The playoff push is well underway and there were some big games this week.

*Week 10 Review

I had a very nice Sunday. Colston had a big game and so did Roethlisberger. Hernandez caught one pass but it was a TD. Can’t wait to get Gates back one day. Folk redeemed himself a bit. Decent result from the Bears DST. Matt had an unfortunate game. He missed a couple of plays. Wouldn’t have been enough though.

Tim was hoping to get a comeback win against Dave. Needed a bit more from the Chargers DST but didn’t get there. Dave has been benching Fitzgerald a lot recently. But he came through on Dave’s bench. Tim made a smart move stealing TO. But he didn’t do a good job this week choosing between Best and Forte.

Derek gets a big win. He stays in a 2 way tie for the wildcard berth with this win against Rhett. Rhett had a strong game. Especially from the Ravens DST. Derek just went nuts though. Manning, 2 RBs and Bowe had great games. I just hate seeing Bowe do well. I think he’s a douche. Rhett had a shot on Monday but Orton needed to get it to anyone but Lloyd for that to happen. Derek was really nervous for no good reason. He always has the other guy’s best WR.

Brian is in the middle of a heck of a late season surge. Seems to be coming a bit too late but he’s been on a tear. Vick, Jones-Drew, Jones, Holmes and the Steelers DST all blew the heck up. Kevin put up a pretty good game with Jennings going crazy. But it wasn’t enough.

Alex was up by a bunch going into Monday. But Rivers went for 4 TDs and just barely got enough for a big time comeback.

*Best plays and worse plays

Alex played a injured WR.

Fitzpatrick would have gotten Rhett the win. Really wish I managed to get him off the wire that week.

*Interview – Thanks Matt

Newsletter: Prior to this week, I thought your shots of the playoffs were pretty good. You have a fairly easy schedule for the last few games compared to me or Derek. But now, it kind of looks bleak. Do you think you will make it?
Matt: Not likely, I’m pretty sure my hopes now rest more on you guys miraculously loosing than they do on me winning. Here’s hoping you and Derek put up some more of that playground football action. You can do it, I’ve got faith in you.

Newsletter: This was a must win game for you and me both. You made some unfortunate lineup choices. What made you finally start Bradshaw? How about those other unfortunate decisions?
Matt: I’ve started Bradshaw before this game, I’m surprised you didn’t notice. McCoy hadn’t been putting up as many points as he had recently, so it seemed like a decent choice. Ochocinco is the bane of my existence, if he’s in he does jack shit, if he’s not he gets decent points, plus he was injured this week. WTF on the tight end and kicker, both were bye week replacements I hadn’t dropped yet, those points were a big surprise. I know miller was still injured but he was playing and I figured he’d still do better.

Newsletter: Baby steps. Can you beat Rhett?
Matt: Yeah, marriage has sucked the life out of all those guys,

Newsletter: How about Alex and Derek after that?
Matt: I would be upset if I lost to alex, I’ll leave that to Dave. Derek will hopefully too break his mind on the jlpt and set a terrible lineup.

I don’t know if I explained this grad school thing to you, I have 0 free time. I was up all night finishing a paper last night. I took 15 minute naps every 2 hours. This is not unusual. I don’t have time to research my players, if I win I thank CBS analysis, if I lose I curse it. (ed: I have no idea what that is like. I’m unemployed.)

*Final thoughts

Derek and I win key games. We both are 1 win away from wildcard berths. If Brian and Matt lose one, we are both in too. Tim and Chris are in. All this is of course assuming our 99+ point lead in total points stand tall.

Love how we have our division and league set up with division winners plus 2 wildcard spots. Shame there isn’t more drama at the end of the season. Have to put that on us letting Tim and Chris go on huge tears and not the format.

I am going to bitch about my WRs. WTF. They are all injured. I am deep at RB not WR. Grrr.

Hope this week’s hottie makes up some for last week’s.

Great week. Tons of close games.

Trade deadline has passed so you guys can quit updating your “On the block” page.

