Sunday, August 31, 2008

DFC IX Week Two Games

The NFL Begins this week!

First, though... the college games... at blog time, the new rankings were not out, so I chose to list only the games. In the email, you will get ranks and records...

COLLEGE GAMES
Georgia Tech Yella Jackets (1-0) at The Boston College Golden Eagles (1-0), 11am, ESPN360
Big ACC game, both "rebuilding" after losing valued QBs and RBs and whatever. Or something like that.

Ole Miss Runnin Rebels (1-0) at Wake Forest Demon Deacons (1-0), 230pm
Big Nutt won his opening game at Ole Miss, and can you believe that Wake Forest is good for, what, the 3rd year in a row? When did this happen?

Texas A&M Aggies (0-1) at New Mexico... Lobos? (0-1) 4pm
Im not even sure we've ever picked a New Mexico game.... this is a prime example of how light the slate of good games is this week. I figure this will be one of those random toss-up, pick 'em games. And now that Fran is gone, Alabama fans won't be so conflicted either picking or rooting for them.

Miami Hurricanes (1-0) at Florida Go Gators (1-0), 7pm, ABC
The U rolls into The Swamp... but consider Hurricane Hanna, who is also rolling towards Florida, and may hit land this weekend.

NFL GAMES
Jacksonville Jaggywires at Tennessee Titans, 12pm, CBS
I got nothing.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at New Orleans Saints, 12pm, Fox
Gustav didn't his New Orleans as hard as Katrina did, so does The Saints still get the "America's Team" nod?

Houston Texans at Pittsburgh Steelers, 12pm, CBS
I heard that Houston was supposed to be pretty good this year.

Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay, Monday Night, 6pm ESPN
I'm glad Favre didn't go to the Vikes. I just can't see #4 in the purple. That would be as ridiculous as seeing him in a Chiefs uniform, or worse, a Jets uniform... waaaiiittt....

Tiebreak game
Total points scored in Miami vs Florida game

Friday, August 29, 2008

DFC IX Week One Results

What a fine week to start The DFC IX season... after taking a third of Week 12 last year, along with Mackey and eventual DFC Champion Drew Morris, Trey Cartledge went onto a massive run in the postseason, finally losing to Mark Gainey in the Final Four (there are much worse people to lose to).

Trey takes his first weekly win by himself, at 6-2. And as I typed up the records for the week, I knew I had gone 6-2, and by virtue of the Fresno State win over Rutgers, 24-7, I knew I had a good tiebreak score (it was 31, I went 41)... and then I got to Trey. Yours Truly finished 2nd.

Tommy McLeod goes 6-2 to finish third, while rookie AJ Fulaytar takes fourth. The Great Bear of the North, Matt Latta, gets fifth at 6-2, while 6th goes to Lori Beirne at 5-3. Making his first Weekly Top Ten appearance is rookie Jason Roberts, while tying for 8th is Matt Halpert and Jennifer Ernst. Rounding out the top ten is Eddy Jr, all at 5-3.

Also finishing:
5-3: Ryan Sherman, Tim Wasyluka, Bradley Pinkerton, Jason Duren, Jonathan Osborne, Scott Latta, Justin Fisher
4-4: DM Osborne, Joey Thornell, Tad Roose, Jason Barnette, Tom Johnson, Drew Morris, Eddy McBroom, Zack Graves, Jason Turnbow, Mackey, Mark Gainey, Daniel Powell, Mikey Nipp, Chris Croyle
3-5: Tebe Shaw, Gina Roose, Tyler Campbell
2-6: James Hawbaker, Sarah Hasha, Garrett Cheney
1-7: Clif Render
0-8: Jon Taylor, Jonathan Lenning

THE GAINEY CONFERENCE
North Division
Matt Latta, 6-2
Justin Fisher, 5-3
Joey Thornell, 4-4
DM Osborne, 4-4
Clif Render, 1-7

East Division
Ryan Sherman, 5-3
Eddy Jr, 5-3
Tad Roose, 4-4
Jason Barnette, 4-4
Garrett Cheney, 2-6

South Division
Tommy McLeod, 6-2
Jennifer Ernst, 5-3
Tom Johnson, 4-4
Tebe Shaw, 3-5
Jonathan Lenning, 0-8

West Division
Trey Cartledge, 6-2
AJ Fulaytar, 6-2
Tim Wasyluka, 5-3
Drew Morris, 4-4
Eddy McBroom, 4-4

MORRIS CONFERENCE
North Division
Zack Graves, 4-4
Jason Turnbow, 4-4
Ken Mackey, 4-4
James Hawbaker, 2-6
Sarah Hasha, 2-6

