Playoff Lives on the Line

Week 16 leaves one playoff spot up for grabs in the West division, with a whole lot of possible finishes and two different potential division champions.  Out East Jared has clinched the division title and now the wildcard is locked up for Gaskill, despite a valiant late-season charge by J.J.'s squad.  So without further ado, let's look at the possible outcomes in the league for every team, and over the next couple of days we will take some in-depth looks at the important match-ups for the last week of the season.

EAST

Division Champion: Forsett Down Her Throat

Wild Card: Show Me Your TD's

My Team Blows Again will take 3rd in the division with a win or a Pissing Excellence.

Pissing Excellence can take 3rd with a win and My Team Blows Again loss.

5th: Wacco For Flacco

WEST

Clinched Playoff Berth: Hail to the Chefs can clinch division championship with win, or Angry Asians & I Stiff Armed Your Mom win, or Angry Asians win, or I Stiff Armed Your Mom win.

Angry Asians can clinch wildcard with win and I Stiff Armed Your Mom loss. Eliminated with loss.

Mountlake Terrors can clinch division championship with win plus losses by Angry Asians and Hail to the Chefs, can clinch wildcard with win and Angry Asians loss.  Eliminated with loss.

I Stiff Armed Your Mom can clinch wildcard with win.  Eliminated with loss.

5th: Party Animals can eliminate Angry Asians with win.

Stay tuned tomorrow for the first set of game breakdowns.

-Commish

3-Steps to Greatness

Over the past four years we have had four different champions, and with only one of those still in the running for the league title there is a very real chance we could see our fifth different winner.  With this in mind as we are two weeks from deciding the field of four, the LFP FFB staff has dipped into the annals of our leagues brief history to develop a short set of guidelines for how to win a championship!

1. Farthest to fall...
    Only once has the top seed in the league ever won the championship, Kyle in 2007.  In his case the top seed was awarded to the team only on a tie-breaker, hardly a dominating season.

2. Winner, winner, you go hungry...
    To add on to the top seed curse, no team has ever led the league in regular season wins alone and won the championship.  To this point in league history the regular season winner, when not shared, has been cursed to two fourth place finishes in 2006 and 2009, and a devastating second place finish in 2008.  So far anything over 11 wins is a ticket to Loserville.

3. Perfect Nine...
    The past two years have seen three 9-8 teams make the playoffs, and both years one of those 9-8 teams won the championship.  In the first two years of the league no 9-8 teams made the playoffs, which makes the 9-8ers two for two with a third place finish mixed in because there are only so many titles to go around.


Will history hold, or will fantasy football continue to be as unpredictable as ever?  Only time will tell...

-Commish

Clinch!

The results are in for the top spot out West, and Forsett Down The Field has clinched the division thanks to the tie-breaker over Gas.  With one spot filled up, there are three playoff berths yet to be claimed and seven teams in the hunt.  Let's take a brief look at the West Wild Card race...

Show Me Your TD's vs. Pissing Excellence
No bigger match-up in the league this week than this win-and-in for Gaskill.  A TD's victory locks up the Wild Card in the West, but if J.J.'s squad doesn't Piss this one away they have a very real shot at a first playoff appearance.  Pissing Excellence must win both remaining games against Gaskill and Jared, plus rely on Gaskill losing in Week 17 to Hail to the Chefs.  Meanwhile Gas need only win one of his remaining two games to lock things down.  This week will go a long way toward determining the second playoff spot out of the west, stay tuned!

Out in the wild wild East things look totally different, as all five teams are very realistically in the race.  There are so many possible combinations that it can make your head spin, so instead of entertaining everything over a two-week stretch, we will look only at the possibilities to clinch playoff spots this week...

Mountlake Terrors
If the Terrors can buck Wong's late-charging Angry Asians in Week 16, they can lock up a playoff berth by virtue of tie-breakers over Hail to the Chefs and the Party Animals.  In this case the Terrors can clinch the division with another win in Week 17.

Hail to the Chefs
With a win over the Stiffies and some help in the way of losses by the Mountlake Terrors and Party Animals, the Chefs can lock up a playoff berth, and control their own destiny for a division title.

As far as the other three teams go, I Stiff Armed Your Mom can't clinch anything, but will be alive in Week 17 regardless of a win or loss this week.  The Party Animals can stay in contention with a win this week, and in that case would leap-frog the loser of the Chefs/Stiffies match-up in the division standings with some stipulations.  Finally the Angry Asians can claim a tie-breaker over another top team in the division with a win,  and vault themselves into the wild card slot with a do-or-die game in Week 17.  No matter which way you slice it, every team here has a serious possibility, and that's what it's all about when it comes to crunch time.

Week 16 is almost upon us, and we will see the cream rise to the top soon enough.  Which of the last seven teams will stake their claim to a playoff spot and a shot at the 2010 Championship?!  Only two weeks to go...


-Commish

Week 14 Fallout - East Division

East Division

Party Animals - Vicki Harris

The highest scoring team in the league, and Week 14 is mounting a comeback in the tight East Division race.  A huge win over Craig this past week clinches the head-to-head tie-breaker and leads into another brutal division match-up with the tie-breaker at stake.  Back-to-back wins with help from Wong or Jared could lead to a win-and-in game in Week 17.  Exciting stuff from top-to-bottom in this division...

