-Fantasy MVP Award
-Menace Bowl VI Recap
-Season sign off
Before we get to this week's final match recap of 2014, we take a look at the MIISFFL Fantasy MVP Award winner. It was a close contest, with 5 very worthy candidates, but in the end, as we will see, there is one player who hands down wins this award, and I don't think any of you guys can argue with it. First, we take care of the losers:
4th runner up-Emmanuel Sanders (Denver Broncos): The best statistical season of Manny's career made him possible trade bait, but ultimately not much else as it is hard to award an MVP award to a 7-7 team. Well, A-Rod did win it on a sub-.500 Texas Rangers team.......what's that? Steroids? Different sport? OK then.
3rd runner up-DeMarco Murray (Dallas Cowboys): Yeah yeah, they finally won a division only so they could choke in the first round and Murray was pretty much the reason they got there. I hear word on the street is Dez Bryant wanted to start a riot that he didn't even make the nominees list.
2nd runner up-Peyton Manning (Denver Broncos): Last year's MVP award winner basically took the literal meaning of MVP to heart this year. Eddie went 11-3. Replace Peyton with anybody else...ANYBODY...does Eddie even approach 11-3? Probably not. Alshon Jeffrey and Antonio Brown were nice honorable mentions, but let's face it. Peyton made that team. Nevertheless, like the Heisman, the Fantasy MVP is a prestigious award, and extremely difficult to win it twice, especially if your manager fails to win even a SINGLE weekly scoring pot. Thus, the Fantasy Hall of Famer just can't win it this year.
1st runner up-Odell Beckham Jr. (New York Giants): If we awarded a playoff Fantasy MVP, I think ODB would win that one in a landslide. Look at his stats for the two playoff games. Yikes. However, he loses points in that he only played in a TOTAL of 11 games this season (and 9 regular season in fantasy). It's hard to give a season-long MVP award to a guy who barely played 2/3 of it, despite the great stats. I have a feeling that ODB will be in the MVP conversation (and in Sean's lineup) for years to come.
That means by majority decision, this MIISFFL Fantasy MVP Award winner for the 2014 season is:
LA'VEON BELL (Pittsburgh Steelers).
Bell demonstrated a very consistent season from day 1, when many thought he would be in a timeshare with Le'Garrette Blount. Well, it wasn't too long before Blount was blunted to the curb (and picked up by New England), and Bell was the bonafide #1 back in Pitt, a rarity in the NFL these days, especially since 2 of the top 4 picks in the draft (all backs) played a grand total of 1 game between them this season (all for various felonious reasons). Bell picked up the slack for the featured running backs this season, scoring 316 points total (including playoffs), which included 1341 rushing yards, 8 touchdowns, and added another 774 yards receiving with 3 more scores. Bell by far was the best keeper from last year's draft, costing Sean a 2nd round pick. Unfortunately for Sean that means they will have to part ways next year, and with Bell being one of those
Congratulations to La'Veon Bell! Now, why in fact does Sean owe him $270?
This year's Menace Bowl was contested at the Buffalo Wild Wings in Ballston, VA, featuring yours truly as the special guest referee. I am happy to report that bite marks were kept to a minimum and both managers left with all digits still attached. While ejections were considered on at least 3 separate occasions, both managers survived to the end of the match. Also in attendance was a return of a fine MIISFFL alumus:
KSO!
Yes, Kent, THAT KSo. So what was KSo doing for the last 3 years forcing him to leave MIISFFL?
Well, I must say that explains a lot. Anyway, KSo observed the fisticuffs from a distance and smartly decided not to intervene, although he could have had quite an influence if he tried......
As to the match itself, in the early going in the 1PM block, the Menace Bowl was looking like it was going to be a Futility Bowl. The commissioner considered (briefly) not awarding the trophy to a Menace Bowl champion to a Futility Bowl winner. However, as we shall see, the match mercifully avoided Futility Bowl status. Eddied entered Sunday with 5.8 from Bishop Sankey on Thursday night, but that was far short of his projection, not a good sign considering Sean already entered the match as a 2-1 favorite. However, despite the early slow start, Eddie took the lead in the 2nd half as Antonio Brown, Alshon Jeffrey, and Jonas Gray all scored touchdowns within a 10 minute stretch, opening up a 20 point lead. However, those would be the only TDs Eddie would score on Sunday. Nobody else even cracked double digit points. Sean started off shakily as well as Brady took multiple sacks in the 1st half against the Jets keeping him in the negatives for most of the game. A TD pass to Gronk got Tom Terrific above water, but that was about the only good thing he did. A Bell touchdown got Sean closer, but the 1PM games ended with Eddie holding a tenuous 10 point lead with ODB and Lynch still to play for Sean.
Eddie was looking to counter with Dwayne Allen, who had a plus matchup against a suspect Cowboys secondary. Sometimes you just can't predict them. Allen had 3 targets, all drops, and finished with a bagel. ODB did his thing to the tune of 32 points to give Sean an 85-71 lead going into the Sunday night game where he had Lynch and Hauschka. Hauschka didn't help, missing 2 field goals, with the only silver lining there being that they were both over 40 yards, which meant no penalty for a miss. Lynch started the game slow, not even logging so much as a carry, but a 2nd quarter touchdown gave Sean breathing room, and a 79 yard scamper in the 4th quarter put serious daylight between himself and Eddie, a 115-71 lead...with Peyton Manning looming on Monday night.
THAT Peyton Manning, the Fantasy MVP from 2013, needed an MVP performance in order for Eddie to pull off the comeback. Well, if Peyton won any MVP on Monday night, it was the MVP of the Cincinnati secondary. Peyton threw 4 picks...4! He had not even thrown 3 in a game this season. Needless to say, Peyton did not even come close to the 45 points needed to overcome Eddie's deficit, and once again that means we will have a new champion in MIISFFL: 6 seasons, and 6 different winners. Can you say parity? By the final score of 116-84, the winner of Menace Bowl VI, and champion of MIISFFL 2014 is:
SEAN COGHLAN!!!
With the Menace Bowl in the books, we can now finalize the payouts for 2014:
Sean $285 and trophy (Champion and 3 scoring pots)
Eddie $100 (2nd place)
Chris $60 (Semifinalist and 2 scoring pots)
Zach $55 (Semifinalist and 1 scoring pot)
Kent $10 (2 scoring pots)
Dewey $10 (2 scoring pots)
Nick $10 (2 scoring pots)
Patrick $5 (1 scoring pot)
Jeff $5 (1 scoring pot)
9 guys won some type of cash this year. Don't forget that you may choose to roll your 2014 winnings into your 2015 league dues.
It will be Eddie's responsibility to engrave Sean's name in the next slot on the trophy for presentation at the Spring Meeting.
Before our final sign off for the 2014 season, we have to take a minute to thank our sponsors!
Caputo's Corner (Narcissism at its finest!)
Buffalo Wild Wings (Our new hangout for 2014 and beyond!)
Yuengling Brewing Company (3 cheers for great beers!)
Prime Time Draft
Char Broil Grills
Dottie's Trophies and Awards
The Number 8
The Letter C
MIISFFL just would not be the same without them. Thank you for your always steadfast support of the finest fantasy football venture in the world!
Everyone watch your email. There will be some important offseason information coming home soon. Our next league event is the Spring Meeting and Poker Night. If you want your $$$ (and if you want to see the trophy presentation), you might want to show up to that. This will take place not too long after the Super Bowl.
Thank you all yet another successful, exciting MIISFFL season! Let's make 2015 even better. This is Commissioner Caputo for the Menace II Sobriety Fantasy Football League and the Menace Mashup.
Signing off!
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