East Division
Yours Truly, 6-2
Matt Halpert, 5-3
Jason Roberts, 5-3
Mark Gainey, 4-4
Jon Taylor, 0-8

South Division
Jason Duren, 5-3
Bradley Pinkerton, 5-3
Michael Nipp, 4-4
Daniel Powell, 4-4
Chris Croyle, 4-4

West Division
Jonathan Osborne, 5-3
Scott Latta, 5-3
Lori Beirne, 5-3
Gina Roose, 3-5
Tyler Campbell, 3-5


South Carolina 34, NC State 0
Oklahoma State 39, Washington State 13
(24) Alabama 34, (9) Clemson 10
California 38, Michigan State 31


Kentucky 27, Louisville 2
Colorado 38, Colorado State 7
Fresno State 24, Rutgers 7 (tiebreak game, total score 31)
UCLA 27, Tennessee 24 OT

The First DFC Power Poll Top Twelve
1. Trey Cartledge (6-2)
2. Yours Truly (6-2)
3. Tommy McLeod (6-2)
4. AJ Fulaytar (6-2)
5. Matt Latta (6-2)
6. Lori Beirne (6-2)
7. Jason Roberts (5-3)
8-tie. Jennifer Ernst (5-3)
8-tie. Matt Halpert (5-3)
10. Eddy Jr (5-3)
11. Jason Duren (5-3)
12-tie. Jon Osborne (5-3)
12-tie. Tim Wasyluka (5-3)

Lies, Darn Lies & Statistics
  • I almost didn't start The DFC Power Poll Top 12 this week, because as you can see, it mirrors the weekly top ten, since we are only one week in
  • Looking at all time wins, Yours Truly becomes the 2nd DFC'er to hit 500 total wins. Yours Truly is still 15 games behind Jennifer Ernst overall.
  • Approaching 500 overall--meaning regular season and playoff victories--is Matt Latta (496) and Drew Morris (493), then way back is Tommy (469) and Tad (468)
  • Hitting 400 wins this week was Jonathan Osborne (now at 402)
  • Jason Duren is about to make some small history, by moving into the All Time Top 20. His 289 wins has him in 21st position, and he's 3 away from passing Wookiee Fulaytar to move into that elite group.
  • Reconfiguring the Excel spreadsheet, I can now look at only regular season wins, which mixes it up a little... Jennifer still leads, Yours Truly is still 2nd, Matt is 3rd, and Tommy is 4th.
  • Next up for 400 regular wins--Eddy Jr (399), Jonathan Osborne (396), Scott Latta (393) and The Mighty Gainey (382)
  • Its impressive that The Mighty Mark Gainey trails Scott Latta by 11 games for the 14th spot on the Regular Season All Time Ranks, but started a full season later than Scott or Jon.
  • Jason Turnbow has the other milestone by crossing the 100 win mark, now at 103 wins over two full seasons.
  • Looking at the rookies, and former rookies, who has the best start in the DFC? As in, who went the longest without a losing record? Currently, the recently retired Gary Eubanks holds that mark, by going 24 weeks with at least 4-4. In fact, even though his career was only 2 seasons, he had a career without a 3-5 or less record.
  • Some of the best starts before going 3-5 or worse include Shawn Sharp (11 weeks), Brook DeRamus (11 weeks), Tommy McLeod (11 weeks), Jason Turnbow (10 weeks)...
  • But who is in 2nd on the All Time Best Starts List? Matt Halpert, current Rookie of the Year, who is on week 13 of 4-4 or up, and has never seen 3-5 or worse.
  • Matt also holds the current longest active streak of such records, chasing Tommy McLeod's 5th place ranking of 19 weeks. Lori Beirne is in 4th with 20 weeks, Gary "The Idol" Eubanks is in 3rd at 24 weeks, Mark Gainey is in 2nd with 33 weeks, and Tad Roose, who's streak was broken early last year, stands at 45 weeks.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

DFC IX Week One Reminder

Awaiting Picks from...
Clif Render
Matt Latta
Justin Fisher
Big Eddy
Eddy Jr
Tad Roose
Gina Williams
Jason Barnette
Tebe Shaw
Jennifer Ernst
Jonathan Lenning
AJ Fulaytar
James Hawbaker
Jason Turnbow
Jonathan Taylor
Daniel Powell
Chris Croyle
Scott Latta
Tyler Campbell

Note... Washington State COUGARS are playing Oklahoma State, not the Washington Huskies. Let me know if this changes your pick, and if you don't see this until after the game, if you truly would have picked differently, let me know and I'll trust you.

