Number 1: Look's Who Lurking (at the bottom of the leaderboard)
Every time I log into fantasy football, I'm reminded of two things: Jason and Scott. The Fever-Baker Dynasty started as a joke...until last year, when they proved, yet again, to be unbeatable. It doesn't matter how good your team is, how many wins you had in the regular season, or what seed you are in the playoffs. That's because Jascott is going to turn around and put up 150 points in the championship game in a big 'ol fuck you to the man.
Or at least, that's how it used to be. I woke up this morning, and guess who's #9 and #10?
Now, I'm not going to say these two are eliminated. 6-7 teams routinely make the playoffs in our league...I think a 5-8 team threatened to make the playoffs last year (that would be me. Travis may have actually been 5-8, but I don't remember). If you get to seven wins you are all but assured a playoff spots.
The difference this year is that we don't have as much disparity at the top or bottom. There's no Kim or Peter (2009 editions) to go 0-10/1-9 and give the rest of us easy wins. We might actually NEED to have winning records to make the playoffs.
I also can't say that Scott or Jason suck. Well, maybe Jason does (Brandon Jackson still haunts his nightmares, no doubt), but Scott is the #1 scariest team at this point. Let's break this down. Scott is the #10 team in our league, and the #1 highest scoring team in our league. IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE? This might be the only case of this being true in the history of ESPN Fantasy Football. Seriously, we should email Mr. Roto and see if anyone else has done this. It's amazing.
The #1 team I least want to play is Prestige Worldwide. If he makes the playoffs: armageddon. But for now, I'll laugh at his misfortune.
2) WTF Standings?
I know I've said this before, but apparently our standings do not function like I once thought. Scott, who has 140 more points that Jason, is ranked below him. Peter, who has about 180 less points than Travis, is ranked ahead of him. I've figured out the reason: the tiebreaker in our league is set to Head-to-Head record...then to PF in the case of a tie. Genius! So Peter's paltry point total doesn't matter...if he beat you 12 to 9 during The Suck Bowl, he's still got the advantage.
3) How can Kyle not make the playoffs?
Okay, this is complicated...here goes.
First off, Kyle needs to lose out. That would put him at 7-6. 6 teams, then, need to have that record or better. Here's how it would have to play out:
Week 10:
Travis beats Rob (actually irrelevant, and I'll tell you why, later)
Peter beats Scott
Drew beats Jason
Ryan beats Kyle
Donel beats Kim
Week 11:
Rob beats Kyle
Travis beats Donel (irrelevant as long as Travis beat me in week 10)
Drew beats Scott
Peter beats Ryan
Kim/Jason game irrelevant
Week 12:
Peter beats Rob
Travis beats Jason
Ryan beats Scott
Donel beats Kyle
Drew beats Kim
Week 13
Rob beats Scott
Drew beats Travis
Peter beats Kyle
Donel beats Jason
Ryan beats Kim
This would give Peter, Ryan, Donel, and Travis 8 wins, and myself and Drew 7 wins. However, since we've got that handy tie, our 7-3-1 beats all tiebreakers with Kyle, putting him in seventh place.
These are NOT THE ONLY TEAMS THAT CAN MAKE THE PLAYOFFS. However, in the case that any other team substitutes into one of the above six slots, the chance of Kyle making the playoffs rises exponentially. Basically, in order to keep Kyle our, all of the 5-4 or better teams + Ryan Good + one of the 3 win teams need to step up, and specifically, Kyle needs to lose out and one of the 3 win teams needs to win out. Since Kyle has a tiebreaker over Jason, it's mathematically impossible for him to be ranked ahead of Kyle in the final rankings. Scott has the tiebreaker over Kyle, and Drew's record is F'd up by the tie, so they are both viable options to overtake Kyle. HOWEVER. Since Scott and Drew play head to head only one of them can reach 7 wins. Scott, meanwhile, plays only teams that need wins (myself, Peter, Ryan), while Drew plays only teams that I've eliminated (Jason, Kim, the latter of which I'l explain in a second) + Travis, who can stand to potentially lose two games, since he has a tiebreaker on Kyle.
