Last Place Wisdom: Week Ten - So Deep That it Didn't Even Bleed
I could go on and on about the virtues of a certain pizza chain, but after last week I think you all got the message; Pizza is delicious and when you can get a high quality product at a reasonable price, it's hard to go wrong, and every Monday evening Papa John's offers exactly that. As exciting as Papa John's is however, what is going on in the league is even more exciting. Putting my faith in Papa John's has led me to 2 wins in a row and after almost giving up on the season I am now back in a playoff position. Clarke bounced back from a heartbreaking loss to me 2 weeks ago to pull off a thrilling victory over Aaron; which has created a great playoff race to end the season. Combined with a number of trades and injuries to star players which have shaken things up at the top of the standings, and I predict the end of the regular season should be more exciting than finding out you get 50% off pizza on a Monday.
Before getting into current business, I have some housekeeping to take care of. I forgot to give out a Mr. Manager of the Week award the last 2 weeks, so I figured I should take care of that before I start hearing complaints from owners who think I'm giving them the short end of the stick. Mike Powell, you picked up Jeremy Langford the week before Forte's injury and then managed to trade for Forte. You might have started at the bottom, but now you're a legitimate contended for best team in the league for your strong waiver pickups.
And Clarke, you managed to get yourself Lamar Miller, Drew Brees and Greg Olsen at just the right time. While Mike has relied on the waiver wire to build his team, you have done it through shrewd trading. It's going to suck that most likely one of you, Aaron or myself are going to miss the playoffs given I think we all have fairly strong teams at this point.
There have been a couple of other trades that I feel like I should touch on. Forgetting all the shadiness surrounding John and Aaron's initial Tom Brady trade (I can't really talk since I played a minor role in the deal), I think the current trade is pretty fair for both teams. QB was John's one weakness, which he has now shored up nicely, while Aaron managed to both improve his team for next year while staying competitive this year as well. I like the trade for both teams.
Steve and I were also able to make a trade that I think should work out nicely for both of us as well. With Eddy Lacy caring more about cheeseburgers than running the football, Dion Lewis tearing his ACL and Melvin Gordon just not being very good, I was in desperate need of a RB. I am very excited to be able to play Danny Woodhead from here on out (after his bye of course). Meanwhile Blake Bortles has been one of the QB surprises of the year, he's the #9 scoring QB for those of you wondering, and should help Steve solidify his QB position given Big Ben's injury.
For those of you wondering, my sudden love for Papa John's at the expense of a juicy cheeseburger has nothing to do with Eddy Lacy deciding to stuff his face with cheeseburgers and harming my fantasy season. I still love cheeseburgers, but sometimes a delicious slice of pizza just hits the spot. And while I cannot recommend the pizza cheeseburger sold by one of Papa John's competitors, I would be remiss if I didn't take the time for this plug:
And on that note, I'm proud to introduce my new segment:
The Papa John's Pizza Emo Shoutout of the Week
One of the best things about looking up Vindicated on Youtube last week was the mid-2000's emo rabbit hole it sent me down. I spent much of the night listening to some of the most emotional songs of the last 15 years, which I wanted to share with all of you. I'll be making a shoutout to the person I think needs it the most right now. I'll say right now, this last week has been tough for a number of teams, which made my choice extremely difficult. But enough of an intro, let's go straight to a classic
The heartfelt vocals of Bert McCracken really sell the song, and it brings back some great memories of Mike Powell's basement. The shoutout this week goes to Dawson, and if you were an outsider you might question why the team in first place deserves the inagural emo shoutout. However, as little as 2 weeks ago Dawson was the odds on favourite to repeat as champ. Since then, he's traded away a top 4 RB in Miller, lost Bell for the season to injury, and lost Luck for a likely minimum of 3 or 4 weeks. He might end up being just fine pretending he's not, but it's possible Dawson peaked too early.