We are finally in the playoff push. Most of the married folks are out of the running but don’t stop setting your lineups. You can spoil someone’s playoff hopes and maybe end up with a winning record.

*Week 10 Review

This week was torture. Things didn’t go terribly but they didn’t go as well as I wanted. My RBs are solid. My WRs were ok. Crabtree had a TD called back. Nicks had some passes picked off. Nick Folk shanked 3 FGs. Missed one in overtime. Didn’t get a shot at one in overtime due to a TD. Kickers are such a big deal this season. And Hernandez. Nothing. Not one point or catch. And the Chiefs DST. They decided to play like a high school team. I was happy to see Manning didn’t do shit and neither did Turner. Glad Bowe was benched because I’m always badmouthing him. But his starters really came through. The big problem was Roethlisberger throwing to Wallace and then Ward got hurt in the game. And the Steelers went down by a lot and had to throw tons. Nice win Derek. Nice win.

Tim blew Kevin out. Look at the Colts DST. Nice play using Garrard. Kevin’s RB troubles continue. He picked all the wrong guys to start.

I thought Rhett had this game before Monday. Brian had Ward knocked out and Jones did nothing. But Vick is a juggernaut. Amazing. Nice win Brian. Rhett had some nice plays. Orton and Moreno. But missed a bunch of other plays too.

Chris continues to win. Another close game. Thought Matt had this one. Solid RBs and White looks like next year’s top WR. Chris had a nice play from Freeman on the bye. But thanks to Vick’s heroics and the Eagles DST, he pulled 28 from his 2 Monday players and got there. I’m happy because this gets Matt off my back but this was Matt’s game. Tough loss.

Dave and Alex had an epic battle. A bit like 2 heroic midgets in wheelchairs. They ended in a tie. But Alex had all the strategy. He left 89 points on the bench to win by tiebreakers. Including 3 RBs that all scored more than his starters.

*Best plays and worse plays

Alex 89 bench points. Almost every play, save a 3 point bench WR for a 4 point starter, was the wrong move. But he still got there!

Dave lost to AK.

Brian played Vick.

*Interview – Thanks Derek

Newsletter: I don’t need to tell you that your draft was rather terrible. What was the plan going in on draft day?
Derek: There was a plan.  It was just a terrible, terrible, terrible plan.

I had a strong team last year, so I figured I would follow the same game plan—get a really strong starting line to begin with.  I wanted the best TE, DEF and Kicker in the league, along with a good QB and 2 good RBs and WRs.  I wasn’t going to give a shit about my bench till my line was full.  I started using the wire last year near the end of the season after Kevin Smith like broke his leg, and I was looking forward to doing it again.  So my plan this year was to use it from the start.

However, my team just fucking fell to pieces when my PC lagged out and I auto-drafted an extra QB really early, and then Ryan Grant broke his ankle in the FIRST FUCKING GAME. If any of you fuckers complain to me about a player not putting up enough points…remember that my first round draft pick got me FOUR FUCKING POINTS THIS SEASON.

And Hartley, oh Hartley…..well his name has a nice ring to it.  Eat a bag of dicks Chris.

Newsletter: You’ve had pretty amazing success off the waiver wire. Rhett must be cursing your name every single week since he loves the wire but rarely finds anything near that level of success. How are you doing it? It isn’t like you are pickup up just the most obvious choices after injuries. You are getting guys that could as easily do jack shit and turning them ALL into gold.
Derek: How am I doing it?  The ability to read at higher than a 3^rd grade level?  General reasoning skills?  Testicles?  I’m not really sure but the only thing I can say for certain is SUCK IT RHETT.

Newsletter: Although I know exactly how it all went down, please explain to our audience how you beat me in that close game this week.
Derek:  Yeah, that game was just silly.  Specifically—the Steelers game.  Prior to that, Turner, Manning, and the Chief’s DEF all crapped their pants on the field and just waddled around all game and put up shit for points.  (I know you like puns).  So both of our teams were looking pretty bad.

