Here is the final update on the Commissioner's Trophy, through games of September 28 The QuagMyers have won the Trophy. As a reminder, the Trophy is awarded to the team that has the best Roto-performance in the second half of the season (after the All Star Game) but does not ultimately finish in the money. We all threw an extra $10 into the pot, and the winner gets $120. The idea is to discourage dumping, at least a little, and give bottom division teams something to play for in the season's final months.
For those who want to see the whole sheet,
here's a link. All the numbers on Sheet 1 are entered by hand, so please feel free to double check my work for any errors.
It's with great sadness that we bid adieu to the Underdawgs, our 1997 champion. Undy distinguished himself by being a constant thorn in Greg's side, and a tireless proponent of playoffs, head-to-head roto, bonuses for HR and RBI during the All Star Game, side bets, and many other wacky things. Brad threatened to leave the league a few times before, of course, but it was probably the Peckers' first title that sealed the deal. Understandable. Brad had a run of about 20 years in the LTBNL, finishing second in his third season, and winning the title in his fourth. If my records are right, he finished in the money at least four more times after that. including fourth last year.
Brad, you were a great addition to this league and an important part of its history. You will be missed, my friend. We hope you can join us at a Reds or Clippers game or two this summer. Fun fact: Did you know that the head basketball coach of Stephen F. Austin State University (which knocked off number 5 seed VCU in this year's tournament) is named Brad Underwood? Seriously ... best of luck to Brad on his new venture (
Competitor Swim Products) also.
At left: A quality photo of Brad found on the Internet while searching for images of "Carrie Underwood."
And below, the "Anti-Merv" Undy, Making His Own Decisions at the 2007 Auction.
Taking over Brad's team will be Sue Ross, making her triumphant return to the LTBNL after an absence of 10 years. Sue managed the Candy Stripers from the founding of the league in 1989 until 2003. Her best finish was a second in 2002, but we all know that for Sue, what she really cared about was leading the league in homers and being crowned "The Dinger Queen."
Back in the early days, your commissioner would print out the stats (weekly!), photocopy them, and deliver them to Sue at a downtown Skyline. One day, Dale Murphy was enjoying a three-way at a nearby table and we had him sign our stats printouts. Nice guy, but he was hitting about .212 at the time. In 1990, Sue and I somehow scored blue seat tickets to
Game 2 of the NLCS at the last minute. It was a pitchers' duel between Doug Drabek and Tom Browning, and one of the greatest games I've ever seen in person. Paul O'Neill threw out Andy Van Slyke at third for a double play, right in front of us, to kill a Pirates' rally. In 2000, Sue declared very early on that she would be the winning bidder for the newest Red, Ken Griffey, Jr. It took $70 or thereabouts, but she got her man. Then she popped open a bottle of champagne and watched the rest of the auction as a spectator. A pretty happy spectator.
Sue, of course, is also famous for wearing shoes such as the ones shown in the photo on the right. She has promised to break them out again for this year's Auction. If I'm not mistaken, she also had an unnatural affection for Lenny "Bonehead" Harris, who, sadly, is not available in this year's auction. Sue inherits a strong team from Brad, and expectations will be high (especially since she is smarter than all of us, having accumulated approximately 26 post-graduate degrees.)
Good luck, Sue, and welcome back. It's widely assumed that Sue will revive the "Candy Stripers" name, although some have suggested that calling the team the "Sue-Dawgs" would be a nice tribute to Undy.
Here's a fun picture of Sue accepting a Big Check from a much-lighter PICFL at the 1990 post-season awards banquet, at Willie's in Cincinnati. If you look closely, you can see the coveted Cup to Be Named Later in the background, which Brad "lost" sometime in the late 1990s.
.