Season update — Sean wins by 14
The final week of the season is the time for all good football champions to step up, whether they are playing on the gridiron or simply watching the action from their comfy chairs. We here at Gehlke Bros. Football fall into the latter category, of course, but we approach the final games of the season with the same intensity as any team on the field. Which is to say that those still in contention for titles pick it up a notch while the rest of us contemplate our off-season vacation plans.
The only remaining suspense in the Gehlke Bros. competition coming into Week 17 was whether Ben could hold on to his 1-game lead over his uncle Sean and pull off an unofficial season championship. Things looked promising after the Raiders beat Kansas City on Saturday, but alas Ben's luck ran out on Sunday as Sean picked up wins with Buffalo, the Jets and Indianapolis to come from behind and achieve the season's best record.
Glenn fared no better against the Junior Bro, dropping three of four splits to wind up down 14 for the season, completing one of the quickest and largest swoons the Bros. competition has experienced in years. It now seems hard to believe that it was all tied up seven weeks ago. Apparently this was just Sean's year. Congratulations on a fourth straight Surfy trophy!
Sean won the final week with an 11-5 mark. Ben and Glenn tied at 9-5. We were all correct in predicting wins by Pittsburgh, Washington, New England, Minnesota, Tennessee and Denver. Our clairvoyant abilities failed us in losses by Atlanta, New Orleans, San Diego and the 49ers.
And now for the final tallies... For the season (256 games) Sean wins with a 158-97-1 record or 61.9 percent, down from his 66.5 percent accuracy rating in 2001. Ben, who posted the biggest improvement for the second straight year, was 157-98-1 for 61.5 percent, up from 59.7 percent the year before. Glenn brought up the rear with his 144-111-1 mark, or 56.6 percent, off considerably from last year's mark of 63.7 percent. On the bright side, there's no place to go but up next year! There were 52 splits (20.3 percent of all games) between the Bros. in 2002, down from 57 (23.0 percent) in 2001.
Now here are some interesting stats: Of the 17 weeks, Sean compiled the best mark (or tied for it) eight times. Ben also accomplished that feat eight times. Glenn did so only three times. Ben had the single best week at 13-3 (Week 14) and the worst (Week 4) at 5-9. Sean's best week was 12-4 (twice, in weeks 11 and 15) and his worst a 6-8 (Week 6). Glenn's best was 11-5 (Week 16) and his worst 6-10 (Week 12).
GEHLKE BROS. UPDATE: That's it for the 2002 season. We'll be back in January for the presentation of the Surfy trophy, then we're off to plan strategy for 2003.
Total splits: 4
