The Syndicate

A reminder of our Week 5 picks:

AllAlongTheBoardwork- BALTIMORE ORIOLES*
birdwithteeth11- DETROIT TIGERS**
Draconus- SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
Epignosis- ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
G-Man- NEW YORK METS
JaggedJimmyJay- BALTIMORE ORIOLES
Metalmarsh89- SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
MovingPictures07- ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
Russtifinko- ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS*
S~V~S- PITTSBURGH PIRATES
Sloonei- LOS ANGELES ANGELS
Spacedaisy- BALTIMORE ORIOLES*
Turnip Head- CLEVELAND INDIANS*

*= Randomly Selected Team (player did not pick in time)
**=Player requested a team they already used this season. Additional time was given for an alternate selection but none was given, leading to randomization.


WEEK 5 SCORES:
1. Draconus (37 runs)
1. Metalmarsh89 (37 runs)
3. Sloonei (29 runs)
4. Turnip Head (28 runs)
5. G-Man (22 runs)
6. Epignosis (21 runs)
6. MovingPictures07 (21 runs)
6. Russtifinko (21 runs)
9. birdwithteeth11 (19 runs)
10. S~V~S (18 runs)
11. AllAlongTheBoardwork (15 runs)
11. JaggedJimmyJay (15 runs)
11. Spacedaisy (15 runs)


OVERALL SCORES:
1. Metalmarsh89 (174 runs)
2. JaggedJimmyJay (158 runs)
3. S~V~S (157 runs)
4. Draconus (146 runs)
5. G-Man (133 runs)
5. Sloonei (133 runs)
7. Turnip Head (130 runs)
8. birdwithteeth11 (129 runs)
9. Epignosis (126 runs)
10. Spacedaisy (125 runs)
11. MovingPictures07 (118 runs)
12. Russtifinko (114 runs)
13. AllAlongTheBoardwork (100 runs)

No scores will be posted tonight. Sorry, but I need to go to bed.

I can accept Metalmarsh's since it came in before the games started today. I did that before for someone by PM. I'm sorry, Draconus, but I can't accept your pick. I hope you understand.

I will post the scores later tonight for Week 5. Right now I've get to get to Mother's Day part 2.

Arizona Diamondbacks for me!

Okay, here are the mid-week scores as of this morning. It's been a pretty light week for a number of teams.

1. Sloonei (25 runs)
2. Draconus (22 runs)
2. Metalmarsh89 (22 runs)
4. G-Man (13 runs)
5. Turnip Head (12 runs)
6. Epignosis (10 runs)
6. MovingPictures07 (10 runs)
6. Russtifinko (10 runs)
6. S~V~S (10 runs)
10. birdwithteeth11 (9 runs)
11. AllAlongTheBoardwork (5 runs)
11. JaggedJimmyJay (5 runs)
11. Spacedaisy (5 runs)


And it's selection time again. Since we had an incident last week, I'm not going to hide the pick chart in spoiler tags anymore.

S~V~S wrote:My life is a Roller Coaster

My condolences.

And now I have a much better understanding of what it's like to be a Mets fan. Hate 'em one day and love 'em the next. Good grief.

Now I'm just pissed off about these Mets. Seriously?

It only took one day for me to regret my decision. It took two days for me to hate myself for making that decision.

Ah well, there's plenty of baseball left.

Okay, I fixed MP's team in the earlier post. Everyone else's teams were accurate. I'm not sure why I goofed on MP's.

Hmm. Thanks for bringing that to my attention. I'll double check my spreadsheet once the girls are in bed and make sure I didn't make any other goofs.

Now for the Week 5 picks! Games are already underway.

