And So It Begins.....

This is my absolute favorite time of year. Football is unquestionably my favorite sport, fantasy football is my favorite game and the LOTC is my favorite league. And now, on the night of the Hall of Fame game between Cincinnati and Dallas, I am happy to announce the 8th season of the LOTC is ready to kick off! With everyone returning (myself, as commish only, with Jacob Herrera taking over as the manager of my team), I'm excited to get things started once again. There are two changes worth noting right out of the gate.

1. No league surcharge

- Last year, Yahoo made a dramatic cut in the price of their PLUS leagues, from $129.99 to $29.99. This year, the price has been completely eliminated altogether. Now, the entire Yahoo fantasy football experience is free, with all of the built-in features that we have enjoyed in a PLUS League. For us, this means the extra $30 will be going towards the weekly scoring prizes. The highest weekly scorer will not get a $5 prize instead of $3.

2. QBs will score less points

- Scoring settings for passing have experienced two changes. Points per completion is now (.5) instead of (1) and interception penalties have returned to (-2) from the (-1) I had them set with last year. The estimated impact will be an average weekly decrease in 8-15 points for your starting quarterback. No complaints! I gave everyone notice of this upcoming change several weeks before keeper designations were made!

Keep your eyes open for more news as we get ready to get things started. The draft is in just over five days!

Important News: Everyone Should Read This

Not that this blog is bloated with readers hanging on every word in every post, but I'm still sorry it's been a couple of weeks since I updated any news or history for the LOTC. Things have gotten very busy for my other job at Nova Fantasy Sports (obviously, with the fantasy playoffs going on right now), so I've been forced to neglect some of my less-important hobbies.

So it might seem rather sudden to be reminded that your FINAL keeper designations are due by midnight tomorrow night, but they are. I hope everyone meets the deadline, because every every draft pick you own will go down one spot for each day the deadline is missed. You can post your designations on our yahoo page OR as a comment on this blog. If you've already turned in your designations, please check that I've entered them correctly by going here and looking under the 'Keeper Designations' tab, under 2010.

In other news, this might or might not be important to you, but I have decided to stop managing my Djibouti Crust team next season. I'm the sort of crazed organizational nut who loves playing fantasy football, but who loves running a league as a commissioner even more. My already abnormal obsession has enabled me to [hopefully] deliver a product to you guys that is far superior to any other fantasy football league you are in. For me, my increased involvement in running things behind the scenes has hindered my ability to manage my team as well as I would like. I've actually been pondering this decision since the last offseason. There's even more changes I want to make in years to come to enhance and improve the LOTC experience and those changes will only make it harder for me to manage my team while maintaining the high standard that I want to hold as a league commissioner.

Like I said, I think one of the benefits to this decision will be that I can devote even more time to making this league the best fantasy football experience possible. Another pro is that you will have the benefit of having a commissioner who can make decisions and rulings as objectively as humanly possible. I'll obviously want to see the excellent heritage of the Djibouti Crust franchise continue, so I'll be pulling for them every year. But it still allows me to make more of the inevitably controversial decisions without the question of whether my choice is motivated by my own team's success. One of the settings changes to be brought about by this decision will be the dissolution of the trade approval committee. Now, all decisions on trades will be made by someone who is not running one of the teams in the league.

You can also now expect me to start planning an ACTUAL draft party every year. We had some makeshift stuff at Buffalo Wild Wings for a few years, but since I was trying to prepare for my own team's draft, I didn't put very much thought or effort into planning the party. I'm going to start planning the 2010 draft NOW, and I plan on having it at someone's house. At this point, almost half of the league managers are NOT living in Dallas and we might be even more spread out by the time the next season starts, but I figure with enough notice, we can at least get the majority of this group together for a draft party.

So that's that. I wouldn't bother protesting (if you were planning on it) because I'm not going to change my decision. I'm honestly more excited than ever about what this decision means for the LOTC and I think you will all eventually agree that it was a very good decision.

And in case you were wondering, the individual taking over management of the Djibouti Crust franchise is one of my good friends, Jacob Herrera, whom many of you already know. You probably didn't notice his username under my team page, but I added him as a co-manager more than a week ago so that he could take a look at the roster and choose his own keepers for next season. I'm fully confidant he'll do well in carrying on the great Djibouti Crust heritage.

Also, congratulations to Joe and David, whose teams, 'The Big Breesy' and 'The Undisputed' are facing off for the championship this week, which means we will finally have our first ever two-time champion in the LOTC.

Upcoming changes for the 2010 Season

Most of the changes are minimal, and this list is not at all complete, but I will update it as more ideas come to me.

1. Interceptions will count for -2 points now, instead of -1
2. Completions will now be worth .5 points instead of 1.
3. Preseason trades of keeper designations will be allowed, but with a number of stipulations, including tighter approval guidelines, requirement to maintain the minimum position count (1 QB, 2 WR, 1 RB, 1 TE, 1 K/DEF).
4. Pre-draft trades of redshirt designations will also be trade-able on the condition that both managers draft the redshirt player AND that the terms are even.

More to come with time.

2009 Regular Season Records & Interesting Facts

+ As of this moment, we at least know the first six draft spots (although Ben owns about half of the picks in the first round) in each round for next year's draft. They are, as follows.....

