Friday, December 31, 2010

The 3FL: Our First Decade

Can you believe we began our inaugural season all the way back in the fall of 2001? We've come a long way since those tumultuous times. Let's have a look...

In our first decade we played 918 games over 163 football weeks. We have had 13 different coaches managing 28 differently named teams (not counting spelling changes), and 7 of those coaches have their names etched on the championship trophy.

Our teams have scored 110,322 total points, with 95,327 of those coming during the regular season.

On average the league scored 716.74 points per week during the regular season, for an average of 119.46 points per game (59.73 points per team per week). In the postseason those numbers rise to 124.96 points per game (62.48 points per team per playoff week).

We started out with an autopick draft for the first five seasons and then changed to our current live online format in 2006. A draft pick record study shows us the best and worst places in the draft order over our first decade.

Draft Pick - Win Percentage
6   -   .579
10   -   .553
2   -   .526
3   -   .515
5   -   .508
9   -   .504
7   -   .492
8   -   .485
12   -   .477
1   -   .462
11   -   .450
4   -   .432

Three draft pick numbers have never won the SuperBowl - #1, #8 and #11. In fact, picks #8 & #11 have never even played for the championship. As far as managers go, everyone but Coach Thadtotti has played in the big game.

For all of our superlatives please visit the updated 3FL Records page. A new category this year is most/least points by one team during a playoff run.

If you are interested in any other stats please let me know.

Here's to a great second decade!

Thursday, December 30, 2010

3FL Notes: 2010 Fantasy Player MVPs

Here are the top performers at each position for the 2010 season. Also, individual statistics for each manager (on the sidebar) are up to date through the end of this year's playoffs.

If there are any other stats you would like to see, let me know.



3FL 2010 Fantasy Player MVPs

QBs
Tom Brady (NE) - 267 points
Michael Vick (Phi) - 246 points
Aaron Rodgers (GB) - 242 points
Drew Brees (NO) - 232 points
Peyton Manning (Ind) - 232 points

RBs
Arian Foster (Hou) - 182 points
Adrian Peterson (Min) - 146 points
Peyton Hillis (Cle) - 138 points
Chris Johnson (Ten) - 125 points
Darren McFadden (Oak) - 125 points
Michael Turner (Atl) - 125 points

WRs
Dwayne Bowe (KC) - 139 points
Greg Jennings (GB) - 124 points
Calvin Johnson (Det) - 124 points
Brandon Lloyd (Den) - 119 points
Roddy White (Atl) - 116 points

TEs
Antonio Gates (SD) - 94 points
Jason Witten (Dal) - 89 points
Mercedes Lewis (Jac) - 77 points
Vernon Davis (SF) - 71 points
Rob Gronkowski (NE) - 69 points

Ks
Sebastian Janikowski (Oak) - 134 points
David Akers (Phi) - 133 points
Matt Bryant (Atl) - 119 points
Adam Vinatieri (Ind) - 116 points
Josh Brown (StL) - 116 points

Ds
Pittsburgh Steelers - 170 points
Green Bay Packers - 163 points
New England Patriots - 161 points
Chicago Bears - 140 points
Arizona Cardinals - 140 points

Stay tuned for a special look back at our first decade...

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

3FL Notes: Season 10 Wrap-up

The 3FL•X final standings are as follows:

1. ray ray haw
2. Misfits, Inc.
3. The Comfy Chair
4. Renegades
5. Predacons
6. Baltimorons
7. Lightning
8. Stiletto Stompers
9. Yuengling Brewers
10. Marauders
11. Spiked Vipers
12. Dumbbums



Week 16 Recap

Top Scoring 3FL Team: Lightning - 98 points

Player MVPs:

Josh Freeman (QB/TB) - 35 points
Aaron Rodgers (QB/GB) - 33 points
Tom Brady (QB/NE) - 20 points

The Lightning total, Freeman's points and Rodgers' points are all in our playoff top five of all time.



Playoff Predictions Tally

League Voting: 7/12 - 58.33%
Yahoo! Projections: 9/12- 75%



Final Individual Voting Tally
Total correct predictions for all 90 3FL 2010 games:

1. Predacons (52)
2. ray ray haw (51)
3. Lightning (50)
4. The Comfy Chair (46)
5. Misfits, Inc. (44)
6. Dumbbums (35)
7. Yuengling Brewers (32)
8. Renegades (18)
9. Spiked Vipers (17)
10. Baltimorons (12)
11. Stiletto Stompers (2)



Top Scoring Team of the Week
Number of times each team had the top point total for the week (playoffs include 8 teams only):

ray ray haw (6)
Baltimorons (2)
Misfits, Inc. (2)
Stiletto Stompers (2)
Dumbbums (1)
Lightning (1)
The Comfy Chair (1)
Yuengling Brewers (1)

Player MVPs to come...

