Semifinal Recap

Montoya

Andrew easily dispatches Dan 146-96, eliminating Dan from Markinson contention. Dan will come back next year still seeking his first champions league bid.

Gina is also eliminated from Markinson contention after losing to Scott 94-107.

Scott now faces Andrew in the finals, and a win will keep his perfect Markinson streak intact. A win by Andrew gets me back into Markinson. Nothing personal, Scott, but go Proper Villains!

Dufresne

Dean knocks out Amer 123-84, ensuring that Amer will miss Markinson for the first time since he has joined the league.

Nalu takes out Russell 143-133, but because of Amer's loss, Russell earns his first ever Markinson bid! Welcome to the big show, Russell!

The Dufresne Markinson lineup is now set for next season: Dean, Nalu, Russell, Drew.

Nalu now gets another shot at Dean for a trophy, after falling agonizingly short in the regular season finale. Two games in a month, both for a trophy... they've proven they are the clear top two of Dufresne this season. A budding rivalry, perhaps?

Both Dean and Andrew are trying to match Amer's singular feat - winning a League Championship and League Cup in the same season. Actually, Amer is still the only one to win both in a career. I hope he can't still say that after this weekeend.

Good luck to Andrew, Dean, and Nalu! :P

Quarterfinal Recap

Montoya

In the immortal words of Vince Lombardi, "What the hell is going on out there?" It was a terrible, terrible day for FC Hang. As the one on the Markinson bubble, I was rooting for all favorites, and 3 of them fell. Help me Andrew's Proper Villains, you're my only hope.

The league champ took care of business with a 163-125 pounding of Lisa, who had a great week herself but just ran into a buzzsaw. Lisa's hopes for a return to Markinson are now dashed.

The biggest shocker was Scott ending Hubert's 9-playoff-game and 3-playoff-cup winning streaks. Scott has never missed Markinson, and he still has hopes of keeping that streak alive.

Gina took down Jeremy, and next up is a showdown with Scott to see who will be playing in the finals for a ticket to the big show.

DanFran took me down for the second straight week, and now he gets the league champ. If he beats Andrew, my Markinson bid will be toast, and his hopes for a first ever bid will remain alive.

Dufresne

Russell had a much better day. Also on the bubble, he too was rooting for the favorites, and 3 of them came through, including himself. Only Drew fell short, and Amer is now the only potential spoiler after a 159-122 win. Amer has yet to miss qualifying for Markinson, and next up he'll face league champ Dean to keep his hopes alive.

Dean easily knocked off Eddy but should expect a much stiffer challenge from Amer. We know who Russell will be rooting for. A win by Dean guarantees Russell's first ever Markinson bid.

Russell beat Jason, which means Jason will miss Markinson for the first time ever. Markinson will miss the Texas All Stars, too.

Next up for Russell is Nalu, who took care of Steve in a matchup of the two newest managers. Nalu had a similar first season to Steve's, so we'll expect Steve to follow Nalu's lead and step it up next season.

Consolation games still count toward your career record, so stay focused! And go Andrew!

Career Records

Here are the career records in the major categories now that the regular season is over. The upcoming playoff results will only affect wins; points and Heinekens are not tracked in the playoffs.

And in case you were wondering, and I know you were, Dean's average position in these rankings is 2.31, while Hubert's is 2.46.

Overall Wins

1. 71 - Hubert
2. 63 - Dean
3. 55 - Jason
4. 52 - Scott
5. 48 - Chang
6. 45 - Drew
7. 44 - Amer
8. 38 - Jeremy
9. 37 - Lisa
10. 35 - Andrew
    35 - Eddy
12. 30 - Gina
13. 28 - Dan
14. 24 - Russell
15. 15 - Nalu
16. 5 - Steve

Markinson Wins

1. 24 - Hubert
2. 21 - Jason
3. 20 - Dean
4. 17 - Amer
   17 - Chang
6. 14 - Scott
7. 11 - Drew
8. 10 - Lisa
9. 9 - Gina
10. 6 - Eddy
11. 5 - Jeremy

Premier League Wins

1. 38 - Dean
   38 - Hubert
3. 34 - Scott
4. 31 - Drew
5. 30 - Andrew
6. 28 - Jason
   28 - Jeremy
8. 27 - Chang
9. 25 - Dan
10. 24 - Lisa
11. 23 - Eddy
    23 - Russell
13. 22 - Amer
14. 18 - Gina
15. 14 - Nalu
16. 5 - Steve