Angry Asians - Jason Wong

This team is electric, and if they can run the table the rest of the way and get some help, has a very real shot at the playoffs.  Tie-breakers have been decided over Vick, but in the favor of Craig and Tony, with Mike still to be determined.  Winning is the only option for this team.

I Stiff Armed Your Mom - Craig Peterson

With a big loss at the hands of the Party Animals in Week 14, this team slipped out of a playoff spot on tie-breakers, but is tied with the first and second place teams.  Wong, Tony, and Mike in that order makes for a brutal, all-division schedule to wrap up the year for Craig's team, but they still control their own destiny.

Hail to the Chefs - Tony Le

Back-to-back losses see this team drop from the division lead to the wild card slot, plus a tie-break loss to the new division leader.  With tie-breakers over Vick and Wong, Tony's squad is in a great position to get into the playoffs in the next couple weeks, but Week 15 will be as big as it gets against the dangerous Party Animals.

Mountlake Terrors - Mike Harris

This team snuck up on the division over the past three weeks.  After a four game slide, the Terrors just clinched the tie-breaker over Tony, and have rough games against Jared, Wong, and Craig if they want to stay relevant in the playoff picture.  One loss is all it takes to shake everything up in this division, stay tuned...

Week 15 starts tomorrow night, strap in and hold on tight!

Week 14 Fallout - West Division

West Division

Wacco for Flacco - Kyle Stinson
How Wacco is Flacco coming up 1.15 points short of a win on Monday Night football?  Game over for the Squad led by Adrian Peterson and Roddy White, who will have to battle it out with our next team to avoid last in the league...

My Team Blows Again - Jason Jakubiak
This team has fallen off the map, and losing Aaron Rodgers early on Sunday killed any hopes of grasping at playoff glory for a second straight year.  Under 60 points for the week, and narrowly avoiding last place in the league for now.

Pissing Excellence - J.J. Didier
Well look who's making a late run, it's the Saints laden urination perfectionists.  An extremely narrow win over a division rival clinched a three-game sweep against Kyle and puts this team just one game away from a playoff spot.  With one game to go against Gas in Week 16, two more wins would put J.J. into the wild card slot, his only chance for a berth in the playoffs.  This is the team to watch in the West as the season starts wrapping up.

Show Me Your TD's - Sean Gaskill
Three weeks, three losses, 222.4 points, and still in control of his own destiny for the wild card, or an outside shot at the division title.  This team needs to figure things out in a hurry if they want to stay in the playoff picture, with a charging Pissing Excellence team only one game behind them and the division leader creeping away, Week 15 is as close to a must win game as you can get without all the marbles on the line.

Forsett Down Her Throat - Jared Underbrink
6-1 over their last seven games, this team is cruising to the West Division championship.  One more loss by Gaskill and they clinch, plus two wins out of their last three will guarantee the #1 seed in the playoffs.

Week 14 fallout for the East Division, piping hot on Wednesday!

The Stretch Run

Week 14 sees some of the biggest match-ups of the season to this point as far as playoff scenarios go.  Sure, every week from here on will be enormous for a lot of teams, but playoff lives are literally at stake starting this coming week.  Let's take a look at the schedule for this coming weekend...

My Team Blows Again vs. Angry Asians
These two 5-8 teams will battle it out in a bid to win out and make the playoffs in what would be incredible fashion.  For the Asians, a loss by the Chefs and/or Stiffies can keep them alive even if they lose.  The Blow-holes have to win to compliment a guaranteed TD's or Forsett loss just to keep them alive by a sliver.  The loser of this game is nearly doomed at best.

Party Animals vs. I Stiff Armed Your Mom
The Animals control their own destiny this week, as a win here knocks down the #2 Stiffies and brings them within two games of a playoff birth with a little help.  Either the Chefs or Terrors will lose, which helps both teams in one way or another as the Stiffies could move into first all alone with a win of their own.

Mountlake Terrors vs. Hail to the Chefs
These teams will decide the season series and the tie-breaker this week, and with a one-game lead in the East it is as big a week 14 game as we have on the schedule.  The Terrors can move out of third place and directly into playoff contention with a win, whereas the Chefs can bury a close competitor down in the standings and keep their possession of the division lead.  This is the game of the week in the East at least.

Pissing Excellence vs. Wacco For Flacco
Simply put, the Flacco's must win and count on a loss by the TD's to stay alive, or it's all over.  The Pissers look to build on their momentum and will move one game closer to either Forsett or the TD's if they can win this one, but should they fall they will be hoping for a Forsett win to keep them just two games back of the wild card.

Show Me Your TD's vs. Forsett Down Her Throat
A battle of the top two in the West, where no matter what happens the standings will remain the same.  However, should the TD's pull one out it will make it a tie-breaker lead for the Forsett's, putting the pressure on to win every week to maintain the spot atop the division.  Forsett looks to bounce back from a miserable week and regain their stride in an important positioning match-up for the stretch run.  Both teams will hope for a Pissers loss to increase their breathing room in the division.

Nothing like playoff implications to get everybody riled up in Week 14, good luck to most of you, and to the rest I hope you lose miserably.

