Week #1
The season is officially underway! The website took no time to get set up, the draft went well, lineups were all sent in on time, and the score reporting went very well. Geeezzz, this could be a great year as long as there is nothing like the Commish getting married midseason to screw things up....... :>)
Hopefully everyone has the routine down by now, and if so, having the weekly results posted Monday night each week should be no big deal. The first week proved quite interesting as the scores were relatively low compared to last year. And here I thought going back to 16 teams would help with the scoring, but that was not the case. Just my opinion, but when many of the star players struggled as they did in week #1, it makes it hard to put up many points. Todd Helton is not going to go 2 for 20 every week of the year, is he??? I am sure Mr. Rogan shares the same feeling.
Everything on the website, and the score files I sent out seem to be working great, but if you have any suggestions please let me know.
Don't forget that there is a message board on the website. Hopefully we can have more people participate on the discussion of the league this year. It seems the board has turned into a "Maze Fan Club" discussion, so hopefully a few more people will stop by to add to the spirited conversation.
Now on to the results from week one:
Cobras 4 Oysters 1
Coach Maze and his new assistant Coach
Sturken get the season off on the right foot, with a solid week over the
Oysters. Mondesi, Chavez and Sanders all scored 20+ as the Cobras posted the
second high score in the league. The interesting thing for the Cobras this year
should be how well the 2 coaches can work together. Sturken plans on riding a
horse all year (I guess that would be Maze he's riding?) and how well will Maze
handle having someone else to make decisions with? Then again Maze still has the
majority ownership, so he has the final say. Isn't this how the whole Enron
fiasco started, a few people with to much power? The Oysters struggle in week
#1, and I am sure JR/Corey were none to happy to let the Cobras have their way
with the team so early in the season. The Oysters were able to win the Friday
game 21-16 and had the top pitching performance of the week, but other than that
not much else to celebrate this week. To put the week in perspective for
JR/Corey..... the Yankees pitching staff had 50 points, the rest of the team
combined for 61. Ouch!!! Biggio has week #2 already off to a fine
start as the Oysters look to bounce back.
Creeping Death 5 Destroyers 0
What a way to start the season for the
Commish and his new partner Tom Brady, as their team smokes brother Steve's
hapless Destroyers squad. The Death had solid weeks from Durham, Beltran and top
pick Piazza. Nothing fancy for the team, as they were only challenged on
Saturday, and escaped with a 19-18 win. Coach Steve was quite frustrated by
weeks end, as his team could never really get on track. Aurilia lead the way
with 13, but top pick Gonzo posted back to back goose eggs over the weekend to
seal the Destroyers fate. Steve is one of the few owners that have found their
way to the message board on the website, hopefully his team bounces back to give
him some ammo when conversing with fellow league owners.
Wiseguys 3 Barracudas 2
George/Chris hold onto to get the decisive
win over the Wiseguys. The 'Guys had a big Friday win, 36-7 after a low scoring
43-31 loss on the M-Th games. The 'Guys get the top 8 finish thanks to a big
week from Edmonds and his 31 points. George/Chris probably were thinking the
worse after the weekday games, as Pedro bombed on Opening Day, and then watched
the BoSox get rained out and get stuck with the -10 game
as the "best game of the week. That is record worst for "best game of the week".
The 3 headed monster known as the Barracudas coaching staff probably felt pretty
good with Jeter's fine performance, 28 points, but have to wonder what happened
to the rest of the team. Only Menechino (last minute replacement for Kent) and
Burks (sub OF, who played just 2 games) were able to crack double digits. On a
positive note, one week in the books and no fines or mulligans as of yet for
Coach Levitre! :>)
Stingrays 5 Clippers 0
Who needs the first pick! The 16th position
in the draft has looked good so far to Merv & Mike. How Bagwell, a consistent
contender for sidepots, slipped all the way to the last pick in round, is still
a mystery to me. Bags had a solid week and the Stingrays big 2 pitchers posted
their normal huge weeks. The 'Rays OF looks solid, combined with the Myers
coaching expertise, should be more than enough to keep this team in contention
all year long. Oh yea, the Stingrays had the league high point total for the
week! Mike/Harry got enough points from their team to take the final spot in the
top 8, but that was the only win they had all week. Boone picked up where he
left off last year, but a bad week for Manny and an 0 for the weekend from Big
Mo, proved to be to much for the Clippers to overcome.
