Week Eleven (Yahoo Week
22)
13 January 2003
Entering the final week of play in Season
Two saw just two of the four division races still undetermined, as Japhy's Boys2
and Toffee Boys were battling for the
J-League crown, while Chickens XI and AC Sam
were neck and neck in
Division Two. Both races proved quite exciting, as
Japhy's Boys2 nipped past Cliftonville Reds 5-4 while Toffee Boys fell 5-4 to
BABYREDS, meaning Japhy's Boys2 ended the season with a 5 point lead on 2nd
placed BABYBLUES, who nipped past group leader Toffee Boys on superior Goals For
(67 to 64). Meanwhile, despite a poor 66 pt week, AC Sam breezed to a 3-1 win
over Pele is the Old Andy Hunt; Chickens XI, however, *just* eked out a 7-6 win
over KALAMATA, scoring 140.35 and earning that 7th goal by just .35 pt.
Relegation victims in the J-League are Blunder Heaven, Systemix Logic &
Cliftonville Reds; in Division Two, Bristol Rovers, New York Cosmos, & Pele
is the Old Andy Hunt.
The Misfits eased to his 10th win of the
campaign in
Division One, enjoying a 7 pt lead over 2nd
placed Caspian Bandits. Finishing third on 17 pts is Brasov, who won a
tiebreaker with Boot Room Boys and Roots United, who also ended on 17 pts.
Because all three were so close in the Goals For category (53 for Roots, 51
for Boot Room Boys and 50 for Brasov), I decided to compare their head-to-head
records to determine who would win promotion. As Brasov defeated both rivals,
while Boot Room Boys defeated Roots, he will join The Misfits and Caspian
Bandits in the J-League next season. Slipping down to Division Two are Ricko's
Team of Legends, Tigers United & Wendigo's Lips & Knickers.
Down in
Division Three, maggie's posse's incredible 10 game
winning streak came to an end with a 6 to 5 defeat to JACKSBACK, but nonetheless
took home the division title with a 5 point lead over 2nd placed The JTs. With
his win over maggie, JACKSBACK jumped into 3rd place and thus earned promotion
to Division Two next season.
In Cup action, the first leg of the
Quaterfinals of
The Wrigley's Doublemint Gum Cup sees three of the four match-ups finely poised,
with the pairs within 3 pts of one another. The one match-up that may well be a
blow-out, of course, involves me, on the wrong side of things, trailing Chickens
XI 140.35 to 107.37.
Lastly, a word or two to wrap up Season
Two. After a late rally, helped considerably by holiday double weeks, my Japhy's
Boys2 managed to climb out of mid-table and coast to enjoy a relatively secure 5
pt cushion en route to claiming back-to-back J-League titles. Aside from the
J-League, all other Division Winners---The Misfits, Chickens XI and maggie's
posse--were newcomers to the group for Season Two. Well done to all, and your
presence clearly has made the group far more competitive. And in that spirit, I
plan to root out a few more of the wallflower teams and add some new blood for
Season Three. I'll sort out all the fixtures and group compositions later this
week. Till next time, good luck and hope you're enjoying this.
Weeks Nine & Ten (Yahoo Week 20)
6 January 2003
Happy New Year! I hope 2003 has started
well for you all--I know it did for me, as I awoke to watch a quality New Year's
Day match @ Highbury, seeing my Gunners hang on for a 3-2 win in their top of
the table clash with Chelsea. Meanwhile, the week's results propelled my Japhy's
Boys2 team to the top of The
J-League, keeping my hopes alive for a sucessful
title defence. Entering the final week, I enjoy a 2 pt lead on Toffee Boys, who
faces BABYREDS while I'm paired against bottom side Cliftonville Reds.
While the title remains in doubt, the three relegation victims are already
known, as Blunder Heaven, Systemix Logic and Cliftonville Reds will all be
spending Season Three in Division One.
The title race isn't nearly so tight in
Division One, as The Misfits has opened a 7 pt lead
on 2nd placed side Caspian Bandits, who has also secured promotion to the
J-League. The third and final promotion space is up for grabs, with Brasov,
Roots United FC & Clipse the chief contenders. The relegation race is also
decided in D1, with Ricko's Team of Legends, Tigers United FC & Wendigo's
Lips & Knickers set for the drop.
