DRUNK BOOKS

Here are all the financial Ins and Outs from this season. With 2 days to the Granny we're nearly fully accounted for. We're just currently negotiating exchange rates and import/export deals with a Drunk living in NYC, and we're there.

And here too all this year's beneficiaries, big and small.

Fittingly the 'Drunk Balance Sheets are a tad more drunk, than balanced, so for the first time we've found a little bit down the back of the couch for a couple of bottles and a few jugs for tonight's Gala. And if the last few cents don't come in today there'll be some to kick off next season's family day, or first Drink.

Cheers all, it may have been the worst year in footy history, but there's still cash and alcohol.

Ain't it Grand

It's not always easy having to tip in a game featuring your team. More-so if it's the one you need to win to make the Granny.
Leah put herself in the unfortunate position of hoping her Cats got whooped by the Poos and Wees. For her it was a lose/lose situation. Her team lost, but not by enough.
Loyalty wasn't a big thing with Lee either, he tipped against his Swannies by a little less than Logger, but sadly for him they lost by even more.
And so Andy 'Logger' Lloyd gets the chance to redeem his loss in the Home&Away, against Corey who's loomed from nowhere to be contending for Grand Final glory.
Andy can't bear to watch. He headed to Chinaland before the Prelims and he aint coming home until he wins something.

The tips, the scores, the laughter, the tears:

And this is how we got here:

Good luck to both those gentlemen.

SEMI'S DUSTED

Richo's river of luck ran dry this week. He's out, gawn. Will have to content himself with floating in the ocean of money he's already won. Early season leader Lee keeps his chances alive to pull on the figurative boots Grand Final day. He could even be there with his Swannies.

On the other side of the ledger, Leah's Cats got her over the line, by being only so good, and no more. Cath was getting inexorably closer to success all year, and then BANG suddenly she's exorable. Where'd that come from? But once again a former leader in Leah is still in it to win it.

And so to this: Corey and Leah to battle it out, as do Lee and Logger.

 And then, from there:

Click: dinner & show.

That was the show, here's the dinner:

 PunchDrunk Prize Night. 

Union Club Hotel

Corner Webb and Gore St Fitzroy.

Anytime you can make it from about 6.30 onwards, Thursday 26/9/13.

Prize-gifting around 8.30. Probably.

FINALS

1st week of Finals done and dusty, second week upon us. Logger seems to have his luck back, and Corey, who's been flying way beneath the radar this year, were the big winners and earn a week off.

Sadly Tas and Stav both failed to get up in their elimination bouts and are out.

Which means Richo and Leah having lost, and Lee and Cath, after winning their eliminations slug it out like this:

And here's the overall Grand Plan. Good luck all.

THE CAT-BURGLAR... Richo gets the cheese.

For anyone who hasn't got around to checking the charts a lazy 4 days later, I have some BIG NEWS: Jim 'Richo' Richardson from Cheesetown down past Geelong, the man who's been lurking around under the guise of the coach of Cheesedale in the Dreamteam for the past 5 years, will have his name scratched onto the PunchDrunk perpetual trophy.

Yes, Richo has pinched the Cup.

Pinched? Well yes and no. He actually made his move way back in round 10 and has been the best-performed Drunk over the past 13 rounds, doing one better than even Logger over that period til the start of round 23. He drew even (when he may have got a little lucky) with Carlton stealing the game against Port in the second game of the final round. Then stormed one clear in the second last game of the season, when North whacked the Pies.

Now that's timing.

Here's a pic of Richo gloating over his arguably ill-gotten silverware. I know he feels a bit of christian guilt (I have no idea if he's christian though). Wait til he finds out he's been ripped off. The cup ain't silver, it's chrome-plated tin. And the chrome's coming off. But he's clearly been planning this for a while, this shot was taken back in 2009.

Now, let's take a small minute to think about the unluckiest man in the world last week, Andy Logger Lloyd:

 1. He led for the past 6 weeks, getting as many as 2 clear. He lost it with 2 hours of the season to go.

2. He looked like the logical winner of PunchDrunk's domestic DreamTeam comp, League of Drunks, all year. He lost the final by 10 points (2,052 - 2,062). That's about a mark and a goal.

3. He lost 2 other DreamTeam Grand finals. Including in his own League (by 14 points) where he lost to, you guessed it, Richo.

4. And, maybe most painfully, he's a Don's supporter. (But he's a really nice bloke).

Now that's a bad week.

Leah took out third. She led for 7 weeks and then, bizarrely, started tanking. 3 weeks in a row she balked at putting her friday night tips in. I make that 3 losses. She lost by 3. I can't explain. She's always been on the cusp of winning this thing since she signed up about 5 or so years ago. Maybe it's an innate fear of greatness. She'll be back.

And so, what now? Straight into the finals for the top 8, that's what.  Those Drunks, watch for incoming emails. But overall, here's how it will work:

 

Finally: That mast-head... is it beautiful? Is it less than that? It's history, it's poignance, it's 21 years old. It's happy/sad. It's the first PunchDrunk Prize Night. 1992 a couple of years before my time and strictly speaking one year pre-PunchDrunk as the comp wasn't named til the following year, but all the important germs had been spread, the seed fertilised for perpetuity.
The Drunks spreading those germs? L-R: Kurtz, Mark Sofilas (gone), Trobby, Stavros and a 12 year old Bernie.

DREAMTEAM

I reckon you'd have to be pretty unlucky to have the highest number of points for the year, look like the probable champ all season, only to lose the final by 10 points. More-so having run-up last year. Meet last week's least lucky man: Andy 'Logger' Lloyd. But you either have, or will read more about him in the main post.

Congrats, and I have these para's around the wrong way, to Sammy. Long-time contender, first-time winner of the League Of Drunks invisible trophy. He's been thereabouts most of the 4 previous years of this comp and this year he's pulled it off. On top of that he also won by 14 in the league of his own, ('League Of Our Own', not kidding anyone with that subterfuge Sammy).

Congrats young Sam, you've been close in many Drunk facets several times, 'bout time you actually won something.

And a little lower down the food-chain, Coxy's Catfish fulfilled the destiny his Tigers couldn't quite achieve. He finished 9th.