-Commish

Week 12: LFP Pro Bowl Lineups

Lady & Gentlemen, the lineups for this week's pro bowl match-up are as follows:

West Division
QB Philip Rivers GAS
RB1 Arian Foster GAS
RB2 Adrian Peterson KYL
WR1 Brandon Lloyd DID
WR2 Roddy White KYL
WR3 Greg Jennings UND
TE Marcedes Lewis UND
K Matt Bryant UND
DEF Green Bay Packers GAS

East Division
QB Peyton Manning MIK
RB1 Peyton Hillis TLE
RB2 Chris Johnson WON
WR1 Terrell Owens CRA
WR2 Dwayne Bowe VIC
WR3 Calvin Johnson VIC (Replaces Hakeem Nicks MIK)
TE Antonio Gates WON
K David Akers VIC
DEF Arizona Cardinals MIK

To the victor go the spoils, $5 in free agency up for the highest scoring team owner!

Good luck,
Commish

Un-be-lievable...

Those of us who watched Monday Night Football were able to bear witness to not only an incredible performance by a single player, but a tight contest that seriously could have gone either way at any moment in a division match-up.  Michael Vick dismantled Vick's Party Animals appropriately enough with a record-breaking performance where he not only scored a total of six touchdowns, but made sure only one went to Jeremy Maclin and no drives stalled for David Akers field goals.  Round two between the Party Animals and the Angry Asians followed suit as to how their first meeting went, where the teams combined for a record-breaking total.  This time they topped their own record, and for the second time the Party Animals happened to explode against an Angry Asian team that exploded just a little bit more.  If it weren't for Dwayne Bowe being on the bench, this one would have gone the other way, but what a battle between the bottom two teams in the East division.  If we take anything away from this, it has to be that both of these squads are awfully live dogs the rest of the way and should not be counted out.  Were it not for injuries and unlucky schedules, there isn't much that would have prevented these teams from resting atop the tables.

Get ready for Week 11, we've got some of the best match-ups on paper all year.  Also keep an eye on the league leaders, as Week 12 will be our second annual Pro Bowl, which will truly be a Thanksgiving special with all the trimmings!

-Commish

Breakdown: Best in the West

181.3 points separate first and second place in the West Division after nine weeks of football.  That amount of points seems almost insurmountable, conjuring images of a powerhouse running over everyone in their sights... Only in this case that number represents how many more points second place in the West has scored than the first place team.  Forsett Down Her Throat has relied on what some may see as a considerable amount of luck to reach a 6-3 record, 5-2 in the division, and a first place slot with only seven weeks to go.  In part one of this week's featured content, we analyze how this first place team found itself on top of the heap out West.

Week 1 vs. Show Me Your TD's
In what has ended up being the difference in the standings, Gas failed to understand the potential of some players, resulting in an embarrassing defeat that saw two players on the bench score more points together than his entire starting roster combined.  Not to mention the neglect of finding an available Utility player, thus leaving his tenth slot open and accepting a zero.  This loss in the division turns the TD's into the second place team, making Forsett the leader.
81.85 - 67.6

Week 2 vs. Pissing Excellence
A solid victory over a full squad this week, as the studly combination of Andre Johnson and LeSean McCoy posted 52.6.  This was a good division win early in the season, that began the early season burial of a rival and boosted Jared's squad to a perfect start.
101.9 - 85.8

Week 3 vs. My Team Blows Again
The pre-blockbuster trade Blow-holes failed to score 100 points, but won in blowout fashion.  Just over ten more points could have been gained with a maximized point-output roster for the Forsett's, but that still would have resulted in a nearly 30-point loss.  Only one player, Favre at QB, in double-digits can't cut it in this league and clearly didn't this week.
59.05 - 98

Week 4 vs. Wacco For Flacco
A bye week battery this time, catching Kyle's squad without studs Adrian Peterson and Miles Austin.  Even so, a huge week by the New England Defense, netting 24 points took this team to another division victory and a very strong 3-1 start.
99.25 - 71.95

Week 5 vs. I Stiff Armed Your Mom
A second strong week in a row went unrewarded as Jared's crew ran into a buzz-saw lead by Matt Forte.  The benching of Michael Crabtree and Felix Jones, while not ill-advised in any sense, ended up being costly for the Forsett's, seeing the winning differential as a possibility in hindsight.  A tough loss to a worthy opponent, but another good showing and still in great shape at 3-2
119.7 - 98.15

Week 6 vs. Show Me Your TD's
This one clinched the head-to-head tie-breaker for the Forsett's, and rang in at a third straight performance near 100 points by going over just enough for the victory.  Utility uses for each team lead to a tight one, but Jared's phenomenal receiver output carried the day for a margin of victory just over six points.  4-2 atop the West Division.
106.45 - 100.25

Week 7 vs. Wacco For Flacco
Inconsistency struck again in Week 7 against a familiar foe.  Kyle's squad went off with a full roster, and could have tallied an even bigger win if it weren't for Kenny Britt's 45.5 points being stuck on the bench.  Regardless, this game was a blowout from end to end and dropped the Forsett's to 4-3 in brutal fashion.
145.5 - 77.5

