The Marathon of the Ass has tightened up as the current leader struggles to maintain her blistering pace for three straight weeks.
The Strategist (6 Trifectas and 29 Correct Picks) continues to lead the field, but Craft Brew (5 Trifectas and 27 Correct Picks) pulls within one length around the far turn of the season competition.
All with 4 Trifectas, Roxy Trot adds to her Correct Picks total (28) to hold onto Show over B-Reezy (25 Correct Picks) and Little Tuna (24 Correct Picks) — the latter just outside of the Winner’s Circle.
Staring at elimination in the coming weeks with 3 Trifectas each, Big Tuna (26 Correct Picks), Jimmy V (25 Correct Picks, and Wise Orangutan (22 Correct Picks) fill out the middle of the field in sixth, seventh, and eighth place, respectively.
Sponge Mom clings to hope for the Win in ninth place with 2 Trifectas (23 Correct Picks).
In tenth place, The Bookie (1 Trifecta) sees her chances for a Win in the AoY fade behind the leader, and joins Atwork (0 Trifectas) on the also-ran sheet.
Heading out of the far turn, nine of 11 Analysts were within 3 Trifecta points of the leaders. TNF dashed the hopes of six Analysts, leaving five to compete on Sunday. One came up lame (illness) before the start of the race, and four sprinted for the finish line on what had been steady steeds during the Fibonacci Stakes. Then, all hell broke loose as five Home Teams stumbled in the final leg. The Winner of Fibonacci Stakes V is…
Craft Brew! Craft Brew breaks maiden in his second season and earns his sponsor a shot at the championship title. In ninth place coming out of the far turn, he nabbed the only Trifecta in a week in which two November contenders stumbled in final leg. With 10 points, he takes first place.
B-Reezy respectably takes Place with 7 points. Sponge Mom secures Show with 6 points, just ahead of Wise Orangutan in fourth place (by second tiebreaker).
Unable to capitalize on her early lead, Little Tuna fades to fifth place with 5 points, by a head or so over Roxy Trot with 5 points (second tiebreaker).
Each with 4 points, The Bookie is snake-bitten after a promising start, but takes seventh over Jimmy V (eighth, second tiebeaker) and The Strategist (ninth, first tiebeaker).
Big Tuna trails in tenth and Atwork convalesces in eleventh place.
Final Results of Fibonacci Stakes V
Tiebreakers
Final Results for Tiebreakers in Fibonacci Stakes V
Bye weeks for Home Teams are grayed out (Table 2).
Releasing and claiming a new Home Team before the start of a new Crown Race is optional. Mid-season, the order of Claims is determined by current Home Team playoff strength. Analysts who currently own playoff-seeded Home Teams are in bold.
The order then is:
1. Atwork (Packers, 11th NFC)
2. Roxy Trot (Eagles, 8th NFC)
3. The Strategist (Panthers, 7th NFC)
4. Wise O. (Seahawks, 5th NFC)
5. Little Tuna (Chargers, 5th AFC )
6. The Bookie (Steelers, 4th AFC)
7. Sponge Mom (Bears, 3rd NFC)
8. Jimmy V (Patriots, 2nd AFC)*
9. Big Tuna (Saints, 2nd NFC)*
10. B-Reezy (Chiefs, 1st AFC)*
11. Craft Brew (Rams, 1st NFC)*
* The nfl.com playoff picture is operational: http://www.nfl.com/playoffs/playoff-picture. I applied tiebreaker rules when two Analysts have the same playoff seeding in the two different conferences. Patriots have a worse record than the Saints and Chiefs have a worse record than the Rams (and lost to them).
If you choose to release your Home Team, the Analysts listed above you will Claim before you from all available Home Teams (including those released).
Atwork:
B-Reezy: Saints**/Bears**/Eagles**
Big Tuna: Saints***/Steelers**/Patriots
Little Tuna: Chargers***/ Saints**/Chiefs
Craft Brew: Rams*/Chiefs/Patriots**
Roxy Trot: Saints**/Patriots**/Chiefs
Jimmy V: Saints**/Bears**/Chiefs
Sponge Mom: Bears***/Saints**/Chargers**
Wise Orangutan: Seahawks*/Chiefs/Vikings**
The Strategist: Packers/Seahawks/Chiefs
The Bookie: Steelers***/Bears**/Packers**
* denotes Home Team
** denotes Fibonacci Pick
***denotes Home Team and Fibonacci Pick
Spit Box:
(1) She has nothing to lose! Oh wait she has already lost a lot!!! Who knows what will happen! Need to try and get some points!
