As a man grows older and experiences more of what life has to offer, he will involuntarily gain knowledge and perspective that he never had previously. This might happen based on a life changing event or a collection of small instances that help enlighten what was previously an ignorant thought or ideal. Infants used to be loud, weird looking diarrhea factories but now they are the apple of most D12 father’s eye. Drinking downtown until your memory and wallet were zeroed out used to be something we all looked forward to and is now the worst possible evite to ever pop up in your Gmail account. Our attitudes towards people, places, and things have surely changed many times over since we started this fantasy league and as I approach my 36th year on earth (the Brain Westbrook year), I now have an educated and cultivated opinion on fantasy football and this league.
We’ve been playing in this league since 2000 and many things have changed for each and every one of us on and off the fantasy field. In this league, we've seen changes in scoring, rosters, strategies, priorities, draft nights, and champions. Our roster of active owners has changed repeatedly for the good and the bad since we started but one thing has always remained constant, and that was the element of luck. I used to think luck ruled fantasy football and no matter how much time, effort, and money we invested into fantasy football, luck would be the main reason any of us won or lost in our fantasy football leagues.
This opinion has been debated for many years with various estimations on the true luck/skill ratio that exists. A recent DeFelice poll showed that championship teams attributed their wining to skill 84% of the time, while owners with a losing record attributed this to skill only 27% of the time. It took 16 years of playing in a 12 team league but finally the 2016 season has showed me that D12 football is a league based on 0% luck and 100% skill.
This was not always my opinion. Before, when I was fighting tooth-and-nail to win the 7 seed and the right to lose to J.P. in the first round based on a missed field goal, I was angry and confused that logging countless hours annually had netted me negative money since we started this league. It seemed almost every season a 6 win, 7 loss team would get hot for three weeks and capture the Granger Cup and win a lot of our money, making a lot of us angry. This caused me and many others to grow bitter at the sport we once loved and questioned if the ends ever justified the means.
But now, as I have matured and gotten wiser, I realize that the “luck equals winner” opinion was wrong on so many levels. As I sit atop the W-L and Points Scored Standings, staring down at the 13 other inferior brains in this league, I now realize it takes guts, grit, and skill to become a fantasy football winner. The rest of you bleeding heart Hillary supporters are wallowing at the bottom, waiting for a handout while the commish is pulling himself up from the bootstraps and simply outworking and outthinking the rest of you. Yes, it may have taken 16 hard years of never being atop of any regular season standings for me to realize this but the road to success will teach a man a thing or two about the mentality of losers like yourself and how to avoid that and become a winner like myself. Even the people at DraftKings and FanDuel would agree that fantasy football is a game of skill, not a game of chance, and those organizations are loaded with ethical, intelligent businessmen. All of what I just said is simply the harsh reality we must all face when we can’t get the job done and now that I see clearly, I will not waiver from my opinion that wrapping your Neumann gloves around the Granger Cup has everything to do with talent and drive and nothing to do with what you excuse makers call luck. Unless I don’t win anything this year, then it’s all based on luck again.
11 Observations of 11 Losers
Meyer: Granger’s going to have to juggle the best collection of pretty good receivers that nobody ever cares about. Loaded with five WR2’s on this roster.
Petty: Big ups for joining the century club this week with your first 100+ point performance and second win of the season. The week 9 output of 130 points represents 20% of the total points you’ve scored all season long. High five.
We’ve been playing in this league since 2000 and many things have changed for each and every one of us on and off the fantasy field. In this league, we've seen changes in scoring, rosters, strategies, priorities, draft nights, and champions. Our roster of active owners has changed repeatedly for the good and the bad since we started but one thing has always remained constant, and that was the element of luck. I used to think luck ruled fantasy football and no matter how much time, effort, and money we invested into fantasy football, luck would be the main reason any of us won or lost in our fantasy football leagues.
This opinion has been debated for many years with various estimations on the true luck/skill ratio that exists. A recent DeFelice poll showed that championship teams attributed their wining to skill 84% of the time, while owners with a losing record attributed this to skill only 27% of the time. It took 16 years of playing in a 12 team league but finally the 2016 season has showed me that D12 football is a league based on 0% luck and 100% skill.
This was not always my opinion. Before, when I was fighting tooth-and-nail to win the 7 seed and the right to lose to J.P. in the first round based on a missed field goal, I was angry and confused that logging countless hours annually had netted me negative money since we started this league. It seemed almost every season a 6 win, 7 loss team would get hot for three weeks and capture the Granger Cup and win a lot of our money, making a lot of us angry. This caused me and many others to grow bitter at the sport we once loved and questioned if the ends ever justified the means.
