FTDoC, Week 4: The Commish Apologizes To Kickers

COOOOORN SWEEP!!!! Thanks to Coach Drazlim taking top honors today we have had three of the four divisions represented in four weeks. All we need is a chaser in the South Congress to climb the mountain to weekly glory. With four weeks under our belt we've got a much clearer picture of the temperature of the league now. In the East division, the flamboyance is racking up fast, close wins led by Team Natsuru and her partner's Team Tits creating a wall that will need to be broken down by previous powerhouses like the Swiftless Swifties and X-Zone (who is still charging up). The North Convocation is being run by the mods where The Youngest Men Alive are finally having their time in the sun at 3-1 alongside COOOOOOOOOOOOORN. But this group of seekers has the closest point margins across the entire division, so as we go into divisionals we will keep looking out for who comes out on top in the end. The South Congress has been staunchly led by the team who brought them to the dance, Muisyle Llabtoof. And while a few in the division have struggled to get out the block these first four weeks, they are really starting to get their feet under them, which will make the divisionals very interesting. Finally, as you'd expect, The Owl Lady leads her Parliament as well as the league in points. This division has been a juggernaut as expected: even Mitch please's boys, who are 1-3, have scored more points than most 3-1 teams. I expect this division to be a bloodbath for the next seven weeks.

Currently, our league is looking at winning teams earning about 95-100pts per game, so after week 4, teams that have scored over 400pts are generally winning teams. But that isn't entirely the case as the ultimate tailgate party of the Swiftless Swifties, Mitch please, and the Flavortown YeahBOIIIIS are all screaming points every week and yet they keep managing to be out-touched by teams having a cracked out week. But the sword of glory cuts both ways, for Coach KaiDaiju, The Landlords and The Gae Bulg they have managed to only catch people on their best days allowing teams hundreds of points. Those are definitely the teams to watch for the coming weeks to see if they get their due and their luck swings the other way.

Now, I do need to apologize to football - and before I apologize, let me frame this apology. Our weekly updates seem to be struggling and keeps showing CloopsKlooglies kicker who is not an active playing Kicker, but does still get in the database and can be drafted. Kansai Matsuzawa is the practice squad kicker for the real-life Las Vegas Raiders, but he also plays for the Klooglies because he has a cool name. So these kickers and the way we run this game is causing this problem among others with the Sleeper App. I was ready to write-off Kickers, until I saw the other Kicker taking accolades alongside Klooglies' Kansai: Will Reichard of Team Pseud0 who managed 19 points and won Pseud0 a huge upset this week over the screaming throngs of top-scoring Swifties! What a shootout.

So I need to apologize. For the first two seasons, I did not believe in Kickers. I did not believe that it could be entirely relevant to our league and would basically just even out in random ways. But when you get a kicker from a truly desperate team like Minnesota, that creates some repeatable conditions where the kicker can be used! After reflection, I see that I have poorly evaluated the role of kicking in football. After only four weeks, I can now see how managing the Kick can be warranted and that it is not ~7-10 free points each week. I am sorry to all Football Kickers and I will respect you for the rest of this season appropriately. That said, I still don't know what The Gae Bulg's currently undrafted kicker is doing. So I'll be keeping on eye on the field for now.

Commissioner Missions

Within the last two weeks, I've seen some bigger swings than I'd normally expect from a lot of teams and players. It does not yet feel like there is a lot of balance or equilibrium in the league. Now that divisional matchups are set-up, I'm gonna take the next two weeks off from tinkering with anything under the hood and see how they all do.

Play Of The Week

Strictly Business went into business for themselves as they noticed the Seahawks had an injured running core. With the opportunity open, Coach SolonDOS made a short-term gamble and dropped the Raiders star runningback Tre Tucker for Emanuel Wilson. This little free agent trade netted the suits a whopping 29.00pts immediately, folding The River Card and sending them back to the deck. I can only wonder if that streak will continue and if Wilson will retain the same volume of runs after the Seahawks running core returns from injury.

The Standings

The West Parliament of Basking

The North Convocation of Seeking

The East Flamboyance Of Craving

The South Congress of Chasing (Sponsored by GoodStreamsᴸᵗᵈ)

Thank you for all of your scientific contributions as we continue to usher in this new era of glorious sporte americana virtuales

~ Chorby, yr commish