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Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Week 2 Power Rankings

Week 1 hinted how high point inflation might take us this year.  11/14 scores were in triple digits.  5 surpassed 120.  The average score was 111.6 compared to 98.7 in week 1 of last year.  Partial points and big play bonuses combined with a razor thin wire to set the bar higher than ever.  Big air has come to town, more than one team gambled on the WR-TE flex and saw a payoff in the new economy.  Forecasts are for extreme point differentials come bye weeks...

1.  (2) Grossman Sachs  - Manning and Peterson looked every bit the part of league dominant at their positions.  But WR will continue to be a soft spot as Jones and Jennings get comfortable in new roles. Witten had a superior game at TE, but the two TE set is a week-in-week-out thing. Trading high early the Bank is not yet too big to fail.

2. (5) Pelican Brief - like Tom Cruise in All the Right Moves the Pelicans are nailing Leah Thompson and cruising in an Italian sports car. All right, I never saw that movie, but the Brief's wheeling-dealing sure looked good in week 1, no? Selling high on Nike contract RGIII. CJ?K might be a fraction of his former self, but he's healthy.  Romo's not adding bad juju to the locker room, and they got rid of that smell of death from Peyton. But Welker, Davis and Cobb did the yeoman's work. The trades were about building a ground game around an elite air game, and it looked every bit playoff caliber at the starting gun.

3. (3) Trichs  - The Keepernick and Anquan were in sync early and often, it has the potential to be a brutal double titration down the stretch.  Not every defense is as bad as GB but if the 49ers can do it without the run option, they're a might heavier hitters than most draft boards thought.

4. (1) BuildingDwellingThinking -The Chico Bandits lost a close one to the Bloodz, but Dez' injury is a cause for concern. They need that double to be safely beasting.  LaFell did not get a look at flex, so look for Roberts or Thomas to get a shot in week 2.

5. (10) Homespun Neckbloodz  - SJax was only a dropped TD pass away from taking them full b34st this week.  VJax and Forte will lead the charge.  Culter and Dalton are not going to light the world on fire, but if they can limit INTs they could be good enough.  

6. (7) TakingTigerMountain - The Mountain got their Brees-Jimmer connection wired and remain undefeated when it happens. Some nice IDP play covered for a few holes here, and a hard luck start for the Girlz gave TTM a chance despite not being in the top half scoring.  Lucky never hurts and win on a low week is like two in the standings.

7. (12)  Polk High Panthers  - Give the Panthers their due. Atlanta didn't look like the greatest show on turf, but Polk High knocked out a win in week 1.  A super performance by AJ Green reminded us how much of a game changer he can be.  Calvin was ineffective, but he'll get there. Between the two they'll go hunting for those +40 yd bonuses, and when they both get em it'll be a day to remember.

8. (6)  PrimordialLifestyles -116 is nothing to scoff at still in the partial points and offense bonus inflation it was only good enough for 7th this week, the second highest team to drop their week 1 contest.  A zero at kicker and a -5 miss on WR2 kept the Primordial Ones from a win, but there's plenty of talent on the bench.

9.  (4) SanFranciscoFerries - Reggie Bush's superior performance was a nice surprise in a week of disapointments for the Bay Town Boatmen.  Rivers outperformed Wilson on the bench.  Morris and the Skins were behind from the get-go. Ballard and Lacy both looked primed for more work, there's enough of a team here, they just got thumped playing a warm up in live action.

10. (8) Aethernauts - the Aerial Explorers took a close upset loss in week 1 do
wn to a hard day for the Lynch M0b.  Colston, Smith and Bennett all scored - and Murray looked in good form.   But the Fig Newton looked far from ready to face a serious defense. Randle and Floyd were nice possession receivers on the bench, look for them to take over the flex for injured Jacoby Jones. 