THURSDAY NIGHT GAME
NC State Wolfpack at South Carolina Gamecocks, 7p, ESPN

SATURDAY GAMES
Oklahoma State Cowboys at Washington State Huskies, 230p

#24 Alabama Crimson Tide vs #9 Clemson Tigers, 7pm, ABC, in The Georgia Dome

Michigan State Spartans at California Bears, 7pm,

SUNDAY GAMES
Kentucky Wildcats at Louisville Cardinals, 230pm, ESPN

Colorado State Rams at Colorado Buffaloes, 630pm, ESPN

MONDAY GAMES
Fresno State Bulldogs at Rutgers Scarlet Knights, 3pm, ESPN

#18 Tennessee Volunteers at UCLA Bruins, 7pm, ESPN

TIEBREAK GAME
Fresno State vs Rutgers... total combined points scored by both teams

Sunday, August 24, 2008

DFC IX Week One Games

Make sure you watch CBS Sportsline on CBS 42, or something like that. (my promised plug to Gina)

The Moment is here... the games are here... its time for the 9th season of the Deuce Football Championship to begin! And to start this season right, we're going to do four days worth of games!

All times Eastern, all ranking from the AP Poll

THURSDAY NIGHT GAME
NC State Wolfpack at South Carolina Gamecocks, 7p, ESPN
Aren't both teams expected to be better every year than they actually end up being?

SATURDAY GAMES
Oklahoma State Cowboys at Washington State Huskies, 230pm
Not a clue. Pick 'em.

#24 Alabama Crimson Tide vs #9 Clemson Tigers, 7pm, ABC, in The Georgia Dome
I mean, Clemson should win this game... but Clemson usually blows games they should win, and thats against really bad teams. The Tide is actually a decent team (the whole recruiting class, blah blah blah). If this were the end of the year, I'd go Clemson all the way, because that's what happens... but unless you've heard "Tommy Bowdoin is now on the hot seat", Clemson is not a dangerous team.

Michigan State Spartans at California Bears, 7pm, ABC
How about some ambiguity in your games?

SUNDAY GAMES
Kentucky Wildcats at Louisville Cardinals, 230pm, ESPN
Kentucky has nothing to lose. Everyone expects them to be average or subpart... unlike Louisville, who is supposed to be good.

Colorado State Rams at Colorado Buffaloes, 630pm, ESPN
In the 8 years of the DFC, we've picked this game six times, as it always falls at the beginning of the year. Colorado has won four of the six, and all but one has been decided by a touchdown or less. Good luck.

MONDAY GAMES
Fresno State Bulldogs at Rutgers Scarlet Knights, 3pm, ESPN
I love Pat Hill's slogan for Fresno State... "Anyone, anytime, anywhere". And they've landed Rutgers, who I think is a very beatable team.

#18 Tennessee Volunteers at UCLA Bruins, 7pm, ESPN
Because Phil Fulmer has been on the "hot seat" for the last, I dunno, five seasons, I think they'll play enough to beat the Bruins. I think.

TIEBREAK GAME
Fresno State vs Rutgers... total combined points scored by both teams

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

The DFC IX Preseason--Divisions, Top 12...

Its almost that time... time for a new season, time for new games, times for the relentless pursuit of the 8-0 week, the 60 win season, the playoff berth, the Final Four appearance, the chance at DeuceBowl IX and... a shot at The Brook DeRamus Championship Plate.

Now... with a witness, Michael Nipp, the divisions have been realigned. We kept the rivalries, as promised... Matt vs DMO, Mikey Nipp vs Daniel Powell, Scotty Latta vs Jon Osborne, Yours Truly vs The Mighty Gainey, Drew vs Big Eddy, Tommy vs Jenn Ernst... and the rest has been randomly selected.

Two conferences, as with tradition, are named after the previous season's DeuceBowl finalists... The Gainey Conference, and for the third time in the DFC's history, The Morris Conference. In each conference, we've broken it up into 8 divisions, a la the NFL, the North, South, East and West.

The Divisions are as followed:

THE GAINEY CONFERENCE
The North Division
Justin Fisher
Matt Latta
DM Osborne
Clif Render
Joey Thornell

The East Division
Tad Roose
Eddy Jr
Ryan Sherman
Jason Barnette
Garrett Cheney

The South Division
Tommy McLeod
Jennifer Ernst
Tom Johnson
Tebe Shaw

The West Division
Drew Morris
Eddy McBroom
Tim Wasyluka
Trey Cartledge
AJ Fulaytar

THE MORRIS CONFERENCE
The North Division
Ken Mackey
James Hawbaker
Zack Graves
Sarah Hasha
Jason Turnbow

The East Division
Yours Truly
Mark Gainey
Matt Halpert
Jason Roberts
Jonathan Taylor

The South Division
Michael Nipp
Jason Duren
Daniel Powell
Chris Croyle

The West Division
Jonathan Osborne
Lori Beirne
Scott Latta
Tyler Campbell
Gina Roose

Playoffs:
Per conference, each Division Winner gets an automatic playoff berth, no matter the record. The four next best records get playoff spots. The top three records, no matter the division titles, get first round byes, though tie break goes to a division winner, regardless of TBA. The remaining five go to Wild Card Weekend, where top two records advance. Those two join the other three the following weekend, where again, the top two records advance for a head-to-head. In the first two rounds, higher seed break ties.

