This has been a really fun fantasy season. I want to thank everyone for competing and for reading this junk I write too. And thanks to Dave for being the Commish again. Just a few comments to wrap the year up.

*Week 16 Review

I actually don’t like my games to be exciting. I want to be up by a lot really early. I was actually feeling pretty good during that Thursday game when he had 4 of his players going. Somewhere in the 4th quarter, I thought his team was pretty well contained and the Chargers were just grinding clock with a huge lead against the Titans.  Then some mother-fucker Charger RB named Hester fumbled the fucking ball and set up a Chris Johnson 30 yard TD run. I knew that was really bad news. The rest of the games were difficult. My team didn’t score any TDs. I didn’t have a single player break out, though no one was miserable. I expected at least 15 more points out of my team. I left just 6 points on my bench but it wasn’t enough. There are no easy games when it is single elimination.

Congratulations to Chris for a repeat victory. He had a really difficult road getting here with his RB injuries and a trade that was pretty much a dud. But he pulled through 2 though games. Heck, his last 4 games were must win.

Derek won over Kevin to get 3rd place but it is only worth 5000 yen more. He did it player a terrible DST and the right RB a week too late. I’m sure Kevin is happy about the generous payout structure.

*My team

I had a pretty amazing team this year. Fuckers didn’t show up for week 16 but still, great team. I finally realize why folks are so focused on RBs. I had 2 RBs that I could plug in every week and not worry much about the matchup. They were really consistent sources for points. I’ve had at most one good RB in the past on my team and having 2 really takes a team up a few notches.

My team and Chris’ team had strong RBs in common. But more importantly, we had great value at the RB position. I want to say Ray Rice was the best value player drafted this year but Rice was drafted Round 12. Ricky Williams was drafted Round 16. Benson was Round 10. Thomas Jones went Round 7.

Playing the wire was really difficult when you go last for pretty much the whole season. It took some brilliant foresight to pick up Jamaal Charles at least a week before anyone else. He’s going to go late first or early second round next year. Rice is going even earlier than that.

I expected a lot more out of Jennings but he wasn’t bad during the postseason. Of course, I traded for Calvin Johnson just for these 2 games. Fitz was as reliable as a RB.

*Draft Strategy

This year, I had a pretty well defined draft strategy. MJD (or AP if Derek was feeling adventurous) first round. RB or Brees second round. WR in the 3rd. WR or TE in the 4th. A WR or Romo in the 5th. It all kind of went to shit since the WRs I expected to go earlier didn’t go. I got to pick up 2 strong WRs in the 2nd and 3rd rounds. I managed to get a few players I had on my list like Hester, Romo, Jennings and I even had Crabtree on there. I’m really glad I didn’t get some others like Portis and Braylon Edwards.

Next year, I think I will target a top TE again since having Gates was huge for my team. Having a strong kicker was important too. I expect to do the DST rotation next year too. I don’t expect to invest in a high pick QB. Crabtree is going to be high on my list. Addai won’t be on my team again even if he plays as well as he did this year. I couldn’t start him. But that was probably due to factors like having MJD and Rice. RBs like Ryan Grant and Kevin Smith might be useful backs but I don’t want them. Steady but frustrating. Terrible o-lines. I probably have to stay away from most rookies too. They go too early for the risks involved.

And I still don’t get why folks love Michael Turner. I’d have taken him second round this year and the same next year. But he’s going to go much higher than that. I get the high workload thing but I just don’t find him effective. I think Calvin Johnson is going to be great next year. Stafford can get him the ball. Pierre Thomas should be huge next year. I’ve had Jonathan Stewart on my team a few years now and he is just frustrating to own. He’s been hurt 2 years straight with the tendon problem. He runs behind Williams. But he has the ability to get huge points. Unless he gets traded, or Williams gets traded, I won’t touch him again. Don Brown is probably going to get stuck behind Addai again.

*Next year

I’m sure we will have a discussion on if we should have divisions for next year. I hope we fix our payout structure as well. I suspect it was just kind of overlooked this year. Looking forward to next year.

And here we are. The championship game. Chris versus Frankson. And Derek versus Kevin.