1. Beatubad
2. First or Last
3. Texas Thundermonkeys
4. Wrong Answer
5. Vince Young
6. I'm a Texan

+ In his second season as a manager in the LOTC, Gavin Espinoza improved his First or Last franchise's sinle-season win total from two in 2008, to three in 2009. I'm not sure there should be such a thing as an 'expansion team slump' in fantasy football, but it seems to be what's happened in this case. Here's to you Gavin. I hope you can at least double your five all-time wins next season.

+ David Onyon's The Undisputed franchise had the biggest improvement from one year to the next, improving his win-total by six games in 2009. The second-greatest improvement this season was Jorge Parrales's Djibouti Crust, which had a four-win increase. Conversely, both Texas Thundermonkeys and Beatubad experienced six-game declines in 2009, and defending champion Wrong Answer declined by five games.

+ Stephen Dinger is probably happy to know that an LOTC all-time record that he owned has no been broken by another manager. Ben Weiss set a new mark for the longest losing streak in a single-season by starting this season 0-10.

+ This is the first time in seven seasons that no manager turned out a double-digit final score. The lowest scoring output of the season was Dinger's 129-point score in his opening-week loss to Aaron Diehl.

+ With Aaron Diehl's Vince Young missing out on the playoffs this season, the league-record for most consecutive seasons in the playoffs stands at three, an achievement held by Vince Young ('06-'08), Texas Thundermonkeys ('03-'05), Djibouti Crust ('03-'05), Tenacious D ('07-09), Deion Found Jesus ('05-'07), and The Undisputed ('04-'06). If Tenacious D make the playoffs in 2010, they will hold the new record of four consecutive seasons. Tenacious D, Djibouti Crust and Texas Thundermonkeys hold the record for the most overall playoff seasons, with five.

+ Wrong Answer is the fourth of six champions to miss the playoffs the year after their championship season. The only two league champions to make the playoffs in their title-defense season are The Undisputed and Vince Young.

+ Speaking of league champions, the LOTC has seen six first-time league champions since its inception in 2003. This year's top-two seeded teams, The Undisputed and The Big Breesy have both previously won a championship. In the four seasons that we have had a bye game in the first round of the playoffs, a bye team has won the championship twice. So history tells us we have a 50% chance of seeing our first repeat champion in league history.

2009 Regular Season Wrap-Up

Well, it was yet another successful regular season of fantasy football in the LOTC, and I'm very grateful to all twelve managers for being active and competitive all season long. In the coming weeks, there will be several updates and news regarding what you can expect in the offseason and next season, including some changes (mostly minor) that will be incorporated into the settings in the future. In the meanwhile, I thought I would recap some of the highlights from the regular season and also take a moment to preview this week's matchups. So without further ado.......

It was highly unlikely. In fact, to my memory, it was the least-likely win-and-in scenario I had ever seen. Jorge Parrales's (yes, me) Djibouti Crust franchise was holding on to a one-game lead over I'm a Texan and Vince Young as we headed into the final week of regular season games. But I was playing The Big Breesy, who would end up earning the #2 seed and first-round bye. The loss was imminent. If Djibouti Crust lost, all I'm a Texan needed was a win, because they had scored 100+ points more throughout the season, giving them the tiebreaker over the Crust. And, if Djibouti Crust and I'm a Texan both happened to lose, Vince Young needed a win AND 40 more points than Djibouti Crust to earn the final playoff spot.

Headed into Monday night's game between Green Bay and Baltimore, Djibouti Crust had clearly lost their game this week, I'm a Texan needed only 32.5 points between Ryan Grant and Derrick Mason (averaging 46 combined ppg to that point) to win their game, and Vince Young had successfully outscored Djibouti Crust by 43 points and held a 52-point lead against Texas Thundermonkeys, who had Aaron Rodgers and Greg Jennings (averaging 69.5 combined ppg to that point) left to play. The Vince Young franchise was eliminated by the first minute in the third quarter, as Aaron Rodgers turned in a spectacular performance. But the real shocker came in the mere 18 points that Ryan Grant and Derrick Mason combined to score for I'm a Texan, giving them the loss and giving Djibouti Crust the final playoff berth.

Djibouti Crust might have scrapped their way into the playoffs, but the magic seems highly unlikely to continue as they take on East division rival and winner, Deion Found Jesus, whom they have already lost to twice this season. Until this 2009 season, Djibouti Crust had enjoyed tremendous success against Deion Found Jesus, having only lost to Robby Grunwald's franchise once in five meetings. But Robby now has an opportunity to even things out at 4-4-0 if he can win one more time against Jorge. This marks the first meeting between thes two teams in the playoffs.

The #4 vs #5 matchup features North division winner Tenacious D and West division runner-up Hybrids, who just played each other last week in the final regular season game. If the results from that game (Hybrids won by 104.5 points) are an indication of what we should expect in this one, Hybrids should easily coast their way into the second-round. This is actually the second meeting between these two teams in the playoffs. The first was last season, in the #4 vs #5 first-round matchup. Hybrids also won that game, but lost in the second round to eventual champion Wrong Answer. My guess is that Ryan Hennesy is looking to make a change to his recent history against Tim/Michelle/David Ferguson.

Keeper Selections Coming Due

While the deadline for posting your official keeper designations is not until Tuesday, December 29, managers who miss the playoffs will only be able to make their selections from their final rosters at the end of the regular season. Free Agent pickups made after this Monday will not be eligible keeper options for non-playoff teams.