The DFC IX Preseason Top Fifteen
1. Tad Roose
2. Mark Gainey
3. Eddy McBroom
4. Drew Morris
5. Jennifer Ernst
6. Matt Latta
7. Yours Truly
8. Lori Beirne
9. Matt Halpert
10. Jonathan Osborne
11. Tyler Campbell
12. Justin Fisher
13. James Hawbaker
14. Scott Latta
15. DMOsborne

The Rookie Rundown
Our rookies this year include Jon Taylor, hubby of Emily, and waiting two years to be a part of The DFC... Jason Roberts, a Southern Miss fan thru and thru... Chris Croyle, hubby of Brittney and missionary kid... and finally, our youngest, AJ Fulaytar, spawn of DFC Champion and Hall of Famer, Wookiee Fulaytar. This sets up a new rule... any spawn that requires assistance from another can only be in the league if the one providing assistance is not in the league. This is primarily why Jenn Ernst's husband is not in The DFC...

Lies, Darn Lies & Statistics
  • For what seems like forever, a girl is still atop the all time wins standings. Jennifer Ernst climbed atop this column about four or five seasons ago--I don't even know when--and has never let go. When you don't factor in playoffs, you have her with 462 wins and 298 losses. When you do factor in playoffs, she's at 510 wins and 322 losses. Unbelievable.
  • Keeping all time wins, including playoffs, the next five are as follows... 2) Yours Truly, 494-338... 3) Matt Latta, 490-338... 4) Drew Morris, 489-298... 5) Tad Roose, 464-289
  • Whats crazy about that last stat is that Jenn, Yours Truly and Matt Latta have been in all nine seasons of The DFC, while Drew Morris started in DFC II, as did Tad Roose, giving a full season advantage to those who came after, including Tommy and DMOsborne (in 6th and 7th, respectively)
  • We don't call him The Mighty Gainey for nothing. He didn't start his DFC career until DFC III, and yet his all time win record puts him at #11, with a 439-234 mark. He's one game behind Tom Johnson for 10th (440-336) and actually AHEAD of #12 Michael Nipp (437-347)
  • Playoff wins have much to do with the above stats, as Drew Morris' run to the DeRamus Plate placed him well atop the Playoff Victories standings. He has a 80-35 record in the postseason, ahead of Mark Gainey, 61-36, Wookiee Fulaytar, 55-24 and three time DFC champ Tad Roose, at 54-27.
  • Speaking of Wookiee, the son of the Hall of Famer has come to The DFC. Yes, yes, it might be a weird set up, and we all know that Wookiee will be reliving his former glory by way of Austin James (AJ), but none of AJ's stats go to Wookiee. Again, as mentioned, this is why if Wookiee decided to come back, AJ will have to step down as a participant. Its been thought that Wookiee might just hold out two teams on paper, and whichever one AJ pees, poops or burps on, he'll pick that one.
  • Three rookies return this year, Justin Fisher, Clif Render and Rookie of the Year (and North Division defender) Matt Halpert. Matt had a great rookie year, with 63 wins, making him only the 6th DFC'er to ever score 60+ wins in his rookie season. Mark Gainey holds the record with 65 his first year, Garrett Cheney had 64, while Tad, Big Eddy and the now retired Gary "The Idol" Eubanks scored 62.
  • Its worth noting that out of those six, only two--Mark and Eddy--went on to have another 60+ win season. Gary got close with 59, while Garrett and Tad only mustered 47 and 45, respectively.
  • Week One winners: (DFC I) Shawn Sharp at 8-0... (DFC II) Daniel Powell at 8-0... (DFC III) Mark Gainey at 7-1... (DFC IV) Scott Latta at 8-0... (DFC V) DMOsborne at 8-0.... (DFC VI) Angie Mark Pilgrim at 6-2... (DFC VII) Matt Latta at 7-1... (DFC VIII) Matt Latta at 8-0. Shawn, Mark, DMOsborne and Matt, both times, went on to play in the postseason.
  • Out of 19 weekly winners who went 8-0, almost a 3rd of them came in Week One. No pressure.
  • WEEK ONE GAMES GO OUT MONDAY... check this site, as they might just appear Sunday night...