Here’s the breakdown of who gets what as far as money goes:

Tom – $300 (league championship), $50 (points championship), $50 (division championship), -$18 (transactions), -$65 (2006 dues); TOTAL: $317

‘Gators – $150 (league runner-up), -$6 (transactions); TOTAL: $144

Fwet – $100 (consolation game winner), -$21 (transactions); TOTAL: $79

Cows – $50 (division championship), -$3 (transactions); TOTAL $47

Also, in an effort to save on PayPal transaction fees, (for teams that did not win any money but owe fees) I’m going to forward the transaction dues for the 2009 season into next season’s 2010 dues.  So, for instance, Saint owes $18 in transactions so I’ll simply invoice him next year for the 2010 dues plus $18.  Sound good?

I’ll get payments out to all the teams shortly.  Be checking your email.

UPDATE: Payment has gone out to the Cows, Fwet and the ‘Gators.  I’ll hand deliver Tom’s winnings as I’ll see him sometime in the next couple of weeks (and I don’t think he’s got a PayPal account).

Well, as expected, Adrian Peterson made a game of AFA Bowl 12, it’s just that the BullGators’ lack of a kicker really hurt them.  With the final score being 141-126 the ‘Gators would have needed an excellent day from the position but it certainly wouldn’t have been outside the realm of possibility.  Of course, with the benefit of hindsight, or at least by checking the stats, we can see that no free agent kicker scored more than 12 points (Janikowski and Phil Dawson both had 12).  The top available kicker, Jay Feely, managed only 8 points.

So, with all this in mind, it’s safe to say that Tom simply had the better team and there were simply no moves that the ‘Gators could have made (they also didn’t leave much of anything on the bench) to defeat Tom.

Final score 141-126.  Great day all around for his team as McNabb posted 29 while Chris Johnson and MJD combined for 45.  And the best part about Tom winning?  I’ll be able to collect on league dues back from 2006 when I misplaced his check (and subsequently found it years later but didn’t cash it since I wasn’t sure if it was any good anymore).

So, after playing in my leagues for TEN years, Tom finally won the championship.  And the Browns are riding a three-game winning streak (which I think long term isn’t so great since it means that Holmgren will likely stick with Mangini when they need to cut bait and start fresh) AND I get to collect on a three year old debt!! It’s Christmas miracles everywhere!!

Technically, it’s not over. The ‘Gators still have Adrian Peterson, and he’s been known to go big on points on occasion, but for all intents and purposes, Tom has claimed their first championship.
The score is currently 141-95. Something that very much hurt the ‘Gators was the fact that their kicker, Nick Folk, was cut last week by the Cowboys and they didn’t have a backup kicker on the roster, so they went scoreless at that position. Granted, Folk has been the very definition of mediocrity as he’s averaged 6.5 ppg (and not scored in double digits since Week 7), but perhaps a good day was upon him. Couple that with a stellar night by AP tomorrow and this one could have been interesting. But, barring a monster 46-point game (he scored 43 in the season opener) this one is over and Tom will claim his first ever league title.

The BullGators will face Tom in AFA Bowl 12 this weekend.  The ‘Gators defeated the the #1 seed Cows 120-94 as the Cows just couldn’t get anything going.  Tom defeated Fwet in a shootout 139-124.

This marks the first time since the expanded playoff format began that a team with a bye did not advance to the title game.  Granted, this is only the second year of this format, but it’s still worth noting.  In 2008 Steal and the ‘Gators had the bye and both advanced to the title game.

This is the fifth time in six years that the ‘Gators will be playing for the title.  They won it in 2004 and 2005, lost the title game to Steal in ‘06, didn’t qualify in ‘07, and lost again to Steal in 2008.  That is truly an unprecedented run of excellence we’re seeing here.

As noted before, this the second time that the ‘Gators will be facing Tom for the title.  The last time was in 2004 when the team pounded the then Dawgs 93-65.  Now, before you go thinking that  the score isn’t all that great, consider that in ‘04 the top scoring team averaged only 62.1 points per game.  The 93 points was one of the highest point totals in a single game all year.

Sorry for the lack of posting on this semifinal week. I’ve just been so bummed/disgusted over that Saturday game that I have barely even turned on football and have just barely been checking scores.

