{Current Mood: Saucy}
Good Evening.
I swear this will be the last one of these until Friday.
But I figured I would update my 2012 Fantasy Football Notebook with my Week 1 results.
Spoiler: No early season tears were shed because my worst fear, being 0-1 in all of my leagues after Week 1, did not come to fruition.
Instead, in what could be either a good or a bad thing, I went 1-0 in all five of my leagues for Week 1. That’s a 5-0 start to my 2012 Fantasy Football season. 75 wins away from an unprecedented perfect fantasy season that will never come to fruition.
I cite this as possibly being a bad thing because we all know how much fluctuation there is from Week 1 onwards in the regular NFL season and the same applies to fantasy. Was this merely a mirage? Or was it an early sign that this will be a dominant season on my end?
In some league it seems like it could be the former, while in other leagues it looks like it could be the latter. It’s way too early to tell.
And I’m not satisfied starting off the year 5-0 overall because there’s always room for improvement. And if I’m going to win any league titles, I need to improve as the year goes by (the need to improve is currently more pressing in some league than others).
That being said, it’s time to let the Citizens of the Pond know how I fared.
If you’re confused as to which league is which, I invite you to check out my Manifesto or the 2012 Draft Day results entries in my 2012 Fantasy Notebook.
ONWARD!
1) Montoya’s League: The Dayman (me) d. The Knuckle Dusters (league commish and former BWO Champion Don Montoya) by a score of 166.92 to 137.66
-This one got a little scary when the 49ers decided to play well against Green Bay and Alex Smith, Montoya’s QB2, decided to throw TD passes to Vernon Davis, Montoya’s TE, and Randy Moss, his WR2 that he benched Vincent Jackson for.
-But thanks to a strong performance by my QB1 Matt Ryan, the top overall fantasy point-producer for the week in all formats (38.46 points in this league), this was my most lopsided victory of the week.
-Even with CJ Spiller (23.40) and Michael Bush (16.20) on my bench outscoring Shady & Jamaal Charles, my starting RBs, I still managed to put up the high score for the week in this league.
-A lot of my core players didn’t put up the numbers I was hoping for, but this was offset by strong performances from Reggie Wayne, Lance Moore, Shayne Graham, & the Cardinals defense.
-Aside from Arian Foster and Andre Johnson, Montoya really didn’t have anyone who put up good enough numbers for him to have a much of a shot in this one.
-The Dayman, defending league champion, has started off his season with a bang and a statement victory.
2) Ballbusters League: The Sizzlers (my dad & I) d. The Excitable Boys by a score of 94 to 84
-On draft night our buddy the Lawyer Man not only picked himself to win our extremely stacked division, but he picked The Sizzlers, the defending league champion, to miss the playoffs altogether.
-Eight days later he’s 0-1, we’re 1-0, and we also happen to be in first in the division and second place overall.
-I know it’s only Week 1 but these things are worth mentioning.
-Despite Ronnie Brown’s efforts to single-handedly cost us a win by running for a whopping five yards, strong performances from Peyton Manning, Ray Rice, Miles Austin, Lance Moore, and Robbie Gould helped lead us to victory and overcome crappy outings by Hakeem Nicks and the Giants defense.
-The Excitable Boys gave us a late scare though when Antonio Gates started catching passes. Fortunately for us, he didn’t catch enough of them. Tony Romo and Pierre Garcon provided most of his offensive punch. But who knew that playing Wes Welker (3 points) over Alshon Jeffery (13 points) would’ve been the difference between a loss and a tie? You obviously have to play Welker in that situation, but these things are worth mentioning.
-To say this was a statement win for The Sizzlers would be an understatement. Now we get the chance to send the Lawyer Man to 0-2 next week and continue our bid for a repeat.
-By the way, I’d be remiss not to mention that the main reason we didn’t get the high score for the week in this league is because Carson Palmer has zero arm strength and did nothing put dump the ball off to Darren McFadden who had 13 catches which helped our league commish earn the weekly high score (exasperated sigh).
3) CCAFFL: The Houston Oilers (me) d. The Young Bloodz by a score of 107 to 103 and are currently in 3rd place overall out of 14 teams
-Hooray for reverse psychology! This was the only match I predicted myself to lose and I squeaked out a win. And thank God that reverse psychology didn’t cost me the four games I predicted myself to win.