The championship race in
Division Two couldn't be any closer, as Chickens XI
and AC Sam both notched two victories in the last week and remain tied at 25
pts. AC Sam might have the easier opponent in the final week, facing the winless
Pele is the Old Andy Hunt while Chickens XI meets 7th placed KALAMATA. And while
Pele is the Old Andy Hunt and the New York Cosmos are definitely headed to
Division Three in Season Three, there's quite a race to avoid the third
relegation spot, as there are three teams on 11 pts, one on 12 and two more on
14 pts!
Perhaps saving the best for last, I now
turn to
Division Three, where maggie's posse has already
clinched the title after racking up an amazing 30 pts (2nd placed The JTs has
22pts) and stands poised to complete an almost inconceivable perfect season. If
she can achieve victory over JACKSBACK in the final week, she will become the
first (and quite likely will be the only) perfect and undefeated team in league
history. She has also advanced to the
Quaterfinals of
the Wrigley's Doublemint Gum Cup, where she'll meet fellow D3 representative The
JTs, while Japhy's Boys2 squares off against Chickens XI, Toffee Boys meets
Spiderz WBA and The Misfits faces BABYBLUES.
Well, that's all for now. Best of luck to
you all and see you next week!
Weeks Five, Six, Seven
& Eight (Yahoo Weeks 17, 18 & 19)
30 Dec.
2002
Welcome back to
the J-League! Hope everyone's holidays were happy and that you all enjoyed
the holiday programme of matches as much as I did :). Due to a slow update for
Week 5, and then to my decision to count last week (19) double because of its 2
match schedule, much has happened since last I updated the website. All the
league tables have been updated, and I've added a couple of pages to The Wrigley's
Doublemint Gum Cup, and this coming week (20) will be the second
leg of the Round of 16.
With another
double week of premiership fixtures, I've decided to go ahead and count this
week's scores as double and plow through another two weeks' worth of fixtures in
league play, which means just one more week will remain. So, while the
Premiership makes way for the FA Cup this weekend, the resolution of Season Two
League play will be up in the air until mid January.
For now, here's
a quick run-down on how things stand. In the J-League, Toffee Boys remains slightly ahead of the
pack, followed closely by Japhy's Boys2 (fresh of a 200 pt week topping the
group), Fulham Strikers and BABYREDS, all just a point off the pace. While
Cliftonville Reds looks a sure bet for relegation, the two teams who will
accompany him are yet unknown, as Systemix Logic, Japhy's Boys, Blunder Heaven
and O Dogg are all perilously close to the drop. In Division One, The Misfits has opened a 5 point lead
on Caspain Bandits and a 7 point lead on third place Clipse, while Ricko's Team
of Legends, Wendigo's Lips & Knickers and Tigers United FC are the
relegation favorites.
Chickens XI and
AC Sam are locked atop Division Two, both sitting on 19 points, while
Chelsea FC and IALYSOS (Newcastle) are next in the table and are tied at 14
points. Pele is the Old Andy Hunt and New York Cosmos appear certain to be
relegated, with both yet to pick up a win, while Bristol Rovers, KALAMATA and
madmen are in for a dogfight to avoid being the third team to accompany them
down. Meanwhile, in Division Three special congratulations goes out
to maggie's posse, who possesses the only perfect record in all the leagues,
having won all 8 of her matches, amassing an impressive +18 goal differential.
Nevertheless, Crystal Palace lurks within striking distance at 3 points further
back. Another unique feature of Division Three is that it is the only division
where the bottom team--here, peter's team--has yet to record a point! In eight
matches, peter's team has scored a measly 14 goals and is almost certainly going
to be booted from the group at the conclusion of the season to make way for a
new team.
Well,
that's all for now folks. Happy New Year to everyone, and hope you all have a
wonderful 2003! Oh yeah, and hope you enjoy the full slate of New Year's Day
matches--I know I will :).