2015 Champion: US Forces

Congratulations to the General and his US Forces for winning the 2015 VP3 Championship Game.

VICTORY!

Celebration parade 30/12/2015 - VP3 Images

It started well for the General with his free-agent QB Cousins posting a hefty 32 and putting up about 53 points in the first two games. The pre-game speech must have really been something.

"Today is the end of the Bradyless Brothers..."

As the military rolled through BB through Sunday's games it was the Texans D that really stood out and said, "General, we've got your back."

And they did, 22 points. The Texans star WR was not to be left behind, a tidy 17.7 points, the same to RB Murray. After that, a few 10s iced it and the rest didnt matter. The General had taken the battle, the sixteen week war and the 2015 VP3 Championship. Congratulations, sir.

In the game that BB needed a solid effort from his core players, it was them that let him down, possibly shock-and-awed by the opposing force. Roethlisberger was woeful, 3.8 points in a loss that makes it hard for the Steelers to make the play-offs. Starks: negative. The two Falcons players both did very well, 15 to Freeman and 23 to Jones. And that proved me wrong: the game did not rest entirely on their shoulders like I predicted. Instead, they needed help. Help that was not forthcoming. On the bench, Fitzpatrick had a solid 23 points, but that would not have been sufficient to take down the blitzing General.

In the other games, Marcy defeated Farns for third place, Agent P defeated Endless for fifth and Breesus defeated the Lighties for seventh.


Postscript:
And that brings us to the final note of 2015. Congrats to the General, and also the other Coaches that made the play-offs in a competitive, fun season: Marcy, Farns and BB. Thanks to the rest: Breesus, Agent P, Endless, Lighties and Zim.

VP3 will return in 2016 - I hope to see you all again in August.

-Dan

Championship Game

This is it, 15 rounds are done and there is one big game left, it's three v four, it's*:

The first four rounds of the season saw BB go 4-0 and the General 3-1. Four weeks later it was 7-1 and 6-2. In Week 12, 8-4 and 9-3; the General had overtaken BB who had a mid-season slump. But you cannot stress enough the value of a good start, and BB stayed in the Top-4 all the way to Week 14.

Neither team posted big scores this season. BB topped Week 1 for the Hypno Award with 119, and in Week 10 the General claimed the Hypno with a 119. BB's average score was 95, versus the General with 94.

The current line-up for BB was 50% acquired in the draft, while the General has 63% of his team coming from the draft. Compare that with Breesus who has 53% from the draft, or Marcy with 86%.

BB and the General played each other twice this season, BB took both games.

As it stands now, BB is projected to win, 117-109. The General has gone way out there picking up Kirk Cousins and benching Carson Palmer. But why not? Cousins has done exceptional the last month or so and faces a pretty crappy Eagles. Once again I predict that BB's hopes rest on his two Falcon's players, Freeman and Jones. They play the Panthers this week who are at 14-0 on the season and generally very good at defense.

Congratulations again to both Coaches for making the Championship Game - good luck!

In other news:
Marcy and Farns face off for consolation third place. These are the two come-back Coaches of the year, going from bottom to top, posting big scores and both finishing with 10-4 records. Marcy has the projected win at this stage.

In the battle of the other late-season Titans it's Endless v Agent P who are technically battling for fifth place. How about that!

And finally, Breesus v Lighties who both had seasons they would like to move on from.

Finally:
Thanks for playing once again this year. I hope you all had fun irrespective of your teams performances. I, again, took a lot of joy in being your scribe and I hope I provided some entertainment. I look forward to seeing you all again next year in late-August for the live-draft when we again set our hopes and dreams on the Championship Game, hoping that our draft doesn't break us, trying not to draft three kickers, trying to draft with our heads instead of our hearts, and wondering what it was like being BB and the General this Christmas weekend, trying to enjoy the family, fretting over the most important sporting event of the entire year.

*I'd like you to imagine this is animated, the two jersey's coming in from either side and smashing into each other in a massive explosion with text and music. Thank you.

Award - weeks 13,14 and Semi Finals

Catching up on a backlog here.

The Gardener

Awarded to teams that defeat a team with at least 4-wins a row. The Gardener recognises excellence in making sure teams don't get too big for their boots.