AllAlongTheBoardwork- BALTIMORE ORIOLES*
birdwithteeth11- DETROIT TIGERS**
Draconus- SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
Epignosis- ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
G-Man- NEW YORK METS
JaggedJimmyJay- BALTIMORE ORIOLES
Metalmarsh89- SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
MovingPictures07- ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
Russtifinko- ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS*
S~V~S- PITTSBURGH PIRATES
Sloonei- LOS ANGELES ANGELS
Spacedaisy- BALTIMORE ORIOLES*
Turnip Head- CLEVELAND INDIANS*

*= Randomly Selected Team (player did not pick in time)
**=Player requested a team they already used this season. Additional time was given for an alternate selection but none was given, leading to randomization.

Week 4 is in the books! Now for the weekly rundown. Here's a reminder of who everyone picked for Week 4:

AllAlongTheBoardwalk - TORONTO BLUE JAYS*
birdwithteeth11- CHICAGO CUBS
Draconus- CHICAGO CUBS*
Epignosis- LOS ANGELES DODGERS
G-Man- PITTSBURGH PIRATES
JaggedJimmyJay- NEW YORK METS
Metalmarsh89- BOSTON RED SOX
MovingPictures07- TORONTO BLUE JAYS
Russtifinko- KANSAS CITY ROYALS*
S~V~S- ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
Sloonei- WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Spacedaisy- SAN DIEGO PADRES
Turnip Head- COLORADO ROCKIES*

*= Randomly Selected Team (player did not pick in time)


WEEK 4 TOTALS:
1. G-Man (45 runs)
2. Metalmarsh89 (43 runs)
3. S~V~S (39 runs)
4. Turnip Head (37 runs)
5. JaggedJimmyJay (36 runs)
6. Spacedaisy (28 runs)
7. birdwithteeth11 (26 runs)
7. Draconus (26 runs)
9. Epignosis (23 runs)
10. AllAlongTheBoardwork (21 runs)
10. MovingPictures07 (21 runs)
12. Sloonei (20 runs)
13. Russtifinko (13 runs)

Metalmarsh made it close thanks to his Red Sox pick having a stellar game last night. I was sweating bullets. I emerged victorious in the end for the week.


OVERALL STANDINGS:
1. JaggedJimmyJay* (143 runs)
2. S~V~S* (139 runs)
3. Metalmarsh89 (137 runs)
4. G-Man* (111 runs)
5. birdwithteeth11 (110 runs)
5. Spacedaisy* (110 runs)
7. Draconus* (109 runs)
8. Epignosis (105 runs)
9. Sloonei* (104 runs)
10. Turnip Head (102 runs)
11. MovingPictures07 (97 runs)
12. Russtifinko (93 runs)
13. AllAlongTheBoardwork (85 runs)

Each asterisk (*) marks a week as the runs leader (sole or tied) for a given week

The top three seem pretty steady but there was lots of movement below them. One bad week is all it takes to fall behind or lose your lead, so we'll see what happens when our leaders run out of big-hitting teams. Is it still anyone's game to win? We'll find out. JaggedJimmyJay has held the #1 spot three weeks in a row now. Who is going to take the top spot away from him?

Fancy-pants progress graph time!

The Giants are going against two teams that are bleeding runs but they also play the Mets today. The Mets play two teams that are bleeding runs but not quite as badly as the Giants' opponents. I guess I felt the Mets are positioned to handle the Giants today and possibly produce seven days of run accumulation instead of the Giants' six.

Looking aheads, I didn't see many favorable seven-game weeks remaining for the Mets, assuming current trends hold. The Giants' schedule looks like it holds more opportunities to use them in the future. There I go overthinking a silly fantasy game. :P

My brain is telling me the Giants but my heart is telling me the Mets.

Let's go Mets go.

Oh man, Giants or Mets. Who do I pick?

The Giants are one of three teams I'm considering for next week. I'm really tempted to join you.

You know I have to say that I'm actually excited about baseball for the first time in my adult life (since the Red Sox broke the curse, really) thanks to this fantasy stuff. I haven't watched any games but I've been following my weekly picks' game scores just about every day/night.

I think I may switch EZ Fantasy Football over to this new-team-each-week-for-points format.

