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Monday, November 04, 2002
WEINKOPF.COM FOOTBALL POOL WEEK 9 UPDATE: MIGHTY MIGHTY RESURGENCE 
The Mighty Mighty Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots defense made life miserable for Drew Bledsoe and the Buffalo Jills, bringing the team -- and its mighty mightiest fan -- back into contention. WELL, I SAID my performance in the Weinkopf.com Football Pool rises and falls with the Mighty Mighty Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots, and Week 9 was a case in point. Just as the champs rebounded from a four-game skid to dominate former quarterback Drew Bledsoe and his hapless Buffalo Jills, so too did the Mighty Mighty Pats Fan rise to win the week. With 68 points, I managed to beat -- by a single point -- my undeserving, "When's Baseball Season Start?" brother-in-law Bob and upstart NevadaNiner Jason, who has finally managed to pull ahead of his three-year old son, Padawan Ebin. Close behind was Hoboken Orphans Chris, with 64 points. This week's triumph has also allowed yours truly to shoot ahead of Ebin in the overall standings, which makes for a welcome confidence boost. Having also leapfrogged over "Orphans" and Steel Man Joe, I now rest comfortably in 14th place, within striking distance of the Top Ten. Once again, the One Not To Watch charm has worked it magic. So, who next? Steel Man Joe would seem like the logical choice for this week's ONTW honors. After all, in Week 8 he scored a weak 34 points, and in week 9 the blasted "submit" button bedeviled him yet again. That said, we here at Weinkopf.com take little pity on self-inflicted injuries. Besides, a far more deserving recipient of ONTW honors is Elizabeth "At least I'm not a Zebra" Scagel, who scored the week low of 24 and sits alone in the Weinkopf.com standings cellar, having fallen 44 points overall behind Bruiser Tim Nicely, who scored a solid 57 points. Mrs. Scagel, the rabbit's foot is all yours. On the climb Bruiser, who was nice enough to join me at Cronie's bar in Ventura (and watched in amusement as I, inadvertently, almost got into my first bar brawl) is clearly on a slow ascent, having scored above 50 (including an 81 and a 74) in each of the last five weeks. Had he not missed out on the first two weeks, he would easily be in the thick of things now. And after a slow start, Cappuccino Commando Charles has also begun to pull apart from the pack. He's scored 47 or above for five straight weeks and cracked the 60 plateau two weeks in a row. Then there's Barrio Bravo Matthew Rubush, who's broken the 50 mark in four of the last five weeks, and who's only fallen short of it three times all season. Performances like these could qualify these contenders for One To Watch honors, except that a far more deserving candidate is still out there ... And that would be... Dreaded Brother Bob, who, despite the hex, still came in second last week, and is tied with WildStyle75 Stacey for first place overall. But Bob doesn't get the honor just because I want his effortless strategy to fail. He's earned the title by virtue of his success. He is, literally, the one to watch. What we're witnessing is either a fluke or a miracle -- that or Bob has figured out how to hack Yahoo!'s computers. That he and Stacey are the two top contenders makes for quite a pairing. On the one hand, there's WildStyle75, friend of several NFL players and ESPN employee, the pooler who brings by far the most knowledge to the contest. Then there's Baseball Boy, a self-confessed football ignoramus, holding his own with the best of the best and putting the rest of us to shame. Maybe there's something to the seeming madness of his strategy of making all his picks in advance based on three-year old information. Maybe he's a gambling genius who should be making a fortune in Vegas. There's only one way to know, and that's to keep watching him. Put their faces on a milk carton Almost (but not quite) as surprising as Bob's dominance is the relatively ho-hum performance of New York Lancers Dave and Jersey Girl Cris. Last year, these two battled for first place almost every week. This year, Lancers is still hanging in at third place overall, but remains 42 points out of first. And Jersey Girl, who's scored mediocre 40-something point totals the last two weeks, is languishing at an uncharacteristically low eighth place, dangerously close to falling out of the Top Ten. Fading fast? Blitzburgh Brawler Ben Kepple, who has returned from his week-long sabbatical, put in a post-bye week performance worthy of the San Diego Chargers, with 31 points. (Makes you wish you hadn't burned that drop-one feature in Week 8, huh Benny?) Flipper Lynn, who hadn't put in a bad week all season, scored a mere 36, dropping her one place in the overall standings. And after four-straight 50-plus point weeks, Spurrier Fan Cris scored his worst weekly total of the year, 29. Has the Brawler punched himself out? Is Flipper sinking with her beloved Dolphins? Is Spurrier Fan suffering from some sort of mental QB controversy? It's too early to say, but streaks are everything in this game. It should be interesting to see where these ones head. Minor problem Padawan Ebin, who had put in four-straight 50-plus weeks, also tanked this week, with an awful 21 points. That leaves only three poolers below the only one among us who can't yet read -- Steel Man Joe, Bruiser Tim, and Zebra Elizabeth. Family matters Ebin's demise and Jason's ascent have allowed father to get back into the race against son, although the NevadaNiner still trails 6-3. That's the same score by which Brother Bob leads me, thanks to my mighty-mighty upset this past week. And in the Battle Rubush, Brother "Hail to the Redskins" Scott has re-taken the lead, 5-4, after besting little Brother Barrio Matthew, 54-51. Finally, in the most lopsided intra-familial battle in the pool, Grogan's Heroes Kenny continues to expand his lead over his Zebra wife, making it 7-1 on the season. All he needs is one more win to clinch a season win ... Let's hope the ONTW charm will keep Elizabeth's prospects alive. Only time will tell... See you all next week, if not before then on the bulletin board! Yours, Chris, the Mighty Mighty Pats Fan |