Live Blogging 12/13/2009

Today, we're trying something new. Instead of throwing out the rankings, we're going to build a running commentary of the week 14 games as they happen. Hang on tight and check back throughout the weekend.

12:00 PM Sunday
DeAngelo Williams and Jon Stewart are both active against the Pats today. On the downside, it's going to snow in New England today, and Carolina is playing the immortal Matt Moore at QB. John is doubling down on the Viking passing game, starting both Visanthe Shiancoe and Bernard Berrian. Here's hoping the Bengals improved defense can slow them down.

12:44
Tom is playing Jamaal Charles over Stephen Jackson – who is questionable this week. Tom has nerves of steel, man..

1:05 PM
Apparently Cincinnati will mix Larry Johnson in to the running game against the Vikings. I have no choice but to play Benson, but 15 carries against the Williams Wall is not going to win me any championships…

1:07
Mike got a 62 yard run for a TD from Ryan Grant to get his day off to a good start.

1:19 PM
My new kicker Garrett Hartley got me a field goal to get me on the board. I got to watch Matt Schaub throw a 63 yard TD to Andre Johnson. Schaub is on the bench this week - I played Rivers. I hate my life.

1:27 PM
Rich Garvey got a 1 yard dive from Ricky Williams. Peyton Manning is also off to a good start for Rich.

1:35 PM
The Northern Spies got 2 quick TDs from Dallas Clark and TO. They take the lead against Midwest.

1:56 PM
The Pats - Carolina game has turned into a punt-a-thon. The Pats are playing flat, lifeless football right now. Has Bellicheck lost them?

2:15 PM
Ocho Cinco scores a TD for Cincinnatti - my first score of the day. Incredibly, I am leading 15-12 at the moment. Garrett Hartley missed a f!@#ing extra point, proving once and for all that all kickers suck.

2:19 PM
Ray Rice took off for 59 yards and a TD against the Lions - a matchup that might win this game for John.

4:04 PM
It looks like Garvey's recievers are keeping him alive for the time being. He'll need more big performances out of his quarterback and running backs to match Tom.

4:08 PM
It's nice to see the Patriots actually playing better in the second half than the first half for once. They're 8-5. We'll take it.

4:26 PM
There's no 4:00 game on TV over here. I haven't seen that in a while.

4:31 PM
Steven Jackson is starting today with a herniated disk. He's tough, but you can't second guess Jamal Charles' 146 yards and a touchdown. Great call by Tom.

4:44 PM
Chris Johnson's scored a quick pair of touchdowns for Hugh. He's down 16. When's the last time someone went into the afternoon with a 40 point lead, and didn't win? This could be interesting.

4:51 PM
Thank god channel 4 still works. The Chargers and Cowboys are the teams we wanted to watch.

4:59 PM
I wonder what you tell a cornerback when you're going up against San Diego. Vincent Jackson is 6'5" 230, Malcolm Floyd 6'5" 225, and Antonio Gates is 6'4" 260. How does ANYONE stop them from throwing jump balls all day?

5:02 PM
Fargas just punched in a touchdown. Hugh is down 78-85. He's making a statement today...

5:13 PM
The Chargers just stopped Barber four times in a row at the goalline. The Steroids approve.

5:46 PM
I'm down 37-26 starting the second half of the 4:00 PM games. Rivers needs to have a decent second half for me here. I have Fitz and Celek going later, but this is my chance to make it an easier night.

6:08 PM
Rivers is struggling against Dallas. Schaub finished the day with 365 yards and 2 TDs. I have no one but myself to blame for missing the playoffs this year.

6:10 PM
Mike is now clobbering Tony by 30. When Hugh beats Rich Deslaurier, Mike will be in the playoffs on tie break. The big guy has nine lives this year.

Hugh has 82 points with 3 guys playing and his QB going tomorrow. He has an outside shot at the league record of 110 points set by the 2007 Northboro Steroids.

6:37
Big play for me as Rivers finds Antonio Gates for a TD. I am now down 6 - 38-32. We're playing for pride, but we're still playing.