Week 8 vs. Angry Asians
A great game to pay attention to against Wong came down to just a 3.45 point difference.  Andre Johnson, Ryan Mathews, and Marcedes Lewis lead the Forsett's with strong play as the Asians tried to cope with the loss of Michael Vick unsuccessfully.  Each team was able to play the "what-if" game as they saw strong production sitting on each bench.  5-3 the hard way, once again atop the division.
86.9 - 83.45

Week 9 vs. Pissing Excellence
Burial complete in the eyes of many.  A roster maintenance blunder results in a win here as was documented in the league blog.  The dropping of Derrick Mason in favor of Patrick Crayton may be the right play as we move forward in the season, but in this situation where the move did not afford the team a full roster of three wide receivers it cannot be ignored.  It is easy to say in hindsight, but Derrick Mason in the WR3 slot alongside the new arrival Crayton would have resulted in a desperately needed victory for J.J. against the Utility-lead Forsett squad.  A return to 100 points and another win to go to 6-3 atop the division and tied record-wise for the league lead.
101.7 - 95.45

We can see that this team has caught a few lucky breaks, with some breakout days sitting on the bench for other teams, as well as bye weeks playing a big role.  However, this is by no means a bad team albeit inconsistent at times.  The 2010 Forsett Down Her Throat squad is a great reminder that margin of victory does not count for everything, it's all about getting the "W".

Next time we will take a look at the leader in the East.

-Commish

A Quick Question: Week 9

Hindsight is always 20/20, and humor is always at someone's expense, so without further ado I would like to introduce a new feature to the LFP FFB blog that I hope will become a weekly favorite...

And now, a quick question with Pissing Excellence team owner J.J. Didier.

LFP:  J.J., do you regret deciding to drop a receiver in order to pick up a receiver which still left you without a third receiver active?  I should mention that had you kept Mason and dropped someone like, oh say C.J. Spiller, you would have over ten points more and have Jeff Reed tomorrow night kicking for a win.  Is that something you'd like to do over?

DID:  Fuck you Mike.

LFP:  So you stand by starting Brandon Lloyd on his bye week?

DID:  Seriously, fuck you.

Thanks for stopping by!

-Commish

MH Rankings Week 9

Here they are, a game day edition of the MH Rankings just in time to stir it up!

Breaking News: Randy Moss Released

NFL Network has confirmed that Randy Moss has been released by the Vikings.  Not only news in the NFL, but in fantasy leagues everywhere and J.J.'s roster especially.  Moss will be on today's waiver wire for the NFL, giving teams a chance to claim him.  Should he clear waivers he will be free to negotiate with any team he chooses as a free agent.  Minnesota will pick up the tab for his contract either way, but he can make more money on top of it should he clear waivers.

J.J. saw Moss' production slip with the Vikings and a broken Favre, but this could be a boost to his value and statistical output if he lands in the right place and doesn't miss any time.

Should New England reacquire Moss I will officially say that there was some sort of cheating somewhere by the Patriots, and for the NFL to allow something like that I would argue that there was collusion.

-Commish

LFP FFB Blog: A Global Reach

Pageviews by Countries United States 3,025 Canada 31 Spain 11 Malaysia 5 Australia 4 United Kingdom 4 Venezuela 4 Finland 2 Israel 2 Mexico 2

Since the LFP FFB blog's inception on August 12th, 2009, I'm happy to see at least some people are reading the content that has been posted.  This year I am making an even stronger effort to stay active in posting, whether it be league related or just having to do with football in general.  As you can see by the above stats, the blog has been viewed wordwide, hitting double-digits in Canada and Spain, largely as a result of people associating this blog for one having to do with La Liga, but I'll take it.  The Israel views I already know were my cousin, and I'm assuming someone was on vacation in Mexico at some point, but how about that reach on a global scale?!

In my continuing effort to produce content that you guys want to see and will keep coming back to read,  I would love to hear some feedback in the comments section of this post.  Let me know what you want to see, what you want to see less or more of, and any other general comments about the league.  Don't hesitate, and if you still haven't signed up to post, just do it!

Thanks,

-Commish

MH Rankings - Week 8

Big time movement in my rankings for this week.  Let's dig in...

-The Terrors go Peyton-less and blow up the previous #1 Stiffies, calling a 2-week Harris sweep and fulfilling the promise.  Best record, division record, points for, and points against... Enough said.

-Wacco for Flacco flexed some muscle this week, and showed the kind of domination that can win the West. This team has a lot of upside and just obliterated the division leader from Week 7.

-The TD's absolutely embarrassed the Asians by not playing a TE or Utility player... and still winning.  This team remains a force to be reckoned with, but has to prove themselves in the coming weeks to keep their high ranking.

-The Stiffies got handled for the second straight week by a member of the Harris family, and unless they can right the ship might see their blistering start turn into a tortoise-like middle of the season.

-The Chefs put up a hell of a fight against a potent Pissing team this week.  Had Romo not had his collarbone destroyed you have to imagine that it would've been one of the best comebacks of the year.  As it stands, it's one more L and a drop in the rankings.

-The urination specialists have made major strides in the past few weeks, and if the Saints start to punch the ball into the end zone instead of just collecting yards they will be a formidable foe league-wide.

