Ah, December. When the air chills, smells of burning wood waft by, we warm our toes by the fire and watch our fantasy dreams die a slow death. As you recall, I'm in three leagues this year. In two of those leagues, I finished in first place while in the third league, I finished dead last. We'll forget about this third league for purposes of this post.
In my ESPN PPR league, I owned the regular season, finishing at 11-2 with the second-highest scoring team (highest scoring team was 5 points ahead of me). Second place was a middling 8-4-1, third was 7-5-1, and fourth was 6-5-2. Of course, the fourth place team also happened to be the highest-scoring team in our league, captained by Anant. Going into our playoff matchup, I was projected to beat him 171-159 or something. Both our teams come down with significant diarrhea on Sunday, taking us into the MNF matchup at 82-79 in my favor. He has Andre Johnson and Shayne Graham going, I have Wes Welker and Stephen Gostkowski going. In the first quarter, the Pats score a shitload of points, Welker has 3 catches for 52 yards, Gostkowski bangs through 3 extra points, and I am well on my way. But then the game quickly turns heavily in Anant's favor. Namely, it becomes a throw-fest for the Texans and a run-out-the-clock/throw-to-all-Pats-not-named-Welker-fest for the Pats. Before I know it, Andre Johnson has 8 catches for 95 yards and Shayne Graham has booted in two garbage XPs and Wes Welker hasn't sniffed the ball since the first quarter. And the Pats' offense is TOO good, never stalling in FG range for Gostkowski to save me with a FG; and the game soon gets TOO out of hand, so that the Pats, should they stall in FG range, wouldn't even kick a FG anyway. So in the end, I lose by 2 points, 98-96. Great week for my team to go out and log its worst scoring week of the year, by far. Thanks guys, I didn't need the $250 prize money. My only consolation is that I get to play Bashon in the third-place game, and his team includes RG3, Percy Harvin, Willis McGahee, and Rob Gronkowski, aka "the best injured reserve EVER." Thank god they are all terribly injured, so he'll be starting Cecil Shorts against me. My team is still strong--Drew Brees, Jamaal Charles, Frank Gore, AJ Green, Wes Welker, Miles Austin/Greg Jennings at flex, Jason Witten, 49ers D, Gostkowski at K. In a pinch, I've got Peyton Manning to fill in at QB and Danny Amendola for a flex. How the F am I out of this thing??
In my Yahoo! non-PPR league, our playoffs start this coming week and I am somehow still in first place after limping into the playoffs on a three-game losing streak. Luckily, all the other guys limped in on bad runs as well, except for one team which raged back from a 4-6 record to win four in a row thanks to strategic waiver wire additions of Bryce Brown and Knowshon Moreno. This is the first league I've ever been in where every team in the playoffs has the same record. It truly is a toss-up. Except that I'm starting Carson Palmer, Steven Jackson, and Brandon Myers. So that sucks. And in keeping with the fratricide theme, I will be matched up against my brother in this league for the semifinal matchup. There's a glimmer of hope, but he's got Colston and Sproles going in a clear "F You" game for the Saints back at the SuperDome. And he might get LeSean McCoy back this week. Could get ugly. My hopes are not high here, but hey, it's anyone's guess.
So the goal of every fantasy year for me is to break even or make a bit of money. Right now, I'm in for $120. The two teams I mention above are in my $50 leagues, while the $20 league was lost in week one when Greg Jennings and Fred Jackson went down. So that's good at least. If I can eke out a third-place finish in the ESPN league ($50) and a second-place ($150) or first-place ($300) finish in the Yahoo! league, I'm looking pretty solid. Of course, I could finish in fourth place in both leagues and be out $120. Such is the beauty and the curse of fantasy football. Stay tuned for updates!
In my ESPN PPR league, I owned the regular season, finishing at 11-2 with the second-highest scoring team (highest scoring team was 5 points ahead of me). Second place was a middling 8-4-1, third was 7-5-1, and fourth was 6-5-2. Of course, the fourth place team also happened to be the highest-scoring team in our league, captained by Anant. Going into our playoff matchup, I was projected to beat him 171-159 or something. Both our teams come down with significant diarrhea on Sunday, taking us into the MNF matchup at 82-79 in my favor. He has Andre Johnson and Shayne Graham going, I have Wes Welker and Stephen Gostkowski going. In the first quarter, the Pats score a shitload of points, Welker has 3 catches for 52 yards, Gostkowski bangs through 3 extra points, and I am well on my way. But then the game quickly turns heavily in Anant's favor. Namely, it becomes a throw-fest for the Texans and a run-out-the-clock/throw-to-all-Pats-not-named-Welker-fest for the Pats. Before I know it, Andre Johnson has 8 catches for 95 yards and Shayne Graham has booted in two garbage XPs and Wes Welker hasn't sniffed the ball since the first quarter. And the Pats' offense is TOO good, never stalling in FG range for Gostkowski to save me with a FG; and the game soon gets TOO out of hand, so that the Pats, should they stall in FG range, wouldn't even kick a FG anyway. So in the end, I lose by 2 points, 98-96. Great week for my team to go out and log its worst scoring week of the year, by far. Thanks guys, I didn't need the $250 prize money. My only consolation is that I get to play Bashon in the third-place game, and his team includes RG3, Percy Harvin, Willis McGahee, and Rob Gronkowski, aka "the best injured reserve EVER." Thank god they are all terribly injured, so he'll be starting Cecil Shorts against me. My team is still strong--Drew Brees, Jamaal Charles, Frank Gore, AJ Green, Wes Welker, Miles Austin/Greg Jennings at flex, Jason Witten, 49ers D, Gostkowski at K. In a pinch, I've got Peyton Manning to fill in at QB and Danny Amendola for a flex. How the F am I out of this thing??
In my Yahoo! non-PPR league, our playoffs start this coming week and I am somehow still in first place after limping into the playoffs on a three-game losing streak. Luckily, all the other guys limped in on bad runs as well, except for one team which raged back from a 4-6 record to win four in a row thanks to strategic waiver wire additions of Bryce Brown and Knowshon Moreno. This is the first league I've ever been in where every team in the playoffs has the same record. It truly is a toss-up. Except that I'm starting Carson Palmer, Steven Jackson, and Brandon Myers. So that sucks. And in keeping with the fratricide theme, I will be matched up against my brother in this league for the semifinal matchup. There's a glimmer of hope, but he's got Colston and Sproles going in a clear "F You" game for the Saints back at the SuperDome. And he might get LeSean McCoy back this week. Could get ugly. My hopes are not high here, but hey, it's anyone's guess.
So the goal of every fantasy year for me is to break even or make a bit of money. Right now, I'm in for $120. The two teams I mention above are in my $50 leagues, while the $20 league was lost in week one when Greg Jennings and Fred Jackson went down. So that's good at least. If I can eke out a third-place finish in the ESPN league ($50) and a second-place ($150) or first-place ($300) finish in the Yahoo! league, I'm looking pretty solid. Of course, I could finish in fourth place in both leagues and be out $120. Such is the beauty and the curse of fantasy football. Stay tuned for updates!
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