2023 PRESEASON ANNUAL SPECIAL

THE PARTICIPANT'S GUIDE TO THE 13TH ANNUAL COMPETITION

The big hang up, as it concerns the updating of the website, is that I am having to reformat all the statistical data within the Record Archives and individual handicapping pages to reflect last year's newly added exact-score results, of which the reformatting is overly time consuming and involves more HTML coding. Regardless, I should have the Record Archives and individual handicapping pages updated within the next several weeks. For the time being, however, the good news is that I have updated the formats for both the weekly point standings page and weekly results page so that this year's competition can get started without any hitches. Unfortunately, as a slight consequence of being in arrears with the other updating, this year's Preseason Annual Special will be significantly abbreviated, especially the annual articles concerning the presentations of last year's Bookie Challenge Awards and this year's Preseason Rankings. But if there's one article in this year's Preseason Special that all members should definitely read, it's the one about this year's rule changes, of which there are essentially only two changes, but extremely important ones.

Lastly, I want to sincerely wish everybody in this year's competition the best of luck, and above all, I hope everybody has a great and fun time competing in the most unique handicapping competiton ever created.

BOOKIE CHALLENGE AWARDS FOR PAST SEASON (Yr #12)

DRIVELINE GETS HONORED WITH 5 AWARDS, MATCHES
DBUCC'S SINGLE-SEASON RECORD FOR MOST BESTOWED

Parts Unknown (DP--Disassociated Press): Without question, Driveline's remarkable run in last year's competition transformed him, almost overnight, into one of the league's top handicappers, and one who is fast approaching the competition's historical handicapping elitism like those possessed by the Biased Nihilist and Tony Soprano. For the record, Driveline's overall Bookie Challenge championship that he won last season was not his first one ever, for he also won the overall championship in Challenge year #9. But his first championship had always seemed like somewhat of a fluke, especially since it took a miraculous and record-setting Super Bowl round for him to steal the championship away from carldaddy at literally the last minute of that year's Super Bowl. But last year's overall championship by Driveline was everything but a lucky happenstance, and at season's end--he was totally worthy of being bestowed with five Bookie Challenge awards, of which the five overall honors tied him with dbucc for being bestowed with the most awards for a single Bookie Challenge season.

To begin with, Driveline was awarded with last year's top honor, the league's MVP award (Most Valuable Participant), because he was--far and away!--the best handicapper in the league. En route to last year's regular-season championship, Driveline's first one ever, he not only led last year's regular season in most points scored (46 pts), most 6-point parlay hits (4), and most parlay winners within his combined parlay combos (32), but also he led last year's postseason in most points scored (54 pts), most week-wons (2), most propositional points (29 pts), most 3-point parlay hits (1), most 6-point parlay winners (1), and most parlay wins within his combined parlay combos (7). When putting it all together, for the regular season and postseason combined, Driveline set new all-time records for the most points scored (100 pts) and most proposititional points accrued (35 pts). In addition, for the postseason only, Driveline set all-time records for the most playoffs points scored (54 pts), most prop pts scored (29 pts), and most week-wons (2). Speaking of most weeks-won, although he didn't set an all-time record, Driveline did manage to lead the league with four overall weeks-won (regular season and postseason combined). And to think, despite all the above, and in what has to be deemed as a major paradox, Driveline posted the league's worst winning percentage of best bets (.438) for the entire season after he registered an overall won-loss record of 21-27-1, of which posting another losing best-bet record has been something Driveline has been known for historically doing. He also led the league last season with the most goose eggs laid (7), just another area in which Driveline has led the league throughout his recent Bookie Challenge career.

Regardless of his annual handicapping transgressions, Driveline was able to overcome them and go on to be honored with last year's Rudy Award (Honors participant who showed most competitive spirit and never-say-die attitude during the season). Incredibly, Driveline was able to garner the league's second-best award after he overcame one of the most shameful starts to a first round of a postseason ever recorded by a divisional champion, mush less a regular season champion. After last year's first round of the postseason, Driveline finished in dead-last place in the Challenge's playoff point standings after goose egging last year's opening round and concluding the round with ZERO points. Remarkably, however, the "Fisher of Winners" truly emulated the no-quit spirit and composure of Rudy Ruettiger and made a dazzling comeback over the next three rounds to capture last year's overall Bookie Challenge championship. By extension, after capturing the league's first-place prize of the Latinum jackpot ($400), he was also able to snare his second overall Ferengi Award (Honors participants who won shares of the Gold-Pressed Latinum jackpot). In all, Driveline pocketed a grand total of $440 in last year's competition after he also cashed in on $40 for winning last year's regular-season championship. To note, Dawgpound won last year's overall 2nd-place prize of $80 after he finished in second place in last year's final playoff point standings.