Playoff Wins

1. 9 - Hubert
2. 6 - Eddy
   6 - Jason
4. 5 - Amer
   5 - Andrew
   5 - Dean
   5 - Jeremy
8. 4 - Chang
   4 - Scott
10. 3 - Dan
    3 - Drew
    3 - Gina
    3 - Lisa
14. 1 - Nalu
    1- Russell

Overall Points

1. 11233.30 - Hubert
2. 10959.20 - Scott
3. 10923.36 - Jason
4. 9878.40 - Dean
5. 9005.90 - Chang
6. 8522.16 - Lisa
7. 7992.56 - Amer
8. 7516.44 - Jeremy
9. 7330.46 - Gina
10. 7208.26 - Drew
11. 6729.30 - Eddy
12. 5865.50 - Andrew
13. 5703.12 - Dan
14. 5480.80 - Russell
15. 2988.36 - Nalu
16. 1347.00 - Steve

Markinson Points

1. 4710.80 - Jason
2. 4657.20 - Hubert
3. 4281.90 - Scott
4. 3276.10 - Dean
5. 3274.32 - Amer
6. 3041.72 - Chang
7. 2725.68 - Lisa
8. 1627.12 - Gina
9. 1568.58 - Drew
10. 1457.68 - Jeremy
11. 1393.16 - Eddy

Premier League Points

1. 6677.30 - Scott
2. 6602.30 - Dean
3. 6576.10 - Hubert
4. 6212.56 - Jason
5. 6058.76 - Jeremy
6. 5964.18 - Chang
7. 5865.50 - Andrew
8. 5796.48 - Lisa
9. 5703.34 - Gina
10. 5703.12 - Dan
11. 5639.68 - Drew
12. 5480.80 - Russell
13. 5336.14 - Eddy
14. 4718.24 - Amer
15. 2988.36 - Nalu
16. 1347.00 - Steve

Overall Points Per Game

1. 117.60 - Dean
2. 114.63 - Hubert
3. 114.18 - Amer
4. 111.83 - Scott
5. 111.46 - Jason
6. 107.38 - Jeremy
7. 107.21 - Chang
8. 106.73 - Nalu
9. 104.74 - Andrew
10. 104.72 - Gina
11. 102.98 - Drew
12. 101.84 - Dan
13. 101.45 - Lisa
14. 97.87 - Russell
15. 96.21 - Steve
16. 96.13 - Eddy

Markinson Points Per Game

1. 117.00 - Dean
2. 116.94 - Amer
3. 116.22 - Gina
4. 112.16 - Jason
5. 112.04 - Drew
6. 110.89 - Hubert
7. 108.63 - Chang
8. 104.12 - Jeremy
9. 101.95 - Scott
10. 99.51 - Eddy
11. 97.35 - Lisa

Premier League Points Per Game

1. 119.24 - Scott
2. 117.90 - Dean
3. 117.43 - Hubert
4. 112.34 - Amer
5. 110.94 - Jason
6. 108.19 - Jeremy
7. 106.73 - Nalu
8. 106.50 - Chang
9. 104.74 - Andrew
10. 103.51 - Lisa
11. 101.85 - Gina
12. 101.84 - Dan
13. 100.71 - Drew
14. 97.87 - Russell
15. 96.21 - Steve
16. 95.29 - Eddy

Overall Heinekens

1. 24 - Scott
2. 23 - Dean
3. 16 - Hubert
4. 13 - Jason
5. 12 - Amer
6. 11 - Jeremy
7. 9 - Chang
8. 7 - Eddy
9. 5 - Andrew
   5 - Gina
   5 - Lisa
12. 4 - Drew
    4 - Nalu
    4 - Russell
15. 2 - Dan
16. 0 - Steve

Markinson Heinekens

1. 8 - Amer
2. 6 - Chang
   6 - Dean
   6 - Jason
5. 5 - Hubert
6. 4 - Scott
7. 3 - Gina
8. 2 - Jeremy
9. 1 - Lisa
10. 0 - Drew
    0 - Eddy

Premier League Heinekens

1. 20 - Scott
2. 17 - Dean
3. 11 - Hubert
4. 9 - Jeremy
5. 7 - Eddy
   7 - Jason
7. 5 - Andrew
8. 4 - Amer
   4 - Drew
   4 - Lisa
   4 - Nalu
   4 - Russell
13. 3 - Chang
14. 2 - Dan
    2- Gina
16. 0 - Steve

End of Regular Season Recap

Markinson

It's official. Congratulations Drew, best of the best! In the process of winning the Markinson Cup, he also ties my record for wins in a season with 11.

