MFM's interactive fantasy football blog - 2010 version

[madd futher mucker 36]

Enjoyable read, as always, Madd. Interesting insight into your weekly prep. I would say 10-12 hours/week in about normal for me. Congrats on your overall record so far. I am in one less league than you (5), and managed a 5-0 week to put my overall record at 37-12-1. I did have a mis-step with Best in one league (started over Hillis)......couldn't resist the matchup. However, I was able to overcome with the help of a strong WR corp of Miles/CJ/Fat Mike, along with a good game from Garrard who was filling in nicely for Rodgers.

 

Despite my record, I only have a playoff berth cinched in 2 leagues, although if the season ended today I would be in the playoffs as the #1 or #2 seed in all 5. In one highly competitive 12-man money redraft, consisting only of owners who won championships last year, I am at 7-3.......along with 5 other teams. Hard to shake 'em. In another winners league, I am 1st in my division off 4 at 7-3, but the 3 other owners are all 6-4. It will all come down to intra-divisional games in weeks 12-14. In one of the other 3 divisions in that league, the top dog is only 4-5-1....and 2 games up on the next owner. Sure makes a difference what division you end up in.

 

I have good luck plugging in one-week WR's in 4 of the leagues, and I love to have one skill position (esp. a WR) that I can drop in a weekly sleeper....prognosticators and gurus be danged! It really adds to the excitement for me and, if he hits, gives you that feeling of contentment and satisfaction knowing that this was all you as an attentive owner. It is the gambler in me, and sometimes it blows up in my face, obviously. Two weeks ago I played Tutu form San Diego, last week it was Fat Mike, and this week I am rolling with Walter.....hoping that he pulls a "Burleson" with AJ on Revis Island. Time will tell.

 

 

Stonewall, I'm pretty sure that your preparation is very similar to mine. But I'm also sure we use some different sources, and I'd be very interested if you would share your weekly routine. You're obviously doing it right, because your record exceeds my own. I personally think that our combined record of 79-30-1 for 11 teams agaist some tough competition is pretty awesome!

[madd futher mucker 36]

 

.... I did win my 1st place matchup in the NFFC to take over 1st place. The game was downright bizarre with all the garbage points this week. I had Wayne and Marshall early and they did next to nothing, and the Giants were getting destroyed (Eli, Bradshaw), so I figured I was done. Next thing I know Lloyd and Bowe vaulted me ahead of my opponent, and we went back and forth down to the wire until end of the Giants game. He had Amendola and Crabtree but luckily nothing happened in the STL-SF OT for those guys.

 

The top teams have similar 8-2 records but I have the points tie breaker well in hand. I think we go 13 weeks though so I need to keep it going.

 

Yea, Mike, I know exactly what you mean about needing to keep it going. I'm really happy to hear you are doing great in the NFFC. (And i kind of knew that you still had a slim mathematical shot at the play-offs in the FFPC, so anything can still happen (especially if Vick can keep it up!)

 

Here's hoping we can both make a litle money this year!

[madd futher mucker 36]

Last week at this time, I lamented that my freewheeling roster move days were rapidly coming to an end, and I made only two trades and two waiver pick-ups for one of my teams, one waiver move on another, but other than that I made no roster moves other than starter changes in my other four leagues

 

My 10 team PPR Auction league is now 7 - 3. I made no changes to my roster so here are this week‘s starters (in bold):

Rivers, Z Miller, T Gonzalez, TB, Barth

Foster, Bradshaw, Hillis, Blount

Fitz, Nicks, Wallace, M Williams (TB), R Moss, Garcon, V Jax, S Rice

 

I did pull off two trades for Team 1, my semi-dynasty team in a 12 team 22 player PPR league, which is now 6 - 4. The sum of the trades is that I got Fred Jackson, Santana Moss, and a 2nd round rookie pick for Jason Witten, BJGE and a third round rookie pick. I then picked Delanie Walker and the AZ defense off of waivers and dropped the Gradkowski and the TB defense. So now my team looks like this:

P Manning, Z Miller, D Walker, Carpenter, KC, AZ, Phil, NYG

Bradshaw, S Jax, Lynch, Sproles, Choice, F Jackson, Woodhead

S Moss, Owens, Gaffney, Floyd, Amendola, Ajirotutu, L Moore

 

Team 2 is the ten team non-PPR deep keeper, now 4 - 6. I happily pulled Keiland Williams off the waiver wire, and for about the 3rd time in this league, I dropped McCluster. And for the 1st time this year other than his bye, I’m leaving Best on my bench:

Schaub, Eli Manning, Celek, Tamme, J Graham, Carpenter

P Thomas, Best, M Bush, Ricky Williams, K Williams, Tolbert

Owens, Floyd, Gaffney, Wallace, Knox, L Moore, Murphy, McCluster, S Rice

 

This week Team 3, my 8 - 2 Family and Friends team (12 team 16 player PPR keep 7 keeper, this week I play the team with whom I’m tied for 1st. There were no roster changes yet, although I’m contemplating one. But I’ve used all but 2 of my 30 seasonal transactions, so I don't know if i should pull the trigger. Here’s who I’ve got going this week:

Ben, Bradford, Tamme, Finley, Carpenter, KC, MIA, TB

MJD, Foster, F Jones, Woodhead (WR/RB)

Garcon, Bowe, Gaffney

For the 3rd straight week, I also made no changes to my undefeated redraft team 4 this week. My starters are in bold:

Eli, Freeman, Z Miller, Fasano, KC, MIA, SF, NYJ, Longwell

Gore, Foster, Stewart

Fitz, Jennings, Gaffney, Bryant, Garcon

 

Team 5, my high stakes FBG/ Fantasy Football Players Championship team, is 7 - 3. I had no roster moves left in that league, so I’ve got a couple WDIS decisions to make but basically I‘m rolling with:

Young, Collins, Romo, Z Miller, Tamme, Crosby OR Carpenter, CIN, TENN

Gore, Best OR Hightower, Sproles, Stevens-Howling

Harvin, M Williams, Floyd, Shipley, S Rice, D Nelson

 

I somehow feel strangely confident that this might be the week where EVERYTHING goes right. And of course, I hope everything goes right with your teams as well.

[madd futher mucker 36]

How wrong I was about this being the week where everything went right!

 

The week 11 results are in the books. While my 6 teams only went 3 - 3, the huge disappointment was in the FBG/ FFPC, where only a miracle can save my season now.

 

I did win both my Dynasty league and my deep Keeper league match-ups to go 7 - 4 and 5 - 6 respectively, and I also also won my Family and Friends keeper to extend to 9 - 2.

