Two Time World Champion: Breesus King of the Drews

Buddy Breesus*

With two score cards that neither coach will be happy with, Breesus King of the Drews held on long enough to beat Zim's Doomydooms by 10 points, win the 2014 VP3 Championship Game and become the two-time VP3 World Champion. I can hear Queen pounding out the victory song, the streamers in the air, the happy coach accepting the trophy. This is the pinnacle of fantasy sports.

Congratulations from all of us at VP3.

I won't dissect the game except to say that a long conversation was held Sunday night regarding playing either the Bills or Seahawks defence, and Zim picked the Bills. Play the 'Hawks and the game goes the other way. Or would it?

If Zim had played the Seahawks maybe they would have sucked and the Cardinals beaten them. Maybe Zim's loss has propelled the Seattle Seahawks into the Playoffs. If that is true, has Breesus victory come at the price of the New Orleans Saints losing out and missing the Playoffs? Is the Saints losing season all Breesus fault through some crazy fantasy-butterfly effect? In the opinion of this humble scribe - it is.

In other games, Agent P was able to turn the tables on last years game and beat Doof. Agent P (re)claims third spot and Doof sits at four. The Lighties claim the win over the General (who will be glad to see the end of the 2014 season), and Bradylessbrothers had a solid win over Endless.




* Given Drew Brees terrible performance on the weekend and the Saints not even making the play-offs it felt wrong using Brees to celebrate this year. Instead, Buddy Christ!

2014 Championship Game: match-up

Here we are, after fifteen short and long weeks of ups and downs, this is moment ten coaches started playing for and only two get to enjoy:

Breesus King of the Drews (131) vs Zim's Doomydooms (132)

Look at those projections!

We know the story, a looong winning streak by Breesus that was stopped by Zim, handing him his first loss of the season and one of only two all year. Zim topped most points for the season, over Breesus, by a handful of points. Zim lost a couple of games more than Breesus, but still won a couple more than Agent P for outright second place.

It's Murrary v Lynch. Nelson v Beckham. Tate v Cobb. Gronk v Olsen. Maclin v Edelamn. The match-ups are ideal. Breesus has the clear advantage at QB, though, with perennial star Drew Brees. But Zim has stuck with Alex Smith all year and he has turned out solid performances. On average, Brees will put up 20 and Smith 15. Is this the key match-up?

Lynch is playing the Cardinal defence, no easy points. The rest of Zim's player amtch-ups look favourable, Gronk v Jets, Tate v Bears, Ingram v Falcons, Maclin v Redskins.

For Breesus, Brees v Falcons is good, so is Cobb v Bucs and Edelman v Jets. But Murrary v Colts is tough, add to that a broken hand, Mason v Rams and Beckhman v Rams are all tough assignments.

Love the match-ups, love that its the two most consistent teams all year facing off, can't wait to see how it plays out... can't believe Road to the Championship (tm) ended a week short...

Other games

Agent P and Doof face off for outright third place - same as they did a year ago. Doof took that game, maybe it's Agent P's turn? Not if my platypus trap has anything to do with it!

The General looks to finish with a win against the Lighties and take office bragging rights.

Endless and BB throw down in the final game. Both teams had ups and downs all year and both ended strongly.

A final check on how our infamous QBs have performed this year:

Luck: 336 (kept the General going but couldn't do it alone)
Rodgers: 314 (kept Doof going)
Manning: 291 (slowed down a lot in the last 3 games and killed the Lighties)
Wilson 282 (bench points for Doof)
Brees: 282 (always solid)
Roethlisberger: 276
Brady: 263 (bench points for the Lighties)
Tannehill: 236 (QB carousel for Marcy)
Rivers: 235 (up and down for Agent P led to a lack of trust)
Romo: 220
Newton: 206 (QB carousel for Marcy)
Smith: 206 (Zim shows that a top tier QB isn't the be all to end all... if you have two top tier RBs, TE, kicker and defence)
Kaepernick: 200 (hard to believe he scored less than Smith, Flacco and Eli)

Semi-Finals: Wash-up

Just when you think you have a handle on things Week 15 happens and completely blows your mind. The Cowboys trump the Eagles, the Seahawks dominate the 49ers, the Cardinals, playing with a million injuries, kill the Rams, Johhny Footbal is FAIL (ok, everyone that isn't  journalist predicted that one), the Packers play their worst game forever... on and on. So bizarre. Which of course leads to...

Breesus King of the Drews (116) def Doof's Playinators (61)

Difficult to write this one up this week, but not as hard as three weeks ago when my team actually played well. This week Breesus did well, I just sucked. Sucked so hard. This may be the suckiest team that ever sucked. It started at the top, Rodgers played his worst game for years. And no one else bothered either. What a mess. Thanks to the ever helpful Fantasy Recap that says Breesus has now beaten me 3-0 this season and 5-0 in two seasons. And also that I was 'clobbered', 'pulverised', and that I was 'sent home quickly' from the play-offs. The Recap can really kick you when you're down.

Beckham, kicking ass and chewing bubble gum

For Breesus, Drew Brees played well on the road again, 27 points against the Bears. Murray again had a great game (and is so great to watch) and Odell Beckham continues to press for Rookie of the Year. Murray did break his hand and after surgery on Monday is questionable for the Championship. Can Breesus win without Murray?


Breesus goes on to defend his 2013 Championship, and with his record to date it is had to argue that he does not belong in the Championship game.  Two losses, one to Zim and the other to BB. And his opponent will be...

Zim's Doomydooms (111) def Agent P (74)

Zim wins and heads to the Championship game. One versus Two. Could it be better? (Sure, if your name isn't Breesus or Zim!).

Agent P tried to compete for suckiest team but lost that to me. Demarius Thomas managed to put up 18 and everyone else... what the hell happened this week? Julio Jones was pulled out with injury, what was Rivers excuse (this week)? McCoy and Blount? Hilton? Anyone?

GRONK!

On the other side, Zim's score sheet looks so similar to Breesus's. Solid performers all round with, surprisingly, Alex Smith topping the scoring with 21. Lynch and Ingram can have quiet days and still go for 26 between them, double the score of both Agent P's and my quiet-day-RBs. Crazy.

In more crazy news, Agent P and Doof will face off next week in the Consolation final, a redux from last year. In 2013 I won that game and Breesus won the Championship. Anyone willing to pick a winner for 2014?