It is pretty hard to express my feelings about that last game…I just hated watching it.  I went in about 10 points ahead with only Wallace to play.  You had Big Ben and a TE on New England.  Now that should have been yours, but Ward got injured early, leaving—you guessed it—Wallace as the main man.  You still should have won, but then New England, being the Patriots that they are, realized they hate dirty Mexicans and wouldn’t let Hernandez touch the ball.  ‘MERICA FUCK YEAH!

Watching NE on offense was terrible because I was worried that the Mexican was going to get a TD or some shit.  Then when the Steelers were on offense it was even worse cause anything but a long bomb would get Ben points.

But that is what he did; two bombs in the 4^th quarter to Wallace right in the end zone.

-ed: So I finally get the lead in the 4th Q. But it didn’t last. Every time Roethlisberger threw, it was deep because they were down. There was an INT somewhere but NE didn’t eat clock. They just gave it to their TE for a TD. The TE I was on the fence about getting instead of Hernandez because I knew he got the TDs but Hernandez was coming off a hot game. You can imagine this was tough to watch. Then I had to hope Roethlisberger wasn’t throwing to a black man. But he did. And it was always the same one.

Newsletter: Let’s look at the playoff picture. Tim in married-land. Chris. Me and you are tied for the wildcard spots. I’m fucking elated Matt got robbed by Chris in that Monday game. Gives me breathing room. My final 4 game schedule looks just like yours. 3 hard division games and a easy non-division game. Matt’s schedule was much easier. Two non-division games left. Your thoughts on who makes it into the playoffs.
Derek: I was pretty happy when Matt lost too, but I felt so dirty cheering for Chris….

Honestly, I think with that schedule Matt will make it over one of us.  But I’m not sure if it will be you or me.

Newsletter: Who do you think is the easiest of the current favorites for the playoffs to beat? The toughest?
Derek:  Easiest?  Let’s be honest, no one wants to play Chris.  It’s not just the points he puts up—it’s how he undresses you with his eyes.

Timmy hasn’t been as hot as he was before, but he is still a threat, as well as a total douche bag. (sorry I got nothing)

So probably you.  But I wouldn’t call it easy.  Mother joke.

Newsletter: Bonus question. Was for last week’s but never got published. What’s up with the other division. Except for Tim, everyone has a losing record. Marriage and fantasy football obviously doesn’t mix. And does that imply Tim is being a horrible husband?
Derek:  I was thinking about that too.  How can those guys be so fucking terrible?

Guys…Tim, Chris, and myself are Canadians.  CANADIANS.

Read that again and let it sink in.

Doesn’t that sting a little?  Like that time you got the clap in Las Vegas?  And Timmy?  Yeah, what the fuck is up with that.  It must be his wife playing for him, you know how good Asians are at math and studying and shit.  Asians that aren’t name Kevin anyhow.

On a totally different note, I wish there was a little more news-making and insulting going on in the league. It might be nice if next year we had another award (like 200 bucks or something) for best trash talker or news-maker.  We could have a vote or something at the end of the season.  It might make the news feed a lot more fun.

*Final thoughts

Three guys fighting for 2 spots. Matt is a game back but has an easy schedule. Me and Derek have though schedules. I think this format is great with the 2 divisions, 2 wildcard teams and division games at the end of the season. Would be even better if the other division came to play this season.

I think I get Matt in a close one. Neither of us has terrible matchups. If Schaub messes up that knee, all the better. Go JETS. Kind of a big must win game for me. A loss for me would put Derek up a game. Then I have to go play him for a tie.

I would love Rhett to win this but doesn’t seem likely. Glad I’m against Manning vs. NE.

Thursday Night Football starts TONIGHT! Don’t forget to set your lineups NOW!

Trade deadline is fast approaching. Sunday night.

That was a great story from Derek. I love that Canadian humor even though I don’t quite understand all the puns. This pun was especially vexing. “Koldenhof was unavailable … he was last scene…” Last scene must be some great Canadian pun that only those currently engaged in the profession of teaching English can understand.