Week 14:

Agent P was on a hot streak, 5-wins in a row including a 120-66 demolish job of the Lighties in Week 13.  The Farns were on a hot streak of their own, three wins. The Farns needed to win to stay competitive with the General and Marcy. The end of the regular season: Farns cuts Agent P down to size, 119-100.

Notable:

Both Farns and Endless finished the regular season on 4-game winning streaks! This would have qualified both Coaches for the Gardener had the season continued. As is stands, both teams won in the post-season, extending their streaks to 5. Congrats on a fine end-season-runs!

Conversely, Doof finished the season on a 4-game losing streak. For shame.

Spanner Award

The Spanner is awarded to teams in the bottom four of the Standings late in the season who defeat a Top Four team, thus, making it more difficult for them to make the Play-offs and end at the top. 
Week 13
Endless was placed 9th after Week 12, but in Week 13 defeated BB 118-100. This, if I recall correctly, pushed BB out of the Top 4 for good.

Week 14

On her end-of-season tear, Endless took down Marcy 116-86. This sent shockwaves through Marcy's camp and ended her season equal with Farns at 10-4.

Hypnotoad Award

The Hypnotoad Award recognises outstanding achievement in scoring

Week 13

Marcy posted a superb 156 in Week 13 to beat US Forces and claim outright top-spot in the standings.

Week 14

Farnsworths beat Agent P with 119 to take the Gardener, finish in second place and take home the Week 14 Hypno for most points.

Post-season

Congrats to Agent P who posted a mighty 164 points aginst the Lighties. Newton posted 41 and Johnson, a rookie RB, posted 40.9 as well. Those two players defeated both US Forces and Farns, and if you add Baldwin (16), Thomas (18) and the Kicker, half her team defeated the 2v3 semi-final combined. Awesome. Add to that another 84 points on the bench. Farns, Endless and Agent P all had an excellent final 5-6 weeks of the season.

Wash-up - Semi Finals

The Championship Game is set: US Forces v Bradylessbrothers. Congratulations to you both!

Now, how did that happen?

US Forces (66) nudged Farnsworths (65)

Super-close, low scoring game that featured a bevy of players that didnt perform. I'm going to chalk the Forces winning this one down to the Farns QB: Mariota put up -0.72 points. He was injured early and didnt play the game out. The Farns second QB, Ryan, put up 12 points. There are plenty of what-if, what-if the Farns had played anyone but Clay who posted 0? What if the General had played Austin (19) and the Falcons (5) instead of the Bills (-1)? But when the QB goes -0.72 you're pretty messed up. And in the semis: completely messed up. So the General takes the field and progresses and the Farns finishes a stellar season with a 10-4 record. Farns also gets my vote for Coach of the Year.

Bradylessbrothers (129) def Marceline (108)

Big win for BB this week that no doubt few predicted, myself included. We don't have to play what-ifs here, the scores speak for themselves. And I think we can look at the two Falcons players as being the key pieces: Freeman (16) and Jones (17). When they have played well this year, so has BB. BB's hot-start to the season mirrored the Falcons, but when the Falcons declined, so too did BB. The Patriots D (18) didnt hurt of course. And the last minute Free Agent pick-up of Bell (16) was the icing on the cake. Although the 30 points to Woodhead on the bench would have topped that.

Marcy had three big play makers do their best: Brown (30), Walker (18) and Evans (15). But Rogers again didn't do well, Panthers D failed with 0 and Gore was very unhelpful with 6. This is obviously a disappointing end to the season for Marcy, but going from 10th to 1st with a 10-4 record is a huge effort.

Semi-finals

This week we have 1 v 4 and 2 v 3, playing for a spot in the Championship Round.

Marcy v BB

Regular season winner Marcy has the projected lead and the early lead. Mike Evans had a fine performance in a loss yesterday with 15.7 points. Marcy has Yeldon who is doubtful to play this week, while BB still has Ingram on his starting line-up who is out for the season and will not be contributing.

