The Run for the Black-Eyed Analysts
Out of respect for the second race of the Triple Crown, notwithstanding the resentful spirit of the competition, the Player Haters Preakness favors the Analysts who cast an envious eye on the success of other Analysts or who merely revel in the failure of others’ Home Teams. Analysts earn *bonus* Trifecta Points for Correctly Picking the opponents of other Analysts’ Home Teams. Trifecta Points are earned in five legs – weeks 5 to 9 of a professional football league – and the winner declared based on total Trifecta Points accumulated in the Preakness.
Race Rules
Each week, Analysts predict three teams to win from the slate of games that include at least one Home Team. An Analyst may pick any team EXCEPT the opponent of the game that includes their own Home Team. Correctly Picking three winners earns an Analyst *base* Trifecta Points for a week. Correctly Picking two winners earns an Analyst *lame* Trifecta Points for a week. In addition, Analysts earn *bonus* Trifecta Points if the *base* or *lame* Trifecta correctly Picks two or more un-Claimed opponents of other Analysts’ Home Teams. Analysts are NOT required to Pick two or more un-Claimed opponents of the Home Teams and may seek to earn only the *base* or *lame* Trifecta Points for a given week.
Trifecta Point System
Per the General Rules 2.0, in the Player Haters Preakness, the *base* Trifecta for Correctly Picking three teams to win their respective games is worth six (6) points and the *lame* Trifecta for Correctly Picking two teams to win is worth three (3) points.
An Analyst who earns a *base* or *lame* Trifecta is eligible for *bonus* points based on the number of un-Claimed opponents of other Analysts’ Home Teams (“Player Hater”) included in the Trifecta (1, 2, or 3).
The number of Player Haters Correctly Picked to win will be applied as a multiplier to the *base* or *lame* Trifecta: one Player Hater = times 1; two Player Haters = times 2; and three Player Haters = times 3. The *bonus* multiplier is earned regardless of other Analysts’ predictions (i.e., more than one Analyst may earn bonus points in the week). Thus, a *lame* Trifecta with two Player Haters is worth 6 points (3 * 2 = 6), the same as a *base* Trifecta with one or no Player Hater.
Whereas a *base* Trifecta with three Player Haters will be worth 6 *base* points TIMES 3 Player Hater Correct Picks — or 18 points in a single Leg — the maximum points possible in the Player Haters Preakness is 90 Trifecta Points over five Legs (18 * 5).
NOTE: A Trifecta with no Player Haters is worth the standard points: 6 (*base*) or 3 (*lame*). Also, head-to-head games between Analysts’ Home Teams are not eligible for *bonus* points by rule (both teams are Claimed).
Third Tiebreaker
If the Player Hater Preakness ends in a Trifecta Point tie between two or more Analysts AND the first two tiebreaker criteria do not determine a winner, then the third tiebreaker is:
3. The Home Team that forces the most turnovers (interceptions and recovered fumbles) per game played during the Preakness wins the Race.
If there is no clear winner after the third tiebreaker, the Player Haters Preakness Purse is split evenly.
Player Haters Preakness Scoring Example
In the final week, three Analysts – Wise Orangutan, Little Tuna, and Minds Blank – are tied for the lead with 24 Trifecta Points. Minds Blank holds the lead on tiebreakers based on #2, correctly picking her Home Team to win twice, but her team is on a Bye in the final leg (week) of the Race. There are only five games total to chose from due to the Bye and one Head-to-Head game. Wise Orangutan cannot win any tiebreakers after the final leg, so he goes for the maximum (18 points) and predicts three un-Claimed teams (“Player Haters”) to win. Little Tuna can tie Minds Blank with one more Home Team pick (the Head-to-Head game) and her team has forced more turnovers per game, so she picks her home team and two Player Haters (max 12 points in a *base* Trifecta). Minds Blank, cannot pick her Home Team due to the Bye, but considers picking three opponents to win too risky to call. She takes another Analyst’s Home Team from the Head-to-Head game plus two Player Haters from the four other games (also max 12 points in a *base* Trifecta).
In the final leg, Wise Orangutan only gets 2 Correct Picks for the *lame* Trifecta with 2 Player Haters, or 6 points (3 * 2). Little Tuna and Minds Blank both earn the *base* Trifecta with 2 Player Haters for 12 points each (6 * 2). They finish the Preakness with an equal number of Trifecta Points (36) and correct Home Team picks (2). Their Home Teams did not play each other during the Preakness, so the third tiebreaker is invoked. To Little Tuna’s misfortune, her Home Team did not force any turnovers during the final Leg of the Preakness and her advantage in average turnovers per game drops — just enough for Minds Blanks to take the Player Haters Preakness!