 

But the Redraft league team suffered its first loss of the season as my next-to-last-place opponent put up 174 points against my 157. Oh well, that streak had to end sometime. And I’m also losing in my Auction league, where I put up a huge 185 points, but my opponent laid 205 on me. I believe that our combined total of just over 390 fantasy points is the highest combined fantasy total in the history of that league. Funny, but I had expected this team to cruise through the schedule, and I now find myself in a tie for 2nd place with a record of 7 - 4.

 

I really don't give a hoot about those losses though, compared to my loss in the FBG/ FFPC. Not only did I lose the match-up by a huge amount - enough to kick me out of the first two places that automatically would have put me into the championship round and a shot at the big money - I now have NO QB for next week, which is the first week of my play-offs. Unless I can win my game without a QB, I’ll be eliminated completely outside the money for this once promising team. My 96 fantasy points with only Floyd left represent a season low by far, reflecting horrid performances by Vince Young, Best, Harvin, and Zack Miller. I also lost Kerry Collins and now Vince Young in consecutive weeks, and Romo was my only other QB. Worst of all, I’ve got no waiver moves left to pick up another QB. I don’t think I’ve ever lost three QBs in a season before, and this was just the worst time for it to happen. So I finished the regular season at 7 - 4 and my play-offs start next week. One win in the play-offs would get me at least my entry fee back, but without a QB, it is just not realistic for that to happen. Both Mikes (Krueger and MacGregor) finished their season with 5 - 6 records, so at least I have bragging rights here.

 

I sure hope your week-end went better than mine.

[stonewall 647]

 

I sure hope your week-end went better than mine.

 

 

Not really. Went 2-3, which is my worst week this season. Played against Big Ben and Chicago D in two leagues and Steve Johnson in two also. V. Davis and Z. Miller sunk a couple of my teams, and must find some TE help immeadiately. However, I am not taking it too badly, as I still control my own destiny in all 5 leagues (would be in playoffs if season ended today), and I finally get Sidney Rice and VJ back in 3 leagues and VJ-only in one league. I saw where Crayton banged up his hand tonight.....not sure how bad it is, but hopefully VJ will be gold for the stretch run. I was pleased to see Rice looking good, and only hope that the Vikes players don't quit around him. I actually ended up winning in my champions league where I started Walters.....thanks to Foster/Hillis/Brees. Hit some and miss some.....but anyone who watched the Texans game saw that Walters actually had beaten Revis on a deep go for about 70 yards and a TD, and had it hit him in the hands, but lost it in the sun......naturally.

 

Sorry to hear about your FBG/ FFPC team. This can be a frustrating pursuit sometimes. In my 12 man winners redraft where I really wanted a win against a loud mouth who is currently in 11th place, I put up 138 points in a non-ppr standard format (my best score this season).....my opponent currently has 152, which is already a league record for this season, and is still racking up points with Tolbert. Hang in there Madd, and thanks for the blog.

[madd futher mucker 36]

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. We ALL have much to be thankful for, because given that we have the luxury of playing fantasy football and watching football during the season, we all have much going right in our lives.

 

I had a chance tonight to reflect on my FBG/ FFPC season, and even if I lose my first play-off game tomorrow, I learned quite a lot. Here are some of my lessons:

1. I learned for sure that am good enough to compete with the best fantasy players in the country. I have felt for awhile that my pre-season projections and draft technique was superior to most fantasy players. My 7 - 1 start in the FFPC and my 10 - 1 start in my $100 re-draft league is evidence for this.

2. I learned that good drafting and in-season management sometimes cannot overcome a plethora of injuries. Without getting into ’pity mode’, losing Romo, Young, Collins, Clark, and Parrish for the rest of the season, as well as a significant injury to Jahvid Best would have been too much for almost any fantasy player to overcome, and it was sure too much for me to overcome as well.

3. I am used to playing in leagues with 25 maximum transactions and even without all the injuries I tend to use all 25. I ran out of money after making 17 pick-ups with my $1000 budget, including some pretty good ones: Tamme, Sproles, Parrish, and Shipley. My most expensive pick-up was Joel Dreessen for $209 - Since I subsequently dropped him when Daniels came back for a couple good games before re-injuring himself, I sure wish I had that $209 left to spend. I also had never played in a league where after blind bids, the waiver wire remained closed so that no ‘free’ pick-ups are possible. I lost one game when my kicker sprained his ankle in Wednesday’s practice and I had to play without one. I’ll likely lose my first and only play-off game since Vince Young and Collins went down in back-to-back weeks and I can’t pick up a QB. Lesson learned - I MUST account for ‘Murphy’s Law’ when it comes to injuries, and I MUST save some money to the very end, no matter what.

This means in the future I have to be even smarter in waiver wire budgeting.

 

Those lessons learned, I intend to be even better in this contest next year, and there is still a tiny chance that I can win without a QB this week, because after all it IS fantasy football, and on any given week…….

Anyway, my FFPC team is the same as last week and here are my probable starters in bold:

Romo, Young, Collins, Crosby, Carpenter, Tamme, Z Miller, TENN, CIN

Gore, Sproles, Hightower, Best, Stevens-Howling

S Rice, Harvin, M Williams (TB), Shipley, Floyd, D Nelson

I’m pretty sure that Z Miller and Floyd either will not play or will not be effective.

 

I’m now 7 - 4 in my 10 team PPR Auction league. I picked up CLE and KC defenses for the play-offs, dropping Blount and Randy Moss, so I have only one emergency roster move left. This week‘s starters (in bold):

Rivers, Z Miller, T Gonzalez, CLE, KC, TB, Barth

Foster, Bradshaw, Hillis

Fitz, Nicks, Wallace, M Williams (TB), Garcon, V Jax, S Rice

 

Team 1, my semi-dynasty 12 team 22 player PPR league, is also 7 - 4. Two games left to the regular season here, and they are against the other top two teams in my division, one leading the division at 8 - 3 and the one I play this week is tied with me at 7 - 4. If I beat him, I’m in the play-offs based on the tiebreaker. So this is a very important game. I used my final waiver money on Joel Dreessen and Derrick Mason (someone dropped him figuring this is his last season and putting youth on their team for next year). My team:

P Manning, Z Miller, D Walker, Dreessen, Carpenter, Phil, NYG

Bradshaw (yes I'm playing him), S Jax, Sproles, Choice, F Jackson, Woodhead

S Moss, Owens, Mason, Gaffney, Floyd, Amendola, Ajirotutu, L Moore

 

Team 2 is the 4 - 6 ten team non-PPR deep keeper. Despite my record, I’m still in the ’thick of it ’ for the play-offs. I made a ‘free’ waiver claim on Emmanuel Sanders (a roster move for NEXT year expecting him to take over for H Ward), and dropped Ricky Williams.

