Week Nine

Time is flying, we're two weeks from the all-important divisional games that close out our regular season. The chaff is beginning to separate from the wheat, or something. These two weeks are crucial to the teams on the cusp of elimination obviously. It looks like it'll take 8 wins for a playoff berth this year but I'm willing to be surprised. 7-7 just might squeak someone in. 

At the moment the seeding reads like this:

1) SMenn, 2) Nats,  3) Flyers, 4) Bliz, 5) Giants, 6) Legends

The current odds it will end up that way? 100,000/1 Against. 

Good Luck/Bad Luck/random tales of woe

You don't need to have been doing this for 47 seasons to understand that only so much of the outcome in fantasy is in your hands. I mean, sure, you have to avoid crappy draft choices (Hi, Justin Herbert!), you have to make reasonably correct lineup choices, and you need to make smart roster decisions (Hi CJ Stroud, I miss you!) but you need a healthy dose of luck.

For instance... the Rbacks are 4-5 and in 3rd in their division but they are fifth in points scored. So, what's up? They've had 978 points scored against them, That's by far the most in the league.

Another example..I'm in a 16 team dynasty league* and I'm two games up in my division despite being third from the bottom (of 16 teams!) in points scored. I've had the second fewest points scored against me.

In the one dynasty league I enjoyed (for six seasons) I had the best team I've ever had in all these years of fantasy. I worked my ass off and went 14-0 in my fifth season. had the highest PPG easily. In the semifinal Dalvin Cook went down for me in the 1st quarter of his game. He got me four points instead of his average 16. I lost and then in the third place game easily outscored the teams playing for the title. Ugh. 

I'm not sure there is a moral to these stories other than not to take it personally.  Good luck everyone, unless I'm playing you. 

*=I'm one and done in that league. The commish is clueless, the league is a mess. I had to tally up my division record and points against because he doesn't have that stuff in the standings columns. That, and about two dozen other reasons have me counting the days. 

EDIT...After typing this the commish has let me know he's got a replacement for me. Thank you!!

Short Takes... 

So Puka Nacua is hurt, again. He's made of paper, then again a LOT of guys this year seem to be made of paper... I've noticed that on Monday night, once the game ends, our scoreboard shows all zeros for all players and teams... I'm not sure what causes it but it seems to correct itself after a while. I'm looking into the cause... the Playoff tab doesn't seem to update until a day or so after the games are final. No idea on that either. But it does catch up by Tuesday evening... Here's a look at the results by lineup configuration (rb/wr/te) through nine weeks...

Make of it what you will... 2/3/1, the traditional lineup, remains the most 'popular' while the 3/2/1 brings home the most points...scoring overall was down just a bit from last week but over the last three weeks it's been fairly steady. we have another 4-team bye week before we run up against the 6-team bye valley in Wkk 11. Every man for himself. 

Bill McCormick passed away last week at the age of 73. He was a friend to many here. Bill was a UH alum and a native of Raymondville in the Rio Grande Valley where he was an attorney for many years. He was a regular golfer during the heyday of the annual OB Open, partnering with Mike Padilla, Jim O'Conner and Sam Kelner. That's them in the photo below. In one of the final Opens, Bill played in a sixsome with me, James and Brooks, Jim Nichols and Mike. The photo is of Bill at one of the after-Open cookouts, circa 1979. He was always fun to be around with his droll humour and easy-going ways. RIP, Chilly Willie.

And you can click here to read Bill's obituary . Thanks, Mike, for sending this along.

5-->1 British Stuff

OK, so I lied. I should have made this a Top 100. Once I had decided on 50 I knew I had a bunch more faves so I'm gonna do a Top Five in several different, loosely defines categories. This is the first one.

Tied with:

Okay, that's six, I can't count!

And alt version or two...

I just love this song... Soft Cell did the original but David Gray is a favorite artist so his version is above.

