DFL 2013 Week 16: Semi Finals (and it's about time!)

I know, I know... It's less than 48 until the finals kick off an no write up yet.  Hey, the good news is that there was no Thursday night game this week, so technically, this write up isn't late.

Pictured above:  The last two people who are still vying for the Championship (one of them being me).

Sadly, I have been sick as a dog for about a week now *and* you know, Christmas.  So, things have been a bit slow on the uptake.  But, unlike one certain quarterback in Arlington Texas, I play through the pain.

Looking at pick'ems, things are remaining *tight*.  Everyone went 2-2 this week, except for Ben, going 1-3.  (Dammit, McClennen!  If you were to have pulled out that win, I'd be in first place right now and look like  a genius!)  So, going into the championship week, Crutch retains his thin hold on 1st place with 53 picks, Phil is right behind him at 52 picks, and Ben is hanging in there with 51 picks.  Skoot gave up this week and still sits at 47 picks. Meanswhile Mike is just above Terri, 43 to 42 picks.  (So, theoretically, Mike could get into a 4th place tie if Skoot doesn't get any right this week *and* Mike bingos... though we have only had one of those this year..)

With that, we'll start wth the consolation games (yeah, yeah, yeah, I know that nobody is reading this section, but we gotta do it.....):

Ben versus Missy
Well, Ben's luck finally ran out this week. He was most certainly not the highest score of the week.  In face, quite the opposite.  He was dead last.  Lost of things kinda went wrong here.  Example:  Jordan (though how great would it have been if his first name was "James") Cameron was ruled out just before game time due to a concussion. Here's another: Fitzgerald was held to 3 catches all game.  And perhaps the biggest pain was Tucker, coming off a 23 freaking point game against me in week 15, only got 1 point.  Missy, on the other hand, played well.  4 players saw double digits, including two with 20+ point games.  McCoy and Murray (the studs with 20+ points) make everyone go "Man.... RBs aren't a forgotten position!"  So, enjoy your slot in the Bitch Bowl, Ben.

Terri versus Skoot
Otherwise known as the "Dammit, Skoot" bowl.   I picked Skoot to win this one handily.  And what did Skoot do?  He threw the game.  He even said so in the smack talk.  I don't have the exact quote in front of me, but it went something along the lines of "ohh.. I'm skoot.  I'm a little bitch.  I'm going to throw this game so that Phil get another one wrong in the pick'ems".  Dammit, Skoot.  I hate you so very ... very much.  Anyways, Brees shit the bed this week (even though last time the NO and CAR faced off, Brees had a 30+ point game), and Johnson was pretty much shut out.  (And to add insult to injury, Roddy White had a season high 18 point game.)  On the other side of the field, Mannning the Greater was Manning the Greater, Morris did his thing, and Carolina somehow whooped up on New Orleans.  So, like Mike said, Terri made up for the two regular season losses to Skoot by just destroying Skoot this week.  Well, played.  And enjoy *your* time in the Bitch Bowl Skoot.

And now, the meat and potatoes, the real games (yeah, yeah, yeah,I know that only slightly more read this section, but we're this deep, we might as well finish the write up):

Mike G versus McClennen
I'll admit it.  I thought that this one was going to be closer than it was.  In fact, I totally thought that McClennen had one more upset left in him.  The game was projected to be within 5 points, but Mike laid it on thick and threw down a 24 point beating on McClennen.  Mike's pick up of Napolean Dynamite continues to pay off in droves.  Every single week that Foles has been on Mike's team, he has out performed expectations.  Of course, outside of that, there;s not a lot there.  Thomas continued to thank his lucky stars that Manning the Greater is throwing to him, Prater got lucky that somehow Houston stopped Manning the Greater from getting into the endzone when they were close, and Seattle, not surprisingly held Arizona down and did what needed done. McClennnen... well, his luck just sorta ran out.  It never seemed to me that McClennen's team was all that great, he just had one or two players go gang busters week to week.  Sadly, this week, his only player that went crazy was the Cincinnati DEF against Minnesota. So, a solid victory for Mike, moving him into the Championship game and McClennen into the silver game.

Phil versus Patrick
Finally, the beat down of the week. Phil handed this thrashing to Patrick this week, with a nearly 60 point margin.  Somehow, Dalton went gang busters against the Vikings.  I mean, my ginger boy is good and all, but a 30 point game?  Maybe not quite that good...  Everyone was really just hitting their stride this week.  Well, except for Davis, who was completely shut out.  No injury, just no points.  come on, man.  This is the playoffs.  Get your head on straight!  On the other side of the game, Patrick actually had fairly good numbers.  Except for Stafford, who would have been better had he just stayed home.  This game sends Patrick to the silver game, and Phil to the championship (for the third time - third time is the charm, right?).

So, that leaves us with Phil versus Mike G in the championship game and Patrick versus McClennen in the consolation game.  I'm pretty sure that Mike has never been in the championship game before and I know that I've never taken home gold before.  So, this will be an exciting game.  And big congrats to McClennen to getting to medal contention in his first year.  Well played, sir.

Of course, the other important game is this week as well:  Ben versus Skoot for bitch of the playoffs.  Just to remind everyone, Skoot only lost first seeding in the last week of regular season and Ben had the second highest points (and the shittiest schedule) all year.  So, good luck, both of you magnificent bastards!