T. 11. (14)  Dijonaise All Stars - A win for an expansion team?  Over a legacy champion/commish?  Now week 1 has seen it all. Col. Mustard and his Condiments got theirs with a big air strategy, combining for 7 TDs (!) among their four pass catchers.  Rodgers did his job too with 25.  But Bernard is in a timeshare in Cincy and Franklin didn't touch the ball in Green Bay (3 points combined for RBs).  This week is a good illustration of the uneven game and the size of Dijon's aerial gamble.

T. 11. (13)  Goslings  - the Puppy brigade beat their projection by seven and still got trumped by the commish's b34st this week.  More concerning is a large number of injuries.  White, Suddenfield and Suisham all went down.  The Goslings 120 was the fifth highest score and a good picture of what it'll take for them to win. Big days for L-Mac, double titrations with Luck/Wayne and x.  X was on the bench this week in the persons of J. Cook and Hartline. 

13. (9) Phat Girlz - It never feels good to drop the lowest number of the week, but to do it against a beatable opponent in week 1 hurts. A lot has to go wrong, and a lot did for the Girlz.  Alone with a RB job Wilson fumbled his way to the bench, and Lamar Miller barely got started. Both RBs are going to have to prove themselves starters before the Girlz see the topside of the rankings this year. Owen Daniels may have played his way off the bench with a 2 TD night. None of the six position players found the endzone.

14. (12) TuskenRaiders - the Sand People always seem to start the year in rankings dungeons of Tatooine an and work their way back toward the playoffs.  RGIII pulled it together somewhat in the 4th quarter, but he didn't look remotely as dynamic starting off this year.  Charles and D-Jax are legit firs class weapons, everyone else looks a little dull.



Fumbles may cost Stevan Ridley more than just starting job with the Trichs

The Trichs team headquarters General Far East announced the demotion of Stevan Ridley today after he was benched during the second half of Sunday's game following two early fumbles.  The news came as a surprise, as Tom Brady and the Patriots have displayed the team's confidence in their running back.  The Patriots are thin at the position, with Shane Vereen, who replaced Ridley and played spectacularly (101 yds rushing, 58 yds receiving), being put on injured reserve with fractured wrist.  LaGarrett Blount suffers from PCP paranoia, yet Coach Belichick is not convinced that Blount's life is in imminent danger enough to put him in the Patriots starting lineup and murder somebody.  Stevan Ridley, by default, has been placed back in the lineup.

The situation is very different in the Far East, as the Trichs don't lack options at the RB/Flex positions.  RunDMC scored a touchdown and didn't shatter into pieces, and MJD didn't play bad enough to warrant his $48 ass being sent to the bench.  DeAngelo Williams, who had been involved in several trade rumors until Chris Ivory instead was traded for Eric Decker and San Francisco defense, is locked in as the Panther's primary running back, and can easily fit in the flex position.   Greg Olsen and Julius Thomas are also neck in neck for the tight end position, and the loser of that battle can slide in and fill the flex position.  Ridley faces an uphill battle to be put back into the starting lineup, as the General's disdain for the Patriots is well known and well documented.  It was an honor for Ridley to be on the Far East roster, and more so to be in the starting lineup.  Now he has lost the honor.


Of course, this is not the first time in history that fumbles have cost people more than just jobs.  Tony Romo (see above) lost his soul after this epic fumble that cost the Cowboys a game (among a long list).  The Browns fans lost their franchise after the crucial fumble in the redzone against the Elway-led Broncos in the AFC championship.  And Mark Sanchez, well, he just lost it.






Casino Gulag Week 1: Recap


Teasing Stallion
GrossmanSachs - Matt Forte - Scored
TTM - Steven Jackson - 122 Total Yards - WINNER
Trichs - Ronnie Hillman - 42 Total Yards
NeckBloodz - Darren Sproles - 110 Total Yards
Polk HS - Eddie Lacy - Scored
Pelican Brief - Ryan Matthews - Scored
BDT - David (Fumble and Cry x2) Wilson - LOLZ
Goslings - Bilal Powell - 64 Total Yards
SF Ferries - CJ?K - 70 Total Yards
Phat Girlz - CJ Spiller - 55 Total Yards

Taking Tiger Mountain wins this week's Teasing Stallion (by strategy). Unfortunately, for TTM, GrossmanSachs Senior VP of Racial Integrity Mel Gibson ruled earlier this week that Tony Gonzalez was "at least 25% unwhite enough to win the Alstott-Kuhn Award."

