The Dozen - Slushie Sundays Week 3 Recap

Well this is certainly not how we envisioned the league to look after three weeks. Aside from Dave's squad remaining undefeated of course. Regardless, it has been the bizarro world in the first quarter of the Slushie Sundays Fantasy Football League. Early preseason favorites are not only 1-2 (Josh, Aaron and Brian) but they're also struggling to score points. Yes, scoring has been down early on but this week we experienced a great set of games in the NFL with plenty of points on the board. Will these teams bounce back? Who knows. Brian had a great roster last year and caught a horrific string of bad luck that boxed him out of a late playoff berth. Although all wins matters equally, setting the tone early is normally in everyone's best interest. 

Surprisingly, especially with last season's flurry of roster moves, there haven't been any trades. Shocking I know, but it appears as though maybe teams have become more conservative with their draft picks and are now realizing the danger of unloading picks. There's still time for this to change but it is interesting, even with only three weeks into the season. I applaud teams for not panicking and sticking to their picks and allowing the new waiver bidding system to do it's job. As I hoped, in my opinion, it's creating an extra layer of strategy to an already competitive league. We've seen teams completely burned by it (Chris Casey) and some bids for significant money paying off (Tarik Cohen). Extra strategy but also less desperation, as teams that budget their salary careful realize they could change the landscape of their roster with economical bidding. Hope you all are enjoying the difficulty of an added dimension like myself.

Of the teams missing out on the postseason in 2016, it's fair to say each team has shown improvements already in the young season. Dom and Chris Casey are scoring over 100 points per game while Will was a monster Larry Fitzgerald game away from being 2-1. As for Brian, his team boasts one of the best lineups in the league, simply a lack of touchdowns has crippled a few matchups. The parity of this league is it's true hallmark. Granted, only four champions in six years isn't the best example, but the fluctuation of teams from each year is nice to see. Dave is the perfect example.

For years, Dave swore off fantasy football and was begged to join the league. After a rough couple seasons, he teetered on the edge of not wanting to continue playing. However, he decided to stick with it and has ripped off what looks to be a third straight successful season. With his amazing run to an upset victory in the Super Bowl V, to an earnest title defense cut short by an upset from Joe, Dave is poised to show he belongs as an elite owner. His title ensures his clout along the league and our full respect (as always) but Dave would rather be feared than loved. While displaying phenomenal sportsmanship - which was recently criticized - we know that Dave is hungry to get back to the glory days of his title run. 

Back in 2015, he was the people's champ, an outsider who through a grassroots movement represented the downtrodden fantasy owners, inspiring wisdom and confidence to those less fortunate all the way to fantasy immortality. But he's never forgot where he came from and never took anything for granted. Putting it man hours each week and season to ensure sustained greatness like his idol, Coach K. Although focused on season and week-long goals, he's always looking to the future and making sure his team represents sustained success, whether it's through integrity, respect from his fellow owners or just winning games. I am so proud of you Dave, and as a fan from the beginning, I've enjoyed every part of the ride. 

The Dozen - Slushie Sundays Week 2 Recap

We have pivoted at the office of the Slushie Sundays official league blog. After serious consideration and courting public opinion (one text to Ben this weekend), I have decided to switch things up a little to avoid being stale. Millennials these days are too preoccupied by their gadgets and Instagram stories to get the ink underneath their fingers and read an online article that doesn't have video content. Then I remembered how my face looks on a front-facing camera and thought otherwise.

So instead, I spared you all the displeasure of me creating digital content and strive to shuffle my method of writing. Many people (a few people kindly posting feedback) have been saying they love the rants and since they're much easier to conjure up, they will remain and serve as the backbone of these write-ups. I can honestly write for hours about random stuff and existential crisis caused by fantasy football, it's the boring, repetitive recaps that make me want to chop my fingers off.

To that, I prevent to you "The Dozen", a weekly roundup of each team based on the current standings each week. I'll leave the hot takes and debates to the video content professionals, Brian, Joe and Aaron. Assuming they'll begin to post power rankings, it would be foolish to post my own, instead I will assess, compliment, hate on and subtly jab at each roster from my keyboard and if anything sounds controversial, I'll be covered by the insanity and smack talk thrown at us by each video series. Each team will receive a "Good" and "Bad" analysis, since no team is perfect, even Dave's (yet). Dynamics of team's change so often and it will be interesting to track how the landscape of each roster changes with the passing weeks.

So just to reiterate, these are NOT power rankings. Straight facts homie. The picture of the standings below each week will determine the order of The Dozen. Unsatisfied with your position? Win more games, it's as simple as that. This format may change over the season but I figured a change of pace would do the blog some good.

The Dozen - Slushie Sundays Week 1 Recap

Welcome back to another season of Slushie Sundays football. The last time I spoke with you, I actually championship aspirations (2016 was crazyyy mannn). To bring you up to speed, I lost, so did ten other schmucks and Josh won. Aside from the money, the fame, the fans, the trophy is Josh really all that different from any of us? I think we're all winners for being a part of this tight knit fraternity that would rather ridicule others for roster decisions than partake in butt-chugging or whatever they do in those things.

We waited all summer for this write-up season and it proved once again that a football Sunday is even better than *insert PG-13 reference to not upset future corporate sponsors of this blog*. For six lucky souls, it was the result they envisioned five long, painstaking days ago when they drafted the remaining core of their roster. There is nothing sweeter than witnessing offseason hype and optimism ring true, regardless of the result. Sure, teams known for prolific scoring were required to get down and dirty in their matchups but in my opinion, wins like this build character. But what would I know? I lost in a shootout.

All kidding aside, there was some horrendous football played on Sunday and teams were blindsided like Joe Theismann. I did you all a favor and didn't hyperlink the video of his leg being mangled but next week I can promise more bodily injuries in the write up. I'm getting extremely off topic but what I truly intended to prove in this paragraph was that this is a results based league. Unfortunately for some, moral victories aren't properly compensated in Slushie Sundays and usually (in my ideal universe), the most victories receives the glory.

That being said, don't get bent out of shape after one loss and gut your entire roster, it gets better; hopefully. Trust me, I wanted nothing more than to walk roundtrip to Denver/Cleveland/Los Angeles to beat Trevor Simeian, Ben and Adam Vinatieri with a pillowcase full of nickels to vent my frustrations in succession, but my wellness advisor (the beer in my fridge) instructed me to breathe easy and focus on the upcoming weeks. For it is a marathon, not a sprint. With injuries, suspensions, benchings, etc. anything can happen this season and I sincerely mean it. We can draft our players and set our lineups but aside from that, we are held hostage to the decisions of dimwitted coaches, play-callers and millionaire athletes who don't even know we exist. It's all about having FUN and not losing your sanity (this will be fun to read again in three weeks if I still have a losing record). Gotta love fantasy football right?