Parts Unknown (DP--Disassociated Press): A week ago, in week #3 of this year's competition, the Challenge field had produced its best competitive outing of the season, of which was highlighted by the Biased Nihilist holding off Blitzkrieg's Monday night push to snatch a "week-won" away from the self-proclaimed "Greatest Handicapper of All Time". But this past weekend the competition's high drama was ratcheted to higher level of riveting suspense, of which was an excitement that had a familiar feel from the previous weekend's handicapping hijinks. This time around, however, it just wasn't Blitzkrieg challenging the Nihilist for the credit of a week-won, but several handicappers joined in to push the Nihilist to the brink. Included in the group of handicappers hassling the Nihilist was Vikings17, who started last weekend's high-stakes outing by connecting on last Thursday night's opener for week #4 with yet another 5-point exact-score hit, which was his second 5-point exact-score winner of the season. The incredible exact-score winner by Vikings17 set the pace for the rest of the weekend's nail-biting handicapping action. But to best put this past weekend's thrilling outing in its proper perspective, a brief recap of the previous weekend, week #3, is needed.

In week #3, the Nihilist had delivered the first 6-point parlay winner in this year's competition, and in the process he surpassed Vikings17 by five points (13pts vs 8pts) for first place in the point standings. Additionally, by winning his second consecutive "week-won" the Nihilist had tied the all-time record for the most consecutive weeks-won, which was just two weeks in a row and an all-time record that was being shared by six handicappers (Vikings17, Driveline, Blitzkrieg, CarolinaNYD, rexkramer, and LtFrankDrebben). The fact that six handicappers (now 7 handicappers) are deadlocked all-time with two-straight weeks-won apiece is a testament to the difficulty of notching consecutive weeks-won in the Bookie Challenge competition. So entering this past weekend the Nihilist had a shot to set a new all-time record should he win this past weekend outright for the third time in a row. Well, as already mentioned, Vikings17 miraculously hit his second 5-point exact-score of the season to put the Nihilist in a quick 5-point hole to start the past weekend. In other words, it would take the Nihilist to nail a second consecutive 6-point parlay hit to overcome Vikings17's early 5-point advantage for the weekend.

The Corozal Kid (aka the Nihilist) had a horrible start to his weekend early this past Sunday morning after losig the Ireland" game (he took Minnesota-1½ over the Steelers). Worse yet, he lost his second best bet in the second slate of Sunday's games after the LA Chargers failed to cover the spread (-6½) against the NY Giants, so for the Nihilist to pull out the weekend--he would have to connect on a second-consecutive 6-point parlay, of which his 3-team selection consisted of Detroit -10 over Cleveland (early slate of Sunday's game), the LA Rams -3 over Indianapolis (2nd slate of Sunday's games), and Dallas (+7) versus Green Bay (Sunday night game). Luckily for the Nihilist, Vikings17 also lost both of his best bets after Sunday, but the Purple People Eater still had his 6-point parlay combination still alive heading into Monday night's second game between Cincinnati and Denver. All Vikings17 needed to win the weekend outright and foil the bid for the Nihilist's shot at a new all-time record was for the game between the Bengals and Broncos to go over 44 total points. In addition, Vikings17 could have also reclaimed his lead atop of the competition's point standings over the Nihilist if the Bengals/Broncos game did go over the total. Meanwhile, as it pertained to Monday night's game between the Bengals and Broncos, Blitzkrieg was once again "in the thick of things", as in he was also in the running to possibly win the week outright. In his case, all he needed was for the Bengals (+7) to cover the spread versus the Broncos. For Blitzkrieg, it was the second week in a row in which he had an opportunity to possibly hit a 6-point parlay on a Monday night game and make some serious headway in this year's competition. In fact, things were so close heading into this past weekend's second Monday night game between the Bengals and Browns that an exact-score selection could have easily come into play and determined whom among the Nihilist, Vikings17. and Blitzkrieg would win this past weekend outright.

After Monday night's late game became a final, after the Broncos shut down the Bengals 28-3, after the game's total stayed under 44 and ruined Vikings17's parlay hit, after the Bengals were soundly defeated and Blitzkrieg's parlay combination got destroyed, it was the Biased Nihilist who came out smelling like a rose. It was the Biased Nihilist, through some spectacular handicapping and a indefatigable pertinacity, who won the day. More to the point, the Corozal Kid slightly increased his lead over second-place Vikings17 to six points in the Bookie Challenge's point standings (19pts vs 13pts). Beyond impressive is that the Nihilist set a new single-season all-time record for the most consecutive weeks won (3 in a row), of which is an all-time mark that may never be broken. But that's not the only all-time record the Nihilist presently has in mind to try and take down. After knocking down his second 6-point parlay in a row this past weekend, the Nihilist is now chasing another all-time record that has so far stood the test of time, of which the all-time record is owned by Theopholis--yes, Theopholis of all participants. Specifically, Theo owns the all-time record for the most consecutive 6-point parlay hits won, which is presently three consecutive parlay winners that he set back in Challenge year #5, his sophomore season. Back then, Theo hit a 7-point outing in week #4, a PERFECTA outing in week #5, and another 7-point outing in week #6. To say the least, it's an all-time record that many participants have tried and failed to tie, never mind any of them coming anywhere close to breaking the all-time mark.

