Game 1 (April 1 - April 8, 2007)

Here we go dirt-dogs! The baseball season starts this Sunday evening with a game between the last year's NLCS loser New York Mets and the World Series Champion St. Louis Cardinals. So, if you have 'Cards or 'Mets on your team, make sure that they are plugged into roster holes for this Sunday night! Most of the rest of your players will be available in the Opening Day orgy of baseball on April 2. GET READY!

In what will be a weekly tradition (since I have no life and even less free time), I will be posting the match ups for the week in a weekly email (which will usually be posted on Sunday, Monday if I'm hungover.)

#7 WickedGreen Monstahs (Boston) @ #8 Philly Cheeseteaks (Philadelphia)
It's chowdah vs. cheesesteaks! Lobstahs vs.... well whatever the hell else Philly is known for in artery-clogging cuisine. But, more importantly, it's a match up between which city is the better suburb of New York: Boston or Philly? GM Bowman I wants to take down the commish, and the Commish wants to make an early statement to prove his 5 preseason moves paid off from the get go. The winner of this match will be well on his way to the playoff bubble. The loser, will likely smack talk the other to death until they meet up again in Game #14.

#6 Pawtucket Red Sox of Providence @ #13 We Want a Touchdown (East Lansing)
In the first of this week's interleague matchups, we have the PawSox vs. the 'Footballers. The PawSox and GM Tigue are hoping for a strong showing from the real Red Sox pitching squad, while the 'Footballers are demanding severe retribution for their not-so-great showing in the power rankings. We Want a Touchdown could pull off an upset, especially if John Smoltz has a good start on April 2!

#10 Hoot's Howitzers (Chicago) @ #2 Tiger Bandwagon (New York)
So what does it take to win a fantasy game? Pitching or Offense? This East-West matchup may settle that question once and for all. The offensive powerhouse Howitzers made some interesting last minute pitching moves, which could make matters even more interesting against the power pitching Bandwagon. But, I will say this. Matt, BEAT BELSKY! IF YOU DO THIS, I WILL FORGIVE YOU FOR DRAFTING DAMON!

#5 Pink Roos (Providence) @ #11 Dirty Diamond D's (Chicago)
The Detroit Tigers dealt the Triple D's a blow this week, as both Ramon Santiago and Chris Shelton were optioned to Detriot's AAA team in Toledo. To make matters worse for the Triple D's Phillies Pitcher Freddy Garcia looks to start the season on the DL. The Roos, on the other hand look more in tact, with only Chicago pitcher Kerry Wood on the DL. But watch out, this game won't be easy, cause the Triple D's got Johan Santana! It ain't over till its over.

#12 Knights of Darkness (Detroit) @ #9 Gnome Gnorth Gninjas (Chicago)
MEDIC! The Gninjas have not had a good Spring Training, with pitching anchors Kenny Rogers and Eric Gange are both on the DL. To add to the Ginja's troubles, NL MVP Ryan Howard has been in a slump all spring. The Knights, on the other hand look healthy and have a pitching staff that's ON FIRE to start the season.

#14 Loons (Midland) @ #1 Stingrays I (Rockford)
The Rockford Yankees...er..uh, I mean Stingrays are ready to start their conquest... er uh, I mean annihilation of the West, but standing in their way first are the Midland Loons, determined not to roll over easily. Both teams are among the healthiest in the league right now, and the Loons have a very hot Justin Verlander at the front of their rotation. Can the Loons piece together enough of an offense to upset the Evil Empire of the West? Check back in on April 9th!

#3 Margaritas (Rockford) @ #4 Mike Made Me Do This (Boston)
Rounding off the week's matchups, it's the furthest West team vs. the furthest East team (depending on where these two are sitting in the room at a given moment). This match up is really a tossup, and to make the differentiation even harder, both of their shirt icons are the same color: red... the color of blood! Mwa ha ha ha ha! But seriously, both of these powerhouses will have some interesting issues to deal with in the first week. The Anti-Mike's may have some demotion to the minors issues, and the Margaritas have some minor injuries to their pitching staff.

