Week 17: Finger Bowl 18 preview

FINGER BOWL 18

First-timers meet for Finks League title

HAM N EGGERS (11-5) AT LOCKPORT DISTILLERS (11-5)
At Lockport High School, Lockport, Ill.

Playoff records: Eggers owner Mike Miazga (2-4); Distillers owner Dan Cassidy (1-0)

Previous meetings: Eggers 43, Distillers 36 (Week 2); Distillers 75, Eggers 62 (Week 12)

The skinny: Finger Bowl 18 features the the top two teams in the Thorpe Division with champion Distillers and runner-up Eggers. The two owners appear in their first Finger Bowl while Distillers' Cassidy is in his rookie season.  Miazga is in his 13th Finks League season and is making his fourth trip to the playoffs. His last appearance was 2004.

Projected starters: Eggers -- Brady, Benson, Bradshaw, Wallace, Gronkowski, Akers; Distillers -- Brees, C. Johnson, Lynch, Welker, Nelson, Nugent.

The pick: Eggers 35, Distillers 30 

Week 16: Boxscores

WEEK 16 SEMIFINAL RESULTS

Brady, Akers carry Eggers

LONDON -- Tom Brady nabbed player of the week honors with 22 Finks points and record-setting PK David Akers added 19 points to lead the Ham N Eggers to a 59-26 victory over Love's Labour's Lost Fumble in the semifinals at Wembley Stadium. 

Longtime Finks League owner Mike Miazga advances to his first Finger Bowl in Week 17.

EGGERS 59
QB Brady NE 22
RB Benson CIN zero
RB Bradshaw NYG 12
WR Wallace PIT 3
TE Gronkowski NE 3
PK Akers 19

FUMBLE 26
QB E. Manning NYG 6
RB Rice BAL 9
RB Jacobs NYG zero
TE J. Graham NO 6
WR S. Smith CAR zero
PK Crosby GB 5

Brees' record-setter beats Brawlers

LOCKPORT, ILL. -- Drew Brees' 19 Finks points on Monday Night Football boosted first-year Lockport Distillers past the Dublin Brawlers with a 66-53 semifinal victory. Brees established an NFL single-season record for yards thrown in the game. Entering MNF, the Brawlers owned a 53-47 lead behind Aaron Rodgers' 20 points and Neil Rackers' 14 points.

Dan Cassidy will attempt to become the fourth rookie owner to win the Finger Bowl, following Mike Wilcox (1994), Steve Cline (2004) and Kris Herigodt (2008).

DISTILLERS 66
QB Brees NO 19
RB C. Johnson TEN zero
RB Lynch SEA 11
WR Welker NE 5
WR Nelson GB 17
PK Nugent CIN 14

BRAWLERS 53
QB Rodgers GB 20
RB A. Peterson MIN 6
RB McGahee DEN zero
WR Cruz NYG 13
WR Brown PIT zero
PK Rackers HOU 14

Week 16: Semifinal previews

HAM N EGGERS (10-5) AT LOVE'S LABOUR'S

LOST FUMBLE (10-5)

At Wembley Stadium, London

Playoff records: Eggers owner Mike Miazga (1-4); Fumble owner Dah Commish (2-1)

Previous meeting: Eggers 61, Fumble 34 (Week 3)

The skinny:  The Eggers make their first playoff appearance since 2004 while Dah Commish returns for the first time since winning the 2003 Finger Bowl with As You Hike It. Miazga is in the postseason for the fourth time while it is only the third trip for Fumble's Dah Commish, the only original owner left in the league.Miazga is looking for his first trip to the Finger Bowl. Dah Commish won a division title for the first time in his 18 seasons in the Finks League.

Projected starters: Eggers -- Brady, Benson, Bradshaw, Wallace, Gronkowski, Janikowski; Fumble -- E. Manning, Rice, Helu, J. Graham, Green, Crosby.

The pick: Eggers 45, Fumble 35

DUBLIN BRAWLERS (9-6) AT LOCKPORT DISTILLERS (10-5)

At Lockport High School, Lockport, Ill.

Playoff records: Brawlers owner Kris Herigodt (3-1); Distillers owner Dan Cassidy (0-0)

Previous meeting: Distillers 57, Brawlers 50 (Week 3)

The skinny: Cassidy is looking to become the fourth rookie owner to win the Finger Bowl, following Herigodt (2008), the late Jeff Ponczak (2006) and Mike Wilcox (1994). Herigodt's Brawlers advanced to the playoffs for the third time in four years. The Distillers won the Thorpe Division title.

Projected starters: Brawlers -- Rodgers, Greene, Spiller, Cruz, L. Robinson, Rackers; Distillers -- Brees, Lynch, Green-Ellis, Colston, Nelson, Longwell.

The pick: Distillers 48, Brawlers 30

Mongolia rioting

Khans owner D.J. Wanberg sent this picture. There was rioting in the streets of Ulan Bator after a Week 14 loss ended the Khans' slim playoff chances. And Vancouver thought it was in bad shape after the Canucks lost Game 7 of the Stanley Cup.

More from Week 14

From Serkus owner Goff: "Dan, I believe your victory this week all but assures the Distillers are playoff-bound and the Serkus Act has no shot at a three-peat. After two years with the Abe Gibron Trophy residing in Naperville, looks like it will be making a move.
You and Ham N Eggers are each at 9-5 and I’m at 8-6. Think I split with each of you guys and am too far behind in points scored to pull out any tiebreakers. I believe getting swept by the Khans has proven too much of a hurdle to overcome.

Good luck...and George, it’s also nice to see you headed to the playoffs. This snaps a lengthy drought, correct? "


From Eggers owner Miazga: "I show Stan with a 59-55 win thanks to Bryant and Bailey in the Cowboys' game (20 points between them). If I start Nicks in that game, I win by three, however, I don't second-guess that decision for a minute (though I did go back-and-forth). My choice was between Wallace and Nicks. Wallace was at home against the Browns and had two scores the week before. Nicks had a good game the week before, but was playing on the road.

Looks like Week 15 will be quite interesting in Finks action."

Week 14: Clinchers

Fumble and Brawlers clinched playoff berths with victories in Week 14. For the Brawlers, it was business as usual by clinching their third postseason berth in four year. The Brawlers won it all in 2008. Fumble gave Dah Commish its first playoff berth since the 2003 Finger Bowl championship. Fumble's 10th win all but wraps up the Harvey-Ponz Award title for Dah Commish.

Playoff berths are on the line for the Thorpe Division in Week 15.

Week 13: Too close to call

Week 13 is such a make or break time for a few Finks owners. The division leaders have come close to clinching playoff berths, but in a few cases I have not done the math on tiebreakers to determine which teams have won divisions with two game leads with two matches remaining.

We might have a new champion though as Serkus owner Stan Goff finally felt the curtain closing soon on his chances:

"I could not handle the Aaron Rodgers and Greg Jennings machine...if only that juggled pass in the end zone did not count as a Packers TD  :)

It looks like my playoff hopes have been dashed by a tiebreaker waiver claim I put in for Lynch 3 weeks ago....all season long Dan was ahead of me in record and points....the one week we each tried to claim Lynch, we were tied and I had just edged him in points scored at the time. Ever since thern, Lynch has powered Dan's Distillers to wins and I have now dropped two straight."