So why is Kim out? First off, The fact that she plays Ryan Good and Donel means that she fucks up the whole process of keeping Kyle out of the playoffs. Also, she lose a tiebreak to Kyle, so she can't lose any games and pass him. Donel's fate is in his own hands, and if Ryan can beat Kyle by 36 or more in their second meeting he holds the tiebreaker. Kim's the weakest 4 win team.
There are other permutations that can lead to ultimate victory over the Kyle menace, but this is a guideline. Scott, make sure to lose out, okay?
4) Coincidence...OR FATE???
We've had only our second tie in the history of our league occur between myself and Drew. He also has the same number of points scored. CRAZY WEIRD.
5) The total reversal of trends
There are some things, in this football league, that we hold self-evident. Peter at the bottom of our league. Girls uniformly sucking and doing dumb things (Steven Jackson-gate, ahem). Jascott on top of the league. Travis and Kyle battling for third place. My team starting 1-5, then rising from the ashes only to fall just short of the promised land. Jason getting all of the free agents moments before anyone else has a chance.
What happened? We changed draft style, we changed the waiver wire, and suddenly, everything is in shambles. JaScott are at the bottom of the league, Kim's clawing towards a playoff spot, I'm in 2nd freaking place, Peter's team is still awful but in the LUCKIEST WAY EVER, and Jason spent all of his free agent money in Week 2 and has been forced to pick up every fourth string RB in the league over and over praying for injuries. The times they are a changin'.
I'm going to crunch the numbers at the end of the year, but I'm beginning to get a better idea of what worked and what didn't in regards to spending our fantasy cash. The answer: nothing specific. Kyle and Ryan had the same strategy; spend big then pick up some stragglers. For Kyle, that has worked out beautifully (though I still argue it's luck). For Ryan, the result has been more meh. Scott, Jason, and I, meanwhile, all went for the spend-$20-on-everyone approach, which has, to put it lightly, affected each of our fortunes differently as well. I thought for sure I'd have this all figured out by now, but the sad truth is, nobody knows anything.
Bonus #6: I don't know if anyone noticed, but I was one player away from pitching a perfect hitter on the bench...as in...0 points lost on bench players. Ouch. Depth, anyone?
Bonus #7: This is just for my own edification, but WTF Stephen Gostkowski?!? How many times do kickers get injured early in games???
Text Messages of the Week!
Scott: Fever is challenging Peters season low for scoring. 33 pts with one player left...Peter is kicking his ass with 43 points.
Peter: I'm proud of that award. If you can't be good, be epically bad.
Well put, Peter, well put.
Awards Roundup
Spotlight on Awesomeness: Scott
Remember, Scott, when we left you for dead two weeks ago at 1-6? I'm not saying you're going to make it all the way back, but I spoke to Travis on the phone and said, "God, I hope I don't have to play Scott." Scott Baker: The Destroyer of Dreams
Blackout on Suckiness: Jason
Jason's team is a wreck. There's definitely blow up potential lurking amongst the trash, but I'd have to say that week in, week out, Jason's team is the most likely to melt down. BLACKOUT OF SHAME ON YOUR FAMILY.
Eagle Eye Award: It's a tie! Me with Arian Foster, and Travis with Peyton Hillis, both with 31 points. Bet you wouldn't have thought those two would be top 5 RBs at the beginning of the season.
Scrub Starters of the Weak (I spelled it that way on purpose)
Rob: Steve Smith, 0 pts (anyone want to trade with me?)
Jason: Seahawks D/ST, -5 pts (Wow, worst performance all season by a player?)
Kim: Patriots D/ST, -2 pts (I'm mourning this one)
Kyle: Darren Sproles, 0 pts
Power Rankings
Since I've realized that, duh, ranking teams in a league with ranks is pointless, I decided to mix it up this week and rank teams in terms of buzz. This way, my subjective rankings are of a subjective statistic.
1) Scott: Buzzmeter: Cranked to 11
Everyone's talking about Scott right now. Or at least myself, Travis, and Peter, though I bet Jason is sitting in Ann Arbor cursing Scott's name as well. That name change really turned the tides, didn't it? I wish I could hack into the system and somehow change your name so your players would, once again, be mortal.
