The Gang’s League: Championship Matchups
Hard to believe that this season has come to an end, isn’t it? Here are reactions and preditions from the League Managers, Drew and myself. Click the image above and frame it as a poster, this one is going to be epic.
In Gang League 1, our championship round features an intriguing match up between the #4 seeded La Maquina Ultimo of Brad “Wild Turkey” Doherty and the #7 seeded Green Bay Gradys of Nick “Shady” Grady.
Both teams had interesting paths to the championship game. Grady’s team was one of the bottom four, having to play when most had a bye. Grady hasn’t minded, averaging 117.3 points per game in the playoffs. Stellar play from DeAngelo Williams, including two 30+ games, and Aaron Rodgers makes Grady a formidable opponent, as Stephen Colbert would say.
While the Green Bay Gradys had to play an extra game, Doherty’s bunch couldn’t have had a harder path to the final game. Playing the top two scoring teams in his league over the regular season in Bob “Rough and Tumble” Exline’s Evansville Thunderbolts and Andrew “Commish” Foster’s Malicious Mustaches, Doherty’s team had to be resourceful. Averaging a respectable 94 points per game, Doherty will need a big performance from Brian Westbrook and better than average showings from Brett Favre and Calvin Johnson to topple the streaking Gradys.
The numbers point to Grady winning this match up. Williams has a favorable match up against Denver, but the rest of the Grady’s chances are very dependent on good games from the Packers and Giants. If either of these teams falter, Grady might be in for a disappointing end to his season.
And in the end, I think he will lose to La Maquina Ultimo. A major reason for this is that when I look at it, Grady should win. But things never go the way I see (my fantasy curse), so I am going against myself and going with Doherty, if that makes sense.
I think Williams will have less than a stellar game because his breakout last week will tip off Denver to stopping the run and making Jake Delhomme throw. I think Dallas is a desperate team that will outplay the Giants, who have no real motivation to win right now. Nick might get some points from a favorable match up with Green Bay at Jacksonville, but I have been waiting for Nick’s “eggs in one basket” approach to fail, and I think this is the week.
Doherty has explosive players on his team, and if the stars align, Marques Colston and Johnson could couple with Westbrook to end Grady’s season.
Final prediction: La Maquina Ultimo 110, Green Bay Gradys 88.
I like to think my midseason predictions weren’t wrong, but I love the matchup between T’s G-Street Gangstaz versus Lauren’s Vicious Vag in League 2’s championship round in Week 15. I was right about our Final Four fanatasy finalists (say that 5 times fast) for TGL2. You may say “It’s not very hard to pick the top four seeds”, but you try doing that at 5th seed. I was “high on Mike” and Lauren did get my “Most Impressive First-Timer” award, right?
Close matchups in Week 14, which almost favored my predictions. Leading T’s victory over Jessica [110-105] was Brian Westbrook (34 points). Lauren’s DeAngelo Williams (30 points) stuck it to Nick Seibert [114-99]. Throw in some nice team numbers and you got yourself a championship team.
How is this matchup going to end? It will be a close call but T is projected a 33 point winner. Look at this: Rivers [T] is throwing to Jackson and Gonzalez [Lauren], Romo [Lauren] is throwing to Owens [T]. What do I predict? This matchup will be decided Monday night by Westbrook, who should have an explosive evening against the Browns. With Frank Gore questionable, QBs/WRs locks, and Fred Taylor’s injurying giving Jones-Drew a boost, Lauren’s hope is that Westbrook’s infamous injuries all come back to haunt him at gametime and that her team logo can continue to rally her team.
Final prediction: G-Street Gangstaz 128, Vicious Vag 112.
Good luck to all in the championship rounds and cheers to everyone for a fun 2008 fantasy season. Drew and I are holding a celebration and league discussion next Thursday, December 18th, and will keep you all up-to-date.