Blech's Eliminator Cup(s) - 2020-21

I'm still hopeful that he'll change his mind, but in the event that Cribmad has packed it in for the season as indicated, then we are returning to the original name and I'll dust off and revive the original Blech's Eliminator Cup (aka the BE-Cup), as well potentially as the Double Eliminator Cup, although no promises just yet on the second one.

For you history buffs, the BE-Cup was my creation and it debuted back in the Fall of 2007. It ran for at least 6 years through the 2012-13 season. A hearty thank you to Cribmad and any others who continued variations of it in the subsequent years.

Assuming Cribmad hasn't reconsidered in the next day or two, I'll re-post the rules, dig up some of the old wrinkles (can you say "immunity"?), and announce which gameweek will be start.

 

As explained in a post many years ago, I tried to get a sponsor to pay for naming rights but I couldn't even get anyone to buy me a full meal let alone make a serious offer....

 

It's back -- the BE-Cup.

And, don't forget our motto: "You don't need to be best; just don't be worst."

The rules and information are:

Start date! Immediately! We kick off in GW1. No practice games to warmup for the BE-Cup. Sweaty palms for those who stocked up on players from the Manchesters and may find themselves shorthanded. Get in your final training sessions and have your squads ready to roll.

Rules! The Rules are simple. The team with the lowest score in a given gameweek is eliminated. You do not get to carry additional points forward, so a high score one week guarantees nothing as you can still be eliminated the next week just as easily as anyone else. Again: "Just don't be worst."

Tiebreakers! In the event two or more teams are tied, then we will go through the following tiebreakers until the tie is broken:
1. Which team scored more points without captain points being doubled?
2. If still tied, which team scored more points without the benefit of auto-subs?
3. If still tied, which team had more points scored by its bench (after any auto-subs are processed)?

If these 3 tiebreakers do not break the tie, then the tied teams will both/all be eliminated, unless that would result in fewer than 10 teams remaining, in which case no teams will be eliminated that GW and an extra team will be eliminated the following week, unless this would result in no teams remaining, in which case a replay would take place if there are remaining gameweeks and, if not, the winner shall be determined by total points for the season (more is better), followed by a coin flip if they are still tied. Got it?

Rule Supplementation Discretion! Unforeseen and/or unusual things may happen, and I'll consider making adjustments if I deem them appropriate. As an example, I'm recalling a snowstorm that hit at New Years one year and resulted in multiple January 2 games being postponed. Many fantasy teams lost almost all of the players that GW. That GW did not result in any eliminations, and I will generally require at least 6 games be played during a GW for it to count toward the BE-Cup. I hope things go smoothly this year, but I won't be surprised if there are games that get postponed, so we'll take that up as and if it occurs.

Immunity will be covered in a separate post!

And, the Double Elimination Cup will start in GW7. More on that later.

 

Immunity! If you have immunity, you can't be eliminated. Based on last year's result, 1st and 2nd place finishes in each division, as well the finalists in the Eliminator Champion of Champions, get immunity as follows:

3 GWs - ColdDogSoup (last year's winner of Small)
2 GWs - Sasha Jr (VSR winner), Morning Glory (Sand winner), Tangers (Eliminator Champion of Champions)
1 GW - Journeyman (2nd in Small), blechs_dawgs (2nd in Sand), Locomotiv (Eliminator Champion of Champions runner up)

Let me know if I got any of these wrong and anyone else claims one of these spots. If you're paying close attention, there is no immunity listed for 2nd in VSR, as that was Tangers, who already has immunity as the Eliminator Champion of Champions, and you can't get double immunity (or, you can, but it doesn't mean anything to be doubly safe in GW1...)

And, if you don't like the immunity analogy and would prefer to put in more standard terms, those with immunity for GW1, will enter the competition in the second week, and so on....

However you look at it, there are 7 teams that can't be eliminated in GW1, and 17 who can. Good luck! Looking forward to the first eliminated team's post-GW press conference.....

