Week 8 -- Back to it!

Back in business after a week hiatus!

Last week I was involved in a debate with the Beaverton city government over their ridiculous plans to impose an “Urban Renewal Zone” in the downtown area of my city. I was asked to be a part of a voter’s forum as an opposing voice to the mayor and a city councilor. I figured that with all the political ranting I do that it was time to actually do something instead of just talking about it. Here is a link to the debate: http://www.beavertonoregon.gov/index.aspx?nid=268 . My opening statement is at 00:35:21, and I call the city out for reckless spending at 00:43:05. Apparently I really struck a nerve with the mayor, because at 01:01:40 he is all out of sorts and in his closing statement says that in regards to the budget he “doesn’t even want to go there.” Fun times!

Now on to the stuff that really matters… Big congratulations to the Coors Light Drunk Guys for scoring 117 points in Week 7 and taking home the Weekly High Score Prize! Shawn got a huge boost from the Saints 62-7 shellacking of the Colts, racking up 71 points on Saints players (Brees – 33, Colston – 21, Graham – 17 and Meacham – 2). Nice work Shawn! F’n’A!! Week 7 also showcased the Basement Battle between my Scottish Rebels and the Midnight Maulers, with my Rebels notching their first victory of the year! Woohoo!

Week 8 saw the Midnight Maulers roar to life and take the High Score prize with 106 points, just barely edging out Moves Like Jagger by one! The Maulers were the kings of consistency with 6 of 8 players scoring between 11 & 15 points, and only one player not scoring double digits (Darren Sproles finished with 9). Great job Jamie!! The league standings are really tightening up now, with three teams at 5-3 (Joe’s Pats, Lords of Lumberg, and Coors Light Drunk Guys), two teams at 4-4 (American BadAss and sprouts), and two at 3-5 (SOFA KING GOOD and Frito Pie). Alone at the top of the pack is Moves Like Jagger with an impressive 7-1 record. But, with five games left in the regular season, the playoff picture is far from clear…

Now, with more than half of the season gone it is time once again for mid-term grades! See below for how your team is doing so far based on my highly scientific and highly subjective grading system.

But first, some observations…

BOOM-DIGGITY

Detroit, D – Coors Light Drunk Guys – 36 pts – Crazy to have a defense lead all scorers in a week, but perfectly understandable when you see the stat line racked up by the Detroit defenders – 7 sacks, 1 interception, 2 fumble recoveries, 2 touchdowns and only 10 points allowed. Damn.

LeSean McCoy, RB – Joe’s Pats – 34 pts – McCoy had the luxury of playing against a Dallas defense that was solely content with stopping one player – DeSean Jackson. There were some holes that McCoy ran through that were literally 7 yards wide. He certainly made the most of it, racking up 185 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Buffalo, D – Free Agent – 34 pts – The Bills sacked the Washington quarterback 9 times, had 2 interceptions, blocked a kick and allowed ZERO points!

Steven Jackson, RB – Scottish Rebels – 33 pts – Jackson finally broke out this year, nearly equaling his production from the prior three weeks combined! The Rams shocked the Saints, and it was mostly due to Jackson’s 191-yard (rushing & receiving), 2-touchdown performance.

Cincinnati, D – Free Agent – 32 pts – Let’s hear it for defenses this week! Three defenses with over 30 points… simply astounding! The Bengals did it with 4 sacks, 1 interception, 1 fumble recovery, 1 defensive TD, 1 return TD and allowing Seattle only 12 points.

Adrian Peterson, RB – Scottish Rebels – 27 pts – AP is averaging 23 points per game over his last four games, and currently leads all runningbacks with 149 points on the season. All Day baby!

Ray Rice, RB – Moves Like Jagger – 27 pts – With the exception of his Week 7 3-point performance, Rice has not scored less than 15 points in a week. Across his other six games, he is averaging 19.6 points per game. Nice!

COME ON, MAN...

Dan Bailey, K – Scottish Rebels – 1 pt – This just highlights how horrendously bad the Cowboys were against the Eagles on Sunday night. Bailey never even attempted a field goal and only logged one extra point on the night.

Robert Meacham, WR – Coors Light Drunk Guys – 1 pt – This really wasn’t a horrible outing for Meacham considering he had only scored two points the week before.

Ben-Jarvus Green-Ellis, RB – American BadAss – 0 pts – American BadAss scored exactly zero points in the runningback department this week, with Green-Ellis only managing 9 yards and Matt Forte getting zero, due to being on a bye week. That’s two weeks in a row that American BadAss has had an active roster player on a bye… Is Lilly managing your team bro? Lol!

