Week 1: Washup

We've waited seven months for Week 1 to finally arrive and now it is over. Only 16 weeks of regular season to go.

The new teams wasted no time in showing the old teams how this fantasy game is played. Woolibeans had a big win over the Farnsworths and US Forces were narrow victors over Endless. The Illuminators also narrowly won, beating Doof in the final game of the round. Damn you Arian Foster! Damn you Wes Welker for being on the bench!

I'd like to highlight the Wooli v Farnsworth's matchup. Not only did Farnsworth NOT start Peyton Manning, Wooli didn't even both to start 2 whole positions. That's right, playing TWO men short Wooli still posted over 100 points. It takes some big cojones to roll into a new fantasy league, make a number of line-up changes, leave two spots open and still walk away with a big fat W. My hat goes off to you. And it does leave me wondering whether the coach is related to Chip Kelly, new coach of the Eagles. His first game in the NFL was somewhat similar, although he always had a full line-up.

Like a lot of NFL teams, for many of us Week 1 is a week we will try to forget. Move on to Week 2 and hope our players don't let us down. For those who won... whatevers.

Award ceremony:

Each week four awards will be handed out. The award for the most points in a winning team: this celebrates winning. The award for the most points left on the bench in a losing team: this celebrates nothing, it should inspire competitiveness so the team manages their line-up better. Previous Fantasy Leagues suggest this is not the case and in the AFL Fantasy I was wondering whether people just loved getting this award. The award for beating the projected spread: this celebrates excellence in line-up management. The award for starting the highest scoring player: this celebrates luck.


The first two awards are League awards and are in search of names. Previously the awards were called the Hypnotoad Award, for mesmerising the opponent and kicking ass. And the Mission Accomplished Award, for assuming every is cool, throwing in the towel early, throwing a celebratory party on an aircraft carrier, and getting your ass kicked in Iraq for another 10 years. This award had previously been known as the Snickers Award, for not performing at your best while hungry.

I am happy to stick with those names, unless someone can suggest something better?

The second two awards are presented by the NFL Fantasy Service, you can find the awards in the Trophy section of the League website. Be sure to check out the 2012 Championship trophy while you're there.

Most points (Hypnotoad Award):

Congrats to Zim's Doomydooms for bringing the doom and pain and topping the points in Week 1. In Zim's opening game she posted 126 points. A true winner.

Most points left on the bench by a losing team (Mission Accomplished):

It will come as no surprise that this award is [proudly] presented to the Farnsworths. What is surprising is that he left 109 points on the bench. That's right, Farnsworth's bench outscored 7 of 10 teams in Week 1.

Black Flag:

The Black Flag award goes to Wooli for smashing the projected total by over 30 points. WITHOUT A FULL LINE-UP! Wooli may well be the team to watch this year.

Most Satisfying Player:

The Most Satisfying Player award goes to US Forces for having the highest scoring player in an active line-up. Colin Kaepernick played a great game, but to be fair the award SHOULD have gone to Farnsworth's, who, of course, BENCHED PEYTON MANNING. Nope, I am not letting you live that down for a while. US Forces gets the award for being lucky.