BB (74) def Lighties (73)

Close game here with BB narrowly taking the points. The Lighties highest scorer, by a lot, was the defence. For BB, the Texans D was just pipped for most points by QB Roethlisberger who put up 14.

Endless (102) def US Forces (47)

Maybe the General takes the dubious honour of suckiest team of this week with 47 points with the Dolphins defense scoring minus 2 and Luck scoring a measly 15 (which is good if you aren't Andrew Luck). Endless, meanwhile, had another great late-season game with Bell and Bryant leading the way.

Semi finals: Match-ups

Finals time for the top-4 teams who fight for entry to the Championship game, and bragging rights for the next four who will jostle for final positions.

1 v 4 - Breesus (135) v Doof (119)

Both teams are relatively unchanged from last weeks game, Breesus swapping the defence and Doof swapping Marshall who is out for the year with injury. In fact, there is little change from the teams that faced off only two weeks ago, with the Colts defence moving from Breesus to Doof and the change at WR spot.

With both teams sporting players that have been performing consistently well it is hard to identify a key match-up. Similarly, both teams have diversified away from starting too many players from the one team. From what I can tell Breeses and Doof were also the only teams this year to try a double-TE combination and each team only tried it once. Despite the discussion of the Year of the TE it really did not turn out like that.

With flagship QB Drew Brees not scheduled to play until the Monday Night Football game we won't know the winner of this match-up until Tuesday afternoon.

2 v 3 - Zim (129) v Agent P (131)

Gronkowski being tackled by a kitten

Projected neck and neck, this one also won't be finalised until Tuesday afternoon with RB Ingram playing in the MNF game for Zim. Agent P has had a difficult second half of the season with a 4-game losing streak and then 2-wins to finish the season and claim 3rd place. This stems from her star players that couldn't keep it together down the stretch: Rivers, McCoy, Thomas and Jones. At times all have had flashes of brilliance, at times they have all struggled.

Although Zim has had some similar issues, when Lynch struggled he posted 10 points, compared to McCoy's 3. And players like Gronkowski and Nelson haven't seems to struggle at all. Zim has averaged over 100 for the last 7-8 games.

Speaking of Gronkowski, check out ESPN's profile on him. And make sure to look at the photo gallery, it combines three of my favourite things: Gronkowski, Zoolander and kittens. Admit it, the photos are very Zoolander-y.

5 v 8 - Endless (112) v US Forces (95)

Andrew Luck couldn't carry the entire burden for the General this year but he did enough last week. A slow start by Endless has kept her out of the finals, but with Dez Bryant, LeVeon Bell, Jamaal Charles and DeAndre Hopkins she has one of the most potent offences in this league.

6 v 7 - Lighties (99) v BB (108)

Like the General, the Illuminator's over-reliance on Peyton Manning was their weakness this year, time and again Manning would provide amazing numbers and players like Crabtree and Gore would let the side down. For shame 49ers! A similar fate for BB with high-flying players often playing bit parts: Mike Evans, LaFell, Crowell - all good in their own right but not always utilised by their teams.

Week 14: Award Ceremony

CLAIMED: The Gardener

Doof cut Zim down to size this week, ending a 6-game winning streak and claiming The Gardener. 

Zim beat Doof in Week 40 odd points, had two losses and then went on a 6-game winning streak with wins of 20, 80, 50, 3, 25 and 60 points. That 80, that was Breesus! It took a season high 152 points to take down the rampaging alien with the weird looking head. 

Look for the two Gardner Awards (Breesus's award for last week) to be posted this week. 

Hypnotoad Award 

For scoring way more than any other coach

The Hypnotoad Award is named for the Hypnotoad, renowned for mesmerising his enemies and compelling them to do his bidding. 

Doof!

It's like all my Christmas's came early this week with a big win, the top score, the highest score of the season, the Gardener and a play-off spot.

Mission Accomplished

For leaving the most points on the bench in a losing side

The Mission Accomplished Award is named for the 2003 speech given by George W Bush announcing that the Iraq war was basically over and then sitting back and waiting for the kudos to come in. Instead of kudos, 11 years and now ISIS. 

Well, the MA award almost went to Breesus, can you believe that! An impressive 81 points on the bench. But no, Breesus got beat for the award

FARNSWORTH'S!

Sitting at the bar, feet up, chattin up the honey's and leaving 89 points on the bench.

The MA is a cruel, but funny, award. 55 points came from two QBs that Farns was stashing away. So it's not like all 89 points is translatable into actual points. But that isn't the point. 

Week 14: Wash-up

Week 14 was the final week of the regular season and we now have the Play-off games for the top four and non-play-off games for the next four. The last two teams are finished for the season: Marcy and Farns, thanks for playing!

Two teams were guaranteed play-off spots and five teams entered Week 14 needing to win to keep their play-off hopes alive. Wins to Agent P and the Illuminators would seal the fate for BB, Endless and Doof. The games are done, the results are in and we have our top four for 2014:

Number One - 

BREESUS KING OF THE DREWS (12-2)

A big congratulations to Breesus King of the Drews for finishing top of the standings. An outstanding 12-2 record, with losses only coming in the last four weeks, well after the top place was secured.

Number Two - 

ZIM'S DOOMYDOOMS (10-4)

Long wining streaks on the backs of solid performers week in and week out. Zim scored the most points of any team season, narrowly pipping Breesus by 2. At 1,466 she scored 470 points more than the last placed Farnsworths.

Number Three - 

AGENT P (8-6)

A rocky end to the season that could well have finished in misery (cf lluminators) but she held on, took the final W of the season and cleanly took third place.

Number Four - 

The Illuminator's lost and were unable to secure the fourth spot behind Agent P, dropping to 7-7. BB, Endless and Doof all won: all four teams at 7-7. In the 4-way split between the Lighties, Endless, BB and Doof's Playinators there was only one that could claim the spot...

Doof's Playinators (7-7)

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO ROAD TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP (tm) BABY WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I have so many things I want to write and so many people to thank. I'd like to start by thanking The General for taking care of the Illuminators. I believe a copy of the CIA Torture Handbook was seen on The General's desk last week... no idea what that means or why I said that... Thanks to Peyton Manning for putting in a stinker... Thanks to Aaron Rodgers for an MVP performance... Thanks to Zim for tanking... WOOOOOOOOOOOOO

BB (88) def Breesus (85)

HUGE upset victory for BB here, and the previous post by BB shows just what it means to bring down the Boss. Like so many other teams this week BB needed to win to keep his play-off hopes alive and he took on the Champ and took the W. BB had five players over 10 points compared to only three by Breesus, again showing the importance of a team of performers. We will all wonder what could have been had the Brady trade not happened, but BB can relax and plan in the off-season knowing he took down the big dog. Small consolation as the win did not also come with the play-off berth.

