Some Hughes Bowl Minutiae

Leading up to Hughes Bowl 42 featuring the Bombers and Blizzard I present some Hughes Bowl tidbits I gleaned from our record book. First up are scores from past title games played by this year's participants:

Bombers

• 1992 Bombers (as Banditos) 27 Heroes 3
• 2001 Holes 31 Bombers 25
• 2003 Bombers 47 Giants 38
• 2007 Bombers 86 Giants 81
• 2013 Bombers 114 Blizzard 57
• 2014 Blizzard 122 Bombers 98

Six games played, 4 wins, 2 losses. Qualified as Wild Card in 1992 and 2003. Qualified as Division Champs with a bye in '01 and '13. Qualified as Division Champs without a bye in '07 and '14.

Blizzard

• 1985 Blizzard 40 Attica 32
• 1991 Nats 26 Blizzard 22
• 1994 Heroes 47 Blizzard 22
• 1998 Blizzard 34 Strawmenn 22
• 2011 Holes 88 Blizzard 80
• 2013 Bombers 114 Blizzard 57
• 2014 Blizzard 122 Bombers 98
• 2016 Holes 116 Blizzard 89

Eight games played, 3 wins, 5 losses. Qualified as a Wild Card in '85* and '98. Qualified as Division Champs with a bye in '91, '94, '13, and '14. Qualified as Division Champs without a bye in '11 and '16.

*=qualified as Division Runner-up.

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This is the sixth postseason matchup between the Bliz and Bombers. In addition to splitting their two Hughes Bowl showdowns (2013 and 2014) they have played each other in three semifinal contests. All three games (1991, 2011, and 2016) were won by the Blizzard. They have never faced each other in the Wild Card round.

Blizzard-Bombers Postseason results with the top scorer from the winning team:

• 1991 Semifinals... Blizzard 46  Bombers 30   Jim Kelly 18 pts
• 2011 Semifinals... Blizzard 91  Bombers 76   Tom Brady 30 pts
• 2013 Hughes Bowl... Bombers 114  Blizzard 57   Eric Decker 25 pts
• 2014 Hughes Bowl... Blizzard 122  Bombers 98   CJ Anderson 27 pts
• 2016 Semifinals... Blizzard 91  Bombers 76   Matt Ryan 22 pts

Random stuff indicative of nothing... Paz joined the league in 1983 and was playing in the Hughes Bowl two seasons later (he won it)...Bobby began in 1981, played three seasons and then shared a franchise with Sam off and on over the next four years. He returned full time with his own team in 1988 and was in (and winning) the Hughes Bowl four years later (1992)... the 12 years between the Bliz' '98 and '11 Hughes Bowls is the longest title shot drought for either team. The Bombers went nine years after their first HB (1992) until their second (2001). 

This year marks Bobby's 15th postseason appearance. In 28 games (including this year) he is 18-10 and 4-2 in Hughes Bowls. His .643 winning percentage ranks first among all owners with at least ten postseason games. Paz has returned to the playoffs for the 19th time and his wins the past two weeks push him over .500 to 17-15. He is hoping to become the fifth owner to win a fourth Hughes Bowl. He is 3-5 in his 8 title games. His win this past week is his ninth semifinal victory (he is 9-5) and that ties him for second place in that category with Rick, one behind the Nats (Steve and Dan share that team's history/records).

That's all for now. Hopefully, this is a fun Hughes Bowl. 

These shows are dopey but Andreas Kümmert is incredible. 

 

And so is my little beauty!

Hughes Bowl 42 Preview

 I'm as surprised as you are. 😯

And here we go.... after a tumultuous regular season and an...ahem... interesting postseason we find ourselves at Hughes Bowl 42 to cap off our 43rd campaign. Paz' Blizzard, winners of a wildcard 'golden ticket', and Bobby's Bombers, as stealthy as the plane on their helmet, will duke it out in the first Hughes Bowl to not feature the Giants since 2018!

This is the third time these two clubs have met to decide the champion of our league. They faced off in back-to-back Hughes Bowls with the Bombers wrecking the Bliz 114-57 in 2013 and the Blizzard gaining their revenge in 2014, 122-98. I took a quick glance at our HB history and I think this will be the first time that two clubs have opposed each other three times. 

Random facts from our record book... the last (only?) time two Wild Card clubs gained the Hughes Bowl was in 2012 when the Giants took on the R'backs (more on this below)... the Blizzard last took part in fantasy football's biggest contest in 2016 when they lost to the Holes... the Bombers last visit to the big stage was the 2014 game versus the Bliz mentioned above... that 2013 win is obviously their last HB victory.

This one and the 2012 Hughes Bowls are, technically at least, the only ones to feature two Wild Card clubs. The first Hughes Bowl (1981) and the third one (1983) were played by two clubs that finished second in their divisions. In those early two division seasons, the division champs and runners-up made up the postseason field. Whether or not the 2nd place clubs should be considered 'wild cards' is up for debate I guess... 

This is the seventh Hughes Bowl for the Bombers who have won four times. The Blizzard are looking for their fourth league crown in their ninth Hughes Bowl. Based on regular season scoring (and their respective semi-final showings) the Bombers would have to be considered the favorite but I'm retired from the prediction game. I'll just wish them both good luck.

I'll have a Hughes Bowl wrap-up next week. Included in that blog post or in a separate one shortly afterward I'll have some year-ending thoughts on the league and what the future holds. I also hope to have a league owner meet-up with a trophy presentation early in the new year. Details to come.

Meanwhile...

My sweet pixie wanted NO PART of Santa!

But she had no problem enjoying her treasure trove of gifts. 

She flat out got worn out! 

Happy New Year from Ellis and me!

A little Moby with Mindy Jones......

And Here We Are

 

The Messi picture has nothing to do with our league but I am convinced he's some sort of alien being. I watch him play and I find it hard to believe he's merely human. Same way I felt about Bobby Orr and Roberto Clemente. I hope he gets to raise the World Cup for Argentina! Okay, on to Hughes things...

Before I go any further I need to give a big Ed Hughes cap tip to David. It's been awhile since he had a team like this and he fully deserved a bye in the first round. I wouldn't have blamed him for being upset with my playoff setup decision but he took it with humor and grace. This league has the best damn owners.

Playoff thoughts..... Just random things from conversations with other owners and stuff that occurs to me as the dust settles: And some of it actually pertains to the Hughes League.

Hogan mentioned how things kind of leveled off when we dropped the keepers and everyone had start from scratch. That's very true. It was pretty hard to choose a favorite after the draft. Nowadays everyone has the best intel for drafting and results come down to injuries, the fantasy schedule, lineup mistakes and luck. 

I was thinking that a five game win bump was fairly uncommon but we've seen it happen more than I had thought. In digging I noticed that the Pirates improved by 7 wins(!) from 2017 to 2018 and then had a six win bump from '19 to '20. That's a real roller coaster ride. 

Be honest.. if I'd have asked you in August to name the top fantasy quarterbacks would you have had Geno Smith at #6, Trevor Lawrence at #7 and Justin Fields at #8? I thought not. Hey, here's a prediction based on absolutely no research, just a hunch...the winner of the Holes-Bombers game wins the Hughes Bowl. Remember who told you first. 

I have nothing else for the moment. Good luck to everyone still in the hunt. Remember your tie break guy.