Shadowmen drop to 4th as week nears end.

Quick Headlines following a busy Saturday night.

The Bladerunners continue to lead and put some distance between themselves and two of the top four but Highlanders continue to close. (Note, Brian's points were off in yesterday's post - the errors have been corrected.)

The Shadowmen are caught standing still while both the Highlanders and Great Whites pass them in the standings.

The Knights Templar ride the Vancouver express up the Predator Cup table.

The Severed Heads now being soundly beaten by the Personal Vendetta as their week from hell continues.

Severed Head Freefall Continues

One of the stories to watch this week has been the collapse of the Severed Heads. With Spezza's injury and Kiprusoff's suspect play of late the Severed Heads, who had been on the verge of cracking the top 4 for weeks, have fallen back from the leaders and, of perhaps greater concern, been passed by the surging Wolves. As of last night, the Ramapithicines too passed the Heads in the Predator Cup standings. The Heads still have a shot at salvaging a Challenge Cup win however as their meager 14+pt week, worst in the pool, is still only a quarter point back of the Personal Vendetta's total for the week, the 2nd worst in the pool.

The pack atop the Predator Cup standings has really tightened with only 6pts separating first from fourth and less than 2pts separating second from fourth. Saturday night, as always, will determine most games this week.

Bladerunners first to crack 500pts!

On an otherwise light schedule last night the Bladerunners have a solid performance from Robert Lang, in particular, and become the first team this season to crack the 500pt threshold. They continue to hold on to their lead atop the Predator Cup standings, now 10pts clear of the Shadowmen, however the Great Whites are gaining ground and the Highlanders, too, are not going away.

The Highlanders-Bladerunners match-up in the Challenge Cup this week continues to be a close fought affair with less than a point between them headed into the weekend. The Severed Heads and the Personal Vendetta are also in a very close, though low-scoring, affair and are similarly separated by less than a point. The Wolves continue to have a strong week, best in the league so far this week, but are in a surprisingly close game with the resurgent Knights Templar who, after a series of poor outings have worked some magic to start Week 13 and are enjoying the 2nd best week in the pool. In that contest the difference is a little more than a point. Going into Friday night the biggest potential blow-out of the week is the 7pt lead that the Great Whites are currently holding against the Scourge in their game.

In the Omnivore standings the Shadowmen continue to lead with a 30pt gain from the baseline but the Bladerunners have not crossed the 10pt mark and seem to be clearly establishing themselves in positive territory while both the Highlanders and Great Whites edge closer to getting out of the red.

Lots of movement in the standings as play gets back underway

Welcome back after the break.

With Week 13 games now underway, the big match is a surprisingly high scoring affair between the Wolves and the Knights Templar. The Knights have over 21pts after two nights, most in the league, and have jumped two positions in the Predator Cup standings. The Wolves have the second highest total so far at over 19pts and while still trailing the Knights Templar, have passed the Severed Heads to take over 5th place.

The Great Whites are the other team that has had a strong post-Christmas jump with over 17pts so far. The total gives them a solid early lead in their Challenge Cup game against the Scourge and also restores them to third place in the Predator Cup race, pulling ahead of the Highlanders.

The Bladerunners continue to lead the Predator Cup and Challenge Cup races, holding on to a tight lead over the Highlanders in their match this week, while the Shadowmen continue to hold on to a substantive lead in the Omnivore standings.

The unofficial stats are:

Unofficial Stats, Pre-Christmas Edition

I appear to have lost the long, detailed post that was to accompany this but suffice it to say that the Bladerunners continue to lead in the Predator Cup and are now in sole posession of the Challenge Cup lead. The Shadowmen still have a huge lead in the Omnivore.

I have updated the stats to reflect Darrell's official week 11 stats and other than, once again (sorry man, don't know why this keeps happening) missing about a half-dozen of Collin's points my stats were pretty close. Collin's totals have been correctly adjusted upwards and, fortunately, there were no changes to last week's Challenge Cup results.

Merry Christmas everyone.

