Once again, a top seed and/or prohibitive favorite has won the James Gang Championship, and once again it’s Juice. Congratulations to Dean, the Mayor Jeni Division Winner and #2 Playoff Seed, who claimed the 2022 James Gang Championship with a dominant playoff run.

How dominant? Please check out the playoffs page for a full analysis, but here’s a quick synopsis: In a low-scoring and mostly close playoffs (the first round saw particularly tight games), Juice scored the most combined points; had the highest-scoring player in each matchup, and outscored his opponents by the most combined points.

Please note: Dean’s plus-47 differential ranks third among all eight playoff teams, but first among the four Winner’s Bracket semifinalists (Juice, S*Heads, Campton, Katy’s Brother). Alabama Men outscored its playoff foes by plus-52, and Hounds recorded a plus-48. It’s no coincidence that both Tom and Haydn faced the Thinkers.

But enough about the Thinkers’ playoff ineptitude. Let’s first discuss the historic near-inevitability of a top seed or favorite parlaying its regular season success into a triumphant playoff run. Emphasis on the near-, because of course there have been top-seeded losers and longshot winners in our playoffs. Just last year, in fact, the three top seeds lost in the first round and the #8 Seed Pain Train, at 7-7, won the title. But as this table shows, there’s a strong correlation between a good-to-great regular-season record and ultimate post-season success.

The average regular-season win total for eventual champs is 8.9; the median is 9. In just four seasons, the champ has won seven or fewer regular season games:

• Pain Train (7-7) in 2021
• Pain Train (7-6) in 2015
• Buckguys (6-7) in 2016
• Juice (5-8) in 2010.

“All I need is a chip and a chair” may work for Max, who twice won titles with less than eight regular season wins. But winning at least eight games puts you in a better place to win the title. For one thing, you’re guaranteed a playoff spot. (True, the S*Heads were 8-5 in 2005 and didn’t make the playoffs, but that was due to a three-division setup and just four playoff teams.) Also, 15 of 19 titles (over 75%) have gone to 8+ win teams. It’s a nice club to belong to, yes? Membership just might have its privileges.

At any rate, here are all the 8+ win playoff qualifiers for each year, and that year’s champ. Each year’s top seed is bolded.

Year	8 wins	9 wins	10 wins	11 wins	12 wins	Champ
2022	S*Heads	Juice, Campton, Hounds, Thinkers	Flight			Juice
2021		Hounds	Katy’s Bro	Dollz		Pain 7-7
2020			Men, Flight	Juice	Campton, Hurt	Hurt
2019	Buck, Flight	Hurt	Dollz, Juice			Dollz
2018	Thinker, Craig		Flight			Thinker
2017	Dollz, The U	Juice, Pain		Campton		Campton
2016	S*Heads	Campton	The U, Craig			Buck 6-7
2015	Hurt, Thinker, Craig	Dollz, The U	Juice			Pain 7-6
2014	Dollz		Flight, Craig	Hurt		Flight
2013	Juice, Pain, S*Heads			Flight		S*Heads
2012	Deb	Flight, Hurt, Juice				Hurt
2011	Men	Christian	Dollz	Juice	Flight	Flight
2010	Flight, Pain	Campton		Thinker		Juice 5-8
2009	Dollz, Fartz	Buckguys	Juice, Christian			Dollz
2008	Pain, Deb, Dollz	Campton				S*Heads
2007	Craig	Dollz		Juice		Juice
2006	Campton, Christian	Men	Juice, Jon	The U		Juice
2005	S*Heads, Thinkers	The U, Jon	Craig			The U
2004	Thinkers	Jon			Campton	Jon

So you take a 9-win team and seed it second in the playoffs, and it’s no real surprise that it takes the title. And when that team is Juice? Well, it’s even less surprising. Dean’s record is pretty impressive, as the next table shows. (You might want to sit this one out, Thurm.)

Juice now has the most rings since 2004 (4); the most playoff appearances (14 in 19 seasons), and the most regular-season wins (150). He shares with Andy the mark for most .500 or better seasons (14) and most semifinal playoffs appearances (10). He is second to Jim in the number of seasons with the league’s Best Record (Jim’s 5 to Dean’s 4), and trails Haydn by .007 for best winning percentage. (It’s worth noting that Haydn has now played three seasons to Dean’s 19.)

Well, at least he’s not winning all our money this year. Oh, wait…

When it’s your year, it’s your year, apparently. Congratulations again, Juice!

Ring in the Old! Ring out the New!

