Tuesday, December 23, 2014

C3FF Championship Week: Not So Lazy Susans Wins the Title!

Huge congratulations to team Not So Lazy Susans of the Minter league as our first annual C3FF Champion! She defeated team Homey the Clowneys 163.06 - 129.38 and had a nice 6-point cushion heading into Monday Night Football and one player remaining to play.

In perhaps the only time ever that a fantasy GM would actually want a player to sit OUT, Denver RB C.J. Anderson failed to lose yardage and fumble multiple times to surrender 6.5 FP needed for her to back out of a win, but that didn't stop me from pointing out the possibilities!

But all in all I was just having a little fun with her since the odds of her losing after Sunday's action were tiny, but the scoring towards the end of Sunday saw her 30-point lead quickly shrink to six where it found a settlement spot Sunday night.

The apparent swing in the balance of power came when DeMarco Murray broke his hand and was limited in action against Philadelphia. Had he been healthy, it would have made things on Monday Night Football quite a bit more exciting with Anderson's performance actually mattering.

However, it didn't come down to that but what's even more incredible about her victory over a 48-team mega-league is that she had to go through 3 fantasy quarterbacks, finishing with using Mark Sanchez of all people. A shrewd observer of fantasy football might notice that some QBs are better for their team on the field while others are better fantasy QBs than they are in actual games. Sanchez and until this past week, Jay Cutler fit squarely into this narrative.

Whatever the case, NSLS used Sanchez to win the title along with solid contributions from other players. I bet some of you are really wondering whom she had; well, here's a list:


As you can see, C.J. Anderson was no "threat" to have a poor outing and in fact wound up leading her entire team in scoring. Sanchez was second, and now longtime (for football) Packers WR Jordy Nelson was third on the day for the NSLS squad.

She had kind of an interesting mix of players to carry her to victory. Zach Ertz and Shane Vereen aren't names you see in fantasy leagues real often but Ertz especially had a nice week, scoring her 21 FP at the TE position. That, folks, is STRONG!

Being "Not So Lazy" here, she somehow got a rather non-scary-on-the-outside FFL team to outscore her opponent each week of the playoffs and that's the definition of victory....not having LAST year's top five scorers on your roster necessarily but it's obvious to me that she kept that waiver wire held close, and that likely is what really kept her talent "lively and timely" enough to get the job done each week.

Seriously, would most people have figured a Mark Sanchez-led team should win a FFL title? Probably not, but it just goes to show the different nature of FFL scoring vs. on-field NFL winning. The Whirly Girls here may have used a methodical approach without much in the form of glamour players; she won with the steak, not the sizzle.

At any rate, Not So Lazy Susans takes home the big prize of the year - the signed Kelvin Benjamin Jersey! At some point in the VERY near future, we hope to have her on the C3 podcast - goodness knows I have some questions for her!

For you other 46 GMs who lost along with me...I hope to see you all again next year and #KeepPounding

@Follow me on Twitter @Ken_Dye

Monday, December 22, 2014

Not So Lazy Susans have the Title to Lose Tonight!

Well, hello everybody! We're one player's game away from completing the first annual CarolinaCatChronicles.com fantasy league, and the Not So Lazy Susans are in the driver's seat to win it all!

She only has to overcome the possibility of a completely horrendous game from CJ Anderson, Denver's newly-found muscle back. 

After getting out to a big lead, team Homey the Clowneys really roared back, closing a 30-point deficit down to only 6 fantasy points when all was said and done. The injury to DeMarco Murray is likely what soiled the Clown's funnypants, as his broken hand limited his effectiveness to 58 yards and a TD. Since the Cowboys had a huge lead at halftime, they were able to let Murray rest for the final week of play during the second half.

As it sits now, Susans have a 135.66 - 129.38 lead over the Homeboyz while the Susans await tonight's MNF game. C.J. Anderson would have to fumble multiple times and get like 2 yards or something for her to lose, so unless something completely insane happens, it looks like Not So Lazy Susans will win the match-up.

All Anderson has to do is score more than -6.28 FP tonight and she wins the whole thing.

