A Boss Ass Story

  

I want to first start off by congratulating Drew on yet another incredible run. A tie in the semis was all that kept him from winning it all last year. He's made the final four in 4 straight seasons. It seemed this year his team was peaking at the right time only for them to come up lame in week 17. Bad luck but doesn't take anything away from Drew's 4 year run. It's likely the best 4 year run we have ever seen. Thank you for raising the bar of excellence.

Second, I want to acknowledge the greatness that is my Muddog Brother. He's been through so much adversity in our leagues history. 2nd most points against all time. Tons of insane bad beats, but the guy keeps putting together amazing teams year after year. Last year he fell just short due to a plethora of ridiculous individual scenarios in the championship. This year he broke the league scoring record becoming the first member to ever break 1600 points. Won the regular season and looked primed to win it all. He's had the best team in the league 2 years in a row. Tyler keep on being the ultimate Muddog year after year. The Championship is coming.

The year was 2012. I had dropped out of school and was working 2 dead end jobs at the airport making $10 an hour. Was I a loser ? No sir. I was a back to back defending PWS Champ with one thing on my mind. THREE PEAT! I wanted to go from BOSS ASS straight to living legend status by winning the greatest fantasy football league to ever exist for a 3rd straight year. How could I not ? Since changing my franchise name to THE BOSS ASSES I hadn't lost a season yet. The success made me soft. I went into that 2012 season more arrogant than when I play pop-a-shot against drunk chics at McIntyres for drinks. I felt I was playing with "house money" so I devised a plan to build the greatest upside roster the league had ever seen while drafting "my guys" at the same time. I had my first 7 draft picks determined before the draft even began. I was so confident I'd get those 7 players that I even bought their jerseys. Darren McFadden, Michael Vick, Percy Harvin, Dez Bryant, Doug Martin, Pierre Garcon and Denarius Moore. McFadden round 1 came with heavy risk, but I knew if he stayed healthy he had a strong chance to be the RB1. Vick had an ADP outside the top 25 picks, but I knew he'd never make it back to me in round 3 so if I wanted him it had to be round 2. His upside was far too alluring to pass on. Yet another I said as long as he stays healthy he is likely the QB1. Then came Harvin. The Deebo Samuel before it was cool. All the electric talent had to do was stay healthy and he was a slam dunk top 10 WR. Landing a boss ass like Dez in round 4 was a no brainer. Round 5 is where it got interesting for me. I knew Doug Martin had no business going that late, but I thought I was so far ahead of the curve as we were still in the magazine era of data that I could flat out rob the league of the next great RB. Garcon was the hot FA acquisition getting the number 1 WR role in a Shanahan offense. Must draft. Then there was the WR who had my heart. Denarius Moore. I had just won a title thanks in part to his brilliant 2nd half. He was young and his talent was most certainly worthy of the boss ass name. So how could this perfectly devised plan go array? A series of unfortunate events.

1. Adrian Peterson had torn his ACL late the previous season and every fantasy analyst and their mother had him on their don't draft list. His early ADP was as low as the 3rd round. I was so taken back by this that I wrote an article stating if you passed on AP at the end of round 1 you would regret it. Thanks to the nature of our league when it came time to draft I never thought he'd be available at my round 2 pick. As fate would have it... he was. Instead of calling an audible to my carefully thought out plan and selecting the player I had the highest on my board I stuck to my original plan and took Vick.

2. Well folks McFadden Vick Harvin and Garcon would all die. (If you clicked the link yes Garcon died on that play. He broke his foot on the first play of the season which happened to be an 88 yard TD) Those injuries left me with a core of just Doug Martin and Dez Bryant. Did I have the highest of expectations for them ? Yes. Did I panic and trade them anyways ? Also yes. Dez would go en fuego rest of season and Doug Martin proceeded to have a legendary 2nd half starting with a 272 total yard 4 TD effort the first game after I traded him.

I was cursed. Cursed by my own self. All starting with passing up Adrian Peterson. Oh in case you guys forgot he rushed for over 2k yards that season.

As the years went on I suffered many painful defeats. Years of unfortunate points against totals and countless injuries to key players. I worked tirelessly to get back on top. Putting together what I thought were some of the best rosters in league history only to continue to be banished to the shadow realm time after time. It wasn't until last season that I realized a sad truth. That the era of THE BOSS ASSES was over. I had to retire that franchise once and for all and move forward. Put the demons of the past behind. Like Kylo Ren says let the past die.