Agent P (105) def Farns (82)

Win and in for Agent P and she took care of business. A table of crazy scores, really, Rivers on 10, Jones a super 31, McCoy only 3, and the Lions 13. Crazy. But crazy enough to win and take third place. Agent P throws down with Zim in the play-offs. The Farns enjoyed a weekend at the Coaches lounge, getting to know some of the ladies and impressing the other barflys.

Endless (129) def Marcy (94)

Endless won five of the last eight games to give herself a shot at the play-off but fell a few points short in the end. A monster game by LeVeon Bell set up this win, 41 points to one of the best RBs in the game. Stafford and Charles putting up good numbers doesn't hurt. If only they had been consistent through the season. Marcy's fortunes again rose and fell on the backs of her QBs and TE. Tannehill was poor and so was Jimmy Graham. Graham had a very strange season, mirroring Marcy's.

The General (63) def The Lighties (51)

Two point seven two. That was Peyton Manning's score this week. 2 interceptions and no touchdowns - absolutely amazing. Two players over 10 points utterly sunk the Illuminators, sunk the game and sunk the play-offs. The General got by on the back of Luck, again. Luck threw a TD with 30 seconds left to win the game against the Browns, win the game against the Lighties and propel Doof into the play-offs. Luck is my new favourite player. And General, sir: I think I owe you a beer.

Doof (152) def Zim (106)

After going down to Breesus last week I thought my season was over. I was shocked, SHOCKED when I opened the app last night, clicked on Game Centre and it showed my Week 15 match-up against Breesus. OMG I MADE IT! I ran to tell Zim the bad-good-bad news: Sorry Zim you lost - I'm in the play-offs - I have to play Breesus. Crap - Breesus! Again! Still, seven players over 10 points and four over 20 - that will win a lot of games. Zim's 105 points with five players over 10 is enough to win most games, but this was not her week.

Week 14: Match-ups (this time for real)

Ok, little weird writing this up on a Sunday afternoon, but here goes.

Breesus (139) v BB (103)

Bradylessbrothers is playing to keep his pay-off hopes alive. An opening 28 to Murray versus an opening 20 to Romo is not the ideal start. A healthy Arian Foster would be nice for the ground game but that also isn't happening for BB, leaving the heavy lifting to Bernard and Smith. A hefty performance from the Texans D against the Jaguars Offense wouldn't go astray. But with Drew Brees starting to look good, Mason v 'Skins and Packers v Falcons this game does not bode well for BB.

Farnsworth's (71) v Agent P (122)

To date the Farnsworth's head coach remains firmly entrenched at the End of Season bar, patiently waiting for the End of Season to actually arrive. The QB is not starting, the two RBs are more back-ups these days and the TE hasn't started for four weeks. On the other side of the field, Agent P is playing to ensure a play-off date in Week 15. A solid score from the Kicker was a good start but the TE was not in the early game much. With Rivers, Blount, McCoy, Jones.. etc etc, unless Farnsworth does something miraculous, Agent P is heading to the post-season with an 8-6 record.

Endless (105) v Marcy (104)

Closely ranked game, Endless needs to win to have a shot but Marcy can make sure there is no chance of Endless going to the play-offs. In the early game, Marcy got the better start with her WR putting up 15 v Endless WR with only 8. A win to Endless will give her a 7-7 record on the season, a win to Marcy puts her at 6-8, a pretty good record after a terrible start to the season.

Lighties (107) v The General (95)

Like Agent P, the Illuminators are win and in, with their 7-6 record. At 5-8 the General can't make the play-offs but he can do some damage, which in the end is what the armed forces are all about. These two teams have both been really good at times this season, and poor at times. Which teams will show up? For the record, in the battle of the QBs, for the season, Luck is 297, Peyton is 276, Brady is 225 and Romo is 180.

Doof (116) v Zim (129)

A meaningless game for Zim that she should totally throw as this game means everything to me! Provided, of course, that the General beats the Lighties, Marcy beats Endless and Breesus beats BB. Come on universe! Twenty points between my Bears TE and WR was good for them (shows their poor season *sigh*), but Marshall being taken to hospital with broken ribs and a collapsed lung is awful for my next two games - who will replace him!? Oh, bad news for him too I guess. Zim's line-up of Ingram, Lynch, Maclin, Nelson and Gronk... I'm sure they'll all have down games. Totally!

Week 14: Match-ups (not just yet)

I got held up this morning with meetings and was unable to put together the match-ups before today's game started.

I'll do the write up either later tonight or sometime tomorrow, depending on how I feel after watching the Cowboys @ Bears game.

Week 13: Award ceremony

And now for Week 13's awards. As usual, the Hypno is an obvious one and the MA takes some digging. Also:

THE GARDENER HAS BEEN CLAIMED

Hypnotoad Award 

For scoring way more than any other coach

The Hypnotoad Award is named for the Hypnotoad, renowned for mesmerising his enemies and compelling them to do his bidding. 

Breesus!

A whopping 135 points in the win over Doof claims this weeks Hypno, the second of the year if I am not mistaken.

Stupid Drew Brees and Tre Mason led the team while cutting Doof down to size.

That's right, with this win Breesus also claims The Gardener award, for beating Doof who had a tidy 5-game winning streak going.

The Gardener award will be posted later on.

Mission Accomplished

For leaving the most points on the bench in a losing side

The Mission Accomplished Award is named for the 2003 speech given by George W Bush announcing that the Iraq war was basically over and then sitting back and waiting for the kudos to come in. Instead of kudos, 11 years and now ISIS. 

There was some stiff competition for the MA award this week with three teams leaving over 60 points on the bench. But there can be only one:

MARCY!

Eighty-five depressing points left in a 2-point loss.

For the record the other notables were Doof with 60 and BB with 75. 

Week 12: Awards

Let's take a quick walk back in time to those halcyon days of a week ago, Week 12. There were two awards not given out because someone was out celebrating too hard.

Hypnotoad Award 

For scoring way more than any other coach

The Hypnotoad Award is named for the Hypnotoad, renowned for mesmerising his enemies and compelling them to do his bidding. 

Marcy!

Marcy put up a very impressive 136 points and takes the Hypno in an upset win against Agent P. 

