Chris.Derecola

I usually post a mid-season report, but I’ve had a bit going on lately. The good news is, despite the distractions, I’ve had a fairly good year of football. I’m down one league; combining the committed players from the two I commissioned into one league. This league ended up being an interesting conglomeration of ex-coworkers, ex-cohorters and friends/family of both myself and those involved. The league, combined with the long running league I’m in with dad, seem to provide a good balance of gaming and commitment. Now, the stats…

• I pulled my single greatest comeback in the league with my dad. My team got off to a very slow start and after six weeks I found myself at 1-5. I really have nothing to blame other than my poor draft, of which I had a bad feeling immediately after it completed. I managed to win the next 7 and climb my way into the playoffs against all odds. Unfortunately I lost the last three of the season, but I felt the season was a success considering my horrible start. Getting to the playoffs ensures you finish in the money, so I really can’t ask for anything more.
• My other league was more or less gangbusters from start to finish. I felt pretty good about my draft and after a 2-2 start, I went on an incredible 9 game win streak. I finished as the #1 seed with the most points and, despite dropping the last game of the season, won both my playoff games. The money is somewhat inconsequential; putting the Championship trophy on my desk at work will be way sweeter!
• I had another mediocre year in my family’s pick’em league. I was never really in the running and two of the people stopped playing with a few weeks to go, so I can’t say 3rd is that much of an accomplishment. On the bright side, Melissa crushed my always-wins-everything cousin by 17 points… and I bankrolled her entry. Ahh… glorious, glorious interest. I can’t wait to collect!

A bit more free time on my hands meant I really buckled down and focused on fantasy football this year. With the amount of parity and injuries in the league, I believe those who did well were the ones who were on top of the ever-changing landscape. It seems transactions were at an all-time high and a lot of my teams are not people I drafted. Due to some unfortunate match-ups, I was nervous I wasn’t going to get into the playoffs despite of my high scores… but it all worked out in the end. I’m not inclined to go back and check, but I think this is the first season I’ve made the playoffs in all of my leagues. I might have done it 4-5 years ago, when I was in two leagues, but definitely not in any of the years I’ve done three or more.

• In the school league, I made it to the Championship but lost despite only needing 13 points from LeSean McCoy in the Tuesday night game. I thought I had a very good chance of winning, but no TDs makes scoring that much difficult. Philip Rivers should also get a dishonorable mention here.
• In AOL, I was the highest scoring team and even though I barely scraped into the playoffs, I lost entirely due to my choices. I went up against a previously 10-2 team that lost two games entering the playoffs and finished 10-4. His team continued the under-production Week 1 but I tried to get cute and start the WRs his QB was throwing to. His QB managed to get 2 TDs, my WRs got none, I left 29 points on the bench and lost by 8 in the process. To make matters worse, I would have won the Championship game the next week had I made it. I think this is the scenario that most pisses me off… probably because 1) the winner talked so much trash during the season but could have lost and 2) it was my own stupid, stupid decision that threw it all away.
• In my other league, everything went well until I had to play my dad in the first week of playoffs. He beat me pretty bad but I did manage to salvage third by 0.1 points (91.3 vs. 91.2). I even had to sweat that one out because I needed 3.2 from D.Jack on Tuesday night and he only managed that pretty late in the game. Probably the worst part about the result is my dad went on to lose to Lurch of the Sports Junkies. Not only was he a rookie in the 20+ year old league, that meant neither Derecola won despite us making up half the playoff teams. It probably won’t surprise you to learn most other owners in this league have an “anyone but a Derecola” policy for the Championship.
• I won’t even bother to really talk about my family pick’em league. The sad part is the only reason I got 9th is because the 10th place team stopped picking the last two weeks. Three points separates 6th-9th, but I’m not sure that makes me feel any better. I honestly have no idea what I was doing wrong but I’m glad it’s over.

Had I written this before the playoffs started, I would have said I was happy with the season. Getting in the playoffs (and finishing in the money) in every league is a pretty big deal, but the way most everything happened just left a sour taste in my mouth. As I said a few days ago to Melissa, I think I’m the only one who could win money in all my leagues and still be upset. What can I say, I hate losing…

School League ~ 9-5 for 2nd of 12
I set up a league for my grad school cohort as a way to break up the monotony of class. There were a lot of newbs in the league so I gave it the least amount of attention. I ended up making it to the Big Game but losing out to a team riding a 13 game win streak. My real hope is the league turns into a way to keep in touch.

Work League ~ 8-5 for 3rd of 12
I toyed with .500 for most of the season but won the last four weeks of the regular season to sneak in as the fourth seed. I didn’t win my division, but had the most high scores in the league, which I think says something. My team laid an egg the second week of the playoffs and won the final week for third overall. I actually had the high score the final week, so I could have won it all, but consistency was never my strong suit.

Father/Son League ~ 8-6 for 5th of 10
Started 2-0 but then dropped four of the next five. I hovered around .500 (seems to be a common theme) until winning the last three of the season. Unfortunately I missed the last playoff spot on tiebreaker, but I’d all by given up weeks earlier so I wasn’t surprised. It would have been cool to make the playoffs in every league, especially since I didn’t make it any last year, but I’m not greedy.

Family Pick’em ~ 129 correct (136 won) for 3rd of 9
I made some solid picks throughout the year, but in the end I just wasn’t good enough. I got one more right than last year and moved up two spots overall, but that doesn’t mean a whole lot. Maybe next year.