I don't see him fumbling her title away even if he has a bad game, but this IS the NFL so I wouldn't celebrate until it's all over, but for all practical purposes, we'll all know how things are going to pan out fairly early into the game.

One decent run by Anderson should put it away nicely, or even a last-minute turf toe that keeps him out of the game would be welcome by the 'Susans, I'm sure! 

It might seem a bit anti-climactic but it wasn't that way last night with her lead all but evaporating and when the Buffalo Bills TE, Scott Chandler, caught a TD pass in that struggling offense, all Homeys needed at that point was one more score from either him or Murray. Sadly for him, it was not to be...but kudos to Homeys for making the finals a virtual nail-biter!

The official announcement will be made when the games are ALL in the books and those books are completely closed.

 - The Commish

follow me on Twitter @Ken_Dye

Sunday, December 21, 2014

Championship Halftime Scores

It's a big day in the C3 Fantasy Football Challenge, and the stage is set for another photo finish. Congrats to the two Super Bowl squads.....and be sure to #KeepPounding

Homey the Clowney



vs

Not So Lazy Susans





Tuesday, December 16, 2014

C3 Fantasy Football Super Bowl






vs

C3FF Semifinal Wrap-up: Alcoa's Fantastic Finishes Have Nothing on Us!

Heido-ho virtual neighbors and virtual neighborettes! We've got some incredible news on the two semifinal matches to catch up with in the 1st Annual C3FF league that you DON'T wanna miss!
First, since I have your attention, I thought I'd share a couple of quick thoughts on this week's NFL action: Namely, that there seemed a lot less of it! We learned AR-12 is Human after all and that the Buffalo Bills have an exceptional defense. I'm of the mind that if they can grab a Wild Card spot, they're the dark horse for a Super Bowl run as far as I'm concerned. Should they do so, they'll be playing a bit in over their heads but hey - stranger things have happened.
Now, we have an NFC South with the Aints in the driver's seat, and the schedule looks favorable for them about now. They play Atlanta (who did beat them by 3 very early on) but I think the Saints have "caught a bid" and showed last night that there's a pretty decent difference between their level of play these days and that of the other NFL teams with similar records. Not surprising with Brees and Sean Payton, frankly. If the Panthers are now going to win it, they'll need to win-out and get help from either the Falcons or the Bucs. Now do you see why I'm a little pessemistic? 
Now to the league results: *drum roll*
Homey the Clowney 123.7
vs
Fig Newtons 122.26
WOW! This was one nail-biter of a semi, wasn't it? It wasn't settled until late late last night and the MNF game as fruit and cake started a reeling Jay Cutler. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, there has been a ton of drama in Chicago recently, where their OC called out Jay Cutler, PUBLICLY, which understandably hurt Jay and the larger locker room in general. To his credit, Cutler responded to it with utmost professionalism saying "we addressed it, and it's a dead issue," which shows some maturity on his part that he hasn't always shown in the past. However, after being defeated again last night, Cutler certainly appeared defeated in the post-game presser. Coming into the game, fruit and cake had to feel pretty good about his chances. He only needed about 16 fantasy points out of Cutler to advance to the finals, but circumstances, ironically enough, caused the fall as Jay only scored 13.96 FP on the entire night. This, fellow FFL enthusiasts, is a stark lesson that despite the best draft (Fig Newtons did have the best draft in my league now that it's said and done), despite keeping an eye on the waiver-wire for risers, indeed - despite playing a very near-flawless GM job - a slip of the tongue of his FFL QB's Offensive Coordinator likely is what brought him down.
Unbelievable.
What about the children's nightmare? Well, Homey obviously managed juuust enough FP to do the job, but not without a cost. NFL leading rusher DeMarco Murray has a hand injury and for now is listed as "doubtful" for this weekend's FFL Championship Game. Injuries are always a blow when they happen, but this is absolutely the worst time. Perhaps he's better than we know and the Cowboys are pulling a gotcha and he plays Sunday...goodness knows the 'boys can use him in their NFC East Division title race. Despite a very tough trip for the Packers in Buffalo, Paleface here had Eddie Lacy get the fantasy points on a 108-yd rushing day with a TD - and those were surprisingly few and far between this week for the high-powered offense.
So, this puts Homey the Clowney in the finals. Just barely, but it might as well be a 101.5 FP win instead of a 1.5 FP win.
Rusty Nails 87.32
vs
Not So Lazy Susans 116.78
