Write it in the sky in Gossamer Teardrops

The Chimps are no longer the worst team in the MMFL.

Glen is going to write the recap for Week 12. I'm going to note a few things about the playoffs. Tie-breaker order is TBD since there are so many potential variations.

So far there are 2 teams who have clinched a playoff berth (6 total playoff spots):

1. Mr. Fred (wins tie-breaker over Glen)
2. Glen

The winner of this week's game of Kanako vs. Bill will likely clinch a playoff spot. That leaves 8 teams in the mix after week 13:

1. Joe (just needs one more win to clinch - may not even need that one win)
2. Ron
3. Bill
4. Sei
5. Kanako
6. Christine
7. Scott (not really sure I have a chance at this point)
8. Pete (not sure he has a chance either)

Kevin and Melissa cannot make the playoffs.

Now the question becomes, if we have a bunch of 6-8 teams on our hands at the end of the season, how should the playoff teams be decided? There will undoubtedly be a few teams with conflicting head to head records. I welcome suggestions - I like using head to head record as the first tie breaker, but if we have a cluster of 6-8 teams, total points scored might be a better tie breaker. Peanut gallery?

Gotta Stick with the Superstition

So every week that I don't write the recap my team seems to win. So in keeping with that superstition I'm going to leave it up to someone else to write the week 11 recap. Sorry, I can't wreck my mojo! Hopefully just writing this post hasn't spoiled my chances.

Some items for the 2005 MMFL Ballot:

- Scoring Adjustments
- Draft in reverse order of last seasons W-L
- Change regular season to 13 weeks instead of 14 (thus avoiding games in week 17 - a week often time corrupted by playoff teams resting their regulars)

Any others?

Glen's Week 10 Recap!

Glen sent this to me and I'm posting it for him.

Ocean Beach Riders defeat Joe's Mother Tuckers 161 - 44
Rolling Rock Wild Things defeat Chicago Long Horned Beatles 147 - 83
Mission Manhandlers defeat Bay City Steamrollers 122 - 87
Emerald City Chimps defeat Richmond Sluts 119 - 88
Rolling Blackout defeat Bloodthirsty Scalping Savages 117 - 82
Arcadia Bobcats defeat Silver Phoenix 55 - 54

Sluts do most of their work on their backs and this week was no different for the gals from the Richmond. Bolstered by last week's W, the Chimps ran all over the Horizontal Mels thanks to Derrick Blaylock's 224 all purpose yards and the Titan's D. Only Scott's benching of Nate Burleson and Rudi Johnson prevented this contest from making it into volume 23 of the "Animals Gone Really Wild" video. As for "Woe is Me" Unzicker, your MML "crown" is awaiting you should your hapless ho's ever find their way out of the MML cellar.

Her trophy case overflowing with COTW awards, Kanako went into Week 10's matchup against the Steamrollers clearly focused on a win. The Manhandlers were led by their dynamic QB-WR combo of . . . Billy Volek and Muhsin Muhammad?!?! Huh? While Steve and Randy were rehabbing in the MML Hospital for Worthless Fantasy Football Stars, the two combined for 5 TDs and over frickin 457 yards. The W ensured that at least for this week Momma Takeda wouldn't have to worry about where to put her next COTW award. Priest-less this week, the boys from the Bay City just couldn't come up with enought points despite impressive performances by Jason Witten and Brandon Stokley. And as if the odds weren't already stacked against him, Sei benched Brett Favre yet again and Brett went on to have a monster game . . . yet again.

In the battle to literally answer the question 'Who's ya daddy?,' Mr. Fred clearly showed his upstart children that he still sits atop the Frederick-Moran clan. The boys from Philly spanked the Beatles thanks to fine performances by Donovan McNabb, Joe Horn, and the Steelers' D who combined for 94 points. A 4 TD, 363 yard effort by Duante Culpepper did little to change the outcome of this annual love-fest. One just hopes that the grandkids weren't around for this unfortunate display of patriarchal ass-whooping. Ahh family . . .

Still upset over last week's bitter defeat at the hands of the Specialists . . . uhm Silver Phoenix, the OBSR took out their frustrations on the Mutha Tuckers, dispatching them by noon on Sunday. No way was some two-bit RB going to snatch a victory away from Moy's boys this week! The Riders' were led yet again by Peyton Manning and T.O. who combined for a ridiculous 8 TDs and 454 yards of offense. Joe's Tuckers didn't stand a chance in this matchup, having been bitten by the bye-week bug. With 5 players grabbing pine, the JMT took the field with Lee Suggs and Thomas Jones who promptly combined for -1 points. As Commish Lee said . . . eep!

Speaking of the Phoenix, they clearly had a letdown after last week's win, losing to the Arcadia Felines. That's like losing to the Sluts . . . or the Chimps! Curiously, Christine benched last week's hero Onterrio Smith whose 9 points would have pushed the Flamin' Birds over the top. But instead, Tom Brady's and Michael Clayton's 16 points each means we have to listen to Pedro flap his yap. Here's an Ancient Chinese proverb for the Bobcat's owner - " Aiyah, man who owns team that sucks should not be eager to talk smack."