Farns v The General 

Farnsworths have a small projected lead but will need to update the Flex spot, Clay has been ruled out for the weekend. Mariota @NE is an interesting match-up, probably better than Ryan @Jac but who can tell these things? For the General, Palmer again leads his troops and has a good match-up at Philly. Tavon Austin's 19 points look pretty ugly there on the bench, but he is such a wildcard player he is impossible to trust.

Week 14 - End of regular season

Ok, this is waaay late, and waaay short. But I am so tired it hurts right now after about three hours sleep last night from rockin the midnight Star Wars session. Totally worth it!

Congratulations to Marcy for placing first at the end of the Regular Season! First in the standings and the most amount of points scored for the season. What a turn-around from last year when she finished last. Epic season. Marcy swore last year 2015 would not be like 2014 but I don't think even she saw this coming.

Huge kudos to Farnsworth for placing second - wow! Second place, but equal first on wins and only in second because of some weird formula I don't understand - that could be the sleep talking. But what a way to end the regular season, a four game winning streak AND beating Agent P who was on her own streak. The Farns is my sworn nemesis, but I have enjoyed watching him having an up-season.

The General ends the season in third place, a game behind Marcy and Farns, and ends on a three game losing streak. To really rub salt in the wounds the final loss was to long-time nemesis Illuminators. Ouch!

BB rounds out the final four. The first 6 weeks were epic and set BB up for the play-offs but he has been down in the latter parts of the season.






Finishing off the standings we have Breesus, Agent P, Lighties and Endless. Over the next two weeks these four teams will face-off for some additional prestige and bragging rights. Doof and Zim complete the set, but in finishing last their Fantasy season is over for 2015. The misery is over.

Week 14 - end of the regular season

Thirteen weeks have passed us by and the draft seems like an eternity ago. For those of us with losing records we look back on the draft with angry glares, self-recrimination, rueful head-shaking at technology failing at crucial times. And we ponder what might had been had the technology chosen our sides for us.

But those in the Top Four, I can only imagine, have no such thoughts and are not looking back but looking forward. One more hurdle to, well, hurdle, to settle final placings and then it is Game On.

Marcy #1 v Endless #9

Possible trap game for Marcy who can take first place with a win against a lowly opponent. Marcy has a clear projection lead, but Endless is on a three-game winning streak, and that is without Gurley doing particularly well. A win seals the deal, but Marcy can still finish on top if the General and Farns falter - so much to play for. Endless can take home a Spanner with a win, claim four straight wins and activate the Gardner. A fine finish to a difficult season.

General #2 v Lighties #7

Like Marcy, the General faces a poorer team and has to work through the hubris that sets in when you line up against the Lighties (BAM!). Both teams had big losses last week, and the General has dropped two in a row. A win keeps him in contention with Marcy. A win to the Lighties will earn a well deserved Spanner and some intra-office ribbing. Until the General points to the season standings.

Farns #3 v Agent P #6

The Farns has had a break-out season, picking the right players at the right times and has duly earned equal-second spot. The Farns had one of the funniest, weirdest drafts, picking three kickers and immediately jettisoning two of them. We all had a good laugh. But his clear strategy in downplaying his skill led us all astray. And you all should be ashamed. But he still has a difficult decision this week in Mariota or Ryan. It's tough at the top. Agent P, meanwhile, is on fire with a five game winning streak. The Gardner activated weeks ago and no one has been able to claim it as she rocketed up the ladder showing the form that put her in the play-offs last year. A win, like Endless, finishes a difficult season on a high.

BB #4 v Breesus #5

BB was the standout coach for the first 8-9 weeks, not dropping a game, but since then has struggled down the stretch, dropping into 4th place, but still 2-games above Breesus and Agent P. Most likely BB will finish in fourth and play #1 next week in the finals, but climbing into 2nd or 3rd is probably possible. Breesus had a very surprising down season, coming off the back-to-back Championships. The poor play of Brees and the Saints probably contributed to this, but Breesus probably has a thorough analysis and will be prepared for dominance next year.

Zim #10 v Doof #8

The less said about these two teams the better. Drafting from the heart instead of the brain didnt help, not did the inability to project winning Free Agents and chasing players that have already peaked. But the draft excuse isn't entirely true. Zim drafted Lynch and Graham high - good draft picks in my opinion, two established players that were predicted to do well but who both failed. That was probably 15-20 points per game missing, probably enough to win a fair few games. By the time you give up on your studs and demote them too much damage is done.

