For giggles, I decided to look and see which rookie league was the best, and if having a top ten team hurt or helped that league.
Now, you might think that having a top ten team would raise the average of the league and therefore, make it appear harder. You'd be wrong. One of the lowest ranked leagues is Jackson at 332. That league is home to #5 Victorious Secret.
So instead you might think that having no teams in the top ten indicates the presence of a number of good teams who keep beating each other up thereby preventing any of them from achieving a top ten ranking. You'd be wrong. Cleveland has an average rank of 326 which isn't much better than the worst league, and they have top ten teams.
Which brings us to the only conclusion that you can draw from the data. There is no correlation between good leagues and good teams this season in rookie ball. The best league by average rank is Adams at 298 which is home to both the #1 Jesse Venturas and the #4 1995 Nebraska Future Convicts. Yet the other league with two top ten teams is Roosevelt at 320 (All Madden & Alaska Assassins). The worst league is Truman at 351 and has no top ten teams. At the other end of the no-top-teams spectrum is Madison at 304.
The one conclusion I did make looking at all the leagues is that if Baby BULLIES don't win their league (Grant 326), their staff should have no choice but to commit seppuku. They're ranked 30 points higher than any other team in the league.
#10 Lincoln City Red Imps vs #9 Yorick's Gravediggers
Yorick comes into this game hoisting the Completely Pointless Cup™ that they claimed with their victory in the Doesn't Matter At All Bowl™. I talked with their GM about what that win meant to his team, and he said he'd get back to me after he had some dinner and then maybe a nap.
This game comes down to two things. Good running games going up against bad defenses. Yorick's QB tandem has combined for 6198.5 yards and 91 TD's. Lincoln's run game is spread more evenly across their QB tandem and 3 HB's, and while it maybe isn't as off the charts as Yorick's, it's still really impressive. The flip side of that is that both these teams give up a lot of rushing yards. Given all that, I expect this game will be a drag race.
Yorick 54 - Lincoln 33
#8 Alaska Assassins vs #14 South End Revenge
It wasn't that long ago I was writing about South End as an actual top ten team rather than just a team playing against a top ten team. But a 49-0 shellacking at the hands of Lincoln City put a pretty serious dent in their ladder hopes and dreams. To their credit, they've come back from that beat down by winning 3 in a row.
Alaska's another team that's struggling back from a beating by a good team. They're a solidly balanced team with a decent defense, and honestly, I think they should be rated higher. The problem is that they just can't seem to put together the kind of gameplans that take advantage of their team's balance. Maybe this game will be the start of them figuring it all out.
Alaska 23 - South End 13
#7 Capital Wastelanders vs. #13 HOLY NASTY GREEN CONDIMENT!
War. War never changes. Well, unless you're fighting a war against pureed avocados that look like something you'd find in a baby's diaper. Seriously. Who possibly thought it was a good idea to take the first bite of an avocado? And who thought that after taking that bite that there was anything better to do with it than spit it back out right away and then burn down every avocado tree in existence in order to prevent anyone from every thinking to mix them with lime, salt, and some other spices to make an unholy slimy mess that people are supposed to eat.
That out of the way, Capital should win this game pretty easily. They have a much better offense. They have a much better defense. And the sooner they beat HOLY, the sooner I can quit throwing up in my mouth by having to think about that vile stuff.
Capital 24 - HOLY BABY DIAPER FILLING! 7
#6 Baby BULLIES vs. #3 Nigerian My Little Ponies
Speaking of filling up baby diapers...all season long we've had to hear from SoggyTaco about how great his team was because they kept shutting out all their league opponents. Well, they finally had to play an opponent who was merely in the top 50 of the rookie tier to put an end to that. Sure, they're still the beyond hands down favorites to win their league, but only because someone has to win it.