Get your picks in, folks! You know the drill. Here is the chart. Only a few of us haven't used the Cubs yet. Otherwise it's a pretty interesting spread. Turnip Head has yet to actually submit a team selection to me. :P

Aw poo. Today's Pirates-Rockies game has been postponed.

Sloonei wrote:One of my fantasy teams is depending on Albert Pujols to hit lots of balls over fences this year.

I read that post way too fast at first and only picked up on the words "my fantasy," "Albert Pujols," and "lots of balls."

Here are the mid-week scores for Week 4:

1. G-Man (36 runs)
2. S~V~S (34 runs)
3. Metalmarsh89 (28 runs)
4. Turnip Head (23 runs)
5. Spacedaisy (18 runs)
6. Epignosis (17 runs)
6. JaggedJimmyJay (17 runs)
8. birdwithteeth11 (13 runs)
8. Draconus (13 runs)
8. Russtifinko (13 runs)
11. AllAlongTheBoardwork (12 runs)
11. MovingPictures07 (12 runs)
13. Sloonei (9 runs)

I'll send out the Week 5 selection reminder tonight.

This blind squirrel finally found his acorn. The Pirates are going nuts this week!

S~V~S wrote:

G-Man wrote:Okay, Week 4 is already under way, so here is a look at who we all picked for this week:

AllAlongTheBoardwalk - TORONTO BLUE JAYS*
birdwithteeth11- CHICAGO CUBS
Draconus- CHICAGO CUBS*
Epignosis- LOS ANGELES DODGERS
G-Man- PITTSBURGH PIRATES
JaggedJimmyJay- NEW YORK METS
Metalmarsh89- BOSTON RED SOX
MovingPictures07- TORONTO BLUE JAYS
Russtifinko- KANSAS CITY ROYALS*
S~V~S- ST. LOUIS BLUES
Sloonei- WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Spacedaisy- SAN DIEGO PADRES
Turnip Head- COLORADO ROCKIES*

*= Randomly Selected Team (player did not pick in time)

Also, as a hockey person, it was incredibly difficult for me to override my instinct to write Maple Leafs after Toronto and Avalanche after Colorado. :P

But you could not get past the St Louis Blues

Let me go fix that. Bear with me folks- it's going to be a long season.

Okay, Week 4 is already under way, so here is a look at who we all picked for this week:

AllAlongTheBoardwalk - TORONTO BLUE JAYS*
birdwithteeth11- CHICAGO CUBS
Draconus- CHICAGO CUBS*
Epignosis- LOS ANGELES DODGERS
G-Man- PITTSBURGH PIRATES
JaggedJimmyJay- NEW YORK METS
Metalmarsh89- BOSTON RED SOX
MovingPictures07- TORONTO BLUE JAYS
Russtifinko- KANSAS CITY ROYALS*
S~V~S- ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
Sloonei- WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Spacedaisy- SAN DIEGO PADRES
Turnip Head- COLORADO ROCKIES*

*= Randomly Selected Team (player did not pick in time)

Also, as a hockey person, it was incredibly difficult for me to override my instinct to write Maple Leafs after Toronto and Avalanche after Colorado. :P

S~V~S wrote:What do the asterisks in "Overall Standings" mean?

It means you had the most runs (sole or tied with someone else) for a week. Once someone gets the most runs a second time, they'll have two asterisks behind their name. I'm just curious to see if everyone will get lucky and be a weekly leader by the end of it all or if some of us will get shut out by you ringers.

