Weekly Preview (WEEK 11)
Every Monday (hopefully), I'll crunch the numbers and take a look at the match-ups for the week, and try to highlight story lines, winning and losing streaks, revenge games, and any other relevant talking points that I come across in my research. You will be able to tell how busy/bored I am at work by the length and depth of the article.
I also suspect that this first article will be a sort of “State of the DD Nation”, as I will be taking a look at all the teams and what they've done to this point. I know I was surprised at some of the numbers that I found, and I suspect that some of us haven't looked under the hood of other teams and seen how their season has peaked and plateaued. So without further Freddy Adu, here is the first installment of the DDWPIPOTCFFBE (Diamond Dynasty Weekly Preview In Pursuit Of The Chalice For Fantasy Baseball Excellence).
The Match-Up: Richie (8th) vs. Alex (6th)
Both of these teams have been taking one step forward and two steps back all year. Alex, after posting a 10-0 shutout in week 7, is entrenched in a 3 week losing streak, over which he is being outscored 11-19. The shutout marked his only win in his past 7 weeks, after opening up the season strong (16-12). Richie's teams can't seem to close out a week, as he has seen many Friday afternoon leads turn into Sunday night heart breakers. Despite the recent “2001 World Series Byung-Hyun Kim syndrome,” Richie held off Ben last week, 6-4, to break a 2 week slide. Alex beat Richie, 6-4, in week 2 this year. With a good week, Richie could jump as high as 6th, but these teams should be evenly matched.
The Match-Up: Kurt (4th) vs. Colin (7th)
After an abysmal start to the year (0-4, 11-27) Colin is 4-1-1 in his last 6 weeks and has put himself back in the thick of the playoff race. Kurt, on the other hand, has been steady eddie all season, his only loss to Drew (3rd) in week 8. Kurt is staring down a tough match-up with first-placemen TJ next week, so this week will be an important one if he wants to avoid a possible 2 game slide. Colin will look to keep his winning ways going, and with future match-ups with Alex and Richie (6th and 8th), a win this week could put him in prime position to be one of the top dogs by the end of the month. Kurt edged Colin in week 2, 5-4.
The Match-Up: TJ (1st) vs. Drew (3rd)
The match-up of the week pits two of the strongest squads against eachother. TJ's dominant 4 week winning streak (33-7) came to an end last week as he fell to Adrian (2nd) 3-6, but he still remains the top dog by 2.5 games. Drew is securely in the 3rd spot, although he has cooled off significantly since his hot start. His 4-6 defeat at the hands of Colin broke a 2 week winning streak, and he is just 25-24 in his last 5 weeks. Neither team can significantly improve or fall in the rankings. TJ beat Drew in week 2, 6-4.
The Match-Up: Adrian (2nd) vs Jarrett (9th)
On paper, this is the most lopsided game of the week. Jarrett is 1-3-1 in his last 5 weeks, but some big losses added up to a 15-34 mark over that span, dropping him more than 20 games behind this week's competition. Adrian, on the other hand, is on total cruise control, the only manager yet to drop a week. He only has 2 wins (6-4 and 6-3) in his last 4 weeks, but he's only had 2 weeks with 7+ categories, so the 6-category wins appear to be commonplace. If Jarrett can take any consolation in his match-up this week, he is one of the four teams that has fought Adrian to a tie, as they split week 2, 5-5. A win this week coupled by a Drew upset over now-#1-TJ could catapult Adrian to the #1 spot in the rankings, and Jarrett will try to make up some of the 8.5 games that separate his team from a playoff birth.
The Match-Up: Ben (5th) vs. James (10th)
Despite fighting through team inconsistencies, Ben finds himself at an even .500 (48-48-4) and, not surprisingly, right in the middle of the standings. James is finally burning in DD hell for running the table as a 6 seed to win it all last year struggling mightily. A tie last week broke a 7 week losing streak, and he hasn't won since...wait for it...week two against Ben! What drama. The season is closing fast on James, and he must start putting up wins if he has any chance of sneaking in as a 6 seed and ruining my season again. If the stars align and Ben falters badly, he could fall out of the all-important top 6.
Well there you have it, the first weekly installment of the DDWPIPOTCFFBE. I hope you all enjoy reading these as much as I'll enjoy writing them. Long live the DD!
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