Brinky Cup – Week 16

There are just a few hours to go before the final slate of regular season games kicks off, and by this evening a new champion will hoist the Brinky Cup (from afar, of course).  Here are the standings after Week 16:

	Games Back	Week 16
Dark Mario	–	9-7
Marcus	6	11-5
Jodi Ann	8	10-6
Mario T.Y.	12	10-6
Dark Lee	13	8-8
Ultra Katie	13	11-5
Reagan	14	10-6
Nicole E.	16	11-5
Tara	16	8-8
Jenny	18	9-7
Lee	20	9-7
Mario T.E.	24	7-9
Justin	25	10-6
Lisa	25	7-9
Katie	26	11-5
Charlotte	31	11-5
Ruby	33	10-6
Brinkley	39	6-10

Mario and Brinkley have matching six-game leads and look like locks to secure the Brinky Cup and Bizarro Brinky Cup, respectively.  Marcus and Jodi Ann have yet to make their Week 17 picks, though, and–with their playoff positions secure–one or both of them could decide to pick a buttload of upsets in a last-ditch attempt to catch Mario.  That’s certainly what I would do, except that I’m thirteen games out and fighting for my playoff life.  Going into today’s games, Mario, Marcus, and Jodi Ann are virtually assured of making the six-person Brinky Bowl playoff field.  Katie, Lee, and Reagan hold the final three playoff spots, but the matter is far from decided, as Nicole E., Tara, and Jenny are four games or fewer behind.  It promises to be an exciting day of games, and when the dust settles late this evening…well, I’ll be in bed asleep.  The dust will settle even more by tomorrow morning, though, and I’ll reveal the two Cup winners and six Bowlers then.

For those who don’t know, the Steelers can still make the playoffs if they win today (vs. Cleveland) and the Ravens, Chargers and Dolphins all lose.  Cuppers aren’t required to pick against those three teams, but those who don’t should definitely feel a little guilty about it (besides Mario, who should feel a lot guilty).

 

Brinky Cup – Week 12

Another week, another collective dud–the race for the Brinky Cup is devolving into a zombie-like slow shuffle.  The Week 12 numbers speak for themselves: the best record was 10-4 (by preseason Lee), only 4 of the 18 Cuppers finished above .500, and the average number of wins was 6.5–in a week with a Steelers victory, no less.  Mario maintains his stranglehold on the top spot (take a moment to think about how weird that ubiquitous expression is) and new parents Jodi Ann and Marcus occupy the second and third positions, respectively.  Does that mean baby LJ is destined to win in her first foray into the Brinky Cup next year?  Does it mean she’s wasting her newborn Cup magic on her parents this year?  Does it mean nothing?  Is that too many rhetorical questions for one paragraph?

Brinkley is in control in the fall to the Bizarro Brinky Cup, extending his lead this week after Charlotte’s ill-timed 11-4 Week 11 debacle and Ruby’s 11-3 Week 10.  Both Ruby and Charlotte are still in contention, but neither can afford another week of double-digit wins.  There are five weeks left in the regular season with full sixteen-game slates the rest of the way, and this is the time when champions are unmade.

	Games Back	Week 12
Dark Mario	–	7-7
Jodi Ann	6	8-6
Marcus	7	6-8
Jenny	8	8-6
Mario T.Y.	8	6-8
Ultra Katie	9	5-9
Dark Lee	10	6-8
Lee	13	10-4
Reagan	13	6-8
Tara	13	6-8
Nicole E.	14	9-5
Justin	17	7-7
Lisa	17	7-7
Mario T.E.	17	5-9
Katie	21	4-10
Ruby	25	6-8
Charlotte	28	6-8
Brinkley	30	5-9

Evil Plan

I know he has one.  He slept from 10:30 to 1:30 and he’s not even being horrible right now.  He’s sort of whimpering while he bounces, but expressing one’s existential angst is hardly a crime.  I’m still expecting an attack; time, however, is no longer on his side.

Banana Face

I’m not going for it, the decisive Wednesday battle Brinkley wants.  I’m just going to keep changing it up, refusing to let him concentrate his strength anywhere.  He shifts to, I shift away.  I went to the bananas earlier than usual.  It was a tough decision, but you know, they all are.  I had already committed to a bananas attack, but he was really enraged and I can’t have him thrashing around and screaming when the bananas come in.  I decided to lead with a 3 oz bottle and if that put him to sleep, so be it.  The bottle calmed him and I hit him right in the pie-hole with the bananas.  He handled the pie-hole periphery himself.

What does Dre think?  Respect.

I was surprised to discover that if I gave him a wet cloth, he would wipe the food off his own face, and do a cheerful and thorough job of it to boot.  This is more than I’ve managed to instill in Jenny after almost ten years.

Face Shrink

I don’t think my mouth or my eyes can get as wide as this, relatively or absolutely:

But even if I could match Brinkley’s wideness, I don’t think I would be as happy about it as he is:

On the other hand, I don’t drool all over my clothes like a mental patient, so that’s one in the win column for Daddy.