The Gang’s League 2: Midseason Report

Here is the mid-season forecast that everyone has been anxious for. For many of you, this might be the first Fantasy Football article you read, but I would like you to be aware that I have written a brief review every week since our beginnings. There are many ways to access them: Sports, Archives, or even doing a search of say, Gang’s League.

I will do what I planned on doing. I am going to write a paragraph for each team and share my views about them. Simple and effective. Drew is writing a little more reader-friendly article on the Gang’s League 1 and I thank him greatly for his work to get our past Leagues in order. Let’s get right to the action with my least favorable. Disagree or have something to say? Leave me a comment. I love feedback!

Megan Wichman, Ramrod (1-5): Megan has the least points scored this season (325), which leaves her not too far from David (359). Her should-be stud, Peyton Manning, was her 1st pick. Many of us are aware of his shaky start. Unfortunately, her bench has not changed much since draft day. You have got to take a gamble at the top and bottom seeds, especially if you see consecutively bad players on your team. Megan alternates between 1st waiver order and last. She beat Max in Week 3 (56-41). Things look grim in the future with myself, Jessie, and T in the upcoming weeks.

My Projection: 2-9
Award: Participation – TGL2 2008

David Wichman, dw151 (1-5): Maybe fate is against the Wichmans this season. David’s early matchups were against veterans (Racine, myself, Mackey), which left him dried up for the rest of the season. Every week, the opposing team seems to absorb some kind of “against-David magic” and it has left him with most points gained against him (554). Something special happened on Week 4 against Seibert, which tells us this magic might not work on robots. David pulled a 82-70 victory against Seibert without a TE or D/ST. Now this was a bye week for a lot of studs, but even his bench lit up with 59 points. Remember to make use of your 2nd-in-line for waivers, David, some one-game wonders can be picked up.

My Projection: 2-9
Award: I Humiliated a Cyborg

Max Dahlquist, Raging Hormones (2-4): I see two things really crippling Max this season, and I would target QB and D/ST. I do not think anyone has had less agony in these two positions. Let me just show the four losses:

QB: 2, 1, 5, 0, (Palmer, Cassel for Week 3)
D/ST: 10, 8, -7, -1, (Patriots, Jags for Week 4)

Max has also had a few goose-egg players that in a pain to see in the weekly boxscores. He picked up Matt Schaub, whom I regrettably dropped, and hopefully he is activated for his game against Detroit. Currently, he’s got Kurt Warner’s starting as QB who is on bye. Max has a few studs on his team (Warner, Jennings, White) that he might look into trading for some more consistent starters. He’s got back-to-back weeks of Nick Seibert coming up, and I’m going to be leaning against Max. Hopefully he’ll prove me wrong. Max gets the former Bill Belichick award because of the Patriots D/ST.

My Projection: 2-9
Award: The Bill Belichick Award

Matt DeCastra, Bring The Pain (3-3): Two words: Tom Brady’d. Matt went unconventional and grabbed Tom Brady at the top of the shelf as his first pick (2nd pick overall). Unfortunately for Matt, pain was brought to Tom Brady early on. Two of his three losses have been close calls (8, 9, 46 pts). Matt’s lineup includes 3 Indianapolis players and 3 Buffalo players, which is a risky move to put all your eggs in one basket. Prayer might be required as he also faces me, Jessica, and T in the upcoming weeks. How much more pain is to be had?

My Projection: 3-8
Award: I Trusted Tom Brady

Heather Racine, Team Racine (5-1): I am not jumping on the Racine Rollercoaster. Heather has improved greatly since last season, and it’s something to be proud of. She was 2-10 last season with the retired Jerry Rice as her 3rd pick. So why is she not my most favored at 5-1? It’s her schedule. Four of her six games are against our bottom tier of players, with her one loss to me. Sure she’s at the top, but her average score is 79. T’s average? 80. Lauren’s? 95. I’m going to reinstate the Sticky Racine Memorial Trophy from last season. She’s earned it.