Week 8

Just when you think you have a handle on this stuff a week like this comes along and throws you a curve. Week Eight was pretty unique with notable stuff happening in both the NFL and our little league right here. 

--On a positive note, Rick led his Giants to their 300th regular season win. Congratulations, Rick on this achievement! The 300 Win Club page has been updated. Check the link over on the right. The next clubs in line are the Blizzard (283 wins), the Sticks (277) and the Bombers (267). We will start to count them down next season. 

Now, for the weird shit...

--The injury bug and bye week schedule continued to play havoc everywhere. Lamar Jackson, Jeremiyah Love and several others headed for the blue tent over the weekend, and didn't return. Hell, Tyler Huntley came in for LJ and didn't last long himself. 

BTW...how much are you bidding on Joe Fagnano? 😕

--That Raven report does bad things to a bunch of their skill players. Zay Flowers didn't catch a pass and that killed the Rbacks' chances. 

--Then again Chris Godwin was blanked for the Smenn so maybe it evened out? Oh, and why did Godwin suck air? Well, the Bucs didn't complete a single pass in their monsoon game versus the Falcons. Luckily for me I'd cut Baker Mayfield rather than start him which had been the plan early in the week.

--There was a point on Sunday when checking the scores I saw that the Blizzard were leading the Heroes 138 point something to 14ish! I have no way to verify this but I'm gonna guess that no EHFL team has ever held a ONE HUNDRED TWENTY FOUR point lead in a game. Hell, it might have gone higher than that at some point (I don't check every minute). Granted, the Heroes had only a player or two in action at up to then, and went on to score a respectable total, but seeing that crazy lead was wild. I wish I'd screencapped it.

--Joe Burrow got Paz 45(!) points in that game on 462 yards and five TDs, I got 32 out of Tee Higgins....James had 70 points on his bench (Allgeier + Mitchell) and still beat the Holes by 23. The Holes, meanwhile, had five guys on bye... the Bombers had five guys on bye and only one RB... five starting guys across the league had zero points (plus 0.90 for my DK Metcalf) which is abnormally high...Tre Tucker had the doughnut for the Legends despite the Raider getting 37 points against the Jets...

...Just when you thought you'd heard the last of Gardner Minshew, he takes over the Cardinals' QB job... in that one Michael Wilson broke two ribs and stayed in the game!

The Overview: Scoring average for the league ticked up just a smidge from Week 7...The Flyers have taken the lead in the Lombardi proving miracles do still happen, at least on a temporary basis...There were zero 'close' games this week (under a 10 point margin) which doesn't happen often. The closest we had to a cliffhanger was Smenn-Rbacks which ended up being a come-from-behind 12-point win for Padilla thanks to D'Andre Swift running all over the Seahawks on Monday night... those Smenn have a two game lead in the Kuhlmann with the Pirates (stock down) and Bliz (stock up) at 4-4... the Nats and Giants are both 5-3 with the Nats holding the H2H tiebreak and a 100 point PF margin. The season is getting interesting!

Flyer Trivia

Just what you were hoping for, yes?

I was going over the spreadsheet where I track the All Time Flyers roster and I noticed, for the 100th time I think, that I had Steve DeBerg on four separate occasions with four NFL teams covering a span of 19 seasons. He was on my roster with the 1980 49ers, with the Bucs in 1985, with KC in 1990, and lastly, in 1998 with the Falcons. Somehow I missed him during his stint with the Broncos in the early 80s and his year with the Dolphins which was 1993. Looking at his page at Pro Football Reference I was reminded that he'd been retired as an active player for FOUR full seasons before he returned for that final fling with Atlanta in '98. In '95-'96 he served as QB coach for the Giants! New York, not Joliet.

And just because I can, I researched what he did in each of those seasons:

1980: He was an original draftee but sat behind Dan Fouts and later Bert Jones that season. He had 12 points (two TDs) in his only start. There was a ton of 'roster churn' that initial season. The Flyers had 7 QBs, 11 RBs, 9 Receivers and 4 K over the 16 weeks.