The Rolling Blackouts topped the century mark for the second straight week, thanks to Domanick Davis, Shaun Alexander, and the Bears' D. The Blackouts' combo produced 4 TDs and 73 points on their way to the team's third straight victory. With his nuptials out of the way, Ron now has his sights set on a wildcard berth. As for the Savages, their troubles continue - coming up short again for the fourth week in a row. Kevin got solid performances from most of his starters. But losing Torry 'Big Game' Holt to a big time hit early Sunday hampered the BTSS' efforts this week. Having Drew Bennett, Brandon Lloyd, and their combined 36 points riding pine didn't help matters either.

If I were a Silver Phoenix ...

... I'd be in ashes right now.

The Bobcats did just enough to win. I'm glad I don't have cable and wasn't able to watch the game last night.

Week 9 Recap

I always enjoyed the recaps, and since I have Veterans Day off, here goes:

Bloodthirsty Scalping Savages 83 at Joe's Mother Tuckers 84

So, so close. One of those fantasy games that give importance to an otherwise pointless Sunday night game. Props to Adam Viniatieri, who I gotta believe has set a new record for point total for a kicker: 4 XP, 4 FG and the TD pass! Alas, it wasn't enough, when Joe's Lee Suggs hauls in a screen pass for a meaningless reception and critical 3rd fantasy point halfway through the 4th Qtr. I feel like Joe is more deserving of Chump for starting Donte Stallworth (o pts) instead of Darrell Jackson (24 pts), but I guess there is something to be said about winning.

Emerald City Chimps 99 at Mission Manhandlers 61

Tough luck monkeys from Seattle finally break through w/a win. They've been playing well enough to win for three weeks, scoring better than 90 during that time, but they finally hit upon a team who's fallen on harder times. It seems they've finally hit upon a RB pair that produces week in and week out. As for the Manhandlers, they go as Randy "Hammy" Moss goes, and with him out and McNair on a bye, the M&M's are lookin' for a new sugar daddy.

Bay City Steamrollers 75 at Rolling Rock Wild Things 66

The silent ass-asian strikes again. Somehow the steamrollers manage to sneak in another win, with the lowest winning point total of the week. The Mr Fred suffered from being on the short end of the Battle of Pennsylvania, w/Donovan "Mello when TO is Screamin & Yell-O" McNabb contributing a big fat goose-egg. Mr Fred has my vote for chump--There's been a cool Brees from SD the last couple of weeks, and Mr Fred chose not to ride it--with painful results. The Steamrollers had a balanced attack w/5 of the 8 starters getting into to double digits, but 75 isn't going to get it done over the long term.

Ocean Beach Surf Riders 89 at The Silver Phoenix 91

Ding-Dong the king is dead. Or at least suffered his first setback of the year. In dramatic fashion, the resurrected Phoenix managed to top the previously undefeated OBSR's. The Tsunamis seemed to have this game in hand w/Manning, Wayne and Wiggins giving them the lead until Onterrio Smith scampered for a touchdown in the 4th giving the SP's the lead. It still seemed like OBSR's would pull it out, until the Colts got to the 15yd line and decided all they needed was a field goal, so they ran a running plays to allow the time to run out, and deny the Glen-Bo's their 9th victory. After making such a big splash after their hostile takeover, the SP have been struggling, w/Chris Brown on a bye one week, and Andre "I'm a Giant" Johnson finally being double covered. The OBSR's geriatric RB corps is starting to show their age--maybe there's hope for the rest of us yet.

Arcadia Bobcats 96 at Richmond Sluts 74

The Kittens roar for their highest point total of the year, spanking the hapless BlueBoys. The Bobbies had a balanced attack w/their lowest contributor having 8. The BlueBoys had Michael Pittman who made this close, but were asleep at the wheel starting Longwell who was on a bye. One wonders even if Stephen Davis can play, whether he can unseat Pittman for the RB role.

Chicago Long-Horned Beatles 63 at Rolling Blackouts 142

Somebody breakup the Blackouts! For the second week in a row, Ronnie "Just because I look stoned don't mean I don't know Football" topped the point totals. 30 from Trent Green, 30 from Shaun Alexander, 25 from Antonio Gates. The Beatles were crawling back into their cocoons for this one--they never had chance.

There's 5 weeks left, and if the season were to end today...

1) Surf Riders
2) Wild Things (beat Tuckers)
3) Tuckers
4) Steamrollers
5) Blackouts (beat Phoenix, Beatles)
6) Beatles (beat Beatles)

There's a lot of season left though, so good luck to everyone, except when you're playing me.

Scoring

First off, I don't think any changes in scoring should be made until after the season. But it does strike me as wrong that Plummer get 72 points for his game. And Manning gets 77pts. Although Plummer had 499yds, he also had 3 ints. Just like I thought the TE scoring last year was overblown, I think the QB scoring this year's been off.

On a bigger level, I talked w/Joe about whether the scoring should be so geared toward super performances. Now the real points come if your player goes ape-shit. If your RB gets
50yds, 2pts,
100yd, 10pts,
150yds, 16pts,
200yds, 36pts.
Players who give solid performances aren't rewarded likely the erratic ones who give super performances every once in a while.

Specific ideas:

Turnovers should be penalized more. Fumbles lost and INT's are huge in the course of a game. Thus, they should count almost as much as a score, say -4.

Solid performances should be rewarded more, ape-shit performances should be rewarded less, i.e. 1pt for 10yds rushing, w/a 5 pt bonus for 100yds, and 10pt bonus for 200yds.

Comments?