Associated Fantasy

"Its fine to have ability, but the ability to find ability in others is the true test" -Lou Holtz

World League 

Stars Aligned

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WORLD LEAGUE – The World League’s Premiere Match of the week for week 10 between the Scandinavian Stars (5-5-0) and the Dublin Bay Prawns (5-5-0) lived up to the excitement and wound up being a metaphore for the teams’ 2018 seasons.  Dublin started off strong but faded down the stretch, while Scandinavia played from behind through the whole contest but remained dogged until they had secured the come from behind victory late on Monday Night Football, first tieing, then taking the lead on a pair of field goals to win 122-119.  Despite playing the enitre game with a lead, Dublin was never able to put the game away; it was the second loss in a row for the Prawns, and the 4th in 5 games from a franchise that led the Eastern Conference in the standings through the early season but was never able to establish a cushion.  Where Dublin is falling, the Stars are rising, now completing their second consecutive visctory; Scandinavia started out 1-4 this season but the defending champs have climbed to a .500 record and into the playoff conversation.  The Stars now lead the series 6 games to 3.

Though currently just 4-6-0, London Falling has the inside track to the Eastern Conference Points Wild Card slot. It would be their second year in a row make it into the post season on points and their 6th overall playoff appearance in 7 seasons.

Stars are beginnning to align for the rest of the league also after this weekends games.  The AF#10 Old England Patriots (7-3-0) got another win in week 10, their fourth in a row, this time beating Milan, 107-75 to slide into first place in the Conference after Jerusalem suffered a loss 95-172 to London Falling (4-6-0).  The win was the 6th highest single game score in league history and although they remain in 5th place in the Eastern Conference, London is averaging 127 points per game over the last 4 weeks and has moved into the lead spot for the Points Wild Card with 1127 total points scored this season.  Jerusalem falls to second place in the East  – one game behind 1st, and only one ahead of 3rd and 4th – and must face Old England and Dublin Bay over the next two weeeks in back to back games that will determine a lot.

In the West, things have all lined up to set up a three-way tie for first going into the final three weeks of regulation.  The AF#9 Buenos Aires Blue Dogs (7-3-0), AF#17 City of Champions (7-3-0), and AF#21 Mexico Aztecs (7-3-0) this week, all picked up week 10 victories for matching, 7 win records.  The three are separated by less than 150 points, and have some upcoming head to heads against each other that are going to be very important – order of tiebreakers for standings ties are 1) total points 2) head to head record 3) head to head total points.  The rookie Youngstown Mafia (5-5-0) is sitting in fourth place after a 100-129 loss to CoC, but are second in total scoring in the Conference and have a clear path to the Points Wild Card; Mexico is just 15 points behind them on the season, and the two will meet up in a Week 11 showdown at Stambaugh Stadium.