It was a wonderful weekend in MIISFFL Land for your humble commissioner. I watched zero football. None. When your real team and your fake team are both 100% eliminated from contention, you can take care of errands such as Christmas shopping, attend holiday parties, pay attention to the baseball winter meetings, and watch cheesy Hallmark movies.
Star Wars? Maybe after all the storm troopers and Darth Vader wannabes leave the theaters for good.
That being said it was semifinal weekend here at the Mashup and fear not we have complete coverage of these matchups and a preview of the Menace Bowl forthcoming. But first, as you might recall, with little fanfare I might add, we introduced our first ever MIISFFL All-Fantasy Team. From that All-Fantasy Team we have our nominees for the 2017 MIISFFL Fantasy MVP!
Carson Wentz (QB)-Philadelphia Eagles
Todd Gurley (RB)-Los Angeles Rams
Kareem Hunt (RB)-Kansas City Chiefs
DeAndre Hopkins (WR)-Houston Texans
Le'Veon Bell (RB)-Pittsburgh Steelers
Le'Veon Bell has made the nominee list for the 3rd time in a row (not counting 2015 when no MVP was named), winning the award in 2014. Everyone else is a first timer, including Kareem Hunt. I know he just made the honorable mention list, but what he did to bookend the season was quite remarkable for a rookie. I anticipate this is going to be a tough, close call, so if you have any other nominees for Fantasy MVP please submit them before next week!
Oh yes, despite my boycott, I did end up seeing the Jesse James play on the goal line. Yes the Steelers got jobbed, but not because the refs (or Al Riveron) screwed it up, the rule is stupid. Would somebody in NFL-land please help us figure out what it means to catch the ball?
Let's get to the recaps for the Semifinals!
Semifinal #1: Zach defeats JP 163-106
JP already felt his fate was sealed late on Sunday when he started to lament that Zach would get toasted in the Menace Bowl, but really he can't get too upset by this result. After completing the first ever worst-to-first-to-worst 3 year run in Fantasy history, JP had a somewhat average season by his standards. 8-6 is a decent record, with a playoff berth on top. His team though stood no chance this week as Zach's squad came out guns-a-blazin'. The key was the return of Aaron Rodgers. Dropped by Patrick after he hurt his collarbone, Zach took a chance that he might return by picking him up off the waiver wire in November. That chance paid off big time as he returned just in time for the fantasy playoffs. While he didn't have a spectacular game by any means (3 picks), he still posted a 20-point game whereas Philip Rivers still can't beat the University of Maryland. Did it ultimately matter in this one? Nah. Todd Gurley is just running circles around people lately. 45 big ones later (and 25 from Melvin Gordon), Zach had the match won from the RB position alone. Le'Veon did what he could for JP with 27 of his own, but as has been the case for JP late in the season, his QB carousel of Dak and Ben the Rapist couldn't get the job done, even if that last touchdown to Jesse James had stood. JP ends his season knowing that he did everything he could, and Zach moves on to the Menace Bowl looking to win his first title since Cam Newton was his quarterback.
Semifinal #2: Nate defeats Chris 164-107
As if we didn't see this one coming, Chris catches fire in the 2nd half of the season, and wets himself when the playoffs start. His running back duo got the job done wit 49 points combined, but expect Chris to join the crescendoing chorus of calls to can the kicker after his kicker put up a donut. Nate on the other hand was loaded for bear for a matchup with JP in the Menace Bowl, where he was hoping the outcome would be determined by a game of Magic the Gathering instead of fantasy football, but that won't happen of course. Nate took care of business: 4 scores of 20+ points including 38 from Krispy Kareem, and 2 more scores of 18 and 19 apiece. Despite being somewhat close to not even making the playoffs when last week started, Nate told his charges to leave nothing to chance, despite Chris's well-documented history of playoff putouts. Chris is now 0-3 in the playoffs. Nate wins his first playoff matchup in MIISFFL ever as both he and Zach stake their claim to the blowout of the week.
And folks, like deja vu, here we are all over again...it's time for:
MENACE BOWL IX
Menace Bowl IX
Zach Johnson (Mexico's Vick Ina Box) vs. Nate Sturm (Krispy Kareem Donuts)
Season Result: Zach defeated Nate 134-118 (Week 6)
All-time Results: Zach leads 2-0
This matchup you could see coming all the way back from Week 1 when Kareem Hunt ran wild all over the New England Patriots. Today we are set for a showdown on Christmas Eve that even Santa himself might take a break from his delivery routes to drink some milk and take in the carnage. This is a battle between MVP candidates past and present. On Nate's side, we have Kareem Hunt, who seemed to go through a bit of an identity crisis in the middle of the season only to figure it out again when it mattered the most. Nate also has Rob Gronkowski, who just narrowly missed the commissioner's final 5 for the MVP award (pending nomination from anybody else of course). Gronk might have let his temper get the best of him a couple weeks ago, but Nate survived it in style. On Zach's side, it's safe to say he is over the Cam Newton delusion from several years ago. Todd Gurley fired the first salvo for the playoff MVP competition, and his shrewd waiver wire magic of nabbing Aaron Rodgers looks like it paid off at just the right time (**although McCarthy said that with the Packers now eliminated he might just get shut down all together, something to watch**). Let's not forget MVP candidate DeAndre Hopkins who made the list after his season catching passes from a Savage...literally. It all will play out on the most exciting night of the year for children under the age of 10. Dewey is standing at the ready to engrave the winner's name. Will it be Zach, looking to become the first 2-time winner of the league since its inception? Will it be Nate, who is looking to continue the trend of new winners Every. Single. Year.?
Next week, the 2017 season of MIISFFL concludes with the MOST IMPORTANT FANTASY CHAMPIONSHIP IN THE HISTORY OF FANTASY CHAMPIONSHIPS!
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