(2) No trifecta for me!!!😂
(3) The Viking fleet has been spotted on the coast of Maine headed for Boston Harbor!!!
(4) If you have a Thursday pick in question. Just treat it like a drug. JUST. SAY. NO.
(5) ⬆Ditto
The Results Are In:
Atwork: scratch
B-Reezy: Saints**/Bears**/Eagles**
Big Tuna: Saints***/Steelers**/Patriots
Little Tuna: Chargers***/ Saints**/Chiefs
Craft Brew: Rams*/Chiefs/Patriots** (6 points)
Roxy Trot: Saints**/Patriots**/Chiefs
Jimmy V: Saints**/Bears**/Chiefs
Sponge Mom: Bears***/Saints**/Chargers**
Wise Orangutan: Seahawks*/Chiefs/Vikings**
The Strategist: Packers/Seahawks/Chiefs
The Bookie: Steelers***/Bears**/Packers**
Into the final stretch, B-Reezy has a one length lead over Sponge Mom and Wise Orangutan. Seven other Analysts are within 3 Trifecta points and all Analysts are within 7 points. This week, a base Trifecta is worth 5 points and 3 Fibonacci bonus points are possible — or 8 points total. We are looking at another photo finish!
We are not able to consider all possible scenarios, so we will note the strengths and weakness of each Analyst for the Win based on last week’s Picks and Tiebreakers. If a trailing Analyst takes the same Picks as an Analyst with a lead, the trailing Analyst is Boxed Out for the Win, but still may Place if others do not earn more Trifecta points. It is feasible to chase a leader in order to Place if others falter down the home stretch.
Scenarios
For the Win:
1 B-Reezy (7 points): Bears/Saints/Eagles from last week are unique Picks. If he carries them forward for 8 points, he wins outright (no tiebreakers). If he ends in a tie with other Analysts, Craft Brew has a head-to-head advantage. B-Reezy has only 1 Correct Home Team Pick, so Analysts with 2 or more Correct Picks may best him on tiebreakers. But, he has 5 Fibonacci bonus Picks, second only to three other Analysts.
2 Sponge Mom (6 points): Bears/Saints/Chargers from last week are unique Picks. If she carries them forward for 8 points, she is assured to take Place (on tiebreakers over Wise O.) — or Win if B-Reezy fades. With 4 Correct Home Team Picks and 6 Fibonacci Bonus Picks, she currently owns the tiebreakers over most Analysts if the Race ends in a tie for first at 11 to 13 points.
3 Wise Orangutan (6 points): Bears/Saints/Vikings from last week are unique Picks. He has head-to-head tiebreakers over Atwork and The Strategist, but he has 0 Correct Home Team Picks and only 2 Fibonacci Bonus Picks — a poor tiebreaker portfolio.
4 Little Tuna (5 points): Chargers/Steelers/Saints from last week are NOT unique Picks (Big Tuna). She does not have a natural Box Out, however, because the Chargers play the Steelers this week. She will have to change at least one Pick to earn at most 7 total points. She has a head-to-head tiebreaker over Wise O. and competes against The Bookie this week. She also has a respectable 3 Correct Home Team Picks and 6 Fibonacci Bonus Picks.
5 Roxy Trot (5 points): Bears/Saints/Patriots from last week are NOT unique Picks. She can Box Out Craft Brew and Jimmy V with the same Picks. Big Tuna has a head-to-head tiebreaker over her. She has 0 Correct Home Team Picks and 4 Fibonacci Bonus Picks, so she likely has to win outright and avoid tiebreakers.
6 The Bookie (4 points): Steelers/Bears/Packers from last week are not unique Picks (Atwork). She currently owns tiebreakers over the other Analysts with 4 Trifecta points. She also has a head-to-head tiebreaker over The Strategist and hosts Little Tuna in Pittsburgh this week. She has a respectable 3 Correct Home Team Picks and 6 Fibonacci Bonus Picks.
7 Jimmy V (4 points): Patriots/Bears/Saints from last week are NOT unique Picks. With the same Picks, Roxy Trot can Box him Out [see above], while he can Box Out Craft Brew. He has a head-to-head tiebreaker over Atwork. He has 2 Correct Home Team Picks and 2 Fibonacci Bonus Picks.