Week 13 - wash-up

Wow - what a set of scores!

In the battle for top-spot Marcy came out victorious, and by a lot. 156-100. With that Marcy takes outright #1 and sits a game above the General and Farnsworths.

And look at those player scores, seven of nine players over 15, topping out with 33 to Robinson. Robinson? For the Jaguars? And look at that Jaguar-Titan scoreline, the game nobody would ever have thought to watch, 42-39. Crazy shootout. Actually, all the players were involved in shoot-outs. Pitsburgh v Colts was 45-10 and the Panthers v Saints was 41-38. And those Panthers, still havent lost a game this season: 12-0. So there you have it, if you want a scoreline like Marcy's, look to start Players from shoot-out games.

The General posted an entirely reasonable, team-oriented score. Palmer again played well with 22 but no one else was outstanding, only Bryant was above 15 points.

Farnsworths had a big win over Zim, 117-84. This keeps Farns in 3rd spot, equal with US Forces and a shot at 1st or 2nd place in the Play-offs. Farns started Mariota over Ryan and he did not disappoint, 35 points in that Jaguars game. Not bad for a rookie QB in a team that fired their head coach a few weeks ago. Ryan did 13 points in another loss for the Falcons (I called the Falcon demise weeks ago! I have limited predictive powers apparently). AP did only 2 points for Farns in a shockingly bad game for him and the Vikings, but Beckham was again a bright light, 21. Finally, the Broncos D - 23!

Zim had another great Brady game and nothing for anyone else. And that was in another terrible game to watch, stupid Patriots beaten by the stupid Eagles. So bad.

BB v Endless rounds out the top-4, but Endless takes the Win: 118-100. BB falls to outright 4th but can still finish anywhere from 2-4. Like the General, BB had a reasonable 100 point game, with Big Ben Roethlisberger as the standout with 33, and Maclin a tasty 19. After that, not a lot. Endless won with Wilson playing a blinder with 34, the TE Rogers having a very surprising 20, and Hill a good 15. With the win Endless rolls with three straight wins and joins the Lighties and Doof on 5-8.

Three straight is nothing compared to Agent P who rolled another coach, completely turning off the Lighties, 120-66. The win and streak move Agent P into 6th place, even with Breesus and a game ahead of the *ahem* lower-middling teams. A great run to end the season with, in no small part, thanks to Cam Newton for rocking it, 36 points this week. No one for the Lighties is worth mentioning. No one.

 Finally, Breesus beat me 95-79. In three years I have never beaten Breesus - that is some record, having such dominance over a team. For Breesus, Brees did well-ish with 22, Rawls was good-is with 16. I tried rolling with Osweiler but he was not very good, 8.

An explanation and apology

Some of you might be wondering, ‘What caused the great and illustrious Zim to falter this year?’ or ‘Why is Zim so amazing despite the fantasy team ranking?’.  Well, I am here to break the silence.

As you would be aware my lead coach and talent scout, Ron “Anchorman” Burgundy was recently declared blind.  He went through many stages of grief, including the classic blind-anchorman-stage of being in a glass case of emotion.  

This should not be confused with his lack of knowledge of Julius Caesar (that was simply due to not being an NBA fan).  Mr Burgundy was so blind he shattered his teeth attempting to eat a marble ashtray, thinking it was a savoury waffle.  Yes, really.  He even drank a half a bottle of ketchup thinking it was a bottle of 1946 Châteauneuf-du- Pape (after he decanted it, obviously).

Now, all greats have backups and unfortunately the backup, Doby, swam away after the fish-supplements scandal, resulting in Doby in leaving the jurisdiction.  However, Doby has promised, with the aid of Baxter, to provide aid in Mr Burgundy’s recover.  I’ll not say more on that as it is a matter for the swimming courts.

So, that is the explanation to which, anyone who tries to criticise this humble team and its

 struggles are clearly discriminatory, nasty poo bags who seem to take pleasure that for Mr Burgundy every day begins about the same with him waking up screaming in terror because of the blackness (indicating, obviously, he is dead, something Doby was willing to assist him with). 

