Parts Unknown (DP--Disassociated Press): In the previous weekend, week #13 of this year's competition, the Challenge field had failed to register a 6-point parlay hit for just the third time this season, but this past weekend the field resumed its parlay-hitting ways after three of its handicappers--Vikings17, the Biased Nihilist, and Driveline--each connected on their respective 6-point parlay combinations. Each handicapper complemented their 6-point parlay hits with one best-bet winner to conclude their respective weekends with 7-point outings apiece. As normally is the case, the three 7-point performances highly benefitted each handicapper and improved their rankings within their respective divisional races, but to different extents. Whereas the 7-point outings by both the Biased Nihilist and Driveline represented their latest steps forward in their respective comeback bids to win divisional titles by overcoming huge divisional deficits, the 7-point outing by this year's superstar rookie Vikings17 not only increased his Run-&-Shoot divisional lead from eight points to 14 points but also extended his lead for this year's regular-season championship from five points to 10 points. This is not to undermine the crucial 7-point outings by both the Nihilist and Driveline over this past weekend, but Vikings17 is in the midst of manufacturing the best rookie season in the history of the Bookie Challenge competition, and in the process he is easily becoming the top storyline of this year's competition, not to mention that he's also making a strong case for being this year's feel-good story. What's really interesting about the Purple People Eater's recent upswing to become the competition's number-one handicapper, is the amount of time it took for him to pull it off--of which was a meteoric rise that transpired over the span of his last-four outings (includes dual outings of this year's Turkey Shoot weekend).

In retrospect, it wasn't until the start of this year's Turkey Shoot weekend when Vikings17's rookie season truly came into full prominence. Granted, he caught the eyes of a few veterans of the competition after he hit back-to-back 6-point parlay combos back in weeks' #8 and #9, but those scoring outbursts didn't lead to anything major and only served to get his feet wet for the first time in his Bookie Challenge career. Case in point, after week #11, or after the third week of this year's divisional races, Vikings17 had accrued 21 pts on the season, of which the point total was only good enough to be positioned in third place of the Run-&-Shoot division, where he trailed second-place moemonie by five points and divisional leader DawgPound by six points. In other words, apart from the consecutive weekends in which he connected on his first-ever 6-point parlay hits, Vikings17 was just having the usual greenhorn season in which he was getting acclimated to the Bookie Challenge competition. Essentially, throughout the first 11 weeks of his rookie debut, Vikings17 was enduring the typical rookie grind and was taking a few lumps from the competition's school of hard knocks, but he certainly wasn't having a rookie season worth writing home about. However, that mainly humdrum 11-week start to Vikings17's rooke season all changed after he handicapped the dual outings of this year's Turkey Shoot weekend. As most participants from the competition witnessed, Vikings17, along with his rookie counterpart Hall-of-Fame City Kid, had the best-ever rookie outings for a Thanksgiving Day, with both greenhorns racking up a record-setting bevy of propositional points. What's more, Vikings17 went on to become the first rookie to win a Turkey Shoot weekend outright after he tallied 15 overall points for the holiday event. It was that dual outing that catapulted Vikings17 to not only an improbable 7-point divisional lead of the Run-&-Shoot division but also to a just as head-scratching overall 4-point lead of the entire competition. But the Turkey Shoot weekend, as it turned out, was just the beginning of one of the most compelling handicapping runs to be ever manufactered by a rookie.

In the ensuing weekend of the Turkey Shoot weekend, or week #13, Vikings17 eked out just two points after he connected on one of his best bets and a one-point exact-score hit, but nonetheless he was still able to extend his league-leading point totals, meaning he increased his Run-&-Shoot divisional lead to eight points over second-place DawgPound (38 pts vs 30 pts) and also increased his lead of the overall competition to five points over Hall-of-Fame City Kid (38 pts vs 33 pts). And then came this past weekend, week #14. For starters, entering this past weekend, the Purple People Eater had built his stunning divisional lead and overall lead of the competition on the strength of two earlier 6-point parlay hits and his recent 15-point Turkey Shoot outing. To put it differently, entering this past weekend, the up and coming rookie didn't produce his so far spectacular season by breaking any all-time rookie records. For example, before this past weekend, Vikings17 had only registered two 6-point parlay hits, of which the two parlay hits are three parlay hits shy of H.E. Pennypacker's rookie record of five 6-point parlay hits. Additionally, Vikings17's present best-bet record, which is only a break-even 14-14-2 tally, is nowhere near the all-time, top best-bet record by a rookie for regular-season handicapping, of which the all-time record is a 21-13-2 (.618 W%) tally that Walter accomplished in Challenge year #9. Moreover, the 8-point divisional lead that Vikings17 held in the Run-&-Shoot division before he had entered this past weekend, is way below the largest divisional margin of 20 points that a rookie has ever produced to win a divisional title (Walter also set that all-time rookie record back in Challenge year #9). With all the aforementioned in mind, after this past weekend, after Vikings17 nailed down a 7-point outing, he has not only positioned himself to break a few of those aforementioned rookie records, but also he has set himself up to possibly shatter some of those all-time rookie records. Simply put, this past weekend turned out to be Vikings17's first watershed outing of his Challenge career. It was the weekend his greenhorn season escaped the shadow of handicapping mediocrity and stepped out into the blinding light of handicapping excellence.