Schaub, Eli Manning, Celek, Tamme, J Graham, Carpenter

P Thomas, Best, M Bush, K Williams, Tolbert

S Rice, Owens, Floyd, Gaffney, Wallace, Knox, Moore, Murphy, Sanders

 

This week Team 3, I was lucky enough to use my second-last roster move to snag Mike Tolbert off the waiver wire (dropping Gaffney) in my 9 - 2 Family and Friends (12 team 16 player PPR keep 7 keeper) team. Here’s who is starting this week:

Ben, Bradford, Tamme, Finley, Carpenter, MIA, KC, TB

MJD, Foster, Tolbert, F Jones, Stewart

Garcon, Bowe, Woodhead (WR/RB)

 

Finally, for Team 4, my 12 team PPR redraft team (now 10 - 1), I dropped Fasano and picked up Dreessen. This week’s starters are in bold:

Eli, Freeman, Z Miller, Dreessen, KC, MIA, SF, NYJ, Longwell

Gore, Foster, Stewart

Fitz, Jennings, Gaffney, Bryant, Garcon

After last week, I’ll never again jinx myself by saying “I feel strangely confident that this might be the week where EVERYTHING goes right“. So this week I’m just gonna lay it out there and hope for the best.

 

And I’ll hope for the best your teams - again, Happy Thanksgiving!

[lexdizzle 1]

As always i enjoy reading your blog. I have to agree that no matter how good you can draft or manage your season sometimes injury or luck just dont go your way. Good thing we play in multiple leagues. Anyway good luck with ur qb situation and happy turkey day. Keep up the good work.

[madd futher mucker 36]

As always i enjoy reading your blog. I have to agree that no matter how good you can draft or manage your season sometimes injury or luck just dont go your way. Good thing we play in multiple leagues. Anyway good luck with ur qb situation and happy turkey day. Keep up the good work.

 

Thaniks for the kind words. My opponent played 4 players already today including his QB, and is about 65 points ahead, so it is an uphill climb.

[madd futher mucker 36]

Let me vent and get one thing out of the way right now: Derek Anderson officially sucks! The stat line, 16 - 35 - 196- 0 - 1 , doesn’t even begin to tell how badly he was missing his WRs, and how he locked on to his primary receivers with no attempt to go through his progressions. Terrible!

 

Now that I have that off my chest, this weekend was not much different than many of the others, another 4 - 2 for my six teams. But we are in crunch mode and I will update anyone who cares with exactly where my teams stand on the brink of the play-offs.

 

Starting with my wins first, in my redraft league (after Dez Bryant gave me ZERO) I went into tonight with Gore and Fitz and only needing just 12.7 fantasy points combined to get the win. And that is exactly what I got (Fitz was 4 - 37 - 0). Hopefully there will be no negative stat adjustment, because as of right now I won my match 140.50 to 140.45 (equivalent to 1/2 a yard). So that makes me 11 - 1 in that league. I had already easily clinched 1st place and a play-off bye, but I’m now in a virtual tie for most points in the regular season with one game to go. The owner who puts up the most points gets $200, so that is what is on the line next week.

 

I also won my match and clinched 1st place and a play-off bye in my Family and Friends league with a record of 10 - 2.

 

My Auction league team overcame a goose egg by V Jax to win, going to 8 - 4. While I’m technically tied for 2nd place, I face the last place team next week, and assuming that the team I’m tied with and I both win our matches, I will be the second seed based on most points scored in the league) and I'll get another 1st round play-off bye. So far, so good!

 

Finally, I won in my dynasty league, taking my record to 8 - 4, good for second place in my division (Thanks,D Anderson - the first place team would have lost and I‘d be been tied with him - if you had thrown one more catchable pass to Steve Breaston (2 - 22 - 0). But I get to play the 1st place team in the division next week, and a win could give me the top seed and a fourth play-off bye.

 

Gotta love those play-off byes - I COULD have 4 of them!

 

Now to my losses: I lost my deep keeper league, dropping to 5 - 7. Losing this game did not really matter. Here we have a 14 game regular season and the play-offs are only 4 teams for weeks 15 - 16. The 3rd and 4th play-off spots go to the teams other than the two division winners who have the highest over-all total fantasy points on the season. Three of us are separated by only about 35 fantasy points with two games to go for the 4th play-off spot (right now I'm 5th). So there is no bye in this league, and even with my crappy won - loss record, a play-off berth is definitely feasible if I can finish strong in the last two regular season games.

 

The first play-off game in the FFPC was this last weekend and as expected, I also lost that game. Not only did I have to go without a healthy QB on my roster, but I ran into the team that had Hillis. Not pretty!

But I’m not quite out of the money yet. This next week I play for third or fourth place. The third place team gets their entry fee back (or maybe just a little more). The fourth place team gets nada. Guess what: there is about a 50/50 chance that Kerry Collins will be healthy enough to play, so that means I will have a QB. And the irony is that I face the guy who outbid me for four QBs in order to keep me from having a healthy QB when I played him the first time. My chances of winning are not good, but if it does happen, revenge will be oh so sweet.

EDIT: I just read that Gore is likely to be out for the season. So I might get Collins back but lose Gore?? Lucky me!.

[giraldi02 470]

As someone who is constantly looking to improve your team, what are you looking at doing for your redraft league(s) in terms of bench depth? Most leagues the trade deadline has passed, so the WW is generally the only option.

 

Are you a person that picks up potential playoff studs and dumps underperforming players/difficult playoff schedules, or do you hold tight on the players you have currently barring any significant injuries? Obviously, in the league you have Gore in, you'll need to make a move to replace him or have added depth, but it's a question that I like to pose to active owners this time of year. And in addition, what players have you personally deemed as able to be dumped to the wire that are generally owned in the majority of competitive leagues?

 

For examply, a player like Shonne Greene will not crack my starting line-up moving forward, barring injury of course, but I like having him on my team to prevent others from having a potential late year stud, regardless of difficult matchups.

[madd futher mucker 36]

As someone who is constantly looking to improve your team, what are you looking at doing for your redraft league(s) in terms of bench depth? Most leagues the trade deadline has passed, so the WW is generally the only option.

 

Are you a person that picks up potential playoff studs and dumps underperforming players/difficult playoff schedules, or do you hold tight on the players you have currently barring any significant injuries? Obviously, in the league you have Gore in, you'll need to make a move to replace him or have added depth, but it's a question that I like to pose to active owners this time of year. And in addition, what players have you personally deemed as able to be dumped to the wire that are generally owned in the majority of competitive leagues?

