Congratulations to Derek for winning the big prize. And to Tim for getting his money back. It was disappointing that I couldn’t bring the trophy (hopefully not just a figurative one) back home to the United States but Derek got me in this last game.

It was close all the way to the end. Even in the last few minutes, there were chances that I could come back with a TD pass or very, very long completion to my WR. And that near fumble right at the end almost gave me a chance. Terrifically difficult to watch and I expect it will be a fonder memory after the disappointment passes.

It pains me to see Hartley having any role in beating me. But he did hit a 52 yarder for 5 points. Also pains me that Bowe had a good game against me. I’m always badmouthing him and he stuck it to me. It was actually as good a result as I could have hoped for from Derek’s final 2 players: Hartley and Turner. Just 4 for Turner is pretty shocking. As is that goal line fumble that Turner never does. But that fucker OL on the Saints that committed a false start when Colston caught that TD killed me off.

This season, more so than previously, has seen injuries rock teams. Kevin got destroyed early by injuries. Chris actually got off lightly but AP nailed him the most crucial of weeks (and in hindsight, I wish he beat Derek last week so I could beat Chris this week). But I was pretty happy 1. Chris wouldn’t beat me again in the finals and 2. no 3peat. Derek got hit for a RB and TE and he had to deal with all the shitty guys he drafted. Pretty shocking when considering the team he drafted that he won it all. He got here off amazing picks off the wire. Tim took some big losses too at TE and WR and RB Best was out most of the season. But Foster and Rodgers and a sprinkle of well timed Forte starts let Tim plow through the field.

I was thinking about how tough this year’s draft was. From the perspective of actually winning the whole thing. That is a player with good games during both playoff weeks. Not a single first round pick played both games or had double digit points. Brees had only 16 points week 16 which is marginal for a QB. Manning had 17 Week 15. Sjax with 15 and 11 is marginal. Mendenhall with 16 and 13 is decent. Schaub with 21 and 16 is marginal too. So there weren’t any guys in the first 2 rounds that were sure fire winners even in hindsight.

Best waiver wire pick is Vick. Brian for the second year in a row, scores the best wire guy (Miles Austin last year) and both times they were obvious pick ups. Right place, right time, all the time. But Derek was amazing with his foresight off the wire. Blount (did you guys see him hurdle that guy this week? he is a big boy!), Hillis, Tamme, Lloyd and Torain all got Derek to the top. If Collie didn’t stay injured, he’d have been a top wire pick too.

Best late round draft picks. Matt with Darren McFadden. Top 5 RB total points. Matt started him for 22 of 212 possible points. That’s just terrible. He didn’t even trade him away. While looking at the draft results, I noticed Alex’s kicker had 75/75 points. The worse kicker anyone owns. Half as good as the best kicker. Tons of better kickers available off the wire. That’s a few orders of magnitude more terrible.

This year, I didn’t exactly plan on drafting 3 big time RBs but the value was there. It ended up saving my ass when Gore went down. If only I had enough depth at WR and TE, I’d be less disappointed. I think drafting for depth will be the way to go next year. Especially with the expected 18 game schedule.

I’m going to call a couple of guys out here. You guys need to step up your game. I’m talking about you Dave and Rhett and Matt. I’m not naming Brian here because he probably deserved to be in the playoffs with the great late run but oops. It looks like I did name him. And Alex didn’t even seem to be paying attention a quarter of the time. Starting guys that weren’t playing multiple times is not cool.

Looking forward to seeing that trophy, Dave. Looking forward to next year too. Hope the season starts on time. The lack of that CBA is unfortunate. But I want another damn crack at the title, damn it.