That about covers it for this week. Don't forget to plug in your players for the week, and good luck!!!- The Commish
___________________________________________
The Bush Doctrine of Red Sox Nation: "You are either with us, or you are with the Evil Empire. There is no such thing as a fence-sitter-- or a "Mets Fan."

The End Is Here

This is it! The Final Week - the week the champion is crowned! It all comes down to this... after months of preparation, months of toiling, months of bringing excitement to the league, my team has failed miserably. And that's ok - I am not bitter or disappointed, I do not bear my brother ill will nor do I wish to see him crushed mercilessly. Equally, I do not wish my opponent Nick, manager of the Ice Kinkajous, ill in this upcoming battle for third place. Not at all. This is the excitement I had hoped for in our league. I am glad to see such an interesting ending. It will be so thrilling. Yay.

Oh - and don't mind that man behind the curtain. His bouts of swearing, hysteria, and weeping in no way relate to the outcome of the semi-finals.

Moving on.

Last week featured dazzling upsets in both the consolation (a.k.a. The NIT) and championship brackets! Lowly Windy City Matrix bested DaZ in a resounding 8-2 win to move into the final round. The Matrices will meeting Wicked Pissahs, who also posted a quality win over the chiefs 8-3. That will leave DaZ and the chiefs battling it out to remain off of the bottom of the heap.

In championship play, Mighty Taco's goalies put in a remarkable performance on their way to securing their 5th place ranking in the league. In related play, Nocturne's Killers pulled off a second upset in a row by narrowly defeating AmIGone 5-4. In review of the week's stats, the only way AmIGone would have been able to pull off a win was to drop Teemu Selane and add in Darcy Tucker. Such a move would have seemed extremely stupid and would probably have cost AmIGone the championship anyways. Such is the game. The result here puts Baby (a.k.a. The Unwanted Third) Bowman on top of the Bowman division, followed by the sagacious elder brother, the black sheep actor, and the Aged (see: Great Expectations). Nocturne's Killers face an uphill battle as they take on Thunder Bay, who have dominated the league for over three months. Thunder Bay came out victorious against the Ice Kinkajous, who couldn't muster enough goaltending to compete. The 7-4 win means that Thunder Bay, unlike AmIGone, did not suffer from a week off and will be tough to beat!

This sets the stage for the final matchups of the year! Details of the next season will be finalized only after a champion has been crowned. As DaZ and the chiefs battle to stay off bottom and Wicked Pissahs and Windy City Matrix have one more go at each other, eyes will probably move elsewhere. No, not to the lowly battle for third place, where Ice Kinkajous look to take their frustrations out on AmIGone. All eyes will be on the championship between Thunder Bay and Nocturne's Killers. The field is set, the "week's" (actually until Apr. 8th) games have been plotted, the players chosen (for now). The only question now is: Who will be the Zamboni and who will be the ice?

This message has been approved by the Ultimate Ruler (and editor) Emmaline.

Pre-Season Power Rankings!

All right you Sultans of Swat! With 13 days remaining until the start of the regular season, it's time to put prognostication skills to the test. I have reviewed your rosters, drafts, and Hot Stove moves to this point and have produced the following Power Rankings for the league. Get ready, there are some surprises here!

1) Stingrays I - Quite frankly, you can't mess with success. GM Jason Backus brought home the title of Yahoo Public League 63375 back in 2001, but the coveted fantasy trophy has eluded him ever since. But don't let his recent lack of championships catch you off guard. Backus has put together teams that have consistently placed in the top three in public leagues for the last six years. With Billy Bean-esque like consistency, he drafts good squads with the diligence of an ultra-nerd, even holding practice drafts in other leagues to make sure he's got the right squad. The work paid off and it shows. You are looking at the offensive powerhouse of the league. The Stingrays drafted seven fielders with 90+ Runs and RBIs. Watch out for that power. And, the pitching ain't bad either. Backus drafted 5 pitchers with 14+ wins last season. Watch out though, as it could be his Achilles heel, as many of his pitchers have high ERAs and HRs. Still, his offense should make up for any unforeseen shortfalls in pitching, putting him as the pre-season favorite to win it all.