Okay, time for the Week 3 final scores. Here is who everyone picked for the week:

AllAlongTheBoardwork- CHICAGO CUBS
birdwithteeth11- COLORADO ROCKIES
Draconus- PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
Epignosis- TEXAS RANGERS
G-Man- MILWAUKEE BREWERS
JaggedJimmyJay- ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
Metalmarsh89- CHICAGO CUBS
MovingPictures07- WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Russtifinko- NEW YORK YANKEES*
S~V~S- CHICAGO CUBS
Sloonei- COLORADO ROCKIES
Spacedaisy- CINCINNATI REDS
Turnip Head- MINNESOTA TWINS*

*= Randomly Selected Team (player did not pick in time)

And here is how everyone did for Week 3:

1. JaggedJimmyJay (41 runs)
2. AllAlongTheBoardwork (39 runs)
2. Metalmarsh89 (39 runs)
2. S~V~S (39 runs)
5. G-Man (32 runs)
5. Turnip Head (32 runs)
7. Spacedaisy (28 runs)
8. Draconus (26 runs)
9. MovingPictures07 (24 runs)
10. birdwithteeth11 (23 runs)
10. Sloonei (23 runs)
12. Russtifinko (20 runs)
13. Epignosis (19 runs)

Congrats to JJJ. He snagged his first weekly win with a team I certainly wouldn't have thought to pick.

Now for the overall standings:

1. JaggedJimmyJay* (107 runs)
2. S~V~S* (100 runs)
3. Metalmarsh89 (94 runs)
4. birdwithteeth11 (84 runs)
4. Sloonei* (84 runs)
6. Draconus* (83 runs)
7. Epignosis (82 runs)
7. Spacedaisy* (82 runs)
9. Russtifinko (80 runs)
10. MovingPictures07 (76 runs)
11. G-Man (66 runs)
12. Turnip Head (65 runs)
13. AllAlongTheBoardwork (64 runs)

Here's a fancy-pants graph to show how our weekly scores have brought us to where we are:
Looks like things are spreading out a little but we've got a lot more season left! I'll post the Week 4 picks a little later on.

I'll post the results later this afternoon. For now, here are the randomized teams for those who did not send selections in to me. Looks like Random.org was mostly generous this week.

AllAlongTheBoardwalk- Toronto Blue Jays
Draconus- Chicago Cubs
Russtifinko- Kansas City Royals
Turnip Head- Colorado Rockies

Metalmarsh89 wrote:I just realized how much separation there is between the top 10 and the bottom 3. That's insane!

But yes, I imagine such a trend like this won't stay the same. This is baseball after all.

Thanks for reminding me. :P

Yes, this seems like it should be a marathon and not a sprint. *crosses his fingers*

Metalmarsh89 wrote:Also, one of my strategies for picking thus far has been to pick teams that play 7 games during the week rather than having Thursday off. Fortunately, Boston falls into this category this week.

That's been my secret strategy so far too but I keep picking the wrong max-games teams. The Brewers did pretty well for me though. At this rate, I need everyone ahead of me to have two bad weeks in a row for me to catch up.

I'm watching the Pittsburgh Penguins annihilate the New York Rangers in hockey. I'm going to take this as a sign to pick Pittsburgh's baseball team for Week 4. Pittsburgh Pirates for me.

Thanks for the picks guys. I just realized I never got around to resetting the week # on the first post. I'll keep that current from now on.

Sorry folks. It's been another crazy week. Here are the Week 3 team selections:

AllAlongTheBoardwork- CHICAGO CUBS
birdwithteeth11- COLORADO ROCKIES
Draconus- PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
Epignosis- TEXAS RANGERS
G-Man- MILWAUKEE BREWERS
JaggedJimmyJay- ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
Metalmarsh89- CHICAGO CUBS
MovingPictures07- WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Russtifinko- NEW YORK YANKEES*
S~V~S- CHICAGO CUBS
Sloonei- COLORADO ROCKIES
Spacedaisy- CINCINNATI REDS
Turnip Head- MINNESOTA TWINS*

*= Randomly Selected Team (player did not pick in time)



And here is how we're all doing so far this week:

1. G-Man (23 runs)
2. JaggedJimmyJay (21 runs)
3. Turnip Head (20 runs)
4. birdwithteeth11 (15 runs)
4. Sloonei (15 runs)
6. Spacedaisy (14 runs)
7. MovingPictures07 (13 runs)
8. Draconus (11 runs)
9. AllAlongTheBoardwork (10 runs)
9. Metalmarsh89 (10 runs)
9. S~V~S (10 runs)
12. Epignosis (9 runs)
13. Russtifinko (8 runs)


Now for your weekly reminder- please make your Week 4 team selections by midnight (EST) on Saturday, April 23rd. Those who miss the deadline will have teams randomized for them.