This past weekend marked the halfway point to this year's divisional seeding, which will take place immediately after the conclusion of week #8. As it stands at the present moment, it's obvious that the Biased Nihilist has so far been the rockstar of this year's Bookie Challenge competition. Heck, the way he's stampeding the all-time record books, it's not a stretch to see him possibly breaking H.E. Pennypacker's all-time record for the most points accrued at a divisional seeding, of which the tally is 30 overall points that he achieved back in Challenge year #8. To be certain, with four more outings left before this year's divisional seeding, it's not out of the realms of possibility that the Nihilist can't muster 13 more points before this year's divisional seeding takes place. Regardless, the most pressing matter for the Nihilist is to win this year's overall number-one top seed, of which is something the Biased Nihilist has yet to accomplish. Unfortunately for the rest of the league, the next couple of upcoming weekends will be critical for most of the participants within the Challenge field not named the Biased Nihilist. With the exception of Vikings17, who presently trails the Nihilist by six points in the standings, everybody else is trailing the Nihilist by double digits, which is a tremendous problem if any of them are planning to overtake the Corozal Kid in the competition's point standings. Still, though, if a handicapper can snag one of the four top seeds at this year's divisional seeding, he will at least get to start this year's divisional races as one of the league's divisional leaders, which is a big deal. Speaking of which, as it concerns the four participants who presently occupy one of the four top seeds in the current point standings, the pecking order goes as follows: #1 top seed--The Biased Nihilist (19pts), #2 top seed--Vikings17 (13pts), #3 top seed--dbucc (8pts), and Matty_Ice (tied with Driveline and Kr@tos at 7 pts apiece but wins tiebreakers because of more best-bet wins).

• SO WHAT'S BEHIND THE SKYROCKETING SURGE OF EXACT-SCORE POINTS? When analyzing the statistics associated with exact-score predictions, the reason for the exponential increase in the scoring of exact-score picks is hard to pinpoint, Granted, the sample size is a small one, for the newly incorporated format for exact-score selections was just implemented two years ago, in Challenge year #13. What's more, the number of participants have practically been the same. For example, in year #13 there were 14 members in the competition, in year #14 there were 16 participants, and in this year's competition there are 15 members, so what's the huge discrepancy in the scoring of exact-score selections? When breaking down the scoring of exact-score picks ever since year #13, what follows are some perplexing stats. After the first four weeks of year #13, only nine exact-score points were recorded. Howver, in year #14, with the same scoring format for exact-score selections still in place, the field accrued 14 points after the first four weeks of the aforementioned season. Then came this year's explosion, as in 36 overall exact-score points have been racked up after the first four weeks of this year's competition. A handful of the league's handicappers have benefitted tremendously by superbly connecting on exact-score predictions. Of course, at the head of the list is Vikings17, who has shown an otherworldly propensity for blasting out 5-point exact-score predictions, meaning he's predicted the exact scores of both teams involved in a game, and more astonishing is that he's done it on five different occasions, three times in last year's competition and twice already in this year's competition. It's said that Vikings17 is the luckiest participant in the competition. But when taking a deeper look at his winning selections, an uncanny strategy emerges. To begin with, Vikings17 seldom picks odd numbers within his predictions, such as he stays away from selecting scores such as 25-18, or 19-15, or 25-24, just to name a few. Instead, he sticks with probable scoring outcomes, such as 27-24 or 27-17, or scores that are usually in basic final scores. Consider the following, one thing that you won't catch Vikings17 is positing the same exact-score prediction all the time. Back in the day, the Bookie Challenge had a participant that went by xjoeyx, and with the exception of a very few times, he always predicted an exact-score of 31-27. It didn't matter if two strong defenses were involved in an exact-score game, Joey just kept at it--31-27, 31-27, almost always 31-27. Oh, and he never did connect on the exact-score final of 31-27. Another handicapper who is flashing a big-time flair for connecting on exact-score predictions is dbucc, aka the Joker. Don't look now, but half of dbucc's present eight-point total on the season have come the way of exact-score points. In fact, dbucc has connected on a 1-point exact-score selection on every week of this season, with his streak presently at four weeks in a row. And if anybody is wondering what's the all-time record for the most consecutive weeks of scoring on exact-score selection just know that the record is five weeks in a row, which was set by TCU in last year's competition (wks' #8 thru wk #12).



• WEEKLY TICKER..................This past weekend Blitzkrieg and Vikings17 weren't the only ones who barely lost parlay hits and could have ruined the Biased Nihilist's record-setting third week-won. All of the following handicappers just missed connecting on 6-point parlay winners because one of their parlay picks lost within their respective parlay combinations: Jets69 (lost LAC -7), TCU (lost LAC/NYG-O44), Matty_Ice (lost GB/Dall-U48), 7mick7 (Lost SF-3), Driveline (lost SF-3) and Theopholis (lost GB-7)..................The league had its first winning weekend as it pertained to its combined over/under selections. The field went an overall 8-3-0 with its over/under picks for an impressive .727 winning percentage. However, the field has struggled mightly with its over/under selections after four weeks of this year's competition: 17-28-0 (win% .378)...................After this year's two rookies--Matty_Ice and Kennypie--each connected on their first-ever exact-score selections, it has left only 2nd-year veteran Kr@tos as the competition's only active handicapper who has never nailed an exact-score pick.........