2) Tiger Bandwagon - Anyone will tell you that Tiger Bandwagon GM, Brad Belsky is a stat-hungry, mathematical kinda guy. Aside from being a good human calculator, he knows how to crunch baseball stats. Sadly for him, in spite of his extensive fantasy baseball experience, he has never brought home a title in a Yahoo league-- effectively making him the Red Sox to the Stingray's Yankees. Could this be the year that his curse is broken? Only time will tell, but his draft makes him the preliminary favorite in the Hoaggie-Grinder League. The Bandwagon's strength lies in its pitching. Watch out for Chien-Ming Wang, Randy Johnson, AND Barry Zito. Belsky drafted a solid HR core too. But knowing the GM, he will never be satisfied. He's already made trades, and that will continue to be his MO for the remainder of the season. To quote Emperor Steinbrener, "If you don't like it... you're fired!" He's the favorite in the east, and will likely be nipping at the heels of the 'Rays all season.

3) Margaritas - The 'Rays main competition in the west will be literally on the other side of the house. Michigan native and Rockford GM Alix Backus' draft can best be described in one word: depth. Too bad she sold her soul to draft a bunch of worthless Yankees in order to get it! The Margaritas have five solid hitters as well as five solid pitchers with decent ERAs. Keep an eye on the amount of strikeouts she will rack up this year, it's going to be sick! And if there is any wasting away in Margaritaville, rest assured that GM Backus #2 has enough trading tokens to plug just about any hole. The Margaritas will be a top-tier team this year from the West.

4) Mike Made Me Do This - For the last time, I did not make her do this! But now, she's probably glad she did. She put her faith in the Yahoo rankings, and it certainly paid off, with a solid offensive core that will have no trouble scoring runs, hitting homers, stealing bases, and maintaining a decent batting average. To make matters worse for her eastern competitors, she has 3 15+ win pitchers, and a 30+ save closer with Tom Gordon. Watch out, her weakness this season will be pitching ERA and Errors. However, this will not be enough to derail her from wins throughout the season. So long as she keeps an eye on the team, look for this Boston gal from Jersey in the playoffs come September. (And it will be annoying the crap out of her baseball-crazy boyfriend, for sure.)

5) Pink Roos - The cross-apartment rivalry in Providence proves to be one of the more interesting match ups of this 2007 season. The Pink Roos top the Pawtucket Red Sox due to GM Kate Warren's die-hard, rookie determination in scoping out possible draft picks early. Her pre-rankings and #1 overall draft pick worked wonders, and proves that she knows her baseball. The Roos look to be a home run producing and base stealing machine. But the real killer is the Roos pitching staff! If she gets in an offense pinch later in the season, she should be able to trade away a pitcher for a little more offensive umph. But in the meantime, the Roos shall rule Rhode Island. It's a small dominion, but it will be hers nonetheless.

6) Pawtucket Red Sox - In keeping with the tradition of the Angels, this team should officially be known as the Pawtucket Red Sox of Providence. The PawSox of Pro-town came out of Wednesday's draft very strong, with the most evenly distributed batting stats in the league. GM Patrick Tigue drafted a lot of Red Sox, as his name would suggest, but hey, the Sox kick ass! The PawSox will likely be hitting a lot of home runs this season, making them a solid offensive power. The real interesting thing to watch will be the PawSox pitching squad. The GM drafted two 16 game winners in Roy Halladay and Josh Beckett, but also drafted the highly-touted Daisuke Matsuzaka (Dice-K). If Dice-K is the phenom every Sox fan hopes he is, there will be some celebrations down in Providence (not to mention the rest of New England), particularly if Mr. Tigue upsets his cross-apartment rival, the Pink Roos.

