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.

If I Were in Charge Of.....College Football

It's time for another enjoyable installment of "If I Were in Charge Of".  This week we look at college football.  Growing up in the south, Saturdays in the fall was a given, watching college football.  As I've gotten older I've got to see games in person.  College football, like college basketball, has some good things but also have some things that would be beneficial to work on.  So if I were in charge of college football.....

*Have a playoff.  Out of all the changes in the various sports, this is one of the easiest calls to make.  It looks like the powers that be agree with me (finally) and are looking to implement some kind of playoff in a few years.  Their model would be 4 teams.  My model would be more in line with nearly every other system in college football (1-AA, D-2, D-3, NAIA).  I would have a 16 team playoff.  The conference champions from the power conferences would get an automatic bid and there would be at large bids as well.  The games would be played in early December until the "Championship Game which would then be played on New Years Day.  For those who don't make the playoff, there will still be bowl games around but the championship will be decided on the field not by computers and voters deciding who will be in the title game.

*Cut and cap power conferences.  One of the sad things that has come around in recent years is conference realignment.  If I were in charge, some of that would be rectified.  Missouri & Texas A&M (and also Nebraska) back to the Big 12.  West Virginia, Syracuse and Pittsburgh, back to the Big East.  I would put a cap on power conferences having 12 teams.  That way each conference can still have a championship game but old rivalries can be kept.  Out of all the changes I would make, this is the biggest pipe dream of them all but it would be cool.  Tradition in some ways doesn't mean anything anymore in college football but it'd be cool to get back to it.

*For student athletes, half of all sales of their jerseys would go into a scholarship fund to help them pay for expenses outside of their athletic scholarship.  Schools are making money off them, it would be nice if they could get something in return to help out with expenses since they can't get a job otherwise (this could be applied to all college athletes).

*The championship game will be televised on broadcast television, period.  The last several years ESPN has shown the national title game on their network.  While I like ESPN, they're not broadcast TV.  All championship games (regardless of sport) should be on broadcast TV.  One should be able to watch it and not have to pay to watch it.

*Unless it's an instate school, teams from power conferences cannot play schools that aren't in the same division (i.e. 1-A school playing a 1-AA or D-2).  If there is going to be an emphasis on the regular season matters, can't have Alabama playing Georgia Southern.

Well that's this week's installment.  What do you think?  Leave your suggestions of what you'd change and be sure to check out all the other installments of this series.

Yes, God Does Love (fill in the blank city)

This post has been sitting in my head for a while but I finally feel like I've got the momentum to actually write it.  Bill Simmons, columnist for ESPN.com and nicknamed "The Sports Guy", in the past several months has talked about different cities who have suffered losing teams and championships by saying that "God hates" that city.  An example would be Cleveland.  In an September 9th article in essence previewing the NFL season he said "The Browns finished 2009 strong and reek of sleeper potential, but we're eliminating them because God hates Cleveland."  He has also mentioned this about Seattle, (a city near and dear to my heart).

Now granted I know he is a columnist and sometimes columnists say things for show or to get reactions from readers.  But it does get one to think.  Does God really hate a city?  Because a city hasn't won a championship in 20, 30 or 50 or more years, does that mean God doesn't care about that city?

People who know me know I love sports.  I love the competition and I love to win.  I root on teams and hope they win.  But I also understand it's not the end of the world if my team loses.  I understand in perspective that it is just a game and there are bigger things out there.

But back to the question at hand, does God hate Cleveland or does God hate Seattle?  My answer is no.  God does not hate Cleveland or Seattle or New York or any city.  In fact God loves those cities.  I lived in Seattle for three years and I can attest that God loves that city.  You can see God's creation as you travel around the city.  It is simply awe inspiring.  But more importantly, God loves the people in the city.  How do I know this?  Because he sent Jesus his son to die for the people of Cleveland, Seattle, Boston, Kansas City and around the world.

I'm reminded of the story in the book of Jonah.  God tells Jonah to travel to the city of Nineveh to warn the people.  Why?  Because God wanted the people to repent.  Even though they were not Israelites, God loved them and wanted them to turn to Him.  And guess what?  Jonah went (reluctantly) and they did repent.  God loved the city of Nineveh and the people in it.

So yes, God loves (fill in the blank city).  And what's more amazing?  He loves you and me.

Prediction on the BCS National Championship Game

Tonight is the BCS National Championship Game. Not to be confused with the "other" BCS game which included two undefeated teams which I dubbed the "other National Championship game" between TCU and Boise State which was played on Monday. This one is between #1 Alabama and #2 Texas.

Anyone that knows me knows that I can't stand the BCS system and that there should be a playoff. But be that as it may, this is what we're stuck with for now.

In this game, we've got two teams which personally I either don't care about or don't like. Which means on the surface, I don't have a real rooting interest in this game. I'm not going to root for Alabama, simply because I don't like Bama. They're a rival to Tennessee. I don't care if they're in the same conference. They're a rival. Same goes for Florida. There's no scenerio where I would root for Florida. Any other SEC team I'm fine with but not those two.

On the other hand, I don't really care about Texas either. At one time, I didn't like Texas because of how they treated their one time starting QB Major Applewhite by benching him for Chris Simms but time has smoothed it out to where now I'm indifferent to them.

So in predicting this game I went with both sides, both sides being stats and gut feeling. The stats come down to this. The SEC is 5-0 in BCS National Championship games while the Big 12 is 2-4 in BCS National Championship games. Those lend themselves to Alabama. However, Alabama is winless in BCS games (0-2) including losing last year to Utah. Texas however is undefeated in BCS games (3-0) including winning the National Championsip game back in 2006. Also, the #2 team has won the last 4 matchups and 6 out of the last 7.

So there's the stats, here's the gut feeling. When I first heard the matchup, I immediately thought about the 2006 Rose Bowl game. There are several similarities between this year's game and that one. Both are being played in Pasadena. Both feature Texas as an underdog against a team that everyone expects to win the game. Both feature the opposing QB who has been successful (Matt Leinart: Heisman winner, Greg McElroy undefeated). Both feature a highly touted running back with the opposing team (Reggie Bush/Mark Ingram).

After weighing the stats and my gut feeling, I came to this conclusion. It'll be a hard fought game but in the end I think Texas gets the win. 41-38 Longhorns. In the words of Yogi Berra "It's deja vu all over again..."