Answered in this week's episode:  Where did Craig go, with no Dallas mention last week?  What's the latest on the Olmec-John H bromance?  Is there a new competition in the Sellers household?  Is Nashville for real?  What does the best T7 in the league have that you don't (other than the top lineup)?

We're back for Session 2 and Olmec rolled out the red carpet with ammo for this week's explosive recap!  Starting with our Blowout of the Week, we had a lot of teams playing the T7 at home and B7 away.  That led to some massive ratings differences and the final scores told the tales.  In 3rd this week, Tucson dropped a top line while the Meese played meekly.  29-ratings-points difference was all you needed to see as the match started; it got ugly from there.  Mat-Su couldn't muster any semblance of a run, managing just 7 pts in set 2, as the Spike Dome proved to be a hostile climate for the northern squad.  Amy won by 39 combined points.

In 2nd, Denali reminded us all how far Chihuahuas are removed from their wild cousins, bringing a pack to hunt down the diminuative purse-loving canines from Santa Clara.  The Angry Wolves held SCC to 11 pts in sets 1 and 2 before letting up and giving a mercy extra point in set 3 and settling for a +41 pt differential.  Topping the charts this week, the Nashville Red Pandas are for real, and decided to prove it again even though no one was doubting them or asking them to, especially not Mark & the Manatees!  Merritt Island rolled into Music City with far less than their top players, and the Pandas appeared to have taken that as an insult.  +32 in ratings, the Pandas pounded the sea cows to the tune of 7, 11, and 9 pts allowed in the three sets.  For those that can do the math(s), that made just 27 total points allowed, barely enough to have won one set if they had scored them all at once!  Roy set the mark for Upset of the Week in session 1 with a +43 dominant win, and now ups the mark to whopping +48!  That's the greatest score difference since at least the start of Season 9.  Could the trend of "T7 for home win, away games phone in" see us reaching the lofty mark of a +50 pt differential this year?  If so, will Roy be the one to reach it?

And on the Upset of the Week, Kelsey's sole upset last session was matched by two others as we had 5 upsets this session!  The best T7, Portland, pulled one against New Orleans (rated +3 for the match) as both teams played scrubs, though that hardly counts as an upset given the others this session.  Sadly for Paul, that's not the only team mention they'll get this week.

Starting the significant upsets off, Match 4, Conference, Dallas at home vs. Portland.  Wait, Dallas?  Craig got bored with blowing out teams last season and is now trying his hand at upsets?  The tactical genius (in addition to a plain, simple and utterly predictable defeat of the Mules this session) went into this match with a solid lineup as the Dawgs looked to defend home turf.  The 'Jacks, meanwhile, dropped the best away rating of the season so far, bringing a lineup rated at 87, mustering the full force of their top-rated effective T7 as of this post.  Craig was not impressed, and though the Dawgs played around with the Be-Plaided Woodsmen for a full five sets, the Canines pounced when finally smelling blood and came out victorious.  Craig sets the mark for highest-rated team taken down thus far for season 11.

Similarly rated +6, the Bats are back in town (or at least the upset column)!  It appears that Olmec missed making John's weekends interesting and both gave and took away this holiday season!  Santa Olmec couldn't decide whether John was naughty or nice, and brought coal and candy for the Sheboygan crew.  Match 6, WGM group, vs. Tucson.  John's team was rated 84, one of the highest neutral court ratings to date this season.  Down 6 below that, Team Spikey had full confidence in their lineup, knowing full-well that no rating is too high a rating for Olmec where Count Holden is involved.  4 sets later, not even 5 for pity's sake, and John's stocking was stuffed with black stuff.  We think it's coal.  We didn't give it the sniff test, just in case.  SVB now holds the mark for highest neutral court rating with a loss, and Tucson grabs a top 5 upset early this season.  Milk and cookies and par for the course for Mrs. Olmec!

And then Sheboygan did one better, in match 5 (conference) versus Manitowoc where the Gargoyles... wait... I must have a typo in my spreadsheet.  No, it's correct.  John Holden did NOT get upset!  The Bats pulled a -9 rated upset over the Gargoyles, despite being outscored by a combined 9 points in the match.  The -9 rated (tied for season best) and -9 combined points win (alone as season best) stuffed the Bats back full of Christmas joy.  Derek's team out-set, out-hit, and out-dug the Bats, and yet couldn't muster the W.  It's a Christmas Miracle in (now morose) Manitowoc!

But wait!  We have one more match to note, as Al can't let Amy top him without a challenge, scoffing at her -6 upset this holiday weekend!  Quincy at Ames, match 4, conference.  The one constant in this opening two sessions of extremes is that any team putting out a home rating of 80+ has won, making a combined 28-0... er, nope, sorry, Colin.  Now 27-1.  Ames dropped a top line and their 81-rating looked sufficient against Al's 72-rated Mules.  The Blue-Shirted Biters came in with their rabid attitude and not only won, they won in a complete 3-set sweep!  The -9 rating ties the top mark this season (tied now with Kelsey & John) and also sets the mark for Upset Sweep (topping last season's best of -8 by Martyn).  Congrats to Al for the Upset of the Week, taking the tie-break over John by the sweep!  We just can't let Mr. Holden have nice things in this column, Olmec would surely hold(en) that against us!