*Week 15 Review – Highlights from Week 15

Kevin’s team actually had me all freaked out. Well, more specifically, my team’s issues at WR had me all freaked out because I was up against Kevin’s team. Calvin Johnson and Fitz were dealing with injuries and the former had issues with his team even if he played. The thing is, I fucking targeted and acquired Johnson FOR this one game. The Cards can give up scores. It made me over-thinking things and sit MJD for Charles. I needed a fucking grand slam.

I didn’t feel so good Thursday night. MJD had 26 on my bench and that game just didn’t play out like I expected or rather feared. But Jennings had a great TD grab for some 12 points early and my team scored their season average. Charles actually did as well as I was hoping. Even the DST I selected did well. I actually had targeted the Saints and Denver DSTs but they didn’t go back on the wire. Glad they didn’t.

Kevin’s receivers didn’t go off and his RBs didn’t either. Shame about Harrison. My suggestion for a RB showdown last week would have fucked me over. Double shame about Stewart. I’ve had him on my team and he does this all year.

Chris and Derek had a really close game. They had nearly the same amount of players playing at the same time and the score was pretty close the whole time. But AP needed just one more TD for Derek. The Vikings were miserable when he needed them to shine. Shame about Foster. Must have been a tough choice deciding between him and Morris. Chris doubling up on points with every Rivers TD throw to Jackson is pretty hard to beat.

*Best plays and worse plays (yeah, that’s right, not worst, just worse than the best)

Starting Foster over Morris

Sitting MJD

Sitting Calvin Johnson

Starting Matt Forte at Baltimore

*Interview – Thank you Chris for your response.

Newsletter: What went well for your team this season?
Chris: Well, I’m in the championship game for the second year in a row, so I’ve got to be doing something right. I was pretty lucky to make it into the playoffs at all, though. It was kinda like in Top Gun when Maverick and Goose get in after that other guy broke down.

Newsletter: What didn’t go so well?
Chris: I dealt with some injuries during a few crucial weeks not too long ago which almost shattered my chances of making the playoffs. That trade with Kevin seemed like it was royally fucking me over until very recently.

Newsletter: Do you feel that you made any mistakes or missed any opportunities you should have capitalized on this season? If so, what were they?
Chris: I felt like I could have made some more trades this year. I’m still not sure whether or not the Thomas Jones trade was the right move or not. I guess we’ll see this weekend. I also took Dwayne Bowe as one of my top receivers. Yeah, that really worked out didn’t it.

Newsletter: Which of your guys has been the most surprising success?
Chris: Cedric Benson, without a doubt. Talk about draft value. He’s playing better than a lot of the guys that were taken in the first round. I also didn’t expect Chris Johnson to do this well. He’s been standing on his head for me pretty much all season.

Newsletter: Which of your guys has been the most disappointing?
Chris: My wide receivers have been terrible this year.

Newsletter: You made this trade with Kevin that didn’t work out for you for a few weeks. In fact, it nearly took you out of the playoffs because your other RBs got hurt. But Jackson did well last week and pretty much won you the game this week. How do you feel about the trade now?
Chris: Like I said, I’m still not sure about that trade. I needed to trade up to get a good receiver, and it seemed like a good deal at the time. We’ll see how he does for me in the finals.

Newsletter: What did you think of your chances for winning against Derek before the game? How about some gloating now that you won?
Chris: I knew it was going to be a good game. If you asked me that question back in like Week 5, I don’t think I could’ve taken Derek. His team was scary. No gloating for me. I’ll gloat if I beat your ass, Frankson. Until then, I’m happy enough knowing that Derek lost to the D-D-Douchebags.

Newsletter: What are your thoughts on the championship game?
Chris: Let me say congratulations to you, Frankson. I was pretty sure you were going to the finals this year. All that hard work payed off didn’t it? I guess that’s what happens when Fantasy Football is your full time job.

I just hope both of our teams come out to play. Nobody wants to see a blowout in the finals.

Newsletter: What was your draft strategy going into the draft? How did it play out? Did you stick to your plan?
Chris: My draft strategy was to pick awesome players. So yeah, I kinda stuck to it. Aside from Dwayne Bowe, that fat piece of shit, I came out alright.

Newsletter: Do you think we should have divisions next year?
Chris: The divisions were fun in the sense that it made it seem like a real league. Sure, why not?