A bit of History trivia

I was chatting with Bob yesterday and he mentioned he was going to be updating the history of the FUNHL by adding info for the last couple of years. As a stats geek, I was curious about a few things so here is some trivia that I found interesting, which you may or may not.

# of times GM who had first pick overall has won the Predator Cup: 2 time in 16 (played) seasons - B.R. in season 9 and P.V. in season 14 - the difference being that the B.R's pick actually did something (Hasek 104 pts) while the P.V's didn't fare quite as well (Bertuzzi 60 pts). Geez that Darrell is scary!! Hey Cam, I love Kipper and all but the challenge is for you to increase this stat to '3'.

Which team has had the first pick overall the most times? Dogs 4x (seasons 12,13,15,16 - although season 15 was a non played year however Bill still did draft a new FP).; runners up are Edge 2x (season 1,10 - the 2nd obtained in a trade) and Highlanders 2x (7,11 - the 2nd obtained in a trade) and Puck U (2,6). Not counting the two new guys, there are

Which team has never picked first overall? vets tied for 2 - Great Whites and Shadowmen, but of course 4 overall with the two new teams (of course, I didn't check to see if perhaps the GW or SM used their first pick to draft 12th in any year... or for that matter any other team that did this which would create a new questions about who has won most with first overall pick, instead of first player drafted).

Which player has been drafted first overall the most often?: Mario 3x (seasons 3,4 and 12 in comeback year); tied for 2nd with two each are Lindros (season 5,6) and Hasek (9,10). These aren't really accurate stats though as the addition of FPs in season 7 likely meant that certain players would have been drafted first overall in years since.

Merry Christmas for Bladerunners and Shadowmen

Hi Gang,

With hockey off for the next few days, the Bladerunners cement their lead atop both the Predator Cup and, following their win over the Shadowmen, the Challenge Cup races. The Bladerunners have the second best total for the week at over 41pts. The Shadowmen, sitting second in both Cup races have a modest 32pt week but continue to lead the Omnivore Award by a healthy margin.

The Highlanders salvage enough pts on the final night to hold off both the Great Whites for third place in the Predator Cup and to eke out a victory in their Challenge Cup match against the Severed Heads (thank-you blizzard). The win puts the Kilted Ones in a three-way tie for 5th place in the Challenge Cup, only one win behind the 4th place Wolves who manage to win their match against the Personal Vendetta.

The Great Whites have the best week of anyone in the pool and gain on all the leaders in the Predator Cup race, putting distance between themselves and the Severed Heads and closing the gap to the league-leading Bladerunners to a mere 24pts.

The Severed Heads remain in 3rd place in the Challenge Cup and, in spite of the close loss, will retain the tie-breaker against the Highlanders on the strength of a strong Week 4 victory. In the Predator Cup race, the Severed Heads remain in 5th place after losing ground to the Great Whites, and indeed all the leaders. The Wolves and Ramapithicines are now both within 15pts and are closing fast.

The Wolves hold on to the final Challenge Cup playoff spot and solidify thier position in the top-half of the Predator Cup standings. Unfortuantely the recent play of former Wolves Lecavalier, Brunette and Zetterberg has firmly placed the Pack in last place in the Omnivore standings.

The Ramapithicines have the third best total of any team this week at just over 40pts. It is not enough to beat the Great Whites in the Challenge Cup but is enough to gain ground on four of the top six Predator Cup leaders.

The Lost Boys continue to impress following another solid week. The rookie squad's victory over the Edge keeps them in a tie for 5th place in the Challenge Cup and, while in 8th place in the Predator Cup race, keeps the team in the 400pt club.

The Personal Vendetta have really had a tough season but they did have a better week this time out. They remain in 9th place in the Predator Cup and tied for 9th in the Challenge Cup.

The Edge had a sub-30pt week but gain some ground on the Herbivore race going on below them in the standings. The Edge benefit, again, from the Official Stats keeper who found a half-dozen or so points in the Edge's week 11 stats - now adjusted in the unofficial stats. Not sure why I keep low-balling the Edge for two weeks in a row now but I am sure the early Christmas present from Official Statskeeper Darrell is appreciated.