Need Volunteers for Experimental League

I'm looking for five other managers (preferably all from the LOTC) to join me in an entirely experimental auction draft salary-cap league next season. The only reason I'm asking right now is because I'd like to know who the mangers will be so that I can communicate with you throughout the offseason while I work out the kinks on the settings and what-not. It's not meant to be a replacement to the LOTC by any means. I'm actually wanting to incorporate these changes into the LOTC in the next few years, and this experimental league will only exist until that happens. You'll essentially be guinea-pigs for a 'hopefully' radical shift in the way fantasy football is played.

There will only be bragging rights at stake. I am asking that you only commit to it if you can assure that you will remain highly active in both this league and the experimental one next season. There will be absolutely no offense for choosing to pass on it.

The basic idea of it will be a pre-set salary cap. We will bid on all players for our draft and once the draft is completed, all free agents will be assigned a 'dollar-value'. Adding and dropping will take place without waivers of any kind, you just must always stay at or below the salary cap at all times. A player's dollar-value is re-evaluated three times throughout the year (weeks 3, 7, 10) based on their performance throughout the season. There's more, but we'll leave it at that right now by way of teasers.

If you're interested, please text me and let me know.

Week 13 Matchups & All-Time Records

In an unlikely turn of events, Stephen Dinger's I'm a Texan franchise lost their week 12 game to the Texas Thundermonkeys which, coupled with a Djibouti Crust victory over Vince Young, put Djibouti Crust back into the driver's seat for the sixth and final spot for this year's playoffs. In any case, pretty much all of the playoff-relevant teams are playing for something.

The Undisputed have essentially clinched the top overall spot since they have a full-game lead over Ryan Hennesy's Tenacious D AND have outscored them by 250 points this season. Even if The Undisputed managed to lose to Beatubad (1-11), there is no chance Tenacious D can overcome that kind of point differential in a single game.

The number two seed and second bye game is a whole different scenario. If Tenacious D can defeat a very tough opponent in The Hybrids, that spot goes to Tenacious D. But a loss to Hybrids and a win by either The Big Breesy or Deion Found Jesus will cause Tenacious D to play in the wild-card round.

The Hybrids join division rival The Undisputed as the only other team whose playoff spot is pretty much certain. Regardless of how the other divisions play out, Hybrids will finish second in their own division, but have the better record or tiebreaker over whoever gets the sixth playoff spot, so they will be facing off against the lowest ranked division winner, likely to be either Tenacious D or Deion Found Jesus.

The final spot will belong to Djibouti Crust (7-5, 2482 points) , I'm a Texan (6-6, 2595 points) or Vince Young (6-6, 2444 points). If Djibouti Crust can defeat The Big Breesy, they will have earned the last spot. If Djibouti loses and I'm a Texan beats Deion Found Jesus, I'm a Texan will get the last spot. And lastly, if Djibouti Crust and I'm a Texan lose and Vince Young wins AND outscores Djibouti Crust by 40+ points, Vince Young will get the final spot.

Week 13 Matchups

Djibouti Crust (7-5-0) vs The Big Breesy (8-4-0)
Joe leads all-time 2-1-0

Hybrids (8-4-0) vs Tenacious D (9-3-0)
All-time 4-4-0 (Ryan leads regular season 4-3-0)

Deion Found Jesus (8-4-0) vs I'm a Texan (6-6-0)
All-time 2-2-0

Wrong Answer (4-8-0) vs First or Last (3-9-0)
Paul leads all-time 1-0-0

Vince Young (6-6-0) vs Texas Thundermonkeys (2-10-0)
JMB leads all-time 3-1-0

Beatubad (1-11-0) vs The Undisputed (10-2-0)
Ben leads all-time 3-2-0

Week 12 Matchups & All-Time Records

Well if anybody has reason to hate the yardage-bonus structure that I added to the settings three years ago, that person is myself. As Matt Schaub led the Texans on what turned out to be a futile final drive against Tennessee on Monday Night Football, his last completion was a four-yard dump to Kevin Walter. That short pass was enough to push Schaub over the 300-yard mark for the game, which added three bonus points to I'm a Texan's final score, giving Dinger the two-point victory over myself and Djibouti Crust. The loss for me essentially ends all hope of a spot in the playoffs, considering my final two matchups are against Vince Young and The Big Breesy. For Dinger, the second-consecutive win marks what seemed an unlikely turnaround for I'm a Texan, as he now holds the rights to the sixth and final playoff spot with only two more games to play. With Dinger also holding the division-record tiebreaker and playing the lowly Texas Thundermonkeys this week, it all-but-guarantees that Aaron's Vince Young franchise will need to win out just to have a chance to get in.