In more than a bit of irony, Not So Lazy Susans got shelled by her opponent within the 12-team league she's in, but that isn't what matters today. She's winning the games that MATTER, and that's the path of a champion. She did it with a very weak effort from Mark Sanchez, who her starting fantasy QB is; he had barely over 6 FP. Her fantasy QB luck (the Indy/Andrew variety of which has nothing to do with it) has been lousy. First Foles fell, then Hoyer got Johnny Footballed. Sanchez wasn't a bad replacement, given what was available, but his FP output has really declined after a nice start. She won her match-up here with plenty of room to spare, again, riding Eddie Lacy and C.J. Anderson to a solid win. Anderson's presence on her roster tells me she's also been actively watching the waiver wire and did a nice job picking him up before any of the 11 other teams in her league.
Lockjaw's squad just broke down this week in FP scoring, reflective of the NFL in general. Scoring was just way DOWN this week, and he couldn't find anyone to pick up the slack and certainly not 30+ FP worth as his high scorer was Mark Ingram of all people...and I think we all know by now New Orleans' backfield as far as FF scoring goes is about as unpredictable as that of New England or any given Mike "Shanahanigans" Shanahan running back during nearly any given game of a given year. The FP scoreboard just wasn't kind to Tetanus and unfortunately there can be only one C3FF league winner, which brings us to the Championship game:
Homey the Clowneys
vs
Not So Lazy Susans
We couldn't have asked for a better final match-up I don't think. It's great on more than a single level, too:
First and foremost, and at the risk of sounding a tad sexist, it's obvious that we have a lady in the finals. This should serve as notice for every guy out there who thinks "a girl can't...." well this girl daggum sure did!! And it's not even so much that a lady made the finals but one got into the finals being highly outnumbered by guys as GMs. There were four female GMs that I know of out of 48 teams. Probably a few more than I'm aware of are GMs too, but the vast majority was still guys. ANY notion that women aren't or can't be every bit as good as a guy doesn't know the veracity of the fan! Gender of the GM has zilch to do with ability, as she's proven and we all should know by now anyway. But she's gone out and proven it, and I think it's great. I think she MIGHT face a bit of an uphill climb in the Championship game but only due to her near-epic lousy luck with being on her 3rd starting QB, but it hasn't stopped her yet. All the MORE reason to fear this woman's ability! She has already gotten my respect by getting THIS far....with what amounts to a 3rd-string fantasy QB. Damn. Well done, lass....well done!
Homey the Clowney not-so-lazily OR hilariously powered his way through the league to the finals and holds roughly a 50 FP scoring advantage over the Whirly Girls...over 15 contests. That's barely a 3 FP cushion. He was 11-2 in his regular season while the 'Susans were 9-4. His fantasy QBs are Big Ben and Meg Ryan, so he has a nice luxury of playing match-ups this weekend where the Whirly Girls don't. I really think that, along with the 'Susans' Mark Sanchez and his apparently limited upside gives him a decided edge heading into the finals, but that's where the bad news stops. Sanchez faces that powerhouse Redskins defense, so anything is possible. Big Ben faces a talented Chiefs defense and Meg travels to the OTHER dome in the NFC South to go against that Saints team that has been improving so Yo Homey's decision won't be so simple while at least the 'Susans don't have to make a decision on her starter at the highest-scoring FFL position.
Both have Eddie Lacy, so they cancel completely which makes the OTHER match-ups even that much more critical, and the 'Susans have some strong help there. C.J. Anderson, Jordy Nelson is simply an FP-producing madman, and then there's Pittsburgh's do-everything WR Antonio Brown. If any of those guys explode - a distinct possibility - the pressure will really be on the Homey Funny Boys.
Homey's gotta be hoping DeMarco Murray can play this weekend or any advantage due to the QB situation not only gets nullified, but probably swings the needle back to Whirly Girls as for the "favorite" to win this contest. I think they're THAT closely balanced on talent and I think we'll be in for a great ride tracking the finals....starting this Thursday night. 
Murray's having surgery to repair a broken left hand so I don't see it, but then again....these are tough guys called NFL players. This is the single story to watch that's related to the Championship game.
One thing is certain right now, and that's the fact that the winner of the contest gets that wonderful signed Kelvin Benjamin jersey! That's just such an incredible prize for one of the two GMs and I personally would love to see a picture of a smiling fan - whichever of the two it is - wearing that thing with a million-dollar smile once they receive it.
So who do you think it's gonna be? Homeys or Susans? Kids' Boogeyman or Whirly Girls? 
You may want to keep your social media ears on, because I'm going to periodically tweet status updates as the games go for this one. I'm on the edge of my seat already! If you've ever been inclined to comment on a post, now's the time...we'd love to hear your comments! 
Good luck to both GMs and may the best team win! #C3FF
 - The Commish
Follow me on Twitter @Ken_Dye for updates on the Championship Game as I tweet them!

