Misdirected Retaliation

I'm going to be perfectly honest with you. Disclaimer: I'm a big big fan of the San Francisco Giants. I have been my whole life. They are my favorite team in all of sports.  However, I follow all of baseball not just one team. I try to see things as objectively as possible.

The beaning and altercations in last nights game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the San Francisco Giants was misdirected retaliation. I do not agree with how the Diamondbacks and their announcers handled and interrupted the situation.

I will explain why but first let's recap the series of events.

Jean Segura leads off the game for the Diamondbacks with a first pitch home run off of Giant's Jeff Samardzija. Samardzija then gives up another run in the top of the first.
As a Giants fan, I'm thinking, "Oh great here we go again, Jeff get it together."
To his credit he did. He went on to shut down the Arizona offense for the rest of his time on the mound.

During Segura's next at bat, the Giants throw inside on him and hit him in the elbow, and I will say I bet that hurt a lot. When I watch Segura play, I notice he sticks his elbow out over the palate. Not shocking he got beaned. I do not feel it was intentional.

Side note: I live in Arizona currently, the Phoenix area, I subscribe to MLB's At Bat so I can watch my Giants play and I can hear the nostalgic play-by- play calls from the great Duane Kuiper and Mike Krakow. Much like myself, they call it how it is. That's refreshing to me. However, when the Giants play against the Diamondbacks I'm blacked out and can only watch them on local broadcast with Diamondback announcers.

Arizona Announcers, Steve Berthiaume and Tom Candiotti reacted with Segura getting hit by bringing up how Segura was beaned in the same exact spot in the previous game playing the San Diego Padres and has a history of being beaned.

Looking at the replay, I see Segura leaning over the plate like usual, the Giants try to pitch him inside. He hits hit. Shocking! Well Folks, That's Baseball!  I think, "Oh well, take your base." The Giants get out of the inning and come to bat.


Buster Posey comes up for the Giants. Patrick Corbin is pitcher for the Diamondbacks.
Corbin throws one inside on Posey that makes him have to move his feet. I think nothing of it, Posey thinks nothing of it. The next pitch is behind Posey. The rest of the stadium, including Posey and myself are thinking 'What the heck, man!'

The home plate umpire immediately comes out and warns the pitcher and both dugouts. Manager of the Giants, Bruce Bochy comes tearing out of the dugout to argue. Why they are being warned since they have done nothing?  He may have said some not so nice words because he was ejected pretty quick.

Diamondback announcers being narrow sighted,  proceed to say good for Corbin, thats how you protect your players. Um, what? Are you kidding me? Protect from what? Do they not watch baseball? Do they not know anything about who they are playing?

The Giants are not a team who will bean a player after a home run. That's not how Bochy coaches his teams. The Giants don't need to bean you they will just beat you.

Segura stop leaning over the plate if you don't want to get hit. This is not a conspiracy... except maybe for the Pirates. They seem to not like the Diamondbacks.

Ding Ding Ding.... Here is the meat of the issue. It's not about the Giants, it's not about the Padres, it's about the Pirates.

The announcers reference, earlier in their season, when the Diamondbacks played the Pirates and how they kept getting beaned by them.  I know exactly what they are talking about.

For, at least, the past two seasons the Pittsburgh Pirates and Diamondbacks have had a mini bean ball war.  This season, the Pirates straight punked the Diamondbacks and Arizona did absolutely nothing about it. They received criticism.

Now up a big dose of Misdirected Retaliation:

In consecutive games, this one against San Francisco and the other against San Diego, Segura has been beaned in the elbow. The Diamondbacks chose not to do anything against San Diego, but felt they needed to prove a point against San Francisco.

The Diamondbacks throw at not only, the Giant's best player, but one of the faces of the league.
I am not sure who made the decision to throw at a Giants player but it makes the coaches, the players, and the announcers look like poor sports.

Hey Diamondbacks, now is not the right time to get even. You had your chance in Pittsburgh to set things straight, but you chose not to.

This seems like a case, where said guy, experienced being bullied over and over again. He chooses not to or doesn't know how to stand up to the bully in the moment. Later on, being sensitive to the past experience, said guy is in the grocery store and someone bumps his cart. It triggers him and brings back the same feelings.  He misunderstands the situation. Not wanting to make the same mistakes, he overreacts at the unintentional bump.  He misdirects his anger and frustration of past events. I say this with the utmost respect for people who have been bullied. Myself included.

Giants fans get the last laugh on this one. What you can only hope happens, does! Brandon Crawford comes to bat for the Giants, directly after Posey was walked. He crushes a two run home run! The Giants tie the game and go on to beat Arizona 6-2.  Karma at it's finest. Now that is how you retaliate!

Hopefully, that gave Brochy a chuckle.

Golden Showers Fantasy Football League Playoffs: Semifinals

Playoffs Semifinals

Julian (5th) vs Gino (1st)

