Thursday, November 5, 2015

Week 8 – Balls on ya


 “Dad, I want to watch the ipad!”

“No Marlo, I’m watching football.”  “

“But football’s on the TV.”

“It’s on the ipad too.”

“ooooohhhh, mom, dad won’t let me watch TV or ipad!”

“I know Marlo, because your father is a child.”

That’s pretty much the scene every Sunday afternoon, and has been since Marlo could talk.  As much as I say I’m going to ignore football and just let it happen, my compulsion has me locking my eyes on the goddamn fantasy-cast and watching the numbers move up and down.  I’ve even tried to get out of the house on Sundays – even going so far as competing in a swim meet during normal football hours.  No matter, I sat in the stands as I waited my turn to swim and watched the fantasy-cast.  It’s not healthy.  It’s incredibly annoying to be around.  But it’s what we do when we’re in a league that gives a shit.  And that’s what we are.  We all might have other leagues that are fun and our families are in them and so forth, but this one matters.  Probably not for the money, but definitely for the spirit.  We all want to look across the room from one another twice per year at our gatherings and say to ourselves, “You know, I beat that asshole twice last season, but goddamnit, I respect him (or her).”  Let’s always remember that our league is different from the others, and let’s continue to keep it that way.

On to the award show.

Stud of the Week:  Lobos Latinos
With a cool 167.2 points, we anoint Taco, for the third time this season, as our SOW.  What perhaps is more impressive about this week’s effort is that he did it with a zero in his lineup Antoine Baldwin aka Anquan Boldin.  With Gronk being Gronk, and Palmer apparently being Brady, not to mention the resurgence of Larry Fitzgerald, Taco is looking like a legitimate contender for this year’s crown.  He’s not just a pretty face – what with his high cheekbones, symmetrical features, messily sculpted salad and sharp metro-chic style – he’s a fantasy dynamo.  Now some might say that he had nothing to do with the drafting of his team and he’s hasn’t been all that active on the waiver wire, so there isn’t really any fantasy acumen on display, and they would be 100% accurate.  I’m still holding out hope that he manages his squad calamitously and that we can all point and laugh and say, “that’s the Taco we know and love.”  Until then, however, he’s in third place in the standings, second place in points, and number 1 on Tinder.  Or so I’m told.

I’m going to hand out an honorary Stud(ess) of the week to the woman at the helm of not only this entire family, but also those Raging Polacks.  It only took her until week 8 to get off the schneid, but she did it in impressive fashion with a convincing 133.5 to 114.8 victory over the now-decimated squad of Cropcho’s Throbbing Johnsons.  Seriously tough week for him, losing three starters Bell (IR), Allen (IR) and Randle (Women’s Lingerie Department at Dillard’s).  We’ll see how everyone’s favorite phallicly-themed team weathers the storm.  But in any event, things may be looking up for the Polacks with a solid slate of RB’s and Cooks showing signs of life.  Maybe time to get Watson in the lineup with Brees throwing TD passes like beads at Mardi Gras.  All she’ll need to do to make the playoffs is win out.  Go get ‘em Polacks!

Willy Lowman:  Vandelay Industries
I wasn’t even sure Jim was still in the league until Fadi told me he voted to veto the trade that Travis tried to swindle.  And by the look of his team, I’m not sure he’s too excited about being in the league either.  There’s nothing to be excited about over in the Industries dressing room, except maybe Calvin’s johnson.  He had Michael Floyd score almost 40% of his points then had five guys in single digits, with Knile Davis almost eeking out a point (we’ll round it up Jim). 82.3 points won’t win you any weeks you aren’t playing the Nolans, and with VI at 2-6 at this point in the season, he’s probably on the outside looking in come December.  But the nice part about having Jim in the league is how much we all get to hang out with him.  The kid hasn’t played poker since 2010 and his refusal to get an iphone prevents him from ever being a part of the myriad group text circles that occupy countless hours of my time.  Jim, I should give you the do-better chair for being such a cat-loving hermit.  I’m not going to though, because I have just enough Cafaro in my life as it is – which is, see you randomly once every six months on the street.

The Jockslap:
This award will no longer be known as the Jimmy Graham Jockslap, because Jimmy Graham gargles balls.  Just ask Sam.  Not because he had his balls gargled by Jimmy Graham – well, maybe that’s why you should ask him.  It will be known simply as the Jock Slap award until one player proves to be as utterly dominant as Graham was back in 2011 when we coined the phrase.  Whatever moniker upon which we decide, Drew Brees slapped some jocks this weekend to the tune of 7 TDs, 500+ yards and 49.4 fantasy points.  That’ll win you you’re game, especially with Julio-get-the-stretch-Jones chipping in with his usual 30+ effort.  49.4 fantasy points from your QB is ridiculous, record-setting and downright frightening.  The Big Sandwich never stood a chance.  Congrats on taking down the team everyone loves to hate (if for no other reason than their insipid prose).  Congrats to Brees as well for edging out Beckham’s 46 points, which weren’t quite enough for the Balls to edge out that smug sonofabitch Toner and his boners.

Bench Bomb:
Nothing real sexy here.  I’d really love to avoid giving it to myself, but my game was the only game that really had an outcome decided by a lineup decision.  Ellington’s zero was outscored by Kamar Aiken’s 12.2 points, but that was hardly a slamdunk terrible decision.  I’m still not sure who Kamar Aiken actually is.  Cropcho benched Snead for Benjamin – which was probably a bad idea, and ended up being one because the 20 points difference may also have cost him his game.  I don’t really feel like looking anything else up at this point to know whether it did make a difference or not.  Let’s all assume it did.

Do Better Chair:
This one goes to Fadi.  Not for anything he did during Week 8, but for the “WTF” trade he and Travis put together after Week 8.  Travis should have known better, but I can’t really fault him for making a deal.  Chris Johnson – who is a top 15 RB – should never be traded for a middling defense.  I’m sure that Fadi instantly regretted his decision when he clicked accept, but he barely had time to do that before he had four vetoes in his inbox.  I’m a little surprised too, given that he’s actually not terrible at bluffing/negotiating.  But let’s chalk this up to the fact that he’s still pretty green and not quite as savvy as the rest of us.  Fadi, sit your ass down in the do better chair and go to school.

Looking ahead:
As we head into the final five weeks of the regular season, the Nolans, Polacks and Industries have some real work to do to work into a playoff spot.  It’s unlikely for you though, so you should probably stop making transactions and look ahead to 2016.  The Balls and Boners are gonna be duking it out for that 8th spot, and I gotta say, I’d take a boner over balls.  Sam is likely hanging by a thread, and his team could go either way.  I’m betting he does ok and hangs around in the bottom rungs.  Dunn’s a pretender and he’ll be down there too.  Fadi and E are solid squads, and Crop should be ok if he can deal with his injuries, but I think we have a two-horse race between TBS and Taco.  As much as I love my sister and tolerate my brother-in-law, I’m pulling for Taco all the way. 

I apologize for the delay in getting the newsletter out, but such is the life of someone who works for a crazy person.  Also, we haven’t had any Sunday festivities lately and I feel that a change is in order.  Let’s get something organized for the next few weeks.

In the meantime, we can all look forward to the musings of the Raging Polacks next week.


Balls out.

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