Week 12 Matchups

Djibouti Crust (6-5-0) vs Vince Young (6-5-0)
All-time 2-2-0 (Jorge leads regular season 2-1-0)

Hybrids (7-4-0) vs Beatubad (1-10-0)
All-time 5-5-1 (Tim leads regular season 5-4-1)

The Big Breesy (7-4-0) vs Deion Found Jesus (8-3-0)
Robby leads all-time 3-2-0

I'm a Texan (6-5-0) vs Texas Thundermonkeys (1-10-0)
All-time 3-3-0

Wrong Answer (4-7-0) vs The Undisputed (9-2-0)
David leads all-time 4-3-0 (Regular season tied 3-3-0)

Tenacious D (9-2-0) vs First or Last (1-10-0)
Ryan leads all-time 1-0-0

Week 11 Matchups & All-Time Records

The extremely improbable took place last week, as Dinger's I'm a Texan managed to upset Joe's The Big Breesy, despite being a 70-point underdog going in to the match. Most of us were laughing at Dinger as he traded away his 4th, 5th and 6th round picks to Gavin simply to acquire Derrick Mason for this week's game against Joe. The difference was 7.5 points, which just happened to be enough for Dinger to get the 6-point victory. Nobody's laughing now. Kudos to Dinger, who stays alive in the playoff race for at least another week.

Week 11 Match-Ups

Djibouti Crust (6-4-0) vs I'm a Texan (5-5-0)
Dinger leads all-time 6-4-0

Hybrids (6-4-0) vs Wrong Answer (4-6-0)
Paul leads all-time 4-2-0

The Big Breesy (6-4-0) vs Texas Thundermonkeys (1-9-0)
JMB leads all-time 3-1-0

Deion Found Jesus (7-3-0) vs Vince Young (6-4-0)
Robby leads all-time 3-2-0

Beatubad (0-10-0) vs First or Last (2-8-0)
Gavin leads all-time 1-0-0

The Undisputed (8-2-0) vs Tenacious D (9-1-0)
David leads all-time 5-4-0 

Week 10 Matchups & All-Time Records

Well, Tenacious D defied all odds and did the impossible. Despite both star running backs (Steven Jackson and Thomas Jones) being on a bye, he managed to get by with Derrick Ward as his best starting running back. Nine weeks into the season, Ryan has a division title and the first playoff spot. That leaves five spots for the rest of us to fight for. Mathematically, Beatubad and Texas Thundermonkeys are the only two teams out of the running, but First or Last and Wrong Answer will both be out next week, win or lose. That means there are seven of us vying for the last five spots. If Big Breesy can beat I'm a Texan, it almost ensures that Dinger will be the next one of out of the playoff race, so that's the game I'm watching for.

Week 10 Match-ups

Djibouti Crust (6-3-0) vs Tenacious D* (8-1-0)
Ryan leads all-time 5-4-0

Hybrids (6-3-0) vs The Undisputed (7-2-0)
Tim leads all-time 3-2-0

The Big Breesy (6-3-0) vs I'm a Texan (4-5-0)
Dinger leads all-time 3-1-0

Deoin Found Jesus (6-3-0) vs Texas Thundermonkeys (1-8-0)
JMB leads all-time 5-3-0 (All-time regular season tied, 3-3-0)

Wrong Answer (3-6-0) vs Beatubad (0-9-0)
Paul leads all-time 6-2-0

Vince Young (5-4-0) vs First or Last (2-7-0)
Aaron leads all-time 1-0-0

Week 9 Matchups & All-time Records

A convincing win over Deion Found Jesus, coupled with a last minute loss for Wrong Answer in week eight has given Ryan Hennesy's Tenacious D a four-game division lead with six games left in the season. But it gets even juicier than that. Tenacious D and Wrong Answer are facing off against each other in week 9, meaning that if Hennesy can beat out Paul Ferguson this week, he will have officially clinched a playoff berth......already. Even if Tenacious D lost their last five games and Wrong Answer won theirs, Tenacious D would have won the divisional record, giving him the tiebreaker. So this is clearly the game of the week as we kick off the last six weeks of the regular season.

Week 9 Match-ups


Djibouti Crust (5-3-0) vs Texas Thundermonkeys (1-7-0)
Jorge leads all-time 5-4-0 (Regular season tied @ 4-4-0)

Hybrids (5-3-0) vs First or Last (2-6-0)
All-time 1-1-0

The Big Breesy (6-2-0) vs Vince Young (4-4-0)
Aaron leads all-time 3-2-0

Deion Found Jesus (5-3-0) vs Beatubad (0-8-0)
Robby leads all-time 4-3-0

I'm a Texan (4-4-0) vs The Undisputed (6-2-0)
All-time 3-3-0 (David leads regular season 3-1-0)

Wrong Answer (3-5-0) vs Tenacious D (7-1-0)
Ryan leads all-time 7-0-0
 

Week Eight Match-ups & All-Time Records

We just passed the halfway mark for the 2009 season. Even seven seasons into an established league, we are seeing new things, such as two teams (Beatubad and Texas Thundermonkeys) that have yet to register a win after seven games. Before this season no team had ever started worse than 0-6 (The Wrath of Korea, 2004, John Jemison - NLIL and I Really Have a Bush, 2007, Joe Harper), but we're always open to new things. Unfortunately for one of these managers, the streak will be extended at least one more week, as the two winless managers face off in week 8.

Week 8 Match-ups

Djibouti Crust (4-3-0) vs Wrong Answer (3-4-0)
All-time 3-3-0 (Jorge leads the regular season record 3-2-0)

Hybrids (4-3-0) vs I'm a Texan (4-3-0)
Tim leads all-time 5-3-0

The Big Breesy (5-2-0) vs First or Last (2-5-0)
Joe leads all-time 2-0-0

Deion Found Jesus (5-2-0) vs Tenacious D (6-1-0)
All-time 3-3-0

Vince Young (3-4-0) vs The Undisputed (6-1-0)
Aaron leads all-time 2-1-0

Beatubad (0-7-0) vs Texas Thundermonkeys (0-7-0)
JMB leads all-time 5-3-1

2009 Week 3 Outlook

Mind you, it has happened before. Teams have lost their first two games of the season and still had success. In fact, in the previous six seasons, two of the eventual champions started out at least 0-2 (Carmen Sutera, 2003 & Drew Brees, 2006). But the fact that it has happened before doesn't make the feat any easier to accomplish.