2) Peter: Buzzmeter: The sound of a thousand children crying
How can your team be this bad and win all these games? HOW? When you beat me in Week 12, I will find some way to burn your house down.
3) Kyle: Buzzmeter: Middle-Aged Bee
It's hard not to have buzz when you're on top. But it's beginning to feel, more and more, that their might be a new queen in town, and that Kyle's reign at the top of the hive pecking order may soon be over.
4) Rob: Buzzmeter: Enough to make Peter's head explode
Second place, bitches. Another week over one hundred points! I'm going to ride Arian Foster all the way to the bank
5) Travis: Buzzmeter: Southern Cicada
I need to get a bye week so I don't have to face Travis in the first round. Oh god, oh god.
6) Donel: Buzzmeter: Horsefly
Donel, what's up, man? Losing to Drew this week? You can't do this whole "Im'a score 130 points this week, now I'm going to score 70. Oh look, 110! Whoops, 60 pts" thing any more. It's making us (me) lose faith. You're no longer headline material...more like third page, next to the weight loss ads. Not that you need to lose weight, or anything. I've said too much.
7) Drew: Buzzmeter: Resurrected
Good win this week...I think you might be back from the dead. One more win and I'm going to pencil you into the "almost has the chance to maybe compete for a playoff spot" column of my fantasy football master notebook stats list.
8) Ryan: Buzzmeter: Soft hum
I'm losing hope, and actually don't have much to say, which means I'm not feeling it from The Goods, right now.
9) Jason: Buzzmeter: Sad trombone
I'd probably make fun of your team more but I know that you're probably clinically depressed from how bad you've been, recently, and it's no fun to make fun of someone who's on fantasy football suicide watch. Bad karma, and all.
10) Kim: Buzzmeter: PEA
Dear Kim,
Really? 4-5? You put up 58 points this week? Kim, you started off this season so well that I really though you'd have a chance to prove to us all that not all girls who play fantasy football are of the Carissa/Annie/Nava/Karen Kinnaman (who, when was the last time I thought about Karen Kinnaman?) variety. I thought you were going to have this down! I don't even get much smack talk out of you, which makes you infinitely less fun. You're team is like the guy I saw down in the ED today who had a bullet go through his heart but still had a faint glimmer of cardiac activity. I think you're with it enough that I'm willing to give your team a thoracotomy, but I'd be lying if I said there was a good chance you'll get your pulses back.
Love,
Rob
Now for a totally new segment
I hate predicting the games. It makes me anxious, and it's pointless, because who really knows anything about what's going to happen? Instead, welcome to the first installment of Playoff Watch, where I'll break down the permutations of who needs to do what in order to reach the playoffs.
Game 1: Travis vs Rob
In my last four games, three of them are against the top teams in our league (Kyle, Travis, and Peter), or the most devastating (Scott). The chance of me going 0-4 and missing the playoffs is real. We're too far out to call this a make-or-break moment, but this is a game I've got a reasonable chance to win and need desperately. Travis, meanwhile, draws Jason and Drew (which I think he'll win), plus a toss up with Donel. Beating Jason and Drew would give him 7 wins, and, in my opinion, a playoff spot.
For Rob: Really Would Like To Win
For Travis: A Win Would Only Make My Seeding Better
Game 2: Peter vs. Scott
Peter plays Scott, myself, Kyle, and Ryan, the only game of which I'd consider an "easy" game is the one vs. Ryan. Peter does NOT put up enough points week to week to deal with a good week from Scott or myself, but he's got a very realistic chance against Kyle and Ryan. Those two wins would give him seven, which would be enough for a playoff spot. Scott needs to win 3/4, IMO, to make the playoffs, but even that might be dicey, depending about how it all plays out. 7 wins is my predicted cut off, which makes this:
Scott: Not MUST win, but OMG If I don't win this I'm really fucking my own asshole
Peter: Meh, better luck next week
Game 3: Drew vs Jason
Cripple fight! Both of these teams need this win in order to make it all the way to seven, but at 6 wins Drew would be in better shape than anyone else as he'd finish at .500. Jason has terrible PFs, and even if he wins out he'll only have a tiebreaker advantage over five teams: Kim, Travis, Scott, Drew, Donel. Really, in the race for a fifth or sixth spot, the Drew/Scott tiebreakers are drastically less useful, as it is unlikely more than one of the three will factor into the hunt. Donel and Travis are more likely to compete for a 1-4 spot (though time will tell). The Kim tiebreaker helps. But if he loses to Drew this week, I think he might be sunk. Ultimately, I think...