7:15 PM
I am 6 points down, 39-33, with Fitzgerald and Celek left. The playoff seedings will be as follows:

1. Hugh
2. Tony


3. Garvey (assuming he wins against Rocky Brook today)


4. Mike (Best 7-7 club in league history?)

8:44 PM

Checking in on my game while watching Die Hard with the fam, I see that Celek got me a TD on an early drive. That gives me the win and a 7-7 record over the year. Same record as last year - with a very different result, unfortunately.

10:48 PM

The Steroids still have a chance to make the playoffs. All we need is for Anquan Boldin to score three touchdowns on Monday Night to knock Garvey out of the playoffs, and for Larry Fitzgerald to score five touchdowns in the same game, to put the Steroids over Rocky Brook in total points. Here's hoping...

Jordan's 2009 Power Rankings - Week 12 in Review

Guest Star

This week, we have a special guest columnist, as my General Manager has just arrived from a five month visit Down Under. Here’s Generation Y’s most brilliant journalist in the House and on his game…

This week’s rankings….

1. Midwest: Still the team to beat at 8-4, but Kurt Warner’s concussion was a blow to Hugh’s head last week. In his absence, Matt Hasselbeck earned Hugh a whopping two points in a 55-57 loss to Mike – maybe he should have sent out Hasselback’s smoking wife Elizabeth instead. With the league’s top scoring running back and receiver, this should be the team to beat come playoff time.
2. Camels: A combination of sub-par performances and bad luck have hampered the Camels the last two weeks. While they’ve averaged just under 50 points, their opponents added a pair of 76 point efforts, just to make it harder. The Camels had a four point effort out of Tom Brady, who was too busy running from Jonathan Vilma to consider what he was doing to Tony’s poor fantasy team. This is still a solid club, although they’ll likely be hurting in the coming weeks without Desean Jackson, out with a concussion. Second in the league in points against behind Georgia, their 7-5 record is well earned.
3. Dangerous Minds: Our favorite Giants fan managed to harness a little McNabb magic against the league’s top team last week. The Minds’ two point victory made them the league leader in points scored. The Minds have scored 777 points to Midwest’s 776. After stealing Northboro’s superbowl-winning receiving corps of Marques Colston, Randy Moss and Calvin Johnson, it’s easy to see why. 6-6 is a freak accident. Mike’s team is a team to watch if he makes the playoffs.
4. Northern Spies: You gotta hand it to Rich, fifth in the league in points scored, his team always finds a way to get by. In last week’s case, they put up 76 points against Tony. It was a team effort, with all but one player scoring nine or more points… and that player (Reggie Bush) didn’t play. I still have trouble seeing where how they’ve managed to win seven games, but putting Adrian Peterson on the league leader in points against is clearly a winning formula.
5. Gangsters: Shades of 2002 resonate with this team. Dead to rights at 4-6 two weeks ago, young Ricky Williams has emerged as a legitimate #1 running back in Ronnie Brown’s absence, completely changing the look of this backfield. He’ll need that this week when he’ll have the honor of going up against Hugh, but if he could find a way to sneak into the playoffs, he could surprise a few teams.
6. Rocky Brook: Alas, their win-loss record is the only thing holding this team back. A 72 point pasting of Northboro, including the emergence of Laurence Maroney and the continued dominance of Drew Brees, make this team much more imposing now than it was at the beginning of the year. Rocky Brook could play spoiler for the Riches. This is a team to be feared as long as Maroney is getting the goal line work.
7. Northboro: A combination of injuries, bad decisions and Greg Jennings have hampered the Steroids for the entire year, but nothing could have saved them last week. Cedric Benson was declared active for last weeks game 15 minutes before he was declared inactive, leaving the Steroids with an empty running back slot. Our backs and receivers combined for a mighty seven points. We can proudly say that our 26 points surpassed a third of Rocky Brook’s 72, as Northboro dropped its third in a row. With that said, Benson’s timely return against the Lions could help salvage a playoff spot.
8. Georgia: John was the proud winner of Rice Bowl I, and he’s looking to go for the sweep. This would be an inopportune time for Mr. Dennehy to lose to the family rival. Georgia has had a rough year. Their best receiver was shut down last week along with the rest of the Patriots offense. With that said, Georgia could really put an exclamation point on their year by knocking the league’s top scoring team out of the playoffs.