The first semifinal matchup features top seeded Gino, who led the league in total points, against fifth seeded Julian, who is just coming off of an upset win. There was a close spread on the game, Gino was a slight favorite, -1.52 (-110). Even though only three of Gino’s players were above their projected totals he started out hot. This team is led by future NFL MVP Cam Newton. Cam had 340 passing yards, 100 rushing yards and five touchdowns passes. He nearly doubled his projected total and scored 41.60 points. Next with Matt forte get a solid day getting 10 points over his project the total was six catches for 57 yards and a touchdown plus 47 rushing yards. He scored 22.40 points. Gino's third player to get above his project total was Antonio Gates and he had six catches for 88 yards to score 14.80 points. Even though he didn't hit his projection total Alan Robinson had a decent game with with three catches for 57 yards and one touchdown. It wasn't quite what Gino was looking for, but still was productive. In what look liked a good match up Brandon Marshall was shut down by his terms with only four catches and 74 yards receiving which gave 11.40 points. The disappointments for Gino was Alshon Jeffrey who only had one catch for 10 yards and a touchdown for 8.00 points then he got hurt and wasn't really involved in the game after that. The other one was Brandon Bolden who only scored 7.40 points on 36 rushing yards and two catches for 18 yards.his Jacksonville defense didn't do much an interception in the sack but also giving up 23 points did you know 3.00 points. And he had a kicker it was Robbie Gould you had 7.00 points. Even though Gino's team looked under productive, but he still nearly scored six points over his projected total (130.30). I’m sure Gino thought as long as he got over his projected total he would be enough since Julian was averaging 117.10 per game. But….Julian said no! Julian had eight of his nine players exceeding their projected totals. Julian's top scorer was Amari Cooper who had his best fantasy day of the year with six catches for 120 yards and two touchdowns to get him a total of 30.00 points. Next up for Julian is Sammy Watkins who has been on a late season surge for scoring points. Watkins had five catches for 111 yards and two touchdowns and scored 28.10 points. Russell Wilson has just been killing it lately had another great day with 3 touchdown passes 249 yards and 46 rushing yards to score 26.56 points. Julian also started one of Wilson's targets, Tyler Lockett had five catches for 55 yards in a touchdown to score 16.50 points. The Seahawks stack lately has been a high-scoring one. Rob Gronkowski gave Julian a quiet 16.40 point performance he had five cases for 54 yards and a touchdown. It just keeps going like this. There was waiver wire pick up Denard Robinson who had eight catches for 46 yards plus 28 rushing yards to get him a total of 15.40 points. Even Julian's defense had a big scoring day the Arizona defense had to fumble recoveries interceptions plus a defense of touchdown to give Julian 17.00 more fantasy points. And he had a kicker is well Chandler Catanzaro made it to double figures, he put up 10.00 points. The one disappointment for Julian who did not hit the projected total was his own Bengal Gio Bernard. He could only muster up 33 rushing yards and 4 catches for 18 receiving yards for measly 9.10 points against that vaunted San Francisco defense. Julian picked a great day to score his highest point total of the season and earning his second straight Biggest Blowout. It was enough to knock out the number 1 seed and top point scorer in the tournament. Gino had a brilliant season. He had an amazing auto draft graciously done for him by the commissioner. But he wheeled and dealed to shake up his lineup to make it into the big powerhouse that it was. Julian tallies up another upset victory on his way to the championship match. He'll be hoping to ride Russell Wilson's hot arm, two rookie wide receivers in Cooper and Lockett, and athletic freak show Gronk into Golden Showers infamy. Julian defeats Gino 169.06 - 130.30.

Rico (3rd) vs Matt H (2nd)

This semifinal matchup features two seasoned veterans of fantasy football. Both Rico and Matt have been here before and knows what it takes to reach the next level. This matchup was projected to be high scoring with both teams getting into the 130 point range. Matt was favored in the matchup, -2.07 (-110). But we all know we can't rely on the project the totals. Rico had for his nine players get about the project the totals in this game. Rico's top scorer was tight end Jordan Reed who had seven catches for 84 yards and two touchdowns to score 27.40 points. Next was waiver wire pick up Tyrod Taylor. He had 235 passing yards 79 rushing yards a two point conversion and two passing touchdowns to score 27.30 points. Finally Julio Jones came back to his old self he had nine catches for 118 yards and one touchdown and got over the 20 point mark for the first time in a month to score 26.80 points. The fourth and final member of Rico's 20 point club was his Bronco wide receiver Demaryius Thomas, he had five catches for 61 yards but two of those were for touchdowns and he scored 23.10 points. Rico did have his fair share of disappointments his two running back's were both no-shows Matt Jones has 28 yards rushing plus a reception for 8 yards to score 4.60 points. Then there is Eddie Lacy who's  "bipolar season" continued and just had 23 yards rushing for 2.30 points. Also it appears lay Fitzgeralds hot start to the season has ended he only caught three passes or 43 yards giving Rico 7.30 points. Rico had a kicker Brandon McManus all he did was kick PAT's he had 3.00 points. The Denver defense got beat up a little but they still had three sacks and two interceptions to score 6.00 points. Rico was just under his project the total by 2.22 points. I'm sure he was thinking that probably wasn't going to be enough points to defeat Matt. But Matt was in for a long day. He only saw three of his players get above their projected totals, and one was the kicker. Matt's top scorer was Matt Stafford who had a 254 yards passing and three touchdowns for 22.06 points and was also the late Monday night push. That was the end of the 20 point scores. His next highest score DeAndre Hopkins at 17.40 points under his projected total even though he had eight catches for 94 yards.  Jarvis Landry also had eight catches but for 54 yards he scored 13.40 points which is also below is projected value. Travis Kelsey scored 13.30 points which was above his projection he had six sketches for 73 yards nothing too impressive. Jeremy Hill just missed his projection by two hundredths of a point. He has 31 yards rushing but two touchdowns and he did lose a fumble. Matt was majorly let down by his running backs. Adrian Peterson only had 63 yards rushing to equal 6.30 points and then Javorius Allan had 18 yards rushing and then he lost a fumble and then he was benched for the rest of the game. He scored -0.20 points. Like I mentioned before Matt had a kicker, Graham Gano, he scored 9.00 points. The Seattle defense wasn't too bad for Matt they scored 9.00 points also. This was very bad timing for Matt who had the longest winning streak in the league this year to also have one of his worst games of the year. Hopefully this defeat will keep Matt motivated during the off-season so he will come back strong next year. Rico was able to get the upset victory and move on to the finals. Rico will be the high seed entering the championship game but his opponent already has two upset victories of his own. Rico needs to come out with a strong lineup in order to take the first-ever Golden Showers Championship. Rico defeats Matt 127.82 - 103.36.