Driveline was also able to be awarded with two other Challenge awards after his exemplary campaign of last season. First off, he was easily bestowed with last year's Comeback Handicapper of the Year award (Honors participant who vastly improved from the previous season) after he rebounded from the third-worst performance of the previous season (Challenge year #11). In that previous season, Driveline had finished in last place of the Run-&-Shoot divisional race, scoring just 16 points for the regular season (2nd-worst pt. total) and failing to register a 6-point parlay winner for the season. Secondly, because he displayed a gracious disposition after winning last year's overall championship, Driveline was awarded with his first-ever Brian Piccolo award (Honors participant who exhibited best sportsmanship throughout the season), of which the honor snapped dbucc's three-year run as the Brian Piccolo awardee.

Lastly, as it concerns the last three awards for last year's competition, Tony Soprano was awarded with his first-ever Swami award (Honors participant who statistically produced the top best-bet numbers for the regular season and playoffs combined), but he was essentially recognized with the award by default only, for he failed to participate in last year's postseason after an ignominious end to his regular season in which he had displayed a severe lack of sportsmanship in the wake of having his weekly set of picks for the final week of the regular season disqualified. The next award is one award that nobody ever wants to receive, or which is better known as the annual Humpty Dumpty award (Dishonors participant who had the worst overall season in the competition). Unfortunately, TCU (aka Too Tall Tommy) was disgraced with the award after he registered his worst season out of his six-year Bookie Challenge career, and it wasn't pretty. He registered just 15 overall points for last year's regular season, did not connect on a 6-point parlay winner for the first time, and failed to register for the postseason for the first time as either a divisional champ or a divisional wild card. The final award, the Rookie of the Year award (Honors rookie who had the best impact on the competition), was not awarded last season, despite that the lone rookie entrant, braves72492, could have won the honor if he would have had a spectacular rookie season. But he turned out to be a total bust after he only handicapped three of the first-five weeks of last year's competition, and his final numbers were ghastly (1-5-0, .160 Win %, 1 goose egg, and 1 golden goose egg). But more unconscionable, he become the first participant in the history of the Bookie Challenge to start a season and not pay his Bookie Challenge ante, which is a major no-no and a despicable maneuver that can possibly lead to a lifetime ban from the competition.

RULE CHANGES FOR 13TH ANNUAL BC COMPETITION

TWEAKS TO EXACT-SCORE PICKS, SCORING ADVANTAGES IN FIRST-TWO ROUNDS OF PLAYOFFS AIMED AT INCREASING OVERALL PARTICIPATION

Parts Unknown (DP--Disassociated Press): Before the start of last year's Bookie Challenge competition (Yr #12), rule changes were implemented for the scoring advantages of the first-two rounds of the postseason and also for the year's exact-score selections. As it concerned the scoring advantages in the first-two rounds of last year's playoffs, points awarded for winning selections had been increased for all the divisional champions, to include last year's regular season champion, but the increased scoring advantages proved to be somewhat draconian. As a result, participants who failed to qualify for last year's postseason as either a divisional champ or a divisional wild card, meaning the remaining at-large participants, nearly all felt that they had no shot at competing for an overall Bookie Challenge championship and so they did not participate in last year's playoffs. Specifically, at-large participants qualifying for last year's postseason, such as jcvike28, TCU, and DIRTYBIRDS, all opted to forego last year's playoffs because of their scoring disadvantages, and as a consequence, their collective absences in last year's postseason represented the largest number of members to not participate in a Challenge playoffs. For the longest, one of the most unique features of a Bookie Challenge competition had been to keep every participant facing a Challenge playoffs, no matter their postseason qualifications, to continue to participate in a Challenge postseason, but last year's scoring changes in the first-two rounds of last year's playoffs ran counter to that aim. Therefore, this year's scoring format for the first-two rounds of the postseason has been revised to level out the scoring advantages for the first-two rounds of the postseason, and is being done as much with the sole purpose to once again keep each handicapper interested in participating in the Challenge's postseason. To see the exact scoring adjustments to the first-two rounds of this year's postseason, please refer to SECTION XI of the Official Rules, in particular paragraphs' A and B. To note, for the first time ever, at-large participants will be able to submit parlay combinations during the opening two rounds of a posteason (but only in Rd #2 of the playoffs).

