January 2nd Update

L & G of the League-

28 games down and 7 remaining. Once again, New Year's Day games were incredible and have separated the strong from the pack. There were a number of great games on Saturday and here are a couple of highlights, through the eyes of what is "Good for the League".

The day started with NW returning a pick six to cover thier spread and swung the league 532 points. Aunt Betty, Sam-Bean-O, and the $ituation benefitted most, while The Oven, La Maquina, and the Trinity saw the beginning of a terrible day.

In the Capital One Bowl, Alabama left no doubt about the SECs dominance of the "Small 10" by crushing Michigan State, but it was a late and meaningless TD by the Spartans that gave, Mamacita, Coach, First Lady, and $ituation big wins of more than 20 points.

The Outback Bowl held the biggest late swing of any game as all Penn St. fans were headed to a classic half-point cover with just over a minute left. A game-clinching interception return for a touchdown gave the Gators the win and swung the League by another 551 points. This swing was a heartbreaker for many. Again, Holy Trinity and Oven were victimized by late a late game defensive TD, and for the second time of the morning it was a huge win for Fried Chicken, Sam-Bean-O, First Lady, and $ituation.

Miss State's high scoring domination of Michigan was the 4th straight loss for The Oven, La Maquina, and Chief, and the 14th straight loss for Scaga. Yes, the 14th straight loss for Scaga. That same game was the 4th straight win for Mr. KJ and Mile High.

Pac-10 vs. Non-AQ Rose Bowl capped the afternoon with a thriller that will be remembered by TCU fans forever and by League members next Bowl Season. TCU beat Wisconsin by 2 points by stopping a 2-point conversion with 2:00 to go. The spread was 2.5.

The stop meant that Mamacita, Coach, Flute w/no Holes, Sam-Bean-O, GOW, Holy Trinity, WinMonster, and Cinderella Story got big points. First Lady, Dee's Pimpin, Hammes, and Primetime learned the risk of the moneyline by losing their big point game b/c of not taking the points. We may all look back at the Rose and know that that is where the League changed as La Maquina and Oven missed opportunities to win big points while the rest of the League would have lost over 600 points.

The Fiesta Bowl went as most expected, a high scoring blowout win for Oklahoma. 2/3 of the points risked were won in this one with many putting high stakes on the Sooners.

Overall the day did exactly what we expected it to. Aunt Betty's Fried Chicken dominated the day and converted almost 97% of his points on the day. Only a 3 point loss on Mich St. separated him from perfection. This gets him to the top of the mountain as he leads the League with just 8 left to pick.

Mr. KJ had the second highest % on the day by winning 95.8% of his points. His 5 point loss in the Rose Bowl was an afterthought as he catapulted himself into the thick of the race for top spot in the League. He jumped from 21st to 7th in one day of great picks. Mamacita and Coach's matching picks net them each 85% correct for the day and they find themselves 1 and 2 in % correct. $ituation had a strong day benefitting from every close game and he moves into 3rd in % correct and just 50 points back of our leader, ABFChicken. Cinderella Story continues his strong performance with another consistent performance. Nobody has been as consistent in picks as Cinderella as he remains at 66% overall.

Once again, we are forced to mention the strugglers of the day. The Oven seemed to squander her best opportunity at the top spot as she dropped five of six and converted on less than 20% of what she risked. Only the Oklahoma cover could keep her from a goose-egg, and she went from over 60% to just over 40% for the season.

Nobody crashed harder than La Maquina, who went in leading the league with 305 points. He finished the day with that same number despite risking 126 points. He went 0 for 6 on the most important day of the Bowl Season and if he doesn't rebound, it will be one of the worst collapses that we have ever seen...

That is, if we forgot all about Scaga's collapse. Scaga lost the first five of NY Day and ran the worst streak in League history to 15 straight games. From 91% in the first eleven games, to 0% over the next 15, we have to appreciate the incredible incompetence that takes.

With 7 games remaining there are still 12 to 15 people that have realistic chances at a win, and a handful of others that have a puncher's chance. As we go through each game, more people will be eliminated day by day until that final game for all of the glory. For those that don't know, last year came down to the last game of the year between four players and when it was all said and done, a half point seperated 1st and 2nd.

Have a great week-

Commish and Deeds