Drew: Could definitely use the win, but alive regardless
Jason: Looking pretty desperate.
Game 4:Ryan vs. Kyle
Kyle's just going for a bye-week, now; Ryan, meanwhile is in an unlucky spot in the pack. He's only got tiebreaker over two teams ahead of him: Peter and Travis. He has the chance to lose that advantage over Peter in Week 11. Ryan could use every win, though this one won't be as important as the subsequent three, as Kyle isn't really his direct competition for a playoff spot.
Ryan: Yes, I would like to win, please
Kyle: Bah, like I care about winning? Opulence, I has it.
Game 5: Donel vs Kim
This is my spotlight game of the week. A win by Kim here puts her at .500 and well on her way to controlling her own playoff destiny. A win for Donel, meanwhile, would take him from "Probable Playoff Spot" to "Possible Bye Week," which is a HUGE jump.
Donel: I don't want to face Scott or Travis in the first round, either
Kim: I'm so excited! I'm so excited! I'm so...scared!
My predictions for possible playoff seeding:
Kyle: 1-2
Rob: 1-5 (that "1" is pretty optimistic)
Donel: 1-5
Peter: 2-6
Travis: 2-6
Kim: 3-6
Ryan: 4-6
Drew: 5-6
Jason: 6
Scott: 5-6
One Last Thing
http://www.amctv.com/originals/The-Walking-Dead/
Everyone should watch this show. I never thought I'd see a human being get chopped up with an ax on basic cable.
Every time I log into fantasy football, I'm reminded of two things: Jason and Scott. The Fever-Baker Dynasty started as a joke...until last year, when they proved, yet again, to be unbeatable. It doesn't matter how good your team is, how many wins you had in the regular season, or what seed you are in the playoffs. That's because Jascott is going to turn around and put up 150 points in the championship game in a big 'ol fuck you to the man.
Or at least, that's how it used to be. I woke up this morning, and guess who's #9 and #10?
Now, I'm not going to say these two are eliminated. 6-7 teams routinely make the playoffs in our league...I think a 5-8 team threatened to make the playoffs last year (that would be me. Travis may have actually been 5-8, but I don't remember). If you get to seven wins you are all but assured a playoff spots.
The difference this year is that we don't have as much disparity at the top or bottom. There's no Kim or Peter (2009 editions) to go 0-10/1-9 and give the rest of us easy wins. We might actually NEED to have winning records to make the playoffs.
I also can't say that Scott or Jason suck. Well, maybe Jason does (Brandon Jackson still haunts his nightmares, no doubt), but Scott is the #1 scariest team at this point. Let's break this down. Scott is the #10 team in our league, and the #1 highest scoring team in our league. IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE? This might be the only case of this being true in the history of ESPN Fantasy Football. Seriously, we should email Mr. Roto and see if anyone else has done this. It's amazing.
The #1 team I least want to play is Prestige Worldwide. If he makes the playoffs: armageddon. But for now, I'll laugh at his misfortune.
2) WTF Standings?
I know I've said this before, but apparently our standings do not function like I once thought. Scott, who has 140 more points that Jason, is ranked below him. Peter, who has about 180 less points than Travis, is ranked ahead of him. I've figured out the reason: the tiebreaker in our league is set to Head-to-Head record...then to PF in the case of a tie. Genius! So Peter's paltry point total doesn't matter...if he beat you 12 to 9 during The Suck Bowl, he's still got the advantage.
3) How can Kyle not make the playoffs?