The curse started by passing up a great Viking. So as I looked for hope in chasing this ever elusive 3rd title what better way to fight for it than with a young Viking? Justin Jefferson no matter what. That's all I knew to be certain heading into the 2022 draft. I started my prep in early May this year. At that time 2 RBs stood out to me. Travis Etienne and D'Andre Swift. Don't believe me? It's true. Both dynamic playmakers with vibes of CJ Spiller and Jamaal Charles of old. As the summer weighed on I began to cool on both. I wanted more of a Zero RB approach and reports of James Robinsons good health were alarming. So I told myself I'd only draft them if I thought they were major draft day values and if I didn't end up with them I'd look for an opportunity to potentially buy low during the year. As for Josh Allen. I felt we had unfinished business and he seemed like the perfect compliment to Jefferson. Both with a rare combo of high floor and high upside. As for the rest of my roster construction I wanted it be very WR heavy. So much so that landing Gabe Davis would mean he was my WR4 despite his top 24 WR adp. Then shot gun RBs later with the plan to deal some of my wrs for hand picked RBs later in the season if I failed to hit on said shot gun RBs. As the year went on I had a constant reminder of Etienne and Swift. I drive past a building weekly with the initials E T N on it and the neighborhood gas station... yep ... you guessed it. It's name is SWIFT. I thought so many times about putting a package together for swift, but never could come up with something that made sense. Then I had reconstructed my roster in a couple late season trades to the point I was done trading. My mind was made up that I had all I needed for a title run, until one day Dylan sent me an offer. That offer contained swift. I was conflicted at first since I had already told myself I was done trading and my roster was championship ready, but scared money don't make money and something told me I needed Swift. Flash forward to Saturday Night NYE. When I came home and gave my roster the blank stare that sometimes lasts for hours I was at peace. Had Swifts situation changed since I traded for him ? No. In fact it was just as muddied as ever. After losing JT I had only Etienne and Swift. So where was this sense of peace coming from ? Destiny. Something told me they would both score 20+. Something told me there was a reason they were the 2 RBs that stood out to me in May. Something told me I see their names on a daily basis in the real world for a reason. They were going to bring it home. 

2 years ago I made it to the finals with Josh Allen playing on MNF and I lost. I could have never imagined how MNF would play out this year. I'm glad Damar is recovering. At the end of all the horror and the drama This year Josh Allen rewrote history for me with only 1 drive to do it. 10 years ago I said not to pass on AP and I did. He went on to have a 2k yard season. This year I said Justin Jefferson no matter what and he rewrote my history chasing a 2k yard season of his own. He wasn't the reason why I finally broke through and claimed my 3rd title in week 17, but he sure was the reason I got that far to begin with. Funny how everything came full circle. It's also a little ironic the curse of Adrian Peterson would break the first year he failed to play in the league since. Yes, I do believe this was destiny. 

Thank you to everyone who rooted for me and Supported me along the way. 

Can't wait for my pretenders dinner with George ! #StillaFraudulentPretender

Ps ALL BOSS ASS ALL THE TIME

PWS Playoff Push

 

It's week 13. IT IS WEEK 13! Seems like just yesterday we were playing some horse racing #paythepot at the draft. Yet here we are in the heart of the stretch run with another season winding down. Since this week will go a long ways at deciding playoff seeding I've decided to take a look at the biggest match ups.

Miller Gold Agency vs Jeffersons Young BOSS ASSES

After a 4-0 start Dylan some how finds himself number 8 in the league. With a record of 6-6 though it's pretty simple. Just win baby. Finishing 2-0 would secure a playoff birth and a shot at a coveted green jacket. Recently acquired Hollywood is the lone bye week. Dylan is going back to the Raven stack of Lamar and Duvernay as the fill in. The match up on paper seems bleak against Denver, but after a loss to the Panthers to fall to 3-8 will the Broncos start to give up ? Very possible. I currently project Lamar for 26 points. I see him and a big #revengegame from AJ Brown leading Dylan to a final total of 103. Will it be enough? Only time will tell.

Sunday Scaries vs The People's Champ  

Brother on brother crime. Drew is looking to move into position for a bye while Brett is looking to win and stay in playoff positioning. Both were up making 2 am moves in preparation for the big match up. Hope some of you are taking notes. 

Drew has plenty of fire power even with the resent resurgence of James Conner on a bye this week. Cousins vs Mike White this week might just be a shootout. The Jets have one of the better defenses, but the Vikings just put up 33 on NE and get a few extra days to prepare for this match up. Chubb vs Houston could be week winning alone. Then there's Lockett who's scored in 4 straight games. How will Brett counter ? Justin Herbert gets a dream match up vs Vegas and he's rolling out Palmer for the connection giving him added volatility he needs in this match up. Chris Olave feels primed for a big game on MNF vs the bucs. Not the best match up, but when the ball is thrown high and it sails through the sky.... that's.... Olaaaaaveee (Italian singing voice). Higgins vs KC has tons of potential as does Zay Jones Vs Detroit. I project both teams over 100. Can't wait to see who comes out on top.

