Week 17's installment of the DDWPIPOTCFFBE (Diamond Dynasty Weekly Preview In Pursuit Of The Chalice For Fantasy Baseball Excellence)

Week 16 – The top three win big, and four different teams have new homes in the standings

The Match-Up: Richie (8^th) vs Jarrett (9^th) *5*

The closest on-paper match-up of the week features two teams coming off of losing weeks. Richie had his modest 2 week winning streak snapped – no, obliterated – by Drew, 9-1. Richie drops out of a 2-week stay at the 7^th spot in the standings, falling one spot (8^th). He's 5.5 games out of the last playoff spot with 6 weeks to play. Jarrett has been in the basement all season long, but he has managed to play .500 ball over the past month (2-2). He plays Richie, Ben (7^th), and James (10^th) in the next three weeks, but then plays the top half of the league to close out the season. Jarrett is 11 games out of a playoff spot, and barring any miracle comeback, he will miss the 2011 playoffs. Jarrett beat Richie in week 8, 5-4.

The Match-Up: Colin (6^th) vs James (10^th) *4*

Colin is playing terrible fantasy ball over the past month, win-less in his last 3 contests (one tie), and just one win in his last 5 weeks. His poor play has dropped him down one spot to 6^th, and he has only a 3 game hold on the 6^th and final playoff spot. Luckily, he gets James this week, who has been equally as bad, posting the same exact stats over that 5 week stretch (although James had much stiffer competition). James has been battling with Jarrett for not-10^th the entire year, and with 6 weeks left and TJ (3^rd) and Adrian (2^nd) on the end-of-season schedule, he is all but eliminated from playoff contention. Colin beat James in week 8, 6-4.

The Match-Up: Ben (7^th) vs TJ (3^rd) *3*

Ben is finally starting to come around, following a 5 week losing streak with a tie two weeks ago, and finally a win last week against Colin (then 5^th). Ben has an interesting schedule to close out the regular season. He draws the 3^rd place team this week, faces the bottom three teams in the league (Jarrett (9^th), Richie (8^th), James (10^th)) but then plays Adrian (2^nd) and Drew (1^st) to close the season. It'll be interesting to see what Ben is able to do before his match-up with Adrian, and at just 3 games out of the playoffs, Ben is still very much alive. The Teej was also able to get off the schnide last week, beating Jarrett for his first win in 2 months. Prior to last week, he had posted a 0-4-2 record, and fell from 1^st to 3^rd. His schedule is all over the place to end the year, so it'll really show exactly how good his team is – he won't be beating up on the shitty teams or battling week after week with the good ones. TJ dominated Ben 8-2 in week 8.

The Match-Up: Kurt (4^th) vs Drew (1^st) *2*

Drew came off a convincing 9-1 victory over Richie (8^th), and he maintained his 4 game lead over Adrian for first place. He's got the hottest team in the league right now, winners of six in a row (37-18, (.673%) and eight of his last nine (54-31, .635%). If he can carry this level of play into the post-season, it'll be extremely difficult for anyone to upset this runaway train. Kurt took a 9-1 beat-down last week (his second 9-1 loss in 6 weeks), and his fourth place spot is now in jeopardy. He's only 2 games up on Alex (5^th), 3.5 games ahead of Colin (6^th), and he's 12 games out of a bye-week spot come playoff time. He's 2-3-1 in his last 6 weeks, and he needs to right the ship before taking on too much water. If he can maintain a .500 record over the remaining 6 weeks, he should find himself right in the middle of a playoff pack. Drew beat Kurt 3-7 in week 8.

The Match-Up: Alex (5^th) vs Adrian (2^nd) *1*

Adrian responded in a big way last week, snapping his 3 week losing streak with a 9-1 win over Kurt. Unfortunately, Drew won by the same margin, so he couldn't make up any ground despite the big win. His next 3 opponents are middle-of-the-pack teams, but he closes out the schedule against Jarrett (9^th), Ben (7^th), and James (10^th), so a late run is a definite possibility. Alex has been playing lights out lately, enjoying a 3-0-2 undefeated streak. But he'll really be tested in the next month, drawing Adrian this week, Drew (1^st) the week after, and a struggling-but-still-4th-place Kurt (...4^th). He was able to leap-frog Colin for the 5^th spot in the standings, but time (and his schedule) will tell if he can hold on. Fun Fact: This match up also features the highest alphabetically-ordered managers the DD has to offer. Adrian beat Alex 6-4 in week 8.

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