C3FF League Playoffs Round Deux

Hello, sports fans! Did ya miss me?

Eh, probably not all that much. I'm an old man (47) going to school and had my first final exam week in ages, so the staff here at CarolinaCatChronicles has been pitching in to help with getting the playoffs seeded and all the behind-the-scenes stuff one has to do to run a website.

That's my excuse for just missing out on the playoffs and I'm sticking to it. I probably could have fielded a slightly better squad especially towards the end, but life has priorities and besides, it's fun to see fans enjoying things and one will win that signed Kelvin Benjamin jersey! WOOT! Now THAT is a kickderriere prize if I may say so!

Let's take a look at the matchups we have going on:

First, We have @Keep_Pounding (League Mills) vs. the Not So Lazy Susans (League Minter.)

Considering the NFL games last week, I'd say both teams are well-named. Unfortunately, 'Pounding has Cam Newton as his starting QB and we all know by now what has taken place. A FFL post isn't the place to get into it very much, but suffice it to say Cam was very unlucky to get in such a bad accident - his vehicle flipped 3 or 4 times according to witnesses - but he is VERY lucky to come out of it with "only" a couple of cracked bones. I'm sure he had on his seat belt so everyone take heed of his experience going forward.

As for this match-up, it's unfortunate that @Keep_Pounding doesn't carry a backup QB, which I find a bit surprising considering Cam's questionable health all year. Even I held on to Joe Slacco after Brady Boy's bye week, but it is what it is. He'll have to beat a very strong Not So Lazy Susans with a Waiver-Wire QB.

Next up, we have team Show Me Your TDs (League Minter) vs. Rusty Nails (League Mills.) Let's all hope 'TDs' Tetanus shot is up to date or he could get Lockjaw. At least, that's what I heard when I was a kid.

At any rate, 'Nails' guys seem to be going up against a TON of mediocre teams this week, and that could well give him an edge against 'TDs who goes up against teams like Denver, Seattle and Philly. Anything can happen though, so we'll see.

Next up are Fig Newtons (League Rucker) and I am Your Father (League Muhammed).

I personally think the Fig Newtons are the team to beat as he has torn UP League Rucker and is on a 12-game winning streak featuring the likes of Le'Veon Bell, Jamaal Charles, Rob Gronkowski, T.Y. Hilton, and even Jay Cutler who is a much better FFL QB than on-field QB.

The answer to "Hoosier Daddy?" has Peyton Manning, however, and we should all know he's capable of a 50-point fantasy outing at any given time, so this should be a very interesting contest but I think the Apple Noggins have too much depth of talent with all the names I mentioned for 'Father to outscore.

Finally, we have Kony Island (League Rucker) vs. Homey the Clowney (League Muhammed.)

I gotta say Kony Island is a tough team. He is in my division in League Rucker and a thorn in my side more than any other team. His team seems so diverse that when one guy tanks someone else takes up the slack and those on Gilligan's Island actually don't seem to have bad weeks...just good ones and great ones, so watch out for this guy!

It will probably come down to how Big Ben, DeMarco Murray, and Eddie Lacy do. That's Homey's "Triplets." All 3 of those fellows are playing on the road this week and Lacy faces a stout Buffalo Bills defense. The Pack is certainly used to playing in cold weather, however, and Lacy could see carries in the 2nd half to shorten the game while the Pack is up 3 TDs or something. I think Kony Island takes this one just because of the way the matchups fall.

Hmm, it would appear that the Commish may not be so "partial" after all - I've got both my Rucker league opponents advancing and Fig Newtons picked to win it all. Familiarity in this game doesn't breed contempt, but rather a lot of respect. Plus, I picked "fruit and cake" to win everything. So just keep that in mind.

Commish's Picks:

Not So Lazy Susans over @Keep_Pounding

Rusty Nails over Show Me Your TDs

Fig Newtons over I Am Your Father

Kony Island over Homey the Clowney

You winners that I chose are now officially jinxed.