1985: Drafted but traded to the Holes as part of a six-player, four-quarterback deal before the first week. A 6-player trade...imagine that!

1990: Part of the Flyers' first title. He started 5 times in the regular season and had 7 TDs, five of them coming in the last two games. He started the semifinal and had 2 TD tosses but Marino got the Hughes Bowl start (and the win!).

1998: I claimed him on waivers after Week 8 but dropped him almost immediately. I'm not sure what was behind that.

DeBerg never appeared in a Hughes Bowl game, for the Flyers or anyone else. 

I've had one other player four times with four different NFL teams....

And with D'onta Foreman I had him with four of the five NFL teams he played for. He was a promising Texans rookie in 2017 but had a modest career with five clubs over seven seasons as he was hurt quite a bit. Here's a brief rundown, not that you asked..

2018... the Texans... I nabbed him via waivers for the Hughes Bowl but didn't start him. His 10 points would have only gotten me one more for my final and I'd have lost to Jim's Holes anyway. That game he played for the Texans was the only game he played that year as he was hurt most of the season. 

2021... the Titans... claimed him twice, in Weeks 9 and 14. I used him twice including the semifinal which I lost to Keith. 

2022...he was with the Panthers and after I claimed him mid-year he was a top notch scorer for me but it didn't matter as the Flyers were very meh in finishing 7-7. 

2024.. I somehow missed his time with the Bears in '23 but I brought him back when he played for the Browns. I claimed him in Week 3, didn't use him and dropped him for Tank Bisby in Week 4. He was voted a Hughes Bowl ring by the Flyers squad over my strong objections. 

I've had other guys on the Flyers' roster multiple times (Matt Stover was a Flyer six times over 16 seasons!), but only DeBerg and Foreman showed up as reps of four separate NFL teams. 

10-->6

Okay, so that's six, sue me.

A few alt versions...

Week 7

Turning For Home!

Seven weeks in the books and I think I'm ready for this to end. 😁 But we are committed so let's keep going. Here's what I think that I think about what has happened so far and what might happen... only one team with 5 losses, one with 5 wins, everyone else is 4-3 or 3-4. What does that mean? It means that everyone is still in the running for a Wildcard if not a division crown...

The Flyers were #1 in the Power Rankings a few weeks ago but went into freefall and are mid-pack now. That's what happens when you flub on QB and TE in the draft...the Bliz lost by .08 points last week and followed that up with a four point loss this week. Paz had a really good chance going into Monday Night Football but the Eagles are a mess and Cooper only caught one pass. If there its any consolation, Paz' other choice, Jake Ferguson put up a doughnut so it wasn't like he guessed wrong... the 4-3 teams in the Barenholtz had better be checking their rearview mirrors because the Rbacks and Holes are red hot...I continue to be astonished by the fact that the Rbacks have had over 800 points scored against them...that's 200 more than the Holes who have the same record...

...Scoring overall ticked up a bit this week with the league averaging 95.7 PPG...that's the second lowest of the year but it was up 8 points per team over Week 6...bye weeks will continue to screw up the scoring marks... did I put the jinx on the Giants in their quest for 300 wins? They've dropped three after a 4-0 start. The Sticks are next up for Rick... the 5-win Strawmenn are near the top of the Power Rankings but are the top scoring team with a 110.4 PPG. Since we went to digital scoring only the '24 Flyers and Bombers (both @ 111.0) have exceeded that level... if they can sustain that Mike will find himself in another Hughes Bowl...

