I figured I would be either real darn happy or upset getting these out today but I've committed myself for the entire season so whether win or lose you're stuck with me through the league championship. This was an interesting week with Zeta's two blowout games (I picked both wrong - my playoff record is not very good (one of four this past week)) and a bit of a surprise seeing The Shower take out the Horror Story. Here we sit at the Conference Championships with Casual Pro on the line. Makes for an interesting week ahead (seven vs. eight - how often does that happen in Regional Pro?). Good luck to the four remaining teams.
LEAGUE SURVIVOR
Thought it would be interesting to see who won. Low and behold there were still a three agent race going on before the games kicked off today. I always forget to do these so kudos to the three still in the hunt. Interesting none of the three have dots in the league - maybe they should be writing these things up with the spot on picks they've shown.
Here were the three for the week 18 picks:
kidhammerhead (Off In The Shower over American Horror Story)
pierjam (Green Bay Maulers over White Lightning)
leathn (Butte Pirates over Detroit Muscle)
All three survived for week 19's picks - curious if any have one of the four teams left. Guess they call it a three way tie if they don't
SHOUT OUTS
Kind of occurred to me I didn't send any special shout out to our league MVP'S. So, here you go - congrats on the fine individual award being named as the league MVP for the four spots. Wish I'd tied this in to the year end review - never thought about it.
Alpha
OFFENSIVE MVP - QB Don Majkowski, Green Bay Maulers (agent mk22)
DEFENSIVE MVP - DE [F]red [D]ean, White Lightning (agent gridironfan)
SPECIAL TEAMS MVP - WR Hines Wardy, American Horror Story (agent andybaseball95)
KICKER/PUNTER MVP - K Reggie Rossi, White Lightning (agent ilovesilicone)
Zeta
OFFENSIVE MVP - QB Evan Simoneau, Urban Blitzers (agent briansimoneau)
DEFENSIVE MVP - CB Kirk Harp, CHAOS SOCIETY * BattleDots (agent Riderfan_lee)
SPECIAL TEAMS MVP - CB Brian Keith Michell, Lipton Teabaggers (kipperkalle)
KICKER/PUNTER MVP - P ATHENS PUNTER, ATHENS WARRIORS (agent youngtater)
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*****CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME PREDICTIONS*****
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ALPHA
(#7) OFF IN THE SHOWER (12-6) @ (#1) GREEN BAY MAULERS (17-1)
Call this guy surprised. I didn't think The Shower would be able to take down Story but now the biggest story is The Shower being the giant killer of the conference in the playoffs as they've taken out the #2 seed (Shamrocks) and the #3 seed (Story). What's left - they take on the #1 seed Maulers next! Personally, I don't want to see them continue on with their "giant killer" status. Speaking of GBM, The Maulers didn't have an easy time of things jumping out to a 17-0 lead they had to fend off a game White Lightning team to win 27-24 in a heck of a game. Both these team will need to bring their A game - if the regular season game is any indication it's going to be an entertaining game.
REGULAR SEASON GAME
The two teams met up in Green Bay where the Maulers used a mini-helmet to take down The Shower 23-19. This time there will be no mini-helmet to aide them and only some nachos which is a slight step down on the promotion scale. The Shower jumped out to a 10-0 lead after the first quarter and that eventually settled into a 19-10 first half lead. The second half The Shower stalled and the Maulers put up 13 unanswered points. GB kicked three FG's and The Shower four - a TD here or there by one of the teams and it may have been close at all. There will be no quarter for either team in this one - the Maulers by seeding are the heavy favorite coming in but favorites have been tossed to the weigh side by The Shower in their unexpected march to the Conference Championship game.
WHAT ROUND 2 HAS TAUGHT US
Off In The Shower - teams know they are going to run and no one has stopped them, they're doing just enough in the passing games to keep teams honest, and their D has been highly under rated holding a couple of the top offenses to well below their season averages.
Green Bay Maulers - Got out front and forced a team to pass, they got the lead but not build upon it and instead clung on for dear life not scoring in the crucial fourth quarter.
WHY THE SHOWER WILL WIN
1. Will need to get the ground game going - 266.5 against the Shamrocks and 194 against Story;
2. Running that ball has also kept their D off the field by controlling the time of possession; and
3. They'll need to play for all four quarters in this ball game to get the win.
WHY GREEN BAY WILL WIN
1. Slow the ground game down;
2. Turn the game into a higher scoring game; and
3. Come out strong while playing all four quarters.
THE SHOWER PLAYER TO WATCH
QB's Jimmy Harris and Slash Korden III. Both have not been asked to step up in the playoffs but I suspect them being called upon in this one to help win the game. Combined the two have completed 18 of 39 passes for 220.5 yards in both playoff wins. Notice the wins, that's all that matter when your the QB (see Trent Dilfer).
