Weeks 19 & 20 Real Rankings

NOTES

- Weeks 19 and 20 were momentous in a number of ways as the top of the standings and bottom start to sort themselves out. First off, a down week for Montezuma’s coincided with a down week from Angry Pirates in Week 19, resulting in a relative wash at the top. One Nut failed to take advantage though, only mustering a two-game boost in the standings. Jason bounced back in a big way in Week 20 and finds himself in the running for the regular season championship, albeit a longshot. His gains were Kyle’s losses as the two faced off and Jason dominated, fueled by a 9 HR week from EE and a no hitter from Jake Arrieta. This time, the Revenge seized the opportunity and met Kyle’s 2-8-0 loss with a 7-3-0 win over MET, allowing me to jump into first by one game, with Jason sitting seven out. The three of us each play teams ranked 10^th or below in the standings, so anything could happen. Should be an interesting last week with $301.25 up for grabs for a regular season championship (second place gets $100). The Revenge has the tiebreaker. It would be my second straight regular season championship and would further secure my place as the Buffalo Bills of High & Tight.

- Ring, MET, and Moose (0.5 games out) are fighting for two spots, with Keepin (5.5 games out) still holding an outside change. Prestige technically still has a shot at 7.5 games out, but given the team’s decline and a tough matchup, it seems highly unlikely. Yes, Urban still has a shot technically as well at 9.5 games out, but still not sure that is statistically possible.

- Once a fringe playoff team, Anal has secured a spot in the final 8 after going 14-5-1 the last two weeks, employing the first ever majority-RP strategy. Perhaps he’s on to something? 

- Incredibly, despite 8 playoff spots, the only matchup among current playoff teams this week is Donkey vs. MET. Russ is looking to jump into the postseason fray for a final championship run after an up and down season.

- Again, let me know if you think you have a person that could take over the open spot. I believe we have three candidates at the moment. Please let me know if you think you will not be in the league next year so we can plan accordingly. 

- While the standings are close, the Real Rankings show a blowout at the top as a late surge has the Revenge at 5.66 and One Nut in second at 6.02, supplanting the Pirates, who’ve had a rough go lately and fell below second for the first time all season. In fact, over the last four games, Kyle’s squad is only 9^th in RR at 7.4. Meanwhile, Jason and me have been on the upward swing. The real interesting movement has been Pierce, whose 6.4 over the last four weeks should have yielded better results than 18-19-3, but he’s had a tough run of competition and still has an outside shot at a pretty epic come back.

LAST 4

1              Montezuma's Revenge 4.3

2              One Nut Wonders           4.9

3              Ring of Fire                         6.0

4              Keepin it REAL...               6.4

5              Mike Ehrman-Trout        6.9

6              I Ate The Munchkins      7.1

7              Moose is Loose!               7.1

8              Anal Hershiser                   7.3

9              The Angry Pirates            7.4

10           Donkey Punchers            7.9

11           Sexual Napalm                  8.0

12           Cowhide Joyride              8.2

13           Urban Achievers              8.4

14           Prestige Worldwide        9.5

- Meanwhile, the RR show they are not impenetrable in terms of statistical anomolies as Cowhide contines to have a much better overall showing in the RR than the actual standings. It is all but a certainty that bad luck caused the Joyride to miss the playoffs this year.

- Just need to reiterate the importance of setting lineups. You don’t need to pick up double-starts or even attempt to better position your team for next year, but you do need to set your lineups every day. At the very least, make sure your starters are starting when they’re supposed to. With such a tight race, one team’s apathy can easily squash another team’s chances at the playoffs or money. I will impose fines this week without warning.

- Since some teams will not be reading this going forward, please take a few minutes to consider potential changes/improvements for next year. It’s always good to jot these down before the offseason so we remember what to address in the winter. I don’t have much on my end. I think the easing of the trade restrictions were an improvement and that the S+H  category was the best decision the league has made since we agreed to allow draft pick trades. I would like to continue to consider ways to provide more incentive for teams to stick it out to the end, perhaps by determining the draft order in a reverse standings of non-playoff teams – so 9^th place (the best non-playoff team) would get the first pick and the last place team would get the 6^th pick. Open to ideas. I think we have enough interest to expand again if people are interest, but that really starts to water down the pool. Expanding the NA slot maybe. Anyway, share your thoughts if you have them.