Welcome Back!

Welcome back to the fun and frivolity that is the National Football League!

With one week left of full football action, a certain sadness enters my heart, as I know that soon, we will soon enter the great sports abyss known as "summer". Enjoy this week as much as you can. Especially, if your favorite team is not making a push into the playoffs. (Stupid Vikings).

From a Fantasy Football perspective, Week 17 should find you with your feet kicked up, championship in hand, with nothing to do but enjoy your favorite team and/or beverage. However, I am sure there are a few silly leagues out there that have to have their championship settled this week. Those games are always thrilling. Teams normally led by studs like LaDanian Tomlinson, and Peyton Manning, starting Fantasy duds like Jeff Garcia and Ron Dayne. This is the reason that many leagues settle their championships on week 16. Week 17 has been notorious for the top NFL teams to sit Fantasy Stalwarts, or play them for such limited time, that it is not worth inserting them into your fantasy lineup.

In my keeper league, I made this mistake for one year. I was a proud Commish, telling the players that made it the finals, you are that good- find a way to one more. Which just isn't fair. The other side of this, is the pure scheduling benefits you can use for a week 16 championship. In my big keeper league, we have 12 teams, 3 divisions. We have 14 weeks of games, this breaks down to playing everyone once, and your division twice. The three division winners go to the playoffs with one Wild Card, which for three years, has been a hotly contested race. It's great fun. Just to keep things interesting, the last 8 teams that didn't make the championship playoffs, get to fight it out in a 3 week playoff, that settles in week 17, but it doesn't change draft order or anything, so a week 17 title here is meaningless.

But to those that do have a week 17 Championship game this weekend, good luck! May you have Marc Bulger lead you to greatness this weekend.