players all in serious contention.  We have new #1 Bob Swerski (2 Weeks at #1), #2 Drummer Boy (1 Point back), #3 Stinkerbell (2 Points back), #4 Double-Double (23 Points back), and new #5 The Rickster (35 Points back).  Let’s take a moment to welcome The Rickster into the Top Five for the first time this season!  The Rickster is one of our club legends who has been participating in the club since the 1990s when some of us were together in the Novato congregations.  The Rickster, of course, is the only player to be a 3-time Club Champion (2001, 2004 & 2006).  So it is good to see him back in contention and finishing this season strong.  It kind of feels like The Rickster and his old roommate Double-Double will be battling it out to see who finishes in 4th Place.  But you never know, with four weeks left to play, one of them could have a couple huge weeks and contend for the club title.  And MJD Hogg, My Wife Loves Jimmy G, Mr. T, Captain Insano & Captain Jack Sparrow all have their own designs of getting back into the Top Five before the season is over.  So great battles are still ahead within the club during the final stretch.

The Wild Card Round of the Super Bowl Tournament took place last week and we had some stunning results.  As I stated in this column just last week, top seeds are not safe in the tournament.  And that’s exactly how things played out.  Six of the top eight seeds all fell and were eliminated, including both of the #1 seeds.  The most shocking results were (9) Fearless Tuna def. (1) Hoosier Daddy 24-17 and (8) Rad Dad def. (1) My Wife Loves Jimmy G 29-15.  Fearless Tuna hadn’t won a Head to Head match all season until 3 weeks ago, and now he has suddenly won three in a row.  Rad Dad struggled all season as well, but he survived the First Round and then promptly sent the defending champion packing.  Also, in an early round battle between the club’s top two players in the Points Standings, (7) Bob Swerski def. (2) Drummer Boy 32-25.  Bob Swerski is starting to become Drummer Boy’s worst nightmare.  In one week, he passed him in the Points Standings and eliminated him from the Super Bowl Tournament at the same time.  Double-Double showed Mr. T that it was unwise to pick against the SF 49ers last week as (6) Double-Double def. (3) Mr. T 24-19.  In a match that came down to the Over/Under on Monday night, Captain Jack Sparrow narrowly survived to advance as (5) Captain Jack Sparrow def. (4) MJD Hogg 24-22.  Shaylene found herself in a defensive struggle, but came out ahead as (2) Shaylene def. (7) New York City Sewer Rat 14-5.  In probably the match of the week between two Top Five titans, The Rickster (4-time Super Bowl Champ) def. (3) Stinkerbell 27-25.  Finally, Nighthawk emerged victorious as (4) Nighthawk def. (5) Young Tuna 30-24.  And that leads us into the Divisional Round this week, with eight players still standing.  In Conference One, we have (9) Fearless Tuna (3-8-1) at (5) Captain Jack Sparrow (7-4) and (7) Bob Swerski (5-6) at (6) Double-Double (6-5).  In Conference Two, we have (8) Rad Dad (5-6-1) at (2) Shaylene (7-4) and (6) The Rickster (6-5) at (4) Nighthawk (5-4-2).  Each of these eight players is only 3 wins from becoming the 2024 Super Bowl Head to Head Champion.  One of them will ultimately win it, but the question is… who?

The Pro Bowl Tournament starts off this week with the First Round.  Pro Bowl Team Weekly finished up last week with some interesting results.  In the biggest match of the year (so far), defending champs Wild Animals def. Daddy & His Boys 66-64 to claim the #1 seed and bragging rights as the tournament starts.  In the next match, McTriple Play def. The Gridiron Guardians 87-72.  McTriple Play (featuring teammates Bob Swerski, Nighthawk & Stinkerbell) is the team that nobody wants to play right now.  They are very dangerous, stacked with talent, and have all the momentum.  In the final match, Tuna Generations def. The Hulkamaniacs 68-39 to steal the #5 seed from them.  Tuna Generations started the season 0-9 but finished 3-9 on a three game winning streak.  The 2022 champs have thus started playing well at just the right time.  And with that, the First Round matches in the tournament are (6) The Hulkamaniacs (3-9) at (3) McTriple Play (7-4-1) and (5) Tuna Generations (3-9) at (4) The Gridiron Guardians (6-6).  Let’s see which teams survive this week and advance to take on the top seeds (who are resting) (1) Wild Animals (8-3-1) and (2) Daddy & His Boys (8-4) next week.