7) WickedGreen Monstahs - This is not GM Mike Carroll's first foray into the world of fantasy sports. The problem remains that he has CONSISTENTLY placed next to last in almost every fantasy league he's ever been a part of, putting him on par with Matt Millen of the Detroit Lions. But don't let his Boston colloquialisms fool you, he's come to play, with the intention of remaining competitive with the powerhouses of the East. In proving this, he's already engaged a fire sale of his draft, making four moves before play has even begun. Since doing so, the Monstahs have put together a solid pitching squad and a better rounded offense. The Monstahs will not win every category, but they should eek out enough victories to make it to the playoff bubble come September. Look out for the solid D. The Monstahs, like the 2006 Red Sox look to play a lot of error free ball this year.

8) Philly Cheesesteaks - In what is likely to result in some form of protest from GM Charles 'the Chuckster' Bowman, the Philly Cheesesteaks look at first glance to come at the bottom of the Hoaggie-Grinder League out East. But, Mr. Bowman is not down and out, and will likely start a heated rivalry with the Monstahs in Boston for the last playoff spot. Quite frankly, the Cheesesteaks are about equal with the Monstahs in offense and pitching. The only reason he's lower in line is because of his incessant nagging about when these power rankings would be posted. We'll get our first glimpse of this Boston-Philly match up in week 1. Prove me wrong Chuck, and I'll see you in the playoffs.

9) Gnome Gnorth Gninjas - Did anyone else catch themselves pronouncing this teams name wrong when they first read it? Sheesh. The 'Ninjas are also on the same level as the Monstahs and the Cheesesteaks, probably behind those two teams only by a batter. The real question for the Silent G's is reliever Eric Gagne. Will the Texas reliever play more than two games this year and round out the 'Ninja's relief core? If so, the 'Ninjas will also be on the playoff bubble. If not, they will have to go looking for a reliever and an extra bat mid season.

10) Hoot's Howitzers - Don't mess with the United States Military. I could say a lot of depreciating things about Howitzer's GM Matt Carroll, but he'd probably kick my ass, so let's just talk about his team. Wait a second, I can't just let this go... I am about two seconds from tearing up my brother's Red Sox Nation membership card for drafting Johnny "I Sold My Soul to Satan and Then Chopped Off My Hair" Damon. Dude! What were you thinking?!? I SHOULD DISOWN YOU AS A BROTHER!

The 'Hows have one of the better benches of the mid-tier teams, headed up by Big Papi himself, David Ortiz. The 'Hows potential weakness is in its pitching. It's very Chicago heavy, and most have ERAs over 4. Picking up another reliever could be the key to a new renaissance in Chicago.

11) Dirty Diamond D's - The Triple D's and their GM Jen (last name withheld cause she wouldn't tell me) picked the crown jewel of the pitching free agents in the draft last Wednesday, coveted starter Johan Santana from Minnesota, and to top it off added 17 game winner Freddy Garcia. The Triple D's weakness this season lie in the catcher and in the outfield. Mike Piazza is not the great catcher he once was, and more offensive production will be necessary to propel the D's forward. This is my sleeper special though folks! A couple of quick moves, and Jen (last name withheld cause she wouldn't tell me) launches ahead of most of the boys in front of her!

12) Knights of Darkness - There have been better times for this storied Detroit-based franchise run by GM Nick Enlow. Mr. Enlow won the now-defunct predecessor to this league, the "Wolverine Cross-Campus Nerds," back in 2003, bringing victory and glory to his dominion. But sadly, these days are, to quote D-town legend Ernie Harwell, "looooooong gone." The Knights have a decent offensive core, but its at the expense of its pitching squad, which needs some more depth, and is led by aging veteran Roger Clemens. If Clemens does decide to play later this season(and it better not be with the Yankees...) , look for the Knights to surge ahead a few rankings. A few trades and a couple of waiver picks and the Knights will be playing September baseball again!