 

For examply, a player like Shonne Greene will not crack my starting line-up moving forward, barring injury of course, but I like having him on my team to prevent others from having a potential late year stud, regardless of difficult matchups.

 

In answer to your questions, all sorts of factors such as league size, waiver restrictions and roster size come into play here, so there is no easy answer. Yes, I am ALWAYS looking to improve every one of my teams in any way I can.

 

If you re-read my earlier posts, you can see that I started planning for the play-offs even from before the beginning of the season (I ALWAYS assume that I will make the play-offs, and the idea is not just get into them, but to WIN the Championship). I intensified my efforts about week six or so, considering play-off match-ups with every subsequent acquisition, so that my teams - barring injury - are pretty well 'play-off ready'.

 

Obviously, I will look to replace Gore in my redraft league, and the natural replacement is of course Westbrook. Will i be able to get him? We will see on Wednesday, but even if I can't, I still like my play-off chances a lot. But because of waiver restrictions, I have very limited waiver moves available, and the only players I'm considering dumping right now are Gore, Zack Miller, and Vincent Jackson - all because I now doubt that any of them will be healthy enough to help my team (or my competitors) during the play-offs.

 

If you didn not have a better alternative than Greene as a RB3 or RB4 than you would keep him. Otherwise, I would not try to hold mediocre RBs like Greene just to block another team from using him against me. I WANT them to have Greene in their line-up against me - in fact there is no way you can corner the market on Shonne Greene-type RBs, nor should you try. In my opinion, a Westbrook will have a lot more value than Greene will for a team's play-off run.

 

One thing you may have noticed is that I DO try to 'corner the market' on defenses with great play-off match-ups. Many of my teams carry 3 or 4 defenses around play-off time, because a 5 point advantage at that position during the play-offs can be huge and I sure would rather have that advantage against my opponents than they have it against me!

 

The best answer to your general question can be found by re-reading some of my past weekly 'prep' blog posts and seeing what I will do on Wednesday in prep for week 13 to get a feel for how I strategize.

[madd futher mucker 36]

My answer to giraldi2’s question about late season waiver moves for bench depth left a lot for interpretation without much clarification. So the roster moves I made this week might go a bit further to clarify the answer to his question.

 

Most of us who are in the play-off hunt (or have already clinched) have difficulty making meaningful roster moves this late in the season (hopefully because we started planning and using our waiver moves and budgets earlier, or maybe because we have a low waiver priority due to of our won/loss record or a bit of both). But since we will have less ability to make late season roster moves, it therefore obviously was even more important to plan and use your roster moves in preparation for the play-offs far in advance of your competition.

 

Notwithstanding the FFPC fiasco where I just got whacked by injuries, I’m usually pretty good at balancing getting enough quality early pick-up opportunities with the necessity for saving at least one roster move on each of my teams to deal with late season ‘emergencies’. And in a few cases, I am even able to take advantage of a rash drop of a quality player to stock for next year in dynasty or deep keeper leagues (ex: this week's Zach Miller pick-up in my deep keeper).

 

With that said, here's my week 13 prep.

 

With only one remaining transaction available for emergencies, my 10 team PPR Auction league (8 - 4) had to stand pat. This week‘s starters are (in bold):

Rivers, Z Miller, T Gonzalez, CLE, KC, TB, Barth

Foster, Bradshaw, Hillis

Fitz, M Wallace, M Williams (TB), Garcon, V Jax, S Rice, Nicks

 

Only one roster move was worthwhile for me with the only waiver dollar I had left for Team 1, my semi-dynasty 12 team 22 player PPR league, which is also 8 - 4. While I put waiver bids in on other players, since I was virtually out of waiver money, I was only able to add the MIA defense - and happy to get it specifically for this week and weeks 15 and 16. So now here’s my team:

P Manning, Z Miller, Dreessen, Carpenter, MIA, Phil, NYG

Bradshaw, S Jax, F Jackson, Sproles, Choice, Woodhead

S Moss, Owens, Mason, Gaffney, Floyd, Amendola, Ajirotutu, L Moore

 

It was hard to believe that I’d find three moves to make with Team 2, the 5 - 7 ten team non-PPR deep keeper.

I found myself short of healthy RBs. No, I couldn’t get Westbrook, but I landed both Morris Morris and Ricky Williams as nice consolation prizes, and when another team dropped OAK’s Zack Miller for Gerhart, I scooped him up. Yes, I know that there is hardly any value for this year, but Miller is a stud TE who will be healthy next season! (I dropped Gaffney, Celek and Lance Moore). So now here’s my team:

Schaub, Eli Manning, Tamme, J Graham, Z Miller, Carpenter

Tolbert, R Williams, K Williams, Mo Morris, P Thomas, Best, M Bush,

Owens, Floyd, Wallace, Knox, S Rice, Murphy, Sanders

 

Just like in my auction league, I have only one transaction left to spend for emergencies in Team 3, my Family and Friends (12 team 16 player PPR keep 7 keeper now at 10 - 2 ) team. So everything stayed just as it was, including my starters from the week before:

Ben, Bradford, Tamme, Finley, Carpenter, MIA, KC, TB

MJD, Foster, Tolbert, F Jones, Stewart

Bowe, Garcon, Woodhead (WR/RB)

 

Of course, I lost Gore in Team 4, my Redraft 12 team PPR team (now 11 - 1), so I had to make some pick-ups.

I was out-bid on both Westbrook and Gerhart, but picked up the next best options in Anthony Dixon and Tashard Choice. I believe that either or both of these guys might very become fantasy relevant, especially in weeks 15 and 16. I couldn’t get carried away in roster moves as I now have only 3 transactions and a very limited $24 waiver budget left (from the $100 I started with), so I want to have some flexibility if needed. My roster is now: :

Eli, Freeman, Z Miller, Dreessen, MIA, SF, NYJ, Longwell

Foster, Stewart, A Dixon, Choice

Fitz, Jennings, Bryant, Garcon, Gaffney

 

For my final play-off game in the FBG/ FFPC, my Team 5 is playing for 3rd or 4th place. Since i have no ability to make any moves, the roster is the same as last week. One difference though: Kerry Collins will probably play, and Gore will definitely not! I have to get decent weeks from Sproles and Hightower in this PPR match, but at least this week I have a chance. Bolded are my starters:

Romo, Young, Collins, Tamme, Z Miller, Crosby, Carpenter, TENN, CIN

Sproles, Hightower, Best, Stevens-Howling, Gore

Harvin, M Williams (TB), Floyd, S Rice or Shipley, D Nelson

 

I'd love to hear your comments on any aspect of this week's prep and play-off fantasy prep strategy in general.

