The Muse's Corner
By the Philosopher of Arena Football
June 7, 2007
I sat alone in my cinderblock room beset by dark thoughts, for I had
just missed making the playoffs in my fantasy league. All I needed was Damian “Highlight
Reel” Harrell to score one touchdown. Just one. Was this too much to
ask from a Super-stud who had caught a TD strike in 78 consecutive games previously?
But alas, Harrell failed me, and in my own league the miscreant that had been
in third place in my division all season long suddenly leaped into second to
win the last remaining playoff
spot, and I was left on the outside looking in.
The Muse felt my pain:
“Damian Harrell’s epic streak is broken,
Bobby Sippio’s injury report is only token,
And echoing forever in your head:
“Why Me?”
The words of Nancy Kerrigan are a-croakin.’
Take all your precious data sheets
And your mechanical pencils and pens
And poke out your eyes
So they no longer offend.
Your season now becomes your past--
Oh, how I weep the world’s outcasts!”
So, I did not make it into the fantasy playoffs, and perhaps neither did
you. Bobby Sippio and Damian Harrell have let us down for the last time.
But is it time to put away the stat sheets and just sit back and watch
the games now? Of course not. The Arena Football playoffs begin the last
weekend in June. And that is an opportunity to start a brand new
fantasy season.
The Answer: Fantasy Playoff League
There are many ways to run a Fantasy Playoff league. What we here at ArenaFootballOnline.com
have done for the last five years or so is quite simple. Just before the “real” playoffs
begin, each fantasy team owner is allowed to pick any player he might want
to fill the traditional positions of: QB, WR1, WR2, WR3, FB, DB1, DB2, and
K. The pool of players is of course those players that are on playoff teams,
regardless of their first-round bye status. The only restriction is that
no owner might pick more than two players from any one team.
Stats are collected and points assigned using the scoring system
from the regular fantasy season (6 points for offensive TD, 1 point per catch,
1 point for every 10 yards receiving, 2 points for every interception, etc.).
Once a player’s team loses, that player is removed from your roster
and you cannot replace him. That’s it!
Strategy
Of course you must do the usual obsessive research on expected performance,
injury status, and season statistics that we all live for. But there are
some additional quirks that come from the peculiarities of the playoff system
that makes
a fantasy playoff league into some twisted version of Survivor. Should
you draft Clint
Dolezel
for
your playoff
team?
Sure,
he is a guaranteed source of points, but his team will get a first-round
bye. Can you afford a zero the first week? Or do you take the zero knowing
that Dallas will advance far into the playoffs, perhaps even to the big game
itself? On the other hand, should New York somehow make the wildcard, it
might be a good gamble to draft Garcia (if he had not been injured) since he would play in the first playoff
round, and then you could hope somehow the Dragons take it all the way to
New Orleans.
A fantasy playoff league is just what the doctor ordered. Sure, there is
no fantasy draft party where all the owners can get together, but it is the
end of the
Arena
Season
and
everyone
is tired.
But
not too
tired for one last challenge that can extend the joy of fantasy football
another four (yes four!) weeks. I heartily recommend a Fantasy Arena Playoff
league to take the edge off any
remaining
end-of-season
bitterness.
And the
Muse does too.
Paul Celmer, aka The Philosopher of Arena Football, is a member of the Arena Football League Writers Association and a founding member of Arena Football Online. Contact Paul at pcelmer@arenafootballonline.com
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