Mission Accomplished

For leaving the most points on the bench in a losing side

The Mission Accomplished Award is named for the 2003 speech given by George W Bush announcing that the Iraq war was basically over and then sitting back and waiting for the kudos to come in. Instead of kudos, 11 years and now ISIS. 

Illuminators!

The Lighties left an impressive 60 points on the bench in the loss to Zim.

Week 14: The road ahead

Next week, Week 14, is the final week of the regular season. How quickly it ends!

Right now, Breesus is assured of finishing in top spot, and well deserved. Zim will finish in second place.

The General, Marcy and Farnsworth are all out of play-off contention. But there is still some damage to be done in Week 14, and Fantasy games continue into Week 15 and 16 as the bottom 6 teams vie for final positions.

I'm not entirely sure how the play-off rankings are determined when teams have even records. But consider this, both the Illuminators and Agent P are sitting on 7-6, and BB, Endless and Doof are only one game behind them.

If Agent P and the Lighties lose, and BB, Endless and Doof win, five teams will have 7-7 records. But only two can proceed. Who gets in?

I have no idea!

If it is simply the Points For/Against ratio, then Endless and Doof should get it as their ratios are better, low 100s compared to low 90s.

But, it may be based on who beat who. For example, I'm 2-0 with the Lighties, 1-1 with Endless and 0-1 against the others. What does that mean?

I don't know!

I could probably look it up, but it's more exciting this way.

The bottom three teams all play contenders and can cause serious damage:

The Farnsworths could return from the bar, set an awesome line-up and beat Agent P, giving the others a chance. Similarly,  the Forces can take out the Lighties. Wouldn't that be something to discuss in the office, eh General?! Knocking the Illuminators out and letting, say, Endless in.

But Marcy can take out Endless, forcing her out of contention altogether.


As for BB and myself, we play Breesus and Zim respectively. Horror games, to be sure, but possibly the most meaningful games we will play all season.

Week 14 may well be the second most exciting week of the season, after the opener when everything was new, clean and hopeful.

Week 13: Wash-up

Back in the game this week after a great week off, check the scores Monday night: OMG NO, NO, NOOOOOOOOO!!!!

CURSE YOU BREESUS KING OF THE DREWS!

More on that later...

Pretty cool weekend of football, starting on Friday (our time) with the big Thanksgiving Day games. Three blow-away games, really, but as I was supporting the winners they were good to watch. And then there was the Big One: Patriots at Packers. Billed as the Superbowl preview it featured the two best teams at the moment. And the game did not disappoint. Great match up, great QBs, very entertaining to watch. And the Pack won. I do hope this is the Superbowl match-up come February.

Don't shoot, we're human!

If you missed the game in St Louis, well no one blames you. 52-0 blow out over the hapless Raider. But that wasn't what made headlines, it was five players who entered the field in the Don't Shoot pose, made (in)famous from the Ferguson protests not too far from the game. The Police Association went nuts afterwards in an amazing display on insensitive stupidity, among the nicer things demanding an apology from the NFL and Rams. Both have declined. Read about it here and here.

Zim (97) def Farnsworths (34)

Far from being a trap game for Zim, the Zim army marches on: six straight wins. I'd hate to be facing her next week [checks schedule: CRAP!]. No particular stand-outs, as I watched her players in the games I wondered how the scores would shake out. Lynch: meh, Ingram: meh, Gronk, Tate and Maclin: meh, meh, meh. Smith: wow, that was surprisingly high given the poor game by the Chiefs. But, well, the Farn's. I'm assuming the Head Coach has checked out early this year, getting to the bar early and waiting for fellow coaches Tom Coughlin and Rex Ryan to join him [NFL joke]. Good news for Agent P in Week 14, maybe?

Endless (100) def BB (53)

Big comeback win for Endless this week who keeps her play-offs hopes alive (see next post). And a big loss to BB who was failed heavily by his stars: Romo, Bernadr, Smith, Evans and Crowell. All previously good performers that picked an awful week to suck. On the other sid, DeAndre Hopkins had a great performance thanks to big Fitzy throwing 6TDs for Houston. Stafford finally put up some numbers, and Crosby was the beneficiary of the Patriots not giving up TDs and allowing field goals. If Endless wants to make the playoffs she will need to watch Ellington and Allen, who are both injured.

Agent P (109) def Lighties (71)

The Illuminators went into this game with the chance to jump Agent P and secure a playoff berth, didn't work out that way. Antonio Brown was rocking it, but was the only one out on the dance floor. Like one of those old iPod ads. Poor Brown. The platypus, though, three above-good players and three good players, enough to get the job done, stay even on points with the Lighties and one game ahead of Endless and Doof. I was not crazy about Rivers doing well, boooooo. I was crazy happy to see McCoy gashing the Cowboys: great spectacle.

US Forces (98) def Marcy (96)

OUCH! Two big WTFs go to Tannehill and Jimmy Graham on behalf of the Vampire Queen. Graham was not targeted ALL DAY and Drew Brees still threw 5 TDs (more to come on that). And Tannehill was trounced by the Jets defence in Monday Night Football. Booo! For the General, the one-two combination of Luck and Fleener won the day with 57 points combined. A solid kicking output from Sturgis really put the boot into poor Marcy.

Breesus King of the Drews (135) def Doof (124)

Drew Brees single handedly defeated both Marcy and Doof this week: 5TDs sunk me and no passes to Jimmy Graham sunk Marcy. I will once again quote the Fantasy Recap, which is an amazing piece of technology, but has an understated way of being very cruel:

This is the most a team has scored this season without getting a victory.

Ahuh. Rub it in why doncha.

If you happened to watch final minutes of the Patriots game you will have seen Tom Brady shouting a word that is most recognisable (see right), that was me on Monday night seeing this scoreline. A buck 24, no one can beat that! WHAAAAAA? Cold, bitter disappointment. The sort of feeling Marcy and BB feel after this week. Betrayal. Road to the Championship (tm): ruined. All because the friggin' Steelers can't play D and the Raiders can't play football. Tre Mason: 34 points with 3 TDs. YOU MONSTER!

Week 12: Wash-up... not really

No proper Wash-up column today because it's my wedding anniversary and I'm taking the week off to relax and celebrate.

I'll post the Award column tomorrow or so, it will be late. Sorry to Marcy who already knows she has won the Hypno - didn't I hear about that on Monday and Tuesday! I've no idea who claims the MA yet, I'm still working through the Week 12 games and haven't broken down the fantasy results yet.