Golden Showers Fantasy Football League Playoffs: Quarterfinals

Playoffs Quarterfinals

Rico (3rd) vs Reuben (6th)

In the matchup between the kissy face Bronco lovers we have a rematch from Week 12. Reuben squeaked out a win late Sunday Night that week. Reuben was hoping for a repeat, as the 6th seed he will be the underdog throughout the playoffs. Reuben saw four of his nine players get above their projected points. The top scorer was Blake Bortles who had four total TDs one of them a rushing TD. He added 250 passing yards for a score of 25.70 points. One of Reuben’s best pickups of the season was the next highest. DeAngelo Williams had 2 catches for 15 yards, 76 rushing yards, 2TDs for 23.10. The defense Reuben has had all year gave him another great performance. Carolina had a shut out and put up 23.00 points. Heath Miller was a player who did pretty good but nothing spectacular. Ten catches for 66 yards really helped getting Reuben 16.80 points. Jeremy Maclin had a modest six catch 68 yard day and added 12.60 points to Reuben's total. There is also a kicker but kickers are stupid Josh Brown had seven points. Reuben saw some of his players fail in the most inopportune moments. Charcandrick West only had 54 yards against a weak San Diego opponent giving Reuben a measly 5.40 points. Michael Crabtree was against a tough Denver opponent he could only come up with for catches for 19 yards. I don't know how he only got 19 yards but he did and that equaled 25.90 points. And finally just as Thomas Rawls was starting to heat up he snapped his ankle and after only getting 44 rushing yards and Ruben 4.40 points, tough break bud. Rico was the second highest scoring team this season and he was looking for big number to put up in the first round of the playoffs. There were five players for Rico they got above their projected total. Rico's top scorer was tight end Jordan Reed who had nine catches for 120 yards and one touchdown to get a score of 27.00 points. Is next high score was Eddie Lacy. He's back! Lacy had 124 yards rushing with the 24 receiving yards and one touchdown he scored 21.80 points. One of Rico's man crushes Demerius Thomas had a good game he had 10 catches for 95 yards to earn 17.50 points. Julio Jones had a decent game against a tough Carolina pony 88 yards on seven catches was good enough for 15.80 points. Rico rolled the dice with quarterback Brock Osweiler he got  380 yards passing plus 10 rushing yards but what shut out of the end zone, he only had 13.32 points. Rico gambled on another player running back Matt Jones yet to catch is your 24 yards plus 62 rushing yards he scored 10.60 points which was good enough to beat his projected score. Rico also had a kicker Brandon McManus and kicker suck but this guy put up some points he told 13.00 points because his offense could not score touchdowns. Rico had his disappointments and Larry Fitzgerald who only had five catches her 41 yards to get 9.10 points. And the Denver defense who had three sacks and then allow many points but they couldn't get any turnovers they only scored 7.00 points. Reuben was leading this match up throughout the day but once Sunday night rolled around Rico took over the lead for good. Reuben had a good year. He overcame a four game losing streak and won his last two games to get in the playoffs. Rico moves on to the Semifinals to face Matt H. He will hope his high scoring roster will continue to soar against Matt. Rico defeats Reuben 135.12 - 123.90.

Julian (5th) vs Matt M (4th)

This was a matchup between a rookie and a veteran in fantasy football. Matt’s first season saw him win seven of his first nine games, but lose his last four going into the playoffs. Julian’s season was a little different. He was going back and forth between wins and losses all season and just trying to stay above .500. Julian had four of his players get above their projected totals. His top score and quite possibly the hottest player in the NFL right now is Russell Wilson. He had 292 passing yards in 6 yards rushing but had 5 passing touchdowns for 32.28 points this guy may be unstoppable right now. Julian didn't see another player get above 20 points on the day. Sammy Watkins had 19.20 points on five catches 81 yards and a touchdown. Julian always has at least two Bengals going for him any given week this week there were three. The top score was Marvin Jones was six catches for 61 yards to score 12.10 points. Next was Gio Bernard who had three catches for 27 yards and 40 yards rushing. Gio couldn't crack the 10 point mark by only putting up 9.70 points. Finally there is Tyler Eifert who could only get 2 receptions for 42 yards and 6.20 points. He did leave the game with a concussion and it did not look good. Darren Sproles had a serviceable day for Julian he had 2 catches for 4 yards and 41 rushing yards with a rushing touchdown for 12.50 points. Other than a couple Bengals Julian biggest disappointment was Dez Bryant. Bryant could only muster up 1 catch for 9 yards and added a whopping 1.90 points. Julian's kicker Chandler Catanzaro got into double figures (12.00 points) so I guess that's good. And finally the Arizona defense made a few plays on Thursday night and scored 10 points. Matt’s first year was the epitome of beginners luck and he rode that to a great season. Matt had only three of his players get about their project the total. Matt's top score was Ryan Fitzpatrick who lately has been a great play and has been putting up a lot of points. It is no different this week with 263 passing yards and 23 @rushing yards plus 3 passing touchdowns he had 24.82 points. Lamar Miller also had a great game, I mean half. In the first half Miller had two touchdowns and in the second half his team forgot he was on the roster cause he barely saw the ball and Miller's great day could've been an even bigger one for Matt. Delanie Walker has continued to put up good scores, with 7 catches and 71 yards he had 14.10 points. that was all the good news for Matt. He may have out-coached himself and his first ever playoff game. For starting wide receiver he had Danny Amanola who is OK with six catches and 46 yards to put up 10.60 points but there was also DeVonte Parker who only had two catches for 16 yards he put up 3.60 points. He tried to start two tight ends, Austin Saferian Jenkins was in the flex and he only had three catches for 31 yards and 6.10 points. Devonta Freeman has cooled down significantly since his hot start, he had three catches for 22 yards and 40 rushing yards but once again he has failed to see the end zone he only scored 7.20 points. Mats kicker Stephen Hauschka was doing kicker things and had five points. And his Cincinnati defense had a tough day against Pittsburgh they're only 4.00 points scored by them. I say Matt may have out-coached himself because sitting on his bench Randall Cobb and Alan Hurns scored 17.00 points and 19.50 points respectively. With those two in the roster Matt could've won easily. Matt had a great first year by making the playoffs. He has also learned about the pain and suffering fantasy football brings along with the fun. Julian gets the first upset in this year's playoffs. He will have a tough matchup against the number one seed in Gino. Hopefully Julian can get his win and loss flip flopping under control and go on a mini winning streak. Julian defeats Matt 115.88 - 96.32.