I also want to thank you for writing this newsletter every week. People have not been posting any smack talk on the homepage, and it’s been fun reading this newsletter every week. Good luck to you in the finals.

*Looking forward

I’ll be going with the Bengals for a DST next week. I actually took them a few months ago for this game but KC has been doing much better recently. I need to figure out what to do about Calvin Johnson if Stafford comes back. I’m not sure Jennings has another big game in him.

Chris will hope to get more Rivers / Jackson action and I’m going to hope it goes to Gates. Hope the Titans roll double coverage on Jackson and try not to give up the big play. I’m going to activate my shrine so mess up Chris Johnson but he is going to kill me, I’m sure. Fucking Benson runs against KC. Chris has great matchups at nearly every position.

Derek and Kevin will go at it for 3rd.

Good luck.

Dave. What happened? You were playoff bound. Kevin didn’t even need this win. He only put up 82 points. He started Jerome Harrison for you.

Dave lost so either AK or Chris can get in with a win. AK, if he had won, would have had better tie-breakers than Chris. But he played the Chinese. Chris won his game and returns to the playoffs.

Frankson, Derek, Kevin, Chris would like to thank AK, Matt, Tim, Dave, Brian, Rhett for donating your money this year.

*Week 14 Review – Highlights from Week 14

AK lost a game he really needed against the Chinese. Brady shat a turd. Ricky Williams did OK. The 49ers DST had a fucking huge game. 7 turnovers and 4 sacks. They could have been playing against a high school team. My WRs had terrible games. Ray Rice is a bona fide stud. Imagine if Magahee didn’t steal his TDs. Jamaal Charles is 3 times better than Larry Johnson.

Dave broke all our hearts by losing week 14 instead of 15 or 16. Marshall had a crazy as fuck game too. Kevin made it easy. The Saints DST haven’t had a single digit game since week 6. Wish they would have saved that for next week. Thomas Jones was a brilliant trade. I don’t think anyone else has made a better trade this year.

Tim barely showed up for the final game against Derek. If not for Gore’s heroic efforts, Tim would be at around 50 something points. What happened, Tim? You were 6-4 and about to be locked into the playoffs. Losing 4 in a row in the end isn’t the way to go out. Derek only had 2 guys really producing. AP and Andre Johnson. But produce they did.

Rhett never saw that Sucker Punch coming. He still can’t figure out why he isn’t in the playoffs. Getting Ryan Grant was actually a pretty good trade for Matt. Grant, Brees and Dallas Clark all rocked 20+ points to help Matt get a week high 123 points. I’ve been saying for months that Rhett doesn’t win because he doesn’t pick the right players to start. That wasn’t the case here. Rhett could only have gotten at most 119 points if he started his top producers. It wasn’t Rhett’s fault.

Chris finishes strong to get into the playoffs. Vjax finally has a decent game. Chris Johnson continues to show Ray Rice how to be the best all purpose back. Bironas, with 19, is a strategic advantage.

*Best plays and worse plays (yeah, that’s right, not worst, just worse than the best)

Kevin wins out the last 4 games.

Tim does the opposite.

Dave takes over for me in 5th place. I’ve had this seat for the past 2 years.

*Interview – Thank you AK for your response. There will be a bonus interview of past champions starting this week. Thank you Tim for your response.

Newsletter: What went well for your team this season?
AK: Well i suppose my running backs did pretty well. but overall I am not pleased with my team.

Newsletter: What didn’t go so well?
AK: My team just couldn’t get it together, some people would play well, and others would suck. No unity. And my schedule was tough.

Newsletter: Do you feel that you made any mistakes or missed any opportunities you should have capitalized on this season? If so, what were they?
AK: Well I probably could have made some trades early on. Maybe gotten someone useful for a bench player. But I don’t know enough about football to really get unto all that.

Newsletter: Which of your guys has been the most surprising success?
AK: ricky williams

Newsletter: Which of your guys has been the most disappointing?
AK: I never had really high expectations for any of them. All losers.

