Serkus Act wins third Finger Bowl

Late season pickup leads Serkus to championship

BARABOO, Wis. -- For the second consecutive weekend, WR Beckham Jr. NYG led Serkus Act in scoring. Beckham's 13 Finks points in Week 17 led Serkus to a 54-30 victory over Ham N Eggers for the third Finger Bowl title in franchise history.

Serkus (13-4) won its third league title in six years at Newman Field, near the home of the Circus World Museum in southern Wisconsin. 

The Finger Bowl loss was the fourth consecutive for the Eggers (10-7). 

Serkus owner Goff also won back-to-back titles from 2009-10 and joins two former Finks owners, Matt Simo and Mike Wilcox, as the league's only three-time champs.

Serkus' 24-point victory ranks second in Finger Bowl history for greatest margin of victory. Mike Wilcox's Cooperstown Strikers beat Bill Stone's Blue Bombers 37-9 in Finger Bowl 1 in 1994.

Beckham, a Week 13 free-agent pickup, led Serkus to the Finger Bowl with 17 points in the semifinals. Beckham becomes Finger Bowl MVP as the leading scorer from the winning team. He becomes the first NYG player to nab Finger Bowl MVP honors since RB Barber for the St. Louis Spirits in 2000.

"I have said a few times this season that I really like my team before the season started, but I would have loved it had I not gotten outbid by about a buck for Dez Bryant," said Goff, a DAL fan. "But having Emmanuel Sanders come up big in Denver and then getting lucky enough to sign Odell Beckham Jr. down the stretch proved to be huge for the Serkus Act."

Serkus led all Finks League teams this season in fewest transactions, making only two pickups.

For the Finger Bowl win, Goff gains possession of the Abe Gibron Trophy for the next season. The winning owner won $387.

In the third place game, RB Anderson DEN scored 21 Finks points to lead the Decatur Staleys to a 43-39 win over Hurricane Quags.

BOXSCORES

Finger Bowl 21

Ham N Eggers (30)

QB Ryan ATL 5

RB Charles KC zero

RB Forte CHI zero

WR D. Thomas DEN 5

WR A. Brown PIT 17

PK Bullock HOU 3

Serkus Act (54)

QB E. Manning NYG 12

RB Foster HOU 6

RB Murray DAL 11

WR Beckham Jr. NYG 13

WR Sanders DEN zero

PK Parkey PHI 12

Third place

Hurricane Quags (39)

QB Luck IND 6

RB J. Bell DET zero

RB Mason STL zero

WR Bryant DAL 15

WR Evans TB 6

PK Hauschka SEA 12

Decatur Staleys (43)

QB Rivers SD 5

RB Anderson DEN 21

RB Stewart CAR zero

WR K. Benjamin CAR zero

WR D. Jackson WAS 9

PK Tucker BAL 8

Week 17: Finger Bowl 21 starting lineups

It's kickoff for Week 17. Here's the Finger Bowl 21 starters:

Ham N Eggers
QB Ryan ATL
RB Charles KC
RB Forte CHI
WR D. Thomas DEN
WR A. Brown PIT
PK Bullock HOU

Serkus Act
QB E. Manning NYG
RB Foster HOU
RB Murray DAL
WR Beckham Jr. NYG
WR Sanders DEN
PK Parkey PHI

Week 17: Finger Bowl 21 preview

Ham N Eggers (10-6) at Serkus Act (12-4)

At Newman Field, Baraboo, Wis.

Playoff history: The 2014 division champions meet for the first time in a Finks League Finger Bowl championship. Serkus owner Goff is 7-8 in the postseason while the Eggers' Miazga is 4-7-1.