Tackling Machine
GrossmanSachs - James Laurinitis - 6 Solo Tackles
TTM - Chad Greenway - 5 Solo Tackles
Trichs - Luke Kuechly - 6 Solo Tackles
Neck Bloodz - Paul Posluszny - 10 Solo Tackles
Polk HS - Brandon Magee - I'm not sure this guy played.
Pelican Brief - Bobby Wagner - 4 Solo Tackles
BDT - Sean Lee - 4 Solo Tackles
Goslings - London Fletcher - 6 Solo Tackles
SF Ferries - Luke Kuechly - 6 Solo Tackles
Phat Girlz - JJ Watt - 2 solo tackles

Penn State alum Paul Posluszny wins with a whopping 10 solo tackles. Henceforth, he will be called the tackle monster.

15 BankerBitez for TTM and Neck Bloodz.

Saturday, September 7, 2013

TY Hilton faces discipline following discovery of faking academic records


AP (Ulaan Baatar)

TY Hilton, projected as WR2/Flex following the draft for the Trichs, is reportedly facing disciplinary action against him that may include fines and suspensions after the team officials discovered that Hilton and his representatives faked academic records to make it seem like he attended the University of North Carolina.

The speedy receiver, a Florida International product, was strangely awarded the Far Easterners Tar Heel roster spot that has traditionally been designated to players that attended Chapel Hill.  ESPN Outside The Lines reported Thursday that the records of TJ Yates of Houston Texans were faked to resemble that of TY Hilton.  This has left the team in jeopardy of maintaining the long standing traditions of keeping at least one former Tar Heel on the roster that included the likes of Dre Bly, Julius Peppers, Jeff Reed and Hakeem Nicks.

In preparation for his pending absence, the team on Wednesday traded for Eric Decker to start as their week 1 WR.  Running back Chris Ivory was sent to ThePelicanBrief in return.

Other news from the Far East:
The team wrapped up their post-draft camp in Ulaan Baatar Thursday morning and flew to Tokyo in preparation for the week 1 game.  Players and team officials equally raved about the new training facilities and the weather in Mongolia, and it's expected that the team will repeatedly return to the steppe for training and conditioning throughout the season.

Friday, September 6, 2013

Post Draft Distribution Landscape



Obviously draft value is an indirect way to approach an understanding of trades. There are premiums at blue chip (particularly running backs) in auction drafts that naturally result in some teams paying inflated rates for a few players and others buying up multiple 2nd tier position players in the hopes of trading up river. Putting aside the fact that there's no telling what the year will bring, it's interesting to see the redistributive properties of trading after an auction draft.  In the theorized desert of the 14-team wire, trades have exploded like the Silk Road. 7/14 teams got in on the trading action. Are the deals done or is there a Sunday morning surprise lurking under the covers?


Polk High Panthers  ($201)
Al Bundy's squad picked up a couple back up RBs, traded kickers, back up QBs.

+2 Fred Jackson
-1 Jared Cook

+4 Mike Leshoure
+1 Dan Bailey
+0 Geno Smith
- 3 Ben Rothlesburger
-2 Randy Bullock

Goslings ($199)

+1 Jared Cook
-2 Fred Jackson

BDT  ($202)
Shamefacedly hiding behind proxies the Chico Bandits pulled strings and promised who knows what to secure the Fall of the Romo Empire.