Newsletter: What was your draft strategy going into the draft? How did it play out? Did you stick to your plan?
AK: Well I was told I would have 1st pick, but then that changed. So after I was moved to 7th or something. I just got whoever I thought might be worth a damn

Newsletter: Who are some players you think you might target next year?
AK: no idea, Peterson maybe

======

Newsletter: What happened to your team during the playoff run?
Tim: Everyone shit the bed at the same time. First Gore goes cold, then Wayne, They Roy Williams heats up for only one game, then Warner gets 7 POINTS! unbelievable.

Newsletter: Do you feel that you made any mistakes or missed any opportunities (waiver wire, trades, etc.) you should have capitalized on this season? If so, what were they?
Tim: My biggest mistake was spending time with a wife new to Canada and a new born baby instead of researching my fantasy games each week. I did have some pretty tight waiver wire pick ups. My coaching rating was #1 for most of the year despite ZERO time to devote to FF. That said, I should have dumped my shitty RBs early and traded wayne for a decent RB while his value was high. I shouldn’t have traded Celek for a WR. Should have traded him for a 10 point per week RB. Fucking Rhett. I thought Wallace would be much better. Should have taken Rhett’s best WR for him or gone to someone with more WRs.

Newsletter: What was your draft strategy going into the draft? How did it play out? Did you stick to your plan?
Tim: I stuck to my plan and I thought it was a great combination of sleepers and solid players. Instead the solid went soft and the only sleeper that worked Brent Celek, I had to trade to shore up holes in my swiss cheese offensive team.

Newsletter: Who are some players you think you might target next year?
Tim: If I told you that I’d have to kill you. I’m so pissed off right now that I’d love to double the stakes for next year, but I don’t think you broke bitches could afford it. Except David “English Empire” Fulvio and Frankson “canaffordayearoff” Lee.

Newsletter: Do you think we should have divisions next year?
Tim: Definitely not. Fantasy football is lucky enough already. Top four league wide should be in the playoffs.

*Looking forward

Fitz got hurt that last game and is getting an MRI. I don’t like that. Looks like he will play but could be hindered. MJD against Indy might not be great. He has been getting stuck at the goal line recently. Matt Stafford needs to get his ass back on the field and hook up with Calvin like teens on MySpace. Jamaal Charles over MJD is actually under consideration.

Kevin: please continue to start Harrison. Against KC. We can go Charles vs. Harrison. Hoping for a monster storm in Buffalo next week. Going to be a close game.

Derek has been very successful this year but every time I look at his team, I don’t see any depth. He hasn’t needed it until now. Kevin Smith is out for the season and maybe questionable for the start of the next season with a monster injury. I want him there as a run threat myself this week for the Lions. Derek must be hard at work building a shrine dedicated to Benson breaking his legs for LJ and to help Chris win.

The Donkey Punchers and Chris Johnson is going to go all DP on Derek and Miami next week. And they are going to put it in the same hole. The dirty hole. Chris used to have depth. Now he is one injury away from Rock Cartwright. Fuck shrines for Benson. I’m headed to Home Center Daiki to start on one for Chris Johnson.

Must suck to be Tim or Rhett this week. Losses make their hopes for the playoffs bleak. Good week to be Kevin and Dave. Always a good week to be Chinese though.

We have a good idea of who will be in the playoffs. But only 2 players have cinched playoff spots. There is still a chance for Kevin and Dave to not make the playoffs if they lose and if they don’t score enough points.

This is all assuming Points For is the tiebreaker (which it has been in the past).

After 3 straight wins, Kevin has a 1 game lead on Rhett and Tim. Tim appears to not have enough Points For to win a tiebreaker. Rhett is one game and 28 points back. He needs Kevin to lose and to outscore Kevin by 28+ points next week to get to the playoffs. Doesn’t seem likely.

Dave has a 1 game lead on AK and Chris. AK has a huge Points For lead on everyone from the East Division so if he wins and Dave loses, he is in. Chris is only 3 points behind Dave but one game behind. He needs to win, needs AK to lose, needs Dave to lose and needs to outscore Dave by 3+ points to get into the playoffs.

I’m also going to assume the 2 top players from each division play each other in the first round of the playoffs.