 

As always, best of luck this week-end.

[stonewall 647]

Looks like you are off to a good start in some of your leagues this week thanks to Foster. Nothing brings satisfaction quite like having a good performance from your Thurs night crew. Sounds like you are rolling right along....a few challenges to be sure, but rolling.

 

Despite starting S. Rice in 4 of 5 leagues and VJ in 3 of 5, I somehow managed to pull off another 5-0 week......thanks in large part to Hillis and Foster who I own in all but one league. Having other hits like Rodgers (2 leagues), Boss (replacing Z. Miller), Tamme(2 leagues, & replacing Finley), and Charles (2 leagues) helped my cause immensely. Gores injury also saved my backside in another league.....a game I would have lost. Anyway, I have clinched the playoffs in 3 leagues (bye in one), and need only one win out of the 2 remaining regular season games to clinch the other 2. High scoring team in 3 leagues, 2nd in the two others. I will not brag however, because despite the time and effort I have put into this season, things could have gone much differently...... I can't stress enough how much Hillis and Foster have carried me. I was determined to draft both guys, and did in all but one league on Foster (drafted 2 spots before me), and all but one league on Hillis also. I can only hope that they stay healthy and continue to rumble. In my 12 man champions-only league, in which I need 1 win to clinch, I started AJ and Foster tonight and was playing against Schaub. It is a non-ppr and we ended up Thurs night 37-21. Good start.

 

As far as the playoffs are concerned, I am mostly just making sure my backside is covered in case of injury. For instance, I added Kitna who somebody had dropped, to cover my QB who is Big Ben (the foot is concerning). Actually, I have Kitna as my just-in-case QB in 3 leagues because I love his schedule for weeks 15-16 (Wash & Zona). Of course if they rush Romo back, all bets are off. I also finally cut ties with VJ in all but one league. I may regret it, but something just stinks about that whole situation. I used his roster space mostly to strengthen my Defense corp where neeed. Added Dallas (again, Wash and Zona)in one and TB Seattle at home in week 16) in another. In two other leagues where I had only Hillis and Foster as RB's, I added Choice for injury depth, and Obama in one league since Floyd (who I own) still seems to be struggling with a hammy and Fat Mikes injury could spell big things for Obama if it is bad. Otherwise, I am standing pat, watching developing situations carefully, and hoping for the best.

 

Best of luck this week friend......and keep on writing.

[madd futher mucker 36]

 

Despite starting S. Rice in 4 of 5 leagues and VJ in 3 of 5, I somehow managed to pull off another 5-0 week......thanks in large part to Hillis and Foster who I own in all but one league. Having other hits like Rodgers (2 leagues), Boss (replacing Z. Miller), Tamme(2 leagues, & replacing Finley), and Charles (2 leagues) helped my cause immensely.

 

As far as the playoffs are concerned, I am mostly just making sure my backside is covered in case of injury. For instance, I added Kitna who somebody had dropped, to cover my QB who is Big Ben (the foot is concerning). Actually, I have Kitna as my just-in-case QB in 3 leagues because I love his schedule for weeks 15-16 (Wash & Zona). Of course if they rush Romo back, all bets are off. I also finally cut ties with VJ in all but one league. I may regret it, but something just stinks about that whole situation. I used his roster space mostly to strengthen my Defense corp where neeed. Added Dallas (again, Wash and Zona)in one and TB Seattle at home in week 16) in another. In two other leagues where I had only Hillis and Foster as RB's, I added Choice for injury depth, and Obama in one league since Floyd (who I own) still seems to be struggling with a hammy and Fat Mikes injury could spell big things for Obama if it is bad.

 

First of all, congrats to you on such a fine season. It is obvious to me that our approach to fantasy football is virtually identical - the only difference is that your record is even better than mine this year.

 

Our combined records are proof positive that this approach to fantasy football strategy does indeed work.

 

By the way, a few hours after I wrote my Wednesday blog entry, I made a trade in my dynasty league - I think it is the only league I'm in that still allows trading: I traded Gaffney for Boss. I did play Dreessen on Thursday night for a nice PPR score, but I felt I needed to buy some 'insurance' to cover my own backside, being concerned about the possibility of Daniels raining on the Dreessen parade in weeks 15 and 16.

 

It is just amazing to me how much our thought processes are alike!

[madd futher mucker 36]

The last regular season week brought me a mixed bag of wins and losses for 3 and 3 record this week-end.

 

The wins:

Not only did I finish the regular season in my Redraft league with a win to close out at 12 - 1, but I won $200 for the most points scored in the regular season and a 1st seed play-off bye.

 

In my auction league, I won to extend to 9 - 4, giving me a second place, second seed and another play-off bye.

 

And I won a very close match in my deep keeper league match-up which brought my record to 6 - 7. Here we have a 14 game regular season and only 4 teams make the play-offs. A whole bunch of us are grouped at 7 - 6 or 6 - 7 and still have a chance at the final play-off spots. I will probably need to put up my top score of the season next week for my chance to squeak into the play-offs.

 

The losses:

A loss in my Friends and Family keeper dropped me to 10 - 3. This one didn’t matter at all as I already had sole possession of 1st place (and another play-off bye) wrapped up even before the weekend started.

 

I also lost in my dynasty league, which cost me a first or second place finish and a bye, but I made the play-offs. And even though I finished with a record of 8 - 5, I did post the top regular season total in that league, which was worth $50 in addition to whatever I might make in the play-offs.

 

Lastly, I lost my FFPC play-off match to finish out of the money in 4th place - I was ahead late into the 4th quarter before losing by 1.5 FPS. What can I say - season over, no money!

 

 

Since I'm out of the FFPC and have three play-off byes, next week-end I only have two matches, my first play-off game in the Dynasty league, and my last regular season game in the Deep Keeper, which is very much like a play-off game.

 

I sure need to do better than how my teams performed this last week-end.

 

 

By the way - speaking of football play-offs, my adopted small town football team in Henderson, Texas won its play-off games all the way to the State Championship. I believe that is the 1st time they ever made it into the Championship, so the town is going crazy.

The State Championship game will be played this Friday night in 'Jerry's house', the Dallas Cowboy's new stadium. So you can guess where I'll be on friday night!

[madd futher mucker 36]

THIS JUST IN: I thought I lost my FFPC league 3rd place by 1.5 FP because of LT2's late 4th Qtr catch. After reading about the stat discrepancy on Mike Williams, I went back and looked. Sure enough. Mike Williams' stat correction gave me the win for 3rd place in my FFPC play-off match by 0.3 fps. Best of all, I beat the guy who outbid me on 4 QBs in the regular season week that he played against me to keep me from picking up a QB against him. Poetic f'ing justice!