-4 Mike Leshoure
-1 Dan Bailey
-0 Geno Smith  *cost $1 waiver dollar
+ 3 Ben Rothlesburger
+2 Randy Bullock

+5 Tony Romo
-3 Ben Rothelesburger

I bring Ivory from exotic New Jersey, and heroin, obvs.

Trichs  ($215)
The Trichs sold high on starting mystery man Ivory, before everybody remembers he plays for the Jets.

+10 Eric Decker
+11 San Francisco
-6 Chris Ivory


PelicanBrief  ($182)
The Brief again facilitated a majority of the deals.  They needed legs, then got CJ?K, Ivory, and Mark Ingram.  They send away one of their two top 5 QBs, a top 10 QB, one of their two top five defenses and a wide out.

-10 Eric Decker
-11 San Francisco
+6 Chris Ivory

-34 Peyton Manning
-1 Roy Helu
+5 Tony Romo
+4 Mark Ingram

-5 Tony Romo
+3 Ben Rothelesburger

+55 Chris Johnson
-13 RGIII
-1 Danny Woodhead


Grossman Sachs ($226)

The Commish picked up some old broken down HOFer for Bad Penny Romo and Saints' Clock Maintenance Ingram.  

+34 Peyton Manning
+1 Roy Helu
-5 Tony Romo
-4 Mark Ingram


Tusken Raiders ($158)
The Raiders needed a QB and got a headliner in RGIII.  It will balance their offense if he can stay on the field. 

-55 Chris Johnson
-1 Daniel Thomas (dropped for roster room)
+13 RGIII
+1 Danny Woodhead





Thursday, September 5, 2013

What Do You Do When It's Gone?


Peyton Manning could barely face the media tonight after a disappointing start to the 2013 PSAS season. When watching him at the podium, one couldn't help but think of an old cowboy, who may still have a enough strength to get the job done eventually, but has noticeably lost a step since his old dog succumbed to the gravity of existence. His bottom lip quivered as he looked off into the projection of the embarrassing replays running on a loop in his mind's eye, and boy, there were plenty of bad replays from tonight's game. On thirty-five different occasions, Peyton Manning threw the ball and his intended target didn't score a touchdown.

It's never easy to watch old age creep into the spines of your G0dz. There was a time when even the most devastating of natural disasters couldn't throw Peyton off his game, but sadly, those days are long gone. "We knew they were gonna use some kinda electromagnetic weapon, and we prepped all week for a thunderstorm at kickoff, but no matter how hard you prepare, there's still gonna be some hiccups. Tonight, there were just too many. I don't want to say if this is the end, or what tomorrow holds, but you aren't gonna last very long in this league throwing seven touchdowns a night, that's for sure. Thunderstorm or otherwise, this is on me."

Of course, we've all grown up with, or raised our own children on, the story of Peyton Manning facing Rex Grossman during the only downpour in Super Bowl history. Grossman's weather weapons caused thirteen incompletions that night, and Peyton barely made it out of the stadium alive, only saving 87,000 others in the process. Tonight's display brought back the same horrible memories.

"It's really-- daggummit, I told myself I wasn't gonna get all dusted up about this." A kleenex salesman could've made a fortune walking through the hoards of reporters who'd come to see one of their heroes pay his final respects to the football G0dz. "You just, look, you play this game your whole life-- from the moment you can run, they put a helmet on your head and a ball in you hand. Then to come out one day, and know, you just don't got it anymore-- well, it puts a sting in a part of your body you didn't know you had. And y'all'll see it too, it may not be a football, for most of you it won't be; it'll be picking up a pen, or opening a soda pop bottle, and you'll look at your hand and feel betrayed. That's how I felt out there tonight, and I'm sorry y'all had to see that."

There was no clapping as Peyton descended from the podium, into the suddenly anonymous life of an ex-great. The room was filled with the sound of camera flashes, and maybe that's fitting. Maybe the acknowledgement of one's greatness isn't measured by how loudly they're thanked by fans and journalists when they tip their cap one last time, but by how startling their humanity is when it finally defeats their myth.