Hey Ziggy, finally getting a chance to let you know a little bit about the various goings on of our fantasy league. The theme of the year was injuries, injuries, injuries, injuries, more and more injuries, pile on injuries on top of injuries. Even the Yahoo experts were agog over the sheer number of sprained ankles, plantar fasciitees, broken feet, and dis-located shoulders, it was literally a warzone.
This was THE YEAR OF THE INJURY.
The regular standings shook out like this:
Bods Ballers -- 139-78-3
Archangel United -- 127-88-5
jerry lewis -- 122-94-4
B-Ball Jihad -- 117-101-2
Wolverine's Gunners -- 117-107-2
Genghis's PolarBears -- 115-102-3
Los Angeles Loosiers -- 108-109-3
Lurker's Berserkers -- 106-109-5
lttkonceagain -- 106-112-2
Ted's Little Bops -- 102-116-2
nerfgundeathsquad -- 78-141-1
westkoast wankstas -- 65-151-4
Bods pretty much ran away from the league in the beginning and never looked back. I was firmly entrenched at the 2 spot most of the year. Jerry Lewis, Jihad, and Wolverine switched between 3 and 5 while 6 was in upheaval for most of the year. Lurker had it, Loosiers had it, Ted had it, Lttk had it, and at the end, Genghis came from the depths of the standings to claim it.
Me and Bods had the bye. Wolverine played Jihad and came out the victor. Genghis played Jerry Lewis and won the matchup. Bods and Wolverine met in the second round and that was a hard fought week, Bods won. Genghis sliced and diced my "team" (i'll explain the quotes later). Bods and Genghis championship matchup ends this Wednesday and as of today Bods has a comfortable lead. Whichever guy wins will be the first time in the league we've had a 2-time champ.
Now for some quick synopses:
Westkoast-- His keeper Brad Miller never recovered from plantar fasciitis and that dogged him all year. Chris Paul was out for a good while but he had relative good health from Jermaine O'Neal and Tracy McGrady. Leandro Barbosa (6th round pick) went from a reach to becoming one of the best fantasy values around. Westkoast didn't participate much beyond the beginning of the year and I think that hurt him a bit, not a single waiver move was made. His team was so hot during one stretch he beat me 6-5 without ever setting the lineup.
nerfgundeathsquad-- Marion, Ginobili, and Ray Allen led this team. Ray Allen was lost for the season but after it stopped mattering. Shaquille was out for a prolonged time to start the season. SpursX3 also found it a bit hard to find the time to participate fully.
Ted's Little Bops -- Bosh and Camby led this fantasy team while his 1st pick after keepers had an absolutely dismal fantasy year (AK47). Kevin Martin selected in the 7th or 8th round proved to be one of the steals of the draft and Deron Williams came into his own. Ted also shrewdly acquired Gerald Wallace for Diaw but realized the production just a tad too late. Ted's interest waned a bit in the last quarter of the season.
lttkonceagain -- A team that was ravaged by injuries. Only Kevin Garnett (surprise) stayed healthy and productive throughout. Mike Miller, Dwayne Wade, Jamal Crawford, and Peja Stojakovic (16 games played) missed significant time. The team was really up and down depending on his team's health as lttk never played the waiver wire.
Lurker -- This team was led by the resurgence of Carlos Boozer and Amare Stoudemire. Bulls up and comers, Deng and Gordon, also aided greatly. Andre Miller was solid but unspectacular. Larry Hughes and Artest were a bit of disappointments while Darko never panned out as expected.
Loosiers (Randy) -- This was another team pelted with injuries (and suspensions) throughout the season. Odom, Desmond Mason, Childress, all missed time with injuries. Anthony was suspended while Ilgauskas and Harrington were a little disappointing. Still Kobe Bryant almost single-handedly caried Randy's team on his back all the way to the fantasy playoffs but came up a bit short in the end.
Genghis -- Through some drafting missteps (Felton in the 4th round; Randy Foye in the 6th round; Bargnani in the 8th round; Kenyon Martin period) injuries (Gasol's foot, Rashard Lewis for a good stretch) and plain old inadequacy (Webber in Philly); Genghis was bouncing around the bottom of the standings. And then it all came together: Gasol returned to All-Star form, Webber was released and subsequently signed with Detroit, Ray Allen was lost for the season and Rashard consequently exploded, and all that was anchored by the venerable, inimitable, indomitable Tim Duncan. Genghis surged into the playoffs and quickly laid waste to opponents in the first two rounds before finding himself one round away from his second championship. At the worst of times, Genghis was always dangerous due to daily, ritual participation to maximize games played; his 104 waiver wire moves (as of today) is 27 more moves then the 2nd place person and 54 more moves then the 3rd place person.
Wolverine -- Brand, Howard, and Billups were cornerstones of the team. Joe Johson, Richard Jefferson, and Brandon Roy missed significant time with injuries. Still the Gunners were a constant fixture in the Top 5 due to the shrewd drafting of Eddy Curry (11th round I believe) and geniusly timed free agent pick-up of Jason Richardson (Jihad had given up on him) just before he came back from injury. Wolverine JUST BARELY lost to Bods in Round 2 and is decimating me in the 3rd place game.
Jihad -- Dirk Nowitzki absolutely dominated fantasy once again and was a foundation for Jihad even throughout the various injuries. Baron Davis, Magette, Richardson (while on his team) and Jamison all missed time with injuries. Mehmet Okur was a very savvy draft selection. Unfortunately circumstances lead to decreased production from Nowitzki during the playoffs and Jihad was beaten in the 1st round by Wolverine.
Jerry Lewis -- Jerry had a nice, strong team throughout the season led by the prodigy LeBron James and the coming of age of Josh Howard and Caron Butler. Hinrich was solid as was Rasheed Wallace. Bibby was a disappointment. David West (a draft steal) and Caron Butler missed significant time with injuries--Caron unfortunately during the playoffs and Jerry Lewis couldn't hold back the surging Polarbears.
Archangel -- You might have deemed this team the Land of the Little People -- as threes and steals were aplenty, but blocks and rebounds were utterly non-existant. Players like Gilbert Arenas and Steve Nash anchored my team. Unfortunately I was no stranger to the injury epidemic as Nenad Krstic was lost for the season early on, as were Wally Szszerbiak (after 24 games played), and Andres Nocioni. Paul Pierce mustered 40 games before shutting it down just in time for the fantasy playoffs about the same time as Gilbert Arenas and Zach Randolph were lost for the season. Pickups like Monta Ellis early and Nene Hilario late proved good decisions but I couldn't handle the sheer loss of production and succumbed to the Polar Bears in Round 2.
Bods -- Bods started with Jason Kidd and Michael Redd and followed that up with the perfect draft selection in Yao Ming, Vince Carter fell into his lap in R4, and Andre Iguodala in R6. T.J. Ford was a tremendous value and Luol Deng was a late round pick (10th or so) that was parlayed into Emeka Okafor (a keeper). FA pickups of Andris Biedrins and Al Jefferson early and Derek had an absolute, indestructible mammoth of fantasy strength. The team was so strong, in fact, that it withstood the loss of Yao Ming for a significant stretch, the loss of Michael Redd for significant time, the injuries to T.J. Ford and Emeka Okafor, and the complete loss of 5th round pick Charlie Villaneuva for the entire season -- barely missing a beat and NEVER relinquishing 1st place beyond the first 2 weeks of November. After a very close call with Wolverine in R2, Bods finds himself with a comfortable lead on Genghis and on the brink of his Second Fantasy Championship.