Previous meeting: Serkus 54, Eggers 53, Week 3

The skinny: Goff has never faced Miazga in a Finger Bowl, but a connection to the Miazga family remains. Goff defeated Dublin Brawlers owner Kris Herigodt, Miazga's wife, in Finger Bowl 17 in 2010. Serkus won 40-17. Goff ties former Finks owner Matt Simo by making his fifth Finger Bowl appearance. Serkus is looking for its third title in six years after winning in 2009 and 2010. With the victory, Goff would join Simo and Mike Wilcox as the only Finks owners to win three Finger Bowls. Goff picked up his seventh career playoff win in the semifinals, moving into sole possession of second place among Finks owners. Simo has nine playoff wins. Goff passed Mike Wilcox, who had six.... Miazga extends his mark by making his fourth consecutive Finger Bowl appearance, but is still looking for his first win. He won his first division title this season. Miazga is already tied with Chris Traczek for the most Finger Bowl losses by an owner. Traczek has one title, but lost the Finks final in 1998, 2005 and 2008. The Eggers set a league record by scoring 853 points in the regular season in 2014.

Probable starters: Eggers -- Ryan ATL, Charles KC, Forte CHI, A. Brown PIT, Gronkowski NE, Gostkowski NE. Serkus -- Stafford DET, Murray DAL, Foster HOU, Sanders DEN, Beckham Jr. NYG, Parkey PHI.

The pick: Serkus 45, Eggers 40

Week 16: Semifinal results

BOXSCORES

Ham N Eggers 33, Decatur Staleys 28

Staleys (28)
QB Roethlisberger PIT 6
RB Anderson DEN 9
RB Ingram NO 6
TE J. Graham NO 6
WR K. Benjamin CAR zero
PK Tucker BAL 1

Eggers (33)
QB Ryan ATL
RB Charles KC zero
RB Forte CHI 6
WR A. Brown PIT 6
TE Gronkowski NE 6
PK Gostkowski NE 5

Serkus Act 50, Hurricane Quags 26

Quags (26)
QB Luck IND zero
RB J. Bell DET 6
RB Mason STL 9
WR Bryant DAL 6
WR Evans TB zero
PK Hauschka 5

Serkus (50)
QB Stafford DET 3
RB Murray DAL 6
RB Foster HOU 6
WR Sanders DEN 12
WR Beckham Jr. NYG 17
PK Parkey PHI 6

Week 16: Semifinal previews

Hurricane Quags (8-6-1) at Serkus Act (11-4)

At Newman Field, Baraboo, Wis.; Home of the Circus World Museum

Playoff history: Quags is 3-3 and makes his fourth playoff appearance. Quags won the 2007 Finger Bowl. Serkus owner Goff is 6-8 in the playoffs and makes his ninth postseason appearance. He is looking for his third Finger Bowl title. Goff's semifinal game will tie Traczek for the most playoff games by a Finks owner. Traczek is 5-9-1 in the postseason.

Previous meetings: Serkus 51, Quags 40 (Week 7); Quags 64, Serkus 49 (Week 13)

The skinny: Goff won this year's Harvey-Ponz Award after winning five games in 2013. Goff won his fourth division title and tied his franchise record with 11 wins on the season. Serkus went 11-4 in 2005, but did not win in the postseason. Goff is trying to match Simo for a record fifth appearance in the Finger Bowl. ... Quags went 8-6-1 for the second consecutive year and clinched a playoff berth with a win in Week 15. He did not qualify for the playoffs last season as the third place team in his division. Quags has carried five RBs for the most of the season, including suspended RB Peterson MIN. ... Serkus may be without top scorer RB Murray DAL, who suffered a broken hand in Week 15.

Probable starters: Quags -- Luck IND, J. Bell DET, Mason STL, Bryant DAL, M. Evans TB, Hauschka SEA. Serkus -- Stafford DET, Foster HOU, Murray DAL, Beckham Jr. NYG, Sanders DEN, Parkey PHI.

The pick: Serkus 50, Quags 45.

Decatur Staleys (10-5) at Ham N Eggers (9-6)

At Sanka Coffee Field, Elmhurst, Ill.