My Projection: 5-6
Award: The Sticky Racine Memorial Trophy

Michael Trevino, G-Street Gangstaz (3-3): Regardless of our blood-relation, I’m pretty high on Mike. He’s made 15 acquisitions, which really stands out. I don’t think many of those benefited him, but what does that tell you? He’s active and on top of his team. His lowest score was 60 in Week 3, but his bench made 87 points. Yes, his bench alone could have beat half the teams in Week 3, but that’s how a coach riles up his players. Two of his three losses are 3-point losses. His other loss was 8-point loss due to a transaction error. He’s had to deal with Westbrook’s injury-proneness and still marches on (I’m still in awe that he picked up Westbrook as 6th choice in Round 1). He’s got the least points scored against him (382), so maybe it’s time people turned up the heat. It’s projected that he’ll play me in Week 2 of the playoffs, and I admit he’s got me a bit nervous since I won due to the transaction mishap. I’m high on him for playoffs, but I’ve placed him under Lauren because he’s got Nick and Jessie coming up. I have a gut feeling that T is going to win Week 8 against Nick.

My Projection: 7-4
Award: The Little Engine That Could

Lauren Blanc, Vicious Vag (3-3): Lauren has intimidation and a lot of potential in the last 6 weeks. I think her schedule is very favorable with a double-dose of David Wichman coming up (sorry, David). Four of her games were above 95 points, giving her the 2nd highest overall points (567 points). What gives her such an edge? Her team logo changes weekly in order to invoke a reaction. I hope she has saved them all to share. Her logos have been getting pretty lazy recently, and I feel she can never surpass her first logo against me. She beat me 112-45 in Week 1 by inserting the Shark. Of course, the pinky of Tony Romo might play a bigger role in her outcome.

My Projection: 7-4
Award: Most Impressive First-Timer

Nick Seibert, Curly Fries (4-2): The Cyborg creates studs out of his automation factory. He’s got 7 players with positional ranking under 10. Some are only one-slot positions, but he picks smart (7 acquisitions) and plays smart. He’s the 2007 Gang’s League Champion, and I only have him ranked 3rd because I project him to play T or myself in the penultimate week of playoffs. He’s recently had to sit Larry Johnson out, but Cyborg can survive without him. If you put money on this part-human, part-machine to win last time, he might prove again that robot overlords are in our future.

My Projection: 8-3
Award: I Already Own an FFL Championship Ring

Steven Trevino, Panda Rainbow (4-2): I’m a big fan of myself. So I blew it in the first game to Lauren, but you know what? Im over 87 points in 5 of my last 6 games. I still have the most points scored (574 to Vag’s 567) yet I’m second worse for points against me (512 to David’s 554). My score is going to drop with a bye week for Denver and Green Bay coming, but I still have faith in a consistent score. My core team doesn’t change, I had Jackson, Portis, and Andre Johnson last season, and I’m glad to see them as starters again this season. I’ve been lucky to also avoid any major team injuries (Steven Jackson was out for more than half the season). The predicted playoff bracket looks dangerous with me against T and Seibert. I have got to reinstate this award.

My Projection: 9-2
Award: Sexiest Manager

Jessica Mackey, Necessary Roughness (4-2): Our relationship has nothing to do with putting her 1st (or me right after her). I took a break from writing to reflect how my Top 3 ranks. Jessie will put up a fight simply because she has something to fight for. She earned 2nd place in last season’s league to Nick Seibert, and she’s been battle hungry since then. Her record will be as good as last year (9-3) with Brees, Tomlinson, and Barber as her weapons. She will be something to fear come playoffs. Jessie is 3rd highest in points scored with (549). I’ll project her to advance and play Sticky in the finals, leaving her in a position to get 2nd or 1st. I originally put her behind Nick and myself, but the rest of her lineup is T (without Westbrook), Max, Megan, Matt, Heather. Jessie was awarded first pick overall in the draft, and it might prove that 1st pick has some advantage to it (Seibert had 1st pick last season).

My Projection: 9-2
Award: Proud Girlfriend