-Regardless, The Houston Oilers took a 50-point lead into the Monday night games and the Bloodz almost completed a mammoth comeback with the trio of Philip Rivers (15 points), Malcom Floyd (13 points), & Nate Kaeding (the high scorer for the week on the Bloodz’ roster with 18 points). Oh, and so much for my prediction that Darrius Heyward-Bey would have a better game than Malcom Floyd. I forgot that Carson Palmer is the new Chad Pennington. Stevan Ridley and Rob Gronkowski also performed well for the Bloodz.
-As for the reason I did so well and currently find myself sitting in 3rd place overall after Week 1? Two words: Julio Jones
-Without Julio Jones and his 23 points, I would probably be sitting somewhere between 11th and 14th place overall after this week. To the owners who decided that protecting AJ Green over Julio would be a good idea: THANK YOU!
-Lackluster performances from guys like Greg Jennings were not enough to bring this team down as Kevin Smith, Julio, Jacob Tamme, Robbie Gould, & the Cardinals defense all put up good numbers. And I might as well have left the inactive Austin Collie in my starting lineup because the other Steve Smith only got me one point.
-I should also mention that I don’t feel too bad about benching Peyton Manning and CJ Spiller for Matthew Stafford and Trent Richardson because Spiller only put up the numbers he did because Fred Jackson got hurt and Peyton only outscored Stafford by six points. And Stafford should’ve outscored Peyton because Brandon Pettigrew dropped an easy TD and got picked off on the very next play.
-Regardless, the Oilers are in 3rd place at 107 points behind only The Mad Dogs, the team that the fantasy n00b drafted for an absentee owner, at 114 points and Dos W’s, the team that embarrassed me in the head to head finals last season, at 134 points.
-I would’ve liked to establish an early lead after Week 1 but being only 27 points out first place isn’t too bad. One really bad week can kill any realistic shot you have of winning this league so my studs need to keep producing, my injured and suspended players need to hurry the hell back, & I need to make the right decisions as it relates to improving this roster that definitely needs some work if it’s going to be a contender late into the season.
4) Kirby’s All Stars: Powdered Toast Man (me) d. Dragon Zord (PSS Writer Dan) by a score of 132 to 119
-Going into the Monday night games in this head to head battle between Pond Scum Sports writers, I had a 119-65 lead over Dan. I had Ronnie Brown and Robert Meachem still to play while Dan had the four-headed monster of Philip Rivers, Ray Rice, Torrey Smith, & Antonio Gates.
-Despite the best efforts of Ronnie Brown to cost me this game by doing nothing of merit, my remaining two did just enough to hold off Dan’s furious rally and Powdered Toast Man ended up with the victory
-Tony Romo was the high scorer for my team this week though I can take some solace in knowing that had I played Matthew Stafford like I intended to, I still would’ve won by one point. Big games from Kevin Smith, Demaryius Thomas, & Connor Barth also helped.
-I didn’t get the games I was hoping for out of a lot of my core guys, namely Calvin Johnson & Hakeem Nicks, but at least they didn't get me negative points. And at least my prediction of winning this game due to having the better defensive matchup didn’t wind up costing me the win instead; even though Buffalo’s defense got me -3 points while the Patriots defense got 16 points for Dan. Not the first time I’ll be wrong and not the last time either so I’m OK with that.
-Dan got good performances out of a few of his players but the goose egg put up by Greg Little was a killer.
-After Week 1, I’m currently in 2nd place overall by virtue of leading the “Kel” division and 4th in total points (Yes, the divisions are named “Kenan” and “Kel”).
-Good but not great showing here. I feel this team will definitely need some improving as the season goes on if I want to grab a 2nd league championship in 3 years.
-Other performances to note: The Animaniacs (my cousin Vinnie who is the defending league champ) squeaked out a 126-122 victory (thanks to Drew Brees, Reggie Wayne, & Jacob Tamme) but is 4th in the “Kenan” division and 6th in total points.
-Former Executive Producer of Monmouth University’s sports television show ‘The Extra Point’ Frankie Morales (The Quailmen) recorded the high score for the week with 164 points (thanks to Matt Ryan, Shady, Julio Jones, Andre Johnson, and the Texans defense) and, after finishing in 8th out of 10 teams in 2011, is currently in 1st place.