Jason had a disappointing season but ends it on a high note with his 13th career Heineken to beat Amer by 1 point.

Gina, Hubert, Amer, and Jason each had 3 Heinekens, and 7th-place Lisa and 8th-place Scott somehow had one each. Drew was just the 5th-highest scoring team this season and did not win a single Heineken, but somehow it was enough to win the league by TWO games! Dude just knows how to win. :)

By winning the title, Drew guarantees himself a spot in next year's Markinson Cup and a chance to be the first to ever repeat. Amer can tell you how tough that is. He had the highest point total for the season but finished 4th, 4 games back.

Drew is also the third straight Markinson Cup winner to pull it off on his first try, following me and Amer.

If Hubert's progression from 4th in '07 to 3rd in '08 to 2nd this season is any indication, he's a shoe-in to win his first Markinson Cup next season. :)

Dufresne has now won 2 of the 3 Markinson Cups.

Montoya

Andrew is the Montoya champion! It is his first career trophy, and it also earns him his first career Markinson bid. Congratulations, Andrew!

Scott avoids finishing in last place by beating Lisa, and he does it with his record-extending 24th career Heineken. Way to finish strong, Scott.

Hubert and Jeremy each won 3 Heinekens, and Gina, Scott, Andrew, and I each won 2. Andrew finished with the 3rd-highest point total, but like Drew, he just knows how to win.

Hubert finishes second in both leagues, the 3rd and 4th times he has finished second in a league. He has yet to finish on top and is by far the best yet to win a title, or BYTWAT for short (pronounced "bi-twat"). He has won 3 Montoya Cups and now turns his focus to extending his record 9-game playoff winning streak.

Andrew, Hubert, and Jeremy have earned Markinson bids, and I am on the bubble pending playoff results. Let's just say I'll be happy if ANY Asian male wins Montoya Cup. Dan, Gina, Scott, and Lisa need to win Montoya Cup to qualify. Now that Andrew has qualified, Dan is the only one in Montoya still looking for his first bid.

Dufresne

What a finish as Dean completes the ultimate comeback to win his second Dufresne Championship! Dean needed to beat Nalu and hope that Russell lost to Steve. Steve beat Russell by 27, so Pansies v. Tsunami was winner-take-all, and Pansies came out on top 151.74 - 148.88. Incredible game between the top two scorers this week and this season. Tough, TOUGH loss for Nalu to swallow, but Dean has finished 2nd in a league 3 times, so he has no sympathy (or maybe he has a lot).

Dean's Heineken is his 23rd career beer, which would have tied Scott for the record had Scott not snagged one of his own this week. Dean led the league with 5, while Russell had 3, Nalu and Drew had 2 each, and Amer and Eddy each had 1.

Dean's 9 wins are the fewest ever by any league champion, but they were just enough because of his league-leading point total.

Dean, Nalu, and Drew have earned Markinson bids, and Russell is on the bubble for his first ever Markinson bid pending playoff results. Jason, Amer, Steve, and Eddy need to win Dufresne Cup to qualify. Jason was in the same position last year and pulled it off, and he's won 2 of 3 Dufresne Cups, so watch out for him. He and Amer are both trying to avoid missing out on Markinson for the first time, but at least one of them will come up short.

Starling Cup

Dean wins his first Starling Cup, by 116 points over Nalu and 120 over Hubert. In the end, it wasn't even close. It is Dean's third major trophy to go along with his two Dufresne championships. Congrats again, Dean! After all your runner-up finishes over the years, this season has to make up for a lot of it.

Miscellaneous

Hubert and Drew both won 2 games this week to bring their season totals to 19. That means if either wins his league cup, he will match Dean's record 22 wins in 2007. I would not be disappointed at all if Hubert pulls it off. :)

Hubert finished with 3332.16 total points this season (playoffs don't count for points or Heinekens, just wins), coming up short of Jason's record 3478.98 points from 2007. Still, Hubert showed amazing consistency by scoring 1670 in Montoya and 1660 in Markinson.