*Week 9 Review

I was right about not being in a position to swap Gates for someone who was playing on Sunday if he couldn’t play. I’m lucky I didn’t get a loss for it. But thanks to Brian getting terrible production from his RBs and WRs, it wasn’t a problem. Looks like I played the wrong backup RB. Brandon Jackson comes up big on my bench and Bush does shit starting. Saints DST show up this year for the first time just as I start them. Good deal.

Tim rolls right over Rhett on Foster’s continued great play. Another 31 points. DeSean, who Tim stole from Alex, went for 18 and Rodgers went for 27. Just those 3 guys would have been enough. Rhett had the good Mike Williams but didn’t start him. Not that it would have been enough.

Alex sets a new record low points scored in a single game. At this pace, he might set a new season low total points. Kevin gets the win with the 3rd lowest score of the week. I think Kevin needs to move Andre Johnson for some help at RB. Only a few more days to do it too.

Dave, how unlucky. 94 points is pretty good. But you were up against Derek as he set the new league record high score. 151. New record. Highs and lows in the same week. Derek continues to pull good stuff off the wire. Tamme for 16. Derek started all the right guys and left just 30 on the bench.

Chris wins again. Over Matt this week. Great job picking the Cardinals DST this week. AP never seems to have a down week. Matt has a ton of viable RBs. And I don’t know why he hasn’t started Bradshaw. Guy’s been great. Runs for a great O-line. Runs for a high scoring team. Matt, if you haven’t noticed, you can use serious help at WR.

*Best plays and worse plays

Derek got the Bucs DST (playing against the Panthers this week) from Kevin for Donald Brown. That might be enough to get you the win this week. Fucker.

Tim got DeSean Jackson for BJGE. Smells like traderape to me.

Tim didn’t start TO but he went for 26. I don’t like how Tim is getting such great trades.

Derek for league highest week score ever and doing a perfect job of coaching this week.

Alex for the lowest ever score.

*Interview – Brian is still too upset to talk about getting his ass handed to him this week.

*What about me? (Ramblings about my team)

Great to see Brandon Jackson producing. Not quickly enough to move him in a trade, though. Alex would have gotten a better deal trading for him instead of BJGE.

Glad I have a serviceable backup TE. Gates might not be OK for a bit. Fucking sucks about Collie. Should have been resting his hand and not playing and getting his head squished. I need him being a stud again for me. I’ll probably swap Sjax for Charles before the weekend. Crabtree needs to do shit this week. I drafted him to not suck this much.

I’m not at all confident this week against Derek. He’s been doing really well lately and his team is really coming together. Go Cincy D!!! I’m playing against the most consistent DST this year: the team playing against the Panthers. He’s making a mistake keeping Bowe on the bench this week, though.

*What about yous?

NE’s current offense is fucking Welker owners over. I don’t think he is even startable anymore. I’d start the bad Mike Williams over him.

Quit padding Tim’s team with good stuff!

3 teams are going to the playoffs from the unmarried division. Save for Tim, those other guys are still trying to make .500.

Nice work getting some trades done this week. I don’t expect to join in any of the near deadline trades myself but it’s interesting to see some moves being made.

*Week 8 Review

I totally expected Dave to put up no fight at all. With his team all on bye. Wasn’t the case. I almost didn’t get there. I didn’t expect Lewis to go off like that. Guess he makes up for Britt’s points. That Redskin DTD saved my ass. They were useless all night but that DTD was huge. Thanks to Dave for benching Fitz as he pulled in 2 TDs. Sunday night’s game was very exciting as neither of our teams scored many points. I was trailing by a few points all game long. Glad I pulled through in the end.

Rhett gets a nice win over Brian and it puts Rhett one game ahead of Brian in his division. Brady has been unimpressive lately. Maybe even a liability? I’m amazed Ryan Mathews finally gets a TD. Tolbert didn’t steal this one. Nice job by Brian playing the Raiders DST this past week.

Chris continues to juggernaut over the rest of the league. Scoring 121 points in a very low scoring week to get the week’s top score. How about that kicker for 19 points. Eat your heart out Hartley. Kevin had some bad luck getting paired against Chris this week. He would have beat almost every other team. One point less than the 2nd top-scoring team. Nice job playing the Bucs DST. Garcon couldn’t do that much even though most of the good receivers are injured for the Colts.

