Fantasy Football Tuesday: Championship Week 1

This past weekend was Week 16 in the NFL and the weekend for several championships in a couple of the leagues I'm in currently.  In one league, I lost (unfortunately due to a trade that took place a few days prior to the matchup) but in another league I won.  That league (Dogs of War) was the first year I've been in this league.  I was invited by a couple from church to participate.  Not bad for my first year in the league to win the title.  Here's the recap of the championship game:

Championship: GSP Titans Gets Win Against Minimal Talent

• 
  GSP Titans (10-6) 156.91
• 
  Minimal Talent (8-8) 138.84

GSP Titans, led by Matt Ryan with 47.41 points and Roddy White with 29.65, beat Minimal Talent, 156.91 - 138.84. GSP Titans has put a nice string together after winning their last three matchups in a row. GSP Titans gets revenge for their last matchup with Minimal Talent (a Week 13 loss: 128.64 - 93.95), and their head-to-head record improves to 3-1.

GSP Titans Smooth Moves

• The 29.65 points scored by Roddy White was the second-highest WR score in the league this week and the sixth-best point total by a WR in the league this season.
• The Chicago Bears Defense had 27.00 points, the highest DEF score of the week and the fifth-highest score among DEF in the league this season.
• Stephen Gostkowski scored 11.50 points, the highest K score in the league this week.
• Matt Ryan ranked fourth in the league in scoring and had the highest output of any player on GSP Titans this season with 47.41 points.
• Benched the Seattle Seahawks Defense, which had the lowest DEF score on the team with 19.00 points.

Minimal Talent Regret Tracker

• Owen Daniels scored 2.85 points against a projected 6.06 and has now underachieved in four straight games.
• At the DEF position, Minimal Talent got outscored 27.00 - 3.00 by GSP Titans.
• Minimal Talent fell short at the K position, getting outscored 11.50 - 2.00 by GSP Titans.
• The 3.70 points scored by Arian Foster was a season-low. He had a projected 22.97-point total, and has now underachieved in four straight games.
• Lawrence Tynes was last on the team in scoring with 2.00 points against a projected 7.48 and underachieved for the third time this season.

What If

• GSP Titans would be 7-9 if they played Minimal Talent every week.
• GSP Titans would have beaten only one other team besides Minimal Talent this week.
• Had they played each other last week, GSP Titans would have defeated Minimal Talent 155.10 - 144.08.
• GSP Titans would be 6-6 if they played the same schedule as Minimal Talent.
• If GSP Titans had played every team in the league each week, they would be 37-39.
• Minimal Talent would have lost to two other teams besides GSP Titans this week.
• Minimal Talent would be 8-4 if they played the same schedule as GSP Titans.
• If they played every team every week, Minimal Talent would be 42-34.

Game Notes

• Four of the 10 wins for GSP Titans this season have come despite their opponent scoring higher than their season average.
• Of the losses Minimal Talent has had, six were against opponents who topped their season scoring average that week.
• GSP Titans is on the longest active win streak in the league, winning three straight games.
• Minimal Talent scored 138.84 points and lost. It is the sixth-highest losing score in the league this season.
• It was the second time this season that Minimal Talent has had the lowest score in the league.
• The margin of victory for the matchup ended up being the smallest in the league this week at 18.07 points.
• Minimal Talent could not extend their three-game win streak.
• A.J. Green did little to help GSP Titans, underperforming versus projections for the fifth straight game with 9.80 points against a projected 12.96.

Fantasy Football Tuesday: Week 15

It's Fantasy Football Tuesday.  It's been a few weeks but I'm back (do think next year when I do this I'll make mention of more leagues than just one, be more motivated to blog about that).  It's the middle of the playoffs.  In 8 leagues, I made the playoffs in 5 of them.  In the JustUs Geeks Fantasy League, I limped in as the 4 seed and didn't secure a bye.  But I won last week and then this week had a matchup with the #1 seed and a team I had lost to earlier in the season.  Given the stakes, my team pulled out the upset and is now onto the championship game.  Here's the recap:

Playoffs: Hub City All Stars Gets Comeback Stunner Against Vlad Dracul

• 
  Hub City All Stars (9-6) 189.52
• 
  Vlad Dracul (8-6) 155.16

Hub City All Stars pulled off a comeback on Sunday night and also got the eighth-highest point total in the league to date when they upset Vlad Dracul 189.52 - 155.16. Hub City All Stars had to overcome a 64.36-point deficit and an 18.40-point spread. This shocker avenges a 172.44 - 138.78 loss to Vlad Dracul back in Week 10. On top of the loss, Vlad Dracul had a starter score zero points (Danario Alexander).
Hub City All Stars Smooth Moves

• Tom Brady led the league in scoring and had the 17th-most points in the league this season with 54.82.
• Aaron Hernandez had the most points of any TE in the league this week with 15.20.
• Was smart to sit the Chicago Bears Defense this week, which had 11.00 points, the lowest DEF score on the team.
• Eric Decker had the second-highest score of any WR in the league this week with 25.30 points.
• Frank Gore scored 17.70 points, which ranked sixth out of all the RBs in the league this week.

