The Hughes News: Gut Wrenching!

Remember last week when I mentioned the lack of close games in Week Nine? Well, sometimes the fantasy gods strike in ways you just can't imagine.

First things first, we had two huge games this past weekend with implications across three divisions. My original lede for this post, which I began Monday evening, is below. But somewhere between that headline and this morning, we had an ending for the ages.

The Legends, sitting atop the Lombardi, had a 25.76 point margin in their game against the Kuhlmann-leading Blizzard going into Monday night's Packers-Eagles game (82.30 to 56.54). Our site projected the Blizzard to make it close as they had Jacobs and Goedert on tap. And that projection was not wrong. Paz' club inched closer and closer despite the game on the tube being a defensive struggle.

With less than six minutes remaining, the Packers scored a TD (their only points on the night) with Jacobs carrying it in from six yards out. That score pushed the Blizzard ahead of James, 82.44 to 82.30. It looked like a win (by the margin of less than a yard and a half of rushing) for the Bliz and that they would hold their piece of 1st place. I'd been following along on the app while reading, and when Jacobs scored, I closed the app, opened Blogger, and got a head start on today's news post.

In no way was I counting on what happened next. The Eagles killed off about three minutes and punted, the Pack crossed midfield, faced a 4th-and-1, handed the ball to Jacobs, and he LOST 4 Yards and fumbled! That play cost the Bliz 0.4 points, knocked them back to 82.04, and behind the Legends.

Green Bay did get the ball back one more time, moved it enough for a desperate attempt at a tying FG, but that kick came up short from 64 yards out. Had McManus made it and the game gone into OT, either Jacobs or Goedert would have surely picked up a couple of yards or nabbed one catch, and given Paz his win.

Fantasy football can surely drive you crazy.

Not that it's any consolation to Paz, but I lost by a half point in a different league a few years back when Eli Manning (I think it was Eli) threw a last-play Hail Mary that was intercepted by a guy lying on his back, as I recall. The pick cost me a point, but I still would have won, except the guy I was playing also got a point, since he had the defense Eli was going against. Sigh

This is Monday Night's original post title and partial lede for this edition..

.Did We Just Witness...

...a Hughes Bowl Preview??

To paraphrase the great Bum Phillips, "If the Sticks and Holes weren't the class of the league, it doesn't take long to call roll!"

And those two clubs met in Week 10 with the Sticks rolling to a 160-121 win. The Sticks become the first team to hit the 160 point mark (160.08 to be exact) since the Flyers got there in Week Three of 2024. It's the 13th-highest regular-season game score in league history.

The Holes will fall back to a tie for first in the Barenholtz Division with the streaking Nationals despite a sterling 120-point effort.

Now back to live action... Jeez, so many moving parts. The Nats, as mentioned, are streaking and sit third in points scored. They would hold the #4 seed if the season was done right now.

With six wins, the Bombers have a grip on the #6 seed and have a cushion between them and the rest of the pack. And they remain just a game behind the Legends. The four-win Giants and Rbacks have paths to the postseason, but they are pretty tenuous. I haven't looked closely, but I can't see a three-win team sneaking in, even if one would win out. I'm open to correction by a math whiz out there.

We have four weeks left. One non-division week and then things get tense. As I mentioned, it appears that six teams have damn near wrapped up postseason slots. But where they fall, and who gets the byes are the unanswered questions. We shall have to wait and see.

Can we talk? (#1)... I need everyone to be aware of the fact that I try to monitor lineups and such each weekend, but I, like you, have things that come up that may keep me away from seeing problems. Owners can get tied up with life and wind up with inactive/out/bye players in their lineup, which is not ideal, obviously. As commish, I reserve the right to 'fix' a lineup if I can't reach an owner. That is something I *hate* doing, for multiple reasons, but we are not some random, free ESPN league of strangers where half the teams are ghosted by Week Eight. We have 45 years of being competitive and fun. Everyone has my phone number, and a text asking for me got take care of something is all it takes if you can't get to the site for whatever reason.

I've moved the Invalid Lineup warning module to a more conspicuous location. It will list a team of a player in your lineup who has been ruled 'Out'.

Can we talk? (#2)... let's discuss late-season trades. First, let me say that in almost 46 years, we have never had a deal made that I felt was worthy of being overturned or disallowed. Nothing shady, nothing that hinted at collusion, period. And I'm proud of that fact. I'm also a minimalist when it comes to rules. I don't want to have to come up with guidelines as to who can be involved in trades at any point in the season.

A few years ago, I moved the trading deadline back to the beginning of the last week of the season. My thinking was that it gave more freedom to make moves, especially back then when we had smaller (by a player or two) rosters. And (and this is crucial) we were a keeper league with assets to stock, and we allowed future draft picks to be included.

Over the last week or so, there have been some trades proposed, with one accepted this morning. That trade was between a non-contender and a team with at least a mathematical chance to get to the playoffs. I approved it after a bit of thought. I was involved in a trade proposal/counter-proposal last week. At the time, I had a glimmer of a spark of a teeny hope that I could reach a playoff spot. That's gone, so today I turned down a fair offer from another non-contender. I DO NOT want to discourage anyone from trying to win every possible game, but OTOH, I need to make sure that a deal made is fair to both teams and to the rest of the league.

I'm walking a fine line here, I guess. But that's why I get paid so damn much, yes? Thanks for understanding.

Another Hughes photo... has landed. The partial picture below is seen in full on the Hughes Tribute page. It's the latest addition to my collection.

My wife and I don't have identical musical tastes, but we do agree that Raul Malo (with or without The Mavericks) is our favorite artist. We've seen him countless times at all sorts of venues, from Central Texas to New Orleans and beyond. He's a classic road warrior who tours constantly. When the Mavericks take a break, RM hits the road solo, with a small group, a sidekick, or just with his son on the drum kit. And he fills gaps in that schedule by playing on cruises or just showing up at record stores and guitar shops.

He recently battled colon cancer, and it looked like he had it beaten. But in time it returned, and now it's spread to his brain. He's been here in Houston (where else?) for treatment. And, true to his nature, he hung out at Rockin' Robin on Shepherd to noodle with guitars and entertain. Sadly, he's had to cancel all his upcoming shows, including one here in Houston that was scheduled for October and one we were really looking forward to, New Year's Eve at Austin City Limits Live.

Here's to you, Raul Malo.