News:

The final weekend of our fantasy season coincided with the Clan McDonald Christmas / New Year’s gathering and it definitely added an element of intrigue to have managers here who were involved in the championship, the toilet bowl and a few matches in between.

Firstly, congrats to Ceilidh who survived a very “final worthy” final against Dan to win her first Plastic Helmet of Excellence. Ceilidh joined the league in 2011 and by doing so, also enrolled in the school of (fantasy) hard knocks. In those first few seasons she endured some losing records but eventually had her first winning season in 2016 and is now as formidable an opponent as anyone. There is nothing quite like your first “ship” and a common reaction is a sense of relief to finally have that box ticked. As I told Ceilidh though, it isn’t long before that contentment fades and is replaced by a desire for the next one.

Taking a quick look a Ceilidh’s draft, the first thing I note is that she managed “drafting on the corner” very well. If you’ve never done it, I can tell you it is tough to make your pick at 13 and then watch while 22 players come off the board until it comes back to you at the end of round three. She started with Pollard and Lamb – a bit of a “homer” decision but it worked out okay. The perception on Pollard is that he was a bit of a disappointment. The reality is, as disappointments go, he was one of the least disappointing disappointments you could end up with (finishing RB15 for the year). Dallas was an offensive powerhouse overall and Lamb completed the coming out party he started in 2022, finishing WR1 this year. In rounds 3 through 7, no real misses and quite a few “hits”. Rachaad White and later, Jaylen Warren rewarded her patience (I tried to entice White away early in the season to no avail). At QB, things were a bit wobbly but luckily for Ceilidh, QB was a challenging position for most of us this year and Tua’s ups and downs didn’t prove too costly.

Choices and moves are important but it wouldn’t be fantasy without the element of luck and Ceilidh certainly received some. Getting a favourable seed in the play-off bracket helped and then riding the Cooper half of that powerhouse “Cooper – Flacco connection” helped propel her to the finals. Needless to say, the words “powerhouse Cooper – Flacco connection” are not something I would have imagined typing back in September but that’s the sort of year we had. All in all, this year’s champ is another illustration that fantasy football is not a sprint but a marathon. Congrats again!

Shark Move of the Week:

It was brought to my attention over the holidays that my last abridged newsletter may have unfairly penalized some sharks and guppies. In my defence, this is not new as I’ve gone to the Cole’s Notes approach now and then in the past but I guess my timing was worse than usual.

Without further adieu, this week’s winner is the Piper, for the late season acquisitions of Greg “The Torch” Dortch and Zamir White. Both players proved pivotal to the Mooglaar’s Toilet Bowl run. Nicely done!

Smack talk award of the week:

We had some lively banter in the chat room and in the real room this weekend. Neil did a bit of body work on the piper and by way of reward, got to touch an actual Helmet of Excellence as part of his overall Elfster experience. Hopefully that opportunity “rubs off” on him next year.

Welcome to Fantasy Football Hell Award of the Week:

I feel compelled to acknowledge Brandon this week as our season draws to a close. We’ve all experienced the hell of fantasy football this year from bad picks to injuries to inexplicable disappearing acts or terrible losses at the hands of heroics from unlikely players. Never seeing the plan quite come together is tough but this week Brandon had to watch the plan come together a week too late. It is truly impossible to chart the migration patterns of the barn swallow or the scoring patterns of Davante Adams. As a former owner, I feel his pain.

In closing I wanted to thank you all (as I do each year) for playing, participating and being good sports as it relates to the sharks and guppies stuff. I also wanted to provide you all with a few items to ponder for next year if you’re so inclined.

A couple of suggestions were discussed over the weekend for line-up changes we could consider next year. One person expressed interest in going back to a TE only starting slot. I’m pretty neutral on the idea to be honest. Back when we changed our TE slot to a flex, there was a dearth of good offensive TEs in the NFL. It felt like you were either getting one or two guys really early or you were starting one of 10 other largely interchangeable guys for 7 points a week. I’ll admit the TE landscape is a bit better in 2023 so if the vocal majority want to switch back, I’m game.

Another suggestion would take us in a (somewhat) opposite direction – changing our W/T flex spot to a W/R/T spot. In other words your last spot becomes a bit of a wild card. It would provide a bit more flexibility and again, if the majority are in favour, I would be good with that as well.

With those thoughts, I will close the books on another season. Have a great 2024 and we’ll pick these ideas back up in August!