The end is here and, as promised, I’m ready to fess up.
Many fantasy football seasons have already ended, leaving the final week of the NFL’s regular season off the schedule because some playoff teams sit their stars and others simply have little left to play for.
But my seasons ended a couple of weeks ago, and I generally finished in the middle of the pack.
In one league, I was the high scorer by far, but missed the playoffs after losing the final two games of the regular season.
Waiver wire moves kept my team fresh. I picked up Houston running back Domanick Davis a week before everyone else rushed to grab him, and scored Jets receiver Santana Moss after a frustrated previous owner dumped him early in the season.
In the other league, which doesn’t have a playoff format and concludes after this weekend, I’ve been pretty much out of the running since a decisive early-season trade went sour.
It was just after Week 4 and Falcons running back Warrick Dunn (my No. 2 back) had just been benched. A “friend” dangled Steelers running back Amos Zereoue – a week or two before he, in turn, was benched – and I took him.
To “balance” the trade, we swapped Saints receivers – I gave up Joe Horn and got back Donte Stallworth. Horn and Stallworth went their separate ways – meaning: Horn produced points and Stallworth did not. And, as mentioned, it wasn’t long before Zereoue was riding the pine.
Stuck, then, without a decent No. 2 running back or receiver, every move I made was aimed at filling those holes.
Through various trades, I ended up with Marshall Faulk and Tiki Barber at running back and Chad Johnson (who I drafted) and Hines Ward at receiver, but it was too little, too late to make a serious run.
I’m 7-9 and can finish seventh in a 12-team league with a win this week.
Here are some reader responses to the question, What were the turning points in your season?
Joe Clark writes, “Being the commish, you’d think that I’d know better.
After week four, I was so unimpressed with (Carolina receiver) Steve Smith that I released him and picked up (Jacksonville’s) Troy Edwards. Another team picked up (Smith) and he immediately went on a streak of touchdown catches and 100-yard games, while Edwards did literally nothing for me.
The guy who picked up Smith went on to win our regular season while I finished in fourth place.”
Mark Morgenstern went perfect through the regular season, but was besieged by a brutal snowstorm and left Jeff Garcia’s career game (six touchdowns) on the bench in the run for the title against a 6-8 fantasy team:
“As luck would have it, my quarterback (the Jets) Chad Pennington scored four points in Week 15, due to a snowstorm that hit New York. I decided to keep Garcia on the bench that week (and he) ended up scoring 55 (points) against Cincinnati.
My opponent had Mr. Cell Phone Joe Horn (of the Saints, who scored four touchdowns), and (Chargers) running back LaDainian Tomlinson, who also went off.
Worse yet, my opponent congratulated me on my victory at 3:30 Sunday (afternoon), before Horn had his (Sunday night) game and Tomlinson had that fourth quarter (in which he scored twice and had more than 80 total yards).
I didn’t even bother checking the (the score) until later that night. Boy, was I shocked to see I lost. The dream season was over.”
Things went a little better for John Boerger, who writes, “I got very lucky when, early in the season, I traded (formerly Cleveland, now Jacksonville receiver) Kevin Johnson and (Washington running back) Ladell Betts for (Saints running back) Deuce McAllister. That gave me McAllister and (Kansas City’s) Priest Holmes in the same fantasy backfield.
I’m now competing for my fantasy league championship.”
I’ll bet you are, John – you little …
Anyway, congratulations to the winners, and for the rest of us, there’s always next year.
Reporter Victor Balta: (425) 339-3455 or vbalta@heraldnet.com.
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