 

I'm lovin' it!

 

 

Edit: I actually mis-read the prize structure. Only the top two places in league are paid. so I missed out of the money.

 

I am now seeded 83rd out of 227 teams that are in the Consolation bracket (rather than in the Championship bracket). There is no head-to-head, only total points for week 14 through 16 added to my average score for the first 11 weeks (which was 139.7). The top 5 teams in the Consolation bracket at the end of week 16 get into the money. So the chances are very slim of winning anything. Still fun! And I'll do it again next year.

[stonewall 647]

Lastly, I lost my FFPC play-off match to finish out of the money in 4th place - I was ahead late into the 4th quarter before losing by 1.5 FPS. What can I say - season over, no money!

 

 

I saw in your other post that you pulled out the win thanks to a stat correction, and are in the money.

 

We all need to catch a break sometimes. I caught one this week by winning a game by .62 points to clinch another playoff spot. For the week I went 4-1, thanks in large part to Rice, Foster, and Rodgers. I have now clinched 4 playoff berths, but am struggling to get it done in the 5th league......which was the game I lost this week. It is a 12 man non-ppr redraft league for last years winners-only, and is super-tough......no slackers. Only 4 teams advance in week 15. What is maddening is that I have the most points scored AND the most points against. You know how that goes. I must win my division to advance, and am locked up at 8-5 with another team in our division. I own the head-to-head and points, so if I win - I'm in. However, if he wins and I lose - I'm out. Time to man-up.....do or die. Overall, I am 47-17-1, so it has been a great season. Hopefully, my guys will hold their best performances for the playoffs.....as will yours.

 

Three cheers for Henderson!

[madd futher mucker 36]

By the sub-title, you already know how this weekend went.

 

I lost my Deep Keeper match to finish the league in fifth place. I also lost my Dynasty match (where I finished with the most overall points for the season but finished seeded in 3rd place). I played the 6th seed, who put up his top score for the whole season. Next week, instead of finishing in the money, I'm only playing for 5th or 6th place in that one. So it was zero for two in week 14. I('d already finished my FFPC season with 3rd place in the league.) Most likely, two 5th place finishes and a 3rd.

 

Kind of underwhelming, given my high expectations. Hell, I couldn't even get Fan Duel right this week.

 

The only good news is that I still have three teams just starting their play-offs next week, and i have nowhere to go but up.

[stonewall 647]

Sounds like a tough week Madd, 4 sure. Sorry to hear it, but I certainly understand. I lost Rodgers in two leagues where I already have the playoffs cinched next week. He will be impossible to replace. I only had one meaningful game in the league that I had not cinched....which I lost. I finished the season in this league with the most points scored......and the most points against by 188 points! I got everybodies A-game, including this week. However, I was fortunate that the other team in my division that could have kicked me out of contention also lost, leaving us with an even record......and I own the tie-breaker. So, I limp into the playoffs in all 5 leagues. Actually, in a way, I am glad to have such a poor showing from my teams this week. It sure beats the heck out it happening next week......when it counts.

 

I hope you blow the doors off next week.....you have put in enough time and effort to have certainly earned it. This is what we have worked for months on now....crunch time.

 

I heard that Henderson won......in fact, they announced it on MNF. I am assuming you were there.

[stonewall 647]

Hey Madd.....you still alive bro?

 

Did you get in on some of that VJax action last night? Had him going in 4 of 5 leagues last night. Well worth the wait.

[madd futher mucker 36]

Thanks for asking, Stone. One of the things about my job is that December is my busiest season. I've been working 10 hrs/6 days a week, and at my age, I don't quite have the stamina I used to have. So my normal night-owl routine (and writing this blog) has been disrupted by the need to sleep.

 

I barely had time to set my line-ups before the Thursday nite's game, but in my auction league - which is the only one where I have VJax - I played him AND Rivers, so I have 65.85 points out of those two versus my opponents 1.4 points out of V Davis!. Great way to start. I work tommorrow, but if I have time I'll post my line-ups for all three teams that matter. I've got a real good chance in all of them, but I'll be satisfied with 2 out of 3.

 

Henderson went crazy winning the state 3A football championship, but my son got in trouble in school and got himself grounded so we didn't go, even though I had already bought the tickets (I donated them to the boys and Girls Club so some kids got to use them.) But it was cool that they announced it on MNF.

[madd futher mucker 36]

Completing my post just above, I now have only three teams are left competing for the Championship. (I'm already out of it with a 3rd place finish in my FFPC, and 5th place finishes in both my Deep Keeper and my Dynasty leagues).

 

But I feel quite confident that at least two of the remaining teams will make it into the finals.

 

I’m the first seed in Team 3, my Family and Friends (12 team 16 player PPR keep 7 keeper) team. So everything stayed just as it was, including my starters from the week before:

Ben, Bradford, Tamme, Finley, Carpenter, MIA, TB

MJD, Foster, Stewart, F Jones, Tolbert

Bowe, Garcon, Woodhead (WR/RB)

I feel very good about this week’s match-up, even though my opponent had Rivers put up 31.65 points on me on Thursday.

 

Of course, I lost Dez Bryant in my Redraft league where I also have 1st seed. I used my last roster move to pick up Arrelious Benn, who went right into my line-up this week. Eli goes to my bench in favor of Freeman based on match-ups. Anthony Dixon and Tashard Choice have been somewhat of a disappointment. My roster is now: :

Eli, Freeman, Z Miller, Dreessen, Celek, MIA, NYJ, Longwell

Foster, Stewart, A Dixon, Choice

Fitz, Jennings, Benn, Garcon, Gaffney

This week’s semi-final match shapes up to be a close one!

 

My second seeded Auction league team (PPR) got off to a great start as mentioned above with both Rivers and V Jax putting up great scores on Thursday night. Here’s my week 15 starters:

Rivers, Z Miller, T Gonzalez, TB, CLE, KC, Barth

Foster, Bradshaw, Hillis,

V Jax, Nicks, Garcon, Fitz, M Wallace, M Williams (TB), S Rice

My opponent’s V Davis play was not so good, so I’m up by 64 points already. It is pretty hard to feel negative about your team with a 63 point lead, and when your toughest decisions are whether to go with Fitz or Garcon as your flex and Zach Miller or Gonzalez as your TE.

 

Here’s hoping we all have a big week in our semi-final match-ups!

[madd futher mucker 36]

With a few players left to play, none of the matches were that close, so the die has been cast.

 

My Redraft team that went 12 - 1 in the regular season lost the semi-final match, and is now playing just to make 3rd place money.

 

My 10 - 3 regular season Family and Friends Keeper league also lost. Same deal as above.

