NBD - P & P Wrap-Up

So I've decided not to do any Previews & Predictions for the playoffs (other than my Playoff Power Rankings), meaning that the record books on my picking accuracy have closed for the year. I finished up Weeks 12 and 13 with a solid 9-3 run, bringing my season total to 48-24. That means I picked the winner in exactly two-thirds of the NBD match-ups this year, which is a record I'd put up against any so-called "professional" fantasy writer. (That's right, Brandon Funston. I'm talking to you.) But unsatisfied with merely being right on 67% of my picks, I decided to delve deeper and see if there were any particular trends to my picking or teams that I was more or less right or wrong about. The results:

Most Predictable: The Most Predictable teams in the league turned out to be Elliott's and Haller's. I know these two fuckers like the back of my hand, and I was able to pick correctly 11 out of 13 times for both of them. I suggest you two pay attention next year, and if I'm picking you to lose, make some drastic changes.

Least Predictable: Interestingly, the two teams I had the hardest time predicting belonged to the owners I have the strongest feelings about. Emotion must have clouded my judgement here, because the man I've loved as long as I can remember, my Dad, and the man I've hated since the moment he wrote his first e-mail, Papkin, both managed to flummox my foresight six times. (I'd like to note that even for the teams I did the worst job on, I still picked more than half their outcomes correctly.)

Rewarding my Faith: Like any gambler or odds-maker, there are teams I keep coming back to as my horses. The ones I know I can pick to win that will reward my faith, and the ones I know well enough to see when a good week is coming. In NBD this year, that team was the Mental Errors. Eight times this season I picked Elliott to win, and in seven of those eight picks, he delivered. Thanks, E.

Reliably Shitty: By the same token, there are teams that I know I can count on often to lose and lose big. Their players suck, they don't set their line-ups, and they never come up with a big day against a good opponent. These are the reliably shitty. And the reliably shittiest team this year was Matt Haller's. I picked Haller to lose eight times this season, and only once did he surprise me by actually pulling off a victory. Nice atrociousness, Haller.

I'm Not Angry, I'm Just Disappointed: Every year, some team looks fantastic to me in the draft, and I think they're a lock to walk away with the title. Even when the season begins and their guys start dropping week after week of single-digit performances, I see a turn-around perennially a week away. These are the teams I can't help but pick to win, even when they pile up one loss after another. Kevin Manning won only three games this year, and I picked every one of them correctly. But I also picked wins for him in Weeks 3, 4, 5, and 10, and he lost every single one. Kex, you are my biggest disappointment, my... brilliant mistake.

Fuck You, Sovic: I talk a lot of shit on this blog, and for some of you one of the biggest rewards of a fantasy victory each week is probably proving me wrong (note: if you haven't picked up on it yet, I have an exaggerated sense of self-importance). Every week of the season, at least one of you got the opportunity to rub my nose in it, grabbing a win when I had (probably obnoxiously) chosen you to lose. And who did it more than anyone? Who else? My own father and his goddamn Bartelby/Harry Lance Hannibal squad, who five times this season turned an expected L into a W. I thought that after these lousy genes and an emotionally scarring childhood, you would have been done fucking with me, Dad. I hope you're satisfied.