Multiply 365 Day 3 - The second half

Since this is not a regularly scheduled project, it can fall under the classification of Multiply 365.  That being said, I did say I was going to do this a few weeks back, so it becomes a a matter of fulfilling two obligations with one blog entry.

In case you hadn't guessed yet, this is the second half recap of the fantasy football season, a topic which will sure chase away many of the readers to this page, if in fact this page had many readers to begin with.  

When last we left off, after 8 weeks of play, the fantasy team had a respectable 6-2 record, but every team in the league had at least 3 wins through the first 8 weeks, so there was a certain balance to the league this year, nobody really had run away with things, nor was anyone truly out of the running for one of the league's six playoff spots.  With that being said, we pick up with week #9.

Week #9  vs Team Mini Me (L, 88-126)  I hate to call any game a good loss, but sometimes you just catch the wrong team at the wrong time.  With the way our league is formatted a score around 90 points is usually a winner, so hanging 88 on the board wasn't a bad effort, I just happened to catch the team that scored the most points in the league this particular week (my total would have been third highest that week). Arian Foster and Adrian Peterson combined for 45 points to highlight my roster, but who would have thunk that Peyton Hillis would shred New England for 24 points and that my opponent would have two players record even higher scores than that, with Philip Rivers getting 30 and the Minnesota defense scoring 25.

Week #10  vs Alaska Mud Hens (W, 90-65)  What a difference a week makes, I only score two more points, but register a fairly easy win to bring my record to 7-3.  Matt Ryan led the team with 28 points, and Marshawn Lynch getting a spot start to cover a bye week, even managed a respectable 9.

Week #11  vs Nobody Told Me  (W, 119-113)  I posted the highest score of the week, and needed practically every point to get to 8-3.  Of the 18 players fielded between the two teams, 10 of them scored 11 or more points.

Week #12  vs maybe this year (W, 101-66)  The win this week clinched a playoff spot for me, and 6 of my nine players scored 10 or more points, led by the Miami defense scoring 16.  All nine players that started scored at least 7 points, probably my most balanced effort of the year.  

Week #13  vs Youngstown Stooges (W, 104-62)  For the third straight week I managed to score over 100 points, and with the win I clinched the regular season title and the #1 seed in the upcoming fantasy football playoffs.  This was a case of my draft panning out when I needed it most, as the top four players I drafted way back at the beginning of the season (Adrian Peterson, Arian Foster, Greg Jennings, Calvin Johnson)  contributed 25, 18, 20 and 10 points.

Week #14  vs Teabag (W, 63-58)  Just as sometimes you catch a team at the wrong time and no matter what you do you can't win, sometimes you catch them at the right time and you can't lose.  The win pushed my final regular season record to 11-3 and was the 5th straight win to close the season.  

Week #15  Bye  Finishing in the top two in the league meant that I didn't have to field a lineup for this weekend, the first of the playoffs.

Week #16  vs Teabag (L, 67-77)  After winning the previous two meetings against Teabag by a combined 7 points, the first round of the playoffs wasn't nearly as fortuitous for me, as I dropped a 10 point decision that I groaned on enough in a previous blog that I will not revisit the issue here.  

Week #17  vs Team Mini Me (93-67)  The consolation game of the fantasy football playoffs, the win means I finished in third place.  The only plus to that is I get an additional trophy for my fantasy sports profile on Yahoo, pushing my total to 10 (6 1st's, 4 3rd's).  

And that caps the season, one in which I had my best regular season ever (11-3) and led the league in scoring (1304 points) but had that misstep in the first round of the playoffs.  I was talking to my friend Bob on Facebook earlier this year and he mentioned that his team (in a different league) was 4-7 but he still had a shot at making the playoffs, to which I told him that is really all that matters in the long run, to just have a chance when the games count for something. In the end I would have traded a couple of those regular season wins for one more post season win, but I will have to wait till next year for another chance at that, and another chance to bore you with fantasy football chatter.