The Dirty Birds vs Burrows Before Hoes 

This isn't just the game of the week, but I believe this is the game of the year thus far. A match up of 2 of the top 3 scorers on the year. A match up with overwhelming trash talk potential. A match up that will likely decide the fate of Soliz this year. Some how Soliz is in 7th despite being 3rd in points. If Soliz wins though he becomes a big favorite to make the playoffs with his heavy point total for tie breakers. If Soliz loses to Branch it's going to be very difficult to make the playoffs depending on what some of the other teams do. How is Soliz proceeding in a must win game against the best team in the league ?

He's going to need a big game from his Cowboys Dak and Pollard. He's also going to need things in Vegas to switch back from Jacobs to Adams. Those two provide massive swing potential in this match up. Soliz currently has an empty W/T flex. Will he roll out Mckenzie for 2 Bills WRs ? Does he trust Dionte in a cake match up ? Whoever he chooses he better not Choose poorly against such a juggernaut. Burrow vs KC with chase back... BOSS. Kirk vs Detroit... BOSS. Ekeler vs Vegas.... BOSS. Rachaad the price is White.... BOSS. The Sun god.... BOSS. Not to mention the savvy move of adding the Browns defense vs the Texans. A Branch win means a likely bye and a Soliz sweep that might be even sweeter. Both teams should light it up on Sunday. Man I'm ready for this match up!

Who do you guys have winning these pivotal match ups ?

Party With Stan

 

We are currently 10 weeks into the 2022 season. What a strange season. So far we have seen players thought to have little upside like Tua and Fields run circles around future Hall of Famers like Rodgers Brady and Wilson. For our league personally we have seen some managers aggressively attempt to position themselves for greatness and in the process we have seen some of the most questionable trades in the history of our league. Meanwhile other managers have been unwilling to even entertain trading back ups or defenses or even injured players. For me personally I have found much of this particularly frustrating. I can't remember a year as frustrating or annoying playing fantasy football than this season. I want you guys to close your eyes and think about Holeman. Going all in on his favorite player and having to watch a bizzaro world every week where a future hall of famer can't score. How frustrating a season it must be. I feel even with that those frustrations must pale in comparison to other managers this year. We all know the great amount of luck involved in fantasy football. No matter how much the analytics point in one direction anything can happen Any Given Sunday. That being said this year feels particularly different. 

Scheduling

Has there ever been a year where scheduling has played a bigger role in the landscape of the league? Currently the 10th and 12th place teams are effectively eliminated already from contention despite being 6th and 8th in points. 6th and 8th doesn't stand out as elite teams, but when you take a look at the rosters you will find they contain a lot of elite talent. I'm sure most managers would gladly swap rosters with them. Both managers have been aggressive at improving their teams all year and mostly successful at doing so. Phillip doing most of his damage through the waiver wire (news flash. Waivers are not dead) and George wheeling and dealing his way to a boss ass starting line up. The only thing these managers did wrong was... play the wrong teams each week.

Week 1. George scored 101.62 and lost. Outscored 8 teams

Week 2. Phillip scored 97.36 lost

Week 3. Phillip scores 93.1 in a down week that saw just one team break 100. Lost. Outscored 7 other teams

Week 4. George scored 110.48. Lost. Outscored 8 teams.

Week 5. Phillip scored 110.48. Lost. Outscored 7 teams

Week 7. Phillip scores 95.18. Lost. Outscored 6 teams.

Week 10. Phillip scored 96.18 (with Cooper Kupp scoring negative points) Lost. Outscored 6 teams. 

Meanwhile there have been 6 wins awarded to teams that failed to score 80 points in this time.

In addition to scheduling effectively eliminating 2 teams prematurely it has also effected the top of the league as none of the 3 highest scoring teams are in first and the 5th highest is currently sitting outside the playoffs. So has scheduling been more impactful this year than ever before? Well boys I dove into every previous season in PWS and here's what I found.

There have been 3 seasons in which the team with the most regular season points did not make the playoffs. Ironically both managers to be shafted were George (twice) and Phillip. So perhaps this isn't the worst season we have ever seen for scheduling but it's definitely among the top 5 worst and I would personally rank it top 3 due to how much it's benefited some .... as Soliz would say... "Bum Teams"

Now for some of my other findings:

When traveling through the depths of our history I came across some.... let's call them "interesting" items of note.