Okay, this is complicated...here goes.
First off, Kyle needs to lose out. That would put him at 7-6. 6 teams, then, need to have that record or better. Here's how it would have to play out:
Week 10:
Travis beats Rob (actually irrelevant, and I'll tell you why, later)
Peter beats Scott
Drew beats Jason
Ryan beats Kyle
Donel beats Kim
Week 11:
Rob beats Kyle
Travis beats Donel (irrelevant as long as Travis beat me in week 10)
Drew beats Scott
Peter beats Ryan
Kim/Jason game irrelevant
Week 12:
Peter beats Rob
Travis beats Jason
Ryan beats Scott
Donel beats Kyle
Drew beats Kim
Week 13
Rob beats Scott
Drew beats Travis
Peter beats Kyle
Donel beats Jason
Ryan beats Kim
This would give Peter, Ryan, Donel, and Travis 8 wins, and myself and Drew 7 wins. However, since we've got that handy tie, our 7-3-1 beats all tiebreakers with Kyle, putting him in seventh place.
These are NOT THE ONLY TEAMS THAT CAN MAKE THE PLAYOFFS. However, in the case that any other team substitutes into one of the above six slots, the chance of Kyle making the playoffs rises exponentially. Basically, in order to keep Kyle our, all of the 5-4 or better teams + Ryan Good + one of the 3 win teams need to step up, and specifically, Kyle needs to lose out and one of the 3 win teams needs to win out. Since Kyle has a tiebreaker over Jason, it's mathematically impossible for him to be ranked ahead of Kyle in the final rankings. Scott has the tiebreaker over Kyle, and Drew's record is F'd up by the tie, so they are both viable options to overtake Kyle. HOWEVER. Since Scott and Drew play head to head only one of them can reach 7 wins. Scott, meanwhile, plays only teams that need wins (myself, Peter, Ryan), while Drew plays only teams that I've eliminated (Jason, Kim, the latter of which I'l explain in a second) + Travis, who can stand to potentially lose two games, since he has a tiebreaker on Kyle.
So why is Kim out? First off, The fact that she plays Ryan Good and Donel means that she fucks up the whole process of keeping Kyle out of the playoffs. Also, she lose a tiebreak to Kyle, so she can't lose any games and pass him. Donel's fate is in his own hands, and if Ryan can beat Kyle by 36 or more in their second meeting he holds the tiebreaker. Kim's the weakest 4 win team.
There are other permutations that can lead to ultimate victory over the Kyle menace, but this is a guideline. Scott, make sure to lose out, okay?
4) Coincidence...OR FATE???
We've had only our second tie in the history of our league occur between myself and Drew. He also has the same number of points scored. CRAZY WEIRD.
5) The total reversal of trends
There are some things, in this football league, that we hold self-evident. Peter at the bottom of our league. Girls uniformly sucking and doing dumb things (Steven Jackson-gate, ahem). Jascott on top of the league. Travis and Kyle battling for third place. My team starting 1-5, then rising from the ashes only to fall just short of the promised land. Jason getting all of the free agents moments before anyone else has a chance.
What happened? We changed draft style, we changed the waiver wire, and suddenly, everything is in shambles. JaScott are at the bottom of the league, Kim's clawing towards a playoff spot, I'm in 2nd freaking place, Peter's team is still awful but in the LUCKIEST WAY EVER, and Jason spent all of his free agent money in Week 2 and has been forced to pick up every fourth string RB in the league over and over praying for injuries. The times they are a changin'.
I'm going to crunch the numbers at the end of the year, but I'm beginning to get a better idea of what worked and what didn't in regards to spending our fantasy cash. The answer: nothing specific. Kyle and Ryan had the same strategy; spend big then pick up some stragglers. For Kyle, that has worked out beautifully (though I still argue it's luck). For Ryan, the result has been more meh. Scott, Jason, and I, meanwhile, all went for the spend-$20-on-everyone approach, which has, to put it lightly, affected each of our fortunes differently as well. I thought for sure I'd have this all figured out by now, but the sad truth is, nobody knows anything.
