Week 10
11/20/09
Every industry has experts; those sages that dispense wisdom
and truth from atop the mountain. In philosophy these learned men
wear long, flowing robes and an equally lengthy beard is required.
In fantasy football, a backwards ball cap, clipboard of notes, and
half empty bottle of Coors Light is more likely. But are these guys
truly experts? Do they know any better than the rest of us schmucks?
Each week Analyzing the Experts will take aim at one or more of
these so-called oracles and find out…
This was opposite week, when the winners lost and the losers (for
the most part) snagged an elusive win. All this parity is making
it hard for me to declare any of our Experts great. Luckily, there
are still numerous contestants vying for the label of “absolutely
freaking horrible”. We also saw our first official elimination.
No matter how the numbers are parsed, KFFL cannot get into our postseason.
Over the next three weeks a number of other teams will get tossed
as well, but not is quite as humiliating a fashion.
I sent out a couple emails this week looking for Expert input
and received a friendly and succinct response from FF Toolbox.
Me: FF Toolbox is currently leading the
pack. Are you just smarter than everyone else? Or do you have
a secret process that you want to share with us?
FF Toolbox: I certainly don't think we're
smarter than anyone else. I and our great set of writers continually
work to improve our ranking methodology so that they are as accurate
as possible. We also have fantastic users who help us tweak our
rankings by pointing out when we make mistakes :)
Me: I haven't given you much crap this
season. So, tell us where you need to improve as you strive for
world domination.
FF Toolbox: We plan to start reviewing our
past predictions more closely to see where we missed the mark
in order to avoid the issue in the future. We also have been getting
requests for weekly kick and punt returner rankings, so we hope
to add them next year.
Me: Which player did you predict would
be great this year but has ended up a huge bust?
FF Toolbox: I think our biggest preseason
mistake was ranking Reggie Bush as the #16RB. We correctly predicted
that the Saints' offense would be prolific, but anticipated Bush
being a larger part of it.
Me: Other comments?
FF Toolbox: While I know we don't have a crystal
ball and that we can always improve, it's very satisfying that
we rank at (or near) the top of your scoreboard.
Thanks to Jeff at FF Toolbox for his cooperation. On to the games….
The team we used going into Week Ten is the FC Mockingbirds owned
by Andrew of Bloomington, IN. He says the name is based on both
a classic novel and ‘international futbol’. I get
the literary reference, but I guess he’s talking about soccer
for the other part. I’ve never been able to sit and watch
more than ten minutes of a soccer match. If I want to watch a
bunch of guys run around and not score, I prefer hockey. They
get to hit each other with six foot long sticks, wield sharpened
blades on their feet, and occasionally just drop their gloves
and start wailing on another player. That’s better than
watching a bunch of European cry-babies rolling around on the
grass anytime someone touches then. In hockey taking a dive is
a penalty (even if its not often called).
- QB: Hasselbeck, Palmer, A. Smith
- RB: R. Bush, C. Johnson, Thomas, Turner, Wells
- WR: Bowe, Housh, Jennings, C. Johnson, S. Rice
- TE: Gates, Z. Miller, F. Davis
- K: Kaeding, Mare
- Def: Chiefs, Falcons
Two things I need to add before we get to the results. First,
please keep sending in
your fantasy rosters. If a team has somewhere around twenty
players, is well-balanced, and has something interesting about
it I will certainly be intrigued. Keep in mind that I typically
pick the team for the upcoming week on Tuesday or Wednesday, particularly
with the Thursday night games going on now. Secondly, Andrew was
kind enough to rank his team for us, racking up a very respectable
score of 80. Unfortunately for our contestants, only two were
able to meet or beat this mark.
Week Ten’s Games
| Pick Color Codes |
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| Correct |
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| Missed by: 1 |
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| Missed by: 2 |
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| Missed by: 3 |
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TPts |
| Correct |
1 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
5 |
4 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
5 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
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| FB
Guys |
1 |
3 |
2 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
5 |
4 |
5 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
72 |
| FF
Sharks |
1 |
3 |
2 |
5 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
3 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
78 |
|
To start us off, FF Sharks graciously helped FB Guys continue their
slide from the top. The receiver position was a very difficult one
this week. Sidney Rice as top guy and Greg Jennings bringing up
the rear? Not many of our Experts called that. With all the pretty
colors above, it’s not surprising the scores are so low.