Vlad Dracul Regret Tracker

• Left the Denver Broncos Defense on the bench, where they scored 30.00 points to beat their scoring projection by 245.6%, the fifth-highest percentage in the league.
• Picked up Dan Bailey, who scored 11.00 points against a projected 7.87, but left him on the bench.
• Vlad Dracul needed more points from the QB position, where Hub City All Stars beat them 54.82 - 20.16.
• At the DEF position, Vlad Dracul got outscored 25.00 - 11.00 by Hub City All Stars.
• Vlad Dracul could have used more points from the TE position, where Hub City All Stars beat them 15.20 - 6.90.

What If

• If Hub City All Stars played Vlad Dracul every week, they would be 6-8 this season.
• Besides Vlad Dracul, Hub City All Stars would have defeated four other teams this week.
• If they played the same schedule as Vlad Dracul, Hub City All Stars would be 8-4.
• If Hub City All Stars had played every team in the league each week, they would be 64-35.
• In addition to Hub City All Stars, Vlad Dracul would have lost to just two other teams this week.
• If they played the same schedule as Hub City All Stars, Vlad Dracul would be 8-4.
• Vlad Dracul would be 65-31 if they played every team every week.

Game Notes

• Vlad Dracul has lost six times and five of them have come to teams who beat their scoring average in that matchup.
• Vlad Dracul scored 155.16 points and lost. It is the fourth-highest losing score in the league this season.
• The 189.52 points scored by Hub City All Stars was the highest in the league this week and the eighth-highest in the league this season.
• The loss snapped a six-game win streak by Vlad Dracul.
• Hub City All Stars remains undefeated in upset games this season, improving to 2-0.
• With 64.30 points, Vlad Dracul got the highest combined scoring output from the WR position for any team this week.
• Vlad Dracul remains winless in upset games this season, falling to 0-2.
• Adrian Peterson scored 35.20 points, the seventh-highest RB score in the league this season, but it was not enough to get a win for Vlad Dracul.

Reflections on the Tragedy in Kansas City

This past Saturday there was a lot of great things going on in the country in the realm of sports.  College football was playing their championship games (and playoffs).  The NFL was gearing up for another great day of action.  But there was one tragic event that cast a somberness to the weekend.

When I woke up that morning and was going about my routine I saw on twitter a tweet by Danny Parkins, a sports talk host from Kansas City, who had tweeted that Arrowhead Stadium was on lockdown.  I thought at the time that was weird and was trying to think of what was going on at the stadium.  Then slowly tweets and news reports were coming in across the internet.  There was a shooting at a house in K.C. & there was an incident at the stadium practice facilities and that those two things were linked.  Then there was a murder-suicide.  Then it was one of the players involved.

Finally, the story came out.  Jovan Belcher, linebacker for the Chiefs, had shot and killed his girlfriend, Kasandra Perkins, and mother of their daughter then killed himself.  As more details came out, the more it was a tragic story.  It started with Belcher getting angry at his girlfriend for staying out too late after spending time with friends at a concert and hanging out afterwards.  It escalated into Belcher shooting and killing Perkins and then driving to the Chiefs practice facility.  There he talked with Chiefs head coach Romeo Crennel, GM Scott Pioli & linebackers coach Gary Gibbs before pulling out a gun and killing himself as they watched unable to stop him.

So much has been written in the past 48 hours that I'm sure a lot of what I say would just be repeating but there are two things that I do want to reflect on here.  The first is that it's a tragic reminder that ultimately (unlike Jason Whitlock & Bob Costas say) there is a sin problem in our world.  Belcher in his anger and jealousy acted in a tragic manner which robbed Perkins of her life and their daughter of her mother.  Sin was at the root of this.  I was reminded yesterday morning by my pastor who preached on anger (it was planned sermon prior to this event) and was reminded of the verse in Ephesians 4:26-27 "Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil."  Unfortunately, Belcher in his anger did sin and in one instant not only his life but the lives of those around him were affected.  Sin has consequences that affect not only us but those around us.  Thankfully we have a savior in Jesus who forgives us of our sins and does not leave us in our sins but until He returns again, we do have to deal with the effects of sin.

The other thing to reflect on was something I read this morning on NBC's Pro Football Talk website.  There was an article written by Mike Florio.  He shared Brady Quinn (Chiefs QB)'s comments postgame.  If you haven't heard or read them yet, they are worth sharing.  I will leave you with those quotes:

“The one thing people can hopefully try to take away, I guess, is the relationships they have with people,” Quinn told reporters after the game.  “I know when it happened, I was sitting and, in my head, thinking what I could have done differently.  When you ask someone how they are doing, do you really mean it?  When you answer someone back how you are doing, are you really telling the truth?
“We live in a society of social networks, with Twitter pages and Facebook, and that’s fine, but we have contact with our work associates, our family, our friends, and it seems like half the time we are more preoccupied with our phone and other things going on instead of the actual relationships that we have right in front of us.  Hopefully, people can learn from this and try to actually help if someone is battling something deeper on the inside than what they are revealing on a day-to-day basis.”