GREEN BAY PLAYER TO WATCH
RB Dorsey Levens. Levens, not used much (4 rushes for 23.5 yards) by me but has shown the ability to break tackles and catch the ball. The dot has the endorsement so maybe its time to unleash the beast. Levens will need to come through in a game where the Maulers will have to do more than chuck the ball up and down the field.
WHO WILL WIN
Surprise on who I will end up picking since I won't pick against my own team. These teams had a war the first go around but The Shower did not score in the second half which allowed for the GBM comeback. The Maulers put up a lot of yards (473) but just didn't score much. I think the O will be craked up and we get some more points on the board and The Shower will get some ground game working making it impossible to pull away. The Maulers will get a late score to secure the win (27-24).
ZETA
#8 Butte Pirates (12-6) @ #7 Orlando Colts
Who would have thought a number seven seed would be getting a home playoff game in the Conference Championship game? Well, we have it as the nos. 7 and 8 teams battle it out for who will climb up into Casual Pro next season. Both teams had somewhat surprising "yawners" in their semi-final games with Butte winning by 37 and the Colts winning by 20. This is certainly an interesting match up and I may add the Colts have proven me wrong the last five weeks - goodness, the mind tricks this team has given me.
REGULAR SEASON GAME
These two met up in week 10 at Orlando where the Colts used the nacho promotion - they'll get the same in this ball game. Orlando really took it upon themselves to thump the Pirates 41-24. It was a strong second quarter that opened the flood gates as the Colts outscored the Pirates 27-0. Orlando's passing really did work against the Pirate secondary (367 yards). Butte did try to fight as they led the total yards 473-412.5 but giving up 27 in a quarter and not answering puts you squarely behind the eight-ball.
WHAT ROUND 2 HAS TAUGHT US
Butte Pirates - they've got a little pep in their tank on both O and D, they got down 3-0 then reeled off 43 unanswered, and while they are a bit old it doesn't show as much as I'd thought watching some of the game.
Orlando Colts - Threw the ball incredibly well (478.5 yards), played some very good defense, and had that bust out second quarter in an all but even game (21-13 in favor of Irish for quarters 1, 3, and 4 but 28-0 second quarter in favor of Colts) - similar to regular season Butte game.
BUTTE PLAYER TO WATCH
FB The Hermanator. Hermanator is quietly becoming a key offensive weapon for Butte and all-conference QB Fast & Free. Hermanator carried the ball two times for four yards last week but caught six balls for 113 yards and one TD. Hermanator will need to keep expanding his game for Butte to keep up with Orlando on the scoreboard.
ORLANDO PLAYER TO WATCH
TE Wiz Miller. Miller was all-conference and he continues to play like it. Against The Irish Miller caught eight of 10 balls thrown his way for 114.5 yards. He'll need to be able to continue to come through in the Colts passing attack against an aggressive Pirate D.
WHY BUTTE WILL WIN
1. They've put up some sick offensive numbers in the playoff getting over 500 ypg average;
2. Defense has been pretty stout all around but do take some chances with their pressure; and
3. They've spread the ball around passing (12 and 13 different dots caught balls in rounds 1 and 2).
WHY ORLANDO WILL WIN
1. Strong passing attack throughout the playoffs that brutalized Butte earlier in the season;
2. Their D is giving up only 20.5 ppg in the playoffs; and
3. They've shown in the previous game their ability to lay the smack down on Butte.
WHO WILL WIN
I've gone two times in a row against the number eight seed Butte (come on, who can blame me) so let's continue that trend as I just don't see and eight seed advancing to the title game. I'll admit, Butte has looked pretty solid in the playoffs but now they're not playing a bunch of 73's and that swings me to Orlando. Orlando's passing is red hot and that's seemed to been an Achilles against the Butte D against better teams. I think Butte will put up their dukes and want to throw down but at the end they won't get out of their corner for the 15th round. The Colts tack on a late score to make this one look worse that it is (34-17).
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Game on people - GL to each team and if I don't see you on here have a happy 4th of July.
Let's see who you all have winning the CC's - participation people!
