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.

The Gang’s League 1

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.

The Gang’s League 2

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.

Orange-shirt believes in my predictions.
Green-shirt wants to, but is better off not.

Week 11: the final week of regular season. Titans are 10-0, my previous projections are further skewed, and your next loss will be your downfall of this season.

Let me remind you readers that many are on byes for Week 12 while the bottom four teams battle for a chance of glory. Bonus points, based on the number of wins, will be added on all Playoff matchups except the final. Good luck to you all.

I am going to change it up here at STnet (stee net, stuh net, es-tea net, whatever you are comfortable with): I’m going make yet another prediction. Those who feel jinxed by them (see Mackey, Jessica) are advised to pay the League Managers, Drew and myself, off for a fixed outcome. I will break down each matchup in a future post, but this is who I see in the final four at this moment (current positional ranking listed):

TGL1: Bob Exline (#1), James Thomason (#2), Brad Doherty (#4), David Ubelhor (#6)

TGL2: Lauren Blanc (#1), Jessica Mackey (#2), T Trevino (#3), Nick Seibert (#4)

For those of your curious, the Week 11 scoring leaders can be found here (TGL1 | TGL2). Cassel, unowned in both Leagues, took 1st at 36 points. Gage, placing 2nd and also unowned, with 28 points. If you wish to view the current playoff brackets, they can be found here (TGL1 | TGL2).

I agree with Troy Polamalu: the NFL is being emasculated. This season, the league has been handing out fines to players like free kittens after any particularly rough play.

A Fabergé egg

Keeping players from injury is an understandable and noble goal, but at a point, measures taken to keep the game safe and clean damage the spirit of the aforementioned game. Quarterbacks cannot be protected like priceless Fabergé eggs. Hitting one hard should not constitute a finable offense.

This is a sport which, distilled to its essence, revolves around large armored men running toward each other at high rates of speed and often colliding violently. Playing football involves some inherent danger. Participants will get hurt on occasion.

The NFL seems to be trying to prevent this inevitability by imposing fines on every blitzing linebacker who so much as sneezes on a quarterback after he releases the ball, every safety who so much as bumps into a wideout after he runs out of bounds.

Some of the most ridiculous recent examples include San Francisco running back Frank Gore’s $5,000 fine for grabbing the facemask of Seahawks cornerback Kelly Jennings on a freaking stiff-arm (How does one stiff-arm without applying a hand on or around the facemask of the stiff-arm recipient?) and the $10,000 fine against Steelers linebacker LaMarr Woodley for sacking Jason Campbell “in an intimidating manner”. Linebackers aren’t allowed to intimidate anymore, apparently.

Obviously, these are not the only cases of wanton fining. Roger Goodell, the Comissioner of the NFL, has been throwing around too many to mention. These are just a few notables.

Since when has a 15-yard penalty been not enough to punish players who break rules? Most of the time when rules are broken, it’s not a deliberate attempt to cheat or gain an advantage, it’s a consequence of the speed at which football is played.

A player who makes a tackle by the face mask is usually just grabbing whatever he can to take down a ball carrier. A defensive lineman who roughs the passer usually does so because a 300 pound man has a lot of momentum and often can’t stop before hitting a quarterback. A block in the back on a kick return is usually a consequence of the chaotic nature of kick returns.

In the worst cases, players are receiving fines for incidents that referees didn’t even see fit to penalize during the game, such as the Woodley sack. He didn’t hit Campbell dirty, just hard.

Fines should be reserved for things that are blatantly unsportsmanlike. They should be used to punish fighting, dirty hits, not just hard ones, off-the-field issues, and things of that sort. The way they are being thrown around this season really does weaken the sport. It takes away from the toughness, from the spirit of the game.

Players must be allowed to do what it is they do best, that is, play, without fear of league retribution for them playing too hard.

Let them hit hard. Punish the dirty players, not the tough ones, not just the mean ones, only those that deliberately cause injuries and flaunt the rules. Restore the toughness of the NFL, and don’t use more fines to silence those like Polamalu who speak the truth about the direction the league is taking. Stop the madness.

Roger Goodell, give the NFL back its balls.

Week 10: Giants crush Rams (47-3), Titans are still undefeated (9-0), I am no longer #1 in TGL2 (Sticky beats me and my projections), and I name the player of the week “Big Week Bob Exline” (119 points playing, 72 points benched). Week 11 is our last regular season fantasy game before playoffs.

Another reminder that ESPN scores are not official until the start of the next week. I tend to report on Tuesday’s scores and minor corrections are usually not game changing. I reported a tie-breaking win for Sticky, but David Akers had a score correction and made T the winner. For up-to-date standings, see TGL1 or TGL2. Expect a post tomorrow from Max Dahlquist (his first on the blog) about his views about current NFL rulings.

