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.