Bonus #6: I don't know if anyone noticed, but I was one player away from pitching a perfect hitter on the bench...as in...0 points lost on bench players. Ouch. Depth, anyone?
Bonus #7: This is just for my own edification, but WTF Stephen Gostkowski?!? How many times do kickers get injured early in games???
Text Messages of the Week!
Scott: Fever is challenging Peters season low for scoring. 33 pts with one player left...Peter is kicking his ass with 43 points.
Peter: I'm proud of that award. If you can't be good, be epically bad.
Well put, Peter, well put.
Awards Roundup
Spotlight on Awesomeness: Scott
Remember, Scott, when we left you for dead two weeks ago at 1-6? I'm not saying you're going to make it all the way back, but I spoke to Travis on the phone and said, "God, I hope I don't have to play Scott." Scott Baker: The Destroyer of Dreams
Blackout on Suckiness: Jason
Jason's team is a wreck. There's definitely blow up potential lurking amongst the trash, but I'd have to say that week in, week out, Jason's team is the most likely to melt down. BLACKOUT OF SHAME ON YOUR FAMILY.
Eagle Eye Award: It's a tie! Me with Arian Foster, and Travis with Peyton Hillis, both with 31 points. Bet you wouldn't have thought those two would be top 5 RBs at the beginning of the season.
Scrub Starters of the Weak (I spelled it that way on purpose)
Rob: Steve Smith, 0 pts (anyone want to trade with me?)
Jason: Seahawks D/ST, -5 pts (Wow, worst performance all season by a player?)
Kim: Patriots D/ST, -2 pts (I'm mourning this one)
Kyle: Darren Sproles, 0 pts
Power Rankings
Since I've realized that, duh, ranking teams in a league with ranks is pointless, I decided to mix it up this week and rank teams in terms of buzz. This way, my subjective rankings are of a subjective statistic.
1) Scott: Buzzmeter: Cranked to 11
Everyone's talking about Scott right now. Or at least myself, Travis, and Peter, though I bet Jason is sitting in Ann Arbor cursing Scott's name as well. That name change really turned the tides, didn't it? I wish I could hack into the system and somehow change your name so your players would, once again, be mortal.
2) Peter: Buzzmeter: The sound of a thousand children crying
How can your team be this bad and win all these games? HOW? When you beat me in Week 12, I will find some way to burn your house down.
3) Kyle: Buzzmeter: Middle-Aged Bee
It's hard not to have buzz when you're on top. But it's beginning to feel, more and more, that their might be a new queen in town, and that Kyle's reign at the top of the hive pecking order may soon be over.
4) Rob: Buzzmeter: Enough to make Peter's head explode
Second place, bitches. Another week over one hundred points! I'm going to ride Arian Foster all the way to the bank
5) Travis: Buzzmeter: Southern Cicada
I need to get a bye week so I don't have to face Travis in the first round. Oh god, oh god.
6) Donel: Buzzmeter: Horsefly
Donel, what's up, man? Losing to Drew this week? You can't do this whole "Im'a score 130 points this week, now I'm going to score 70. Oh look, 110! Whoops, 60 pts" thing any more. It's making us (me) lose faith. You're no longer headline material...more like third page, next to the weight loss ads. Not that you need to lose weight, or anything. I've said too much.
7) Drew: Buzzmeter: Resurrected
Good win this week...I think you might be back from the dead. One more win and I'm going to pencil you into the "almost has the chance to maybe compete for a playoff spot" column of my fantasy football master notebook stats list.
8) Ryan: Buzzmeter: Soft hum
I'm losing hope, and actually don't have much to say, which means I'm not feeling it from The Goods, right now.
9) Jason: Buzzmeter: Sad trombone
I'd probably make fun of your team more but I know that you're probably clinically depressed from how bad you've been, recently, and it's no fun to make fun of someone who's on fantasy football suicide watch. Bad karma, and all.