-Forsett's representatives are mirroring the actual Forsett with the arrival of Marshawn Lynch, high hopes are diminishing into the background.  This team refuses to score points, and as the division starts getting better may have seen their luck run out.  There is talent on the roster, but consistency has been lacking.

-The Asians had a horrible week and suffered a bad loss to an 8-man squad, but this team scores in bunches, and it is hard to believe they won't start winning games soon.

-The Party Animals have a bad bad hangover after watching Matt Ryan and Darren McFadden put up just over 70 points combined... on the bench.  The potential is there, it's just a matter of putting the right pieces in the right spots at the right time, fantasy football in a nutshell.

-The Blow-holes actually submitted a roster and won a game with a 2-QB attack outside of the division, but I still can't bump them up until I see consistent effort from this team.

-Commish

Week 7 Wrap-Up: Bad Break City

Every week seems to bring a bad break story, but no week has had more bad breaks in recent memory than the one that just transpired.  Let's take a look at the match-ups.

Pissing Excellence def. Hail to the Chefs: 113.6 - 106.2
Tony's team roared on Monday Night Football in an attempt to overcome a huge lead by J.J.'s surging squad led by Drew Brees and Marques Colston, but bad break became literal as Tony Romo broke his collarbone.  Assuming all performances remained equal for Dez Bryant and Jason Witten, the addition of Romo actually connecting on their touchdowns and two-point conversion would have put the Chefs over the top and on to a 5-2 record.  Instead, the Excellence Pissers snatch a third straight win and are now within a game of first in the West.

Show Me Your TD's def. Angry Asians: 86.45 - 78.6
Wong looks down the list at an under performing squad and can't help but shake his head at the poor play of every starter but Roethlisberger, Boldin, and Gates.  Gas had nobody to play at TE and wasn't willing to burn a Utility usage, thus taking a shot with an 8-man roster and coming out on top.  A start for Carson Palmer or the $16 man Brandon Jackson would have won this game for Wong, but instead the breaks go for Gas in a close win to keep him tied atop the West while the Asians stay at the bottom out East.

My Team Blows Agains def. Party Animals: 112.7 - 91.45
My, my, my, this one has to sting for the Party Animals.  Two active bench players score 70.05 points, while 10 starters only top that by 21.4.  J-Jak reaps the reward for actually submitting a roster and avoiding his third strike, but this is a loss for Vick that she has to somehow shake off and not allow it to reverberate all season.

Wacco for Flacco def. Forsett Down Her Throat: 145.5 - 77.5
This was a game where the bad break went to the team that won by just under 70 points, as Kyle watched would-be record breaker Kenny Britt go absolutely nuts to the tune of 45.5 points on his bench.  When Steve Smith goes for 3 and Miles Austin hits 3.8, it stings a little when you realize that you could have won by over 100 points.  As for Jared, Andre Johnson can't come back soon enough as Kyle battled his way into the tie for first.

Mountlake Terrors def. I Stiff Armed Your Mom: 126.9 - 80.35
Frankly, the only bad break in this game was that the Terrors' players had good games and the Stiffies' did not..  Craig could have started his entire roster against Mike's only 10 active players and still lost, even without Peyton Manning and LaDainian Tomlinson.  First in the East is Mike's alone, at least for a week.

Stay tuned for Week 8 MH Rankings coming at you tomorrow at 8:00am!

-Commish

Seahawks Love

Final Scores - Early Edition

Here are the *UNOFFICIAL* final scores according to Monday Night Football's preliminary totals!

Magical Comeback?

Magic Wants the NFL Back in L.A.

Looks like Magic finally caught up on the most recent season of Entourage and wants to pick up where Ari left off.  LFP FFB league officials were able to reach Magic earlier this morning, and when asked about how to make this happen he responded with "Well things have been in fairly good hands, I don't know Ari Gold personally, but it seems like he started things off on the right track before his meltdown.  I'd like to help in any way I can."  He had no comment on what it's like to have AIDS.

Seriously though, since the Rams, Lions, Chiefs, and even Buccaneers are showing signs of life after some dismal runs for each team, I don't think there's any team that will be relocating any time soon.  Cleveland?  Not on Mike Holmgren's watch.  So now the question goes to expansion again, right in the midst of a potential 2011 lockout.

My thoughts are that this is inevitable.  The NFL has proven by working toward an 18-game schedule that priority number one is making money, not that there was any question.  Concussions and injuries demand a tough-sounding response from the league, but if they cared about their players they wouldn't add two games to the schedule and further push the physical limits of their athletes.  A new team in the second largest market in America will not redefine the competitive landscape, or really be necessary for the league, but talk about income.

I don't want a large Favre
Speaking of a magic johnson, it seems that two things remain more important to the NFL than anything else, making money, and protecting Brett Favre.  How do you think Tiger Woods feels about being blasted by everyone with a microphone, blog, or Twitter account, while Favre gets a free pass until we see more evidence than voicemails and pictures?