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

3FL•X Champion!

The curse has been broken!

Congratulations to ray ray haw on winning their third 3FL SuperBowl. It's Coach Haw's first championship since winning in both of our first two years.

Stay tuned later in the week for final stats and the 2010 season wrap-up.

Thanks to everyone for a great season!

Thursday, December 23, 2010

3FL Notes: S10: Week 16 (SuperBowl) Preview

If you didn't stay up until the very end of MNF then shame on you until training camp starts. The haw was feeling the full brunt of the curse and trailing by five points with just over ten minutes to go. And then somehow the Bears D forced three turnovers - the last one with only :39 seconds left in the game - to give them a one point victory.

Meanwhile Misfits, Inc. was off to a rocky start until Michael Vick and DeSean Jackson combined for 32 fantasy points in the final 7:28 of their game against the Giants.

There is a lesson in all of this; don't go to sleep. You never know what can happen in the 3FL, especially during the playoffs.

SuperBowl week is finally here!! Who will be receiving a late Christmas present? We'll have to watch and see.



Week 15 Recap

Top Scoring 3FL Team: Misfits, Inc. - 95 points

Player MVPs:
Michael Vick (QB/Phi) - 32 points
Eli Manning (QB/NYG) - 27 points
Ray Rice (RB/Bal) - 23 points



Playoff Predictions Tally

League Voting: 4/8 - 50%
Yahoo! Projections: 6/8 - 75%

Go vote! Your final chance to vote on this year's games ends when the Steelers game starts at 8:20pm on Thursday.



Week 16 Information

Thursday Night: Carolina Panthers @ Pittsburgh Steelers
Christmas Night: Dallas Cowboys @ Arizona Cardinals
Sunday Night: Minnesota Vikings @ Philadelphia Eagles
Monday Night: New Orleans Saints @ Atlanta Falcons



Here we go...SuperBowl week in the 3FL!

For 7th Place:
#5 Stiletto Stompers vs. #6 Lightning
Every year we have one unlucky team that ends up a lot lower in the standings after the playoffs than when they started. Both of these teams fall into that category, with the high hopes of week 14 giving way to the possibility of ending up eighth and carrying a three (or four) game losing streak into next season. Come see the Josh Freeman vs. Jason Campbell show!

For 5th Place:
#7 Predacons vs. #8 Baltimorons
This is actually going to be a really good game. It's almost a shame that it only crowns the winner of the consolation bracket. Still, with players in every game throughout the week it will be a back and forth battle that comes down to Monday night. Either way, both of these teams will end the season higher than they started in the playoffs.

For 3rd Place:
#2 The Comfy Chair vs. #4 Renegades
I still don't believe what happened on Monday night. I thought it was all over when Percy Harvin caught a TD against the Bears Defense on the first drive. But somehow the haw clawed back and put the Renegades here, against the unlucky Chair. Can Coach Val take another MNF comeback, this time from a WR and a K? I think she'll be OK. She has a wedding to plan.

3FL SuperBowl X
#1 ray ray haw vs. #3 Misfits, Inc.
Here it is! A great matchup deserving of our tenth SuperBowl. Can you believe we've played a decade of fantasy football?

We all know the storyline here - it's Brady against Vick, the two top scoring QBs in the league. But don't rule out a lesser known player coming up big and claiming the trophy for his coach. Will it be one of the haw's elite RBs? Or one of the Corporation's high flying WRs? Or someone out of the blue? It all comes down to this!

Can the haw break the curse and win their third title? Or will Misfits, Inc. engrave their name on the trophy for the first time? Don't forget to stay up for Monday Night Football. It should be a great one - and the 3FL title awaits!

Happy Festivus, Merry Christmas and good luck this week.

Thanks to all for another fun season!

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Thursday, December 16, 2010

3FL Notes: S10: Week 15 (Semifinals) Preview

What just happened? All four top seeds held serve and advanced to the second round during our lowest scoring playoff week of all time. Other playoff records were posted as well (but not any of the good ones). Will we see more of the same this week? Or is someone about to shake up the party?

All individual team pages and the 3FL Records have been updated and show statistics through the end of the 2010 regular season. This year's additions to the records page are in bold. Playoff records now include last week's misery.