Well That Surprised Me
Before getting into current business, I have some housekeeping to take care of. I forgot to give out a Mr. Manager of the Week award the last 2 weeks, so I figured I should take care of that before I start hearing complaints from owners who think I'm giving them the short end of the stick. Mike Powell, you picked up Jeremy Langford the week before Forte's injury and then managed to trade for Forte. You might have started at the bottom, but now you're a legitimate contended for best team in the league for your strong waiver pickups.
And Clarke, you managed to get yourself Lamar Miller, Drew Brees and Greg Olsen at just the right time. While Mike has relied on the waiver wire to build his team, you have done it through shrewd trading. It's going to suck that most likely one of you, Aaron or myself are going to miss the playoffs given I think we all have fairly strong teams at this point.
There have been a couple of other trades that I feel like I should touch on. Forgetting all the shadiness surrounding John and Aaron's initial Tom Brady trade (I can't really talk since I played a minor role in the deal), I think the current trade is pretty fair for both teams. QB was John's one weakness, which he has now shored up nicely, while Aaron managed to both improve his team for next year while staying competitive this year as well. I like the trade for both teams.
Steve and I were also able to make a trade that I think should work out nicely for both of us as well. With Eddy Lacy caring more about cheeseburgers than running the football, Dion Lewis tearing his ACL and Melvin Gordon just not being very good, I was in desperate need of a RB. I am very excited to be able to play Danny Woodhead from here on out (after his bye of course). Meanwhile Blake Bortles has been one of the QB surprises of the year, he's the #9 scoring QB for those of you wondering, and should help Steve solidify his QB position given Big Ben's injury.
For those of you wondering, my sudden love for Papa John's at the expense of a juicy cheeseburger has nothing to do with Eddy Lacy deciding to stuff his face with cheeseburgers and harming my fantasy season. I still love cheeseburgers, but sometimes a delicious slice of pizza just hits the spot. And while I cannot recommend the pizza cheeseburger sold by one of Papa John's competitors, I would be remiss if I didn't take the time for this plug:
And on that note, I'm proud to introduce my new segment:
The Papa John's Pizza Emo Shoutout of the Week
One of the best things about looking up Vindicated on Youtube last week was the mid-2000's emo rabbit hole it sent me down. I spent much of the night listening to some of the most emotional songs of the last 15 years, which I wanted to share with all of you. I'll be making a shoutout to the person I think needs it the most right now. I'll say right now, this last week has been tough for a number of teams, which made my choice extremely difficult. But enough of an intro, let's go straight to a classic
Well That Surprised Me
- After Eddy Lacy put up negative points I wasn't expecting to win, but thankfully he still ended up with more yards than Ronnie Hillman. That and Antonio Brown was able to seal the game for me.
- Shayne just keeps finding ways to win, this week it was on the back of a late pick 6 from the Eagles. I know Shayne isn't overly happy with his team, but he's had a lot of consistency which counts for a lot.
- This is how I see the playoff situation looking
- The teams that are in: Dawson, Shayne, Mike, John
- The likely playoff contenders: Steve, Stan
- Fighting for their lives: Keith, Aaron, Clarke
- Longhots: Andrew, Curtis
- Out of It: Travis
- The games between the Clarke/Stan and Curtis/Steve this week will play a huge role in determining the final standings. I'm watching those games closely in regards to playoff positioning. I think the winner of each of those games ultimately ends up in the playoffs.
Great post, Keith. I appreciate the shout-out ... and the remarkably dated-sounding emo song embed.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that I peaked too early, but then again, I shouldn't complain as that hot start clinched the playoffs. Even if my team falls apart in November, it's still only three straight wins in December to TFLOEG glory. Anything can happen.
Oh, BTW, for those of you wondering why I've been incommunicado for the last week or so, it's because my work phone fell into the toilet and is no longer functional. I've reverted back to my trusty BlackBerry Bold without a data plan; text me at (587) 227-1383 if you wish. It may be some time before I am again in possession of a legitimate smartphone. Cheers.
ReplyDelete