by Kevin Burton
This could be my last happy fantasy football moment, so I’ll celebrate it here.
In life, as in fantasy, when you can celebrate, celebrate. Enjoy the moment because you never, never know what’s around the corner.
In football that oblong ball bounces funny (funnily?) sometimes. Life can be even crazier.
I’ll start with the worst. My K&J Misfits team lost and was eliminated from playoff contention Monday when New England running back Rhamondre Stevenson was injured and left the game early. The team lost by only 5.2 points, which he almost certainly would have gotten had he been healthy.
Even with a win Monday the Misfits would have needed a lot of help in the form of other teams losing in week 15 to make the playoffs. That chance was so remote that I went into the Monday night matchup with out any of the usual pacing and stomach churning.
How I wish I could approach all of fantasy football like that, but I’m just not built that way emotionally.
When Stevenson left the game, I was able to shrug it off, in no small part because that same injury also delivered to my K&J Vipers team a regular season championship. Two games ahead with one game remaining, no tiebreakers, outright championship!
Just a little gloating here. This is what the brain surgeons and rocket scientists at Yahoo Fantasy said about my draft as it graded me a D-plus, worst in the league.
These comments were under the headline, “After A Couple Stretches K&J Vipers Aren’t Exactly A Team That Can Win.”
“K&J Vipers received a solid draft position, and they dropped the ball. Even though they had the number two overall pick, they’re projected to finish ninth. K&J Vipers are looking at a final record of 4-11.”
The win Monday made the Vipers 11-3 with one game to go.
“Whatever the plan heading into the draft, it couldn’t have involved accumulating such a limited group of top-line players. The top players from each position on K&J Vipers, as a group, are projected to tally the second-fewest points in (the league). And the rest of the roster isn’t any prettier, as those players are predicted to put up a point total that ranks in the middle of the pack,” Yahoo opined.
More life lessons gleaned from fantasy: do what you do, don’t listen to the noise.
I created the Vipers in September on the last possible night to add more teams. I already had three and wondered if four would be too many. That makes the Vipers the fantasy equivalent of an oops baby. Now they are the crown of my fantasy universe.
My K&J Silvers team secured a playoff berth last week with a narrow win over the league leading team. This is the league I am in with some of my friends from beep baseball. I regard it as my most important league. This is my second straight playoff berth in the league. Last year I placed third in both the regular season and the playoffs.
If I could choose one championship, this is the one I would choose. But my chances with the Vipers are much better.
But in fantasy as in the real NFL, the playoffs are a different animal. One loss and your dream goes poof.
My K&J Sonics team is in fifth place now. They need a win next week and for the fourth-place team to lose. That fourth-place team is NOT losing though. How do I know?
There are certain fantasy managers who are not quite as obsessive about their teams as I am. In fact, some of them stop managing their teams. You can tell this because they have in their active lineups, players who are on a bye week or on injured reserve.
The team I need to win next week is like that. I beat that team this week by the improbably score of 90 to 36. Even with an abandoned team it’s difficult to score as few as 36 points.
So it’s likely sayonara to the Sonics after next week. But the Vipers and Silvers have made the playoffs for sure. This I am celebrating, hoping for even more from the playoffs.
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