Week 11 – We’d rather be “lucky” than good
It just hit me…. We’re heading to WEEK TWELVE? ALREADY? It seems like we just started PLAYING last week. Two more weeks, and the 2018 DFFL Playoffs will begin. (Note: A message from Commissioner Francis – Remember, those of you that make the 2018 DFFL Playoffs – You can only pick up a replacement player off the waiver wire if you’ve suffered an “IR / Out” injury to one of your core members. And, when you DO pick up a player, he MUST start, the next week. No “stashing.”)
Since the league will soon be closing its’ doors for the 2018 season, we’ll add some more news tidbits to our normal WWIT column in the next segment, but, for now, here’s just a reminder. “Tidbits” are great, but we’re all here to see how that bastion of mediocrity looks after 11 weeks of “combat.” It’s time to answer that 12-year-old question…
“What Was I THINKING?”
More on the DFFL “Race for Mediocrity” later. First up – DFFL Playoff Headlines! Let’s look at how the playoff races are shaping up.
Lombardi – The Norsemen and the Bolts both sit at 5-and-6 on the season with two games remaining. Note: Rob’s Norse Crew has the h/h tiebreaker in hand and can win the division with another win over the Bolts in Week 13.
Halas – The Grim Reaper needs just one win or a loss by MGL to wrap up the division title, and possibly a #1 playoff seed. The 7-and-4 MGL franchise looks like a very solid wild card playoff team and could still wrest the division title away from the Reaper with 2 late wins.
Shula – The Baltimore Ravens can wrap up the division title with a win over YNH/LGJ in week 12 play. If LeGOAT wins, it’s chaos in the division with one week left. Could be anyone’s division.
Landry – Full Tilt Poker can wrap up the division title and a first-round bye in the playoffs with either a win vs. the Trojans in Week 12 or a loss by the Burbank Thumpers, or a victory in Week 13 versus the Grim Reaper.
And THERE are your DFFL notes of the week! Next up – let’s get back to business with the WWIT column, starting with the Genius Division.
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And, just as predicted, not one, but TWO perfect scores popped up on the Week 11 Genius docket – One by our esteemed commissioner, Jim Francis of the Bolts, and the other by the man currently dominating the Halas division with the best record in the DFFL, Mr. Alan Sullivan. Those perfectos will receive 7 Genius points for low score of the week, plus two more Genius points for the perfect scores. Nice goin’, gentlemen!
The “Genius” silver medal this week goes to our resident Cowboys fan, Robert Abundis of the Killing Fields, who put up another nice week of scoring by losing only one point to the bench. That’ll be good for 5 Genius points, which moves Robert into a tie for second place in the Genius Division. Jesus Cortez of the Mob Squad takes down third place honors and 3 Genius points by losing just 2 points to his bench. (We’ll give out one-point bonuses this week to FTP, the Norsemen, MGL, Burbank, and the Trojans for single-digit losses for the week.)
But – When the dust settled in Week 11 play, our resident Genius, Anthony Pitassi, maintained his 11.5-point lead over the pack, with just two weeks left. Week 12 could settle things, we’ll have to see how things play out.
OK, here’s how they currently stand after Week 11 of the 2018 DFFL Genius Division, with just 2 weeks of play left….
GENIUS DIVISION – WEEK 11 STANDINGS – DFFL 2018
1. Mr. Go Lucky (44.5 points) – Anthony holds his 11.5-point lead. Get the hardware ready.
2. The Killing Fields (33 points) – Robert’s strong second half has put him into the mix
2. Bolts (33 points) – Fireworks next week, when Bolts / Norsemen vie for the division title
2. Burbank Thumpers (33 points) – Still in this thing, but needs a perfecto to have a shot
5. Your Name Here (29 points) – No positive score this week, could be out of it.
6. Run & Gun (24 points) – 2018 not Ron’s year. He’ll be back next year.
7. Trojans (21 points) – A great franchise that got bad breaks every week this season.
8. Baltimore Ravens (20 points) – See below. This young man is “making his move.”
9. Grim Reaper (19 points) – Another good week for the playoff-bound Reaper.
10. Mob Squad (10 points) – Still smiling with that big Rams’ win on Monday Night
11. Norsemen (8 points) – Lying in wait for the Bolts game in Week 13
11. Full Tilt Poker (8 points) – Pitiful. Could move up to 10th place, but most likely will not.
Yet to score – Me. Again. 8 points in 11 weeks? Awful.
