Evans World 2011-Final

I hope everyone had a great Christmas weekend!  It was a great weekend of football games, food, friends, fun and family for Mindi and me.  I’m looking forward to the next month of football to see the Huskers win and the Packers go all the way for a second time.  And at least now Mindi doesn’t have to listen to me complain every week about how much my team has sucked this year.

DA WINNER
Congrats to the noob, Ritchie, for winning Evans World 2011!  Riding the wave of a 7-game winning streak, Ritchie rose from toast to victor averaging 113 points a game.  The pairing of Brady and Gronkowski was a huge help, no doubt there, but the late-season surges of Roddy White, Nate Burleson and Reggie Bush helped cement his place in EW History.  Sorry to break it to you, Ritchie, but noobs have never repeated in our league.  Tom and Rob both joined and won their first years and haven’t graced our championship game since.  Enjoy your reign on top for now.  Come August, it’s a whole new game and you won’t repeat.  I’ll see to that.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

• I’ve been spouting so much wisdom for the past 16 weeks,   it’s time to just throw some ideas into the ether and call it good.  Once I post this, it’s time to take a break from FF thoughts and just enjoy the playoff ride of the Green Bay Packers.
• Gary’s got to feel a little vindicated with his 9th place finish and his team’s performance.  He’s averaged 100 points during the playoffs, and his loss to Kevin is one he’ll look to revenge early next season.  Congrats for kicking my ass so thoroughly this week.
• Kudos to Kevin for voting on most of the weekly matchups, including the final week.  Of course, he didn’t vote for me.
• Yup, Mike has checked out.  He started Murray for a second week.  Not that he needed him to win his matchup, but it’s not like him to leave the matchup like that two weeks in a row.  Hope you enjoyed looking online this week and seeing you securely in the #7 standing.  I wonder what his team name will be in the fall …
• Speaking of standings … one of the best things to come from Yahoo this season … season-ending standings finally show the ranking based on the playoff performance, not the regular season record!  I love that!  My 10th place finish helps erase my pathetic 3-10 record.  I also finished higher than Tom.  My secondary FF goal this season was achieved.  I feel better now.  Take that, Tom!
• Wow, lousy time for Romo to get hurt and kill Kevin’s chance to get the coveted spot of “best of the rest.”  Sure, Fitzpatrick wouldn’t have gotten enough points to win against Mike’s 8-man team, but it might have left a less-bitter taste in his mouth.  As promised, I’ve updated the EW Records list with most points scored.  Turns out Kevin’s 2011 team barely cracked the top 10 teams all-time.  Even still, his bad luck in matchups will be remembered for some time.
• Just a reminder … nobody drafted Darren Sproles.  Wow.  He’s playing with the fire and energy of a player just starting in the league.  The Chargers have got to beating themselves up over letting him go.
• It’s too bad that Drew Brees’ performance Monday night in FF didn’t match the amazing record record he broke.  It wouldn’t have helped Berk much to catch up in the championship game, but that’s a huge record to get (and with one week left to add a little more to it)!  Congrats to Drew, a player I knew back at Purdue would be a great NFL (and FF) QB.
• This is the first time in 5 years that Nathan didn’t win any money in the league named in his honor.

WEEKLY AWARDS

• MVP – Gotta give this one to Brady one last time for putting Ritchie over the top and giving him the win against his brother. Sure, it was pretty much over for Berk by Christmas morning, but it was fun to watch the Monday night game and cheer for Brees and hope to help Berk enough to come back.
• Honorable Mention – Rodgers and Nelson once again seal the win for Tony G.  Is that a matchup that folks will look to duplicate next season in their draft?
• Best Owner Choice – Big time kudos to Ritchie for picking up and starting Kahil Bell this week.  A bold move considering it was against the Packers defense, but I think the injuries on both teams and the Yahoo! projected points helped make his decision, rather than simply start Toby Gearhart or Morris (picked up just 2 weeks ago) as he had before.  Great call.  He did play very well, but not well enough to win out the spot from Forte.
• Unfortunate Bench – Could give it to Gary for Reggie Wayne finally having a big week, but he didn’t need him.  Could give it to Kevin for Fitzpatrick but it wouldn’t have been enough.  Could give it to Mike for any RB other than Murray, but he was asleep at the switch.  So, it’ll go to Tony P. for not starting Flacco and trying to ride Tebow one last week.  Flacco did so well for him in the regular season, I guess Tony got caught up in all the hype.  I’m picturing Tony “tebowing” in his home and then giving up on it.
• Lawrence Phillips Award – In honor of his achievements (and 2-time LPA winner) throughout the season, I give this one to Tony Romo for wimping out one last time and giving the game to the Eagles.  It amazes me that the Cowboys still have a shot at the playoffs even with that loss.  Sure, they’ll stick with Romo for a bit longer, but look for them to draft their next franchise QB this April.

Well, friends, it’s been a pleasure to be your Commish one last time this season. Unless someone would like to take over (hint, hint), I’ll be happy to serve again next year and make sure the draft is ready (no lockout problems this year) and to berate you for your great and poor choices/luck.  I’ll be in touch in July to see if you’re still interested in playing … in between diaper changes for my new son who you know will be playing with us in a few years.   I can’t wait!