36 teams have made the playoffs in the league's history. Four of them started out 0-2. Two of those actually lost a third game, and for Joe Harper, it was the last time he lost that season. But let's face it; what happened to Joe in 2006 was a freakish coincidence. His team was clearly dominant, but in those first three games, he just happened to play the ONE team that scored the most points in their given week. No one really believed his team wasn't good, just unlucky. For the four teams yet to win a game through the first two weeks, circumstances have not been so similar.

Still, the Wrong Answer, Beatubad, Texas Thundermonkeys and First or Last franchises can take that little slice of history and use it to obtain whatever kind of hope comes with it. But there's virtually no hope if they can't take a victory in week 3, especially for a league title. TT and FOL will be facing off this week, so we're already assured of seeing at least one winless team by the time Monday Night Football is over.

Week 3 Match-Ups

Djibouti Crust (1-1-0) vs Hybrids (2-0-0)
All-time Regular Season: 3-3-0

• This game could very well be decided by some real-life injury decisions that likely wont be made until the last minute. Felix Jones (Djibouti Crust) could see an expanded role this week if Marion Barber (Texas Thundermonkeys) is held out. Additionally, Bryan Westbrook (Hybrids) is expected to be listed as 'Questionable' on the Eagles' injury report and could be losing quite a bit of playing time in this week's game against the Chiefs.

I Have a Bush (2-0-0) vs Beatubad (0-2-0)
All-time Regular Season: 2-2-0

• This game can comfortably be projected to get this weeks 'Toyota Biggest Fantasy Blowout' award, in favor of I Have a Bush, who also won it last week with a 78.5 point victory over Tenacious D. I Have a Bush has the luxury of being led by Drew Brees and Marques Colston, who have combined to score 191.5 points in the first two weeks alone. Meanwhile, Beatubad looks set have one of the worst seasons in league history, with Laurence Maroney being the best running back on their roster.

Deion Found Jesus (1-1-0) vs The Undisputed (2-0-0)
All-time Regular Season: 4-2-0, DFJ

• The Undisputed were lucky enough to get a record-breaking performance out of second-year running back, Chris Johnson, who managed to shatter RB fantasy records with 83 points in a single week. They are considerably lucky to be undefeated to this point, but still a quality team, reliant on Philip Rivers, Larry Fitzgerald and Chris Johnson to do most of the heavy lifting. Deion Found Jesus is hoping Tom Brady's dismal week two effort will not be repeated this week when the Patriots take on the Atlanta Falcons. They are hurting at running back (Darren Sproles and Michael Bush are starting this week), but you can never count a team out when they have Brady at QB.

I'm a Texan (1-1-0) vs Wrong Answer (0-2-0)
All-time Regular Season: 2-2-0

• I'm a Texan finally saw their mostly-Houston Texan lineup strategy pay off with huge dividends last week as Matt Schaub, Andre Johnson and Owen Daniels all turned in monster fantasy numbers in week two. The real questions for owner Stephen Dinger is whether his team is going to play like they did in week one or week two. The answer to that question will likely determine the outcome of this game against defending champion Wrong Answer, who are the most probable winless team to end up in the playoffs. Wrong Answer has to face one more week without the contributions of suspended RB Marshawn Lynch, but they won't be looking past I'm a Texan this week. This match-up is particularly intriguing with the frequent back-and-forth banter that these two managers have taken part in against each other in the recent past.

Vince Young (2-0-0) vs Tenacious D (1-1-0)
All-time Regular Season: 3-1-0, VY

• This game is especially intriguing to me, because Tenacious D are clearly trying to find some kind of identity with the players on their roster. Jay Cutler was easily one of the top five fantasy quarterbacks in the offseason until he was traded away to Chicago. Cutler is not going to repeat his superb 2008 season, but if he can increase his production just enough to give consistent quality numbers, Tenacious D might still be a title contender. But his opponent this week, Vince Young, has an absolutely lethal running back tandem (Adrian Peterson, Frank Gore) that makes them nearly impossible to beat every week. The Yahoo! projections have these two teams evenly matched, but Vince Young's questionable receiving corp is really the only factor that could give Tenacious D the edge.

Texas Thundermonkeys (0-2-0) vs First or Last (0-2-0)
All-time Regular Season: 1-0-0, TT

• The Texas Thundermonkeys have made the playoffs more than any other LOTC franchise in history, but that success appears about ready to run dry in 2009. On paper, the Thundermonkeys should be good enough to contend, but they fell short in both of their first two games. Now, it's all or nothing. They need a win to have any real shot at making the playoffs for the sixth time in seven years, and it looks like they're going to have to do it without the legs of Marion Barber. First or Last seemed certain to avoid the last-place 2-11 finish they had in 2008 after making some seemingly great trades at the end of last season, as well as having a solid draft this year. But two weeks into 2009, manager Gavin Espinoza still can't seem to 'win at life'. If Matt Forte can get out of this apparent sophomore slump, First or Last might still be able to salvage their first winning season, but doing so from an 0-3 hole would make the achievement highly unlikely. Forget the playoffs: for the sake of their history, no one is facing more of a must-win situation than First or Last.

