Congratulations Are In Order

I do not mean to embarrass my blog-mate, my fantasy competitor and my good friend, but I wanted to take a moment and recognize Mike's fantasy accomplishments this year.

1st Place: CBS NL Expert Analyst League.  I wish I kept better track of Mike's machinations throughout the year more closely.  It looked like Mike was on the verge of falling out of contention, but he kept churning, maximized his categories, and, as a result, found himself at the top of the heap in CBS once again (I believe that is three titles in seven years; in fact, Patton & Co./Roto Think Tank has four titles in seven years, plus a close call or two...not a bad showing).

T3rd Place: Tout NL.  It is a bit fuzzy now, but I recall getting a call from Mike on Thursday afternoon asking what my plans were for Saturday.  When I asked why, imagine my surprise when Mike told me that he was headed to the Tout NL auction at Citi Field.  Given the short notice, first time at Tout Wars, and some undigested rules, Mike really did a tremendous job here.  I am not sure anyone could have stopped Nate from winning first place this year, but, in the end, Mike showed (as we all already knew) that he belonged.

4th Place: Home-League NL.  This is the brand new NL 5x5 that I currently run.  Unfortunately for all of us, the winner had this league sewn up from what seems like April 20 (though he lost the lead briefly; I believe, all in all, after May 1, he was out of the lead at day's end for one total day).  For a start-up auction, Mike managed to exercise a great deal of patience and pick up some relative bargains in the mid-stages, but just ran out of innings and category maximization.

5th Place: Home-League AL.  Jeez, even Mike finishes out of the money slots once in awhile (of course, he secured the first pick in the minor league draft, which means we're all in trouble again next year).  Mike had a choice of dumping or going for it at the deadline, when my team was crippled and first place was in the mid-70s.  He certainly made the right choice (I certainly would have made the same decision if I were in his shoes with his team).

Four very competitive leagues.  A blog.  A job.  A family.

We all know who the brains of the operation are here.  Well done Mike - I know you wanted to win them all, but the overall body of work is tremendously impressive.