Week 12 Recap

Now just two weeks to go, and title scenarios are starting to come into focus. Markinson qualification is a mess that I'll address next week.

Markinson

Drew comes up big again, beating Hubert by 14 to stay alone in first place. The loss drops Hubert two games back with two to go, technically still alive with a 90-point lead on Drew, but really it's just a killer loss. A win would have put Hubert in the driver's seat. Instead, Drew controls his own destiny, and his last two games are against teams in the bottom half of the standings.

Gina is just a game back in second place after beating Scott by 16, and she leads Drew by 70 points, so two wins combined with a Drew loss would likely give her the title. But next up for her is a huge game against Amer.

Amer kept his slim title hopes alive with his 12th career Heineken in an 89-point win(!!!) over Lisa. With a 170-point lead on Drew, he's in pretty much the same boat as Hubert, technically alive but having blown his big shot against Drew last week.

Eddy is off the schneid, snapping his 5-game losing streak with a 5-point win over Jason.

Montoya

Bad week for Hubert. Two 1 vs. 2 games, two losses. Andrew handles him easily by 33 to move back into first place and in control of his own destiny. Win out and the title - along with a first ever Markinson bid - is his. Hubert has a 74-point lead on Andrew, so two wins and an Andrew loss would likely give him his first league title. But Andrew's final two opponents are in the bottom 3 in the standings.

I beat Lisa by 19 to stay in title contention. I have a 44-point lead on Andrew, so I need two wins, an Andrew loss, and probably a Hubert loss to win the title. My eyes are more focused on the rear view mirror and a Markinson bid at this point.

Jeremy scores his 11th career Heineken to drop Dan by 70 in a huge 4 vs. 5 game. He's still technically alive in the title chase, but perhaps more importantly, he creates some separation from Dan in the Markinson chase.

Gina continues a strong second half with a 39-point win over Scott. She is technically still alive in the chase to finish fourth, but it's a real long shot. Her best chance to qualify for Markinson next year is to win Markinson this year.

Dufresne

Nalu beats Steve by 27 to stay on top and in control of his own destiny. Win out, and he's champion. But his final two games are against Amer and Dean. Doesn't get much tougher than that.

Russell beats Eddy by 23 to hold onto second place. He is tied with Nalu by record, but he trails by 103 points, so he needs two wins and a Nalu loss to take the crown. His final two opponents are in the bottom 4.

Dean is still solidly in contention after earning his 22nd career Heineken (just 1 behind Scott) in an 87-point win(!!!) over Jason, almost the largest margin of victory in Dufresne history. Dean is a game behind Nalu and Russell, but he has a huge points lead on both, so he needs two wins and a loss by each of them to win the title. And he gets his own shot at Nalu in week 14. Dean also increases his Starling lead over Hubert to 96 points, a seemingly insurmountable amount.

Drew is also still in the title hunt after his 16-point win over Amer, but it's a long shot. The win positions him well to qualify for Markinson, though he may make that moot with the Markinson title.

Week 11 Recap

Markinson

Just 3 games remaining, and this 4-horse race might be down to 3. Because of Amer's point lead, it's still conceivable that he could win out, have Drew go 1-2, and have Hubert and Gina go no better than 2-1. But no one has ever won a league title with 5 losses, so Amer's chances are looking bleak. Of course, the last time I wrote that, he strung together 5 straight wins to move back into contention, so we'll see.

Drew is still alone in first at 8-3 thanks to his huge 10-point win over Amer, dropping the reigning champ to 4th place and 2 games back.

Hubert pulls in his 16th career Heineken to drop Jason by 44. Hubert plays Drew next, and the winner will be in first place heading into the final two games of the season.

Gina remains in contention, moving up to third place and just a game back of Drew with her 42-point win over Eddy, whose losing streak has now reached 5 after a 5-1 start.

Scott beats Lisa by 37 to give himself a shot at crawling out of the basement before season's end.