It’s New Year’s Weekend and Father Time’s got a couple old friends in our Championship game. The #2 Seed Juice, now 11-5 after wins in playoff rounds one and two, takes on the #4 S*Heads, now 10-6. And friends, it doesn’t get much older than that.

Dean and Kurt go way back in this league; indeed, they go as far back as you possibly can, along with Bill, Thurm and Tom. And over those many, many years, they’ve piled up more than their fair share of accolades, accomplishments and awards.

Our league pre-dates ESPN’s archives, so these stats don’t include the pre-2004 James Gang. But here’s how S*Heads and Juice have fared since then:

This is the fifth title game for Kurt since 2004

• S*Heads won the championship in 2008, beating Thurm in the Finals
• S*Heads won the championship in 2013, beating Christian in the Finals
• S*Heads lost the championship game in 2016 to Doug
• S*Heads lost the championship game in 2021 to Max

This is the fourth title game for Dean since 2004

• Juice won the championship in 2010, beating Andy in the Finals
• Juice won the championship in 2007, beating Thurm in the Finals
• Juice won the championship in 2006, beating Jose in the Finals
• Juice lost the championship in 2004 to Jon, another original ‘Ganger

Juice also has competed, but lost, in five semifinals: in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2020 and 2021. Kurt has never lost in the semifinals.

As for this year? Juice and S*Heads met in Week 2 and what a barnburner it was. Juice prevailed 141-135, but with a bunch of guys who probably/definitely won’t be suiting up for him this weekend:

• Jalen Hurts (35 points that day) is questionable
• Cooper Kupp (32) was traded away (and went to IR)
• Drake London (24) was dropped (and is now Team Flight)

S*Heads, too, will look a bit different, as Week 2 starters Derek Carr and Antonio Gibson are both out. But Jaylen Waddle (40 points that day) and Mark Andrews (25) are in the lineup, as is league WR1 Justin Jefferson. And oh yeah: Kurt’s starting QB since Week 10 looks to break Lamar Jackson’s rushing record for QBs this weekend and next. I’m talking about JUSTIN FIELDS, baby! No wonder S*Heads are favored by 10 in the game.

In other action, Katy’s Brother faces Campton in the battle for third place; Alabama Men face Heavy Flight for fifth place, and Haydn’s Hounds face OverThinkers for seventh.

In the Consolation Ladder, The U holds a 32-point lead going into the final week:

• 222, The U
• 190, Dollz
• 179, Hurt Locker
• 171, Pain Train
• 167, Buckguys
• 152, Fartz

Ain’t that a kick in the head

Monday, Nov. 14

Ruh roh. It has come to our attention that there are a couple bad settings in the league scoring setup for Kickers. Those settings have affected scoring all year and need to be changed. Fortunately, no game outcomes are impacted. By correcting the settings, no wins will become losses and no losses will become wins.

Here’s what’s going on:

In trying to figure out why Hurt’s kicker, the Cowboys’ Brett Maher, was only getting 5 points for his 60-yard FG vs the Vikings, I discovered a couple bad settings in the league scoring setup. To wit:

• A 60+ yard made FG is currently worth only 5 points. To be consistent with other made FG settings — where 1-39 is 3 pts, 40-49 is 4, and 50-59 is 5 — anything 60+ really should be 6 points.
• Worse, there currently is no penalty for a missed 50+ or 60+ yard FG. All other misses or blocks (including PATs) are penalized 1 point, but for some reason the boxes for missed 50+/60+ yarders weren’t checked.

The NFL’s own FG stats for the year show made 60s and missed 50s and 60s. The games they occurred in were identified, and I’ve determined how it would affect OUR games.

• Only two rostered and active kickers have made 60+ FGs this year: Butker for Andy in week 6, and Maher for Greg this week.
  • Adding a point to Andy’s score didn’t change the outcome of his game that week vs Men: Tom still wins.
  • Greg gets an extra point and now trails Thinker 103-99 going into MNF, as opposed to 103-98 before the correction.
• Penalties for missed 50+ and 60+ FGs have been assessed. Again: the correction doesn’t alter a single outcome. Scores have changed: for example, Flight’s Younghoo Koo missed a 60+ attempt in week 1, so Jim’s 159 is now 158. But his win that week is still a win, and his 158 is still the season’s highest single-game score. Likewise, Tom’s wins in week 1, week 3 and week 6 still stand, as does his loss in week 7. Say… what is it about Tom’s kickers and their proclivity for missed long field goals? Hmmm.