 

The Auction league team won easily to advance to the finals.

[stonewall 647]

Losing Rodgers and Foster in several leagues this week hurt me.....as did Hillis, who has been such a stud this year. Fortunately, VJ saved my bacon in 3 leagues in which I will advance to the Championship game. My 2 losses were painful.....one by 3 points and one by a point. If Foster finishes the game I win both. Such is fantasy football.

 

We have had great success this season Madd, but I still struggle to see the sunlight sometimes after close and crushing defeats.

 

Good luck next week.

[madd futher mucker 36]

I lost the Redraft league because I played the matchups and left too many points on my bench.

 

I didn't like the Eli vs the Philly D match-up, so I went with Freeman against Detroit. That cost me 17 points right there. And of course, I 'balanced it off' by playing the Miami D against Buffalo instead of the Jets against Pittsburgh. Coughed up another ten fantasy points. I had a few other guys on my bench who outperformed my starters, but these were the two main culprits.

 

Both were very close choices and I guessed wrong. Can't second-guess them now. I lost my match by 18 pts.

[madd futher mucker 36]

With my busy work season and the Christmas holiday, I haven't updated this thing in a while.

So far three leagues are in the bag with a 3rd (in FFPC league play), 4th (in my dynasty league), and 5th place finish (my 1st year taking over an abandoned team in a deep keeper league).

 

My other three teams did games this week, two of them for 3rd or 4th place finish, and one - my Auction team - for all the marbles. With only Tuesday night's games left, I'm still ahead in all three. I expect to win one consolation and will probably lose the other one but yes, I could easily lose both. But (and I'm gonna jinx myself again here), I feel somewhat confident that my lead will hold up in the championship game in the Auction league. As in last week's games, I left plenty of points on my bench (and started the likes of Fitzgerald and Tony Gonzalez), while two players I started, Tolbert and Benn, were just about the only players to get knocked out of their games early this week due to injury. So I've had either bad luck or bad roster management in this year's play-offs.

 

 

But here are some thoughts on 2010:

 

I can not remember more fantasy injuries than I've seen this year. As a matter of fact, 2010 was the most difficult, least predictable season I can ever remember. Many studs who were drafted early were either outright busts (think Randy Moss) or semi-busts - or they became early injury casualties - at alomst all positions, but especially TE. In fact, here is my off-the-top-of-my-head 1st and 2nd all-waiver wire team. If you picked up your share of these guys, you were well on your way to your fantasy play-offs and maybe a championship:

1st team

QB Michael Vick

RB Peyton Hillis, Mike Tolbert

WR Brandon Lloyd, Mike Williams TB (although he was drafted late in many 12 team leagues)TE, Jacob Tamme

 

2nd team:

QB Jon Kitna

RB Ben Jarvis Green-Ellis, Danny Woodhead (a two-fer)

WR Steve Johnson and the other Mike Williams.

TE Brandon Pettigrew, or Joel Dreessen, or Gronkowski, or Hernandez, or ???

 

One other thing to think about - I believe that due to injuries, more different QBs appeared in games this year than any in NFL history including SIX starting rookie QBs this last weekend.

 

Here's the point:

In season roster management - not the preseason draft - is what separated the winning owners from the losers. And you can expect that trend to continue. Assuming there IS a fantasy football season next year (and I am an optimist), there WILL be an 18 game season. That means even more injuries in the future seasons. IMO, human NFL bodies will just not be up to the additional punishment of the longer season.

 

Fantasy football will have to evolve. We can no longer expect to draft a team and be lucky enough to have most of your players physically survive the season. We will have to PLAN for most of our players breaking down at some point. While it will APPEAR that luck will become even more of a factor because of more injuries, in fact the opposite will be true. Pre-emptive waiver wire pick-ups and extremely active roster management will mean that the more attentive and more active owners will thrive. So IMO the 'skill' factor in roster management will become an even more important ingredient to fantasy success.

 

One other thing: Waiver rules will become even more important in your leagues. First-come open waivers are NOT the answer IMO; neither is allowing unlimited waiver transactions. Review your league waiver rules with the increased injury trend in mind. IMO, the blind bidding system is the best answer.

 

EDIT TO SELF - FPC PLAY: I studied the FFPC weekly waiver wire results for 2010...here are some conclusions.

ALWAYS TRY TO HAVE: 2 healthy QBs, Ds & Ks; 5 functional WRs & RBs, 3 TEs.

pre-week 2 through week 4 - Average waiver cost: $145

weeks 5 through week 11 - Average waiver cost: $55

play-offs week 1 and 2 - Average waiver cost: $5

conclusion - underspend early and don't reach early!

Budget $100 per week for wks 2 through 10 ($900). ($100 total for wk 11 and playoffs).

NEVER allow yourself to get more than $100 off budget in any week!

 

Average cost for successful WR pickups - $30 X 5 = $150

Ave cost for successful TE & RB pick-ups - $120 X 5 = $600

Average cost for successful QB pick-ups - $100 X 2 = $200

That means that Kickers and Defenses must come cheap. $10 X 5 = $50

I must keep my AVERAGE waiver pick-ups as close to $50 as possible next year.

 

 

I'll update this with a final post for the year on Wednesday night, and tell you how my final 3 games came out.

 

 

Good luck to all next year, and if you have been a lurker to this blog, please give me some feedback to let me know if it had any value to you or not. Your honest opinion will help me decide whether or not to do a 3rd year of my blog next season.

[madd futher mucker 36]

So here's how the season played out:

 

Barring an unforeseen stat adjustment, I lost in my Redraft league consolation finals and finished with 4th place by a score of 143.85 - 144.00. I just wasn't able to overcome a one catch performance by Larry Fitzgerald, and an early injury exit by my flex, Arrelous Benn. I just left too many points on my bench. Quite a disappointment after a regular season record of 12 - 1 and leading the league in points scored.

EDIT: Fantasy gods miracle actually happened - took 3rd place with stat correction in my favor!

 

I succeeded in winning my Consolation match in my Friends and Family (formerly Fat Bastards) league to finish 3rd by a margin of 11 fantasy points.

 

And yes I did win the Auction league championship for the second year in a row with a 31.6 point margin of victory.

 

 

Overall, not quite as strong as my two Championship finish last year, but my six teams posted two 5ths place finishes, one 4th place, two 3rd places and of course, I'll always take that Championship!

 

Not enough to pay for a stainless steel range and a refrig like Cara did, but I just might be able to replace that worn out microwave with my fantasy season winnings. And maybe afford a case fo beer besides!

 

This Buds for me - and you too!