Golden Showers Fantasy Football League Week 13

Week 13 recap

Gino (9-4) vs Matt H (9-4)

It was a battle for the number 1 seed. Each team brought out the heavy guns to try and take home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Matt did his best by having five of his nine players get over their projected totals. His high scorer was rookie RB Javorius Allen, who had a great game. Allen hauled in 12 catches for 107 yards plus 63 rushing yards giving him 35.00 points. Matt’s QB, Ben Roethlisberger, is back to his old self with 364 yards passing and 4 TDs plus 1 2-pt conversion. Ben scored 33.86 points. These two are going to be key pieces for Matt’s playoff run. DeAndre Hopkins and Shaun Draughn each nearly hit 20 points each. Some players Matt may have to worry about going forward are Jarvis Landry who was coming off his best game of the year and now has a coaching change which produced his worst game the year with a 2 catch for 5 yards performance getting 2.50 points. Adrian Peterson was shut down in his game with only 18 yards rushing and 6 yards receiving which adds up to 6.40 points. Gino’s team just went nutty even though he only had six players of nine get over their projected totals. Starting with the bad the Houston defense got beat up pretty good and scored a total of 0.00 points for Gino. Next  Alshon Jeffrey only had 85 yards receiving on for catches to get  12.50 points. Other then the zero points put up by the defense everyone scored in double digits. Two players scored in the 20s. Two players scored in the 30s. And one player scored over 40 points, and that was Allen and Robinson.  On 10 catches Robinson had 153 yards and three touchdowns to get him 43.30 points. Gino's quarterback Cam Newton had five touchdown passes 331 yards passing and 49 yards rushing he scored 37.14 points. And finally Brandon Marshall at 12 catches for 131 yards receiving and one touchdown which gave him 31.10 points. This supposed close match up ended up being the Biggest Blowout of the week. Gino lands the knockout punch on the league and takes the number one seed away from Matt 192.94 - 138.36.

Rico (7-6) vs Julian (7-6)

Julian was already in the playoffs. There wasn't much more he could do for himself except maintain his seed. He may have been more concerned with resting his stars then playing for the win. Rico still had not clinched yet, and he had the opportunity to get a higher seed. Rico only had three players reach their projected totals this week. His top score was the Denver defense who came back with a vengeance a score of 23.00 points. His next highest was his top running back Mark Ingram who scored 19.90 points on one touchdown and 56 yards rushing and four catches for 23 yards and 1 two point conversion. Rico's tight and Jordan Reed was held in check in his game is only three catches for 33 yards and gaining only 6.30 points. The biggest upset for Rico and maybe for the entire league was the play of Eddie Lacy who had one catch for -3 yards and 4 yards rushing for 1.10 points. Things were not looking good for Rico with his point total looking lower than first projected. Julian had four players get over there projected total. His top score was his quarterback Andy Dalton who had a total of three touchdowns to pass the one rushing into 120 yards passing for 23.90 points. Jillians next highest point scorer was Sammy Watkins, who's late season emergence has propelled Julian into the playoff position he is in today, he had three catches for 109 yards and one touchdown for 19.90 points. Julian still has his three bangle connection plane for him but this time it was Marvin Jones who had five catches for 55 yards and a touchdown getting Julian 16.50 points. There's also equal disappointment for Julian, Geo Bernard had one catch for 9 yards and 26 yards rushing to only score 4.50 points. His other running back Alford Blue had an embarrassing performance with only 14 yards rushing to score 1.40 points. In the end both teams were well below their original projected points but it was Rico who came out victorious and with the when he moved all the way up to the 3rd seed and Julian will have to settle for the 5th seed. Rico beat Julian 118.36 - 91.70.

