Sports and fantasy football serve as an excellent escape from grad school reading, writing, and derivations. If you have been around me at school this year, you probably at one point heard me talk about my fantasy team.
Well…One more week to go…
For those who are actually interested, the league I am in is a combination of Brian, Grant, Lucas, & Matt from high school and Brett, Julian, Lindsey, & Rich from college. The former group makes up “Bros” division,” and the latter is mostly the “Whimsy” division. (For reference, Whimsy was the nickname of Brett, Rich, and my house senior year) It is a pretty great way to keep in touch with an assortment of friends. If I could just make a grad school division, I would be set.
Through the powers that are Deshaun and Stephen Jackson, The White Russians (my team) made the Championship for the first time in five years. (My team name comes from me having one too many White Russians the night before the first draft, and I have stuck with it. In bad years, I rename the team the Shirley Temples.)
In the championship, I take on Ithaca 2 Balls, managed by Rich. In the last game of the regular season, the Russians put up their worst performance of the season and Rich snatched the division title from me. I snuck by Brett in the Wild Card through a tiebreaker. So now I get my chance for revenge. Ithaca 2 Balls has scoured the waiver wire well, and the Russians are pretty banged up…but we are a consistent crew.
Rich wrote up the following for the game.
After a dominant season in which the Whimsy Division finished 23-9 against the rest of the league, a fitting finish will match the top 2 finishers from that division. Whimsy featured the 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 5th highest scoring teams in the league this year. Dessert with Duncan McCarty, who was able to go a remarkable 10-0 against 2 divisions, could only manage a 2-3 mark against this division, which ultimately proved to be his undoing.
In the semifinals Hodgepodge Division winner (and lowest scoring team in the league) the Chesterfield Hornswogglers, were destroyed by Whimsy Champion Ithaca 2 Balls. Taking a deep-throated beating, the Hornswogglers fittingly did not start an active player in the flex spot. In the much anticipated 2nd semifinal, featuring the top 2 scoring teams in the league, Dessert with Duncan McCarty’s magical season came to a crashing end, at the hands of Whimsy Division wildcard The White Russians. Featuring a balanced attack that has not scored less than 86 all season, the McCarty’s could not afford a stinker, but unfortunately poor production spelled the end of the season for Grant.
The finals are sure to be exciting as the Whimsy Division Champion takes on the league’s highest scoring team. Will Ithaca 2 Ball’s pick-up of Jamal Charles be enough to push him over the top, or doesthe consistency of the White Russians win the day, in any case no one can doubt that we are in for a Whimsical Affair.
Wish me luck…I will edit this post with results after the game.
Update 12/29/09
It was quite the match. Rich took a risk and benched L.T. for Jerome Harrison on Friday, and it was the right move. Sunday, I started the 3 year White Russian Kellen Winslow over Todd Heap. Winslow did well, but Heap had 2 TDs. Then the late games started, and my first round draft pick, pro-bowler, and team anchor Stephen Jackson was inactive. I started Buckhalter from the Broncos. He was carried off the field in the first half, but came back in the second to have a 33 yard run.
Going into Monday night, I had a 27 point lead. But Rich still had the number 1 overall draft pick: Adrian Peterson. To beat me, AP needed 150 yards and 2 TDs. After a slow first half, he got 2 TDs in the second. The Vikings were driving to the tie the game as the clock was running out, and thankfully AP was not on the field for the game tieing play. However, there was overtime, giving Peterson the opportunity to rack up yards. On Peterson’s 137th yard, only 13 away from tieing The White Russians, he fumbled! The Bears scored on the next play, securing the win and The White Russian Fantasy Football Championship.
It was truly a Whimsical Affair.
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