Which leads me to the apology – I accept your apology for beating this poor, blind coach’s team.  

Stay classy.

Zim

Week 13 - tinypost

The big game to watch this week is of course Marcy v US Forces - 1 v 2. After several weeks of dithering there will be at outright leader Tuesday afternoon.

Marcy had the great start with Rogers putting up 25 points, including about 9 points on the play after the last play of the game. Yep, on the last play of the game the Lions committed a penalty giving the Packers an extra play and Rogers does this. Amazing*. Win the game and keep the season alive. A sign of things to come for Marcy?

For the rest of the Top 4 - Endless can take home a spanner against BB this week, and Zim can upset Farns.

*Although, I was rooting for the Lions because they've been entertaining and the Packers have been rubbish in recent weeks - and I thought the facemask penalty was horrendous** - the extra play should not have happened. Another game decided by the third team on the field: the Zebras. BOOOO Zebras.

**I note that the head of officiating rules in favour of the penalty, but only as it was called on the field. SUre, it looked like a facemask, until you see the replay and note the hand did not affect the mask at all, it was the shoulder that turned the body. Video review is so fundamental for all plays, how can the rules not be changed?***

***The NFL allows video review for certain plays and not others. Most penalties are not-reviewable. Only Cthulu knows why because it is so stupid that the video is captured and can't be used to decide what actually happened on a play.***

****Yes, with all these superfluous notes I probably could have written a full Match-ups post. Too late now. Good night.

Week 13 - #tumbleweed

Just got to a computer for the first time today. The Big Game - Lions v Packers - is currently underway. As you all know I will be watching that game tonight and so will not be heading to NFL-land or VP3-territory lest I see any of the games scores, news, etc. So, no update today. I'll probably write the update tomorrow, and comment on today's game.

Pretty sure I'm playing Breesus this week, so GO ME and BOOO Breesus*.

Looking forward to seeing how our Top Four play this week.

As a final comment, the NFL announced today that Coldplay will be performing at Superbowl 50 in February. Coldplay? The British band? Playing at the 50th anniversary of the Superbowl? The Superbowl! Possibly only the World Series baseball final is more American than the Superbowl. And this is its 50th anniversary. A British band. Following on from American Left Shark, American Lenny K. and American Katy? My god, could they have picked any band more boring and out of place? Is there any band in the history of the world more boring than Coldplay? For years I've been arguing the AFL needs to look to the NFL for entertainment, because the AFL is shit at it. Just totally shit. But Coldplay? That would fit in PERFECTLY for the Grand Final. Terrible choice. Just terrible.

My choice would be the Cantina Band with special guest Max Reebo and the Kylo Ren First Order Dancer Troop. That would NOT be boring.

*For the record, that was BOO Breesus, and NOT Boo-urns. It can be hard to differentiate them sometimes.

Week 12 - Award - Update

Week 12 - Awards

A big Awards night tonight, so let's get straight into it:

The Gardener

File photo: The General at the start of Week 11.
You tell me it didn't go to his head.

A six-week winning streak kept the General and his US Forces in the top-2 for many weeks. He started behind BB and Marcy, overtook BB and stayed equal with Marcy in wins for some time. His competence was at times overshadowed by his vainglorious celebrations, but how else does one strike fear in ones enemy without celebrating ones conquering? But when murmurs of deployment to Syria to sort out their problems are raised you wonder whether their is an Icarus moment. Especially when those murmurs turn to deployment to Siberia, then it is fair to say the rest of the League is a little tired of the success. Are we not all proud Australian's? Are we not entitled to cut down those that elevate themselves?

Enter BB. In heroic conflict BB cut down that poppy. In doing so he kept himself near the top and made sure the top was not too tall. Well done. Well done.

I apologise, mighty one, that your Gardner Kitty is not yet ready.

The Spanner

The Spanner is awarded to teams in the bottom four of the Standings late in the season who defeat a Top Four team, thus, making it more difficult for them to make the Play-offs and end at the top. 


Agent P takes home the Spanner this week, her second in a row. Last week it was BB, now Marcy. Two big wins.