The parlay hit that Vikings17 knocked down this past weekend was his third of this season and it tied both jcvike and 7mick7 for the most 6-point parlay winners accrued this season. Let's not forget also that he is presently two 6-point parlay winners shy of tying H.E. Pennypacker's all-time regular-season record of five 6-point parlay hits by a rookie handicapper. But it's going to be tougher to break the rookie parlay record, for Vikings17 has to pound out three more 6-point parlay hits over the course of the remaining four weeks of the regular season to do as much. The 7-point outing that Vikings17 unleashed this past weekend resulted in his 45th point of the season, and as a result of the league-leading tally, he now owns a nearly insuperable divisional lead of 14 points over second-place DawgPound in the Run-&-Shoot division. Let's not forget also that the Purple People Eater's 14-point divisional lead has him in great shape to possibly break Walter's rookie record for winning a division by the largest margin ever, that is, if it should come to pass that Vikings17 further extends his divisional lead and ultimately wins his division. At the moment, if everything breaks his way, all Vikings17 has to do is increase his present divisional lead by seven more points to break Walter's record, of which achieving the feat doesn't seem all that impossible to do when considering there remains four more weekends left to handicap in this year's regular season. There's also one other all-time rookie record that has yet to be touched upon, of which is the all-time rookie record for the most total points scored in a regular season. However, it's one record Vikings17 doesn't have to worry about, and that's because after this past weekend the Purple People Eater has already broken it! The all-time rookie record for the most total points scored was held by H.E. Pennypacker, of which his rookie scoring record was 43 points, but not anymore. After compiling his 45th point this past weekend, Vikings17 is now the present record holder for the most all-time points scored by a rookie handicapper. All things considered, as it pertains to all-time rookie records, there is one record that Vikings17 doesn't have to break, but instead it's one he needs to establish, or SET for better words. It's the most important one and the only one he should be focused on, of which is to become the first rookie in the history of the Bookie Challenge to win a regular-season championship. That one feat alone would open the door to bigger and better possibilities, as in entering the Challenge postseason with the best scoring advantages in the first-two rounds of this year's postseason. By extension, he'll have a golden opportunity to win this year's overall Bookie Challenge championship. Furthermore, and to his great advantage, Vikings17 presently owns a 10-point lead over Hall-of-Fame City Kid in the race to capture this year's regular-season title (45 pts vs 35 pts).

As already mentioned earlier in this weekly review, this past weekend's two other winners were the Biased Nihilist and Driveline. To begin with, both handicappers unexpectedly came out of this year's divisional seeding with the worse seeds of the competition. To be more specific, the Nihilist, with only five total points tallied at the time of this year's divisional seeding was the worst seeded handicapper, and as a consequence, he was seeded in the Corozal division with the number-one top seed from this year's divisional seeding, who was Theopholis and who held a 16-point lead over the Nihilist before the start of this year's divisional races. Likewise, Driveline, who was this year's second-worst seeded handicapper at the time of this year's divisional seeding after having accrued just six points on the season, was seeded in the Hail Mary division with the number-two top seed from this year's divisional seeding. Like the Nihilist, Driveline faced a huge deficit of 14 points to divisional leader catman23 before the start of this year's Hail Mary divisional race. It should go without saying that both the Nihilist, who is a three-time Bookie Challenge champion, and Driveline, who is a two-time Bookie Challenge champion, each had their work cut out for themselves to win respective divisional championships. But the embattled handicappers are both cut from a different cloth, and after this past weekend, their respective 7-point outings finally positioned both handicappers into second-place of their respective divisions. In simple terms, both handicappers refused to be overwhelmed by the huge deficits they faced at the start of this year's divisional races and have since displayed the unrelenting moxies of true champions. And because of their respective resolves to perservere through tough times, each handicapper is now in serious contention to win a divisional title. Incidentally, should each handicapper fall short of snatching a divisional title, let it be known that the Nihilist and Driveline are the only two handicappers in the history of the Bookie Challenge's postseasons to have each entered the playoffs with the status of a divisional wild card--but still went on to win respective Bookie Challenge cahampionships.