The Holes more than doubled up the Bombers this week (129+ to 54) but that doesn't break into the Top 5 biggest winning margins of the 8-player lineup era (which began in 2019). The record is 92 points (Flyers over the Rbacks 171-79 in Week 10 of 2019). I can't gloat because the Flyers took the biggest beatdown in league history in Week 13 of 2016. That was Heroes 136, Flyers 35! That's 101 points, but whos counting? LOL...You probably noticed that I have turned off 'Commish Approval' on trades. I did this for a couple of reasons. First of all, given how you guys have operated with integrity for 46+ years, I doubt I'd ever have to question the motives behind a trade. Secondly, I'd hate for a trade to be delayed because I was out-of-pocket....

...I enjoy playing around with league stats and the W/L By Lineup Configuration is one of my favorites. Not that it means shit but it's fun to track and analyze anyway. Here is a peek at this year's data through the first half of the season...

No one has used a 1-2-3 lineup this year (or any year for that matter!) . Hard to see someone having three startable TEs but you never know what some of the crazy bye weeks may bring.

Here is how we stack up across the league going back to when we began the two flex player system...

Note that the minimum number of usages for a lineup configuration to be included was 10 and the 2026 numbers are based on the first half. Do what you may with these numbers. The bottom line is you'll always start your best lineup under the rules. This year a 4-RB option would help me considerably!!

15-->11

That's her Halloween costume, btw. She is Rumi of the K-Pop Demon Hunters and she's got the pose/attitude down pat! 😆

Week 6 Bonus Edition

Wait, What?

I was going to lead with this in my Week 7 post but it's too nuts to hold off on. Check out this box score from Week 6 whose significance I somehow missed!

The Holes beat the Bliz by 0.08 of a point!! I'm no math guy but that's 8/100th of a point! EIGHT ONE HUNDRETHS OF A F'ING POINT. Crazy, yes? But wait... he did it with three guys getting blanked! Three doughnuts! Skattebo fumbled early in his game and was benched. Tyler Warren got hurt early in his game and never returned. Brian Thomas, well, he did Brian Thomas things, 2 targets, no catches, no yards. As I type this I've noticed that Jim has dropped BT Jr. The dude sucks.

Bottom line.. with passing yards being worth 0.04 each, Jim won his game by TWO YARDS PASSING. Two. 2. 1+1. A dude falling forward after a catch instead of being stood up! Unreal. Even before I do any research on this I'm pretty confident this is the closest game (outside of when ties were a thing) that we've ever had. 

Oh, and here's how ChatGPT describes 8/100ths of a point:

2. In Sports & Games

• If a team's betting spread, a player's statistics, or a gaming score changes by 0.08, it is a very tiny fraction of a single whole point (just 8% of one point).

This should have been the lead in the last Hughes News but with some extended grandparent duty plus my shit Week 6 result I confess to being a bit 'meh' and I didn't dig into stuff as I normally do. I didn't notice this weird-ass game until I was doing my Lineup Research yesterday (Friday). Damn, this is crazy shit. 

Back to my usual bullshit...

Nice to see Jack working the proverbial phones here as we approach the turn. He's been tossing offers out there and he made the deal with the Sticks Friday, his second of the year. I've been working to find a QB trade that works for both sides but I'm not finding a good matchup. I'm gonna keep trying so watch your inbox...

20-->16

Week 6

Didn't See This Coming!

Just when I thought I had things going my way, the Flyers had their worst game in years. What a cruel mistress fantasy football can be. But I wasn't the only one to hit the pavement hard. In fact, it was an 'off' scoring week across the board.

Yes, I suck at Excel stuff but you get the gist. Some of this is due to Bye Week teams but a lot of normally high scoring guys had shit weeks. And so it goes.

Speaking of how it goes... more players are falling by the wayside. Let's see... Rice, Evans, Hurts, McLaurin, Davante Adams. Who am I missing?

Only two teams, the Rbacks and Holes are more than a game out of first place (they are both two back in the Barenholtz) but both are trending up. Hey, look at the Rbacks' Points Against, almost 730! That's over 50 more than the next most scored against team, the Legends. That's crazy talk.