The Knights Templar have the worst week in the league at more than 22pts. They remain in 11th place in the Predator Cup, tied with the Scourge for the last position in the Challenge Cup and among the bottom tier of teams in the Omnivore standings.

The Scourge's inaugural season has been a tough one. The team suffered another loss in the Challenge Cup and remain tied for last place. While they gained a few points in the Predator Cup they are still almost 30pts out of 11th spot and are starting to look for space on the bookshelf to display the Herbivore Trophy. There is still time to turn this around but time is slipping by fast.

As I mentioned, the Week 11 Official Stats came out this week from Darrell and have been incorporated into the standings. Other than Collin, again, the stats were pretty close and not Challenge Cup results were overturned (whew). Unofficial stats in the post below:

Happy Birthday Bob!

Today being December 23rd, let me join with the rest of the FunHL to wish Bob a very happy birthday.

It all comes down to Saturday Night

Going into the final night of the week, there are two Challenge Cup games that are almost dead-heats. The Knights Templar are trying to hold off the Scourge to remain ahead of the basement in the standings. They are one point behind the Scourge in their game. The Highlanders have managed to close the gap between themselves and the Severed Heads to a mere fraction of a point as the Heads continue to react to the loss of one of their offensive stars, Jason Spezza. The Highlanders, as a result of Friday's action and three points from Corey Stillman and a pair from Anson Carter, have managed to slip back ahead of the Great Whites for 3rd in the Predator Cup standings. In the Omnivore race the Wolves, in spite of a very solid week, have crossed the minus 40 barrier while the Shadowmen continue to lead with a positive 37 pt gain. However it all comes down to the final night of hockey before Christmas. With 14 games on tap, everyone will have a chance to let their players redefine the week and the standings.

Unofficial Stats as of Friday December 22nd

Not much change but the Highlanders creep ever so close to retaking 3rd place while the Knights Templar pull back ahead of the Edge.

Mindless fun

For those bored at work - sorry, totally hockey unrelated ;-)

http://www.holiday-frenzy-online-game.com/EN/index.php?Plink=L1164127851150034986

Great Whites, Edge move up the standings.

Well the Great Whites shrug off some post-WD rust and continue to have a great week in the pool. 26pts by Wednesday night is usually the makings of a pretty good week and is enough to push them back up above the Highlanders into 3rd place. The Shadowmen are the next team in thier sights. The Wolves, currently having the second best week in the pool at 23pts are now only a half-dozen away from catching the Severed Heads. Down nearer the bottom of the table, the Edge are posting a more muted 11pt week so far but it is enough to move them past the Knights Templar, who are having the worst week in the pool, into 10th spot. Still, there are a number of games (29 games on Thursday, Friday and Saturday vs 16 for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday) left to play this week so there is still a great deal of movement before Santa comes.

Bladerunners retake the lead!

Well the Bladerunners are not only winning in their Challenge Cup match with the Shadowmen, they have recaptured the Predator Cup lead having doubled up on the Shadowmen this week. The Highlanders, having had the top week for three of the last four are currently having the worst week in the league but still only trail their Challenge Cup opponents, the Severed Heads, by a little more than three points in their game. The Great Whites and the Ramapithicines are involved in a real slug-fest as both teams sport the best weeks so far while the Edge and the Lost Boys are having an equally tight but far less high-powered affair.

As of December 21, 2007, the unofficial stats are:

LBs Ridiculous Xmas Challenge: Update

Finalist contenders at the moment:

Dan:
"Personal Vendetta - V for Vendetta"

Not a lot of explanation... but the best of the obvious choices I didn't think of... 1 beer owed.

"how about: Ramapithicines - One Million Years B.C.(Raquel Welch ;-) "

Kudos for adding a movie with babe factor.


Brian:
"BR: Raiders of the Last Ark? no wait, The Empire Strikes back... no ... what other movie was Ford in that might better relate to my team?"

