For many of the 40 competitors the story of the season was the same (I was begged to join, made a few picks when reminded the first couple of weeks, forgot, then lost interest and crapped out). However,I suspect that the few who persevered each experienced a unique journey filled with surprise, intrigue and pure elation (Todd Collins anyone?).
My Week 1 selection was Vince Young, one of many big name QBs who ended up missing a significant portion of the season. He posted a PER upwards of 140 for me and set me in last place. As the weeks wore on I climbed my way all the way back into the hunt, thanks in no small part to everyone in my division losing interest and failing to make a selection. It got so I thought I actually had a shot in the playoffs last week and narrowed my list down to twelve potential candidates. I then evaluated each player based on the following categories: 1. Are they playing a team with a good pass defense? 2. Does their opponent have something to play for? 3. Are they on the road? 4. Will the game be played in bad weather? 5. Does their team have a good running game? I finally decided on Carson Palmer over Colt McCoy (who burned me once earlier in the year). Carson put up a near perfect rating and totally screwed me.
Anyway, enough about me and onto the awards:
MVP (participant) Carolanne Wipfli
Of course she made the picks herself! Girls understand everything that goes down in a football match.
MVP (player) Jimmy Clausen
Did you know he only threw two touchdown passes all year? Two!
Runner up: Derek Anderson ("I put my heart and soul into this! Nothing's funny!")
Could Have Been a Contender Award: Joel Kretzinger
Joel crapped out on us, but every time he made a pick, he was spot on.
Runners up: Matt Schneider, Dustin Thomas
The Tom Brady Award: Basti Fabricius
Unlike most participants with high numbers, Basti (and btw this is bullshit that I am calling you Basti, you are Sab) made a selection every week. He just made the wrong ones. I remember one particularly bad Jason Campbell week.
Runner Up: Mike Brittingham
On the flip side, Mike was like bizarro Tom Terrific in that he couldn't throw a touchdown pass (good for our league of course). I think he made it almost to week 10 which is pretty astounding. Of course, Mike's wife went ahead and gave birth during the season and he was never heard from again.
The Brett Favre Award: Robert Lussier
My father in law asked me to join and I was skeptical because I thought no way in the world he would make a pick every week. Sure enough, he ends up coming through with a selection every week and was working all the younger kids with one of the best scores in the league. He had a high seed for the playoffs and neglected to make a pick.
Runner Up: Mike Frey
This wily veteran put up solid numbers, but just couldn't seem to catch up to Carolanne
Performance of the Year: Todd Collins Week 5 6/16 32 yards OTDs 4INTs 6.2 PER
Runner Up: Jason Campbell Week 6 8/21 83 yards OTDs 2INTs 10.7 PER
A lot of people cashed in with Collins' epic fail, but only Dustin Thomas followed it up with Campbell the following week.
Finally, congrats to Paul Markt of the Ryan Leaf Conference and Josh Anspach of the Chris Weinke Conference for making it to the Toiled Bowl. Looking forward to hearing your selections for the big game. Who will the Tim Couch jersey go to?
Lastly, the season in pictures (I'll add some more that are on my work computer tomorrow)...
