01.04.2016

The Postseason Report

by The Executive Director

Gentlemen – With another regular season behind us, it’s time to look back at how each franchise performed. This year, we had a lot of success for franchises that had previously been mediocre. Only one former champion made the postseason, so there are a lot of Cinderella stories this season.

Here’s a breakdown of how the league did as a whole each week:

Week 1: +$2,100
Week 2: +$0
Week 3: +$11,100
Week 4: +$100
Week 5: +$1,800
Week 6: -$1,800
Week 7: -$3,300
Week 8: -$2,300
Week 9: -$4,700
Week 10: -$2,200
Week 11: +$1,500
Week 12: +$5,200
Week 13: +$2,300
Week 14: -$1,400
Week 15: +$2,700
Week 16: -$7,200
Week 17: +$1,400

That’s a cumulative total of $5,300. There were big ups and downs in the second half of the season, with Week 16 sinking a lot of franchises’ playoff hopes. Overall, a solid season for the league.

Disclaimer: The following is a completely biased report of the 2015 FMFL Season. The views, opinions, and observations that follow are those of the Executive Director and are completely subjective.

East Division

Bud Fox
Final Total: $1,700
Winning Percentage: 0.531
Fines: $0
Wild Card Bet: Week 11 – New England – Push
Recap: Strong money management, a solid winning percentage and smart betting down the stretch led to a division title for Bud. If only he won his wild card bet, he could have contended for the overall crown.
Grade: A

Chris B. Corey
Final Total: $1,400
Winning Percentage: 0.580
Fines: $0
Wild Card Bet: Week 11 – Carolina – Won
Recap: CBC was one Week 17 cover from winning the division. A great season for a once storied franchise that possibly has returned to glory.
Grade: A-

Don Mattingly
Final Total: -$900
Winning Percentage: 0.438
Fines: $100
Wild Card Bet: Week 11 – Baltimore – Won
Recap: Don made a small run in the second half, but ultimately 2015 was all about missed opportunities. This duo will have some soul-searching to do in the offseason to decide if they can go on together or disband.
Grade: C-

Karl Farbman
Final Total: -$2,000
Winning Percentage: 0.382
Fines: $0
Wild Card Bet: Week 14 – Pittsburgh – Won
Recap: A disaster year for Karl, who snapped his streak of eight straight seasons finishing in the positive. Despite a wild card win, his second half was dreadful. For shame.
Grade: D-

Larisa Oleynik
Final Total: $900
Winning Percentage: 0.588
Fines: $100
Wild Card Bet: Week 9 – San Diego – Lost
Recap: Larisa performed well in 2015, but come up just $200 short of making the playoffs. A Week 9 wild card loss at the hands of Phil Rivers held her back from a possible division title.
Grade: B+

The Beard of Zeus
Final Total: -$600
Winning Percentage: 0.469
Fines: $700
Wild Card Bet: Week 12 – Carolina – Won
Recap: The Beard showed signs of life, but couldn’t overcome a week of missed bets and ended another season disappointed.
Grade: C

The Big Hurt
Final Total: -$500
Winning Percentage: 0.455
Fines: $100
Wild Card Bet: Week 3 – Pittsburgh – Won
Recap: In the offseason, The Big Hurt duo split and Chalky Studebaker was born. TBH got out to a big lead and ran out of gas in the second half. Chalky’s in the playoffs.
Grade: C

The People’s Champ
Final Total: -$600
Winning Percentage: 0.539
Fines: $100
Wild Card Bet: Week 16 – NY Giants – Lost
Recap: The Champ can blame a few poor stretches that sunk his season in 2015. He had a solid winning percentage, but couldn’t gain enough momentum to make a serious playoff push.
Grade: C-

North Division

Blossom Russo
Final Total: -$2,400
Winning Percentage: 0.426
Fines: $800
Wild Card Bet: Week 11 – NY Jets – Lost
Recap: Ugh. Dead last for the once-feared Blossom. She’s lost her luster.
Grade: F

Dr. Oge
Final Total: -$400
Winning Percentage: 0.472
Fines: $600
Wild Card Bet: Week 15 – Green Bay – Won
Recap: Oge tried to hang around as long as possible, but couldn’t get on a roll in the second half of the year.
Grade: C+

Kenny Powers
Final Total: -$100
Winning Percentage: 0.515
Fines: $0
Wild Card Bet: Week 10 – New Orleans – Lost
Recap: Kenny had high hopes coming into the season and was still relevant going into the last month of the year, but his wild card loss held him back.
Grade: B-

Kimmy Gibbler
Final Total: $1,200
Winning Percentage: 0.529
Fines: $0
Wild Card Bet: Week 3 – Carolina – Won
Recap: An underrated story the last month of the season was the absolutely ridiculous run by Kimmy Gibbler. With three weeks to go, Kimmy was -$300. She was perfect from there on out, winning $500 each of the last three weeks and getting into the playoffs. Wow.
Grade: A-

Rick Moranis
Final Total: -$300
Winning Percentage: 0.524
Fines: $0
Wild Card Bet: Week 15 – Baltimore – Lost
Recap: Goodnight, sweet Rick.
Grade: C

T-Ferg
Final Total: $2,000
Winning Percentage: 0.582
Fines: $0
Wild Card Bet: Week 17 – Pittsburgh – Won
Recap: A fantastic year for T-Ferg. He got out to the lead in the North and kept it almost the entire season. He’ll go into the playoffs brimming with confidence.
Grade: A