I find the love affair with Favre fairly disgusting, which isn't news to anyone that knows me.  People give him a free pass for his drug addiction, and no one can explain to me why that is.  People dismiss the whole dick picture issue now, saying "what do you expect?" or "athletes are athletes" for a good QB who's been able to do it longer than most, but the greatest golfer perhaps of all time ends up as a headline everywhere from CNN to Al Jazeera.  I don't get it.  Why is Brett Favre more special than other quarterbacks?  He's certainly not as talented as a lot of them, and I've seen him throw more crunch time interceptions than anyone.  It must be something that people have created in their minds that tells them "Brett Favre is great," I guess I just have to much sense telling me otherwise to buy in.

This brings an unguided rant to an end, watch your step on the way out.  Don't forget to tip your servers.

Opinion: James Harrison is a Huge Bitch

Steelers LB Harrison Mulling Retirement After 75k Fine for Hit

There are no new rules, yet he's not sure he can play football and be effective under the NFL rules...  So basically because he got fined for giving two Browns receivers concussions, he doesn't think it's fair to him and he's going to take his ball and go home unless he can headhunt freely.  Mike Tomlin has a chance to talk him out of retirement, but honestly I have never seen a linebacker be more of a whiny little bitch than this, especially when you just look at the hit he put on right above this text.  There is no effort to not go helmet to helmet, why should you not get fined for that?

Fuck him.

MH Rankings - Week 7

Another week in the books and another win for the bottom two teams in the standings.  The top teams in the rankings all went down, the West Division leader earned some respect, and no division has a clearly dominant squad regardless of point output.  Let's dig in...

-Stiffies and the TD's remain on top despite losses, as looking at the season points scored warrant continued respect.

-Chefs and Terrors swap places again to round out the top four, while neither had their best week.

-Forsett makes a big move after a hard fought, Utility battle for dominance in the West.

-Perturbed Pacificers are grumbling as the best of the 2-4 teams, but this team will rise as they will likely return to scoring points in bunches.

-Animals and Pissers swap spots as the wild ones go off to take out the #1 ranked team.

-My Team Blows Again, blows it, again.  Non-submission of a roster, plus a bye week receiver and an inactive... Pathetic.

What say you?!

MH Rankings - Week 6

MH Rankings will be my own weekly ranking system that should not discourage other league participants from creating their own rankings and posting on the blog.  I'd love to see multiple rankings, and perhaps someone could create an index to analyze average rankings or such in the future.  I'll leave that up to the rest of you and just post my rankings for your entertainment.

After five full weeks everyone finally has a win, as the bottom-feeders took out division rivals to notch victories.  At the top of the list, Craig's Stiffies maintained their roll by dishing out a 21+ point thumping to fellow 16-1'er Jared and his Asphyxiators, Gas' Flashers came from behind in a thriller against J-Jak's squad, and the Terrors took down the Infuriated Far-Easterners led by Jason Wong.

-Mountlake swaps spots with Tony's Chefs who slipped badly against the previously winless Party Animals.

-J.J.'s crew finally pissed some excellence at a 130 point clip, lifting his improving team two slots to 8.

-J-Jak's Blow-holes drop to 10th after a horrible showing in which he may have lost A-Rodg for a week.

-The Animals stick at #9 after a sloppy win over Tony Le, but a win is a win and 9th is better than 10th.

Disagree with where these teams landed?  Good!  Let's hear some debate!

-Commish

Week 5 Power Rankings, Final

Coming in at #2 - Show Me Your TD's

Arian nation rising, this team has started to put together the winning roster submissions with outstanding running back play from the likes of Mr. Foster and Frank Gore.  Throw into the mix a quarterback in Philip Rivers who is second on the team in average scoring (to Arian Foster's 24.48) at 24.28 points per game, and Dallas Clark who essentially turns the TE position into another WR2, and you've got a lot of points coming in every week.  With a Week 1 stinker and a 0.8 point loss two weeks later, this team has improved and looks like a real contender, especially in a low-scoring, weak division to this point.  Don't be surprised to see more wins as this second year manager tries to break through to the playoffs for the first time.

At last... #1 - I Stiff Armed Your Mom

Everyone that wondered about the Rashard Mendenhall pick can put it to rest after four games, as he's the leader in arguably the deepest running back corps in our league.  Ahmad Bradshaw was another pick in question on draft day, but he now outranks Matt Forte, and BenJarvus Green-Ellis to round out a great rotation at an extremely important position.  Matt Schaub and Chad Henne provide a quarterback duo that can put up a lot of points any given week, and the trade to pick up Terrell Owens has proven useful after last week's explosive results.  T.O. is by no means a must-have either, as Reggie Wayne and Steve Smith NYG are outstanding at wide receiver in the first place, but it's just more depth that has led this team to #1 in the division and overall standings, and #1 in this week's power rankings.

Good luck this week everyone,
-Commish

Week 5 Power Rankings, Part 4

Coming in at #4 - Mountlake Terrors

The new name and soon headquarters has been a good charm for this team so far, but the question marks at running back continue from week to week.  5th overall Michael Turner is anything but consistent, undrafted free agent turned stud starter LaDainian Tomlinson supplanted third rounder Shonn Greene, and Michael Bush just came back to be a backup.  The receiver corps is no powerhouse week in and week out, but Brandon Marshall will get his looks all year, Floyd will be forced into putting up stats with Vincent Jackson still holding out, and Hakeem Nicks has been a very pleasant surprise.  The tight end duo is not scoring as highly as hoped for, but most aren't surprised with that fact.  This may seem like a high ranking for a team that is 3-1 courtesy of facing both 0-4 teams back to back, but seven starters come in averaging within 0.4 points of double-digits or better than double-digit scoring every week... And well, it's me, and I love me some me.