Thursday, December 11, 2014

RD 3 Bracket: The Final Four


C3FF Correction and Update for Week Two of the Playoffs

Hey again, guys and gal(s), I'm writing an update to both fix errors from yesterday's post and be a little more specific on the results. I wrote an update the same day I had my last final, so I wasn't exactly 100% sharp. I merged an old draft with some added commentary and mixed weeks up. I do apologize, but anyone who has ever had final exams knows how you feel after that last test. Big relief, but have the mental ability of a parsnip for the rest of the day.

I hope anyone reading the previous piece at least got a chuckle. Laughter is a wonderful thing.

Anyhow, as I always say about such things, the important thing is getting it right, and that's what I'm doing here and will hopefully continue to do through the championship game.

Remember, It's also the first year we're doing this and as you can probably imagine, it's a learning experience for all of us. I'm pretty sure next year and subsequent years we can look back at issues we encounter (remember, it's all "new" to us here, too) and we'll know what potholes are coming up for the most part and can be PRO-active about it instead of RE-active. That's the idea, anyway.

Just for fun, let's look at how the games turned out last week and my "picks" - still can't believe I'm thinking fruit and cake wins this league - but here goes:

Not So Lazy Susans (Minter) - 149.94
vs
@KeepPounding (Mills) - 127.04

Comments: Both teams won their local-league matchups, so it's not surprising this contest was fairly high-scoring. Packers players Jordy Nelson (32.6 FP) and Eddie Lacy (27.7 FP) both came through big-time for the Twirly Girls, which she needed as the Professor's comment on this during the games was more than a little prescient. The 'Pounders got all their eggs from two baskets; that of Cam Newton (37.74 FP) and DeMarco Murray (44.7). However, he had no other fantasy players even hit double-digits, and that was probably his downfall.

Not So Lazy Susans (Minter) advances.

Rusty Nails (Mills) 170.34
vs.
Show Me Your TDs (Minter) 136.78

Comments: Ironically, Rusty Nails won this match-up with room to spare while losing his regular league match-up to Kuech'n it Old School, who scored 184.42. However, that's irrelevant here but I wanted to illustrate how these FFL games and scores can really change depending on NFL team and individual player match-ups. Lockjaw here generated a ton of FP anyway with big performances by four different players - Matt Stafford (27.84), Jamaal Charles (28.1), Jordy Nelson (32.6) and Julio Jones (40.4). Those four players alone (128.94 FP combined) nearly defeated the guy in the trench coat, attempting to flash everyone with TDs, but came up...ah...."short." He did have DeMarco Murray and T.Y. Hilton with huge games, but it wasn't enough. Things get really intense in the playoffs and several players having "down days" can sink you. For example, the usual FP-generating machine, Demaryius Thomas, only had 2.1 FP on 11 receiving yards. It's just one of those things that happens to us all - like me, when two weeks ago I lost what would have been a main-league playoff berth (you're welcome, Kony Island!) because Jimmy Graham got completely shut out. Had he scored 4.5 FP, I'd have won. As I keep saying...."oh well; that's fantasy football for ya!"