Great regular season, all. Still much to play for over the next 3 weeks, so stay focused! And good luck!

Week 13 Recap

A different kind of recap this week since I've laid everything out already.

Gina came into this season with 0 Heinekens, and now she has 5. She is double-fisting this week, with top scores in both Montoya and Dufresne. Nice way to celebrate her birthday!

Russell came into this season with 1 Heineken, and now he has 4. The pre-season Vegas over/under on Gina + Russell combined Heinekens was 0.5, so if you had the over, you won comfortably. :)

Dean leads Hubert by 100 for Starling, so I think it's safe to say he's got it sewn up! Congrats, Dean, your second trophy, and first since 2006!

Hubert and Drew have 17 wins each, with 2 regular season and 3 playoff games remaining. The record for wins in a season is 22 by Dean in 2007, so Hubert and Drew can tie that record by winning out.

Hubert has 3082.76 points, with 2 regular season games remaining. The record is 3478.98 by Jason in 2007, so Hubert needs to score 396.22 in those two games to tie the record. Yeah, this one's safe.

Hubert has 6 Heinekens this season, so even if he wins the last two, he'd still be 2 short of Scott's record 10 Heinekens in 2006. And Scott did that in one league.

Gee, Hubert seems to be having a nearly historically great season, but will it translate into his first league title?

If Drew wins his final Markinson game, he will tie my record of 11 wins in a season. As much as I'd hate to share that record with someone so unworthy, my Markinson bid is hinging on that win, so go Drew!

Gina is now the career PPG leader in Markinson. Dean is still the overall PPG leader.

This will be the first season that the Dufresne champion doesn't win 11 games. You guys suck.

Dean has 1639.48 points in Dufresne. The record is 1808.74 by Jason in 2007. Dean needs 169.26 points in his final game to tie the record. He's topped that mark once this season, so it's possible.

All right, that's enough random knowledge for now. Can't wait to see how things play out this week!

Your Guide to the Final Week

Only one game left in the chase for the Markinson, Montoya, and Dufresne Championships. And then it's League Cup time, aka playoff time, aka Julius/Texas time. Here's the situation:

Markinson

The title of ultimate champion is officially down to two managers, Drew and Gina.

• Drew simply needs to beat Eddy, who has lost 6 of his last 7 games. Even if he loses, he will still claim the title if Gina loses to Lisa, who has lost 6 of her last 8.
  
  
• Gina claims the title if she beats Lisa AND Eddy beats Drew.
  

Montoya

This title is also down to two managers, Andrew and Hubert.

• If Andrew beats Gina, or Hubert loses to Jeremy, Andrew is champion.
  
  
• If Hubert beats Jeremy AND Andrew loses to Gina, Hubert is champion.
  

Gina's team is dangerous. In her last 6 games, she has scored, 132, 142, 125, 90, 121, and 125. She's actually scoring at the same pace as Andrew on the season. So there is some hope for Hubert. But Hubert faces the second highest scoring team in the league behind his own, so he has his hands full, too.

For Markinson bids, Andrew has officially clinched his first ever bid! Congratulations, Andrew!

The Hubert/Jeremy winner will also clinch a spot in next year's Markinson.

Dan, Lisa, and Scott will need to win the League Cup to qualify for Markinson. If Gina doesn't win Markinson, she'll be added to this list. If she does win Markinson, the Hubert/Jeremy loser and I will be added to this list. Simply put, Hubert, Jeremy, and I are rooting for you, Darby United!

Dufresne

There are three teams still alive in the title chase, Nalu, Russell, and Dean.

• For Nalu, it's simple. Well, simple to explain, not to accomplish. Beat Dean and he is champion. But Dean is going to win Starling Cup, so obviously that's a brutal matchup.
  
  
• Russell is champion if he beats 7th place Steve AND Nalu loses to Dean. But watch out for Steve, who put up over 130 points this week and finally showed some life.
  
  
• Dean is champion if he beats Nalu AND Steve beats Russell.
  

No one in Dufresne has clinched a Markinson birth. The Dean/Nalu winner will clinch a birth, and Russell would clinch one with a win.

Jason, Amer, Steve, and Eddy will need to win the League Cup to qualify for Markinson.

Good luck!