Anyway, as we all prep for Sunday night (I’m watching Survivor as I have no interest in watching Carolina NOT come through for us) one team is officially in – TOM has qualified for the championship game for the first time since 2004. It’s been a tale of two games – one very high scoring while the other has been a clinic in low scoring. The Cows/’Gators game still has players to go so Tom will have to wait to see who they’ll be facing. Might it be a repeat of that 2004 game when they got smacked by the nigh-unstoppable ‘Gators? Check back soon…

EDIT:  All props to Carolina tonight.  I didn’t watch the game and only saw that the Panthers were up in the fourth quarter when I was checking on the Cows/’Gators game.  Weird season…

I had a good conversation yesterday with one of my owners who is somewhat skeptical of switching to an auction draft next season.  I actually think he is starting to see the light on the system with the very simple reason – anyone can have Chris Johnson and not just the team lucky enough to nab the first pick in the draft.  It all comes down to how much CJ is worth to you.

In a standard auction draft, every team is allotted $200.  That money is all a team has to build a 14-player squad.  How that money is spent is totally up to each owner.  Technically, a team could choose to drop $187 on CJ, which would mean they’d have to fill the rest of their roster with $1 players.  Not the smartest of strategies, but hey, give it a shot and see how it goes.  Anyway, so a team has $200 to spend, and a top RB like CJ would usually go for about $55-60.  But is he worth just a bit more if you really want him as the foundation of your team?  Do you spend $65?  And if so, is another team willing to inch it up to $66?  That’s the fun of auction drafting – you get to decide what a player is worth!  You get to build the team that you want to build without hoping that a player falls to your draft slot.

Plus the nature of the auction means that every team is paying attention to every pick because every team can have any player as long as they have the money.  C’mon, you know the teams that have picks in the #1 or #10 slot tend to get more than a bit bored after they make their picks and have to wait 19 picks for their turn again.  Now, every team has to pay attention to every player and consider whether that guy would be a good fit for their team at a given price.

This is likely the start of what I hope is a continuing series on the awesomeness of auctions.  I’ll have more another time.

‘Gators 138, Las Vatas 122
Well, it looks like, in the battle of Gore v. Davis, the RB is the winner. Gore had a great game against what was purported to be a top rushing defense and finished with 30 points. Davis mustered 12.

Fwet 97, Steal 83
In the battle of recent past champions Fwet came out on top with what could only be termed a mediocre game. One wonders if this was one of those “get it out of the way” performances that can occasionally strike even the best of teams. If so, they could be primed for another championship run.

Here’s now next week looks:

#3 Team Fwet (10-4) vs. #2 Tom (9-4)

#5 BullGators (7-7) vs. #1 Dumb F’ing Cows (10-3)

After Sunday we know one thing for certain – Steal will not repeat of AFA champion. With Fwet still sending out Kurt Warner tonight and Steal finished the score currently sits at 90-83 with Fwet in the lead. Fwet will face Tom next week in the semi-final round.

As for Las Vatas/’Gators, well, that’s gonna be a tough one. Las Vatas has Vernon Davis heading out tonight while the ‘Gators have Frank Gore. Las Vatas has a 110-109 lead. Dating back to SF’s Week Six bye week, Gore has outscored Davis four out of seven times. Last week, Davis put up 23 while Gore only managed 10. The Week before Gore put up 20 while Davis managed 18. The week before that Davis posted 22 while Gore had 15. This one will likely come down to the wire. One thing that may work in Las Vatas’ favor – they’re playing the Cardinals tonight, and they’re a team that knows how to score, so if the Niners fall behind they’ll likely be throwing the ball a lot, which would obviously benefit Davis. Something to keep an eye on. The winner will face the Cows next week.

Steal 80, Fwet 88
5:49 – Long story short, Steal needs Roy Williams to step up huge if they hope to pull this one out. Williams is the only player left for Steal while Fwet still has Miles Austin and some dude at QB you may have heard of playing tomorrow night – Kurt Warner. Ten years after he burst onto the scene in the ‘99 season for the Rams the dude is still a fantasy monster. Steal will need one heck of a cushion if they have any hope of defending their title.
6:15 – Oomph, that was a backbreaker for the defending champion. That Austin TD put Fwet up by 8 as the clock continues to tick away.

Las Vatas 108, ‘Gators 80
5:51 – I watched the early games and saw how big of a lead Las Vatas put up. Well, several hours later and that lead is still holding up. They’ll look to pad the lead a bit with K Rob Bironas still going while waiting for Vernon Davis tomorrow night. The ‘Gators have Jason Witten and Nick Folk going right now and have the D/ST Eagles tonight and Frank Gore tomorrow so there’s still a lot of game to go. Still, Las Vatas has to like their situation right now.
6:44 – Bironas is having a heckuva day. He’s got 17 with some time still left; it’s his highest total of the season.