"GW: Shark Tale? Haven't seen but I heard its pretty scary ;-)"

"EDG: The Edge good for namesake, or you can see a worse movie called Cliff Hanger. Collin's team sometimes leaves all of us wondering right? Except the injury gods who know ahead of time."

"SH: The Scarlet Pimpernel. Did anybody else other than me have to watch this in Social Studies unit on the French Revolution. The guy tried to save lives... I really don't know how this relates to the team, but couldn't think of anything else except Friday the 13th or Jason Lives."

One beer owed for making me laugh in the office. Yes, I think I'll be referring to the Heads as "The Pimpernel's" from a while now. I think that GW nomination may take it; I was thinking more "finding Nemo."


Rob:
Well, he gets the beer for the "acidity" factor. Yikes... whole damn thing is pretty funny though. ("They saw the light... once" getting extra points.) Yeah competition for best Ramapithicenes is pretty tight. Go read Rob's post!


The Pimpernel:
What can I say? Bob told me they never made any sequels to the Highlander Movie. I think it kind of breaks the rules to nominate movies that don't exist. ;-)

"The Ramapithicines: Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon. Classic Bogey films built old-school, from the goaltender out."

Certainly gets the nod for classiest nomination.

"The Lost Boys: 'Near Dark' was a vampire flick that had some real juice to it (including half the cast of 'Aliens'), but despite some promise the film ran out of steam in the third act."

Ouch. Damn powers of prophecy. Beer for Cameron.

Lost Boys Ridiculous X-Mas Challenge: Response

The Highlanders: Given the team is practically named after Duncan McLeod of the clan McLeod, it would seem at first glance appropriate to suggest that filmicly speaking, 'Highlander' would be the right call for the 'Highlanders'. At second and third glances this works too. There is a decent (mediocre) sequel Highlander 3 (we do not speak the name of the 'planet Zod film' for it is accursed), and (snicker) it has been a long time since the series was relevant.

The Great Whites: It breaks my heart, but he's the Star Wars Trilogy. Once, a long long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, The Great Whites exploded onto the FUNHL scene by epically winning three Predator Cups in the first 7(?) years of the pool. It's like a part of our childhood. Me, Doug, Collin and Dan in our Star Wars pyjamas sitting around jawing about all of Dan's victories (and Doug's he had two of the first three), and the implications of tweaking ED pick trading. We'd hoover the Mc'D's our Mom's bought for us, kick around adding franchise players, and talk about what it would be like one day to kiss a real girl. Good memories.

The Shadowmen: 2001 a Space Odyssey and Eyes Wide Shut by Stanley Kubrick. A maverick, relentless film maker who insisted on take after take after take after trade after take after trade...Even Kubrick's bad films are pretty good, but 2001 stands up as tripped out masterpiece, and Eyes Wide Shut is a claustrophobic tone poem about sex love and marriage that Kubrick insisted on trying to push too far with the censors. Neither film has anything to do with the other except the director and the endless rolls of cap space, I mean film, at his disposal. If the scene takes a 147 takes, the scene takes a 147 takes.

The Ramapithicines: Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon. Classic Bogey films built old-school, from the goaltender out.

The Personal Vendetta: The Terminator. Because he just won't stop. He'll keep looking and hunting until he finds you and kills you. It's all he does. (The good news is that for at least this year, we're dealing with the post-pipe bomb-in the rib-cage Terminator portion of the flick where the Terminator, like Peter Forsberg, is reduced to a just a wheezing one-armed crawl, and intermittent blinking from it's shattered eye socket. He's now only life threatening if you are a waitress named Sarah Connor and you've had your leg impaled with a red hot metal rod.)

The Edge: Hal Hartley's 'Flirt'. The film is the same raw elements of a story played out in three different locales in the style of each of the countries it is set in (NY, Berlin, Tokyo). At some point in each story someone gets shot in the face. Quite possibly the best film you've never seen, by the greatest director you have never heard of.

The Wolves: 'Dog Soldiers'. An unexpectedly good werewolf movie that is way under the radar.