Playoff history: Staleys owner Dah Commish is 5-2 in the postseason, but makes his first playoff appearance under the new moniker as a Leatherhead football team after 17 years of Shakespeare themes. Dah Commish is in the playoffs for the fifth time and has won two Finger Bowl titles. Eggers owner Miazga makes his seventh playoff appearance and has reached the postseason for the fourth consecutive time. He is 3-7-1 in the postseason.

Previous meeting: Staleys 61, Eggers 37 (Week 13)

The skinny: The high-scoring Eggers broke Simo's longtime record for points in a season with 853, averaging an amazing 56.9 points per game. The Eggers scored 70 points or more in four consecutive weeks from Week 5-8 and scored a season-high 80 points in Week 5 against the Khans. In Miazga's 17 years, this is his first division title. He has won the last three times in the semifinals. ... After losing RB Rice BAL to begin the season due to an NFL suspension, Dah Commish made a league-leading transactions this season and even traded top point producer QB Luck IND (171 Finks points) to Quags in Week 12. The Staleys defense led the league in fewest points allowed this season with 557. The No. 2 defense belonged to defending champion Khans (611). This is the third time in four years that a Dah Commish owned team finished with a 10-5 record. 

Probable starters: Staleys -- Roethlisberger PIT, Anderson DEN, Ingram NO, J. Graham NO, Jeffery CHI, Tucker BAL. Eggers -- P. Manning DEN, Forte CHI, Charles KC, D. Thomas DEN, A. Brown PIT, Gostkowski NE.

The pick: Eggers 55, Staleys 40. 

Week 14: Eggers first to clinch division

With a loss in Week 14 by Hurricane Quags, Miazga's Ham N Eggers clinched the Kelly Division title heading into Week 15 to end the regular season. Amazingly, according to league records it is the first division title in Miazga's 17 years as a Finks League owner.

The Eggers are the three-time Finger Bowl runner-up attempting to claim the first league title this year for Miazga. The 2014 Eggers have already broken the single-season league scoring record by a team and have scored 815 points with one match remaining.

The last playoff qualifying spot will be determined in Week 15 between defending league champion Khans and Quags for the runner-up spot in the Kelly Division. With a win over the Eggers, Quags would clinch second place.

Khans must beat the Staleys in Week 15 and Quags would need to lose for the Khans to gain a berth into the playoffs. Both the Khans and Quags have seven wins on the season, but Quags has a half-game lead due to its Week 3 tie against the Barrels.

In the Levy Division, Serkus would clinch the division title with a win in Week 15 while the Staleys remain one game back. Both teams have already claimed playoff berths.

Thanks to all for participating in the Finks League for 2014. Follow the playoffs

The playoff picture gets clearer

Defending Finks League champion Khans suffered a 43-40 loss to the Barrels in Week 13, but owner D. J. Wanberg still has a chance to make the playoffs with his merry band of Mongolians.

Three teams  -- Eggers, Staleys and Serkus -- clinched playoff berths in Week 13 with two weeks remaining in the regular season. The fight for the last playoff berth remains in the Kelly Division where Quags (7-5-1) and Khans (6-7) seek the second playoff berth. Quags remains eligible for a division title against first place Eggers (9-4).

Staleys (9-4) and Serkus (9-4) have wrapped up berths in the Levy Division, but the next two weeks will decide the division champion. Both teams split their head-to-head meetings on the season.

The top two teams in each division qualify for the Finks League playoffs. In the semifinals, the Kelly Division champ will face the Levy runner-up and the Levy champion faces the Kelly runner-up.

Finger Bowl 21 will be held in Week 17.

Week 13: Eggers set scoring record

Mike Miazga's Ham N Eggers scored 37 points in Week 13 to set the record for scoring in a season.

The Eggers have 778 points with two weeks remaining in the regular season. The Eggers broke the longtime record previously held by Matt Simo's Los Angeles Express (771) of 2003. The Express lost to Dah Commish's As You Hike It, 58-44, in the Finger Bowl that season.

