What will the 20th season in the JBL be remembered for?
I think the first thing everyone will think of will the draft in Vegas. It was awesome. We had almost everyone right there in that Mandalay hotel room. The banter, the beer, the pizza, the comraderie, it was almost perfect.
The season was dominated by Bangkok for the most part. His team led the way for about 75% of the season. He was in 1st place on every single night for about 4 months. He was chatty on the Live Scoreboard; he made good deals; he signed the best Free Agents - everything was going so well.
All along though, in the background, there was his arch-nemesis, lurking, watching, probably touching himself, just waiting to make his move. The Seoul Brothers were after the 3-peat and were in the hunt all the time. Seoul did everything right (again) and overtook Bangkok a few weeks ago and now seems to be on cruise control to his 3rd straight title and 5th overall.
Awhile back I posted an article about the 'greatest JBL team ever'. I listed off 5 potential teams that would be in the discussion. One of those teams was this season's Bangkok squad that was so dominant for so long. Well now, with Seoul at 1183 and almost assured of victory - I think I have to include this Brothers team in the discussion. He is 1st or 2nd in six of the seven categories. That's almost unheard of if you go back and look at the other championship teams. We'll see what happens over the next 2 weeks but I think we may be parading in one of the greatest teams of all time.
So, let's assume that Seoul does hold on and win his 5th JBL title and remind everyone that will be 4 titles in the last 6 seasons. Where does that put little Phil in the JBL history? I am the self proclaimed king of the JBL (I guess when the league is named after you I have some entitlement) with 7 JBL titles overall. However, it's pretty obvious that the most feared JBL opponent these days is the Seoul Brothers. I think most of the JBL owners would most like to beat Phil Woo than me. I could be wrong on that - but it seems the balance of JBL power is shifting. Phil and I are creating a Lakers vs. Celtics type rivalry. It's going to be fun over the next ??? years....
I know I will always remember the JBL's 20th season for how shitty my Golden squad turned out to be...here are some highlights - or I guess they are low-lights...
- crappy draft in Vegas when I only spent $221 dollars (nothing like leaving $39 bucks on the table)
- with a week 1 that included just 190 points - I over-reacted and dropped some good players too early
- I tried to force things and made some questionable trades
- I used up my FA money on crap talent and had no FA money left after the February deadline
- I focused too much on getting cheap keepers and forgot to focus on maintaining my top 8 position
- My team was gutted by injury
- My team was loaded with potential keepers but injuries and poor management will likely only allow me to protect 1 player
- And ultimately I think I will be remembering my WORST finish ever in the JBL. And remember, we've been doing this for 20 years! With this likely 12th place finish there is a silver lining for another JBL owner. You see, in 20 years, my fantasy squad has ALWAYS finished ahead of another 20 year JBL owner - Trevor. Well, for the 1st time ever, it appears that Mr. Arksey is going to be able to finally be able to say he beat me. I'm sure Trev would have liked to have a 1st place finish to go with it - but after 20 years - I'm sure he'll take whatever he can get. And like me, after 12 years of marriage, I too will take whatever I can get.
So, what am I watching over the last 10 days or so??? There are a few things of interest...
- the battle for 1st between Seoul and Bangkok
- the battle for 4th between Arctic, French, and Chilliwack
- the battle for those two coveted 7th and 8th positions (3 keepers)
- the battle for 9th and 10th (2 keepers)
- the battle between Maui and Golden
- and seeing if Belgrade can get out of the basement...
Well boys, that's all for now...good luck down the stretch.
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