 

But if I give it to you, do I then have to give it to @DrHeckle ?

Do I just give it to everyone (and we delay the start by a week)?

I have to think about it...for a few seconds...and get back to you... ... .... ... Having now thought about it...for a few seconds, I'm going to keep it limited as stated. It feels right to give it to those who earned it last year with a top finish in either a division or the Eliminator Competitions.... Sorry.

BUT because you asked nicely, I will add this wrinkle, which shall now be known as the "Slippers Special Request Rule" -- Immunity can be transferred! IF someone who has immunity wants to give/sell/barter it to you (or to anyone else) and states that here in this thread before the GW starts, immunity will be transferred for that GW to the designated team!

 

toot away....

it will be interesting to see. @lobomojo is a pretty confident fellow. @tarvinodos also. will either of them give away their immunity since they obviously won't need it this week?

or will someone sweeten the pot on a trade of players by throwing in a BE-Cup immunity? perhaps andy carroll & one GW of immunity for jamie vardy? this could quickly get interesting......

 

24. Parraraiders - [30 points; GW1]

"Oh, Mal. That's really Bad."

Check your English-Spanish dictionary if my attempted play on words is not bonking you on the head about now. And, actually, a score in the 30s isn't really that mal/bad, particularly in the early eliminator weeks with a large number of teams in the competition and in a week where 4 teams didn't play. But, unfortunately for Mal and team Parraraiders, 30 was not good enough this time.

Running quickly through Mal's squad and drafting strategy, the week 1 byes and injuries played a role. Mal drafted the United power-duo of Bruno & Martial, threw in Mendy for good measure along with the long-term selection of the injured Chilwell, and then came back post-draft to grab van de Beek. If you're counting and thinking about GW1 availability (Parraraiders apparently weren't), that's three from MUN, one from MCI, and one who is injured, so that meant that two starters who would get no game time this week and no active players on the bench. Bold? Reckless? Inspired?

Asked before the game if he thought that he was disrespecting the BE-Cup by not fielding a full squad, Mal responded: "No. Everyone is doing it. My mate Dr. H told me this is a silly competition that no one would sponsor. It's a cute concept. Maybe someone could even make a reality show out of it. But I'm a responsible manager and we have a long-range plan for this team. And I'm not going to tear it up just to field a full team when the lads that I'm sending out can easily score 6 goals and 60 fantasy points with an arm tied behind their back. I'm not. You'll see. Why don't you come back to me after we play and ask me the same question?"

Notwithstanding Mal's confidence, a Bamford goal was the only attacking return for the 'raiders, and Mal will no doubt have further questions to answer in the board room after captain Mitrovic came on for some late minutes and a just 1 point.

But controversy swirled even before the first kickoff as Dr. H was spotted organizing a pre-gameweek protest outside Blech HQ. "It makes me queasy just to stand here. Look at that -- the guy even named the HQ after himself." Asked for a comment about the protest, Blech said: "I didn't understand. I was trying to eat lunch at my desk and there is all this commotion down below on the street. One sign read: 'Put Immunity In The Pram.' I've got to be honest -- I had no idea what they were trying to say. I had to look it up, because I didn't even know what a 'pram' was. That's just not a word that we use in the States. And, even after I looked it up, I still didn't understand as it really doesn't make any sense. Maybe this is a cultural thing. As for immunity, I recognize that those who lost last year won't like the idea of immunity for those who won. That's because they lost. But let's not forget the history -- immunity was an important part of how this competition used to be run, and we're very pleased to have it back with the re-launch of BE-Cup version 2.0. Kudos to those who earned immunity on the field last year. You are winners and you deserve it. Rather than protesting, Dr. H and his heckling pals really ought to focus their energies on the field and try to score more points."

