11. ColdDogSoup [27 points - gw29] 12. Kopite Juniors [21 points - gw28] Flying high last week for medal with 71 points and crashing out this week with a sub-30 performance. Lobo skipped the post match conference, mumbling something about a code of silence and tiger blood and not understanding how a Birmingham-Everton game that had scoreless draw written all over it saw both teams concede before halftime. Dangerzone = Pittsadelphia (31), Lees Summit (35), FC StPauli (38), and Top_Shelf (38). Pittsadelphia make a third straight appearance and take the season tally to 7 danger zone appearances, while Top_Shelf make a third appearance in four GWs and trail by only 1 overall. We are down to 10, with Dynamo, Weymouth, LSG, Pork Soda, Rockville and Vegas joining the four dangerzone squads. The gameweeks slow down for gw30 and gw31, but then we'll have out final 8 before the race begins in earnest to the finish line. Good luck.
10. Lees Summit Rangers [27 points - gw30] 11. ColdDogSoup [27 points - gw29] 12. Kopite Juniors [21 points - gw28] After a close call last week, Lees Summit Rangers post a 27 and get bounced from both eliminator cups simultaneously. Dangerzone = FC Weymouth (31), Pittsadelphia (37), LSG (39), and Pork Soda (39). Lees Summit (35), FC StPauli (38), and Top_Shelf (38). That's now 4 in a row for Pittsadelphia, and the 8th dangerzone appearance on the season. Only one elimination to go to complete our third group of 8 and get to our Final 8. For those counting at home, there are still 3 teams alive from Small (LSG, Rockville, Vegas), 3 from Dust (Dynamo, Weymouth, TopShelf), 2 from VSR (Pittsadelphia, PorkSoda), and 1 from Sand (St.Pauli).
9. LSG NW3 [31 points - gw31] 10. Lees Summit Rangers [27 points - gw30] 11. ColdDogSoup [27 points - gw29] 12. Kopite Juniors [21 points - gw28] Just 4 weeks ago, LSG stood as the only team left that had never been in the dangerzone. With two dangerzone visits in the past 3 weeks, times have been a bit shaky recently, but with juicy matches on paper for RVP and Nasri against Blackburn and Van der Vaart against Wigan, and then Carroll against West Brom and Vidic and Fabio against West Ham providing some additional security, LSG's departure this week has to rank as one of the more shocking of the season. It really was the perfect storm, of sorts, to see this fire power draw blanks given the matchups at hand. And even then Dynamo Teso only snuck past with 33 points on the "strength" of 2 assists to Odemwingie for creating penalty kick opportunities. The dangerzone reads: Dynamo Teso (33), Top_Shelf (38), and FC Weymouth (43). Top_Shelf is now at 7 visits, just one behind the leader Pittsadelphia. Weymouth is close behind with 6. It was only the 3rd visit for Dynamo, second fewest of the teams remaining. And, with that, our final 8 is set: Dynamo Teso FC St. Pauli FC Weymouth Pittsadelphia Pork Soda Rockville Gunners Top_Shelf Vegas Virgins Dust - 3 teams Small and VSR - 2 teams Sand - 1 team Good luck
8. Pork Soda [35 points - gw32] Dangerzone = Rockville (43), FC Weymouth (48), and Pittsadelphia (49). It's only the 3rd visit for the ultrapowerful Rockville, while Weymout makes it three visits in a row (7 overall) and Pittsadelphia remains consistently mediocre but good enough to survive with a competition leading 9th visit (and 5th in the last 6 weeks!!!). Stuck in a relegation battle, it's never been entirely clear what Pork Soda was doing in the final 8 to begin with, but crazier things have happened and it was only going to take a handful of solid performances to race to finish. No doubt the younger Powell had one eye on the Cup and another on finishing ahead of Vegas Virgins, but will have to settle the title of being the last Southern California team eliminated.
