Week One of the SPFL playoffs, pretty much followed the script as the second place wild card teams were able to take down the total points wild card teams and set up some classic rematches in the final four this weekend.
Turf Turtles 159 — Heroes 125: The Turtles continued their magic carpet ride of a season and eased to a playoff win, thanks to Kirk Cousins’ amazing 33 point outing and the “hobbled” Rhamondre Stevenson’s 26. Heath’s Heroes closed out a great campaign, led by season long stalwarts, Josh Allen (37) and Justin Jefferson (30).
Bright 1s 156 — Monkeys 133: The Bright 1s were able to withstand a much better effort from the Thunder Monkeys this week and advanced to the final four, thanks to Jalen Hurts (38) and CMac (28). The Monkeys finished up strong, led by … here’s you a new name, Tyler Allgeir (24) and Blech Prescott (19).
FINAL FOUR
Mayberry Mighty Moops vs The Bright 1s. The Moops will be trying to pull off the impossible this weekend and defeat a team for a third time in the same season and Yahoo oddsmakers reflect that as they give the 1s a 53% chance of winning. The Bright 1s are reeling just a little with the slightly injured Jalen Hurts taking a seat this weekend, but look strong throughout the lineup and aim to take down Darth Vader himself. (Although, an editorial note here, I’m starting to think there may be a new Vader or two the league should concern themselves with…)
Tennessee Turf Turtles vs Greased Lightning. The Lightning, too, are trying to pull off the impossible. Claiming a championship while withstanding the loss of a player like Cooper Kupp during the season. These two squads split their regular season mathups, but the Yahoo oddsmakers like the Lightning at a 59% clip this week, perhaps attributed partly to the Turtles loss of Tyler Lockett as a weapon. It’s clear, however, that America’s choice this weekend is for the Turtles to take down another potential Vader.
I’ve gone fairly light on the memes this season, but I’m going to close up this week with a flurry of them, so if you’re not interested or you already closely monitor the online memes during the week, you can close out and move on to your Christmas weekend. But for anyone else … let’s go (TW: there is at least one off color meme I’m including, so I apologize but it made me chuckle out loud so I had to include it).
For those of you who follow the NFL (and that’s MOST of you), last weekend was CRAZY. Capital C Crazy. The Colts blew a 33-0 lead to Kirk Cousins and the Vikings. The Patriots losing on a last play lateral against the Raiders (that they threw!) on a play like I’ve never seen before. The Dallas Sadboys losing to Jacksonville, making tomorrow NFC’s East showdown meaningless. The refs robbing the Commies of a chance to go to overtime against the Giants. Brock Purdy continuing to build his legend in San Fran. The Dolphins largely outplaying but losing to the Bills in a game where the fans couldn’t sit in their seats for the snow piled up. Amazing weekend. I love the NFL. These games lay the framework for most of the memes.
Hopefully you found a chuckle or two in there. I sure did. But I’ll close with this. I hope you and yours have a very merry Christmas and stay safe and warm. My phone says it is 1 degree this afternoon at league offices. That sucks. But … not really. Christmas can be a sad and lonely time for a lot of people and my thoughts and prayers are with them. The NFL world lost two former players just this week. Ronnie Hillman, 31, starting RB for the last Broncos Super Bowl. Heck, it seems like just a year or two ago, he was a late round draftee in the SPFL for RB depth. Diagnosed with liver cancer in August. Gone. Geez.
Legend Franco Harris, gone at age 72, just days before he would have been celebrated in Pittsburgh for the 50th anniversary of the Immaculate Reception and had his jersey retired. That sucks. Franco broke my little child heart a few times in my early memories but from what I’ve seen and read since, he was one of the greatest guys you could ever hope to meet. RIP.
And hearkening back to last week and the passing of the original pirate Coach Mike Leach. I’ve continued to read more and more stories of how great a person he was, helping so many people, building an impressive coaching tree, and giving the best interviews ever. I was browsing a bookstore the other day and thought to myself, “man, I wish he’d lived long enough to write an autobiography.” Maybe someone else will try to do so. Joe Bryant with Football Guys tweeted this:
Mississippi State by 100 in their bowl game as they’ll be playing to honor coach Mike Leach who died last week. They’re playing in Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. WHERE THERE IS A REAL-LIFE PIRATE SHIP.
Merry Christmas to each and every one of you. Life is precious and fragile. I know the holidays can be a struggle at times, but I pray that you all find a few moments of peace and joy and family/friends time and reflection of what the season can bring.
The Commish