This week there are 3 games on Friday, Thanksgiving Day, so make sure your teams are set nice and early.

If anyone would like to write a Wash-up for me, feel free.

Week 12: Match-ups

Posting early this week because I won't be at work tomorrow and who has the time outside of work?

Endless (109) v Breesus (133)

Huge projected score for Breesus on the backs of Brees, Murray and... Gordon? Playing his first game of the year after suspension is Gordon really worth 20 points? I'm sure that any gap will be made up by the Packers D with a miserly 7 point projection. Against the Vikes? I still think Endless has a great team on paper, but the TE should be replaced if possible as Allen is injured. I've been playing Mike Wallace in Madden 15 on Xbox One and I wish the Dolphins would use him the same way I do - so fast, great hands.

Lighties (116) v Zim (130)

The Gardener Award is up for grabs if the Illuminators can pull off a big win and cut Zim down to size. Peyton against Miami is an interesting match-up with the Dolphins D considered one of the best D's going around. Crabs, Donnell and Gore were solid last week for the Lighties and will need to repeat that. Zim, well, still the best team on paper. Ingram, Lynch, Nelson and Tate, Gronk and Maclin. Someone hand me a towel to clean up the drool! Love to see Smith have a big day out.

The General (95) v BB (104)

The Forces need to stop their 4-game losing streak and will be hoping Luck doubles down against the craptacular Jaguars. Likely, I'd suggest, the Colts need to bounce back after the Patriots destroyed them and the Jags are the perfect rebound opposition. Forte and Morris are two ace RB's on struggling teams, as are Fitzy and Johnson. Well, not Fitzy's team, so much as Fitzy just having an off season in an ace team. Clear? The General needs to add Fleener to the active line-up, good TE pick up for the week as Fleener has been playing well. BB is starting Romo against the Giants, great match-up. Evans was the top-scoring WR last week, if I'm not mistaken, and this week plays the relatively hapless Bears. BB's kicker is on a bye and will need to be replaced. Julius Thomas was injured in the Broncos loss last week as is listed as day-to-day.

Marcy (107) v Agent P (115)

The Vampire Queen is looking for some love from Tannehill this week with Newton on a bye. The bottom four starters need monster games, lets face it: Lacey, Graham, Parkey and the Eagles all need to fire and fire hard. (Fire hard? Why not, superlatives ftw!). Agent P is on a 3-game losing streak, very strange for the be-hatted platypus. On paper, Agent P is like Breesus or Zim, a team of solid performers, but in game it's more like Endless, who knows from week to week? Rivers, McFadden, McCoy, Jones, Thomas and Hilton: all ticks against their names. Where's the love? This season they have been so... chaotic. Like most of the NFL I suppose, but that is no comfort to anyone.

Doof (122) v Heartbreakers (93)

Danger game for the Playinator's, rolling on a 4-game winning streak and this week facing their most sinister, evil, torturous nemesis: the Farnsworth's Heartbreakers. Remember a few games ago when the Brown's were rolling and then they played the Jaguars and got beat down in a game they should have won easily. That's this game this week. A win for the Heartbreakers gives them the Gardener Award and snaps an 8-game losing streak. A win to the Playinator's, apart from being universally just and fair and obvious ordained and sanctified by the gods, continues the Road to the Championship (tm) and will make me very happy. I'm afraid.

Farnsworth's heart:MRI sent from his doctor to the Head Coach via email and stolen from his email account. Allegedly.
This is what happens when corporate email accounts are stored offshore and outside Victoria's information privacy protection; shit gets stolen and published and noone can stop me MWUAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA

Week 11: Award Ceremony

Activation: The Gardener

*cue smoke, curtains raising*

That's right coaches, The Gardener Award has been activated for Week 12. 

In this League The Gardener is awarded to a team that defeats a team with a 4+ game winning streak

In fact, there are TWO teams sitting on four-game winning streaks: Zim's Doomydooms and Doof's Playinators. 

In Week 12, the Lighties will play Zim and if they can pull out Zim's winning streak like a weed they will take equal second place and take home the Gardener.

And it is all on the Farn's, or Heartbreakers as many know him, to cut Doof down to size. Will it be the long-term game stealing Heartbreaker who stops the Run to the Championship(tm)? 

Hypnotoad Award 

For scoring way more than any other coach

The Hypnotoad Award is named for the Hypnotoad, renowned for mesmerising his enemies and compelling them to do his bidding. 

Breesus!
For posting 112 points, you take home the Hypnotoad Award.

The most outstanding player on the team this week was the Packers Defense who piled up 30 points. Next best, my favourite rookie, Kelvin Benjamin with 16.

Breesus King of the Drews has won a crapload of games this year with solid performances from most players - it's about time he took the Toad for a spin.

Mission Accomplished

For leaving the most points on the bench in a losing side

The Mission Accomplished Award is named for the 2003 speech given by George W Bush announcing that the Iraq war was basically over and then sitting back and waiting for the kudos to come in. Instead of kudos, 11 years and now ISIS. 

It's Endless this week, a crazy 76 points on the bench, versus a starting team with only 68. And against Doof who posted 69. Yep, Endless's bench won the day and the award. The big player on the bench was Le'Veon bell who ran for 200 yards and 1 TD: 28 points. 

Week 11: Wash-up

Well, that was a crazy week of football. The Saints got hit hard, the Falcons are on the top of the AFC South standings with only 4 wins, the Packers and Patriots had massive wins over good teams, the Texans new QB threw his first TD pass to a defensive back (JJ WATT FTW!), the Manning Bronco's lost to St Louis, the Eli Giants nearly beat the 49ers despite throwing 4 interceptions and Adrian Peterson has finally been suspended for the rest of the season for child abuse (recommended reading).

JJ Watt on a back-shoulder fade
This is a defender!

And that all translated into some weird stuff in VP3 football. After watching Seattle and Philly get monstered on Monday I was sure, sure!, that both Zim and I were well and truly cooked this week. Open up Fantasy at about 11pm Monday night and WTF? Both wins?! How does that happen?

Lighties (95) def Farnsworth (59)

I called it, the Lighties needed players not called Peyton Manning to step up and they did. Peyton had a terrible game, 15 points!, but Brown, Donnell, Crabs and the 49ers def all put up decent numbers and got the job done. And this email thread happened:
-------------------
Lighties to Farns and Doof:
"I forgot to mention ...."

Farns:
"I blame J Cameron that slacker."

Doof:
If only someone had had the goodness of heart to alert you to the fact that Cameron was likely out with concussion...

