Henry Michaels was nearly buried before the winter brackets began. Six empty college football shares helped send that card to 232nd, and NFL Survivor followed at 234th with 10.5.
Then the standings turned. Each of his next five contests reached 41st or better: 26th in the College Football Playoff, 36th in the NFL bracket, 32nd in March, 31st in the NBA and 41st at the World Cup. The Hurricanes pushed higher still, returning 315 on an NHL card that placed 13th.
A 105th-place golf finish still left the closing pair worth a 16-place rise. Michaels finished 27th of 251 with 1611.5, a season rescued not by one spike but by a six-contest answer.