Montoya

Jeremy scores his 10th career Heineken, the 6th person to reach double digit brews (Scott, Dean, Hubert, Jason, Amer), and he beats Lisa by 71 points! The win is big in another way as well, moving Jeremy back into 4th place and in line for Markinson 2010.

Hubert is the new man on top after beating Gina by 30. His win, combined with Andrew's 13-point loss to me, puts them both at 8-3, with me just a game back at 7-4. Hubert has a 106-point lead on Andrew, but they face each other next, giving Andrew his one shot to render that point lead moot. A loss for Andrew would mean his only shot at the title would be to finish 2-0 while Hubert finishes 0-2.

Dan loses a heart-breaker to Scott by just 0.76 points, dropping him from 4th to 5th and out of league title contention. But he is tied with Jeremy at 6-5 for that all-important spot in 4th place. It's about time Scott won one of these types of games. It's also the first week this season that Scott has won in both leagues.

Dufresne

I'm not even going to try to handicap this race yet. Five teams are either tied for or within a game of first place, and one of the teams a game back is Dean's Pansies, which hold a significant points lead on the rest of the league. So anything can still happen.

After an excruciatingly painful Saturday evening, Nalu vowed to me that he would take out his frustrations on Dufresne and snag the Heineken (true story). Not one to fall short on his promises, Nalu secures his 4th career Heineken in a 48-point win over Eddy, who has lost a combined 9 straight in the two leagues. Nalu is now back in first, having righted the ship after a 3-game skid.

Russell moves up to second with his 5-point win over Dean, dropping Dean from 1st to 3rd. Dean still leads for the Starling Cup, increasing the gap over Hubert by 2 points to 43.

Drew drops from 2nd to 4th and tumbles out of Starling contention after posting only 59 points in a 42-point loss to Steve. Seven of his players combined for just 10 points total!

Amer stays in the hunt for Markinson with a 7-point win over Jason, who is also lurking in the Markinson hunt, and well as the title chase. Weird season.

Don't forget, lots of Thursday games this holiday week. Enjoy Thanksgiving, but set your lineups!

Week 10 Recap

Markinson

Jason takes his spoiler role seriously, bringing home the Heineken in a 57-point beating of first-place Drew. The loss prevents Drew from taking a 2-game lead in the standings.

Hubert stays in the hunt with a crucial 3-point squeaker over Gina, who would have moved into first place with a win. They are both just a game back of Drew with substantial point leads.

So is Amer, who beats Scott by 17 to win his 5th straight and move all the way up to 2nd place. His quest to repeat looked bleak just a month ago, but now he may be the favorite. He has a huge game next week against Drew to determine 1st place.

Lisa tops Eddy by 41, most likely dropping him out of contention after his 4th straight loss.

Montoya

Hubert picks up another Heineken in his 27-point win over Scott, keeping him in second place.

Andrew stays in first with a 24-point win over Jeremy. The loss drops Jeremy out of the top four.

Gina beats me by 24, keeping alive her outside shot at a Markinson bid with her 3rd straight win.

Dan also wins his 3rd straight, by 16 over Lisa, moving him into 4th place and in line for his first Markinson bid.

Dufresne

Wow, what a season. Five teams tied for first place! At least one of which isn't qualifying for Markinson.

Amer scores a Heineken to take down 1st-place Dean by 31. Amer still has an outside shot of sneaking into the top four, while Dean drops back to the pack but maintains his top position thanks to his points lead. He also still leads Hubert for Starling by 41 points.

Drew tops Eddy by 16 to win his 4th straight and move up to 2nd place. He's been on fire!

Jason is also on fire, beating Steve by 22 to notch his 3rd straight win and move up to 5th place, tied for 1st in record. It's Steve's 6th straight loss. Welcome to the big leagues, bro. ;)

Russell beats Nalu by 22 to add to the chaos at the top of the standings. Russell keeps his all-important 4th spot, while Nalu drops to 3rd, the lowest he's been in the standings since week 2.

Week 9 Recap

Markinson

Gina picks up a Heineken for the second straight week (3rd career), this time in Markinson, helping her to a 40-point win over Jason. The win keeps her in second place, one game back.

