Fantasy Football Update -- Playoff Stress

For the second straight season in participating in two different fantasy football leagues, I have made the playoffs in both. The anticipation of winning back my entry fee is greater than ever.

The Minnesota Fantasy League:

Week 15 marks the start of the First Round of the playoffs, as my team, aptly named "Team TonyTimes," made it as the #5 seed. I'm currently up against the #4 seed, headed by the "Hubbard's HITMEN," which is Cory's team.

It's been slightly stressful since last Thursday since the football week started, but today, it's almost erupting into something more. First off, I'm up against Cory, in which he has one of most potent offenses in the league, led by his two biggest points-getters, running back Larry Johnson and wide receiver Marvin Harrison.

So far, up 'til the Sunday Night game, I've got a 22-point lead with three players remaining, as does Cory. Cory's got Johnson running tonight, but I've still got running back Rudi Johnson up against a weak Indianapolis Colts rushing defense.

Things are looking up -- and Johnson isn't having the best of games against San Diego right now -- so there is that possibility that I'll move on to the semi-finals next week.

In other news, Sean seems to have conceded defeat to Mike. Mike had a monster game in his tight end Desmond Clark, who came out of nowhere and scored 2 touchdowns against Tampa Bay.

Sean's older brother Troy will also move on with a convincing victory over the #7 seed.

The South Dakota Fantasy League:

This is one league that I really didn't have a faith in this year. Although I'm currently the defending champ, I lost a few players to season-ending injuries, the most notable is Donovan McNabb.

But for some unknown reason, I finished out the regular season at 7-6 and made the 6th and final playoff seed.

Unlike the Minnesota League, we started the playoffs last week during Week 14. Again, I really didn't think too much of my team, but there was this little guy who plays for the Jacksonville Jaguars named Maurice Jones-Drew (I'm sure you've heard of him by now), but he pulled off probably one of the most successful points-weeks in fantasy history. With that performance alone, I "upset" the #3 seed and moved on into the semi-finals, already guaranteeing me my money back!

But, this just in, I may be heading towards the championship game once again. This will mark the second straight year for me as the #6 seed to make the championship game. But, the opponent that I will most likely face has LaDainian Tomlinson as his running back, so who knows. 2nd place isn't bad! Last year, I actually upset the #1 seed in the championship -- it could happen again!