• SUB PAR BEST-BET OUTING BY CHALLENGE FIELD SEES ITS WEEKEND END WITH A YEAR-TO-DATE WINNING PERCENTAGE AT AN EVEN-STEVENS .500 MARK: In a somewhat ambiguous outing this past weekend, the Challenge field registered its third-worst best-bet outing of the season, but at the same time, the field also got back to its parlay-hitting ways after it recorded three 6-point parlay hits for the weekend. And although the field posted an anemic 9-15-0 best-bet showing for the past weekend, it still managed to conclude its outing with an overall 192-192-12 best-bet tally on the season (.500 win%). However, the field was fortunate to have not finished its weekend with a losing best-bet tally on the season if it were not for catman23 having his set of weekly picks disqualified. The Tomcat from Handicapping Alley texted his weekly selections to the Biased Nihilist eight minutes after Sunday's posting deadline had expired. Both of his texted best bets, Baltimore (-7½) over the LA Rams and Houston (-3½) over the NY Jets, turned out to be losers and would have resulted in the Challenge field ending its outing with an overall losing best-bet record on the season. All in all, notwithstanding the field's three 6-point parlay hits, the only bright spot of the Challenge's handicapping outing was when the field connected on all three of its consensus selections for the past weekend, and as a result, the field terminated its outing with its best overall consensus record so far this season, which is presently a 12-9-0 record (.571 win%).

This week's selection for the WHO'S-HOT-HANDICAPPER is a virtual toss up between the Biased Nihilist and Vikings17, for both handicappers had performances this past weekend that elevated their respective seasons to noticeably higher levels. However, statistically speaking, it's the Nihilist who'll get the nod for the week's honor, mainly because no other handicapper in the league has scored more points in the competition over the span of the last-three weeks than has the Biased Nihilist. Specifically, the Nihilist has racked up 16 total points after he produced a PERFECTA outing (8 pts) on the tail end of this year's Turkey Shoot weekend, scrounged out a 1-pt outing in week #13, and then ended his three-outing run this past weekend with a 7-pt outing. But what's most fascinating about the Corozal Kid's recent handicapping streak is that he has turned around his egregious start to this year's competition, which was an atrocious beginning to the season in which he ended up as the worst seeded handicapper at this year's divisional seeding. As a consequence, he was subsequently seeded in the Corozal division with the league's number-one top seed from this year's divisional seeding, of whom was Theopholis and of whom started this year's Corozal divisional race with the largest divisional lead, 16 points, over a last-place participant within his respective division (Theo 21 pts, Blitzkrieg 11 pts, the Nihilist 5 pts). To break it down even further, before the start of this year's divisional races, the Nihilist was facing the possibility of finishing dead-last in the division and qualifying for this year's postseason as a lowly at-large participant, of which the last and only time the Corozal Kid ever finished in last place of a divisional race and qualified as an at-large participant was back in Challenge year #2. But despite the dire straits the Nihilist had found himself in before the start of this year's divisional races, one thing is for certain, and it is that every veteran of the competition already knows he's not a quitter and to never count out the Nihilist and his chances to turn a miserable start to a season completely around. In fact, the Nihilist has already orchestrated the greatest regular-season comeback in the history of the Bookie Challenge, of which occurred back in Challenge year #8. After the first-six weeks of Challenge year #8, the Nihilist, with just one point scored, resided in dead-last place, out of 23 overall participants, in that season's point standings and trailed the overall leader of the competition by a whoppoing 22 points. But then he proceeded to hit four 6-point parlay combos, of which three of the parlay hits resulted in PERFECTA outings, and he miraculously went on to win that year's Corozal divisional championship.