The My Little Ponies seem to have totally embraced the idea of winning through defense. They haven't made it to even 20 points in their last 5 outtings, but they've still won 4 of those. Now as a GM of a team that's averaging 44 points per game in league play, this seems silly to me, but different strokes for different folks (insert horse stroking joke here).
Twilight Sparkles 17 - BULLIES 10
#5 Victorious Secret vs. #4 1995 Nebraska Future Convicts
Now I'm not one qualified to throw the first stone, but no matter what you think of that 1995 team, why would you create players named after a thug like Lawrence Phillips and a rapist like Christian Peter? Oh, and that's also the answer to everyone who's asked about my nickname for the team. Now I'm not going to rant and rave or scream from the rafters about hero worship or whatever. But I am going to point out that no way, no how is giving any recognition to those two in any form justifiable. The world would have been a better place if they hadn't been able to play football well enough to have all the things they screwed up and all the lives they damaged overlooked until it finally became impossible to brush under the rug anymore. Heck, those two might be in a better place if the first time they screwed up someone had smacked them firmly upside the head rather than protect them so they could keep playing.
Nebraska 30 - Victorious 10
#2 All Madden vs. #1 Jesse Venturas
It's deja vu all over again. It seems like just a couple days ago I was writing about these two teams and their buildup to Wrestlemania. That's because it really was just a couple days ago I was writing about these two teams and their buildup to Wrestlemania. And while it might be redundant to keep mentioning that it was just a couple days ago I was writing about these two teams and their buildip to Wrestlemania, that's because it is redundant to keep mentioning that it was just a couple days ago I was writing about these two teams and their buildip to Wrestlemania. Oh, and that's also how pretty much all pro wrestling plots work, so I'm sure all the wrestling fans are totally into my buildup of this game.
Only, there's nothing new to say. All Madden hasn't really had time to make the kind of adjustments that are going to have much impact on the game now that the Jesse Venturas have gotten their game together. It doesn't matter that you know a team is going to run the ball practically every play if your defense isn't built to stop it.
Jesse Venturas 17 - All Madden 7
Now, you might think that having a top ten team would raise the average of the league and therefore, make it appear harder. You'd be wrong. One of the lowest ranked leagues is Jackson at 332. That league is home to #5 Victorious Secret.
So instead you might think that having no teams in the top ten indicates the presence of a number of good teams who keep beating each other up thereby preventing any of them from achieving a top ten ranking. You'd be wrong. Cleveland has an average rank of 326 which isn't much better than the worst league, and they have top ten teams.
Which brings us to the only conclusion that you can draw from the data. There is no correlation between good leagues and good teams this season in rookie ball. The best league by average rank is Adams at 298 which is home to both the #1 Jesse Venturas and the #4 1995 Nebraska Future Convicts. Yet the other league with two top ten teams is Roosevelt at 320 (All Madden & Alaska Assassins). The worst league is Truman at 351 and has no top ten teams. At the other end of the no-top-teams spectrum is Madison at 304.
The one conclusion I did make looking at all the leagues is that if Baby BULLIES don't win their league (Grant 326), their staff should have no choice but to commit seppuku. They're ranked 30 points higher than any other team in the league.
#10 Lincoln City Red Imps vs #9 Yorick's Gravediggers
Yorick comes into this game hoisting the Completely Pointless Cup™ that they claimed with their victory in the Doesn't Matter At All Bowl™. I talked with their GM about what that win meant to his team, and he said he'd get back to me after he had some dinner and then maybe a nap.
This game comes down to two things. Good running games going up against bad defenses. Yorick's QB tandem has combined for 6198.5 yards and 91 TD's. Lincoln's run game is spread more evenly across their QB tandem and 3 HB's, and while it maybe isn't as off the charts as Yorick's, it's still really impressive. The flip side of that is that both these teams give up a lot of rushing yards. Given all that, I expect this game will be a drag race.