Drew stays in first place with his 4th straight win, this one a tight 6-pointer over Scott.

Amer also wins his 4th straight, a 60-point beatdown of Eddy, who manages only 63 points. What's happening to Dunkel Weizen? Amer continues to lurk in 3rd place, a legit threat to repeat as champion of champions, but he'll need some help at two games back.

Hubert also stays alive with a 14-point win over Lisa.

Montoya

My 2nd Heineken this season (9th career) once again comes against Scott, who continues to face the toughest schedule. Last time he had the second-highest score, and this time he has the third highest, but he still loses by 30. My schedule must be pretty tough, too, if I keep needing Heinekens to beat last place. The win keeps me in third.

Andrew moves back into first place with a 15-point win over Lisa and is poised to qualify for Markinson for the first time!

Hubert drops back to second after losing to Dan by 37, but he continues to lead in points. He also becomes the first manager to 10,000 career points! Dan finally has a winning record this season and looks ready to make a run at his first Markinson bid as well.

Gina follows up her Heineken with the second-highest score of the week, good enough for a 14-point win over Jeremy. Despite the loss, Jeremy continues to hold down the 4th spot.

Dufresne

Darby scores his 2nd straight Heineken (4th career), and he needs it to beat Nalu, who notches the second-highest score of the week yet loses by 26. Nalu's second straight loss (after a record-tying 6-game win streak) drops him to 2nd in the standings, and Drew's third straight win moves him up to 3rd. Drew has the longest active winning streaks in both Markinson and Dufresne, a combined 7 straight!

Dean wins by 18 over Steve to move into first place. And his Starling lead is now up to 69 over Hubert, 72 over Drew, and 82 over me and Nalu.

Russell passes Amer on a garbage-time TD pass from Big Ben to Hines Ward on MNF, going from a painful 1-point loss to a seemingly comfortable 11-point win. The win keeps him in the top four and in position for his first Markinson bid.

Eddy posts his second straight anti-Heineken to lose to Jason by 17. I repeat, what's happening to Dunkel Weizen? Jason moves up to 5th but just a game back of 1st place in a tight race for the title.

Five more weeks to go! And don't forget, this week starts on Thursday!

Week 8 Recap

Markinson

It's been a tough season for Scott, but he manages to snag his 23rd career Heineken in his 15-point win over Eddy. He's still in last place but is primed to play spoiler, starting by dropping Eddy to third place.

Drew comes up just 0.34 points short of Heineken, but he still wins his second straight game against first place, beating Gina by 9, and now he's the man at the top of the standings.

Amer takes out Hubert by 15, his third straight win, and now he's back in contention, just two games back but with a large points lead. Can he repeat?

Jason loses a tough one to Lisa by 4 points, and his title chase is likely over. Time to play spoiler.

Montoya

Gina scores her second career Heineken in her 50-point beatdown of Lisa. Both have uphill battles to qualify for Markinson and will need to string some wins together to have a chance.

Hubert moves into first place after taking me down by 13. I score third highest in the league but drop to 3rd place.

Andrew falls to second after losing to Dan by 4. Two late turnovers by Dan's defense on MNF give him his margin for victory, and he's in the thick of the Markinson chase at 5th in the standings.

Jeremy keeps his all-important spot in 4th with his 17-point win over Scott.

Dufresne

Drew gets his third career Heineken in his 42-point win over Russell. His second straight win moves him into third, positioning him for a return to Markinson. Russell drops to fifth but is still right in the thick of things.

Nalu loses to Jason by 19, ending his record-tying 6-game win streak and his runaway title bid. He still holds down the top spot by one game.

Dean comes up just 2 points shy of his 22nd Heineken, but he still destroys Eddy by 66 points to move into second place, and with his massive points lead, he's really only a half-game back in the standings. He leads Hubert by 60 in the Starling race.

In the battle to avoid the bottom, Amer beats Steve by 44, keeping his qualification chances alive.