*Week 13 Review – Highlights from Week 13

Matt caught a bit of a break. My normally rock solid RBs had very mediocre games this week. Both my bench RBs did better than my starters. But my receivers had huge games. Matt had a ugly game though. Lowest scoring team of the week. Better luck next year and hopefully you can make the draft. Addai has been excellent sitting on my bench all season. I can understand why folks don’t trust him but if someone had taken him in a trade, and I was offering, they would have had a solid RB for the playoff run.

Kevin gets a clutch win against Derek. The Steeler’s self implosion and AP playing like Larry Johnson did Derek’s team in. Kevin his 7 total RBs on his team. Hope he doesn’t pick the right ones during week 15.

Brian put in a good game trying to tank Dave’s shot at the postseason. He left lots of points on the bench. Aaron Rodgers continues to be unstoppable. Dave still needs another win next week though.

Rhett couldn’t pull off a Monday Night victory against Chris. He need 12 points from the Vikings DST and Sidney Rice but only got 9. Favre threw a late TD to Harvin instead of Rice. Missed it by 28 yards to Rice. Rhett left 84 points on the bench. Chris got his RBs back. No more Rock Cartwright. V. Jackson continues to stink.

All 8 of AK’s players were playing during the early Sunday games. Don’t think I’ve seen that before. AK is the week’s top scorer. Four players with 20 or more points and one with 19. Hard to beat that. And Tim didn’t. Too bad Tim’s kicker didn’t actually play this week.

*Best plays and worse plays (yeah, that’s right, not worst, just worse than the best)

Tim grabbed Jason Campbell off the wire and started him. He was the second best QB this week scoring wise.

Tim kicker sat out this game (but it didn’t matter).

Kevin finally dropped Anthony Gonzalez.

*Interview – Still waiting for Matt’s response

*Looking forward

There are still a few games that matter next week. Really matter.

AK needs a win next week but is stuck playing the Chinese. Sorry AK.

Dave plays Kevin. Kevin doesn’t need a win nearly as bad as Dave does. While I would have preferred the last few games been against division opponents, this one is interesting because both have some chance of missing the playoffs with a loss. Kevin has Jerome Harrison running against the Steelers in his lineup as I write this. Wow. Really? But then again, Kevin’s actually good at being a coach.

Derek plays Tim next week. Tim needs to score 170 points to make up the difference with Kevin. Meaningless game for Derek. Derek is up to having 4 QBs on his roster. A good one is hard to find.

Rhett needs his team to go off like crazy to stand a chance. Can he finally find the right guys to start?

Chris gets a rematch against Brian. Brian beat Chris 2 weeks ago. Really messed up the playoff run for Chris. Can he do it again? Chris is right there with Dave in terms of Points For. Kick his ass, Brian.

Folks sure got screwed by some injuries this week. Two QBs laid goose eggs for their owner and those owners got a L. Damn near the whole league still has a shot for the playoffs though. Three way tie in the West. Three teams only one game behind Dave in second place. Two games left. Crunch time.

*Week 12 Review – Highlights from Week 12

The Chinese improve to 10-2 thanks to Matt Ryan getting hurt and laying an egg. My RBs continue to be solid but I had a rough WR day. How about Jamaal Charles. Looks like I was wrong about Larry Johnson. I’m shocked he had a productive day. Meaningless game though. Derek and I are both locked for the postseason.

Chris. What happened to your team? It’s in freefall. I thought you were good for the playoffs too. Chris went from being stacked at RB to starting Rock Cartwright. I don’t know that guy either. If you only had Jamaal Charles. Chris Johnson alone (#1 pick next season?) ain’t gonna win you every game. Great job Brian. Forty from 2 WRs is hot stuff. You get to pound Chris into putty one more time this season.

Rhett and Dave had themselves an exciting game. Dave was 6 points down with the Ravens DST to play after Sunday’s afternoon games. Rhett was freaking out since the Ravens DST was likely to put out more than 6 points. The Ravens DST didn’t do jack fucking shit the whole game but they go into OT with Rhett up 2 points. Rhett has never cheered for the Steelers harder in his life. The very suddenly, in OT, Dixon throws a pick and Rhett is crushed. A tie. He’s been here before and he lost to the Chinese in Week 3. His bench is down about 11 points. Dave and Rhett have 2 bench players left for Monday’s game but Dave’s guys are all hurt. But Rhett is victorious. He showed us what a great coach he is and left Maroney’s 20 points on the bench for the tiebreaker.