The Lost Boys: 'Near Dark' was a vampire flick that had some real juice to it (including half the cast of 'Aliens'), but despite some promise the film ran out of steam in the third act.

Knights Templar: 'The Seventh Seal'. If your gonna watch a movie with a Knight in it, make it one of the all-time best. Oh yeah, the Knight dies. Sorry.

Bladerunners: Forest Gump. Remember how Pulp Fiction and FG were the two big movies of the same year, competing for all the big Oscars? The treacly flag-waving predictable crowd pleaser with the all-american movie star reliably gimping it up in the lead vs the edgey masterpiece of violence and art that was Pulp Fiction? Come Oscar time, Forest cleaned PF's clock, and the disapointment I felt knowing that not only had PF had lost, but that it had lost to FOREST FREAKING GUMP, was identical to the anguish I felt coming in a distant second to Brian during one his cup runs.

The Scourge: Right now he's Bambi meets Godzilla.

Lost Boys ridiculous Xmas challenge

Okay then, rather than looking for who can find funnier alternate logos, I offer to buy a beer, perhaps even several beer, for the best answers to the following question:

What is the appropriate theme movie for each FUNHL franchise?

Funny answers appeal to me. Ridiculously self-aggrandizing answers appeal to me. Answers involving movies I have seen (or ought to have seen) [instead of obscure Czechoslovakian 5 hour documentaries] appeal to me. Answers that include the Lost Boys appeal to me. Answers that do not include all 12 teams are okay.

(Lost Boys, 1987, dir. Joel Schumacher, is self evident... and so needlessly flattering of the 8th place wonders it encourages me to buy beer for you anyway.)

Also, is there a standard for getting in an Xmas line up when you're away from your computer for the whole 4day weekend? Should I file on Thursday?

Richard.

More to come...

Edge get Community Chest Card - Bank Error In Your Favour, collect 9pts and Challenge Cup win

As I sent out over e-mail, the only significant difference between Darrell's Official Week 10 stats and my unofficial ones is a 9 pt discrepency in the Edge's pts. As a result, the Edge take their Week 10 Challenge Cup game against the Personal Vendetta and jump up the Omnivore standings. Thanks to Darrell.

Not much happened last night with only two games. The Severed Heads and Highlanders are still effectively in a tie, the Bladerunners hold an early lead in thier game with the Shadowmen and the Personal Vendetta and Lost Boys both go minus for the night. Conversely the Wolves take almost 8 pts out of the evening for the best night of anyone in the pool.

FunHL Stats, unofficial, for Week 11

The Shadowmen continue to lead in every catagory, though they only had the 2nd best total on the week (Highlanders had the best) in the Predator Cup. They remain tied atop the Challenge Cup standings but this week's game is against the Bladerunners so the two will battle it out for sole posession of top spot. They are developing a significant lead in the Omnivore as they break the +30pt mark.

The Severed Heads did manage to hold off the Great Whites in their game creating a huge log-jam of no less than 5 teams just outside the playoff door but looking to get in at the expense of the Wolves. The Wolves will play one of those teams, the Personal Vendetta, this week so they will have a chance to say something about whether or not they will relinquish their hold on the post-season. The Great Whites, who have winning records against all the teams they are tied with, save the Vendetta, can clinch their tie-breaker against one of those teams by completing the sweep of the Ramapithicines in their game this week. The "Rookie Cup" goes to the Lost Boys who now find themselves up against the Edge in their game while the high-flying Highlanders will try to avoid a loss to their nemesis, the Severed Heads, who always know how to kill a good party. The Knights Templar will try to avoid falling into the basement with the Scourge when the two of them play.

Cuz everyone else was doing it

Definitely less obscure than some of the other suggestions.

We think the new text-heavy version of our logo might slow down some of the more intellectually pretentious teams.

But, probably won't do to save us from the Great Whites. ("Barnaby Smash!")

-Richard.

Another take on the Severed Heads logo?

Go Haidee!! ;-)