Birthday fiesta

Serkus owner Stan Goff submitted a photo from the celebration for Distillers owner Dan Casssidy. Cassidy is far left, Goff and Barrels owner Chris Traczek are fourth and fifth from the left. Happy birthday, Dan.

A look at the Eggers' record season

Finks League owners may not have noticed, but Miazga's Ham N Eggers are about to set a league record in the next few weeks, possibly in Week 13 against the Staleys (8-4).

The Eggers (9-3) are 31 points away from breaking the league record for points in a season set by former owner Matt Simo's LA Express (771 points) in 2003. The Eggers' 79-34 victory in Week 12 over his wife, Kris Herigodt, has put the Eggers a step closer to the record with three weeks left in the regular season. The fewest points the Eggers have scored this season was 37 in Week 2.

The Eggers have been the hard-luck team in recent years with three consecutive losses in the Finger Bowl. Could this finally be the year Miazga gets to hoist the Abe Gibron Trophy?

The Eggers are averaging 61.75 points per week and have had the Player of the Week four different times. How deep are the Eggers? Miazga has had four different players named as P.O.W.

The Kelly Division leaders scored a season-high 80 points in Week 5, 10 points short of Simo's 1995 record for a single Finks match with his Chicago Blitz.

Miazga's roster currently has the NFL leaders in passing TDs (P. Manning DEN, 34), receiving yards (WR D. Thomas DEN, 1,192) and scoring (PK Gostkowski NE, 117 points), and the NFL runner-up in rushing TDs (Charles KC, 8).

In his 16th season, Miazga is the longest tenured Finks owner to have never won a Finger Bowl.

Behind the league's first and only trade

Going to a flexible roster by positions was supposed to increase trade possibilities, but that hasn't really happened this season. The Staleys and Quags pulled off the league's first trade of the season Nov. 20.

It's a blockbuster. The Staleys traded the NFL's No. 1 passing QB in Luck IND and RB Mason STL for QB Rivers SD, RB Ingram NO and WR K. Benjamin CAR. Like any trade, you hope it benefits both teams. My Staleys were originally trying to trade backup QB Roethlisberger PIT, but Quags requested Luck. Seeking a desperate upgrade at RB, the Staleys requested Ingram and Quags agreed.

Back-to-back losses in Weeks 10 and 11 for the first consecutive losses for the Staleys on the season, put Dah Commish in panic mode. As a few of you already know, the Staleys have been searching for a workload RB for some time.

Before the season started, the Staleys RB situation was grim especially when RB Rice BAL was suspended. Our other auction pick ups were Gerhart JAX, Sankey TEN and Thomas NO. Yeck.

After the auction and before the Nov. 20 trade, the Staleys have acquired 11 RBs and released seven of them. A few, such as Greene TEN and D. Williams CAR, never played for the Staleys.

The next four weeks will determine if the trade was worth it.

Week 9: MNF comeback

Three-time POY QB Luck IND of Decatur Staleys did it again Monday night against the Giants.

The Staleys were behind 48-28 entering MNF until Luck scored 21 Finks points to pull out a 49-48 victory. Luck threw four TD passes, but reached the 9-point Finks mark by four yards after throwing for 354 yards.

The win sets up a Levy Division lead showdown between the Staleys (7-2) and Serkus (7-2) in Week 10. Just one problem for the Staleys... Luck is on the bye for Week 10 so the Staleys will start streaking QB Roethlisberger PIT, who has scored 52 Finks points in his last two games. Serkus will be without RB Foster HOU, WR Edelman NE and PK Vinatieri IND.