[Cstriker 2]

So here's how the season played out:

 

Barring an unforeseen stat adjustment, I lost in my Redraft league consolation finals and finished with 4th place by a score of 143.85 - 144.00. I just wasn't able to overcome a one catch performance by Larry Fitzgerald, and an early injury exit by my flex, Arrelous Benn. I just left too many points on my bench. Quite a disappointment after a regular season record of 12 - 1 and leading the league in points scored.

 

I succeeded in winning my Consolation match in my Friends and Family (formerly Fat Bastards) league to finish 3rd by a margin of 11 fantasy points.

 

And yes I did win the Auction league championship for the second year in a row with a 31.6 point margin of victory.

 

 

Overall, not quite as strong as my two Championship finish last year, but my six teams posted two 5ths place finishes, one 4th place, two 3rd places and of course, I'll always take that Championship!

 

Not enough to pay for a stainless steel range and a refrig like Cara did, but I just might be able to replace that worn out microwave with my fantasy season winnings. And maybe afford a case fo beer besides!

 

This Buds for me - and you too!

 

Congrats on the win. Your dynasty league moves are what i follow closely. I find good value in your evaluation of futures. Please keep it up.

 

Here is to football and fewer injuries in 2011.

[madd futher mucker 36]

Cstriker, I didn't spend nearly enough time explaining dynasty and deep keeper moves this year, because they are mainly made in the off-season.

 

Before the 2009 season, I bought a semi-dynasty team (22 man roster) that an owner had given up on and even though I thought I improved the team, I finished in last place last year, the same as the previous owner did. I had a rash of injuries, but I laid a foundation. This year, after a lot of off-season moves, I finished 1st in scoring during the regular season and I made the play-offs. Unfortunately that was as far as it went - but at least I did make back my original investment.

My final skill players on that PPR team are:

P Manning, Z Miller, Dreessen,

Bradshaw, S Jax, Choice, F Jackson, Woodhead, Sproles

S Moss, Floyd, Amendola, Ajirotutu, L Moore, Cooper, Owens, Mason

Obviously Owens and Mason won't be on the team very long, and obviously, I'll be looking to take the next step for 2011, but the cupboard is no longer bare.

 

My keep 10 deep keeper team with a 20 player roster was bought in March of last year. It was another abandoned team that I took on as a turn-around challenge. I just barely missed the final 4 team play-offs this year, which i consider a great accomplishment. This is a really fun league with a ton of trading and a lot of strategy. The idea is to get value and future draft picks for the players you aren't able to keep before the cutdown date. I've squirreled away 3 first round draft choices, two 2nd rounders, and 3 4th rounders for next year's draft. In addition, I took advantage of the liberal end of season waiver wire rules, dropping my kicker, so my team now looks like this:

Schaub, Eli Manning, J Webb (AS A QB ONLY), Finley, J Graham, Z Miller, Cook

Tolbert, P Thomas, Best, M Bush, Scott

Floyd, Wallace, Knox, S Rice, Sanders, Simpson, Shipley, B White, Armstrong

That is a 21 player roster of young talent, because we are allowed one player on IR (Finley is mine).

I think all of these guys have some nice value, and by consolidating that value, I'm looking forward to being a strong contender next year. (oh, yea, one of our active FFtodayers is also in that league, so i don't like to telegraph some of the stuff I do ahead of time .)

 

You would laugh at how many offseason trades I did to turn this team around, but that is the fun of taking an abandoned team and making it into a contender. That's why this off-season, i think I'll start an offseason blog where I'll talk about player valuation and my strategy for playing in semi-dynasty and deep keeper leagues.

 

The same basic strategies apply to deep dynasty leagues with 30+ player rosters. Some day I might buy into one of those, but right now six leagues is enough for me (or shall we say too many?)

 

 

 

Buying into an existing dynasty team with strangers from forum ads - some tips:

Both my deep keeper and the semi-dynasty teams were bought in advertized "Buy a team/Sell a team" forums. Both were $100 buy-ins and both leagues consisted mainly of veteran owners who played in multiple money leagues. Nothing easy about the competition, so this is not for the faint of heart.

 

BTW, the key to buying into a team with a group of 'strangers' is to study the rules and interview the commissioner by phone in depth about the league. I'm a stickler for rules, and there are certain features I look for, because you have to be able to take a second division team and turn it around - owners who have a contender seldom abandon them. I believe you need to convince yourself that you can break even in your second season in the league. My rule is never to join a league if you don't like the rules or the league philosophy. One of the great things about the deep keeper and dynasty format is that you can create a 'cash cow' contender that pays off every year - which makes it hard to quit that league when you 'know' you should make it into the money every year.

 

In my first deep keeper league, I built up a true dynasty team. It was a 'church league' with no $$$ prizes. But my team was so powerful that the commissioner asked if I would mind doing a complete re-draft to re-create some competitive balance. That was the perfect opportunity for me to 'retire' from the league as Champion. (I still get calls from a few guys in that league for advice).

 

Assuming i do an offseason blog, I'd hope that we can have an active discussion among us hard-core year round owners, rather than just doing my 'monologue'.

[madd futher mucker 36]

So here's how the season played out:

 

Barring an unforeseen stat adjustment, I lost in my Redraft league consolation finals and finished with 4th place by a score of 143.85 - 144.00. I just wasn't able to overcome a one catch performance by Larry Fitzgerald, and an early injury exit by my flex, Arrelous Benn. I just left too many points on my bench. Quite a disappointment after a regular season record of 12 - 1 and leading the league in points scored.

 

I succeeded in winning my Consolation match in my Friends and Family (formerly Fat Bastards) league to finish 3rd by a margin of 11 fantasy points.

 

And yes I did win the Auction league championship for the second year in a row with a 31.6 point margin of victory.

 

 

Overall, not quite as strong as my two Championship finish last year, but my six teams posted two 5ths place finishes, one 4th place, two 3rd places and of course, I'll always take that Championship!

 

Not enough to pay for a stainless steel range and a refrig like Cara did, but I just might be able to replace that worn out microwave with my fantasy season winnings. And maybe afford a case fo beer besides!

 

This Buds for me - and you too!

 

I went back to the league website today and found out I WON my Consolation match in the redraft league that I thought I lost by .15 FP. Lo and behold, a fumble that was originally charged to Redman was corrected to be charged to Roethlingsburger (his starting QB). So he lost 2 FPs and I took 3rd by 1.85.....the other owner had smacktalked me about his close win today and the fact that he took an extra $100 from me....Too bad.....I just got off the phone with the commish, who was writing checks for the league today.

 

Tommorrow I get to really push him over the edge with some smack. Fantasy football....gotta love it! A fitting way for me to end this 2010 blog. Happy new Year to all!