Pro Bowl Tournament 2023

Pro Bowl XX Tournament 2023

Pro Bowl XX Champs Wild Animals (9-4-1)

First RoundFinal FourPro Bowl
(6) The Volcanoes 81(6) The Volcanoes 68
(3) The Hulkamaniacs 54(1) Wild Animals 73(2) Gridiron Guardians 80
(5) Daddy & His Boys 71(4) Tuna Generations 51(1) Wild Animals 91
(4) Tuna Generations 78(2) Gridiron Guardians 62

(The Pro Bowl Tournament is a single elimination tournament.  Win and your team moves on, lose and your team is eliminated.  Higher seed means your team has home field advantage and advances in case of a tie.)

Team Information:

Daddy & His Boys (Drummer Boy, Hoosier Daddy & MJD Hogg)
The Gridiron Guardians (Captain Jack Sparrow, Mr. T & Rad Dad)
The Hulkamaniacs (Captain Insano, NYC Sewer Rat & Shaylene)
Tuna Generations (Fearless Tuna, Young Tuna & Roadrunner)
The Volcanoes (Bob Swerski, Stinkerbell & Viking Blood)
Wild Animals (Double-Double, My Wife Loves Jimmy G & The Rickster)

Pro Bowl XX Match (Week 17):

Five-time Champs – Wild Animals continue their all-time dominance of the club’s Pro Bowl team competition by defeating Gridiron Guardians 91-80 to win their fifth championship.  This was a high scoring match which was only settled by a few games and different picks.  Wild Animals’ teammates Double-Double & The Rickster stepped up big time and both scored 32 Points to become co-winners of the MVP Award for the week.  So that was 64 team points right there.  Add to that My Wife Loves Jimmy G posting a strong 27 Point week, and that shows you how Wild Animals reached a total of 91 Points.  It was a bad break for Gridiron Guardians, because it’s really hard to defeat another team when 2 of the 3 players shared the MVP Award.  Not to be outdone, Rad Dad stepped up and matched My Wife Loves Jimmy G’s score of 27 Points.  And Captain Jack Sparrow added an even stronger 30 Points, which brought their team total to 57 points.  But their other teammate Mr. T struggled a bit and could only post 23 Points, which is not all that bad, but it just wasn’t enough in this match.  Thus, Gridiron Guardians combined for 80 team points and ended up losing the title match by 11 points.  Congrats to Wild Animals on continuing to separate themselves from the pack, where they now have 2 more team titles than any other team in club history.

    vs.    

(1) Wild Animals def. (2) Gridiron Guardians 91-80

What’s at stake:  A spot in The Football Club Hall of Fame as the 2023 Pro Bowl Team Champions.

Pro Bowl Tournament history: The 2023 Pro Bowl Team Championship match is going to be a titanic showdown between the top two seeds and two best teams in the league this season.  No. 1 seed Wild Animals are no strangers to success as they have established themselves as the best Pro Bowl team of all time here in the club.  The have won an unmatched 4 championships, which includes the years 2005, 2011, 2018, and 2021.  While their original lineup of Cat Man, Double-Double & Unknown Artist is no longer intact due to two retirements from the club, team captain Double-Double has kept his team running strong through the years.  In 2008, he sent shockwaves through the club as he added club legend The Rickster.  In 2021, he added freespirit late in the season, and she provided a spark to help them win the title that year.  In fact, they couldn’t have done it without her.  And finally, in 2022, he added My Wife Loves Jimmy G, arguably one of the best signings ever as Double-Double showed great belief in a strong rookie prospect.  No. 2 seed Gridiron Guardians exploded onto the scene in 2020, which was when they were first established as a team.  However, their roots trace back all the way to 2012 when Captain Jack Sparrow formed team The Black Pearl along with teammates Rad Dad and Cave Man.  But because The Black Pearl kept getting sunk before it could sail out of Final Four rounds, the ship was decommissioned in 2020.  Team captain Rad Dad then established Gridiron Guardians and they promptly stunned the club by winning the 2020 Pro Bowl Championship.  Here we are three years later and they are back in the final once again with a chance to win their second title in four years.  To see how these two top-seeded teams match up, let’s take a look back at how they did this season.  During Pro Bowl Team Weekly, they met two times in the regular season.  In the first match (Week 7), we had a major defensive struggle as Wild Animals def. The Gridiron Guardians 26-24.  In the second match (Week 12), there was more offensive firepower as The Gridiron Guardians def. Wild Animals 80-44.  So both teams have won a match against the other and are 1-1.  However, it could be argued that The Gridiron Guardians performance in Week 12 was a much more dominant victory and it sent a message to Wild Animals that they weren’t to be taken lightly.  In looking at the lineups for both teams, it is evident that they are both stacked.  Wild Animals has team captain Double-Double, who is currently tied for 2nd Place in the standings and just won the Week 16 MVP Award Runner-Up.  Their second player is My Wife Loves Jimmy G, who has won 2 of the last 3 MVP Awards and is currently in 7th Place.  And their third player is The Rickster, who is in 12th Place but is an MVP threat (and Perfect Week threat) every single week.  The Gridiron Guardians have team captain Rad Dad, who is in 4th Place in the standings right now.  Their second player is Captain Jack Sparrow, who is only 2 Points behind him tied for 5th Place.  And their third player is Mr. T, who is in 16th Place but has been making very strong picks as of late.  Adding all that up, Wild Animals have an average player ranking of 7th Place in the standings, while The Gridiron Guardians have an average player ranking of 8th Place (actually 8.3 to be exact) in the standings.  So that’s not much difference.  In summary, I have to establish Wild Animals as a 3 Point favorite in this match.  History is on their side and they are the top seed.  But the game is settled on the field, not in this column.  So let’s see what happens this Sunday.

Final Four Matches (Week 16):

(1) Wild Animals def. (6) The Volcanoes 73-68
(2) Gridiron Guardians def. (4) Tuna Generations 62-51

First Round Matches (Week 15):

(6) The Volcanoes def. (3) The Hulkamaniacs 81-54
(4) Tuna Generations def. (5) Daddy & His Boys 78-71

First Round Bye Week (Week 15):

(1) Wild Animals (7-4-1)
(2) Gridiron Guardians (7-5)

Tournament Seedings:

(1) Wild Animals (7-4-1)
(2) Gridiron Guardians (7-5)
(3) The Hulkamaniacs (6-5-1)
(4) Tuna Generations (6-6) (tiebreaker #1 over Daddy & His Boys – 2 Head to Head wins)
(5) Daddy & His Boys (6-6)
(6) The Volcanoes (3-9)