8 The Strategist (4 points): Panthers/Saints/Chargers from last week are unique Picks. The Bookie and Wise O. have head-to-head tiebreakers over her. She has 1 Correct Home Team Pick and 4 Fibonacci Bonus Picks.
9 Craft Brew (4 points): Bears/Saints/Patriots from last week are NOT unique Picks (Roxy Trot [see above], Jimmy V [see above]). Big Tuna has a head-to-head tiebreaker over him. He has a head-to-head tiebreaker over Wise O. and B-Reezy. He has 1 Correct Home Team Pick and 2 Fibonacci Bonus Picks.
10 Big Tuna (0 points): Chargers/Steelers/Saints from last week are NOT unique Picks (Little Tuna [see above]. Chargers play the Steelers this week so he has to change at least one Pick to earn at most 7 total points. Big Tuna has head-to-head tiebreakers over Craft Brew and Roxy Trot. He also has 4 Correct Home Team Picks and 6 Fibonacci Bonus Picks. With his tiebreaker portfolio, he can Win if he ends in a tie for first place with B-Reezy at 7 points.
11 Atwork (0 points): Packers/Bears/Steelers from last week are NOT unique Picks (The Bookie [see above]). Jimmy V and Wise O. have head-to-head tiebreakers over him. He has 1 Correct Home Team Pick and 3 Fibonacci Bonus Picks. He can Win, but only if 1) he does not have the same Picks as The Bookie, 2) he earns 2 Fibonacci Bonus Points including the Packers, 2) all other Analysts fail to get a Trifecta, and 3) B-Reezy does not earn a Correct Home Team Pick or any more Fibonacci Bonus Picks.
We will not credit re-Picks for the remainder of the season.
Going forward:
Picks have two Rules that Analysts must adhere to: 1) Pick three teams to win from the Slate of Games for the current week, and 2) Do NOT Pick against one’s own Home Team.
Analysts are ultimately responsible for submitting valid Picks in a given week.
The Bookie and The Clearinghouse will continue to seek corrections before the Picks are released to all Analysts.
If an error makes it to the full release to all Analysts, however, the error stands.
A Lengthy Explanation:
We are concerned about the integrity of the game if we allow re-Picks going forward.
We have only had 4 invalid Picks released to all Analysts on game day in 396 total Picks this season — about 1%. Fortunately, all 4 invalid Picks became part of busted Trifectas.
But, re-Picking invites problems for The Clearinghouse.
We have had 4 different Purse winners in the first two Races: Jimmy V, Little Tuna, Big Tuna, and Craft Brew. We also have 4 different leaders in the current Races: The Strategist, Roxy Trot, B-Reezy, and Sponge Mom. The randomness and competitiveness of the outcomes are things we have tracked and found valuable in the past five years.
In the short Races, Picks also require strategy in order to maximize points.
Re-Picks undermine the pure randomness and the strategy for the Races.
After seeing everyone’s Picks, if an Analyst uses a re-Pick opportunity to create Box Outs or to avoid Box Outs in the final stretch of these Races, we will have a contested outcome. We want to avoid that.
We also want to keep it friendly for all Analysts. It was necessary to allow re-Picks early on as new Analysts learned the Rules and league managers adjusted to managing 11 Analysts.
Extending a friendly re-Pick to one Analyst this late in the season, however, is no longer friendly to other Analysts.
For the rest of the season, then, The Clearinghouse will not be crediting re-Picks that are made after the Picks are released to all Analysts.
Despite faltering in recent weeks, The Strategist maintains her two length lead over the rest of the field with only five weeks to go. She has 6 Trifectas and 27 Correct Picks for first place.
The contest for Place heated up in the past week as four Analysts now have 4 Trifectas on the year. Roxy Trot reclaims second place with 26 Correct Picks. B-Reezy and Craft Brew are in a dead heat for Show with 24 Correct Picks each. Little Tuna falls to fifth place with 23 Correct Picks.
With 3 Trifectas each, Big Tuna (25 Correct Picks) clings to sixth place by a head over Jimmy V (24 Correct Picks) in seventh, and comfortably over Wise Orangutan (20 Correct Picks) in eighth.
In ninth place, Sponge Mom (2 Trifectas and 22 Correct Picks)Â takes a one length lead over The Bookie (1 Trifecta and 19 Correct Picks) in tenth.