Week 6 recap: Barrels post big win

Barrels owner Chris Traczek filed this report from his rousing win over Serkus:

Serkus Act got out to a quick start in this week's Finks League matchup with the Creighton Barrels as Arian Foster rolled to 17 points on Thursday, but the Barrels responded with their most complete performance in years to storm back for a 78-43 victory. The key to the win was Barrels coach Chris Traczek (finally) getting it right on several coin-flip lineup decisions: starting Cam Newton over Tony Romo at QB, Dan Bailey over Blair Walsh at PK and Ben Tate over Lamar Miller at RB. For perspective, both of there Barrels' losses this season came as a result of the coach starting the wrong PK. It also didn't hurt that GM Chris Traczek reached into owner Chris Traczek's pocketbook and splashed the cash for free-agent TE Julius Thomas, who responded with 2 TDs as erstwhile receiving bell cow Clavin Johnson nursed an "owie."

TDs the difference in Week 5 showdown

For Serkus Act owner Stan Goff, the Week 5 showdown against the Decatur Staleys was a matter of getting 6. Staleys players scored three TDs. Serkus had none.

Bonus yardage is helpful, but the Staleys won 41-26 to hand Serkus its first loss behind one TD each from QB Luck IND, RB Robinson NO and RB S. Jackson ATL.

Here's the boxscore:

Staleys (41)
QB Luck IND 16
RB Robinson NO 9
RB S. Jackson ATL 6
TE Graham NO zero
WR S. Smith Sr. BAL zero
PK Tucker BAL 10

Serkus (26)
QB Stafford DET 6
RB Murray DAL 5
RB R. Jennings NYG zero
WR Sanders DEN 5
WR Edelman NE zero
PK Parkey PHI 10

Week 3 wrapup: We have our first tie

Quags and the Barrels battled to our first 28-28 tie of the season. Barrels owner Chris Traczek noted that five of 12 players in the match failed to score. PK Bailey DAL was the leading scorer with 12 points.

Other notes:

• In the first of five weeks of straight crossover games, the Levy Division beat the Kelly Division 4-0-1 in Week 3.
• The Staleys crowned their third consecutive Player of the Week. Please send your weekly Finks points leaders on to Dah Commish. 
• Serkus held off the Eggers 54-53 by virtue of Monday Night Football. The Eggers needed one point from RB Forte CHI, but Forte was shutout.
• There are six teams on the bye for Week 4. Check those out before the free agents deadline.

So many fantasy leagues, so little time

Crazy fantasy football league owners are rarely in just one league anymore. Dah Commish held a random poll among Finks owners to see what other leagues, if any, they belong to.

Brawlers owner Kris Herigodt: "I'm in one other league with my school and in a confidence pool league."

Eggers owner Mike Miazga: "In my 17 years of Finks participation, there has been only one year where I was in multiple leagues and that occurred during my first tenure in the league in the early 90s. The other one was a live draft league complete with draft board on the basement wall of a guy running the league. I was in it one year.

As far as I'm concerned there is only one fantasy league -- Finks."

Chico owner Steve Alavi: "I'm in three leagues -- told myself I wouldn't do more than one but somehow got convinced there is never too much fantasy football. Each league is different (keeper vs. silent auction vs. full roster with individual defenses). If I have a horrible season, I might go down to two leagues.

The keeper league is a live, in-person draft, which consumes half the day (because it should). The other one is online via ESPN."

Dick Quagliano: "I am in one other league. We do a live draft each year in my garage, except for four years ago when I had pneumonia.

We may be the longest league around, just starting our 29th year. Our trophy has all the previous winners engraved on it.

We predated fax machines so owners had to call their lineups in by 10 p.m. on Saturday. I had to manually calculate the scores and then call each owner to give them the final score. I then had to type in standings and scoring sheets and mail them to each owner each week.

It is a scoring league only. Our draft had eight owners. We only had one owner with a football magainze (Street and Smith), which everyone shared.

Our league rules are 15 pages long detailing the draft, rosters, scoring, etc."

Barrels owner Chris Traczek: "The Finks League is the only league I am currently in. I was in an eight-team Yahoo league with some friends for about five years, but that one broke up after the 2010 season. I've also been in a number of random leagues online with strangers over the years, but the Finks League is the only one that I have been in consistently."

