Tory, Tony and Plax...

From the healthy, Norton virus protected notebook of your commish.  Monday December 26th, 2005 9:00 AM

Rambling after the Fantasy Superior's big win...

It is all over -- although you knew that already.  Jugs completed one of the most impressive fantasy seasons our league has seen with a 2 point victory over Smith's Fat British Pigeons last night, 121-119.  Last week I did a little breakdown of what I thought the matchup would bring - let's review that a little bit first thing this week....

"...Really this matchup is interesting because it faces off Smith's top notch QB/RB combo of Palmer, LT and LJ against Jugs' top notch WR/TE corps of Holt, Wayne and Gonzo."

Smith's big 3 went for 58 which isn't too bad except when you break it down to see that LT only contributed 8 of those points.  There is no way he was gonna bench LT, but it still hurts to see that big game put up by Cadillac on the bench for the Pigeons.  Jugs top 3 actually were Holt/Plax/Gonzo instead of Reggie in there.  Those guys went for 49, so we'll essentially call it a wash between the top trio for each team.

"So, let's make the assumption that their big boys score their points and essentially cancel out.  How strong are their respective supporting casts?

First, for Jugs.....he is likely to start Jake Plummer as the Broncos host the Raiders on Christmas Eve.  It is a very favorable matchup for the Snake assuming the Denver weather holds out for the game"

Yea, not bad for Jake who beat up on the Raiders and got Jugs 15 points.  Should have been more, but still not too bad.

As for the RB's, Jugs will likely start Thomas Jones, who travels to Green Bay for a Christmas afternoon game against the struggling Packers, along with T.J. Duckett who is turning into a fairly useless fantasy option, but the best one Jugs has as long as Stephen Davis is out of the picture.  Usually kickers and defenses cancel each other out as we all know, but when your kicker's team (Wilkins) hosts the 2-12 49ers in a dome and your defense plays 3-11 Brett 'Random Interception' Favre in possible iffy weather, you should gain a slight advantage at those spots.

Hmmm......psychic?  Ok, probably not that good, but I think I was on to something when Wilkins knocked home not one, but two 50+ FGs and the Bears got Brettski for 4 picks and a TD.  Jugs might say that kickers and defenses don't really matter, but they won him the championship this year.

What about Smitty.....I see the Fat Pigeons going with Rod Smith at one WR spot -- which would make for an interesting start since Jugs will likely go with Rod's QB.  This makes a Plummer TD pass to Rod Smith almost as bad as an interception to Jugs, but a Plummer to anyone else TD a pain for Smitty.  On the other side of the formation, Jimmy Smith will line up for Smitty.  The Jags travel to 2-12 Houston this week to help push the Texans closer to winning the Reggie Bush lottery.  Both these matchups for Smitty are GREAT - GRAND - WONDERFUL (and no, not in the sarcastic Farley way). 

Ok, so those matchups weren't quite as good as I thought - 14 for Rod and 12 for Jimmy is ok, but definitely not GREAT - GRAND - and/or - WONDERFUL.

Smith will also go with Shockey at TE against the Redskins - although he could go with Cooley from Washington if he'd like who has become a favorite target of Brunell (though I'd find it hard to bench Mr. Shockey with the number of targets he sees from young Eli). 

Shockey = 3 points, Cooley = 15 --- Ouch, that's two guys on the bench (3 including Fast Willie) that would have got Smith the win.  I don't know about you guys, but I'd rather lose with all my best guys out there than have to look back and second guess my choice of starters.

Smitty doesn't have great matchups with his K or Defenses, but I guess his kicker could be ok since they host the Vikings this week - but anyone who thinks they can accurately predict what our kings of the seas will do each week is smoking something.

Somehow the Bills D got Smitty a bunch of points and the Mike Tice ship finally went under with the help of Matt Stover, but it was not enough for Smith.

So, I'd have to say that I like Smitty in this matchup.  By how much?  Well, I'm gonna go out on a limb here and put the line at Fat British Pigeons by 15 with an over/under of 255.  But as Letterman says in the introduction to Stupid Pet/Human tricks,

Well, pay the under-better.  Tough luck for Smitty - well done for Jugsie.  It was a close one.

So what do we have coming up -- as usual, the money will be held until the All-Pro ballots are returned -- but those will not be sent out until after the completion of the NFL regular season.  Apparently there will be a gathering tonight at the Country Lanes to celebrate the birth and championship of Jugsie - with some "beerz" on him.  I have heard that the Terry Egerdahl Memorial championship trophy just might make an appearance there as well.

So, I'll finish off with a few quick shots on the NFL season to date:

Mike Tice needs to go now.  No more chances - no excuses Zygi - can him now and get the new captain for the Vikings ship.

I love Shaun, and I love even more that Holmgren let him go out there and punch in his 27th TD.  Is it bad karma to do that?  Well, whatever.

Speaking of karma....Smitty got LT for a song and then he pretty much crapped out at the end of the year.  Is it just a rib injury, or are the hundreds of touches he gets a year gonna start to catch up with him.

Larry Johnson.  Wow.

Um...Priest who?

It is very possible that Peyton Manning will not finish in the top 5 in passing yardage this year.  Bet you wouldn't have guessed that at the beginning of this season.

Larry Fitzgerald - 97, 1300+, 9 TD's.

Anquan Boldin - 94, 1300+, 7 TD's.

Have there been two 100+ catchers on the same team before?  I think there has, but I'm just about positive it hasn't been for the Cardinals.

Eli Manning has more TD's than Favre, Plummer, McNabb, Vick, Bledsoe, Brunell and Delhomme.  I would have lost money if someone had bet me that would happen.

Mike Anderson is not only doing well, but has the 3rd most TDs in the league this year.

Only 1 Viking is ranked higher than 29th in passing yardage, rushing yardage, receiving yardage and receptions.  And that guy is Wiggins at 26th in receptions - and only because of his 3 garbage time dump off catches last night.

BUT, Paul Edinger's 56 yard FG is the NFL long for the 2005 season.....so at least we have that going for us.

And what should be the big smack in the face for us Vikings fans is that our two all-pros are just first year Vikes.  Darren Sharper was a hated green/goldie up till this year and K.Rob was the guy that we all made fun of out on the left coast for his crazy antics.

I hope Zygi can move the team in a better direction soon so next year turns better than this one did.

Enough for now -- see you all tonight at the bowling alley.

Need I say more?

BIGFFBL senior writer Jeremy Carlson sounds off whenever he feels like it on www.bigffbl.com