Josh (5-8) vs Matt M (7-6)

In this match up there was no playoff implications. Matt was already in the playoffs holding onto the number three seed couldn't really lose much ground from that. Josh was in the nine seed train not to lose to have a date with the dice it down. Deafly more to lose for Josh. Josh at five this players get over there project the totals. His top score was his number one wide receiver or Antonio Brown who had a catches for 118 yards and two touchdowns plus one return touchdown for 37.80 points. His neck size score with his other top receiver AJ Green had a great day with five catches 128 yards and one touchdown for 23.80 points. His third player to get over 20 points was his quarterback Carson Palmer who had 356 yards passing and two touchdowns for 22.24 points. And finally new waiver wire pick up David Johnson at 99 yards rushing to catch us for 21 yards and one touchdown to get him 20 points even. A little disappointment for Josh was in Todd Gurley who only had 41 yards rushing for 4.10 points and LeSean McCoy who did get over 100 yards with 112 yards rushing but his 11.20 points were way under his projected total. Matt saw three of his players reach their project the total. He had three players score over 20 points. His top score was his quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick who had 390 yards passing two touchdowns plus 22 rushing yards for 25.80 points. Is next highest was his tied in Delaney Walker who had a catchers for 92 yards and one touchdown to give Matt a score of 23.20 points. Matt's third player to get into the 20s was his star running back Devonta Freeman who scored 20.30 points, but it was below his projected total of 21.68 so in reality it wasn't that impressive. It was Matt's defense Cincinnati who is the third team to get over the projected total who had a really good game scoring 16.00 points. The only big disappointment from Matt was his wide receiver Travis Benjamin who got hurt early in the game and didn't produce any scoring for Matt. Both Josh and Matt's teams had lows and highs from their lineups. Josh's team scored two points above their projected total and Matt's team scored two points below their projected total. The only problem was Josh was protected by more than 15 points over Matt. Josh gets the better of Matt and guarantees that he stays away from the Dice of Doom, but it is Matt who is heading to the playoffs as the number 4 seed. Josh wins 145.94 - 125.00.

Reuben (6-7) vs Chris (5-8)

It was so simple for Reuben, win and you're in. Chris on the other hand had upset on his mind and with a little help could quite possibly sneak into these playoffs. Chris has three players get above their project the totals. Tom Brady was the lead score for Chris who had 312 yards passing three passing touchdowns plus one rushing touchdown to score all the points are the Patriots and give Chris 34.78 points. The second high score was Martavis Bryant who had a huge game with four catches and 114 yards and one touchdown to give Chris 21.40 points. Then always consistent Greg Olsen headed nine catch game for 129 yards to score 19.90 points. Chris is running backs hurt him in this week. Ronnie Hillman only had 56 rushing yards for 5.60 points and Darren McFadden had 53 yards rushing, 1 catch for 6 yards and 1 touchdown, but it was his 2 fumbles that really hurt his point total only scoring 8.90 points. Ruben had four players get over there projected totals. It's tough score was Blake Bardahl's at 322 passing yards and five touchdowns for 32.78 points. His other player to get above 20 points was Jeremy Macklin who had nine catches for 95 yards and two touchdowns for 28.50 points. Brandon LaFell did not help anyone's cause with only 4 catches for 27 yards scoring 6.70 points and Charcandrick West had 2 catches for 9 yards plus 35 rushing yards for a grand total of 6.40 points. It was also an unusual game for the Carolina defense who had their season low of 3.00 points for the day. Both teams are evenly matched throughout the day but it was Reuben's stars who shined a little bit brighter than Chris's. Reuben clinches the 6th and final playoff spot while with the loss Chris is in play for the Dice of Doom. Reuben wins 136.48 - 126.98.

AJ (6-7) vs Mike (4-9)

Both AJ and Mike needed to win, but both will need help to get to where they want to be. AJ's team came out firing with Aaron Rodgers having his unbelievable Thursday night game with 273 yards passing with two passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown to give AJ 26.62 points. AJ's top scorer Odell Beckham Jr had six catches for 149 points and one touchdown for 26.90 points. The third member of the 26 point club was Doug Baldwin who had 5 catches for 94 yards and 2 touchdowns to give AJ 26.40 points. Three other players were over there projected totals for AJ. Latavius Murray had a strong game with 86 yards rushing and a touchdown plus 4 catches for 11 yards to score 19.70 points. The Kansas City defense had a strong game to give AJ 17.00 more points. He's only big letdown was CJ Anderson who had one catch for 12 yards and 42 yards rushing to only get 6.40 points. Mike had four of his his guys get over that their project the totals. His top scorer was his TE Richard Rogers, who was the beneficiary to Aaron Rodgers play, he had 8 catches for 146 yards plus the Hail Mary touchdown to give Mike 28.60 points. Brandon cooks had a good game for Mike six catches for 104 yards and one touchdown gave him 22.40 points. And Jonathan Stewart had 82 yards rushing, 3 catches for 31 yards and a TD to get Mike 18.30 points. Mike's receiver James Jones had a disappointing game one catch for 19 yards to only get Mike to .90 points. Also his quarterback Eli Manning had a dud of a game. He had 297 passing yards and one touchdown but also had an interception, he scored 15.08 points which is below his projected total. AJ did his part with a dominant performance to get the win, but the help was not there for him. AJ misses out on a playoff spot and lands in the 7th seed. With the loss Mike is able to clinch the inaugural roll of the Dice of Doom. Congrats for that. AJ wins 153.02 - 132.68.

