It's the Final Countdown!

We may not be heading to Venus, but we are rapidly approaching the end of the inaugural Major League Lock Club season.  I hope it has been as interesting and fun-filled for you as it has been for me.  One thing is for sure, nothing is ever guaranteed.  In the middle of Week 7, Gladiator sat at 50 units with his closest competition sitting at 27.  It appeared that not only would he easily win the league, he would set a mark that would never be matched.  Then the drought hit.  Going 6-10 dropped him all of the way back down to 28 points.  Then it looked like Captain was going to grab the baton and run away.  He peaked at 47 units heading into Week 11.  An 0-6 run meant he fell all of the way back to 3rd.  Meehoe made a major move over Weeks 9 and 10 hitting 3 consecutive Vapors.  He reached 41 units before treading enough water to settle at 31, atop the leader board.  The bad news for Meehoe is that Gladiator still has one Vapor in play.  If Gladiator goes 3-0, he will be our champion.  If he fails, there are any number of ways that this thing could shake out.

Obviously, Meehoe, Gladiator, and Captain are the favorites to take home the title and finish in the money.  However, their collective 3-15 performance over the past two weeks has opened the door for T-$ and CDes/Bink.  These two have combined to go 21-7 over the past 14 games and are tied for the best overall record in the league.  T-$ currently sits four units outside of the money, while CDes/Bink (11) could still win the league if the epic collapse continues.  CDes/Bink have a difficult decision to make.  A perfect week could result in a money finish, if not a championship.  A perfectly terrible week would put them at 1 and tough to beat for the Closest to Zero money.  Either way, they have $25 coming back to them via the largest College Cover award.

While it will take a minimum of 21 points to win the title, 13 is the magic number to have a chance to finish in the money.  Aside from the five aforementioned members, six more still have a chance to get in the shade of the money tree.  Packy (9), Dirty D (7), Hitman (5), Uncle PJ (5), Spencer (3), and Well Tea (-10) can all get it done if things break right.  Vapors will be in play from Hitman, Spencer, and Well Tea.  In fact, Well Tea will have ALL THREE Vapors going.

Realistically, most of you will be playing for Closest to Zero.  The others rounding out this list are Monty Yahoo, Gator, and Cento.  Remember, the first tie breaker for CTZ is having a positive score.  The second tie breaker is overall record.  Overall record is the only tie breaker for the top prize money.  To be clear, ties count as a half of a win and a half of a loss.

So here we go.  It's nut cutting time.  Time to figure out not only what you are going to do, but what your competition is going to do.  Scourer the lines.  Crunch the numbers.  Pray those novenas.  Most importantly get your f-ing picks in on time,