In many prior years, immunity hasn't mattered. But, this is 2020. And, as it turned out, immunity played a big and immediate role. Last year's defending Eliminator Champion of Champions -- Tangers FC -- opened the season with an ugly 19 points! But, with immunity for the first two weeks, they live to fight another day (and still have another immunity). AND, last year's Muppetry Eliminator winner, the runner up for Eliminator Champion of Champions, was Lokomotiv, who opened the season with an ugly 25 points! But, with immunity for the first week ONLY, they live to fight another day as well (but had better get things sorted asap). Yes, the bottom two teams held immunity and are safe. So, it's Parraraiders who have their flame snuffed out and are sent packing.

CSSlippers, who spent a few days scrambling trying to find a friend who would part with their immunity, put up a very respectable 49 points. GloryDaze, who graciously offered that he would have given it to CSS if he had it (err, thanks for nothing...literally), coasted safely in with a silver medal-style 69. And, Lobo, who wouldn't part with the first of his three immunities even after being sent a photo of some magical orange Scottish drink, adequately stuck the landing with a 42. Lobo still has two more immunities for upcoming weeks for anyone willing and able to up the offer.....

Following up as Mal requested, he was re-asked the question post-match -- "You asked us to ask again. Any second thoughts about disrespecting the BE-Cup by not fielding a full squad?"

Mal responded: "No. Everyone did it. If I'm choosing between Dr. H and Blech, I'm sticking with my mate. And, if it's not clear, that's not Blech. I suspect Blech's going to repeat some stupid joke about Mal meaning "bad" in Spanish or something like that. Like that's funny. Haha. Not! The simple fact is that this competition has become a joke. We didn't have the lowest score. You all read it -- you don't have to finish first, just don't be worst. Well guess what. We weren't. We weren't even next to worst. We were third from worst!!! That's not so bad!!! But then this guy rolls in with his fancy rules and kicks us out. This is a sad, sad day for this competition. If you want to go back through the history, things got better when Sonabert took over. Sonabert is a smart and classy Aussie. Heck, we all are. And Sonabert wasn't talking about immunity, schimmunity when he was running eliminators. This competition just regressed a decade overnight. Frankly, I'm happy to be out."

The "danger zone" are the 2-3 teams that were closest to elimination but who survive. BunchofMuppets, SoccerSteve, and virgilreality posted scores of 36 with a 3-way tie for the next lowest score. Virgilreality's score was adjusted to subtract points from an illegal player no longer on his roster. But even with the deduction, he scored enough to survive.
(Quick side note to bring it all full circle and to remind Mal that this is all in good fun and that it's nothing personal -- back in 2012, Mal messed up big time -- it is possible that alcohol was involved as he apparently thought he was making changes on a different (non-draft league) team, but actually put two illegal players on his team, and while Mal should have been eliminated in the BE-Cup that week by one point once the 15 points were deducted, the discretion rule kicked in to give him the points on his bench to spare him on that occasion..... For that trip down memory lane, go here: https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/blechs-eliminator-cup-2012-13.1976035/#post-26629459 ).

GW1 is in the books. This was opening week. Don't expect write-ups to be this lengthy moving forward. And, with that, we're on to GW2. Teams with one week of immunity are now at risk. 23 teams remain.

 

Eliminated Teams
23. Bunch of Muppets - [15 points; GW2]
24. Parraraiders - [30 points; GW1]

"No explosion for da BoM, but how 'bout dat bench?"

GW2 was nowhere near as entertaining as the opening game week as far as the BE-Cup was concerned. Bunch of Muppets posted 14 points from its starters plus 1 point from autosub. Yikes! While Sonabert has recently taken to calling the team "BoM", the cool kids prefer "da BoM", but there was no point-scoring explosion, at least from the players who got in the game. To be clear, 15 points in a gameweek is shockingly bad. In da BoM's gameweek history, it says that this score ranked # 6,476,947 for the gameweek of all of the FPL teams. I've heard that there are FPL owners who actually try to pick teams that score the lowest points, but it is really hard to score this low -- unless you're playing the ones who have the red flags that Hal posts about because they've been loaned out to a team in a different league.