Golden Showers Fantasy Football League Playoff Scenarios

Playoff scenarios

1. Matt H - Already clinched a first round bye. Can clinch the #1 seed and with a win or a loss by Gino or by outscoring Gino by 34.60 points.
2. Gino - Already clinched a playoff spot. Can clinch a first round bye with a win or a loss by Matt M and Julian or maintaining his “Pts. For” lead over Matt M. (7.72 points) and Julian (144.56 points). Can clinch the #1 seed with a win and a Matt H loss and maintaining his 34.60 “Pts. For” lead.
3. Matt M - Already clinched a playoff spot. Can clinch a first round bye with a win and a Gino loss and outscoring Gino by 7.73 points.
4. Julian - Already clinched a playoff spot. Can clinch a first round bye with a Gino loss and outscoring Gino by 144.56 points. And if Matt M wins also he will need to outscore him by 136.84 points.
5. Rico - Can clinch a playoff spot with a win or by maintaining a “Pts. For” lead over Reuben (228.78 points) and AJ (267.14 points) or Chris (291.08 points).
6. Reuben - Can clinch a playoff spot with a win and maintaining a “Pts. For” lead over AJ (38.36 points) or Chris (62.30 points).
7. AJ - Can clinch a playoff spot with a win and a loss by Reuben and outscoring him (38.36 points) or a loss by Rico and outscoring him (267.14 points).
8. Chris - Can clinch a playoff spot with a win and a loss by Reuben and outscoring him (62.30 points) or a loss by Rico and outscoring him (291.08 points).
9. Josh -  Eliminated from the playoffs. Needs a win to stay away from the Dice of Doom or by maintaining his 195.74 “Pts. For” lead over Mike.
10. Mike - Eliminated from the playoffs. Needs a win to stay away from the Dice of Doom and a Josh loss or outscore Josh by 195.74 points.

*Reuben, AJ, and Chris are still eligible for the Dice of Doom.

Golden Showers Fantasy Football League Week 12

Week 12 recap

Gino (8-4) vs Matt M (7-5)

This was a huge matchup between two teams that are playoff bound. Matt and Gino are both battling for a bye in the first round of the playoffs. Gino started his week out on Thursday Thanksgiving day. Can Newton played and had 183 passing yards one rushing touchdown and 45 rushing yards for 17.82 points slightly below his projected total. Alshon Jeffrey also played and had seven catches for 9 yards which gave them 16 points again slightly under his projected value. In the same game at for taking back from injury he had 44 rushing yards want to catch for 9 yards and six point 30 points way under his projected value. And finally Gino's kicker Robbie Gould scored 5.00 points, slightly under his project the total. Do you know only had three players get above their projections. His top score Brandon Marshall had a huge day with nine catches 131 yards and two touchdowns for 34.10 points. His next score top score Antonio Gates had four catches for 53 yards and two touchdowns which gave him 21.30 points. Also the researching Houston defense gave Gino a double-digit score in 11 points for the day. Matt had Randall Cobb play on Thanksgiving night. He had a pretty good game six catches for Sunday for yard switch scored 13.40 points slightly below is projected total. Matt had four players get above their projections. It's tough score Stevie Johnson had seven catches for 92 yards and a touchdown which gave him 22.20 points. And Travis Benjamin on Monday Night had six catches for 90 yards and a touchdown for 22.00 points. Matt’s defense, Cincinnati, put a hurting on the team they were playing and scored 17 points. Matt's roster did see history this week, for the first time in 54 games Drew Brees did not throw touchdown. Brees only had 228 passing yards and an interception to score 8.12 points, which is a season low. Matt stews running backs were disappointments from our Miller only had two rushing yards 11 receiving yards and three catches for 4.30 points and Tevin Coleman added 110 yard rushing day with one fumble but only put up 9.00 points. Gino ends up getting the big win to capture second place for now 140.32 - 114.12.

Reuben (5-7) vs Rico (6-6)

In the Bronco Buddy Battle Rico is once again in a match up with a team trying to get into the playoffs while he's trying to hang onto his spot. Rico just had one player going on Thanksgiving day. Eddie Lacy finally came back to life with 105 yards rushing for catches and one touchdown to score 21.90 points doubling his projected total. Reuben had three players going on Thanksgiving, his top scorer of the Friday was his defense Carolina who put up 21.00 points. That was the good news the bad news was Jason Witten had a poor game with only four catches in 36 yards to score 7.60 points and the Marco Murray could only muster up 30 rushing yards to give Reuben 3.00 points. Waiver wire pick up Spencer where are you warded Rico with 114 rushing yards three catches the one touchdown for 20.50 points Jordan Reed also had a good day with a catch is 98 yards for 17.80 points and Larry Fitzgerald who had 10 catches for 66 yards for 16.50 points had a good game even though it was slightly below is projected total. Reuben’s top scorer was DeAngelo Williams who had seven catches for 88 yards, 29 yards rushing and one touchdown for 24.70 points. Thomas Rawls also had a good game with 81 rushing yards and a touchdown to score 14.10 points. This matchup came down to Sunday Night with between these two Bronco lovers four Broncos were playing. Reuben had a 0.70 point lead with Rico having Demaryius Thomas, Brandon McManus, and the Denver defense. All Reuben had was Emmanuel Sanders. With the Denver defense starting the season was six consecutive double digits scoring games they have now scored five single-digit games including this week with only 5.00 points scored. McManus had a pedestrian day was three PAT's made and one field goal for only 6.00 points. And superstar number one wide receiver Demaryius Thomas forgot he was playing football at all that day. He only recorded one catch for 36 yards on 13 targets and gave Rico 4.60 points. Three guys got Rico 15.60 points. Emmanuel Sanders had 6 catches for 113 yards in that game and single handedly out scored his three teammates with 17.30 points. That was enough to get Reuben a win and have him slide into the last playoff spot. With the loss Rico still holds onto a playoff spot. Reuben wins 116.50 to 114.10.