In last year's competition, the exact-score selections had also been revised. Explicitly, a second exact-score prediction had been incorporated into the competition's weekly set of picks, of which was the exact-score pick of the weekly Thursday night game. In addition, an extra point had been awarded if a participant correctly predicited an exact-score pick that did not include the winning team of his exact-score selection. It was thought last season, with the added 1-point scoring opportunity, that all members would have entered exact-score picks for last year's Thursday night games, but that didn't turn out to be the case after many participants failed to post exact-score selections for last year's Thursday night games. This upcoming season, however, there should be a significant increase of exact-score predicitions for the Thursday night games, especially when considering this year's newly added scoring opportunity for an exact-score selection. Starting this season, as usual, a participant can win five points for correctly predicting the exact-score that includes the game's winning team. But this season, a participant will now be able to win two points for a correctly picked exact-score selection that doesn't include the winning team, and can also win one point by correctly guessing the exact score of just one team. Not for nothing, but possibly winning one point from an exact-score selection is just as big as winning one point off a weekly best-bet winner. All things considered, after the year's revisions to the exact-score selections, a Challenge participant would be foolish not to enter both of his weekly exact-score picks.

Parts Unknown (DP--Disassociated Press): Believe it or not, for the first time ever, Driveline will enter this year's 13th Annual Bookie Challenge competition as the #1 ranked handicapper in this year's preseason rankings. And before anyone asks why, just know that the 10-year veteran of the Bookie Challenge is completely deserving of the nod, especially after his dazzling performance in last year's competition. What's more, if Driveline can pull it off and indeed captures a third overall Bookie Challenge championship, he'll become only the third participant in the history of the Challenge to register the extraordinary feat, which is a rare accomplishment that only the Biased Nihilist and Tony Soprano have been able to execute. But before we get ahead of ourselves, and as everybody already knows, winning ONE Bookie Challenge championship is a tough son-of-a-bitch to pull off, so it has to be a given that Driveline is going to have his work cut out for him if he's going to cement his legacy as one of the league's elite handicappers.

Naturally, this upcoming competition will once again be a daunting one, as there are many long-time veterans returning this season who are very much capable to seriously vie for an overall Bookie Challenge championship. Last season, the competition began with 13 handicappers, but after its lone rookie entrant, braves72492, bailed out after the 5th week of last year's competition, the season ended with just 12 handicappers. And what needs to be kept in mind is that Tony Soprano's participation in this year's competition is still up in the air, or at least as of this printing. If anybody has forgotten, Soprano did not participate in last year's postseason after being miffed over his weekly set of picks for the final week of last year's regular season getting disqualified, of which his flippant behavior in the aftermath of the disqualifications did not sit well with the Biased Nihilist. Regardless, the possibility that Soprano will opt out of this year's competition, and might be done with the Challenge altogether, is being offset by 7mick7's surprising recruitment of his close friend, Vikings17, who will represent this year's lone rookie entrant into the competition. As a result of 7mick7's recruitment, this year's competition will again start with 13 overall participants.

To say the least, a handful of handicappers in last year's competition--mainly the Biased Nihilist, dbucc, jcvike28, and TCU--all had uncharacteristically less-than-stellar seasons, but all of them are looking to rebound from their respective poor outings in last year's contest. In other words, it's almost guaranteed that they will all certainly revert back to the means and register good handicapping campaigns in this year's competition. In turn, it will mean that this year's battle to win an overall Bookie Challenge competition is going to be up for grabs, and it will be anybody's guess as to who is going to come out on top after it's all said and done. So, with all the aforementioned in mind, it is now time to cue those battle-cry words often used in the world of sports right before contestants get ready to compete against each other--LET'S GET IT ON!