LOTC teams to make the playoffs after starting at least 0-2:

- Carmen Sutera, 2003, Phil Massine (No Longer in League)

• Started: 0-2-0
• Finished: 8-5-0
• Final Outcome: 2003 League Champion

- Da Boyz, 2004, David Onyon (Now 'The Undisputed')

• Started: 0-3-0
• Finished: 8-6-0
• Final Outcome: Lost 1st Round to eventual runner-up In Carr We Trust (Now 'I'm a Texan')

- Drew Brees, 2006, Joseph Harper (Now 'I Have a Bush')

• Started: 0-3-0
• Finished: 10-3-0
• Final Outcome: 2006 League Champion

- Vince Young, 2008, Aaron Diehl

• Started 0-2-0
• Finished: 8-5-0
• Final Outcome: Lost 1st Round to eventual runner-up Beatubad

**UPDATE**
As per Aaron's question, there have been a few teams to start 2-0 and miss the playoffs.

In the past six seasons, 19 teams have started 2-0 or better. Of those 19 teams, 15 went on to make the playoffs. The only person still in this league who has missed the playoffs after a 2-0 start is Ben (Beatubad), and he's done it twice. To be fair, the first time it happened was in 2003, which was the only season where we only had four playoff teams.

2003 - Beatubad
 Started: 3-0
 Finished: 7-6, 5th place

2004 - Garden Gnomes (Phil Massine, No Longer in League)
 Started: 2-0
 Finished: 6-8, 10th place

2005 - The Greatest (John Jemison, No Longer in League)
 Started: 2-0
 Finished: 4-9, 9th place

2007 - Beatubad
 Started: 4-0
 Finished: 6-7, 8th place

So now here's the fun stuff. If history is any kind of indicator of odds, you have a 78.9% chance of making the playoffs by starting 2-0. So one of you four teams are probably going to miss out. Starting out 3-0 (12 times in history) gives you an 83.3% chance of making the playoffs, and yet, a 4-0 start (7 times in history) barely improves your odds, at 85.7%.

Only twice has any LOTC team started 5-0 or better. Dinger did it in 2004, with In Carr We Trust. And the best start in league history was 6-0 by David, with The Undisputed in 2005. David finished out that regular season 3-4, but managed to get back on track in time for the playoffs to win the championship. So apparently, a 6-0 start gives you a 100% chance of winning the title.

But if you're Ben Weiss, a 3-0 start apparently gives you a 67% chance of missing the playoffs.

League History Corrected

I was finally able to completely correct all of the league history errors that resulted from me mixing up Paul's (The Tigers) and David's (Da Boyz) teams in 2004.

The overall records have been corrected, dropping Paul from 6th all-time to 9th, while David jumped up from 10th to 8th.

Also, the all-time head-to-head records have been corrected, which was the most tedious part of the fix. The most notable thing from this correction is that it means Paul has never beaten Ryan in the six match-ups they have had against each other, which makes their week 4 meeting all-the-more interesting.

League History

2-0 and 0-2 teams

After only two weeks played, it is too early to make any long-term predictions for the season. That said, if you are off to a 2-0 start, things are going to be a little easier for you. On the other hand, if you are 0-2, it is more of an uphill climb the rest of the way out. (However, I will not forget the 0-3 start I Have a Bush had a few seasons ago...then he went 10-0 the rest of the regular season and won the title.) Let's look at the undefeated and the winless thus far:

2-0

Vince Young, I Have a Bush, Deion Found Jesus*, The Undisputed*

0-2

BeatUBad, Wrong Answer, Thundermonkeys, FIRSTorLAST

___________________________________________________________________

*These are not set in stone, these are based on MNF predictions which I feel are pretty accurate.

Trade News

'I Have a Bush' has traded WR Devery Henderson to the 'Vince Young' franchise for RB Mike Bell. The trade goes into effect on time for week 2 games.

South Preview

At first glance, it might seem like Aaron Diehl is a safe bet to take his Vince Young team to a 2009 division title in the loaded South, but a closer look hints at another possible outcome.

Granted, a healthy season for his starting lineup would almost certainly give Diehl an easy road to one of the six playoff spots in the LOTC postseason but a division title could be a totally different story.

Joe Harper has Drew Brees, the 2008 fantasy point champion, quarterbacking I Have a Bush, as well as a healthy MJD in one of his running back slots. Jones-Drew is officially the man in Jacksonville, with the departure of Fred Taylor, and being THE man is an increasingly rare quality in today's NFL format of sharing the load in the backfield.

Of course it just so happens the other two South teams are full of running backs that don't have to share the load. Stephen Dinger (I'm a Texan) has a running back lineup that consists of Steve Slaton, Ryan Grant and Larry Johnson and Diehl boasts possibly the strongest tandem in Adrian Peterson and Frank Gore.