The Phoenix
Final Total: -$800
Winning Percentage: 0.500
Fines: $100
Wild Card Bet: Week 16 – Pittsburgh – Lost
Recap: The Phoenix played it right down the middle most of the year, not getting too high or two low until his Week 16 wild card loss.
Grade: C-

Yaz
Final Total: -$300
Winning Percentage: 0.471
Fines: $0
Wild Card Bet: Week 12 – Carolina – Won
Recap: Yaz is another in the list of former champions who disappointed in 2015. He gained some steam after his wild card win on Thanksgiving, but never made a solid push.
Grade: C

South Division

Art Schlichter
Final Total: -$400
Winning Percentage: 0.516
Fines: $600
Wild Card Bet: Week 7 – Atlanta – Lost
Recap: Fines and a wild card loss added up to a lost season for Art.
Grade: C

Boss Hardigan
Final Total: $2,600
Winning Percentage: 0.613
Fines: $0
Wild Card Bet: Week 17 – Pittsburgh – Won
Recap: A great year by the Boss. He stumbled a bit down the stretch, but regained his footing and had a solid Week 17 to win not only the South, but the overall title as well.
Grade: A+

Face
Final Total: $200
Winning Percentage: 0.485
Fines: $0
Wild Card Bet: Week 15 – Detroit – Won
Recap: A computer made all of his picks this season. The computer did better than most of the FMFL. But the computer choked in the last two weeks of the season.
Grade: B

Gordon Bombay
Final Total: -$1,000
Winning Percentage: 0.422
Fines: $0
Wild Card Bet: Week 14 – New England – Won
Recap: C-
Grade: The defending champion bowed out gracefully, posting one of his lowest winning percentages in his career. He’ll look to bounce back in 2016.

Kiko Garcia
Final Total: $200
Winning Percentage: 0.512
Fines: $0
Wild Card Bet: Week 3 – Carolina – Won
Recap: In Week 13, Kiko was flying high at $1,300. But it was a December to forget as he slumped to finish the season and missed the playoffs.
Grade: B-

OJ
Final Total: $800
Winning Percentage: 0.578
Fines: $0
Wild Card Bet: Week 17 – Arizona – Lost
Recap: OJ’s fate was determined the final week of the season with his beloved Cardinals wild card bet. He performed well the second half to get into playoff position, but one must wonder why he bet his wild card on a game in which a team was resting most of its starters…
Grade: B

The Notorious ABT
Final Total: $2,000
Winning Percentage: 0.604
Fines: $0
Wild Card Bet: Week 16 – Carolina – Lost
Recap: The ABT was consistently hitting two out of three all season long, and if not for a wild card loss, he would have likely won the overall and the division. Instead, he’ll look for redemption in the postseason.
Grade: A

Waldo Geraldo Faldo
Final Total: $700
Winning Percentage: 0.528
Fines: $200
Wild Card Bet: Week 7 – Jacksonville – Won
Recap: Waldo was another franchise that slumped in the final month. Look at it this way, he was only one game and minus some fines, he’d be in the postseason.
Grade: B

West Division

Abe Froman
Final Total: -$1,900
Winning Percentage: 0.392
Fines: $100
Wild Card Bet: Week 7 – Arizona – Won
Recap: A rough year for Abe, who never really had a chance to contend in the uber-competitive West.
Grade: D

Babe
Final Total: $1,800
Winning Percentage: 0.554
Fines: $0
Wild Card Bet: Week 15 – Green Bay – Won
Recap: Babe took the conservative route for most of the season, and it served him well. After all, he made the postseason and almost won the division. However, the critics have commented that he might have been a little too conservative in Week 17, when he was in the catbird’s seat.
Grade: A

Bayonnaise
Final Total: -$500
Winning Percentage: 0.442
Fines: $100
Wild Card Bet: Week 13 – Arizona – Won
Recap: Add one more former champion to the mediocre mix for this season. He started off hot, but it was all downhill after the first six weeks of the season.
Grade: C

Chalky Studebaker
Final Total: $1,700
Winning Percentage: 0.593
Fines: $100
Wild Card Bet: Week 17 – Pittsburgh – Won
Recap: For a rookie, Chalky couldn’t be happier. He’s been invited to the postseason dance, and kept his cool in a very challenging division.
Grade: A-

Mr. Marbles
Final Total: $1,900
Winning Percentage: 0.574
Fines: $0
Wild Card Bet: Week 17 – Pittsburgh – Won
Recap: Mr. Marbles closed strong, capturing the West in the final week of the season. He has a lot of experience that could carry over when competing against a relatively inexperienced playoff field.
Grade: A

Ron Mexico
Final Total: $100
Winning Percentage: 0.515
Fines: $300
Wild Card Bet: Week 3 – Carolina – Won
Recap: Ron is always in contention, and he slipped back the final three weeks of the season and didn’t make the playoffs after a strong showing last season.
Grade: C+

Shecky
Final Total: $1,100
Winning Percentage: 0.522
Fines: $0
Wild Card Bet: Week 3 – Carolina – Won
Recap: Shecky got out to a big lead, but then put his tail between his legs for the second third of the season and went very conservative as the rest of the division rose up to meet him. Then, he switched his strategy the last few weeks and almost lost out on making the playoffs. He enters the postseason reeling, but could turn it around.
Grade: B

The 21th Precinct
Final Total: -$2,300
Winning Percentage: 0.449
Fines: $1,200
Wild Card Bet: Did Not Use
Recap: Late bets and a low winning percentage doomed The Precinct this year. Hopefully 2016 will be a chance for redemption.
Grade: D-