"The Farn's will need to change the TE (injured) and Kicker (bye) position to be in with a chance,"

-Dan, 14 November 2014

Farns:
*sheepishly walks away from PC*
--------------------------

BAM!

Breesus (112) def US Forces (78)

The King of the Drews is back to his winning ways, easily dispatching the General who has taken a pounding the last 4 weeks, dropping 4 in a row and slumping to outright 8th. An almost typical team from Breesus, good numbers all the way down the list until the Defence: 30 points. From the Packers? Damn! But look at the Forces, Luck only 19 points, Ball 0 because he was injured, Reed, Fitz and Johnson all basically nothing.

Zim (92) def Marcy (89)

Gronk happy dance

The Doomydooms were well down on their previous average but, like Breesus, had just enough players put up good games to scrape by. Look at the QB - 4, Ingram - 9, Tate - 4. Instead, Lynch 12 in a poor game from him, Nelson, Gronk, Maclin and the Bills. Gettin the job done. Marcy picked her least worst quarterback for Week 11, which was a good reversal of fortune, and that QB scored nearly 5 times the points of Zim's QB! But Cam, Lacey, Jeffrey and Randle weren't enough to cover the rest of the slackers, including a -3 from the defence. Ouch!

Gronk taking the defence with him

Bradylessbrothers (74) def Agent P (59)

Weird, weird, weird game this one. Roethlisberger v Rivers in a snooze fest. Two on-fire QBs that in the past two games have barely walked it in, more like crawled it in. Mike Evans had a monster game for BB with 31 points, but that was 20 points higher than the next best player. On either team! Jordan Matthews and the Cardinals Defence again did quite well, on Agent P's bench, for the second week in a row.

Doof (69) def Endless (68)

Another weird game here. Thank the frozen gods of the north for Aaron Rodgers who had an awesome game Sunday afternoon and covered my sorry team. Endless's Charles was not quite good enough to take the points and so the Road to the Championship (tm) continues. I took two lessons from this game:
1) never get fantasy advice from Zim
2) never start a Patriots Running Back. Let me explain.

1) The Zim factor:
Zim and I spent a little while on Friday night working through my team, for some unknown reason. Her suggestions were entirely solid, in theory:
Why start Marshall? DJax has the better match-up. Stupid.
Why leave Vereen on the bench? His match against the Colts is genius. Stupid!

Both good points, and the casual insults really drove the points home. Change, change. Gametime: OMG STOP THROWING TO MARSHALL YOU STUPID CUTLER! OMG THROW TO JACKSON YOU STUPID RG3! OMG, STOP PLAYING GREY, BELICHECK, PLAY VEREEN, WHY DO YOU ALL HATE ME????

2) The Patriots RB curse:
There is a well known truism in NFL Fantasy that the head coach of the New England patriots, Bill Belicheck, hates fantasy football coaches and will go out of his way to screw them over. Case in point, Patriots @ Colts. Vereen, the starting RB, is ready for a big game against the Colts that have been giving it up. *Start Vereen* What happens? Friggin' Belicheck starts Jonas Grey in his 3rd ever game and Grey runs for 201 yards and 4, count em FOUR, touchdowns. 40 points. WTF? #200ShadesOfGrey was seen on twitter. From no one to instant franchise record holder. And Vereen? A piddling 7.7 points

You want to know why Grey was able to post 40 points? Because I started Vereen. Mr Grey, you're welcome.

Week 11: Match-ups

Love this weekend's games: Patriots v Colts, Seahawks v Chiefs, Eagles v Packers and Cardinals v Lions. We also get Peyton v the Rams and Roethlisberger v the Titans and Brees v the Browns. So much football!

Farnsworth's (97) v Lighties (116)

Big intra-office battle for bragging and sledging rights. The Farn's are on a seven game losing streak and reside on the bottom of the standings, while the Lighties look to keep their place in the top-4. The Farn's will need to change the TE (injured) and Kicker (bye) position to be in with a chance, while the Lighties will be hoping that the rest of the team behind Peyton shows up this week as they make their run to the play-offs. Peyton (vs Rams) over Brady (vs Colts) is the current match-up. I think I'd be doing that too, and then waiting for the inevitable 7TDs from Brady to come and ruin the party, fickle Fantasy Gods (I hope that happens! Go Pats!).

Breesus (115) v Forces (119)

The General needs his star QB to have a big day back after the bye to end a three-game losing streak and take down the champ. Additionally, Johnson and Fitzgerald need to seriously improve their trending performances, and Ball needs a successful return from injury. Breesus, meanwhile, sits on a strong two-TE line-up, headlined, as usual, by Drew Brees, and supported by Matthews, Mason, Benjamin, Gates and Olsen. But, with two players each from San Diego and Carolina places a large reliance on those teams QBs to throw well, something neither Rivers or Newton have done in recent weeks. Are the cracks showing?

Zim (129) v Marcy (104)

Big projected win to Zim, with a projected score lower than the average of her last three games. Zim has a diverse team with only two players coming from the same team, her TE and Kicker, which are mostly independent scorers of each other. A rush to capture the second-string QB's, Zim took both Hoyer and Sanchez in free agency this week, leaving both on the bench and Smith to start. The Vampire Queen looks to have Newton as her starting QB, but with only Tannehill and Eli to choose from maybe that is the right way to go?

BB (116) v Agent P (124)

An unusual two-game losing streak for Agent P, she needs strong performances from Rivers and McCoy - two players that have been quiet their last two games. But the secret agent has a small projected lead, even with the starting Kicker on a bye. For BB, time for Roethlisberger to return to his previous week's MO and put up big numbers in Monday Night Football against the average Titans. Foster against the Browns is a great match-up, as is LaFell v Colts and Thomas v Rams.

Doof (113) v Endless (96)

Another one of those warped realities where I will be hoping that Endless's QB has a good game and throws a lot of TDs to my WR. Receiving TDs > throwing TDs, so hopefully Stafford doesn't throw to anyone else! Endless's RB corp is probably second to Zim's, with Charles and Ellington. Mike Wallace sitting in the Flex spot is a gun ready to fire -  but can Tannehill pull the trigger? My flex spot is wide-open: Sanu, DJax or Bryant? Or even Vereen - but can you trust Bellicheck to give Vereen the ball?

Week 10: Award Ceremony

Hypnotoad Award 

For scoring way more than any other coach

The Hypnotoad Award is named for the Hypnotoad, renowned for mesmerising his enemies and compelling them to do his bidding. 