Week 1 Review: Showing Megatron love

Barrels owner Chris Traczek shares his passion for WR Cal. Johnson's 19-point Finks performance for the Lions' Monday night. His Barrels went from winner to loser.

Traczek: "That's why they pay him (and bid) the big bucks. The Ham N Eggers went into Monday night's games with a 43-27 lead over the Creighton Barrels thanks to solid Sunday performances from Peyton Manning (14 points, though nowhere near the epic 30 he rolled up in last season's Week 1 matchup between these two franchises), Stephen Gostkowski (12 points) and Antonio Brown (11 points), though both owners had to be disappointed in lackluster, scoreless Opening Day showings from their bell-cow RBs, Jamal Charles and LeSean McCoy. The Barrels, who were staying afloat behind 15 points from PK Blair Walsh, did have an ace in the hole, though, in WR Calvin Johnson. Needing at least 17 points from him, Megatron posted a ridiculous 15 (2 TDs, 98 yards) before the game was even 5 minutes old. Then, barring catastrophe, it was just a matter of time until he crossed the 100-yard barrier to seal the victory, and indeed he did, finishing with 164 yards and those 2 scores for 19 points and a 46-43 come-from-behind win for the Barrels."

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Auction wrapup: 2014 season is a go

After a delay, Dah Commish was able to complete the Finks League auction Monday. Rosters should be set and are posted on the website.

A few notes from Auction 2014:

HIGH BIDS: By position, these were the highest bids of the auction.

Quarterback -- Brees NO 38.00 (Distillers)
Running back -- Lynch SEA 35.23 (Khans), Peterson MIN 34.37 (Quags)
WR/TEs -- Green CIN 36.37 (Khans)
Place kicker -- Gostkowski NE 5.43 (Eggers)

BEST AVAILABLE: Using USA Today's non-PPR fantasy rankings, these are the top players still available by position.

QB: Palmer AZ (ranked No. 14)
RB: S. Jackson ATL (No. 24)
WR: A. Johnson HOU (No. 16)

BARGAIN SHOPPING: These were perhaps the best bargains of the auction... QB P. Manning DEN 4.76 to Eggers; RB Charles KC 1.75 to Eggers, RB McCoy PHI .50 to Barrels.

Good luck to all.

Goodbye, KFFL

USA Today is spending some money on fantasy football and bought out my favorite fantasy site this month: KFFL.com.

You get this story when you click to KFFL. http://fantasy.usatoday.com/2014/08/kffl-shuts-down-becomes-usatoday-fantasy-sports

The spin is not appreciated. KFFL had a neat player tracker that delivered regular email updates on your rostered players. There was other cool stuff on KFFL that has now disappeared under the USA Today banner.

Another departed fantasy site was Fantasy Sports U, which was run by former Hinsdale South football player Ryan Neiman. I think Ryan got a job out of the area and realized there is no money in fantasy football analysis.

A new era for Dah Commish teams

After 17 years of Shakespeare-themed fantasy football teams, Dah Commish has chosen to go a different direction in annual nicknames for his fantasy team in his 21st season.

To borrow from the first season as the Staten Island Stapletons, he will borrow nicknames from teams in the leather helmet era of football. There are plenty to choose from for a while after running out of Shakespeare-inspired puns.

The Stapletons nickname seemed to be a natural. Dah Commish was born in Staten Island, N.Y., but his parents moved to Chicago only a few years later. It was a brief pleasure to be able to visit Staten Island again in the summer of 2013 for a family vacation. Dah Family took Dah Ferry to Staten Island, walked around the minor league ball park just a block away and then boarded the ferry for the ride back to Lower Manhattan. Dah kids were underwhelmed, for sure.

Dah Commish's Shakespeare teams crowned two Finger Bowl champions: As You Hike in 2003 for FB 10 and Anthony Munoz and Cleopatra in 2012 for FB 19. A couple of my favorite Shakespeare football pun nicknames were Much Ado About Tackling in 1997 and All's Well That Tight Ends Well in 2002.

Good luck to you all in 2014.