Here are the final Week 2 scores. First, a reminder of who picked which teams:

AllAlongTheBoardwork- NEW YORK YANKEES
birdwithteeth11- SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
Draconus- WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Epignosis- COLORADO ROCKIES
G-Man- SAN DIEGO PADRES
JaggedJimmyJay- COLORADO ROCKIES
Metalmarsh89- PITTSBURGH PIRATES
MovingPictures07- KANSAS CITY ROYALS
Russtifinko- CHICAGO CUBS
S~V~S- ATLANTA BRAVES
Sloonei- LOS ANGELES DODGERS
Spacedaisy- NEW YORK METS*
Turnip Head- TORONTO BLUE JAYS*

Now for the Week 2 and overall leader boards:
Draconus took in the most runs during Week 2 but it wasn't quite enough to put him in the lead overall:

1. Draconus (38 runs)
2. Epignosis (37 runs)
2. JaggedJimmyJay (37 runs)
4. Russtifinko (36 runs)
5. birdwithteeth11 (35 runs)
6. Metalmarsh89 (26 runs)
6. MovingPictures07 (26 runs)
6. S~V~S (26 runs)
6. Sloonei (26 runs)
10. Turnip Head (21 runs)
11. Spacedaisy (19 runs)
12. G-Man (15 runs)
13. AllAlongTheBoardwork (10 runs)



Now for the new overall standings. JaggedJimmyJay has a 3-point lead. We'll see if he can hold on to it for another week.

1. JaggedJimmyJay (66 runs)
2. Epignosis (63 runs)
3. birdwithteeth11 (61 runs)
3. S~V~S (61 runs)
3. Sloonei (61 runs)
6. Russtifinko (60 runs)
7. Draconus (57 runs)
8. Metalmarsh89 (55 runs)
9. Spacedaisy (54 runs)
10. MovingPictures07 (52 runs)
11. G-Man (34 runs)
12. Turnip Head (33 runs)
13. AllAlongTheBoardwork (25 runs)

It'll take me another day to get the Week 2 scores figured out. I failed to grab a screenshot of my stats page showing total runs through Saturday's games. Now I'll have to calculate it the long-ish way. Easy to do come morning.

I'll try to post the Week 2 results tonight when I get back from an in-law family function.

I did not get picks from Russ or Turnip Head but I did randomize them teams this morning. Russ got the Yankees and Turnip Head got the Twins.

This cold be filed under the realm of bad ideas but here goes:

When I played tee-ball, my teams name was the Brewers. I'll pick Milwaukee for Week 3.

Ah, so basically, I (as a non-baseball person) am hopelessly screwed unless I hit some big-time dumb luck. Got it.

Alright you baseball people- is it even worth looking at stats yet in helping me pick? Is ERA a even useful this early in the season? I've made two missteps now and I'd like to avoid a three-peat.

Dem Padres all week.

Mid-week report time! Here are the scores for Week 2 so far. I'm not going to post overall scores until Week 2 is over.