And the award goes to... ZIM. Again. This is the third week in a row Zim has posted the most points (and the fourth for the season), coinciding perfectly with her three-game winning streak: 128, 144 and now 136. Zim also has scored the most points on the season, 1,076, nearly 60 points above Breesus and 250 points more than last placed Farnsworth's. Zim certainly is on a roll.

Mission Accomplished

For leaving the most points on the bench in a losing side

The Mission Accomplished Award is named for the 2003 speech given by George W Bush announcing that the Iraq war was basically over and then sitting back and waiting for the kudos to come in. Instead of kudos, 11 years and now ISIS. 

This weeks Mission Accomplished award goes to... Agent P! For the first time this season Agent P lost the game and left the most points on the bench, 60 of them. And that was to only 3 players, two of which were 25 points each. And none of those were a QB. Tough going!But really, only the hard done by leave the Wednesday Award Ceremony with the MA tucked mournfully under their arm.

Peace, Out: Agent P.

Week 10: Wash-up

Week 10 is in the books and I think we all know how Zim did from her previous post. 40 points to Lynch will give you the World Conquering feeling I suppose. I highly recommend watching Lynch's highlights package, he is just amazing to watch, the way he bulldozes over defences, like a bulldozer bulldozering over defensive rubble. Check it.

Endless (125) def The General (59)

Huge win to Endless this week, with Dez Bryant leading the way (27). Four other players over 15 and no one under 10, except for the TE who was on a bye. Solid performances all round, not relying on any one player to stand up; copying Zim's recent teams and the way Breesus has played 'em all year. It makes The General's loss look worse than it otherwise might: no players over 13 and the QB was woeful. In his game Cutler was even worse than 7, he threw a couple of late TDs when the game was well and truly over to boost his stats, and those of a few other players. The Bears were down 42-0 at half time and lost 55-14. They have now lost two-games in a row by over 50 points. The first time that has happened to any NFL since 1923. I sense a coaching change on the near horizon.

Marcy (101) def Farnsworth's (40)

Mammoth win for Marcy that snaps her losing streak and more importantly moves her off the bottom of the standings. The Vampire Queen gave Newton another shot which I suspect will be his last. Another awful performance from him, salvaged, like Cutler, with some TDs in garbage time. Not that Tannehill or Eli did any better, so maybe Newton gets another run? Jimmy Graham and Eddie Lacy were both good performers, but look at that defence, Eagles 31 points. Remember, that was against Newton. Like the General, nothing went right for the Farnsworth who sink to last place. Flacco was miserable in a good win, rookie WR sensation Watkins failed, two players didn't score because of injury.

Breesus (112) def Agent P (70)

The King of the Drews is back in the winners circle and totally ensconced on the top of the standing with a good performance from his starters. No real stand-out players, just good scores from enough to get the job done. Brees (18), Murray (13), Cobb (11), baby-Benjamin (19)... etc. Crazy scores on the other side, with Agent P dropping her second in a row. Kaepernick won the game for the 49ers, against Drew Brees, but his stats are horrible, 12 points. Blergh! We need Rivers back... oh wait, that -2. Ugh! Agent P must be ruing the 60 points left on the bench, 25 to Matthews who had a great receiving day from Sanchez (loved seeing Sanch play well), and a whopping 25 points from the Cardinals defence. By my calculation replacing the three benchers with the three worst replacement starters and Agent P wins by a point.

Zim (136) def Bradylessbrothers (81)

How fickle is this game? The last two games Big Ben Roethlisberger throws 12 TDs and posts a crapload of fantasy points against good teams. Week 10 he plays the awful Jets and puts up a miserly 13 points in an awful loss. WTF? Meanwhile the injured Romo goes to London and racks up 21 points. Two injured players for BB did not help his chances, but it would have taken a minor miracle to beat out Zim this week. Six players over 10, including a 40, 27 and only 13 from the QB. And next week she gets the Gronk and Gostkowski back from their bye. Love the team. Zim moves into outright second place with the Lighties and Agent P both losing.

Doof (125) def Illuminators (87)

In three years the Mighty Doof's Playinators have an 8-2 records against the Lighties. Thought that was worth mentioning now, rather than in the Preview. Five players over 10 points, including 36 thanks to Aaron Rodgers having another day out against the Bears (6TDs to half time and then benched not long into the 3rd quarter). Great to see my man Megatron back from injury and putting up a few points. For the Lighties, Peyton again performed, 29 points and then benched for the 4th quarter with the game in the bag. Robinson ran well for the Jags, and the Lighties, but again not good production from the rest of the starters. With a better loss than Agent P, the Illuminators move into 3rd place and the Road to the Championship (tm) continues for Doof, clawing into 7th place.

Zim "Lynch"s the opponents...

A smug humble message from your supreme overlord the always sincere, Zim

A humble portrait of Zim

There are not many words required to describe this weeks games... except for

BEAST MODE!

Oh Lynchy, you are a bad beast, aren't you?

Week 10: mid-weekend college madness

While we wait for this weeks games to finish and the scores to come in, take a gander at this play from College football over the weekend:

http://youtu.be/c6zmumATaAM

Week 10: Match-ups

It's nearly game time for the Browns @ Bengals Thursday Night Football clash. This is the first time these two teams have squared off in a meaningful game in 25 years or so. Strange for Divisional rivals. For so long these teams have been wastelands, but this year both teams have the chance of winning the Division and need the W to get there. As you all know, there are 8 Divisions with 4 teams each and the top team from each Division goes to the play offs. Another four teams with the best records also go to the play offs, but it is hard to have a 'best record' if you lose to your Divisional rivals. You must beat your Divisional rivals if you want a shot.

US Forces (81) v Endless (98)

The General has dropped the last two games and will need the W to stay in the race. Endless has the same win-loss ratio but is high off a win against Agent P and has the projected advantage. Both teams are sporting a certain 0, Endless needs a new TE to replace her bye'd player, while the General may want to hedge his bets and swap Ball out who may/may not be returning from injury. Endless may want to move Wallace out of the Flex spot into the WR spot, dropping Cooks and put Bell into the flex spot. No immediate options for The General who's bench is full of bye's. Certainly no MA Award coming his way this week.

