Break's Over....What's next?...From the sick, virus infested notebook of your commish. Tuesday December 16th, 2008 6:59 PM Rambling (finally) before the 2008 Championship... Juice has not been the only one giving the league less attention than in past years. I've been lazy, a fact pointed out by fellow league members at times, and have skipped a few of these Tuesday sessions. Well, you'll find no arguments here (at least on that topic), but I can't skip a championship week episode. So, to steal from a not so well known salesman, "what else has been going on lately?". Let's see - other than el Presidente showing his quick reflexes (of which I was impressed), the local mercury dipping lower than an Illinois Governor (or I suppose a New York Governor) and watching Team Nookie drown his sorrows with a shot we might just have to coin the "Little Red Horse" (a non-alcoholic concoction of half hot sauce and half strawberry flavored Qwik), I guess not too much since my last typin'. Oh wait, I forgot the ridiculously over dramatized Duluth "blizzard", the UMD Dogs national championship and an unexpected (yet somewhat unsurprising) retirement notice from Dr. Juice. And I should still mention the continued "counting" of the Senate ballots (to ensure democracy prevails of course), our government's daily "borrowing" from the quality of life of future JC and my continued supply of sarcasm, directly from my ever increasingly cynical mind. Ahh yes - I've missed the venting more than I'd thought (and NO, not the "venting" like in the beer commercial). Oh and on to the football - my teams both reached the semifinals last week - and proceeded to both lose, thank you Franklin Gore. Funny how a good year can suddenly drop off the table. But I'll hand it to the two guys that beat me, in straight up KGB fashion. In the Menard's league, our own Fantasy Superior advanced to the Championship game after beating the Fat British Pigeons and then Air JC. Yes, you'll notice that the BIG representatives in that league made the playoffs - not a surprise to the three of us considering how draft day went in Smith's basement that day. In the BIG league, Kinger got enough to hold off my injury riddled team to move to his first BIG championship appearance. I suppose this was the epitome of fate and/or karma after my September statements....
Let's just go with an, "oops", I may have been a bit off on that one. You know, the weaknesses like Anquan Boldin, Michael Turner and the Vikings Defense. Yea, those "weaknesses". On the other side of the bracket was 3-time and defending champion Little Bastards taking on #2 seed Fat British Pigeons. Unfortunately for the LB's and for my theory that Smith has no luck ever in this league, as ass kicking was at hand starting on Thursday with Smith's new RB, Pierre Thomas. An odd starting lineup worked out for Smith as he left Marshawn and LJ on the shelf for this big matchup. It worked - but will he go the same route as he and Kinger fight for someone to get their first "green jacket" this week? Now that the regular season has concluded, let's look back at some stats and see how this season compared to those of the past. This year's total points of 15,976 was the 3rd lowest total (since the expansion to 12 teams in 1999) and lowest since 2001. The per team/per week average of 94.0 was down from the 101.1 average of a year ago and the record 102.2 in 2002. The Husky Division, at 5,163, was the lowest scoring division for the 3rd consecutive season and for the 5th out of the 9 seasons of the 3 division format. The Bison Division, at 5,436, was the highest scoring division for the first time in league history. On the other hand, that point total was the lowest for the division since 2003. The Bulldogs, at 5,197, had their 2nd worst season ever. Kinger's 1,521 points set a franchise high for points scored. Scottie's 1,214 set a franchise low for points scored. 2008 saw only 66 - 100+ weeks which ties the record low from back in 2001 and is down from the total of 91 in 2007. Championship week is always bittersweet - and it is amazing the season is already over. It seemed like only yesterday I spent the day before the draft in the woods looking for a lost little doggie.... Good luck to Smith and Kinger, either of whom will be a very deserving champion for this league. Have a good game - and I'd like to lay down one ground rule - no shoe throwing. Need I say more? BIGFFBL senior writer Jeremy Carlson sounds off whenever he feels like it on www.bigffbl.com |