Hypnotoad Award

The Hypnotoad Award recognises outstanding achievement in scoring


The Week 12 Hypno is awarded to Agent P, just like the Week 11. A hefty score of 128 over the second placed Marcy was a fine win.

Mission Accomplished

The Mission Accomplished Award recognises outstanding achievement in walking away early and not finishing it off


The Week 12 MA is awarded to The General! After so many weeks at the top it came crashing down this week with a rather large 70 points left on the bench. 

Week 12 - Wash-up

Week 12 is over and although there were some big losses at the top of the table the Top 4 is now set. There are only two games left to play in the Regular season but there is a three game difference between 3/4 and 5/6/7/8. Yep, Breesus, Agent P, Doof and the Lighties are all tied up at 5-7, not enough time left to break into the 8-4 crew.

Congrats to the top four: the General, Marcy, Farns and BB. Only one game separates them so the final positions are up for grabs.

Which is the most surprising:
a) Marcy from last to Top 2, with the chance for Top spot;
b) Farns for a break-out season;
c) Breesus missing out after winning the last two Championships?

For me it's between b) and c). Marcy is too competitive for a repeat of last season.

Endless (123) def Breesus (73)

Big win for Endless this week off the back of another big Wilson game - 35 points. Lacey and Landry also did well. Amazing how different the score is when the big players actually play like big players. Cf, Breesus King of the Drews. WTF happend to Brees? And the Saints in general? Rawls and Ivory showed up, but no one else did and Endless won by a lot. The loss keeps Breesus out of play-off contention for the first time and ensures we will have a different League Champion in four weeks time.

Lighties (85) v Zim (63)

The Lighties did their job by winning to have a sniff of the Post-season, but wins to BB and the Farn's shut the door. Big games to Rivers, again (but this time in a win for the Chargers) and Green cover over the twin-donuts. The horror season continues for Zim with, once again, Brady having a good game and everyone else completely meh. Strange game-plan by the Patriots in the cold Denver snow to only run the ball about 30% of the time. Cold + Snow usually = run-first. The pass-first mentality gave Brady 23, but Blount a measley 2.

BB (93) def The General (75)

Two streaks were snapped in this game, BB snapped his losing streak and in doing so snapped the General's winning streak. The win to BB also keeps him only 1-game behind the two leaders with two-games left to play. BB also continued his streak of taking out players, Roethlisberger was big for the Steelers but suffered a concussion that forced him from the game, next week is uncertain. And our favorite Gronk has a serious/minor knee injury that may keep him out for 1-4 games. The General finally suffered the same fate as most of us have, a slow player day. No one really stood up and did anything. Anderson, on the bench, had 27 for the Broncos that sunk the Patriots. Well, that and the horrendous officiating that was painful to watch, and provoked much shouting at the tv.

Agent P (128) def Marcy (77)

Take a bow, Agent P! Take down one of the top dogs, post the highest points for another week, cruise into a four-game winning streak to activate the Gardner Award, and jump into equal 5/6/7/8th. Marshall and Watkins had big games, the Bengals were dominant and Newton did just enough (and the Panthers roll to 11-0 on the season). Marcy, like the Forces before, had a quiet one where the Kicker was the highlight. Never a good sign. The Panthers D stands out on the Bench, but would not have been near enough to keep up with Agent P anyway. Marcy stays in equal first/second place, only one game ahead of Farns and BB.

Farnsworths (104) def Doof (93)

A second loss this season to my Nemesis, and once again it's Peterson, Beckham and Williams scoring big. Ryan had another miserable game at QB and, strangely, the rookie Mariota would have been a much better starter. Interestingly, Mariota is only 17 points behind Ryan on the season, 153 v 170. Time to change? With the win the Farns goes into his first VP3 Playoff series and is a serious contender - especially with AP going nuts (in a good way). It was both awesome and terrible watching Stafford throw 5 TDs for 35 points on Thanksgiving, great for the Lions and awful for Doof. Paradox strikes again. I could take some solace in Megatron finally posting big numbers, too bad Murray stunk it up (again), Johnson went off injured, Diggs was quiet and Watson plays for the Saints.