1. (22 runs) birdwithteeth11- SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
2. (21 runs) Russtifinko- CHICAGO CUBS
3. (18 runs) Epignosis- COLORADO ROCKIES
3. (18 runs) JaggedJimmyJay- COLORADO ROCKIES
5. (15 runs) Draconus- WASHINGTON NATIONALS
6. (13 runs) Metalmarsh89-PITTSBURGH PIRATES
6. (13 runs) MovingPictures07- KANSAS CITY
8. (12 runs) S~V~S- ATLANTA BRAVES
8. (12 runs) Turnip Head- TORONTO BLUE JAYS*
10. (11 runs) Sloonei- LOS ANGELES DODGERS
11. (8 runs) G-Man- SAN DIEGO PADRES
11. (8 runs) Spacedaisy- NEW YORK METS*
13. (5 runs) AllAlongTheBoardwork- NEW YORK YANKEES


I'll send out the selection chart later tonight with the Week 3 team selection reminder PM. I don't have the image handy just yet.

Today's been a fairly tame day run-wise for everyone here. Maybe this week we'll all be closer in score.

S~V~S wrote:I hear it's a big problem with rock climbers

I bet a roid-raging rock climber is what really caused the Old Man of the Mountain to collapse. MM- have you ever been to New Hampshire, say around 2003?

Metalmarsh89 wrote:

G-Man wrote:

Metalmarsh89 wrote:What does "FOLLOW ALONG WITH UP EZ FANTASY BASEBALL!" mean?

I don't know what you're talking about.

I must have been seeing things. Everything is as it should be.

Seeing things, eh? Maybe you're on steroids too.

Metalmarsh89 wrote:What does "FOLLOW ALONG WITH UP EZ FANTASY BASEBALL!" mean?

I don't know what you're talking about.

Final Week 1 results have been posted here.

WEEK 2 Team Selections:

AllAlongTheBoardwork- NEW YORK YANKEES
birdwithteeth11- SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
Draconus- WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Epignosis- COLORADO ROCKIES
G-Man- SAN DIEGO PADRES
JaggedJimmyJay- COLORADO ROCKIES
Metalmarsh89- PITTSBURGH PIRATES
MovingPictures07- KANSAS CITY ROYALS
Russtifinko- CHICAGO CUBS
S~V~S- ATLANTA BRAVES
Sloonei- LOS ANGELES DODGERS
Spacedaisy- NEW YORK METS*
Turnip Head- TORONTO BLUE JAYS*

*= team was randomly selected for the player.

Everyone else got picks in to me except Spacedaisy and Turnip Head. I wanted to post their randomly selected teams now because I won't be back before games start today. Spcedaisy drew the NY Mets and Turnip Head drew the Toronto Blue Jays.

Here are the final scores for Week 1. If you don't want to see the awesome bar graph I made, don't open the spoiler tag.

WEEK 1 TEAM SELECTIONS:

AllAlongTheBoardwork- KANSAS CITY ROYALS*
birdwithteeth11- TORONTO BLUE JAYS
Draconus- CLEVELAND INDIANS*
Epignosis- TORONTO BLUE JAYS
G-Man- OAKLAND A'S
JaggedJimmyJay- CINCINNATI REDS
Metalmarsh89- CINCINNATI REDS
MovingPictures07- HOUSTON ASTROS
Russtifinko- CHICAGO WHITE SOX*
S~V~S- NEW YORK YANKEES
Sloonei- CHICAGO CUBS
Spacedaisy- CHICAGO CUBS
Turnip Head- NEW YORK METS*

1. S~V~S (35 runs)
1. Sloonei (35 runs)
1. Spacedaisy (35 runs)
4. JaggedJimmyJay (29 runs)
4. Matalmarsh89 (29 runs)
6. birdwithteeth11 (26 runs)
6. Epignosis (26 runs)
6. MovingPictures07 (26 runs)
9. Russtifinko (24 runs)
10. Draconus (19 runs)
10. G-Man (19 runs)
12. AllAlongTheBoardwalk (15 runs)
13. Turnip Head (12 runs)

I'm actually going to go back on what I said and pick the San Diego Padres for this week. My thinking is they're on the rebound after a bad start. Hopefully they found their bats with their last game. Besides, the Phillies stink, right? I see they have four games against them.

I know nothing about baseball so be prepared to see me make a lot of strange picks as I get the hang of this.

Thanks for letting me know MP!