The Top Ten: Week 14
Commentary: The two most popular bets in Week 13, Dallas and Atlanta, went down in flames. Thus, few in the league won $500 this week. Those that did made up a lot of ground or increased their leads. With four weeks to go, there are still 11 wild card bets remaining, and most of those bets belong to contenders, so it will be an interesting final month to the season.
Once again, here are the franchises that still have their wild card bet available:
East: Karl Farbman; The People’s Champ
North: Mr. DeBlasis; The Beard of Zeus; Yaz
South: Bayonnaise; Boss Hardigan; Don Mattingly; Rick Moranis; Will Cover
West: Gordon Bombay
Four weeks left.
(current total; last week’s ranking)
1. Karl Farbman ($2,900; 1)
Farbman won $100 and maintains a $600 overall lead. His lead in the East was trimmed to $1,400, and interestingly enough, the top two franchises in the division both have their wild card bets left.
2. Larisa Oleynik ($2,300; 2)
A Monday night win by the Chargers saved Larisa’s week, as she split her bets and won $100. She is up on the rest of the North by $1,000, but as stated before, the two franchises closest to her in the division have their wild card bets available. The North will be decided when those big bets come out.
3. Bud Fox ($2,200; 4)
Diversify. Diversify. Diversify. Bud bet four teams last week and won $100. The West was hit hard by Atlanta and Dallas both losing, so Bud rose to the top and now has a surprisingly comfortable lead, with the closest competition $500 behind. He’s $700 back for the overall crown.
4. Gordon Bombay ($1,700; 6)
Last week, treading water by Bombay made him sink down the standings. This week, treading water allowed him to rise up the standings, back to second in the West. He’s the only West franchise with his wild card bet still available, so he can’t be counted out for the division or overall title.
5. Ron Mexico ($1,600; 3)
After assuming the lead in the West for a week, Ron dropped $500 and is back down to third place in the division. He’s $600 and needs a strong Week 14 to get back into the mix. However, he still has a grasp on a playoff spot.
6. Will Cover ($1,500; NR)
What’s this? Someone from the South in The Top Ten? Will comes through with a dynamite week and is suddenly in the hunt for the overall standings. He has a $600 lead in the division, but the South is loaded with five franchises (included Will himself) that are yet to use their wild card bet.
7. The People’s Champ ($1,500; 10)
The Champ got back into playoff position with a perfect week. He also still has his wild card bet, and when he uses it will probably depend on how this week shakes out. If he has another strong week, no reason to use it until the end of the season. But if he struggles in Week 14, he might need to pull it out if he wants to make a run at Farbman and to cement his place in the playoffs.
8. Blossom Russo ($1,500; 5)
A poor showing by Blossom this late in the season, as she lost $500 and slipped back to fourth in the West. If the season ended today, she’d be in the playoffs, but is creeping closer towards the bubble.
9. Yaz ($1,300; 8 )
Yaz split his bets in Week 13 and by virtue of the winning percentage tiebreaker is holding onto the last wild card spot. He still has his big bet available, and most likely will hold it as long as he can.
10. The Notorious A.B.T. ($1,300; 9)
The A.B.T. dropped back to the three spot in the East and is on the outside looking in of the playoffs right now. One hot week and he can jump up the standings, but one cold week and he could spiral out of contention.
Others receiving votes: The Beard of Zeus; Babe; Don Mattingly; Waldo Geraldo Faldo; T-Ferg
Dropped out: The Beard of Zeus