Sonabert is also going to have some 'splaining to do when he next meets with team ownership, as there were more points on the bench than there were on the field. It's true. GK Allison - the first GK taken in the VSR draft - was asked to sit this one out. In fairness, opting for Schmeichel given that the Leicester-Burnley game probably did have a 0-0 feel to it beforehand, could be justified, but it turned out to be a goalfest. And, psychologically, da BoM drafted Werner in round 1 and that and the porous showing from Liverpool's D last week may have influenced a decision that sought to avoid having your GK face your star attacker. But, with the benefit of hindsight, we know that Allison stopped a PK to preserve the Liverpool cleansheet and posted a whopping 14 points. Meanwhile, Sonabert made the curious decision of putting Pereira on the bench in second position, and then got squeezed by the formation rule requiring at least 3 defenders. So, even though da Bomb had a defender who didn't play, Pereira could not come on and his 10 points remained on the sidelines. Obviously, those 24 points are more than the 15 scored this week, and playing those two instead of benching them would have meant safety.

Sonabert was not in the mood for any of it as he left the stadium: "I really can't talk. I've got to get to a meeting. Sure, I'm disappointed. I'm frustrated. I'm scrambling. And don't forget -- I didn't draft this team. I did these muppets a favor and took what I was given. Now, well, I'm trying to make the best of it. We realize that this BE-trophy thing-a-ma-jig is over and there is nothing that we can do about that now, but we're looking to make moves to turn this squad around quickly, and that's what this meeting is that I've got to get to. Signings. We've got plenty of cash to spend, so think big signings. I can't say more but that's what I'm focused on. But I'll send a private jet to fly them here for kick off and I'll personally drive them from the airport to the field if that's what's required. Hopefully I'll have more to tell you soon."

Sasha Jr, Morning Glory, and Tangers all posted big scores and didn't need their immunity this week. Their security blanket is removed and they will now be fully in the mix for the rest of the way. Tarvinodos gave a big thumbs up as he headed to the parking lot: "We will be ready next week. I promise." Tangers: "Heck, I don't even know who I drafted or who is in my squad. And Doherty hasn't done diddly anyway, so hopefully that proves that this wasn't anything mischievous and that we just don't know what we're doing."

As for immunity, ColdDogSoup is still safe for one more week, and while he wouldn't stop to chat with us, he invited all offers if anyone was looking to make a deal for the last remaining immunity next gameweek.

The danger zone: Glorydaze (31 points), ChrisSuttonsSlippers (38 points), and FC Epikoinis (39 points) were the next 3 of the teams remaining.

As a heads up (and as a reminder for Tangers and da BoM and everyone else that there are second chances), there has been a scheduling change and the Double Eliminator Cup will kick off in GW 5, so make any adjustments that you need to and get your teams ready. Yes, starting in GW5, the BE-Cup and DE-Cup will be on concurrent schedules. More on that to come in a separate thread.

 

Hmmm. That is some serious fact-checking that I got you to go and look at your gameweek history. I'm wondering if I checked it before the final update or how that happened, but my most sincere and humble apologies for dissing da BoM out of those 594 places. You were almost 0.01% better than I thought!

And, while I suppose I might have written the Werner round 1 point more precisely, I did put in your quote that (a) you didn't draft this team and (b) you had to run because you had money to spend and big signings coming. Given that I didn't actually interview you and I just made that up (I trust everyone knows that BE-Cup interviews are completely fictional), I kind of feel like I nailed it on this one!
[fyi, that's the geek emoji if you didn't know, and it is extra geeky to point out when you have just used the geek emoji!]

Backing up to Werner, for the first time in BE-Cup history, we are going to seek to do a post-elimination "live" in the thread. So, let's tie you down now. The VSR draft went Werner, Sterling, Son, Martial, TAA from picks 7 to 11. Would you have gone Werner or Sterling (or someone else) for pick 7 had you been at the helm during the draft? Inquiring minds want to know.