Week 14 Recap

Top Scoring 3FL Team: ray ray haw - 74 points

Player MVPs:
Pittsburgh Steelers Defense - 25 points
Michael Turner (RB/Atl) - 23 points
Tom Brady (QB/NE) - 19 points
Andre Johnson (WR/Hou) - 19 points
Michael Vick (QB/Phi) - 19 points



Playoff Predictions Tally

League Voting: 2/4 - 50%
Yahoo! Projections: 3/4 - 75%

Go vote! The polls close at 8:20pm on Thursday.



Week 15 Information

Thursday Night: San Francisco 49ers @ San Diego Chargers
Sunday Night: Green Bay Packers @ New England Patriots
Monday Night: Chicago Bears @ Minnesota Vikings



Semifinal Games
(Winners play in 3FL SuperBowl X, losers play for 3rd Place)

#1 ray ray haw vs. #4 Renegades
This is a mismatch if there ever was one. The #1 seeded, top scoring haw rolled into the semis by outscoring everyone else in the league last week. The Renegades somehow got here even though they tied for the fifth lowest team score ever in a playoff game. Plus their starting QB is concussed and their backup had an appendectomy a week and a half ago. But think about this - the last time Coach Val was a 20+ point playoff underdog she won the SuperBowl.

#3 Misfits, Inc. vs. #2 The Comfy Chair
FitzCorp is the only team of our final four that doesn't already have its name on the coveted trophy. This, however, does not concern the other three. The Chair squeaked through to the second round by holding off the Predacons in OT on Monday night, but this game will go in the opposite order. All of the Misfits will be finished after the 1pm games on Sunday. That leaves four pieces of furniture left to mount a comeback and put the Chair back into the big game. I hope everyone is OK staying up late on Sunday night to see what happens!

Consolation Games
(Winners play for 5th Place, losers play for 7th)

#5 Stiletto Stompers vs #8 Baltimorons
The Stompers were the second highest scoring team in the league this year. They actually averaged the fourth most points per week in the history of the 3FL. And then the playoffs happened, and Coach Bev's team posted the lowest point total EVER by a team in a playoff week. And now they are the underdog to the last seeded 'Morons. It just goes to show that anything is possible in the 3FL...

#6 Lightning vs. #7 Predacons
Remember after week eight when these teams were #1 and #2 in the league? This would have been a better game to watch in week nine rather than here in the consolation bracket. It looks like this will be a good matchup, though, and we know one thing for sure - the Predacons highest scoring players will most likely be on the bench. It will all come down to MNF to decide the winner. The battle for fifth place is on!

Good luck this week. The SuperBowl is one win away!

Thursday, December 09, 2010

3FL Notes: S10: Week 14 (Quarterfinals) Preview

Well, the last week of our regular season had a bit of drama. The haw's win vaulted them to the top of the standings, giving them the best record and highest point total in the league. And also the curse. Here come the playoffs!

Three wins in a row wins it all!

There are two things to remember:

First, everyone who qualified for the playoffs will play in each of the next three weeks. Make sure you have a lineup set from now through the end of week 16.

Second, and more importantly, ROSTERS WILL LOCK AT 1pm THIS SUNDAY, December 12th. You will not be able to add/drop after this time. Make sure your team is ready for the playoffs before then.

And don't forget that all remaining weeks start with a Thursday Night NFL game.



Week 13 Recap

Top Scoring 3FL Team: ray ray haw - 98 points

Player MVPs:
Tom Brady (QB/NE) - 30 points
Aaron Rodgers (QB/GB) - 24 points
Michael Vick (QB/Phi) - 24 points
Adrian Peterson (RB/Min) - 23 points



Regular Season Final Predictions Tally

The Comm-nosticator: 45/78 - 57.69%
League Voting: 46/78 - 58.97%
Yahoo! Projections: 46/78 - 58.97%

Voting is up and running for the playoffs but the polls close just before the Colts/Titans game on Thursday evening. Go vote!



Week 14 Information

Thursday Night: Indianapolis Colts @ Tennessee Titans
Sunday Night: Philadelphia Eagles @ Dallas Cowboys
Monday Night: Baltimore Ravens @ Houston Texans



The Comm-nosticator is finished for the year, but game previews are not...

#1 ray ray haw vs. #8 Baltimorons
The haw won SuperBowls I and II. The 'Morons won SuperBowls IV and VI. One of them will not make it past the first round this year. Will our tenth season finally see a top seed break the curse? It's possible, especially if Tom Brady keeps putting up 30 points each week. This one won't be any clearer until late on Sunday - a combined ten players don't start until after the 1pm games, with three of those waiting until Monday night.