Coming in at #3 - Hail to the Chefs

This squad ushered out the Aaron Rodgers era after just three weeks, and ushered in the MJD era with a bang in week 4.  Steven Jackson and Legedu Naanee made room for Santana Moss and Rodger's replacement in Tony Romo, each of which took the week off more or less in Week 4.  A resounding win last week caps a three week romp by this squad in which their lowest scoring output was 112.35.  Improvement each week for this squad has been key to their success, and the early season quarterback tandem of Tony Romo and the unlikely star in Kyle Orton could see them in to a deep playoff run if all remains the same.  They will face a tough division all season, so nothing is set in stone, but don't expect too much of a drop off in the coming weeks.

Top two tomorrow, stay tuned!

-Commish

Week 5 Power Rankings, Part 3

Coming in at #6 - Wacco For Flacco

Nobody loves Adrian Peterson more than our #6, but even so the rest of the roster doesn't quite fill out with the same oomph.  Jonathan Stewart is inherently inconsistent thus far, and plays for a horrible team which doesn't help matters much, not to mention his real and fantasy teammate Steve Smith and his current high ankle sprain issues.  Miles Austin and Roddy White are strong performers  no doubt, but when Flacco and McNabb aren't heaving it with regular success every week it makes things a little iffy.  Injuries and inconsistencies seem to be running through the league and this team is not immune, but expect good things in the near future here as they will be creeping up the standings.

Coming in at #5 - Angry Asians

The Angry Asians have faced a tough schedule in reaching the 2-2 mark, and they have been putting up points fairly consistently through solid running backs, surprising success at quarterback, and especially tight end play.  Michael Vick going down hurts this squad immensely, so it will be a big test to see if Big Ben returning is just in time, or just not enough to fill the gap.  Studs Chris Johnson, Anquan Boldin, and Antonio Gates should continue producing on a regular basis, but without a bona fide signal caller it will be a question as to just how strong this team can be.  Expect positive things, but a tough road in a tough division for this perennial contender.

See you tomorrow as we get serious in cracking the top half of the power rankings!

-Commish

Week 5 Power Rankings, Part 2

Coming in at #8 - My Team Blows Again

Aaron Rodgers is a big addition to this 2-2 team, but at what cost?  Maurice Jones Drew and Ryan Grant are gone, replaced by Steven Jackson and Mike Tolbert.  Santana Moss for Legedu Naanee.  All downgrades, making it more imperative for Rodgers to go nuts all season.  An embarrassing Week 4 showing (without a utility thanks to not submitting a roster) does not bode well after the blockbuster trade, especially considering that this is another team that has yet to break 100 points in any game this season.  Being in the weaker division through the first four games has helped so far, but there's no doubt that everyone will start scoring points sooner or later.  The question is will this be one of those teams or will My Team Blows Again live up to their name instead of their legacy.  Last year's playoff run is a distant memory now, but this should be a team that can scrape together eight or so wins against the competition in the west, which might be enough to get back to the promised land.

Coming in at #7 - Forsett Down Her Throat

This one might come as a shock based on the 3-1, West Division leading record, but this team has been anything but dominate in getting there.  The only time their schedule yielded a team that scored close to 100 points, this squad got blown out by almost 39.  The two 0-4 teams wish they had this early season schedule as #10 Pissing Excellence would be 2-2, and #9 Party Animals would be 3-1.  Playing the game the other way, this team would have a 1-3 record in Pissing Excellence's shoes, and be 0-4 with a blowout of over 100 points in Week 3 if the Party Animals were to trade places.  Can a division be won by scheduling and good fortune?  We will see.  The injury to Andre Johnson has been the worst case scenario for this team personnel-wise, and his status for Week 5 is still up in the air.  The breaking news of Randy Moss being traded to Minnesota bodes well, as Brett Favre's value is boosted significantly, but when the third highest scoring average on your team is from your defense, there could be tough times ahead.  This team could continue to win very easily given the division and potential of their players, but as we will see tomorrow the power may be starting to shift.

Come on back tomorrow for #6 and #5.

-Commish

Week 5 Power Rankings, Part 1

Welcome to the first of a five part series for this week's power rankings.  after a solid sample of four weeks we now have a better idea of who's who in this league, as well as who isn't who we thought they were, but we let them off the hook

Without further ado, let's start at the bottom and work our way up...

Coming in at #10 - Pissing Excellence

At 0-4 this team has yet to break 100 points so far this season, but made big strides toward that goal in Week 4 hitting with 96.1 (using a QB in the Utility slot).  The hell of it was that he ran up against Gas's runaway train that laid 141.15.  Relying heavily on last year's Super Bowl champions by taking Drew Brees, Marques Colston, and Pierre Thomas as prime time players has thus far backfired.  Brees has been pedestrian, Colston has been off the radar, and now Pierre Thomas is on the shelf possibly for another week with an ankle injury.  Combine that with an unlikely shutout in Week 4 by Randy Moss, and things look awfully bleak for this group.  There is a lot of room for improvement, and it is this Commissioner's opinion that players like Moss, Brees, Thomas (when healthy), and Vernon Davis will come on and lead this team to some wins in the near future.  As for the start though, I might blame this one on the Madden curse simply because fans voted Brees on to the cover, and now they are the ones to be punished.