Both owners also boast having a quarterback to contend tremendously against I Have a Bush's Brees. With weapons like Andre Johnson and Owen Daniels, Matt Schaub is a fantasy dream, provided he doesn't suffer another late-hit injury. He could quite easily give Dinger some of the best quarterback numbers in 2009. Diehl is set to rely on the arm of Kurt Warner once again this season. Warner has the luxury of throwing the ball to one of the most lethal receiver tandems in NFL history, with Fitzgerald and Boldin on the outside. Even more exciting for Diehl is the fact that if anything happens to Warner, he won't lose much production at all with another star as a backup; Carson Palmer.

At receiver, I Have a Bush seems to have the most shaky starting lineup, though few fantasy managers would complain to have a healthy Marques Colston as their number one guy. It's the other guys who are a bit shaky. Hines Ward is always dependable, but can't be counted on to get strong numbers anymore, as he ages more and loses many throws to Santonio Holmes this season. After Colston and Ward, Harper employs three other Saints receivers and the expired hands of Muhsin Muhammad. This leaves a lot of doubt in the way of depth. He does have the benefit of starting Jeremy Shockey at tight end, but it is again, a moot point in the loaded South, where Dinger and Diehl start Owen Daniels and Chris Cooley, respectively. I'm a Texan has Andre Johnson, who is undoubtedly the best fantasy receiver whenever he plays, but Andre does tend to miss several games every year, which could prove costly. Dinger also starts Kevin Walter and Donnie Avery, who, if healthy, is likely to have a tremendous season in St. Louis with the departure of Torry Holt. Vince Young is solid, with Calvin Johnson, Anthony Gonzalez and Steve Breaston at receiver. I would even have given him the edge at the position except for the fact that he has literally no other receivers on the roster, which could pose a serious problem.

Prognosis: This division has three strong teams, with little weakness in their starting lineups. But this game is won with depth, especially at wide receiver and running back. Because of this, I give a slight edge to I'm a Texan, provided his Texan players can finally stay healthy for an entire season. Close behind him, if not finding a way to win the division outright, will be Diehl's Vince Young franchise. While I Have A Bush seems likely to finish last in the division, his team is strong enough to surprise and work its way into the playoff race, but if anything happens to any one of his stars (Brees, MJD or Colston), I don't see any chance of salvaging a strong season.

I'm a Texan and Vince Young will both make the playoffs.

West Division Preview

Now, let's take a look at the West Division.

Members: The Undisputed, FirstORLast, Hybrids

2008 Summary: Of these three teams, only the Hybrids made the playoffs last season. FirstOrLast, in their first season in the league, did back up their team name; unfortunately for them, not the position they had hoped for. The Undisputed finished in 10th. There is definitely room for improvement in the 2009-2010 season for the members of the LOTC West Division.

2009 Preview: This could be a very close divison. Each team has playoff potential. This division will fight for one of the two wild-card spots.

Hybrids

There should be a lot of solid performers on the Hybrids this season. Welker should continue to get a lot of receptions. Ochocinco is now the clear #1 and has Carson Palmer returning. Also, there are 3 good RBs on this team; a characteristic that most teams do not have. Westbrook, Williams, and Portis will all produce numbers....IF healthy. Portis and Westbrook each have some injury risk. However, the Hybrids have a deep bench, so if any injury does occur, they should be ok. Oh yeah, if DeAngelo Williams somehow remains the fantasy freak that he was for the second half of last season...look out. The one question for this team, and it is an important question, is this: what numbers will McNabb put up this season? Will Vick steal any of his thunder? Will he be healthy for a consecutive season? The Hybrids are poised to have a good season, but if McNabb does not have a good year, that will offset some of the other positives this team will have.

The Undisputed

There are two strong areas for this team: Philip Rivers and the receiver positions. Fitzgerald is the superstar WR, and I think that Edwards, Driver, Coles, and Holt will all be solid contributors at the WR position. Jason Witten will remain in the top group of tight ends this year. Unfortunately for the Undisputed, the RB position is not very strong. Chris Johnson is a stud, but will have some TDs poached by Lendale White, and White will take a decent amount of handoffs as well. But, the Titans run the ball A LOT, so Johnson will still put up good numbers. However, Jospeh Addai and Jamal Lewis are no sure things. The Undisputed will need a suprise year from one of these RBs in order to make the playoffs this year.

FIRSTorLAST

Well, let's just say that FIRSTorLAST will not be in either first....or last...this season. Michael Turner and Matt Forte will put up very good numbers for this team. I doubt that both of these backs will be quite as strong as last season, but they are still two of the best RBs in the league. Matt Ryan should continue to develop and put up better than average numbers. He is not a superstar, but a solid option at QB. The fate of this team depends on how well the rest of the offensive positions perform. TJ whosyomamma will do well. If he does REALLY well, that will relieve some of the pressure that is on Berrian, Hixon, and rookie Knowshon Moreno. Berrian did not play this preseason, Hixon has to find out where exactly he fits in the Giant offense sans Plax, and Moreno is a rookie in the fantasy-frustrating backfield of the Broncos. Wait, I almost forgot about possibly the best TE in the game, Antonio Gates. He should put forth another Gates-like season and will provide no worries for the manager.

Playoff Prediction: Division winner Hybrids will make the playoffs again this year; McNabb will put up good enough numbers to complement the other contributors on this team. Both FIRSTorLAST and the Undisputed will need to have one or two things go their way to make the playoffs. I feel that the second place team will fight for one of the wild-card spots. This team will be FIRSTorLAST, showing a big improvement from last season. The Undisputed will compete, but will finish the division in 3rd.