-Also, the team of Cowabunga Batman (PSS contributor The Joan) lost her 12th game in 14 tries over the last two seasons against Andrew “Yeah I just drafted ANOTHER WR” Lamberti and the Texas Rangers (with Tom Brady, Jimmy Graham, Stevan Ridley, & Miles Austin) by a score of 158-128. But at least she has the most total points of all the losing teams (thanks to Arian Foster, Jeremy Maclin, and Brandon Marshall) which currently puts her at 7th place in a league where six teams make the playoffs.
5) Convicks: This Guy (me) d. Grandma’s Box (my Uncle Ger) by a score of 109.78 to 103.40
-The closest and least convincing of all my victories. This is looking like the league where I’m going to need to do the most work to improve the team being that I recorded the second lowest score of the week and only won this match because I played the team that had the lowest score of the week.
-I entered the final Monday night game down by two points after Ray Rice pulled Uncle Ger back into the lead. And despite the best efforts of Ronnie Brown to make me look like an asshole for picking him up and starting him because I thought he’d at least be competent enough to rush for more than five yards, he did manage to catch a few passes which wound up putting me ahead and helping me win by the skin of my teeth.
-If not for Julio Jones, Doug Martin, Kyle Rudolph, & Connor Barth, I would currently be in dead last and Uncle Ger would currently be in 5th place where I find myself after Week 1. Michael Vick, Greg Jennings, Marques Colston, & Ronnie Brown almost cost me with subpar games (or, in Vick’s case, a shitty game), but it was the decision to drop the Ravens defense and play the Bills defense (-3 points) that almost sent me on a one-way trip to last place.
-When I asked Uncle Ger on Thursday morning if he regretted playing Matthew Stafford over Tony Romo against me, he said no. If I ask him now, I think his answer will be different. Oh yeah, he also had RG3 sitting on his bench as well. Regardless, Stafford was the right call even if it cost him a win. Fred Jackson’s injury, as well as keeping Stevan Ridley and Malcom Floyd on his bench, didn’t help. At least he had Ray Rice and Demaryius Thomas.
-It was ugly but a win is a win and I’ll take it. Because there’s always time to improve your team as the season goes on. You can’t change what it says in the win-loss column (well, you can’t do it legally anyway). Regardless, I have a lot of work to do if I’m going to contend in this league.
-Other performances of note: In her very first league game, The Joan (Password Is Taco) pulled off what has to be classified as a major upset as she held off a late charge from Philip Rivers to pull off a 123.22-118.64 victory over the former league champion Black Horaces (with Arian Foster, DeMarco Murray, Aaron Hernandez, & the Texans defense).
-With the help of Peyton Manning, Matt Forte, Jimmy Graham, & Robbie Gould (and despite having Randall Cobb on her bench), she is currently one spot ahead of me in the standings in 4th place and with a team that can definitely contend.
-I should also mention that she considered starting Russel Wilson over Peyton Manning. I talked her out of it by betting her that if Wilson outscored Peyton, I would let her kick me in the balls as hard as she wanted. Twice. Thank you Peyton Manning for keeping my balls pain-free.
-One more performance of note: PSS Writer Dan, two-time defending league champion, posted on our message board that after dispatching of myself and my Uncle Ger in the previous two championship games, all he had to do was defeat my Uncle Vin to establish dominance over my family.
-Well, they played each other in Week 1 and Uncle Vin won by a score of 155.86-131.64. Dan had good games from players like Tom Brady, Stephen Gostkowki, & BenJarvus Green-Ellis but his team couldn't compete with the firepower of Uncle Vin's which included Drew Brees, Reggie Wayne, & Brandon Marshall.
-Uncle Vin is also now currently in 1st place overall while Dan is in 7th. Dan's still 4th in total points while I'm 9th in that category so it's not like his team is bad or anything. But regardless, it goes down as a statement win for Uncle Vin and the Farmer Teds. Still a long season so anything can, and probably will, happen.
_________________________________________________________________
-That's all for this entry into the 2012 Fantasy Football Notebook. Come back tomorrow when I finally (hopefully) have a post about something other than fantasy football.
Deuces,
-Ray-
No comments:
Post a Comment