Who should win the Schmoedown Player of the Year?

Who should win the Schmoedown Player of the Year?

By Tom Maston (@SchmoedownBlog)

So here we are.

After in excess 100 matches, three tournaments and a whole load of Korruption, Season Five of the Movie Trivia Schmoedown is almost complete.

All that stands between us and the finish line is Schmoedown Spectacular III, with six mouthwatering match-ups set to define the direction in which the world of movie trivia travels in 2019.

And while there are many unknowns heading into Season Six, one certainty is that the now-annual Schmoedown Awards will be upon us once again in January. And while a number of awards look to be sewn up or, at most, between no more than two candidates, there is one prize which remains wide open.

Schmoedown Player of the Year is the most coveted award of them all and heading into Spectacular a number of competitors remain in the frame to take it home.

But who are those runners and riders, and what are their chances of winning? Let’s break them down…

Clarke Wolfe

Season Five premiered with a reveal that many had been hoping for throughout the off-season as Clarke Wolfe revealed herself to be Rachel Cushing’s mystery new team partner.

Since then the Shirewolves have swept all before them, racking up four straight victories to claim the team belts and become one of the most feared pairs in movie trivia history.

Beating Who’s The Boss later this week would see them make it 5-0, but that alone is not enough to ensure her place among the contenders for Player of the Year. Fortunately for “The Classy One”, a renaissance in her singles career has established her back among those at the very top of the game.

Wolfe may have come up short in both her title match against Levine and the tournament final against Erwin, but that should not hide the fact that during the course of the campaign she has rediscovered her very best form under the tutelage of Emma Fyffe.

With two matches at Spectacular, she risks her whole season collapsing somewhat in the space of a couple of hours. But win on both occasions, and suddenly there are few others who could challenge her in the race for the main Season Five award.

Ethan Erwin

Not since the very first season of the Schmoedown has a rookie been a realistic contender to win Player of the Year, but the impact Ethan Erwin has had on the singles division in 2018 means he has to be considered.

Realistically he can only claim the prize if he beats Rocha to claim the Singles belt at Spectacular, but given the year he has enjoyed, that is a very real possibility.

Should he succeed in winning the main event on December 21, “Big Time” would have won six of his opening seven singles matches within the Schmoedown, culminating with victory in his maiden title bout.

Add that to a showing at the Free 4 All that on any other day would have seen him be named MVP, and there is a strong case for Erwin to be named both Rookie and Player of the Year.

Defeat on debut within the team division remains the only black mark against his name, but for now it pales into insignificance against his singles showings. A worthy champion he would be, and were that to come to pass, then a worthy Player of the Year he would likely become too.

Samm Levine

It’s not totally clear what it means when a competitor who announced their retirement midway through the season remains a frontrunner for Player of the Year.

What is in no doubt, however, is just how dominant Samm Levine was within the Schmoedown over a period during the end of Season Four and the start of Season Five.

From the start of the Ultimate Schmoedown tournaments in 2017, “The Inglourious One” took part in 15 Schmoedown matches.

He won 14 of them.

Of those 15, six were title bouts.

He won five.

In Season Five he came out on top in all five matches he took part in, becoming the first and only competitor to hold multiple belts at the same time. Some now consider him the G.O.A.T, and it is difficult to argue against them.

While his retirement may have played a part in the disarray that gripped the movie trivia world post-Collision, there remains no doubt that while he was active within the league, few if any could touch Levine. Were he to end 2018 as Player of the Year it would be thoroughly deserved.

Rachel Cushing

Could the Rookie of the Year in 2017 take home the biggest award of them all in 2018?

Some might argue that Rachel Cushing has not quite hit the heights that she did in Season Four during the current campaign, but having picked up her first belt it is difficult to argue that "The Crusher" should not be in the conversation regarding potential Players of the Year.

Her only defeats all season have come to Samm Levine and Mara Knopic, which - given time - might mean she has lost to two of the greatest players of all time.

Given she was unable to compete in the singles tournament and had no need to take part in Anarchy means Cushing has seen little screen time during the second half of the season, and as such it easy to forget just how well she performed before then.

Her and Clarke Wolfe swept all before them as the Shirewolves while a run to semi-finals of the Innergeekdom tournament and victory in the season opening No.1 contender triple-threat match cannot be shirked at.

In all likelihood she will need to retain that belt to remain in the Player of the Year conversation post-Spectacular, but for now she cannot be overlooked.

Mara Knopic

At the start of Season Five, if you had asked any Schmoedown fan whether they believed that a player who competed solely within Innergeekdom could be in the reckoning for Player of the Year, you likely would have been laughed out of the room.

But then you had not reckoned for Mara Knopic.

“Amazing Mara” was an unknown heading into her debut match at the end of June. By mid-September she had beaten - among others – Rachel Cushing, Mike Kalinowski and Jason Inman on her way to becoming the Schmoedown’s first female solo champion.

Were she to beat Kalinowski for a second time at Spectacular, then Knopic would hold a 6-0 record, and given the lack of fanfare that greeted her arrival in the league she would arguably be the favorite to win Rookie of the Year even if Erwin claimed the singles belt on the same day.

By that logic Knopic would also be among the frontrunner for Player of the Year. It is certainly a surprising development given her lack of profile six months previous, but then the Schmoedown is nothing if not surprising.

Mike Kalinowski

Odds are there will be a new Commissioner in place by the time Spectacular comes to an end, but will they really be able to resist Mike Kalinowski?

And if they can’t, could he yet pull the strings and ensure he is named Player of the Year? Never say never when “K.O.” is involved! 

John Rocha

When discussing potential Players of the Year, it would be remiss not to include the singles belt holder heading into Spectacular.

Though 2018 has not always promised to be a vintage 12 months for John Rocha, the fact that he could yet end it as the reigning Movie Trivia Schmoedown Champion of the World cannot be overlooked.

There are arguments against Rocha claiming the main award. His team performances have been dogged by controversy, some of which was certainly of his own making (ahem, Jane Fonda).

He benefitted, meanwhile, from Mike Kalinowski’s reign of terror after the stipulations placed on his singles career in the aftermath of the inaugural Collision were lifted, allowing him to claim the belt a lot sooner than he would have previously hoped to.

But “The Outlaw” remains one of the most box office players within the Schmoedown, and he remains a worthy champion. Beating our next candidate at Spectacular might just cement him as Player of the Year too.

Mark Reilly

Yep, that’s right. Mark Reilly is in the running for Schmoedown Player of the Year.

That might have seemed more than a little fanciful when he marked his return to action by becoming the second Horseman in quick succession to fall to Andrew Ghai. And without a singles match since, there are certainly arguments to be made that “Yodi” should be nowhere near the big prize on awards night.

But as part of Who’s The Boss he has the opportunity to go 5-0 within the team division alongside Ben Bateman, taking his record for the year to five wins from six matches.

Factor in should he secure that fifth victory when taking on the Shirewolves, he would join Levine as just the second competitor to have completed the main set – Ultimate Schmoedown singles winner, Ultimate Schmoedown teams winner, Singles Champion and Team Champion.

It’s an outside bet, but do not rule out Reilly completing his comeback by further adding to his ever-expanding trophy cabinet.