Chris (5-7) vs AJ (5-7)

Going into this match up AJ was in the last playoff spot needing a win to hold onto it. While Chris still sees a glimmer of hope of having a playoff run of his own. AJ had his QB Aaron Rodger play on Thanksgiving night. Rogers was below his project the total was 202 passing yards 33 rushing yards and one touchdown which only gave him 14.38 points. Chris had three players going on things giving his top score was Golden Tate at seven catches for 50 yards and a touchdown to get an 18.00 points. Greg Olsen had 5 catches for 70 yards for 12.00 points. And Darren McFadden scored 11.60 points from 4 catches for 45 yards receiving, 11 yards rushing, and one 2-point conversion. On Sunday Chris saw Martavis Bryant have 60 receiving yards and five catches and one rushing touchdown for 19.00 points. Danny Woodhead had an off day for Chris with only 8 yards rushing and six catches for 39 yards for 10.70 points. AJ's top score was Odell Beckham Junior who had nine catches for 142 yards and one touchdown to get a score of 29.20 points. On Monday night AJ's TE Gary Barnidge had another good game was seven catches a 91 yards to score 16.10 points. AJ was really let down when Rishard Matthews who went out with “multiple rib fractures” before he could score any points. Also, Chris Johnson went out with a broken leg after only getting 17 yards to score 1.70 points. Chris made his come back on Sunday Night with his Patriot stack. Stephen Gostkowski scored 7.00 points and Tom Brady gave Chris 280 yards passing and three touchdowns for 23.20 points. Chris keeps his season alive by knocking AJ out of a playoff spot for now. Chris wins 114.90 - 100.78.

Julian (7-5) vs Josh (4-8)

Julian just needs win and he’s in the playoffs. Josh needs a win to stay alive or else he is eliminated. Julian started the week on Thanksgiving Day starting Matt Stafford who had his best day of the year. Stafford had 5 TDs with 337 yards passing and 13 yards rushing for 34.78 points. His kicker Mason Crosby also add a 9.00 points. These are two of Julian's six players to get over there projected total. Dez Bryant unfortunately was not one who also played on Thursday. He only had two catches for 26 yards and 4.60 points. Jillians a double I didn't attack both went out with injury but not before each went over their projected total. Tyler Eifert had a touchdown on three catches and 40 yards to score 13.00 points and Rob Gronkowski had six sketches for 88 yards and one touchdown for 20.80 points. But it does not look good for Jelane go heading into the playoffs. Unfortunately for Josh he had a below average day. Only two of his one players hit their projected totals. His top scorer AJ Green scored 24.10 points on six catches 61 yards and two touchdowns. His other player to reach over his projected total bliss is kicker Justin Tucker or 10 points. LeSean McCoy had another good day for Josh even though he was under his project total yet 70 rushing yards 31 receiving yards and one touchdown for 17.10 points. Josh was really let down by his running backs Frank Gore only put up 5.70 points on 24 yards rushing to catch his and 13 yards receiving. And Todd Gurley only had 19 rushing yards and I'll let him receiving yards on one catch putting up a measly 4.00 points. Thursdays deficit was too much for Josh to over come. Julian punches his tickets into the playoffs while Josh tries to stay away from the Dice of Doom. Julian wins 131.48 - 106.74.

Matt H (9-3) vs Mike (4-8)

Matt had already clinched a playoff spot while Mike was desperately seeking a win to stay alive. Both teams had players going on Thursdays Thanksgiving day. Matt had his kicker Graham Gano who gave him a healthy 19 point head start. While Mike had a handful of players going trying to get him a fast start. His kicker, Dan Bailey, was also playing and only put up 7.00 points. Mike’s Tight End also started, Richard Rogers, who had 4 catches for 30 yards and 7.00 points. Jonathan Stewart and 10.70 points on 68 rushing yards and 3 catches for 9 yards. A little disappointment for Mike as he started James Jones who did not see any action and put up a 0.00 points. But the great news for Mike's top score Calvin Johnson had an amazing day with eight catches 93 yards and three touchdowns for 35.30 points is best of the season. Mike only had two of his players get above the project is Charles Megatron and also Eli Manning. Manning at 321 passing yards and two touchdowns his 17.84 points could've been higher if it were not for his three interceptions though. Matt saw seven of his players get above the projected totals. His top score was Jarvis Landry who had 13 catches for 165 yards and one touchdown and that totaled 35.90 points. That's number one running back Adrian Peterson also had a great day with 158 yards rushing at 29 yards receiving and two touchdowns for 32.70 points. Matt's quarterback Ben Roethlisberger also had a big day with 456 yards passing with one touchdown and one two point conversion for 24.04 points. The one low point on Matts’ roster was DeAndre Hopkins who had a rare low-scoring game, five catches for 36 yards and only 8.60 points. This matchup turned out to be the biggest blowout of the week. Matt still retains his number 1 seed while Mike still retains his number 10 seed. Matt wins 178.14 - 101.14.

Golden Showers Fantasy Football League Week 11

Week 11 recap

Josh (4-7) vs Gino (7-4)

Even though Gino had the better record Josh was favored in this match up. But early Sunday morning Cam Newton jumped out to a huge lead with 5 TD passes and 246 yards with for a total of 31.44 points. Gino also had a double threat of wide receivers Alan Robinson scored 16.30 points on 113 yards receiving in five catches and Brandon Marshall had 15.70 points on five catches 47 yards and a touchdown. Josh had a few players going Sunday morning but is scoring started on Sunday night with the Cardinals and bangles. AJ Green for the bangles at 79 yards and four catches giving Josh 11.90 points. The two Cardinals playing were John Brown scored 14.20 points on 43 yards receiving three catches in one touchdown and Carson Palmer Who had 317 yards passing and 4 TDs. Both teams had a player get zero points on the day Eric Ebron for Josh and Marshawn Lynch for Gino. Gino took a 10.06 point lead into Monday night. Josh had one player maintain it was LeSean McCoy. McCoy had 82 yards rushing six catches and one rushing touchdown for a total of 24.30 points. Josh wins the match up and moves into seventh place within playoff striking distance 112.58 - 98.34.