7. Rockville Gunners [30 points - gw33] 8. Pork Soda [35 points - gw32] Showing either extraordinary confidence in their own abilities or extreme disdain for the eliminator cups, Rockville Gunners lined up this week with only 6 potential players, with 9 players not even having games this week. The Gunners could have made two free transfers to bring in players who had games, but apparently checked the squad to change the captaincy and then decided that they were good enough to roll or that there was simply too much talent in the squad to part with anyone. And, mind you, this is with a mocking 7.0 in the bank! Caught for a moment by reporters on the walk through the parking lot, Chuck Cannon refused to answer questions about the integrity of the BE-Cup. "If you want to second guess me, then write it up however you want to write it up. I've been involved in this game since before you were born and I don't have to answer to you. People talk about trebles and quadruples and other such nonsense, but that's what it all is: nonsense. Oooo-la-la. I'll sit down some night and make up a little competition, and then it will sound all serious if I call it a Cup. Let me tell you something. It's all nonsense. I haven't completely figured it out. It may be so they can make money on TV revenues. Or it may be so that even the losers can still have something to win. But whatever they're trying to accomplish, it's utter, absolute, and complete nonsense. We train each week for a single and solitary purpose, to win the league. And it will be a rainy day in the Sahara before we start to deviate from our long term plans just to grab a BE-Cup (or even a DE-Cup). Sure, this week has been a hiccup, but we're are right where we want to be and expect to hold the real silverware in 5 gameweeks when all is said and done. Now what was your question?" The rules committee met briefly following the conclusion of the gameweek. "We're disappointed. There are several teams that would have loved that spot in the final 8, not to mention an entire league from down under still drying the tears on their pillows from not getting a chance. But we wish Chuck well. On a separate subject, we've determined that there will be no dangerzone this week. When the next closest scores were more than double the eliminee (in the 60s), there was no danger in the end. We've still got 6 great squads vying for the title and we're looking for an exciting finish!"
6. Dynamo Teso [45 points - gw34] 7. Rockville Gunners [30 points - gw33] 8. Pork Soda [35 points - gw32] One of the more consistent teams, Dynamo Teso exits with only 3 dangerzone appearances and a very high eliminator score of 45, well below the group's average for the week of 55.63. Dangerzone = Top Shelf (51), FC Weymouth (57, and Pittsadelphia (68). It was the 10th DZ trip for Pittsadelphia and the 8th for the other two squads. The other teams still in the competition are Vegas Virgins and FC St Pauli.
5. Pittsadelphia [26 points - gw35] 6. Dynamo Teso [45 points - gw34] 7. Rockville Gunners [30 points - gw33] 8. Pork Soda [35 points - gw32] After a season-high 10 dangerzone visits, Pittsadelphia couldn't find a way through and closes out the first half of our final 8. The dangerzone was FC Weymouth (31), Top_Shelf (33), and Vegas Virgins. 9th visits for the first two while only a 5th visit for the virgins. As in past years, this is the final week for counting dangerzone visits since we are now down to four. Pittsadelphia departs, but takes with it the dubious title of king of the dangerzone. FC St Pauli coasted this week with a healthy 59. Nothing like captaining a goal-scoring, bonus-point-hogging defender like Baines. It makes the game simple. And then there were four.
4. FC St. Pauli [39 points - gw36] 5. Pittsadelphia [26 points - gw35] 6. Dynamo Teso [45 points - gw34] 7. Rockville Gunners [30 points - gw33] 8. Pork Soda [35 points - gw32] With two weeks to go, we're down to 3, with the surviving scores this week: Top Shelf - 43 FC Weymouth - 47 VegasVirgins - 58 Two from Dust and one from Small. Good luck.
And, then there two! 3. VegasVirgins [31 points - gw37] 4. FC St. Pauli [39 points - gw36] 5. Pittsadelphia [26 points - gw35] 6. Dynamo Teso [45 points - gw34] 7. Rockville Gunners [30 points - gw33] 8. Pork Soda [35 points - gw32] It was an unfortunate time for an outing like this for Vegas, while Top Shelf squeaks by with thanks to Michael Dawson and his unexpected clean sheet and bonus points at Anfield. As we head to the final, Weymouth is (unsuccessfully) asking for a new rule to allow unused points to be carried forward, but we will reset to "zero"! FYI, the surviving scores this week were: Top Shelf - 34 FC Weymouth - 90 With two teams left from Dust, an early congratulations to them, even as we still wait to find out who will hold the BE-Cup. Good luck.