That’s all for the Genius Division. Looks like Anthony has that baby locked up, unless something kooky happens in the next two weeks. OK – Let’s get to the meat-and-potatoes of this column, my friends. We need to find out who should have called the psychic hotline for help with their lineups, but decided to “go it alone,” and totally mess things up. It is time to ask the question….
What Was I THINKING?”
As usual, the Dunn-Edwards Fantasy Football League this knack for doing something that defies logic, and stretches the imagination of our scoreboard past the realm of believability.
What might this be, you ask? Simple.
In Week 11 WWIT play, we had not one, but TWO teams score Genius points… AND WWIT points, IN THE SAME WEEK. I’m telling you, ONLY in the DFFL.
We’ll get to those “special” franchises that did the infamous “double-play” last weekend in a minute…. But first, let’s hand out the WWIT tarnished gold medal to the franchise that lost a whopping 29 points to the bench in Week 11 play –
Grant Herman, of the Baltimore Ravens.
Grant benched the Colts (against his father’s suggestion), he benched Adam Humphries (after being told he’d have a good week), and benched Josh Adams of the Eagles (a surprise). The good news? Grant’s Ravens team won his Week 11 game by almost 30 points! The BAD news? The 7 WWIT points he won for this malfeasance of lineup selection has elevated Grant into the top spot in our legendary “What Was I Thinking” competition with just two weeks to play.
Way to go, son! (I wish I could leave 29 points on my bench, and STILL score 125 points in a game.)
“OK, Steve, tell us about the “double-play” teams!” No, not yet… Let’s move to the WWIT silver medalists (yes, there were TWO), and what a surprise THIS is – One of the silver medalists is the DFFL franchise that has been LEGENDARY in the area of making late moves to challenge for a “win” in WWIT – Your Name Here, now piloted by Ryan Francis, who lost 23 points to the bench in Week 11. And – The other 2nd-place weekly finisher, Ron Bolton, of all teams, lost 23 points to HIS bench. Both teams receive 5 WWIT points, and our thanks, for creating this log-jam.
OK, here we go… The “double-play” teams were the two Bronze medalists in WWIT for Week 11. We had a tie for third-worst bench this week – Rob Mielke of the Norsemen, and Jose Cano of the Burbank Thumpers. Both franchises lost (are you ready?) SIX POINTS TO THEIR BENCH in Week 11.
SIX. These two teams get a minus-3 WWIT point score for losing SIX points to their bench for the week, and, as mentioned earlier, ALSO received one GENIUS point each for the single-digit loss for the week. Only the DFFL could do this. Oh, and not only THAT, but Jose ALSO receives two EXTRA WWIT points for not benching his IR kicker for the other guy that WAS playing.
The DFFL. (Laugh) OK, here are the updated WWIT Standings….
WHAT WAS I THINKING DIVISION – WEEK 11 RESULTS – 2018
5. Dirty Birds (-26 points) – A brand new leader, at the wrong time of the year.
3. Hoarse-Men (-25 points) – Absolute “Rob-“bery, but it happened.
5. Pop-Gun Run (-24 points) – I don’t believe this. This cannot be. Must be a mistake.
5. Nameless Wonder (-24 points) – The “Miller Move” makes its’ appearance!
1. Tragic Trojans (-23 points) – Knew he’d fall out of the top three.
1. Worst Show on Paper (-23 points) – Still hanging around the leaders
3. Grim Reeker (-22 points) – Perfecto in Genius Division says it all.
9. Beautiful Downtown Burbank (-21 points) – Whatzup with that PK thing?
5. Dead on the Field (-19 points) – Still in the running, I guess. (Not really.)
10. Fully Tilted Poker (-11 points) – I “think” I’m out of it. Maybe. (Maybe not.)
11. Mr. Not-So-Lucky (-10 points) – Genius Champion-in-waiting.
11. Dolts (-10 points) – One more good week, and he’s eliminated from WWIT
Well, that’s all for this week, friends. As always, I have all the e-mails to ship out the parakeet paper every week, on Tuesday, normally around Noon. Some of you don’t have Microsoft Office / Word? If that’s the case, just check out the weekly WWIT at www.theacescasinoblog.com. It’ll be there! Have a good week!