 - The Commish

RD 2 Match-ups

Eastern Conference

@KeepPounding vs Not So Lazy Susans 

Show Me Your TDS vs Rusty Nails

Western Conference

Fig Newtons vs I am Your Father

 Kony Island vs Homey the Clowney 

RD 1 Final Scores: Who will advanced?

I Am Your Father vs Proehlific

 Catch me if you Cam vs Kony Island

RustyNails vs Free Gordon 

Not so Lazy Susans vs Cool Hand Lukes

RD 1 Scores Pre-Monday Night Football

Here's an update.  Just glancing at it, it's going to be close.  There are some real powerhouse teams going after each other.  Final scores and brackets will be updated tomorrow.

I Am Your Father vs Proehlific

 Catch me if you Cam vs Kony Island

RustyNail vs Free Gordon 

 Not so Lazy Susans vs Cool Hand Lukes

First Round Matchups

Hey guys, I meant to have these up earlier, but I got swept up in the holiday out of town with all the rug-rats.  These scores are from about 5:45 on 11/30.  Hopefully it will help you know where you stand.

I Am Your Father vs Proehlific

Catch me if you Cam vs Kony Island

RustyNail vs Free Gordon 

 Not so Lazy Susans vs Cool Hand Lukes

The C3 Playoff Bracket is Out

C3FF "The Big Game" Playoff Teams are in!

Hey folks, once again it's your goofy Commissioner, "First and" Ken of Carolinacatchronicles.com and I'm bringing you the 12 of 48 teams that climbed that first big hurdle and made it to the first annual C3FF league playoffs!

But first, I wanted to share with you exactly HOW razor-thin some of these margins can be. One TD, one penalty, one dropped pass one player missing part of one game....any of these things actually CAN and often DO make the difference in your FFL team making the playoffs and sitting at home - I'm a case in point.

Two weeks ago, I lost my matchup to team Ron Top of the World by 4.2 FP. That's the equivalent of a QB tossing a 5-yard TD pass - 4 FP for the TD pass and 0.2 for 5 yards. That's it. If Ahmad Bradshaw hadn't broken his foot and left the game early, he likely would have scored more than the 4.5 FP he scored in the first half. 

I'm not sitting here making excuses as to why I didn't win my league. All teams have to deal with the same issues at some point or other. With the head-to-head format, match-ups matter and I'm trying to illustrate how and why details and due diligence matter. 

Had any one of the "breaks" (no pun intended, Ahmad) gone my way that week, however, I'd have been the WC winner because I'd have won the tiebreaker. I also had the top-scoring team in my division which would have put me in first place in a points-only league, but we don't like those because it's nearly impossible to catch up those last couple of weeks and it's an anti-climactic format.

I simply want to impress upon any owners who might be a little down for not making the playoffs this year. Remember - only 1 team in 4 makes it, and the point I made above is just your Beloved Commish's way of passing along my own league's experience to the rest of you. That's why you #KeepPounding in both the NFL and in FFL games. You work hard, do your research (film study in the NFL's case), put your best guys out there to start the game and let the chips fall where they may.

If you're ever in a league where you need to put together a few wins towards the end just to have a chance, play each game as if it were your last. You never know when it'll be YOUR turn to get a hot team with a number of guys getting hot at the same time and making YOUR team nearly unstoppable. I had that happen in mid-season when I out-scored all 47 teams in 2 of 3 weeks, and had the second-highest total that 3rd week.

If it can happen to me, it can happen to anyone! 

That said, I and everyone here at C-Cubed wanted to thank everyone for participating, we hope to see you next season, and don't forget to keep putting your lineups in - we DO have the "consolation round" to go!

C3FF Playoff teams:

Rucker division winners: Catch Me if you Cam, the fig newtons. WC is Kony Island

Muhammed division winners: Homey the Clowney's, I am Your Father. WC: Proehlific

Minter division winners: Not so Lazy Susans, Show Me Your TDs. WC: Free Gordon (via 4-0 division record - No HTH game involved so it went to the 2nd tiebreaker here)

Mills division winners: @Keep Pounding, RustyNails. WC: Cool Hand Lukes

Enjoy the playoffs, folks! At least I don't have to do any work on my FFL team for the Thanksgiving Day games!

 - The Commish