But then who am I to talk? With the corrections, Thinkers lose the same amount as points (4) as Men. Others losing points: Buckguys -1, Dollz -2, Heavy Flight -2, Hounds -2, Juice -2, Katy’s Brother -1, Pain -1, The U -2. Both Campton and Hurt have net 0, with -1 each and +1 each.

Here’s every game affected by the scoring correction:

Week	Game Result	Correction	New Result
1	Men 107 Juice 105	Men -1 McManus (Men) missed a 60+ attempt	Men 106 Juice 105
1	Flight 159 Hounds 97	Flight -1 Koo (Flight) missed a 60+ attempt	Flight 158 Hounds 97
2	Katy’s Bro 85 Fartz 74	Katy’s Bro -1 Folk (Katy) missed a 50+ attempt	Katy’s Bro 84 Fartz 74
3	Men 121 Thinkers 73	Men -1, Thinkers -2 McManus (Men) missed a 50+ attempt Joseph (Thinkers) missed two 50+ attempts	Men 120 Thinkers 71
5	Buckguys 116 Hurt 67	Buckguys -1 Gay (Buckguys) missed a 50+ attempt	Buckguys 115 Hurt 67
5	Katy’s Bro 115 Dollz 107	Dollz -2 Joseph (Dollz) missed two 50+ attempts	Katy’s Bro 115 Dollz 105
5	Flight 91 Juice 81	Flight -1, Juice -1 Koo (Flight) missed a 50+ attempt York (Juice) missed a 50+ attempt	Flight 90 Juice 80
6	Men 96 Campton 86	Campton -1, Campton +1 Butker (Campton) missed a 50+ attempt Butker (Campton) made a 60+ FG	Men 96 Campton 86
6	Hounds 133 Fartz 75	Hounds -1 Tucker (Hounds) missed a 50+ attempt	Hounds 132 Fartz 75
6	Hurt 81 Flight 67	Hurt -1 Maher (Hurt) missed a 50+ attempt	Hurt 80 Flight 67
7	The U 140 Men 93	The U -1, Men -1 McLaughlin (U) missed a 50+ attempt McManus (Men) missed a 50+ attempt	The U 139 Men 92
8	Pain 135 Hounds 117	Pain -1, Hounds -1 Joseph (Pain) missed a 50+ attempt Tucker (Hounds) missed a 60+ attempt	Pain 134 Hounds 116
9	Dollz 75 The U 70	The U -1 Bass (U) missed a 50+ attempt	Dollz 75 The U 69
9	Juice 107 Hurt 65	Juice -1 Koo (Juice) missed a 50+ attempt	Juice 106 Hurt 65
9	Katy’s Bro 131 Thinkers 101	Thinkers -1 Succup (Thinkers) missed a 50+ attempt	Katy’s Bro 131 Thinkers 100
10	Thinkers 124 Juice 74	Thinkers -1 Succup (Thinkers) missed a 50+ attempt	Thinkers 123 Juice 74
11	Fartz 112 Men 65	Men -1 Santos (Men) missed a 50+ attempt	Fartz 112 Men 64
11	Thinkers 103 Hurt 98	Hurt +1 Maher (Hurt) made a 60+ FG	Thinkers 103 Hurt 99

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He warned us. He told us he’d do it. He vowed to rise from the dead-end start of a #14 draft spot and make a run at the championship. And while it’s a wee bit early to crown him, there’s no denying that Thurm and his Blowup Dollz are on the move.

Through four weeks, Dollz were 0-4 and had scored fewer points than any other team. They’d posted just 51 in week one and hadn’t hit the century mark in any game. Week Five, Dollz finally got their 100 points (107, in fact), but still lost by eight. Then came Week Six and a win over Juice, and Week Seven and a win over S*Heads.

So what does 2-5 get you these days? How about sitting just one game out of playoff contention, trailing a six-pack of 3-4 Wild Card teams: Juice, S*Heads, The U, Katy’s Brother, Hurt Locker and Fartz? A stumble by a couple of those teams this week and who knows? Thurm might actually grab a projected playoff spot. We’ll never hear the end of it. And that is a pretty scary thought.

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The seventh week of the season is in the books and with it, the end of (most) inter-divisional matchups. Here’s how the divisions fared against each other in 43 games.

Division	Wins	Losses	.Pct	.500+ Teams	Points Scored	Avg. Pts	100+ Games
Apollo	21	22	.489	3	4229	98.3	20
Mayor	22	21	.512	3	4134	96.1	15

Pretty equally matched, it seems.