East Division Preview

"The temperature outside is 74 degrees with a slight wind out of the southeast. Please keep your seat belts securely fastened until we have connected with the jetway and the pilot has turned off the seat belt sign. We know you have many choices when you fly; thank you for flying with us today. And welcome to..."

We have arrived. All our bags came in nicely at the baggage claim (except yours... they searched yours, and your undies are hanging out from where they didn't really zip it back up). Rental car checked out nicely; they even upgraded us. And we're all checked in at the hotel. We're here. The time has come. No more waiting.

Let's do this.

After a long, grueling off-season filled with suspensions and reinstatements, retirements and unretirements, trades and free-agent signings, the NFL season is now. Which means Fantasy Football for the League of the Crust has already begun. But, before all the rip-off trades get offered and the league point leaders get screwed out of wins (who's bitter?), I wanted to do a preview of the East division. So here it goes.

Thundermonkeys R Go!
JMB had one of the more solid lineups last year, and this year it shouldn't be much different. Aaron Rodgers is going to be one of the 5 best fantasy QBs this year, and Greg Jennings is only going to get better. The team did take a major blow when Terrel Owens was signed by the Buffalo Bills, relegating Lee Evans to a number 2 WR. Essentially, it's going to be impossible for both of those wide outs to have a huge day on the same week. But, they are both stud receivers, and with some insecurity at the RB position, it looks as though the Bills may turn to the air for offensive production. Everyone knows that both Marion Barber and Brandon Jacobs are going to produce, and Matt Ryan is going to love his new security blanket in Tony Gonzales. And, if for some reason they don't hit it off, Visanthe Shiancoe is going to make a killing off Brett Favre. He's poised for a breakout year. The Thundermokeys biggest challenge is going to come when his backups are forced to play, either via bye week or injury. There's not really anyone worth putting into a starting lineup on the bench, and because of that, this team will lose some games it probably should win.

Djibouti Crust
Jorge's team has a really interesting makeup. There are a lot of guys that are going to be consistent point factories, but not many that are going to wow us with their massive performances. Romo's career is at a crossroads, and he should step up to the plate this year, and having a whole off-season with new number 1 Roy Williams should be a big help (to Romo, Williams, the Cowboys, and The Crust). Dwayne Bowe is hoping that the Chiefs didn't jump the gun on Cassell, a move that will be scrutinized throughout the season, and the Chargers are hoping for another 1,000+ yards out of Vincent Jackson. Djibouti Crust's weakest position group is that of Running Back. While led by the sure-fire Pierre Thomas (although starting the season injured is never a good sign), the other backs are question marks. Ced Benson is gearing up for his last hurrah, hoping to make the splash that some expected at the beginning of his career, and Felix Jones is trying to stay healthy so he does make that impact that he showed he could last year. The sleeper of this team might be TE Dustin Keller. Superstar rookie QBs and solid running games can make tight ends look really good, and Keller is a good enough player to capitalize on an opportunity like this one. Oh, and mark my words: Jorge will get a victory this year solely on the backs of the best defense in the NFL, the Minnesota Vikings. Overall, if a few of Jorge's question marks turn into exclamation points, Djibouti Crust could be tough to beat.

Deion Found Jesus
Robby G is poised to score the most points via the pass than any other team in the League of the Crust this season. Tom Brady is back and his knee looks healthy. He's not going to throw 50 TDs again, but he should be in the 40s. And, while I'm glad that I am not the proud owner of one Brandon Marshall simply because it is hard to replace the arm of his former QB, Jake Cutler, it would be a mistake to deny his immense talent. Marshall isn't the only 1200-yard receiver on DFJ that lost his passer in the off-season either. Antonio Bryant is coming off of a breakout year, and expecting one of the 19 Buccaneer QBs to just get the ball somewhere close to him. Also, there's Reggie Wayne. Enough said. Even Chris Henry should have a solid (if not stellar) year. Carson is back in action, and Henry has looked good in camp and the pre-season. However, Robby is going to struggle mightily to score points on the ground. LT is always good for points, as long as he can stay on the field, which isn't a guarantee. I am, however, concerned that Darren Sproles, the other back on the Bolts, is also going to be starting opening day for DFJ. While he will get a point for every hand-off the Chargers run this year, he has handicapped himself by nearly guaranteeing not having a day when both RBs are stars. And if either goes down, he has no one to pick up the pieces.

Prediction
When the season comes to a close after week 13, the credits will roll in the order they appeared.

Thundermonkeys are going to lead this division with great QB play and two of the best RBs in the league. Greg Jennings is going to show that he, along with Rodgers, are undervalued.

Djibouti Crust will finish second through surprise efforts on the parts of Romo, R. Williams, and Benson. All three are going to out-perform their expectations, and the rest of his lineup is going to keep him consistently competitive.

That relegates Deion Found Jesus to last in the division, but only by a nose. The lack of any real running backs on any team not playing in SoCal is going to be his demise. Don't get me wrong, he's gonna light a few people up, and may even finish this season with the highest single week score, but any week where the Chargers play a team with good run defense, it's going to be tough to win.


So, there you have it. The East division in (really long) nutshell. Now please stow all tray tables and place seat backs in the upright and locked position, because we're taking off. And it might be a bumpy ride.