Rusty Nails (Mills) advances.

Fig Newtons (Rucker) 208.84
vs.
I Am Your Father (Muhammed) 82.62

Comments: Wow. As you can see, this wasn't even close. Fruit and Cake showed Hoosier Daddy who his daddy really IS - at least this past week! Justin Forsett and Steven Jackson were the only producers for Baby Daddy, but he did have Peyton Manning (3.12 FP), who normally scores about ten TIMES that many FP, so Hoosier Daddy simply got caught in a meat grinder/Press Your Luck-style Whammy this week and doubly so....a real down week for his studs while Fruit and Cake had a phenomenal week, even for him. Le'Deveon Bell (I quit trying to spell his first name correctly long ago) had another "career" game - he has had several this season - and topped 50 FP alone. Jay Cutler, T.Y. Hilton, and Jamaal Charles all had 25+ FP as well. Now do you see why Fig Newtons is my pick to win it all?

Fig Newtons (Rucker) advances.

Kony Island (Rucker) 132.2
vs
Homey the Clowney (Muhammed) 147.5

Comments: Here, we have the closest match-up of the playoff games as the Clowns scared the Hot Dog Eaters juuuust enough to eke-out a win. The big three "Tears of the Clown" drove him to victory; they are Big Ben (35.1 FP), Eddie Lacy, and DeMarco Murray. The Hot Dogs were cooked despite solid showings by Matt Forte (22.6), C.J. Anderson (28 FP), and Jordy Nelson. Only 15.3 FP separated the two teams, and Gilligan's Islanders even had Anderson on a career day (3 TDs). In Denver, SOMEONE has to get the FPs and it wasn't anyone in the passing game, so C.J. kept this one close for Gilligan....the Skipper, too....but no cigar was given.

Homey the Clowney (Muhammed) advances.

Well, lookie what we have here, to quote Biff from Back to the Future: EACH of the four satellite leagues sends one representative apiece to the "Final Four," and that is called BALANCE, folks. We couldn't have planned it any better if we wanted to.

I went 3-1 in my "picks" for the winners, despite it being after the fact, and I promise I hadn't looked at anything other than stuff like Subnet Masks, DNS servers, DHCP servers, default gateways and the like, ugh! Interesting in its own way, but certainly not a fun pursuit on the level of fantasy football!

Going by the brackets, here are the last two match-ups before Championship Week next week:

Fig Newtons vs. Homey the Clowneys

and

Rusty Nails vs. Not So Lazy Susans

Congratulations to the four finalists! Be SURE to update your rosters before tonight's game - Arizona against those shutout-pitchin' fools, the St. Louis Rams.

NOW we're on the right track, I believe! I REALLY appreciate everybody's patience and understanding on the recent confusion but again, I think the important thing is that we get it right in the end, which we've now done.

Again, keep in mind that we all are just fans here at C-Cubed like you all are and we have other "life" things that must take priority - the same as you guys and gals do - and doing the best we can. It's really a bit of a task running 4 12-team leagues simultaneously and drawing a playoff pool to form a 5th league for championship purposes...all while having to study furiously for finals(!!)

That said, I just want to reiterate my thanks to each and every GM out there for that patience and understanding as we here at C-Cubed are finding this to be a learning experience as well as a lot of fun. Next season, once again, I'm sure will run a lot smoother now that we've gone through an entire regular season and are in the midst of the playoffs. Things will almost certainly go much smoother next year as we'll have had a year of experience under our belts and that alone should help a lot since we'll know what to expect.

 - The Commish

P.S. In case anyone wondered on my finals, yes, it was worth it. I got an "A" in my Networking class and a "B" in my PC Hardware class. I was the only "A" in Networking and nobody had an "A" in PC Hardware, so I'm plenty happy with the results from my hard work. I'll take a 3.5 GPA any day, even if it was "only" two classes - trust me, those two were nearly like a full-time job.

Oh - in case anyone wondered about THIS - the port for the Network Time Protocol is port 123. You may sleep well tonight now that I have answered such a nagging question....