Ok, fine. One more quick recap while my daughter sleeps on my chest:
Legacy - D1
Fighting to Win League Bowl IV:
#1 R.D. Gallant - U Digg It? 7-11, 10-4
#4 Ben Musselman - Nacua Matata, 8-6
#6 Jimmy Bunch - TL;DR, 8-6
#7 Zach Dye - Purdy Average, 7-7
Relegated:
#10 Keaton Smith - Maye Cause Drowsiness, 6-8
#11 Josh Shelton - Air Freier, 4-10
#12 Cody Morford - Bo Me, 2-12
How we got here:
#1 R.D. Gallant (U Digg It? 7-11, 10-4) staved off a valiant effort from #8 Hit Squad Nathan to make it to the final four.
#4 Ben Musselman (Nacua Matata, 8-6) overwhelmed #5 Ryan Johnson (‘s Rad Team, 8-6) with seven of nine starters scoring 10+ points a 40-point blowout.
Zach Dye (Purdy Average, 7-11) saved his season by getting a win in Week 14 to secure the 7th seed. A loss would have meant relegation to Mettle next season. Then, in the first round of the playoffs, Zach knocked off #2 J.B. (Jonathan’s Amazing Team, 10-4) in a shocking upset.
It was the first of two upsets, with #6 Jimmy Bunch (TL;DR, 8-6) also taking down #3 Alex DiCarolo (Woody on my Johnson, 9-5).
Mettle - D2
Fighting for Promotion:
#3 Daniel Monnier - Monnier, 8-6
#4 Alex Chang - Lisan al-QB, 8-6
#7 Campbell Wurl - Nicoco Puffs, 7-7
#8 Jordan Williams - Not Racist Redskins, 7-7
Relegated:
#10 Sy Gallimore - Ship Happens, 6-8
#11 Keuris Fernandez - I’m sorry Miss Jackson, 5-9
#12 Ryan Tidwell - Dak Dak Goose, 4-10
How we got here:
Despite having a 18-point lead in projected scoring, #6 Ian Svendsen (Ian’s Ingenious Team, 7-7) fell to #3 Daniel Monnier (Monnier, 8-6).
#7 Campbell Wurl (Nicoco Puffs, 7-7) upset #2 Kyler Stock (Kyler’s Splendid Team) before a single one of Kyler’s players started playing because of Kyle Pitts’s massive Thursday night performance of 40 points. Campbell won by 28.
The best game of any of the first-round matchups across the league was #4 Alex Chang (Lisan al-QB, 8-6)’s nail-biting 1.22-point win over #5 Tim Cook (Jets May Win Someday). It all came down to the Monday night game and truly could have gone either way in the 4th quarter.
What the heck, I’m going to include myself because I’m pissed about it. My team, Ship Happens, cruised to victory in Week 14 and wound up with the 5th highest point total in the league of the course of the season. In spite of that, I was still in need of help - heavy-favorite Ian Svendsen (Ian’s Ingenious Team, 7-7) needed to beat Jordan Williams (Not Racist Redskins, 7-7) to help me avoid relegation. Jordan only scored 80 points, so that shouldn’t have been a problem. But Ian crapped the bed and only scored 70. So here we are.
I guess it’s okay, though, because #8 Jordan Williams went on to upset #1 Jordan Putt (Jordanian Putters, 11-3) in the first round - perhaps the largest upset in league history given the Jordanian Putters dominance across all three divisions this season.
Bedrock
Fighting for Promotion:
#1 Joe Acosta - Not Your Average Joe, 12-2
#3 Joel Wagness - HingleMcCringleberry, 10-4
#5 Miguel Garcia - Baker’s Dozen, 9-5
#7 Alejandro Sanchez - Alejandro’s Super Succulents, 6-8
Potentially getting kicked from the league entirely next year:
#11 Stevie Collins - Fourth & Longwood, 4-10
#12 Sam Adams - Long Shot Sam, 4-10
#13 Joey Eugene - Joey’s Marvelous Team, 1-12
How we got here:
#1 Joe Acosta (Not Your Average Joe, 12-2) coasted into the final four with a never-in-doubt win over #8 ATL Lemon Peppas.
The second biggest upset of the entire Relegation Fantasy League is none other than #7 Alejandro Sanchez (Alejandro’s Super Succulents, 6-8) knocking off #2 Jordan Breyer (Blitz Zone Jordan Breyer, 11-3) in the first round. Alejandro scored 40 points more than his projected to squeeze past Jordan by a whopping 4.14 points…in spite of not setting his lineup with an RB2.
#3 Joel Wagness (HingleMcCringleberry, 10-4) won an underwhelming affair against #6 Jayson Rhea (Jayson’s First-Rate Team, 7-7).
#5 Miguel Garcia (Baker’s Dozen, 9-5) upset #4 Eli Robinson (The Skatteboys, 10-4), mostly due to Kyle Pitts’s huge game.
Worth noting: Stevie Collins (Fourth & Longwood, 4-10) was desperately trying to make the playoffs instead of playing it safe to avoid relegation and texted then-11th-seed Alex Soares (Cool Drive Alex, 5-9) to set his lineup. The thought process was that if Alex won and Stevie won, Stevie would sneak into the 8th seed. Well, Alex did his end of the bargain, but Stevie lost, sending him into 10th and in danger of being kicked out of the league altogether.
Fantastic recap of all the playoff chaos. That #7 Alejandro upset in Bedrock really stands out since he somehow pulled off a 4.14 point win without even setting his RB2 properly, which goes to show how much variance dominates these single-week playoff matchups. I've ben in similar relegation scrambles before and the stress of needing other managers to set their lineups correctly is wild. The butterly effect of Ian's Week 14 collapse affecting the whole playoff picture is exactly why I dunno if I'd ever want to run a multi-division relegation system myself.