Marcy (110) v Farnsworths (86)

The Vampire Queen has Tannehill in the starting QB spot at the moment, but will he still be there Monday morning or will she capitulate and play Newton again? Newton has the better match-up (Eagles, Detroit for Tannehill) but Cam has been so poor lately, versus Tannehill who has been hot. The QB carousel sucks. The Farn's has two players that probably won't be suiting up: Doug Martin will most likely miss, and Jordan Cameron is out. Heading to free agency for a new RB and TE is highly recommended.

Agent P (121) v Breesus (111)

Both teams are coming off surprising losses last week and will both be out for blood. Agent P has the early projected lead with Kaep at QB, McCoy and Jones looking lively, and Thomas playing against the hapless Raiders defence. You think Peyton will be looking for revenge against the Raiders for last weeks loss to the Patriots? The big questions for Breesus again are: will Brees put up a 20+ score, and can the Cowboys feed Murray? With two Panthers Benjamin and Olsen also starting, Breesus is heavily reliant on Cam Newton having a good day out at the Eagles.

Bradylessbrothers (75) v Zim (121)

The opposite of the previous game, both teams put up great scores last week for big wins. BB's Roethlisberger versus the Jets is almost as dreamy as Peyton versus the Raiders. BB is in trouble at the RB position with both RBs unlikely to take the field. Trading TE Vernon Davis to Endless for Sproles may be a good option. Endless is also sitting on West and Bell, but Bell should be a starter and West's game starts in 90 minutes. For Zim, well, on paper she has the strongest team except for the QB. Smith is a great RL-QB but typically doesn't post great fantasy stats, but he is unlikely to roll a -2 - swings and round-abouts. His 10-14 guaranteed points, added to the rest of her roster, will probably see another Hypno going her way. Anyone else read her team differently?

Doof (106) v Illuminators (115)

Terrible Towel

Peyton versus Raiders, Brown v Jets: love the two match-ups - wish they were happening to someone else. I can relate to Breesus' dilemma, I need my two Bear's starters, Marshall and Bennett, to put up a load of points, but can Cutler deliver them the ball against Green Bay? I nearly started the GB defence, too, before realising I would be cheering for two Bears receivers and the defence trying to stop them. A terrible situation to be in. Enter: Steelers. Also love that Steelers D versus Ravens D. I will be waving my Terrible Towel in the Lighties face all day.

Week 10: Planning

Another six teams on byes this week, including the Colts, Texans, Patriots, Chargers and 'Skins (Vikings, too, but meh). With so many stars out on the bye it has been a scramble securing players to cover for them. We aren't all like the Lighties that can cover Brady with Peyton. Fifteen player changes so far, and no doubt more on the way. How do your starters fare according to the experts?

Start em or Sit em: QBs

Start em or Sit em: RBs

Start em or Sit em: WRs

Start em or Sit em: TEs

Start em or Sit em: Ks

Start em or Sit em: DEFs

Sleepers

Ruminations

One of the big stories to come out of last weeks games was the replacement of Eagles QB Nick Foles with Mark Sanchez. You will, of course, remember Sanchez for one of the most inglorious plays of all time: the Buttfumble

This happened on Thankgiving Day, the biggest football day of the year, in prime time. Poor Sanchez, he played out the rest of the 2012 season and then sat out the 2013 season because of a broken heart shoulder. Earlier this year the NY Jets traded him to the Eagles. Sanchez played four years with the Jets, two good ones and two bad ones. I watched him quite closely, and saw him play live in NYC. The media was all over him and he got a really bad rap, but I blame the coaches and support personnel more than I blame Sanch. Under pressure, in hurry-up mode he was sharp, fast and good. Make him wait in the pocket for ever with no good blockers and, surprise, he gets sacked, throws an interception or runs into his own players butt. I always thought Sanch would be good in a system that promoted his skills and downplayed his suckiness. You know, like you would expect a coach to do if he wanted to actually win. But for many coaches, getting the most out of the QB is not the priority, the priority is making sure the QB does as he is told, irrespective the bad demands that are made.

Good news for Sanch, he looks real good for the Eagles. The media are on his side and talking him up and he gets to start for the Eagles with Foles out for 6-8 weeks. 

But despite what I just said about him, I'm not as hot for him as the media is. He played well in pre-season and he played well enough in last weeks game. But you will remember, Marcy in particular, the raps that Kirk Cousins got earlier in the season. His first throw in a game this year was for a TD, but he got progressively worse. So many back-up QBs start strong and die real quickly; seems the media forgets this.

I hope Sanch is different. I like him, I like his attitude and I think the Jets really screwed him over. I'll be cheering for him, but I don't have faith in him. Yet.

Another interesting QB is Eli Manning. Eli, Peyton's younger brother, has led the NY Giants for 11 or 12 years and won two Superbowls. Two. That's one more than Peyton who is the NFL-Overlord. Eli is more successful! This year the Giants brought in a new coordinator, a new offensive system, new playbook. You'd think coming into the Giants with a two-time SB champion QB you'd match your team to Eli. No. Eli has been forced to learn, from scratch, all these new things, including a new throwing stance! How is that working out? Really really badly. Maybe Eli can get it together, but it doesn't look like it.

Let's contrast Eli with Peyton. Coming off neck surgery where Peyton couldn't even hold a football, he eventually had his pick of teams in 2012. Everyone wanted to hire Peyton. He picked the Broncos. Did the Broncos make Peyton learn a new system, stand differently? No. They tailor built the offensive system around Peyton, gave him a lot of control and authority. How did that work out? Really well. 

Lesson?

Some QBs need to brought along. You can't take a rookie and let him do what he wants. But you also can't ignore the strengths and weaknesses, the talents, of your players. If you want a QB to succeed, and teams surely want that, then they need to build the team around the QB. Pick the right one to start with, give him weapons, give him support. Andrew Luck seems to have that in Indy, and he is flourishing there. Wilson in Seattle. Kaepernick, to a degree, in SF. Most other QBs in their rookie contract? Pretty poor. Pretty damn poor coaching.

I wonder if that can be applied to a corporate setting? Imagine, if you dare, a corporate area with two teams of people. One is small, but manages its activities, money and systems really well. So well, in fact, it has no major issues for years and users actually like the helpdesk staff(!). The other team is bloated, vomits money and everyone hates them. If you're a manager, which team should you be modelling if you want success? Tip, it aint the second team. And you certainly shouldn't be making the first team work the same as the second. 

Finally, our NBA teams -looking real fancy, playing not so great:

Celtics: 1-3

Timberwolves: 2-2

Hornets: 2-3

Week 9: The Gardener

I am pleased to present The Gardener Award to Zim, may you wear or display it with pride.