Tim’s team continues to show how fragile it is. Lowest scoring team this week. Only Foster broke double digits.

Derek got a nice win over Alex. How did Derek get a win with his 2 starting RBs out for bye week? How did he do it without trading for a RB? By being a waiver wire superman. Blount went off for 24. And he also nabbed Stewart. Stewart should have been a nice start since Williams was out due to injury. Not that Alex put the injured Williams on his bench. Nope. Third week Alex has left players in his lineup that didn’t play. Bowe continues to fool Derek into playing him. He could have started Lloyd instead and gotten 22 points.

*Best plays and worse plays

Dave left Fitz on his bench the one week he goes off.

The coach of the Chinese was brilliant when he started the injured Sjax instead of Bush or Charles.

Brian, what is TO doing on your bench? I get the feeling you just don’t trust the man since you benched him then traded him.

Rhett got and started the right Mike Williams. His got 16. The one playing for the Chinese got 2.

Did I mention Alex started another player who didn’t play?

*Interview – Thanks Dave

Newsletter: How did your draft go? Were you happy with what you got on  draft day?
Dave: I live in Japan. Japan has zero access to live video of the NFL. Hence, we don’t have ESPN’s 5 week long in depth specials on how to draft on 3 times a day. Hence, I just used the shitty ass CBS Sports rankings to determine who to take next. About the only decision making I did was how soon to draft draft backups for each position. I thought I did ok in the draft, but now can see that I did shitty. I can never seem to get any good receivers and my RBs have sucked too.

Newsletter: Some of your top draft choices have been under performing. Do you see any hopes of them improving their production down the road?
Dave: Nope, not really. But I haven’t seen any of them in action. To me, they are just numbers on a screen.

Newsletter: It was a close one this week. Watching that Pitt vs NO game was nerve wracking. And all your guys were on bye. I don’t think you intended for your whole team to be on bye at the same time but it kind of seems like a good idea. Trying it again next year?
Dave: I kinda started to draft that way in the later rounds. I figured that it would be a guaranteed loss, but if my wide receiver didn’t go down, or if my kickers team had been stopped inside the 20 just once instead of scoring five fucking times, I would have bested you.

Newsletter: Is it time for some make it or break it blockbuster hail mary trades?
Dave: Can you honestly say that anybody wants anybody from my team? If you do, please let me know, I am open to a trade. Except from you Rhett, you always offer the shittiest trades of all time, all fucking time!

Newsletter: So I know I haven’t gotten you the league fees yet. My fault. How many other losers are like me this year? I’m sending you a Christmas card with the cash in it. So please get me your mailing address.
Dave: My mailing address is :

700-0854
Kita-Ku Tooka-Ichi Higashi-Machi 4-31
Okayama-shi
JAPAN
David Fulvio

replace all periods with dashes, my World of Warcraft keyboard is fucked up and only does periods for some reason…
Get me the fees, cuz I am gonna get a trophy this year. BTW, if you know where I can get a trophy made in Japan, please tell me.

*Trade Rumors

Thomas Jones for TO. Good trade.

Green-Ellis for Jackson. Tim got a good deal.

I look at Matt’s team and I see a ton of great RBs. Maybe too many. Make a trade man!

*What about me? (Ramblings about my team)

Charles fucking went off! Now I need him to do the same this week when my top 2 RBs are on bye. Bush is continuing to develop. Not fast enough to trade, though. Colston is finally scoring. Gates is the best TE I’ve ever seen. He’s hurt though. And I won’t be in position to get a backup if he doesn’t play this week. Collie is getting healthier. Once he comes back, my team will look really good. I don’t expect to make any trades because the guys I would want to trade are not at the peak of their value.

There will be an interesting Thomas Jones vs Jamaal Charles matchup this week when I take on Brian.

Know what sucks? The unmarried division is winning far more than the married folks. But catching Chris seems hard. Tim is ahead on the other side but he could have easily ended up at 4-4.