13) We Want a Touchdown - The Commish certainly hopes that GM Stephen Bowman realizes that a touchdown is a football term, but... well. The "Footballers," in spite of their sport confusion will have a solid offensive squad this year, led by the pick of the catchers, Joe Mauer. The Footballers could use a little help with their pitching squad over the next couple of weeks. They are loaded up with the "yute" (youth) and have a 16 game winner in Atlanta's consistent John Smoltz, but the bench is not very deep. And with Pedro "Petey the Punk" Martinez in your rotation, nobody can say for sure if the Footballers pitching staff will last the whole season. I'll be looking for the Footballers to make a couple of midseason moves to stay in the race.

14) Loons - So, does father really know best? The patriarch of the Bowman clan from Midland. MI, Robert Bowman, believes that this old adage will pay off as he goes against the youngins in the League. Mr. Bowman drafted a goos pitching squad, with Detroit namesake Justin Verlander and Yankee golden boy Andy Pettitte. But the Loons seem to lack a true namesake offensive player, aside from whining poster child Frank Thomas and confessed STEROID USER and OUTRIGHT CHEATING LOSER Jason Giambi (sorry, Red Sox fan). Only time will tell if the rest of the offensive core pays off.

______________________________________________________

Some of you may be thrilled in your rankings. Some of you may want to parade my head on a pike through Boston Common. In spite of the rankings this league looks to be ultra-competative in the coming weeks. For those of you towards the bottom, don't be discouraged. These rankings are all based on paper, not facts. Injuries happen, players have break-out years, and old geezers break down. If we based every season on pre-season paper stats then the following would have happened:

1) The Yankees would win the World Series every year.
2) The Tigers would have placed third in the AL Central last year.
3) A National League team would never win it all... like the Cardinals did last year.

So good luck! I invite you all to comment on this post. Or, even propose your own power rankings!

Cheers,
Daaaaa Commish

Round 1 Done

Round One has ended with two astounding performances! Nocturne's Killers and Ice Kinkajous each trounced their opponents (Mighty Taco and Bombers respectively) with a masterful 7-3 victory! In games where the goaltending was not a large factor (2-1), skating proved to be the arena where the contenders bested the pretenders.

To start of this week's action, the consolation bracket gets underway with DaZ taking on Windy City Matrix and the chiefs taking on Wicked Pissahs. Will DaZ prove that his relegation down to the consolation bracket was a fluke? Will the chiefs finally live up to their Tinseltown roots? Will Windy City Matrix play spoiler or have to settle for blood in baseball? Will Wicked Pissahs learn that hockey is played on ice with pucks and does not, in fact, involve hitting any wicked pissahs out of the pahk (unless you want to draw a penalty)? Find out as the consolation bracket commences...

In the championship bracket, the losers from round one will have one final hurrah as they battle for 5th position. No matter the outcome, these two Bowmans will have to live with the knowledge they were inferior in their hockey knowledge to AmIGone and Nocturne's Killers. Fittingly, AmIGone and the Killers will duke it out this week for Bowman Family bragging rights and a chance at the title! On the other side, Ice Kinkajous is looking to play spoiler against an intimidatig Thunder Bay, who are just coming off of a one week rest. Can either of the lower seeds break into the final? Tune in and find out!

I am Charles Bowman, Hockey Commissioner, and I approve this message.