Mike (4-7) vs Matt M (7-4)

We have first place versus last place in this match up with the first place team, Matt, a heavy favorite over Mike. Matt start of the scoring Thursday night with Delanie Walker who had 109 yards on a catches scoring 18.90 points. However that was the end of the good news for Matt. He was mats only player to get over his project the total. He did have Tony Romo make his comeback but in the torrential down pour the only scored 15.20 points with 227 yards passing two TDs and two interceptions. That's two running backs Lamarr Miller and Devonta Freeman were both away under their project the totals Miller had 7.50 points on 44 yards rushing and 3 catches for 11 yards. Devonta Freeman left early and his game with with an injury and only had 43 yards rushing for 4.30 total points. Matt's defense the Philadelphia Eagles probably had their worst game ever and scored met a -1.00 points. From the same game Matt's QB played in Mike had Ryan Tannehill play who scored at 15.82 points with two touchdowns 188 yards passing and 13 rushing yards. Mike's top scorer was Doug Martin who had 235 yards rushing getting like 23.50 points. Jonathan Stewart had 102 rushing yards one catch for 12 yards and a touchdown for 18.40 points. Mike's disappointments for the week where his wide receivers Davante Adams only have three catches for 35 yards giving him 6.60 points and Michael Floyd didn't even playing his game and got 0.00 points. But it was good enough to give Mike his first Biggest Blowout. This is Matt's fifth consecutive time on the Biggest Blowout but second consecutive time being the victim. Mike knocks Matt from the top of the standings 95.82 - 70.28.

Matt H (8-3) vs Chris (4-7)

In the final match up of the bottom three teams playing the top three teams Chris was slightly favored against Matt 131.95 to 124.45. Chris had only two players get over there project the totals by less than one point combined. Mike Evans had 63 yards receiving on 4catches and one touchdown for 16.30 points his projection was 16.03. Greg Olsen had three catches 454 yards and a touchdown for 14.40 points is projection was 14.17. Even though they were below projected points Chris's RBs still had good games Darren McFadden had 129 yards rushing three catches and 20 receiving yards for 17.90 points and Jeremy Langford had three catches 25 yards rushing and one rushing touchdown for 13.20 points. Boom or Bust WR Tavon Austin had a bust this the week with 1.10 points total. And Danny Woodhead appears to be fading away with only 2.60 points. Matt's team wasn't much better he only had two players get their projected totals. DeAndre Hopkins had another great game with 118 receiving yards on five catches and two touchdowns he scored 28.80 points. Matt's other player was Graham Gano, kicker, who had 16 points. Matt took a 22.30 point lead into Monday night. Matt had his quarterback Tyrod Taylor going and  Chris had his quarterback Tom Brady and kicker Stephen Gostkowski going. The low score a Monday night football game favored Matt. Tom Brady had 277 passing yards one touchdown the one interception for 14.08 points Gostkowski pitched in 8.00 points of his own. For a total 22.03 points not quite good enough to take the lead from Matt even if Taylor scored zero points. Taylor ended up getting a pathetic 9.42 points. Matt wins a low-scoring match and jumps back into first place 103.22 - 93.58.

Julian (6-5) vs Reuben (4-7)

Julian and Reuben are both right on that playoff bubble. Reuben only had one position to get over the project the total. That was the Carolina defense scored 16 points. The next high score was his quarterback Blake Bortles at 11.58 points are 242 yards passing one touchdown and one fumble. Reubens two Kansas City players Jeremy Maclin and Charcandrick West had poor games. Maclin had 5.90 points on three catches for 29 yards and West who got hurt in the game only scored 8.40 points. Julian had four players over there projected totals. A lineup change lead to Julian's top scorer Russell Wilson was a starter and it paid off with 3 touchdowns 260 yards passing and 30 yards rushing for 25.40 points. Julian's two Bengals Gio Bernard and Tyler Eifert had good days. Bernard scored 22.60 points on 128 receiving yards on 8 catches and 18 rushing yards. Eifert had 17.20 points with three catches for 22 yards and 2 touchdowns. It wasn't all good news for Julian's rookie receiver Amari Cooper only had one catch for 4 yards giving him a grand total of 1.40 points. And one of his season long top scorers Justin Forsett went out with an injury after only rushing for 26 yard and 2.60 points. Julian wins another low-scoring matchup for this week and in the process knocks Reuben out of the playoff picture for now 103.40 - 82.28.

Rico (6-5) vs AJ (5-6)

This was an important matchup between Rico, who is trying to hold onto his playoff spot, and AJ, who's trying to sneak into the playoffs. AJ only had two players to get above the projected totals. His Kansas City defense scored 20 points and Danny Amanola who had nine catches for 117 yards and 20.70 points. Aaron Rodgers didn't quite hit his projected total but still had a good game with 212 yards passing and two touchdowns with one to point conversion for 19.08 points. AJ's two running backs were a letdown, Latavius Murray had 8.80 points was only 28 rushing yards and a touchdown and Chris Johnson at 7.50 points on 63 were rushing yards and one catch for 2 yards. Rishard Matthews and Jacob Tamme were duds for the week with 2.50 and 2.60 points respectively. Rico also only had two players get over there projected points. His Falcon connection Matt Ryan and Julio Jones came up huge this week. Ryan had 280 yard passes with three touchdowns but also has three interceptions 20.90 points and Julio Jones had 160 receiving yards and nine catches for a total of 25 points. Demerius Thomas and Larry Fitzgerald both had good days with 14.90 points and 17.00 points. Rico's letdown was his running backs LeGarrette Blount only had 7.10 points and Joique Bell only had 5.00 points. Rico gets a much needed win and the loss drops AJ to the final playoff spot 110.50 - 94.28.