Yorick 54 - Lincoln 33
#8 Alaska Assassins vs #14 South End Revenge
It wasn't that long ago I was writing about South End as an actual top ten team rather than just a team playing against a top ten team. But a 49-0 shellacking at the hands of Lincoln City put a pretty serious dent in their ladder hopes and dreams. To their credit, they've come back from that beat down by winning 3 in a row.
Alaska's another team that's struggling back from a beating by a good team. They're a solidly balanced team with a decent defense, and honestly, I think they should be rated higher. The problem is that they just can't seem to put together the kind of gameplans that take advantage of their team's balance. Maybe this game will be the start of them figuring it all out.
Alaska 23 - South End 13
#7 Capital Wastelanders vs. #13 HOLY NASTY GREEN CONDIMENT!
War. War never changes. Well, unless you're fighting a war against pureed avocados that look like something you'd find in a baby's diaper. Seriously. Who possibly thought it was a good idea to take the first bite of an avocado? And who thought that after taking that bite that there was anything better to do with it than spit it back out right away and then burn down every avocado tree in existence in order to prevent anyone from every thinking to mix them with lime, salt, and some other spices to make an unholy slimy mess that people are supposed to eat.
That out of the way, Capital should win this game pretty easily. They have a much better offense. They have a much better defense. And the sooner they beat HOLY, the sooner I can quit throwing up in my mouth by having to think about that vile stuff.
Capital 24 - HOLY BABY DIAPER FILLING! 7
#6 Baby BULLIES vs. #3 Nigerian My Little Ponies
Speaking of filling up baby diapers...all season long we've had to hear from SoggyTaco about how great his team was because they kept shutting out all their league opponents. Well, they finally had to play an opponent who was merely in the top 50 of the rookie tier to put an end to that. Sure, they're still the beyond hands down favorites to win their league, but only because someone has to win it.
The My Little Ponies seem to have totally embraced the idea of winning through defense. They haven't made it to even 20 points in their last 5 outtings, but they've still won 4 of those. Now as a GM of a team that's averaging 44 points per game in league play, this seems silly to me, but different strokes for different folks (insert horse stroking joke here).
Twilight Sparkles 17 - BULLIES 10
#5 Victorious Secret vs. #4 1995 Nebraska Future Convicts
Now I'm not one qualified to throw the first stone, but no matter what you think of that 1995 team, why would you create players named after a thug like Lawrence Phillips and a rapist like Christian Peter? Oh, and that's also the answer to everyone who's asked about my nickname for the team. Now I'm not going to rant and rave or scream from the rafters about hero worship or whatever. But I am going to point out that no way, no how is giving any recognition to those two in any form justifiable. The world would have been a better place if they hadn't been able to play football well enough to have all the things they screwed up and all the lives they damaged overlooked until it finally became impossible to brush under the rug anymore. Heck, those two might be in a better place if the first time they screwed up someone had smacked them firmly upside the head rather than protect them so they could keep playing.
Nebraska 30 - Victorious 10
#2 All Madden vs. #1 Jesse Venturas
It's deja vu all over again. It seems like just a couple days ago I was writing about these two teams and their buildup to Wrestlemania. That's because it really was just a couple days ago I was writing about these two teams and their buildup to Wrestlemania. And while it might be redundant to keep mentioning that it was just a couple days ago I was writing about these two teams and their buildip to Wrestlemania, that's because it is redundant to keep mentioning that it was just a couple days ago I was writing about these two teams and their buildip to Wrestlemania. Oh, and that's also how pretty much all pro wrestling plots work, so I'm sure all the wrestling fans are totally into my buildup of this game.
Only, there's nothing new to say. All Madden hasn't really had time to make the kind of adjustments that are going to have much impact on the game now that the Jesse Venturas have gotten their game together. It doesn't matter that you know a team is going to run the ball practically every play if your defense isn't built to stop it.
Jesse Venturas 17 - All Madden 7
Edited by Xavori on Apr 30, 2014 02:15:30