But now, as I have matured and gotten wiser, I realize that the “luck equals winner” opinion was wrong on so many levels. As I sit atop the W-L and Points Scored Standings, staring down at the 13 other inferior brains in this league, I now realize it takes guts, grit, and skill to become a fantasy football winner. The rest of you bleeding heart Hillary supporters are wallowing at the bottom, waiting for a handout while the commish is pulling himself up from the bootstraps and simply outworking and outthinking the rest of you. Yes, it may have taken 16 hard years of never being atop of any regular season standings for me to realize this but the road to success will teach a man a thing or two about the mentality of losers like yourself and how to avoid that and become a winner like myself. Even the people at DraftKings and FanDuel would agree that fantasy football is a game of skill, not a game of chance, and those organizations are loaded with ethical, intelligent businessmen. All of what I just said is simply the harsh reality we must all face when we can’t get the job done and now that I see clearly, I will not waiver from my opinion that wrapping your Neumann gloves around the Granger Cup has everything to do with talent and drive and nothing to do with what you excuse makers call luck. Unless I don’t win anything this year, then it’s all based on luck again.
11 Observations of 11 Losers
Meyer: Granger’s going to have to juggle the best collection of pretty good receivers that nobody ever cares about. Loaded with five WR2’s on this roster.
Petty: Big ups for joining the century club this week with your first 100+ point performance and second win of the season. The week 9 output of 130 points represents 20% of the total points you’ve scored all season long. High five.
Peppel’s: There’s bad points against luck where you play a juggernaut every week and then there’s bad points against luck when you lose games by a cunt hair throughout the season. The Pep’s would probably be the first to tell you their team has been a major disappointment but they’ve also lost three games by two points or less so they could very well be in the playoff mix with some better luck. These guys are getting robbed more than DeMarcus Ware and the Pep’s remain a frozen burrito.
Dave: Dropping Jordan Howard for Jeremy Langoford right before the MNF game last week couldn’t have gone any worse. Not exactly a stupid move but definitely a regrettable one. Running backs are a fickle bunch.
Castillo: Still waiting for that explosive 25+ point Le’Veon Bell game. Dude cannot find the endzone.
Chris: Mark Ingram goes from -1.5 to 29.1 points in a week. It’s hard enough to predict running backs, let alone running backs that play for the New Orleans Saints.
Lorey: More examples of running backs being impossible to trust: Jay Ajayi goes from a shot in the dark Sunday morning pickup to our 10th best running back in a month.
Dan: This is one of many teams looking for any semblance of balance in the backfield. With Latavius Murray looking like Bo Jackson against the Broncos and Doug Martin returning, this is a team that could be balanced and bodacious come playoff time. Dan might have lost his 1st place spot but he also could be finding his swagger.
Dave: Dropping Jordan Howard for Jeremy Langoford right before the MNF game last week couldn’t have gone any worse. Not exactly a stupid move but definitely a regrettable one. Running backs are a fickle bunch.
Castillo: Still waiting for that explosive 25+ point Le’Veon Bell game. Dude cannot find the endzone.
Chris: Mark Ingram goes from -1.5 to 29.1 points in a week. It’s hard enough to predict running backs, let alone running backs that play for the New Orleans Saints.
Lorey: More examples of running backs being impossible to trust: Jay Ajayi goes from a shot in the dark Sunday morning pickup to our 10th best running back in a month.
Dan: This is one of many teams looking for any semblance of balance in the backfield. With Latavius Murray looking like Bo Jackson against the Broncos and Doug Martin returning, this is a team that could be balanced and bodacious come playoff time. Dan might have lost his 1st place spot but he also could be finding his swagger.
J.P.: Carson Palmer was supposed to be the tall, dark, and handsome man to lead you to the Granger Cup. Then he got banged up, and the backup Matt Ryan turned into the most desirable backup quarterback since Johnny Moxon.
Missing you every day, Paul Walker.
Fanning: I remember when every Devontae Booker owner and Broncos fan was more than excited for his chance to shine. Maybe he’ll look better or maybe he’ll continue to get 3 YPC but he’s probably not the savior for fantasy teams or the Broncos offense this year.
Jordan: You picked the wrong week to play our worst scoring team that suddenly went off and beat you by 60. You have the most points against and your quarterback dresses up like a carnival barker for the gay circus every Sunday. Your season can be summed up in one gif
Fanning: I remember when every Devontae Booker owner and Broncos fan was more than excited for his chance to shine. Maybe he’ll look better or maybe he’ll continue to get 3 YPC but he’s probably not the savior for fantasy teams or the Broncos offense this year.
Jordan: You picked the wrong week to play our worst scoring team that suddenly went off and beat you by 60. You have the most points against and your quarterback dresses up like a carnival barker for the gay circus every Sunday. Your season can be summed up in one gif