Where to begin with this post.
2020 Has been one absolute shit storm of a year, and I am ecstatic that it is coming to an end. It has been an honor to compete in this league with all you gentlemen during this odd year, and I think we handled it great. Only one guy threatened to leave and it wasnt even COVID related… That seems like a win to me.
Shout outs to Comish and Comish Jr for their hard work this year.
With that being said, and without further delay…..
That’s right folks!
David Keegan and the Statistically Average Diggs are your 2020 Naomi Bowl CHAMPIONS!!
DAMN THAT FEELS GOOD!
All those years of regret for handing Jason a dynasty… all those years of depression and alcoholism while I watched him win championships with guys I should have had on my team. They are DONE! Burying that football in the ground so it never sees the light of day again.
And how about my teams story this year?
My team overcame some serious adversity to end up where we are. By week 7, my squad was sitting at a pathetic 2-5 and I had just lost to Jordan, Frank and GT back to back to back. Next up on my schedule? Overall Number 2 Don McCann, Overall number 1 Don Eaves and Overall number 3 Jason Feuer. I was staring at a the very real possibility of being 2-8 at the end of that gauntlet. I assumed my season was over. I figured I would pull out a win in 1 of those 3 matchups, and move to 3-7, basically solidifying my position in the sacko bracket. But this was not my destiny….
As if scripted by Naomi herself, my squad proceeded to rattle off 3 straight wins against those teams, returning me back to the playoff race. I added one more win and one more loss to finish the regular season at 7-6, securing the 4th seed in the 2020 Naomi Bowl Playoffs. In order to win the championship I would be guaranteed to face the top seed in the playoffs in the second round, Sir Don Eaves and his absolute juggernaut of a team.. that is, if I even got past Josh in the first round.
Fast forward to round 2, that’s exactly what happened. I beat Josh to secure my first ever Naomi Bowl Playoff Victory.
Now, I was staring down the barrel of Don’s howitzer of a squad. I quietly set my lineup and prepared for my season to end. The small consolation prize I would cherish for 2020 would be the Bills winning the AFC East title against the Broncos on the same Sunday Don Eaves would take my fantasy dreams away. I was fully prepared to accept that fate. Don had birthed a team that scored 1919.65 points in the regular season, and achieved the only double digit win total in the league for 2020 at 10-3. He was also one of only two teams to achieve more than 7 wins, the other being Jason at 8-5, who had scored more points than Don did. There would be no shame in losing that matchup. I had achieved my first playoff win against Josh the week before. Everything after that was gravy.
But then, my savior arrived. One unrelenting force, one omnipotent quarterback…. standing at 6-5 and looking great in shorts… Number 17, Joshua Patrick Allen.
Allen had played great for me all season. He was consistently an upper tier fantasy Quarter Back and couple that with also having Stefon Diggs, I had a good thing going. Allen proceeded to drop 41.66 with 359 Passing yards and 4 TOT. Diggs added another 25.7 on 11 receptions. In conjunction with a defensive touch down, and an extremely rare off day for Kittles and Blitz, I found myself upsetting the number 1 seed to get to the Naomi Bowl. Okay great… very unexpected. Something to hang my hat on I suppose, but lets not beat around the bush… Don’s team gave me a huge break. Still, I scored 157 points, so I’d like to think I would have won anyway.
So, on to the Naomi Bowl!
For the first time since the foundation of the league, my squad found itself in a situation to achieve what I never imagined would be possible this year. A championship. Boats on the water. Fricken launching frigates into the ocean of Dynasty Football infamy. After causing the league so much torment by giving Jason multiple championships, I could put it to bed with a win in the most important matchup of my season; nay my fantasy football career. Not only could this be my first every championship in Wasted Talent, but it would be my first championship of any league I have ever played in! That is correct-up until this, I had never won a fantasy football league.
Still, could I really take down Jason and deny him another victory? After all, I was the reason for his success in the first place. His team had scored 143 the week before and I had already beaten him twice this year. Hard to beat a team three times. I was not confident heading into this matchup. There was no way I could beat Jason again this year. This had to be the end for me. Second place? That’s fine I guess.. I expected to lose last week so I was just happy to be there. The silver medal after taking down Don, and losing to Jason would be an outcome I could live with going into next season. No shame in losing to the best teams in the league. But yet again, Naomi must have intervened…. because a new challenger to Jason’s legacy approached.
His Name? Alvin Mentian Kamara.
What a day for him. Merry Christmas, David Keegan– 6 Touchdowns (should have been 7 but Taysom Hill is a vulture), 56 points, and the best fantasy game of the season for Kamara gave me a sizeable lead to start the week. Again, I caught a massive break with Jason’s team and by the end of the 1 o’clock window on Sunday, Jason’s team had played all their games, finishing with 119.15 points. I was stunned. Was this really happening? Claypool played at 1, but Most of my team didn’t play till the later window, and the Bills didn’t play till Monday. As the 4 o’clock window closed, and the Bronco and Cowboy games went final, I would be down by just 11.05 points going into my last 3 players on Monday night. I had Josh Allen, Stefon Diggs and the Bills Defense left. Victory was all but assured at this point, but I still did not allow myself to go there. “Trust the Process” I thought to myself “Jobs not finished. Mamba Mentality”, “Stay focused”. As soon as the Bills defense took the field, it would put me over the required 11.05 points to overtake Jason, without Allen or Diggs needing to do anything. The defensive points would most likely go down as the game went on, but Diggs and Allen should be able to get me enough points to keep me over the hump. Yet, still, I could not shake the feeling that something wasn’t right. Its the Bills…. they’re having a historic season. Something has to go wrong right?
Wrong. As the game turns to half time, I have secured enough points to win! And Diggs just got a 50 yard TD.
So finally, I can exhale. The deed is done. The curse is broken and I can proudly proclaim victory. All this was achieved without me having a first round pick in multiple seasons. It was done through Trades. Something to be said about that I think….
Thanks are in order to all of you for making this league so great. Congratulations for making it through the COVID year, and here’s to next year. GGs to everyone, and specifically Jason, Don and Josh in the playoffs. Not you though Jordan and Nick. You made Zeglen sacko again.
Wasted Talent 