Leading the league for Week 10 is RB Thomas Jones (above) who rushed for 149 yards and 3TDs: 32 points
(TGL1: Bob Exline [bench] | TGL2: Lauren Blanc)

The second highest, QB Jay Cutler had a career-high 447 yards and 3TDs in an upset for the Browns: 31 points
(TGL1: Bob Exline | TGL2: Steven Trevino)

RB Adrian Peterson rushed 192 yards with a TD, proving once again that he can run “All Day” with his 4th consecutive 100+ game: 28 points
(TGL1: Bob Exline | TGL2: David Wichman)

RB Maurice Jones-Drew takes #4. MJD rushed 70 yards and 3 TDs, reminding all of us fantasy players what really matters.
(TGL1: James Thomason | TGL2: Michael Trevino)

Kurt Warner and Tyler Thigpen need yet more praise. Warner now ranks #1 with one point above Rivers and his 3rd consecutive 20+ game. Thigpen became a starter in Week 8 and has earned 20+ points per week since.
Warner (TGL1: James Thomason | TGL2: Max Dahlquist)
Thigpen (Unowned)

Jake Delhomme takes a fantasy uppercut with 70 yards, 1 TD, and 4 interceptions: -2 points
(TGL1: Bob Exline [bench] | TGL2: Matt DeCastra)

Scoring:

Some pretty big upsets over at TGL2, which have made most of my predictions invalid. I hope they remain “accurate enough” and that those of you that made bets get leeway of a game or two. A big day for QB/WR, as the 2nd highest RB (Brandon Jacobs) placed 18th. Right on to the scores:

Topping the chart this week is Kurt Warner (shown left) passing 342 yards and 2 TDs: 23 points
(TGL1: James Thomason | TGL2: Max Dahlquist)

Following is QB Tyler Thigpen who passed for 164 yards/1 TD. Tyler also caught a 37-yard TD pass (shown right) on a trick play: 21 points
(TGL1: Unowned | TGL2: Unowned)

Chris Johnson had 89 rush, 72 pass, and 1 TD in Tennessee’s OT game against Green Bay: 21 points
(TGL1: David Ubelhor | TGL2: Nick Seibert)

The Pittsburg Steelers D/ST rank 5th-highest this week in their 23-6 victory over the Redskins. The Steelers get my blame for the loss of two teams (T, myself): 20 points
(TGL1: David Ubelhor | TGL2: Heather Racine)

Predictions vs. Actual Wins:
(* = Predictions ruined from this week)

Jessica Mackey (9-2) [5-4]
Steven Trevino (9-2) [6-3]*
Nick Seibert (8-3) [5-4]*
Lauren Blanc (7-4) [6-3]
Michael Trevino (7-4) [5-4]
Heather Racine (5-6) [6-3]*
Matt DeCastra (3-8) [4-5]*
Max Dahlquist (2-9) [3-6]*
David Wichman (2-9)  [3-6]
Megan Wichman (2-9) [2-7]
 

Scoring:

Week 8 comes around with Byes to some big players. Week 8 byes were for Chicago (4-3), Denver (4-3), Green Bay (4-3), and Minnesota (3-4). I would like to remind all players that ESPN transactions are final and you are responsible for your weekly lineup. Jumping right into it:

Brian Westbrook (above) was welcomed back by owners after some injury weeks. Westbrook (167 yds rush, 42 yds pass, 2 TDs) offered the top score of Week 8: 32 points
(TGL1: Brad Doherty | TGL2: Michael Trevino)

It’s been awhile since a WR sat near the top (Week 3, Laveranues Coles w/ 28). Santana Moss (140 yards, TD, return TD) decided to fix that: 28 points
(TGL1: Nick Grady | TGL2: David Wichman)

Drew Brees has yet another good game (339 yards, 3 TDs). Brees is 2nd in total points this season [4 points behind Philip Rivers. Both played each other at London in Week 8 and have a bye in Week 9]: 25 points
(TGL1: Nate Lampert | TGL2: Jessica Mackey)

Dallas Clark (94 yards, 2 TDs) deserves a mention [David for a 2-point victory, Matt for a (technially) 1-point loss]. Not very often is the TE your stud for the week: 21 points
(TGL1: David Ubelhor | TGL2: Matt DeCastra)

Scoring:

Week 7! The only people to mention this week are RBs, as QBs were having a lot of trouble. A lot of big numbers week and a number of injuries that I won’t bother covering. If you would like to take a look at players sitting out or at risk from injury (Tony Romo) or suspension (Kellen Winslow), the list is here.

 Steven Jackson (above) had 160 yards, 3 TDs and the week high: 37 points
(TGL1 James Thomason | TGL2 Steven Trevino)

LenDale White rounded #2 with 149 yards, 3 TDs against the Chiefs: 34 points
(TGL1 Nate Lampert [bench] | TGL2 Jessica Mackey [bench])

Chris Johnson ranked #6 (168 yards, 1 TD) also against the Chiefs: 24 points
(TGL1 James Thomason | TGL2 Nick Seibert)

Brett Favre had a much worse day than people expected against Oakland: 3 points
(TGL1 Brad Doherty | TGL2 Lauren Blanc)

Sammy Morris broke his record with 138 yards, 1 TD in the first half. A knee injury sat him the 2nd half: 19 points
(TGL1 Nate Lampert | TGL2 Michael Trevino)

Clinton Portis gets an honorable mention with his 4th in-a-row 100+ yard rushing game (175 yards, 1 TD): 19 points
(TGL1 Andrew Foster | TGL2 Steven Trevino)

Scoring:

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