Atwork brings up the rear, still seeking his first Trifecta. Although now eliminated from the Win for Analyst of the Year, he is still able to Place at this time.
B-Reezy races from fifth place to take the lead down the home stretch with 7 Trifecta points.
Sponge Mom (6 Trifecta points) emerges from the back of the field to hold second place over Wise Orangutan (6 Trifecta points) in third place by virtue of her 4 Correct Home Team Picks (second tiebreaker) in the Fibonacci Stakes.
Little Tuna‘s picks-gambit fails as she falls into fourth place with 5 Trifecta points, edging out Roxy Trot (5 Trifecta points) in fifth due to LT’s 3 Correct Home Team Picks.
Four Analysts are contesting sixth place with 4 Trifecta points each. The Bookie (3 Correct Home Team Picks plus Head-to Head over The Strategist) holds sixth place by a head over Jimmy V (2 Correct Home Team Picks) in seventh place. The Strategist (1 Correct Home Team Pick and 4 Fibonacci Bonus Picks) noses out Craft Brew (1 Correct Home Team Pick and 2 Fibonacci Bonus Picks) for eighth place.
Big Tuna (0 Trifecta points) is having a Player Haters victory hangover. He is in tenth place with 4 Correct Home Team Picks and 6 Fibonacci Bonus Picks, leading Atwork (0 Trifecta points) who is having a season-long Super Trifecta Bowl hangover in last place.
Standings after Leg 4 of Fibonacci Stakes V
Tiebreakers
Tiebreakers after Leg 4 for Fibonacci Stakes V
Bye weeks for Home Teams are grayed out (Table 2).
Atwork: Packers***/ Bears**/Steelers**
B-Reezy: Bears**/Saints**/Eagles
Big Tuna: Saints***/Steelers**/Chargers**
Little Tuna: Chargers***/Steelers/Saints**
Craft Brew: Bears**/Saints/Patriots
Roxy Trot: Bears**/Saints/Patriots
Jimmy V: Patriots*/Bears**/Saints
Sponge Mom: Bears***/Saints**/Chargers**
Wise Orangutan: Bears/Saints/Vikings
The Strategist: Panthers***/Saints**/Chargers**
The Bookie: Steelers***/Bears**/Packers**
* denotes Home Team
** denotes Fibonacci Pick
***denotes Home Team and Fibonacci Pick
Spit Box:
(1) And in the background. The Steelers!! Hooray!!
(2) Same as last week! Let’s hope it works or I will really be digging my grave!!!
(3) This took awhile. Too many ******s!!!!
The Results Are (Coming) In:
Atwork: Packers***/Bears**/Steelers**
B-Reezy: Bears**/Saints**/Eagles (5 points)
Big Tuna: Saints***/Steelers**/Chargers**
Little Tuna: Chargers***/Steelers/Saints**
Craft Brew: Bears**/Saints/Patriots (4 points)
Roxy Trot: Bears**/Saints/Patriots (4 points)
Jimmy V: Patriots*/Bears**/Saints (4 points)
Sponge Mom: Bears***/Saints**/Chargers** (6 points)
Wise Orangutan: Bears/Saints/Vikings (3 points)
The Strategist: Panthers***/Saints**/Chargers**
The Bookie: Steelers***/Bears**/Packers**
Week 11 is a bust for the Analysts….unless you are The Strategist.
The Strategist holds a two length lead with her 6 Trifectas and 25 Correct Picks. With only six weeks to go, her next Trifecta may eliminate the first Analyst from the annual Marathon of the Ass.
Little Tuna keeps second place with 4 Trifectas and 21 Correct Picks.
Big Tuna (3 Trifectas) draws even with Roxy Trot (3 Trifectas) for third place as both have 23 Correct Picks, second only to The Strategist.
Also with 3 Trifectas, B-Reezy (21 Correct Picks) pulls even with Craft Brew (21 Correct Picks) in a tie for fifth place.
Jimmy V (2 Trifectas and 21 Correct Picks) remains in seventh place, still comfortably ahead of Wise Orangutan (2 Trifectas and 17 Correct Picks) in eighth place.
In ninth place, Sponge Mom (1 Trifecta and 19 Correct Picks) still cannot find the lions or tigers to support her Bears! The Bookie (1 Trifecta) follows one head behind with 18 Correct Picks. Atwork (0 Trifectas) remains in last place.