Flash forward to this past weekend, and one can readily see that the Corozal Kid is now in the process of producing the second-greatest regular-season comeback in the history of the competition. His 7-point outing from this past weekend enabled him to leap-frog over second-place Blitzkrieg by three points (31 pts vs 28 pts), and more importantly, it allowed him to conclude his outing just three points behind first-place Theopholis (34 pts vs 31 pts). What makes for a funny side note as it concerns the Nihilist's dramatic comeback of late is that all the while he has maintained his brazen audacity for talking smack. Just three weeks ago, after landing his PERFECTA outing and reducing his deficits to both Theopholis and Blitzkrieg, the Corozal Kid facetiously asked them both if "they can hear the Nihilist coming?". Not for nothing, but there are ONLY a handful of handicappers in the league who occasionally talk a little smack, but do as much when they're doing well in the competition. However, in most cases those other handicappers who do talk a little smack more often than not wind up eating crow and hardly ever back up their respective smack talk. But the Nihilist is a different animal when it comes to backing up his smack talk, especially during the earlier years of the Bookie Challenge when the Nihilist won three Bookie Challenge championships out of the competition's first-six seasons. Really and truly, it doesn't matter what kind of season the Nihilist is having, whether a good one or a bad one, he'll talk his smack just for the sake of jocularity, just to add a humorous touch to the competition. As a prime example, here's an excerpt from one of the DISCUSSION THREADS that the Nihilist recently posted:

You know what, dick heads? I got to thinking about this God-awful slump I'm mired in, and I says to myself: "If anyone can get out of this fucking mess I'm in, it's me." That's right, I know this contest inside and out, and so I know how to make the biggest, motherfucking comeback ever to win this bitch. Hell, I'm the one who put this bitch together in the first place. Oh, and by the way, I got this, so I don't need anybody's help. You bitches feeling me on this? I don't need nobody!

Of course, the Nihilist is champing at the bit to use his favorite smack-talking line, what he deems as his most iconic smack-talking line, but he's saving it for the right time, for whenever he takes the Corozal divisonal lead or when he wins the Corozal divisonal title at the end of the regular season. Most of the veterans are already familiar with the line but would rather not hear it again--"I MUST BE THE GREATEST!"

Sadly, any participant from the Bookie Challenge field who fervently keeps up with the competition and is in tune with its storied history, had to know that it was going to be just a matter of time before catman's "breakout and dream season" was going to eventually collapse like a house of cards. It will be painful to recap how catman's once-promising start to this season gradually and slowly began to unravel, but it has to be done. Impressively, for the first-seven weeks of the regular season, catman was the overall leader of the Bookie Challenge's point standings and at the time looked like a sure bet to come out of this year's divisional seeding as the league's number-one top seed. However, in week #7, just a week before the divisional seeding, Theopholis took over the lead of the point standings over catman by one point (21 pts vs 20 pts). Still, though, the Tomcat from Handicapping Alley fought hard and eventually won the number-two seed at this year's divisional seeding, and as a result, got to start this year's Hail Mary divisional race as its divisional leader. He held on to the divisional lead until week #11, when jcvike28 overtook him for the divisional lead by four points (29 pts vs 25 pts). Then, the week after he lost his divisional lead, or on Thanksgiving day, the first leg of this year's Turkey Shoot, the first signs that catman was reverting back to his old ways began to appear after he failed to post his first set of weekly picks on the season. His excuse for missing his selections was that he took a holdiday trip to Florida and just didn't have the time to submit his selections for Thanksgiving day. But luckily for him, jcvike also failed to post his entire set of picks for Thanksgiving day, so catman didn't lose any ground for the divisional lead. However, in the meantime, while catman was squandering his divisional lead to jcvike, Driveline was slowly staging a divisional comeback and was painstakingly closing the gap on the two divisional front-runners. Incredibly, this past weekend, the Tomcat from Handicapping Alley greased the skids for Driveline to overtake him for second place in the division after catman had his set of weekly selections disqualified. To explain further, and in what turned out to be another costly blunder to his season, catman texted his set of weekly picks eight minutes after this past Sunday's posting deadline had expired, of which the posting gaffe was perplexing when considering that catman has always posted his weekly selections on Saturdays, or early Sunday mornings at the latest. Unfortunately for catman, as bad luck would have it, Driveline knocked down a critical 6-point parlay hit and concluded his weekend with a 7-point outing, of which was a 7-point outing that enabled Driveline to end his weekend with a one-point lead (28 pts to 27 pts) over catman for second place of the Hail Mary division. And so after this past weekend, catman23 finds himself in an all-too-familiar set of circumstances, facing another tough fight for a decent playoff qualification. To his utter dismay, he once again holds the playoff qualification of an "at-large participant", or the worst playoff qualification a participant can enter a Challenge playoffs with. Now granted, catman is only one point behind Driveline for the division's wild-card slot and there still remains four more weeks left to handicap in this year's regular season, but can catman stop the bleeding and reverse his slow but steady slide that is putting a major damper on his best-ever season? They say that a cat has nine lives, so if catman wants to revive his season he had better hope he still has some of those nine lives left, at least one of them to get him off the hook.