Coming in at #9 - Party Animals

The second 0-4 team in the league had their worst performance of the young season in Week 4, largely thanks to injuries and underperformers.  First rounder Ray Rice is racked up on IR, Beanie Wells returned from injury, Darren McFadden went down with injury, Jahvid Best was questionable with injury, and Thomas Jones had a bye week...  So much for running backs.  Calvin Johnson finally came out of his cave and had a good day, but Austin Collie and Jeremy Maclin apparently went in to said cave for a week off.  Tight ends have been disappointing, and the Baltimore defense hasn't exactly lit up the scoreboard.  At QB, Tom Brady had a night off courtesy of Patrick Chung and the New England defense and special teams units.  This team has dealt with these kinds of let downs on a weekly basis, all while facing the most points by any team in the league, 508.65.  There are two teams (who will remain anonymous, for now) out there who have schedules that would have these 0-4 Party Animals sitting at 3-1 heading into Week 5, but no such luck.  Expect changes in personnel, expect bye weeks to make it a little tougher before it gets any easier, but expect some wins from this team in the near future.

Tune in tomorrow when we will take a look at #8 and #7 in part two of this week's power rankings...

-Commish

Week 4, Ignition!

Quick rundown on the recent blockbuster trade:
-Trade committee came back 2-1 in favor of passing after a last minute reversal of one vote.
-Reversed vote noted that balance seemed to be tipped to favor of Hail to the Chefs.
-With 1 TC vote and 2 league votes, review fell short by 1 vote.
-One of league votes noted balance seemed tipped to My Team Blows Again.
-All things considered, and votes compared, the trade appeared even and thus passed.

Week four is up and ready to go on the website, look for official rosters on team pages and the scoreboard just after 9:30am!

Blockbuster Trade Pending

The #3, #9 and #11 picks in the draft might be waiving to one another as they swap sides if LFP FFB's first real blockbuster trade holds up through the trade committee this week.  In the proposed trade, Tony Le would send Hail to the Chefs franchise quarterback Aaron Rodgers, first round running back Steven Jackson, and late-round wide receiver Legedu Naanee to Jason Jakubiak's My Team Blows Again squad in exchange for third overall running back Maurice Jones-Drew, third round quarterback Tony Romo, and sixth round receiver Santana Moss.

The Loss of Ryan Grant for Jason's team has left a hole in his scoring production that he hopes to fill by adding a top three quarterback, whereas Tony Le hopes to seize the opportunity to grab a consistently productive replacement at quarterback, while upgrading at running back and wide receiver.  On the surface this trade looks fairly solid, but as with any big trade there are certainly some potential stumbling blocks.

Steven Jackson walked out of Sunday's action with an uncertain immediate future on account of his groin injury, which could hold this trade up.  Tony Le's stable of running backs have been productive, but since Jason lost Ryan Grant there have been question marks.  Adding this recently injured running back could prove costly if it ends up being more serious than currently expected, but after the slow start from Jones-Drew, Jakubiak might look forward to a bigger, punishing back to represent his team.

Regret may fill the air sooner than later for either side of this trade, should it pass the committee's judgment.  Stay tuned to LFPFantasy.com for the latest updates.

-Commish

PANIC!!!!! Week 3

What would a new feature be without a two day delay?

Without further ado, welcome to PANIC!!!!!  What follows is serious information on which teams are doomed, and which teamed are only partially doomed.  Facetiously of course, except when it's true.

After two weeks we have two undefeated teams, and two winless teams, and Darwin is grinning somewhere with the thinning of the herd.  I would contend however that two weeks doesn't shape an entire season here in LFP FFB, simply because we have the entire 17-week season for those teams to rebound.  So, without further ado, let's get into the panic!

Party Animals
This team has put up the least amount of points in the league to this point, albeit by a narrow margin, but has also faced the most points by a team this season.  Beyond the scoring discrepancy the team has seen disappointing performances by franchise player Ray Rice, as well as all-American boy Tom Brady, plus small totals from the wide receiver and tight end positions.  All taken into account, this team is on the brink, but I don't think it's time to lose it just yet.
Status:  Ready the panic button.

Pissing Excellence

This team finds itself 0-2 with the third worst point total and third highest point total against, a tough spot to find oneself in.  Many would be tempted to point the finger at a heavy reliance on star players from one NFL team, but looking up and down the roster I find it is another problem altogether, players not performing.  To this point in the season, there are no dominate players on this roster, and the running back and wide receiver stables are producing mediocrity week in and week out.  Certainly the potential is there in the likes of Drew Brees and Randy Moss, plus a consistent output from Visanthe Shiancoe, but with depth like Massaquoi and Spiller, this team could be in trouble.

Status:  Begin applying pressure to that big red button.