#2 The Comfy Chair vs. #7 Predacons
These two clashed during rivalry week and the Preds pulled out a unlikely victory. In fact, many of their victories have been as the underdog. Can they keep it up? Or will they be exposed in the playoffs as a team that has just been lucky all year? The matchups favor the Chair by a heavy amount and will probably be the difference. But we'll just have to wait and see if the Predacons have any MNF magic left.

#3 Misfits, Inc. vs. #6 Lightning
The battle of the brothers-in-law is going to be an entertaining one. Set your alarms for Sunday night because that's likely when the winner will be decided. FitzCorp still has Ray Rice set for MNF, but will he end up on the bench with the win already assured? Key to the game might be the QB situation for the Bolts; It's rumored that Josh Freeman will get the start for the first time all year.

#4 Renegades vs. #5 Stiletto Stompers
Twins! Rivals! Here we go! The Stompers sealed a rivalry week win against Renengaged with a dramatic comeback on Monday night. They have the same two players on Sunday night this time around, but Coach Val's kicker plays on Monday night. Will the story be reversed this time around? It should be the best game of the quarterfinal round.

Good luck this week. The trophy awaits!

Thursday, December 02, 2010

3FL Notes: S10: Week 13 Preview

With a victory last week, the Renegades have claimed the final playoff spot (and #4 seed). So you think there will be very little drama in our final week of the regular season? Just wait - with all but one of the seedings up for grabs and division titles still undecided things are bound to get interesting.

Will the Stompers keep stomping? Who will win the top spot and attempt to break the curse? We'll find out for sure late Monday night!



Week 12 Recap

Top Scoring 3FL Team: Stiletto Stompers - 111 points

Player MVPs:
Tom Brady (QB/NE) - 30 points
Peyton Hillis (RB/Cle) - 27 points
Dwayne Bowe (WR/KC) - 26 points



Predictions Tally

The Comm-nosticator: 41/72 - 56.94%
League Voting: 42/72 - 58.33%
Yahoo! Projections: 42/72 - 58.33%

Remember, the voting deadline is THURSDAY @ 8:20pm this week. Go vote!



Week 13 Information

Thursday Night: Houston Texans @ Philadelphia Eagles
Sunday Night: Pittsburgh Steelers @ Baltimore Ravens
Monday Night: New York Jets @ New England Patriots



And now the Comm-nosticator’s predictions for week 13:

Yuengling Brewers (-1) vs. Dumbbums
The Brewers couldn't complete the comeback last week and failed to stay alive for the playoffs. They play the also eliminated 'Bums this week in a divisional battle of who loses last. The Brewers can't possibly get zero RB points again this week, right? I mean, Chris Johnson was the #1 overall pick!

Misfits, Inc. (-1/2) vs. Predacons
This one is all about Thursday night and Sunday night. Both teams will have their most important players going unwatched on the NFL Network tonight and then a combined three more will make a final appeal on MNF. With all three members of the 3FL West moving on to the playoffs we'll likely see another intra-divisional battle again soon.

ray ray haw (-1) vs. Marauders
The haw are looking to clinch the division and earn a top three seed with a victory against the hard luck Marauders this week. It should be relatively painless, but Coach Hoss has led his team to victory in two straight games so nothing is for sure. Seems like the Marauders are having a little fun being the spoiler and handing out losses.

Stiletto Stompers (-1/2) vs. Lightning
Just two weeks ago the Stompers were in last place in the 3FL West. Now they are holding on to the top spot in the entire league. But is that a good place to be going into the postseason? Our track record says no, but maybe 3FL•X will be the year the curse is broken. This game (and my pick) all comes down to Adrian Peterson. If he plays then Coach Bev wins. If not, she may get to avoid the curse.

Renegades (-1) vs. Spiked Vipers
With a playoff spot clinched, it's possible that the Renegades are looking past SpiVi to next week. Can you blame them? They have the fourth seed locked up even with a loss and a losing record for the regular season. Maybe we'll see another tie. That would be fun, and Coach GooMoo is just the team to make it happen.

And the game of the week...

The Comfy Chair (-1/2) vs. Baltimorons
The 3FL South is on the line as these two battle for the division title and it's going to be a good one. Can Peyton Manning return to glory for the comfy ones even though everyone he knows is injured? Will Andre Johnson tear off someone's helmet and beat them about the head and neck? But most importantly, will Mike Wallace catch a 68 yard TD pass on Sunday night to vault the Chair to victory?

Good luck this week!