(WatchBlog McGee is a fictionalized blogger but reports on actual,
flesh and bone, real-life fantasy football leagues. This year, he is
embedded deep in the CFFFL, and will be periodically blogging on league
matters.)
WatchBlog is continuing his 4 part series on the CFFFL Final Four. Part 2 follows. Let’s get to it.
Not Left Behind
When
Cindy “All I want for Christmas is a green left hand” Cook heard about
the proposed new CFFFL, she didn’t hesitate to sign up to manage a
team. She wasn’t the typical woman after all. She had graduated high
school in 1986, and yet she still enjoyed regularly attending her high
school Alma Mater’s football games, and had they offered, she would have
gladly taken the field to march with the band at halftime just like the
good old days. She knew and liked football, and she knew and liked
winning. Seemed like a perfect combination, and she knew the league was
to be made up of other Cook family members, a group she had bested in
friendly competition on more than one occasion around the holiday
table. Her husband and middle child were to also manage teams, and
though there would be a battle for computer time amongst the three
managers, Cindy knew the three would enjoy sharing the experience.
Ultimately, her youngest child, not involved in anyway in the CFFFL,
would draw the short straw in having to share computer time with rabid
fantasy football owners. The early fake Vegas odds had Cindy’s
Leftovers as one of the top favorites to win the fledgling league, and
ranked her as the 3rd most likely team to win the CFFFL Championship.
Fake Vegas had some big misses in the CFFFL this year, but on this
prediction, they were right on as the Leftovers finished with the 3rd
best regular season record. The Leftovers dominated the point totals
for almost the entire year, but developed a midseason habit of barely
getting outscored at least once every other week. One such close 6
point loss to Cousin Mose & Me in week 11 “left” the Leftovers at
6-5, and in jeopardy of missing the playoffs altogether. With her top
QB out with injury, Mark Sanchez and Alex Smith would have to perform if
she was to salvage her season in the last 2 weeks, and perform they
did, as they averaged 26 points each in the last 2 games to help give
the Leftovers 2 straight wins, a playoff berth, and the 3rd playoff
seed. The seeding wasn’t exactly ideal, as her first round opponent
would be another dangerous team, and her biggest rival, her husband.
Dish and garbage duty were likely on the line as well as playoff
advancement, and despite a pitiful performance by the returning lefty QB
Michael Vick, she escaped with a 9 point victory to advance to the
final 4. Fittingly, her next matchup stays within her immediate family,
as she will have to knock off her own daughter to reach the
championship game, and if she does, household chores through the New
Year will almost certainly be someone else’s responsibility.
WatchBlog out.
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Playoff Edition 1 - 2011
(WatchBlog McGee is a fictionalized blogger but reports on actual,
flesh and bone, real-life fantasy football leagues. This year, he is
embedded deep in the CFFFL, and will be periodically blogging on league
matters.)
I know you have all been clamoring for WatchBlog to cover the exciting CFFFL playoffs, so here I am. Let’s get to it.
He had a dream
When Commissioner Gary “If I win this thing, I’m buying myself a trophy” Cook stood in his Highland Village home this summer, and gathered members of his family together, he knew what he was going to propose, but he did not know how it would be received. He had to get 10 family members to commit to being football geeks for at least 5 minutes a week for 16 weeks in order to move forward with his vision of the CFFFL. Getting this kind of commitment was not going to be easy. His brothers weren’t going to be trouble, but he only had two, and he would need 7 more managers to make a league. His wife and children were not football fans, but he was confident his control of the family money could persuade them to play along, but that, along with himself and his brothers, only gave him a league of 6. The 4 remaining managers would have to come from his parents, his nieces, and his sisters-in-law. This would be a tough sale, but he felt up for the challenge. He had been playing fantasy football for years, and all the embarrassing teams he had fielded, and all the hours he had wasted on his various leagues, seemed to prepare him for this very moment - the birth of a new league. And then the unthinkable happened. After an impassioned sales pitch to the uncommited Cook family members, he was only able to secure one parent, one niece, and one sister-in-law for the league. 9 managers were as good as 0, and he knew it. His dream of a Cook only league was not going to be possible, and he started to believe that all the years he had devoted to what could best be described as “pretend time” was actually not worth the sacrifice of a truly meaningful connection with his wife and children. But if Gary was going to be the Commissioner of a pretend football league, he was gonna have to start thinking outside the box. The all-Cook league included wives who were not Cooks by birth, so anyone marrying into the family should be eligible. In a strike of sheer luck, his eldest niece had just tied the knot earlier in the year, and her husband, a Johnson, would be the perfect candidate to round out the league, and make the CFFFL possible. As you know, Johnson agreed, and the league was born. Now with the regular season over, and the first round of playoffs in the books, it could be said that Commissioner Cook’s dream that took hold earlier this summer, is winding down. But he would tell you that, rather than winding down, the dream is actually building in intensity to the ultimate conclusion, the first ever CFFFL Championship Game. While 10 teams began the journey those many weeks ago, only 4 remain, and the Commish’s team is one of them. The Commish may not be winning that Championship game, and, he may not even be playing in it, but regardless, in his mind his victory was sealed months ago, when he saw his fantasy dream become a fantasy reality.
WatchBlog out.
I know you have all been clamoring for WatchBlog to cover the exciting CFFFL playoffs, so here I am. Let’s get to it.
He had a dream
When Commissioner Gary “If I win this thing, I’m buying myself a trophy” Cook stood in his Highland Village home this summer, and gathered members of his family together, he knew what he was going to propose, but he did not know how it would be received. He had to get 10 family members to commit to being football geeks for at least 5 minutes a week for 16 weeks in order to move forward with his vision of the CFFFL. Getting this kind of commitment was not going to be easy. His brothers weren’t going to be trouble, but he only had two, and he would need 7 more managers to make a league. His wife and children were not football fans, but he was confident his control of the family money could persuade them to play along, but that, along with himself and his brothers, only gave him a league of 6. The 4 remaining managers would have to come from his parents, his nieces, and his sisters-in-law. This would be a tough sale, but he felt up for the challenge. He had been playing fantasy football for years, and all the embarrassing teams he had fielded, and all the hours he had wasted on his various leagues, seemed to prepare him for this very moment - the birth of a new league. And then the unthinkable happened. After an impassioned sales pitch to the uncommited Cook family members, he was only able to secure one parent, one niece, and one sister-in-law for the league. 9 managers were as good as 0, and he knew it. His dream of a Cook only league was not going to be possible, and he started to believe that all the years he had devoted to what could best be described as “pretend time” was actually not worth the sacrifice of a truly meaningful connection with his wife and children. But if Gary was going to be the Commissioner of a pretend football league, he was gonna have to start thinking outside the box. The all-Cook league included wives who were not Cooks by birth, so anyone marrying into the family should be eligible. In a strike of sheer luck, his eldest niece had just tied the knot earlier in the year, and her husband, a Johnson, would be the perfect candidate to round out the league, and make the CFFFL possible. As you know, Johnson agreed, and the league was born. Now with the regular season over, and the first round of playoffs in the books, it could be said that Commissioner Cook’s dream that took hold earlier this summer, is winding down. But he would tell you that, rather than winding down, the dream is actually building in intensity to the ultimate conclusion, the first ever CFFFL Championship Game. While 10 teams began the journey those many weeks ago, only 4 remain, and the Commish’s team is one of them. The Commish may not be winning that Championship game, and, he may not even be playing in it, but regardless, in his mind his victory was sealed months ago, when he saw his fantasy dream become a fantasy reality.
WatchBlog out.
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