Leagues and Alternative Scoring

As is traditional of the Bowman series of fantasy sports leagues, we will be offering an alternative form of scoring for Standing Room Only baseball. The 14 teams in the have been divided up into two leagues based on geography--one in the East and another in the Midwest. The league breakdown is as follows:

Hoaggie-Grinder League
WickedGreen Monstahs (Boston-Allston, Mass) - Mike Carroll
Mike Made Me Do This (Boston-Brighton, Mass) - Jen Ryan
Pawtucket Red Sox (Providence, RI) - Patrick Tigue
Pink Roos (Providence, RI) - Kate Warren
Tiger Bandwagon (New York, NY) - Brad Belsky
Philly Cheesesteaks (Philadelphia, PA) - Charles Bowman

Deep Dish League
Hoot's Howitzers (Chicago, IL) - Matt Carroll
Dirty Diamond D's (Chicago, IL) - Jen
Knights of Darkness (Detroit, MI) - Nick Enlow
Gnorth Gnome Gninja (Chicago, IL) - Doug Bowman
Loons (Midland, MI) - Robert Bowman
Stingrays I (Rockford, IL) - Jason Backus
Margaritas (Rockford, IL) - Alix M. Backus
We Want a Touchdown! ("East" Lansing, MI and yet another Bowman) - Steve Bowman

Each week, I will take the straight win-loss records from each team and then re-rank the divisions the same way that real-life baseball standings are scored. At the end of the season the winners of each league will be crowned the unofficial league champion. This is merely for bragging rights people! Plus, I hope it will create some more competition amongst the teams. These titles will carry over into next year if we continue this league!

Just think about the possibilities... the 2007 Hoaggie-Grinder League Champion Philly Cheesesteaks (for example).

Power rankings will be up by the end of the weekend (inshallah as they say)!

Cheers,
El Commisho

The Big Dance

Note: This is a copy of the email sent out to the league this week.

As the fantasy baseball season is ready to kick off (Wednesday 9:30pm EST draft), our Fantasy Hockey League, The Main Event, moves into the three week, no-holds-barred, statistical bloodbath that is, no, not basketball (please join our March Madness pool, though) - Fantasy Hockey Playoffs!

{end shameless promotion of other fantasy leagues}

As predicted, Thunder Bay took the number 1 seed followed by AmIGone at number 2. In a surprise turn of events, Mighty Taco flexed their muscles by trouncing the Bombers 7-3 and taking the number 3 seed by a margin of two points. This left Ice Kinkajous, who had a mediocre performance against AmIGone (4-6 loss) with an equal number of points as the Bombers. Due to a higher number of wins versus ties, Ice Kinkajous took the fourth seed, leaving Bombers at 5th.

The game with the biggest stakes turned out to be just as exciting as billed! Nocturne's Killers edged out DaZ in a battle to the finish 6-5! DaZ took all goalie categories with a performance that would have done him well in any contest, while the Killers dominated the skaters categories, trailing only in goals. Congratulations go out to Nocturne's Killers on securing the 6th and final seed in the championship playoffs.

This week sees the number 1 and 2 seeds idle with a bye week and the consolation playoffs start next week. The only teams in action this week are those vying for a chance at the top teams in the league. Mighty Taco will take on the resurgent Killers in a brother against brother match of biblical proportions! Mighty Taco won both confrontations during the regular season but now - only this week counts! Along side this grudge match, the Bombers will take on Ice Kinkajous - a battle for lost supremacy. After the Bombers lost their seed to the Kinkajous, they will certainly be looking for revenge! Since the season left each team with a win each, this playoff matchup will decide who is King (of the mid-ranked seeds)!

Ladies and Gentlemen - the gloves are off! Let the Battle Begin!

Fantasy Baseball - Pre-Draft Notice

Greetings Dirt-Dog's!

Your benevolent Comish here, taking time out of my ever-so-busy schedule to write this friendly reminder to get your baseball team ready!

The draft for Standing Room Only will occur next Wednesday, March 14 at 9:30 PM EDT. In preparation for this momentous occasion, here are some helpful pointers and other tidbits of information.

1) Please remember to SET YOUR CLOCKS FORWARD on Sunday. If you've been living under a rock with your fingers in your ears, you may have not heard this already. A little rider tag inside a piss-poor attempt at a comprehensive energy policy passed Congress back in late 2005 makes Daylight Savings Time start a few weeks earlier this year. That's great for us here in New England, terrible for you Mid-Westerners. Remember to set your clocks so you're not late for the draft!