Who remembers 2011 ? Jamaal Charles and Darren McFadden were running wild. Tom Brady only had 3 rings. Tim Tebow was taking the league by storm. Oh... and one other magical event. (See picture below)

The imperfect season. Now I know what you guys are thinking. "We know this already Joe. George didn't win a game one season. Who cares?" Ok well take a closer look. You will see the season high for scoring is 81. George has always taken pride in chasing greatness. We all witnessed the great 81 Kobe Bryant scored in 2006 and no one thought that number would ever be matched. It might have taken George 5 years but he eventually tied the great Black Mamba with a season high in 2011 with 81 of his own. Simply amazing. What a time to be alive!

Now, what if I told you a team that never scored above 81 in a single season didn't hold the record for lowest ppg in a season ? No this isn't a joke. George posted a per game scoring average of 70.38. The record for lowest ppg in a single season is actually 65.69. Likely an unbreakable record set back in 2008 by the original TPC.

Moving on,

I brought up the frequency in which the 2022 Muddog teams have hit an elite scoring threshold and it was largely brushed to the side like no big deal. So it got me thinking. How many times has any team scored 120 plus each year and how many times has any team eclipsed 100 ?

2021 -  Teams to score 120+ five or more times 0. Team with most number of 100+ games 10

2020 -   Teams to score 120+ five or more times 0. Team with most number of 100+ games 8

2019 -   Teams to score 120+ five or more times 0. Team with most number of 100+ games 7

2018 - Team with the most games scoring 120 + 1 most times scoring 100 - 10. Both by the PWS single season points record holder at 1528. A truly special team yet No championship 

2017 - Teams to score 120+ five or more times 0 Team with most number of 100+ games 6

2016 - Teams to score 120+ five or more times 0 Team with most number of 100+ games 7

2015 - Teams to score 120+ five or more times 0 Team with most number of 100+ games 6

2014 - Teams to score 120+ five or more times 1 Team with most number of 100+ games 10

2013 - Teams to score 120+ five or more  times 0. Team with most number of 100+ games 7

2012 -  Teams to score 120+ five or more times 0. Team with most number of 100+ games 6

2011 -  Teams to score 120+ five or more times 0. Team with most number of 100+ games 8

2010 - Teams to score 120+ five or more times 0. Team with most number of 100+ games 8

2009 - Teams to score 120+ five or more times 0. Team with most number of 100+ games 7

2008 - Teams to score 120+ five or more times 0. Team with most number of 100+ games 6

2007 -  Teams to score 120+ five or more times 0. Team with most number of 100+ games 7

In conclusion what the Muddog squads have accomplished in 10 games thus far has only been done twice in our 16 year league history.

Fun Facts

In our 16 year history Nick Edel has a grand total of 261 roster moves. In the last 3 seasons Brett has 255. By the end of this season Brett will likely have more roster moves in a 3 year stretch than Nick Edel has his whole PWS career.

Lowest point total in a single week is 35 points set by Ebers/Bo in their last season with us. They accomplished this twice in a 3 week span that season. Likely an unbreakable record. They sure do know how to go out in style. 

Highest point total for a single week is 184 set by Dylan. I think the only way this falls is if we move to ppr

Will some of these records fall ? Will we ever see another #imperfectseason ? Does George pop champagne bottles every year when each team has officially won a game ? Will anyone challenge the lowest point total records ? Will we ever switch to ppr to challenge the highest single game point total record ? Will Nick Edel ever start making an average amount of roster moves ? Will Russ ever cook again or force his manager to do the cooking for him at next year's draft ? Can anyone stop Soliz this year now that he has Cooper Kupp again ? So many questions. Tune into your yahoo fantasy apps to find out!

Dream Chaser

 CHAPTER 3

That spring I worked on strengthening my knee and getting my game back. After my neices basketball season finished up it was full steam ahead chasing the NBA dream. I was connected with an agent that represented a few G-League players. The NBAs developmental league. I knew I would have to start from the bottom. Little did I know that wasn't the bottom. My rep had been burned so bad from my 2 years of inactivity and DWI prior to the draft that even competing in the NBA summer league was nothing but ash. I had a meeting with my agent to see what options I had. He represented a couple clients previously in the Euro League that eventually made the leap to the NBA. He told me he would "see what he could do." It wasn't very reassuring, but I stayed positive and continued my daily workouts. After a couple weeks I finally got a call. I was getting an opportunity to play in the Euro summer league. Living in Europe for the summer playing ball wouldn't even guarantee me a spot on a team, but I didn't have a choice if I wanted to get back to competitive basketball. It also carried a price tag of 5,400 Euros, but that was a small price to pay in order to be seen by European professional coaches, teams, agents, scouts and managers. Here goes nothing! Off to Valencia, Spain where the league is held.