It's gw38 and we're down to the final 2. While we try to wrap up the BE-Cup in gw37, we lost a week due to weather and thus the teams will have to grapple with the prospects of lineup adjustments on the final Sunday. Coming off a monster week, FC Weymouth enters the final as a huge favorite, sitting 2nd in Dust and 7th overall with 1771 points, while Top_Shelf represents what we love, a mid-table or lower team making it to the end of a tournament. Top_Shelf sits 5th in Dust and 24th overall, with 1637 points. The point difference of 134 points between the teams comes to just under 4 points per game over the course of the season, one goal or one clean sheet per week. FC Weymouth FCW is drooling over some of this week's matchups - RVP has been a strong play whenever healthy this season, and is joined by the hottest player in the league at the moment, N'Zogbia. From there, FCW is buoyed by the prospects that Berbatov looks likely to return to the starting lineup in search of the golden boot with Modric and Jarvis in good form in games that matter. And Hart is amongst the best bet for a clean sheet this week. While doubling up on the Fulham defense against Arsenal might not be the smartest move, there is still time for a move and Arsenal is presently in its worst funk of the season. Perhaps some injury worries for Zabaleta, but this squad looks ready to roll. Top_Shelf While Top_Shelf is glad that we didn't play the final in gw37, there is no early positive news coming out of the team's camp as we head to the final week. T_S has 5 players from the league's top 2 teams, but could be done in by the lack of significance of this week's games with United having already clinched and Chelsea having locked second barring a ridiculous change in goal differentials. T_S's three players from United may all sit this weekend - Vidic, Valencia, and Hernandez - and T_S's two Chelsea players may well amount to a single player at most with Torres and Drogba battling over the same position in most of the recent games. About the only good news is that there may be real news from the real teams before fantasy decisions have to be made. Nonetheless, T_S faces a very difficult captaincy decision. Good luck to you both!
It was tough competing in gw38 given the added unpredictability of rosters and results. There can be no question about the Cup winner as FC Weymouth puts up the high score of the remaining teams, again. Congratulations! FC Weymouth - 43 Top_Shelf - 30 FINAL RANKINGS/STANDINGS.... 1. FC Weymouth - BE-Cup Winner 2. Top_Shelf [30 points - gw38] 3. VegasVirgins [31 points - gw37] 4. FC St. Pauli [39 points - gw36] 5. Pittsadelphia [26 points - gw35] 6. Dynamo Teso [45 points - gw34] 7. Rockville Gunners [30 points - gw33] 8. Pork Soda [35 points - gw32] 9. LSG NW3 [31 points - gw31] 10. Lees Summit Rangers [27 points - gw30] 11. ColdDogSoup [27 points - gw29] 12. Kopite Juniors [21 points - gw28] 13. Southside Saturns [43 points - gw27] 14. Zhirkov 1 More Time [24 points - gw26] 15. VL Blackstone Sixxte [34 points - gw25] (tiebreaker) 16. FC Touchline Ban [50 points - gw24] (tiebreaker) 17. Yellowcake Phantoms [30 points - gw23] 18. ThiKu Mariners [27 points - gw22] 19. 1800-UK.com [32 points - gw21] 20. ChrisSuttonsSlippers [21 points - gw20] 21. Duck Butter Bandits [24 points - gw19] 22. FC Springfield [30 points - gw17] 23. FC Zadar [26 points - gw16] 24. In off the post - [23 points - gw15] 25. blechs_dawgs - [31 points - gw14] 26. FC Yankees - [24 points - gw13] 27. Sasha Juniors - [26 points - gw12] 28. Aviators - [22 points - gw11] 29. Windsor Wanderers - [24 points - gw10] 30. Ajax Chicago - [24 points - gw9] 31. Glorydaze fC - [17 points - gw8] 32. The Class Acts - [26 points - gw7]
Another poor performance from me in this cup. The best compliment I can give it is that I am genuinely gutted when I get knocked out. Excellent comp!