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TPts |
| Correct |
1 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
5 |
4 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
5 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
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| NFL |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
5 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
76 |
| Yahoo! |
2 |
3 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
5 |
4 |
5 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
NR |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
74 |
|
In the Battle of the Bottom Dwellers (West division version), NFL
topped Yahoo! in a tight contest. Running back wasn’t any
easier with Beanie Wells tearing things up, the New Orleans backs
swapping production for a week, and Michael Turner going down. I
did have to chuckle at Yahoo!’s pick of Smith as #1 quarterback.
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TPts |
| Correct |
1 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
5 |
4 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
5 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
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| FF
Today |
1 |
3 |
2 |
5 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
4 |
3 |
1 |
5 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
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82 |
| FF
Toolbox |
2 |
1 |
3 |
5 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
5 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
80 |
|
Our biggest shocker of the week was this game. FF Today, after a
horrible start, has strung together a number of wins, this one being
the most impressive. Not only did they have the highest score, but
they were easily the best at the receiver position. FF Toolbox lost
with the second highest score. This is what always happens to my
fantasy teams so I feel a perverse satisfaction in it happening
to someone else…
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TPts |
| Correct |
1 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
5 |
4 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
5 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
|
| Huddle |
3 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
4 |
2 |
5 |
3 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
|
|
78 |
| FF
Cafe |
2 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
70 |
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Another surprise here as The Huddle pulled one out with a decent
score and FF Cafe ended up tying for the low score. In another first
for Analyzing the Experts, all of our contestants ranked both kickers
and defenses exactly the same. As always seems to happen when there
is a consensus, they were all wrong. So much for thinking outside
the box guys…
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TPts |
| Correct |
1 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
5 |
4 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
5 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
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| AOL |
2 |
1 |
3 |
5 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
4 |
3 |
4 |
2 |
5 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
78 |
| ESPN |
2 |
1 |
3 |
5 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
4 |
4 |
5 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
76 |
|
This was a weird game. ESPN has been solid all season so AOL beating
them was very strange. Neither score was impressive, but a win is
a win. Adding to our Experts’ woes were the kickers being
separated by a single fantasy point and this team fielding three
of the top five fantasy running backs for the week.
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TPts |
| Correct |
1 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
5 |
4 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
5 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
|
| Rotoworld |
3 |
1 |
2 |
5 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
4 |
5 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
70 |
| Fox |
2 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
5 |
4 |
5 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
74 |
|
And Rotoworld goes down too, again tying the low score. It was a
really rough week for our leaders. I need to point out that both
Rotoworld and FF Cafe managed only two correct picks out of twenty.
As we have repeatedly seen during this season, the team owner’s
picks completely trashed our Experts’ choices.
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TPts |
| Correct |
1 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
5 |
4 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
5 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
|
| CBS |
2 |
3 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
5 |
5 |
3 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
NR |
NR |
1 |
78 |
| KFFL |
2 |
1 |
3 |
5 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
5 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
76 |
|
CBS takes this week’s interdivisional game. The only shock
here was that KFFL wasn’t the low score. I guess that breaks
their streak of sucking. An average score is a big step up for our
weekly punching bag.
| ATE Week 10
Standings - East |
| EAST |
Record |
Pts |
| Rotoworld |
6-4 |
826 |
| Fox |
5-3-2 |
822 |
| ESPN |
4-3-3 |
821 |
| AOL |
3-4-3 |
816 |
| FF Cafe |
3-4-3 |
814 |
| The Huddle |
3-7 |
801 |
| s KFFL |
1-8-1 |
786 |
|
|
| ATE Week 10
Standings - West |
| WEST |
Record |
Pts |
| CBS |
7-1-2 |
828 |
| FF Toolbox |
6-2-2 |
840 |
| Football Guys |
6-3-1 |
828 |
| FF Sharks |
5-3-2 |
812 |
| FF Today |
4-4-2 |
814 |
| NFL |
3-5-2 |
815 |
| Yahoo! |
2-7-1 |
817 |
|
|
s - Sad, sad KFFL. Officially eliminated.
I hear there are numerous job opportunities in the health care industry.
Really guys – explore that option.
There were a bunch more moves in the standings as the middle teams and leaders got a lot closer. KFFL's season is officially over, although we will keep them around for entertainment purposes. It looks like Yahoo! will be the next to fall with only three regular season games remaining. I am surprised at how tight the contest is as I expected a handful of teams to rise up out of the pack and exert their dominance. Does this mean that the randomness of fantasy football is just as powerful as Expert knowledge? Is it all really a crapshoot? One point arguing against that conclusion is Rotoworld's excellent performance this year and winning it all in Season One. Either they are really lucky or are doing something well. And that goes for all of our teams that are winning.
|