Redbirds 4 Vipers 1
The Redbirds get the off to a flying start
with a nice week, but fail to make the top 8. Coach Larry/Tim get a great week
from Delgado with 25, and solid performances up and down the lineup. The Vipers
didn't put up much of a fight, so Larry took advantage and told Sammy to rest up
for the long season over the weekend. Coach Rogan drops the "Fury" nickname, and
then watched his team barely break the century mark for the week. One reason for
this week......and one only....... Helton: -2 for the week. I always said he was
a product of Coors Field! Just kidding....... the Vipers will bounce back as
Todd plays in the thin air all week.
Hummers 3 X-Men 2
Another three headed coaching staff makes it
debut, and the Hummers get the 3-2 win, despite the X-Men having the low score
in the league for the week. Jeff & Scottx2 get the league high performance from
Bonds, Barry Bonds, as he starts his pursuit of 80+ HR's this year. The X-Men
struggle mightily in week #1, as only Walker and Chipper post more than 10 for
the week. Coach Al liked his team draft day, still likes team and has to good a
track record to think this will be a normal occurrence. Maybe Coach Lovell will
help Al out on getting the team playing up to expectations, that is if he can
fit it into his Girl Scout schedule. Here's hoping Al doesn't go on vacation the
same week that the cookies go on sale.
Victory 3 Contributors 2
Coach Alford's team lives up to the new
nickname, as the get the 3-2 Victory over the Contributors. Glaus leads the way
with 26, and LA pitching was solid all week. Coach Alford is fresh off a
Championship run in basketball, and he is out to prove he is multi-talented
owner in fantasy sports. The Soriano first round pick will be talked about for a
long time, but the Victory got the win (and the 3rd high score for the week)
despite their first round pick being the 7th high on the team for the week. The
new Contributors coaching staff features crafty veteran McSwain and newcomer Uhl,
but it was the same old hard luck story for the team. The team finished with the
5th high for the week, but as the story seems to repeat itself in all the
leagues, the schedule maker was none to kind to Mr. McSwain and his new
sidekick. Magglio and Sweeney look like a solid 1-2 punch.........oh yea, that
guy with one name should be a decent player as well.
Connection 3 Blackjacks 2
The defending Champs start the back-to-back
run with a 3-2 win over the Blackjacks. Coach Scott has already put more effort
into this season then he did all of last year in their Championship season.
Injuries, suspensions, confusion over waiver rules have all made Scott really
put his coaching talents on the line early in the year. By weeks end, Scott just
about gave up and asked, "who is on my team this weekend, I have lost track".
The
good news for the Connections is Olerud, Pujols and Nomar all posted 20+ as the
team finished with the 4th high in the league. Imagine what will happen when
Scott/Chris can throw this team on auto-pilot again! :>) Coach
Phillips team has a very disappointing start, as they can manage just 92 points
for the week. Just 4 points for the week from their pitching staff was one of
many disappointing performances. The 'Jacks have a great set of OF's, so expect
this team to back above the Mendoza line before long.
Week
#1 Awards:
Player of the Week:
Bonds, Hummers 32 Points
Barry goes back to back with 2 HR games, and then hits a 10th inning HR to cap
off the week. The scary part is, he lead the league despite not playing on
Sunday!
Pitching
Staff of the Week: Yankees, Oysters
50 Points
The best pitching staff that Uncle George's money can buy, lead the way for the
Oysters, but was all for naught as the team stumbled out of the gate against the
vaunted Cobras squad.
Surprise of the Week: Todd Helton, Vipers
Todd starts his quest for the triple crown with a 2 for 20 week, and a -2 point
week for Rogan's Vipers.
Quote of the
Week: Coach Steve, Destroyers
From the message board, "Instead of crying about being in a tough division you
should be building up your tolerance to alcohol! When is the last time you
didn't lose or leave something behind at a fantasy draft?"
Just one last reminder...... lineups are due by 9pm Sunday, M-Th scores by 9pm Saturday, and the entire week's scores are due by 9pm on Monday. Please try and continue to get the scores confirmed with your opponent and send me one agreed upon boxscore.
Good luck to everyone in week #2....... I am outta here!
The
Commish
PREVIOUS EDITIONS OF THE COMMISH'S CORNER:
CLICK ON LINK TO VIEW THAT WEEK'S REPORT