2) All times are Eastern! I am well aware that we have several folks in the Central time zone this year. Make sure that you're at your computer at 8:30 PM if you live in Chicago. Sorry, but all the important decisions in this country occur in the East, and that includes decisions by this Comish. Think of it as an inside advantage. You'll be more awake than me when it comes time to pick.

3) There will be a Hot Stove season post-draft! Trading, drops and adds will be available before the season actually starts. If you are unhappy with your draft choice, or looking to pick up Big Papi, you can try a second go at it.

4) Taunting is encouraged.

5) Pro-Yankee talk is strongly discouraged.

That about covers it for the moment! When the draft is completed, I will send out a profile of the league. But as a quick snapshot, we have teams from Boston, Providence, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, Rockford, and Midland in the league.

I swear the next email will be more funny.

Cheers,
Comish

P.S. The commissioner did not make "Mike Made Me Do This" join the league under duress. "Mike Made Me Do This" joined at her own will and at her own pace. The commissioner limited his reminders to "Mike Made Me Do This" to about 7 per day. That hardly seems forceful even bothersome now does it?

I sense I'm digging a hole....

Straight Win-Loss Results

The Final Records (according to straight win-loss records) are as follows:

1. Thunder Bay 16-5-2 (34 pts)
2. AmIGone 14-6-3 (31 pts)
3. Mighty Taco 15-7-1 (31 pts)
4. Bombers 13-8-2 (28 pts)
5. Ice Kinkajous 13-9-1 (27 pts)
6.Nocturne's Killers 11-12-0 (22 pts)
7. DaZ 8-13-2 (18 pts)
8. Wicked Pissahs 6-15-2 (14 pts)
9. chiefs 7-14-2 (16 pts)
10. Windy City Matrix 3-17-3 (9 pts)

Tie-breaker used: Yahoo! Rankings

Notice that the only difference from Yahoo was Bombers and Ice Kinkajous.

Congratulations Thunder Bay!!!

Reminders

Here follows a list of Fantasy Sports Reminders:

1 - The Fantasy Baseball league will have its draft next week on Wednesday evening. If you have not yet joined, go to the main fantasy page and sign up for private league number 92326 (password: GoSox2007)

2 - There is also a bracket for March Madness (again at yahoo sports). The league number is 43474 and the password gogreen.

The feelings of the passwords do not necessarily express those of the author of this post.

The Regular Season Reaches its Close

Note: This is a copy of the email sent out to the league this week.

With one week to go, 4 teams have secured their position in the championship playoffs. The right to vie for Number 1 has been assured to Thunder Bay (clinched last week), AmIGone, Bombers, and Ice Kinkajous. Barring a series of major upsets, the 1st and 2nd seeds have been secured. The most vulnerable position this week is the 6th seed after Nocturne's Killers failed to gain traction against Thunder Bay. Separated by only 6 points, look for the big game when DaZ and Nocturne's Killers face off! Ties won't matter in this matchup - if DaZ can get a margin of victory of 4, he will be in; 3 would only make DaZ and the Killers tie in points, resulting in the Killers winning by tie-breaker.

Last week, AmIGone and Ice Kinkajous both put forth resounding victories to secure their playoff spot. Their 8-2 victories stymied the chiefs and made DaZ's work that much harder this week. Bombers edged out the Wicked Pissahs but still had enough to clinch while Thunder Bay showed no signs of mercy with a 9-1 pounding of Nocturne's Killers, despite already having clinched!

Besides the titanic battle between the Killers and DaZ, this week sees Bombers and Mighty Taco face off for seeding purposes. AmIGone and the Ice Kinkajous will do the same. The Wicked Pissahs look to avenge their losses to the chiefs (last time to achieve this victory) and Thunder Bay faces a meaningless game against Windy City Matrix.

There's two minutes left on the clock, the bases are loaded, shot clock is down to 5, the goalie has been pulled, and you only need a field goal to win. Can you bowl a strike?