Here are the club’s picks for Week 14. Bob Swerski wins the Week 14 MVP Award with 32 Points, while Nighthawk wins the MVP Award Runner-Up with 30 Points.

Week 14 full picks now posted (Sun 7:00am).  All players are welcome to view my picks once they have turned their own in for the week.

Week 13 MVP Award Winners –
Young Tuna & Stinkerbell (37 Points)

2023 Club Champion Runner-Up Young Tuna had his best week of the season, scoring 37 Points to win a share of the Week 13 MVP Award.  Young Tuna’s rookie season was one of the best the club has ever seen as he logged 8 weeks at #1 and won 2 MVP Awards.  He ultimately finished a mere 3 Points behind Drummer Boy as a result of the LA Rams last second win over the SF 49ers in Week 18 of last season.  If the 49ers had held on to win that game, Young Tuna would have been the Club Champion.  Young Tuna has finally moved past that heartbreaking ending by showing the brilliant picking once again that characterized his rookie season.  Young Tuna did this by only missing three picks on the entire sheet: a Point Spread game, the Over/Under, and the Double Stakes (Pittsburgh game).  Thanks to Young Tuna’s huge week, he led his Pro Bowl team Tuna Generations to their second win of the season with a huge upset victory over Wild Animals.  This is the best time of the year to post strong weeks with the Super Bowl Tournament in full swing now and the Pro Bowl Tournament starting next week.  Matching Young Tuna’s high score of 37 Points was none other than current #2 player Stinkerbell, who refuses to flutter away quietly into the night.  She has now won MVP Awards in 2 of the last 3 weeks (and also 3 of the last 7 weeks).  I’m not sure how current top player Drummer Boy has managed to keep pace with her to this point, but now his lead has dropped down to a single Point.  Also entering the picture as a serious contender is Stinkerbell’s husband Bob Swerski, who was the November Player of the Month Award winner.  Bob continues to play lights out, posting 35 Points last week to move into 3rd Place within 6 Points of catching Drummer Boy.  These three players look like they are headed for a protracted  battle for the 2024 Club Championship & Rhapsody Ralph Trophy.  Not to be forgotten is current #4 player Double-Double, who scored 36 Points to win the Week 13 MVP Award Runner-Up.  In order to win the club title, Double-Double needs to make up an average of 4.2 Points of ground per week on Drummer Boy.  That’s nearly the equivalent of getting an extra Game of the Week correct each week.  Let’s see if Double-Double can keep up the strong momentum necessary and begin picking better at the Point Spread games.  Double-Double actually had perfect picks last week with the exception of missing all four Point Spread games.  Rounding out the current Top Five is My Wife Loves Jimmy G, who struggled a bit last week.  He will no doubt rebound this week with a stronger performance.  Perhaps it would help him if his wife developed a new crush on a player who is playing better in the NFL right now, such as for instance Josh Allen.

The Super Bowl Tournament got underway last week with two First Round matches.  These are matches that nobody ever wants to play in because it means that two player’s dreams will get crushed early and they won’t get to participate in the frantic excitement of the Wild Card Round.  The two survivors of those First Round matches earned their wins as they both posted 30 Points weeks to move on.  (9) Fearless Tuna def. (8) Captain Insano 30-22 in the first match and (8) Rad Dad def. (9) Roadrunner 30-20 in the second match.  Their reward for winning?  They get to face the #1 seeds this week.  It may sound daunting but keep in mind that just last season, both #1 seeds lost and were bounced from the tournament in the Wild Card Round by #8 and #9 seeds.  Be sure to check out the Super Bowl Tournament Page to see who you are facing this week.  Pro Bowl Team Weekly wraps up this week with a titanic showdown between Daddy & His Boys and Wild Animals for the #1 seed in the upcoming Pro Bowl Tournament.  These two teams are becoming historical rivals and have been battling it out and trading off for 1st Place all season.  So it will be interesting to see which team claims victory this week.

Here are the club’s picks for Week 13. Young Tuna & Stinkerbell share the Week 13 MVP Award with 37 Points, while Double-Double wins the MVP Award Runner-Up with 36 Points.