10) Kim: Buzzmeter: PEA
Dear Kim,
Really? 4-5? You put up 58 points this week? Kim, you started off this season so well that I really though you'd have a chance to prove to us all that not all girls who play fantasy football are of the Carissa/Annie/Nava/Karen Kinnaman (who, when was the last time I thought about Karen Kinnaman?) variety. I thought you were going to have this down! I don't even get much smack talk out of you, which makes you infinitely less fun. You're team is like the guy I saw down in the ED today who had a bullet go through his heart but still had a faint glimmer of cardiac activity. I think you're with it enough that I'm willing to give your team a thoracotomy, but I'd be lying if I said there was a good chance you'll get your pulses back.
Love,
Rob
Now for a totally new segment
I hate predicting the games. It makes me anxious, and it's pointless, because who really knows anything about what's going to happen? Instead, welcome to the first installment of Playoff Watch, where I'll break down the permutations of who needs to do what in order to reach the playoffs.
Game 1: Travis vs Rob
In my last four games, three of them are against the top teams in our league (Kyle, Travis, and Peter), or the most devastating (Scott). The chance of me going 0-4 and missing the playoffs is real. We're too far out to call this a make-or-break moment, but this is a game I've got a reasonable chance to win and need desperately. Travis, meanwhile, draws Jason and Drew (which I think he'll win), plus a toss up with Donel. Beating Jason and Drew would give him 7 wins, and, in my opinion, a playoff spot.
For Rob: Really Would Like To Win
For Travis: A Win Would Only Make My Seeding Better
Game 2: Peter vs. Scott
Peter plays Scott, myself, Kyle, and Ryan, the only game of which I'd consider an "easy" game is the one vs. Ryan. Peter does NOT put up enough points week to week to deal with a good week from Scott or myself, but he's got a very realistic chance against Kyle and Ryan. Those two wins would give him seven, which would be enough for a playoff spot. Scott needs to win 3/4, IMO, to make the playoffs, but even that might be dicey, depending about how it all plays out. 7 wins is my predicted cut off, which makes this:
Scott: Not MUST win, but OMG If I don't win this I'm really fucking my own asshole
Peter: Meh, better luck next week
Game 3: Drew vs Jason
Cripple fight! Both of these teams need this win in order to make it all the way to seven, but at 6 wins Drew would be in better shape than anyone else as he'd finish at .500. Jason has terrible PFs, and even if he wins out he'll only have a tiebreaker advantage over five teams: Kim, Travis, Scott, Drew, Donel. Really, in the race for a fifth or sixth spot, the Drew/Scott tiebreakers are drastically less useful, as it is unlikely more than one of the three will factor into the hunt. Donel and Travis are more likely to compete for a 1-4 spot (though time will tell). The Kim tiebreaker helps. But if he loses to Drew this week, I think he might be sunk. Ultimately, I think...
Drew: Could definitely use the win, but alive regardless
Jason: Looking pretty desperate.
Game 4:Ryan vs. Kyle
Kyle's just going for a bye-week, now; Ryan, meanwhile is in an unlucky spot in the pack. He's only got tiebreaker over two teams ahead of him: Peter and Travis. He has the chance to lose that advantage over Peter in Week 11. Ryan could use every win, though this one won't be as important as the subsequent three, as Kyle isn't really his direct competition for a playoff spot.
Ryan: Yes, I would like to win, please
Kyle: Bah, like I care about winning? Opulence, I has it.
Game 5: Donel vs Kim
This is my spotlight game of the week. A win by Kim here puts her at .500 and well on her way to controlling her own playoff destiny. A win for Donel, meanwhile, would take him from "Probable Playoff Spot" to "Possible Bye Week," which is a HUGE jump.
Donel: I don't want to face Scott or Travis in the first round, either
Kim: I'm so excited! I'm so excited! I'm so...scared!
My predictions for possible playoff seeding:
Kyle: 1-2
Rob: 1-5 (that "1" is pretty optimistic)
Donel: 1-5
Peter: 2-6
Travis: 2-6
Kim: 3-6
Ryan: 4-6
Drew: 5-6
Jason: 6
Scott: 5-6
One Last Thing
http://www.amctv.com/originals/The-Walking-Dead/
Everyone should watch this show. I never thought I'd see a human being get chopped up with an ax on basic cable.
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