MID-TERM GRADES

American BadAss (4-4) – Owner – Jason

Hot start to the season, but playing players on bye weeks is no way to make it to the end.

Best move – Designating Aaron Rodgers as a keeper.

Questionable call – Playing David Akers on his bye week, then playing Matt Forte on his bye week in the following week.

Grade – C+

Coors Light Drunk Guys (5-3) – Owner – Shawn

After a slow start and going 1-3, the Coors Light Drunk Guys have come alive and currently have the longest winning streak in the league with 4 in-a-row. The Drunk Guys are also one of only two teams in the league averaging over 100 points per game. Shawn has also done this essentially with the team he drafted, having only made two waiver claims all year.

Best move – Drafting Fred Jackson in the 8th round.

Questionable call – Carrying Tim Hightower on the bench.

Grade – A-

Frito Pie (3-5) – Owner – Rachel

Rachel’s season took a big hit before it even began with Peyton Manning and his flimsy neck. Since then it has been a struggle to find a quarterback capable of putting up consistent points.

Best move – Drafting Wes Welker in the 4th round.

Questionable call – Sticking with Kevin Kolb as quarterback.

Grade – C+

Joe’s Pats (5-3) – Owner – Joe

The Pats are the only team that has been able to crack the armor of Moves Like Jagger. That alone is quite an achievement this season.

Best move – Adding Jonathan Stewart in Week 7.

Questionable call – Going with the Dallas Cowboys defense.

Grade – A-

Lords of Lumberg (5-3) – Owner – Timmy

Timmy leads the league in moves with 16, and it appears that it is finally paying off. A rocky start to the season led to a blockbuster trade with the Scottish Rebels, in the hopes of shaking things up. His players have responded to get him to a 5-3 record, and in the driver’s seat for the playoffs.

Best move – Picking up A.J. Green on waivers.

Questionable call – Dropping, then re-adding Jamaal Charles.

Grade – B+

Midnight Maulers (2-6) – Owner – Jamie George

The season has been a struggle for the Maulers, but in spite of everything, Jamie has nabbed a Weekly High Score prize.

Best move – Dropping Tim Tebow.

Questionable call – Not drafting LT this year. LT not on the Maulers is just too weird to handle.

Grade – C

Moves Like Jagger (7-1) – Owner – Jensy

Only one loss on the season, and three Weekly High Score prizes. Jens also leads all teams with 842 points scored, and has the fortunate distinction of having had the fewest points scored against him (601).

Best move – Changing team name to “Moves Like Jagger”.

Questionable call – Changing team name to “Moves Like Jagger”.

Grade – A

Scottish Rebels (2-6) – Owner – Jerry

At the end of the day, it is all about victories, and it took my Rebels six weeks to make it happen.

Best move – Trades for Cam Newton and Adrian Peterson.

Questionable call – Dropping A.J. Green before even seeing him play.

Grade – D+

sprouts (4-4) – Owner – Russ

Sprouts has been outscored this year by 125 points, yet has battled to a .500 record.

Best move – Drafting Rob Gronkowski with a 13th round pick.

Questionable call – Trading Antonio Gates and Steve Smith for LeGarrette Blount.

Grade – B

SOFA KING GOOD (3-5) – Owner – Cap’n

The King has the unlucky distinction of having had the most points scored against him thus far this season. And by a wide margin too— in total 832 points have been scored against him, with the next closest team surrendering 779. Something about James just brings out the best in his opponents…

Best move – Drafting Baltimore Defense in 7th round.

Questionable call – Drafting Chris Johnson in 1st round.

Grade – B

BEST BENCH(ES)

Week 7 saw very few points left on the bench. In the case of sprouts, owing to bye weeks and weak performances, there were zero points on his bench. Literally no points scored by his bench players. In fact, the Best Bench Award for Week 7 had the lowest point improvement total that I can recall from any Best Bench winner. That distinction now belongs to the Midnight Maulers!! Jamie could have improved his point total by 16 points with two roster moves, T. Tebow for J. Cutler (+12 pts) and San Diego for Chicago (+4 pts).

Week 8 also had only a few points left on the bench. There was a “Battle of Bests” between sprouts and American BadAss, where both teams had their optimal line-ups in the game. In the end, it was last week’s high scorer taking home the crown for Best Bench… the Coors Light Drunk Guys! Shawn would have been able to improve his point total by 20 with three roster moves, E. Manning for D. Brees (+11 pts), D. Branch for R. Meacham (+8 pts) and R. Wayne for M. Colston (+1 pt).

Get your ream ready for Week 9! Only five weeks left of the regular season! Playoff scenarios coming soon...