Kevin wins a tough game against AK. He had 2 guys put up no points but AK couldn’t capitalize. Tom Brady playing like Jake Delholme or Eli manning really fucked AK over.

Tim, Halloween is over. You can take off that red headed stepchild wig. Don’t let Matt beat you like one. Matt’s back in the playoff hunt after a strong win. Tim shows off four 0s on his bench. Tim looks to be seriously hurting at WR.

*Best plays and worse plays (yeah, that’s right, not worst, just worse than the best)

Kevin for playing Snelling. 20 last week. Zero this week. Didn’t cost him the game though.

Tim left his wire pick up on the bench this week. Forsett scored 25 to lead all RBs this week. Not that it would have gotten Tim a win.

Chris dropped Fred Jackson and his 23 points from his team and started Rock Cartwright for 5.

*Weekly poll

One person reported being trade raped by Rhett. Five people reported being offered some shit from the wire from Rhett. Two reported being offered shit from the wire every year.

*Interview – Thank you Derek for your response

Newsletter: What’s going well for your team this season?
Derek:  I think I’ve been really lucky with injuries, excluding last week.  My starting line is pretty strong, but my bench is weak, I guess you could say I kind of put all my eggs in one basket, and so far it has paid off.  I did a slick little double trade a few weeks ago and landed myself a great kicker too.

Newsletter: What isn’t going so well?
Derek: My QBs are really hit and miss.  Cutler has been really spotty lately. Then as soon as I benched him, Ryan hurts his toe and scores me a big goose egg.

Newsletter: Whose team would you least want to face in the playoffs?
Derek:  YOU YOU YOU.  It seems you don’t really have many off weeks, so if my whole team doesn’t show up with their game faces on, I’ll get blown out of the water.  Most other teams will put out a 70 point week every now and then, but not you.

Newsletter: What has been the key to your success or the cause of your failures?
Derek:  Like you said in your last report, we have similar lines.  My RBs (Smith is great…he just plays for Detroit L) and WRs put out a lot of points. Relying on them and hoping for my QB or DEF to have a decent game seems to work out all right.Oddly, the injuries to my DEF have hurt me a bit.  If you check the bar graph, you can see exactly when Polamalu was away.  That man is a beast. [A beast with great hair. Head and shoulders above anyone else’s. -ed]

Newsletter: Which of your guys has been the most surprising success?
Derek: No one has really been that surprising, because my strongest players I drafted early.  My kicker is the only player on my starting line I didn’t draft.   It reminds me of a quote I heard somewhere….

”Show me someone who sticks with only the guys he drafted, and I will show you someone who has not made the playoffs” [Funny how my team is like that too. Well I did get my kicker off the wire because someone took all the good kickers on draft day. -ed]

Newsletter: Which of your guys has been the most disappointing?

Derek: Although I never expected that much from him, Keller hasn’t done much for me.  I looked around for a decent TE for a while, but to no avail. I think there just aren’t that many out there. I had nothing to offer timmy when he was looking to unload a decent TE without dropping someone from my starting line.  And I’d rather have a good WR putting out points than a good TE putting out points.

*Looking forward

Teams can win out to hit the playoffs. Every game has playoff implications.

[rant] Marshawn Lynch is totally shit. Since he returned from his suspension he has made his team lose and made Fred Jackson not worth owning. Glad to see Lynch as backup to Jackson now. [/rant]

Sorry Matt. I plan on kicking your ass. I’ve got some players that might not perform due to injuries though.

AK plays Tim. Tim’s team is running with a bunch of really random guys. Could be gold. Could end up with 60 points for the week. I think AK is going to get this one.

Rhett (3 game W streak) is up against Chris (3 game L streak). Boldin might have a rough game if Warner sits. I like Rhett for the W.

Brian will try to keep Dave from the playoffs. Brian and Dave are the 9th and 10th best coach in our league per the Coach Rating. If everyone in the East loses, Dave still holds onto second place.

Derek plays Kevin’s resurgent team. Kevin will bring WR and DST domination. Derek can’t finish worse than second in his division standings even with 2 loses.

Good luck.