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....