Here is some Johnny Cash for those of you feeling busted flat in Baton Rouge.

I'm happy to see that waivers are so busy, at least through last week. Makes me more convinced that the roster reduction is doing what it was intended to do. I'm not so happy that I'm getting outbid on most of my guys. I guess I've gotten cheap in my old age....Speaking of waivers, I've stopped tracking the team totals. I fell behind a week or so ago and with the numbers meshing I think the MFL system has been working correctly. If you notice any issue with your FA cash, let me know and I can check it out.

Did I put the whammy on the Giants with this 300 Wins stuff? They've lost a couple in a row and Rick won't find it any easier this week going up against a pretty stout Strawmenn club. He'll get that milestone sooner rather than later. Speaking of wins... Here's a look at the Week 6 standings from 40, 30, 20, and 10 years ago!

1986, a ten team league and Keith took the title...

1996, this was the first of back-to-back Flyer championships (sigh).

2006, another title for the Sticks.

2016, a decade back, the Holes reigned supreme when it was over.

I'll do stuff like this from time-to-time. I might as well get some use from the websites I compiled over the summer for every one of our seasons. BTW.. in case you haven't had the chance, you can go to this page and find links to all our season sites. Some of those old Hughes News editions were pretty tasteless and would get me cancelled in this more enlightened age.

25-->21

Week 5

Thursday Morning EDIT: A question came up and I realized that players who started the season on 4-game IR may be coming off it now and I should probably clarify the procedures. 

We are set up to where a team with an 'IR Violation' cannot submit a lineup until the violation is corrected. In other words, once a player in one of your IR slots is activated by his NFL team you will need to move him off your IR before you can submit or revise your lineup. That does NOT mean a legally submitted lineup is suddenly invalid when the player is activated. Here is an example.

I have Tank Dell on my IR and he is now practising with the Texans but still on IR. I have already set a lineup for this week. If Dell is activated for this weekend, say on Saturday, my lineup would stay in place and be valid. However should I want to change it (re-submit it) I'd have to deal with Dell (activate or drop him) before doing so. And I'd have to fix it in any case before submitting a lineup next week. 

Let me know if you have any questions.

How About Those Pirates?

I don't put much stock in post-draft analysis but I do check stuff out just for grins. This year the draft site gave out one failing grade after the draft...to the Pirates. And it gave out two "A" grades... to the Legends and Holes. The Pirates are 4-1. The Legends and Holes are a combined 3-7. I guess my point is.."You never know!" I mean Dameon Pierce and someone named Germie Bernard are at the top of this week's recommended waiver priority lists. Crazy talk for sure.

There is no reason to pay attention to the Playoffs tab on the league site yet. I mean we are still two weeks from the midway point of the season. But if you go there be aware that the Populate Playoff Seedings thing is A) slow to update, it usually takes a couple of days, and B) it gives bogus results until everyone has played everyone else and the tie-breaks are established.

The Giants fell short in their quest for 300 this past weekend. Rick will give it another whirl against the Sticks in Week Six. 

It took 46+ seasons but I finally had a Hughes League-related dream last night. In it Jimmy O called me angry about something I wrote in this newsletter. 😂 Since I wrote that first paragraph late Monday night maybe I dreamt I'd already sent it and he was mad about being used as an example. Jimmy, feel free to weigh in on this!

Scoring was up three points per franchise over last week. Eight teams broke the 100 points barrier (and the Flyers were very close) which is the highest since Week One. There were far fewer 'extremes' than we had last week, that's for sure. If you look at the Scoring Bar Chart on this page, the sizes of the purple areas (Week 5) are much more uniform than they were in the yellow (Week 4). It's like someone squashed the Bell Curve, or something. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

That's it for this week. Almost five straight days of grandpa duties wore me out for sure.

30->26

Aída at her recent 2-year checkup. She's 90th Percentile for height, 75th for weight, and 200th Percentile for Adorableness!