Week 17: Finger Bowl 24 preview

HURRICANE QUAGS (13-3) at SERKUS ACT (13-3)
at Baraboo West High School, Baraboo, Wis. (Home of the Circus World Museum)

Playoff records: Quags (5-6); Goff (9-8)

Head to head: Quags 46, Serkus 45 (Week 2); Serkus 29, Quags 22 (Week 11)

The skinny: Like the Ringling Brothers, this might be the final clown show for owner Stan Goff under the Serkus Act banner. Goff announced earlier this month that Serkus might fold its tent and could return next season under a different nickname. For veteran Finks League owners, Goff hasn't always used the Serkus name. Serkus Act has been around for 12 years. For Finks trivia buffs, Goff's last previous nickname before becoming the Serkus Act was The Mighty Rysters  in 2005, in reference to his son, Ryan. This could also be the final game for Serkus using its familiar Killer Clown helmets. In the opinion of Dah Commish, Serkus features the best helmet logo in the league. But sometimes all good things must end. ... This year's Finger Bowl features the first and second place finishers in the Tomlinson Division. ... FB 24 features a pair of veteran Finks League owners between Goff and Quags. The two have combined as owners for 36 Finks seasons, 23 for Goff. Goff, Miazga and Dah Commish are the only remaining owners from the Finks League's second season in 1995. In Goff's first season, he was known as the Cowpokes. It is the first Finger Bowl meeting between Goff and Quags. It is also the first Finger Bowl meeting between 13-win teams. ... Goff has tied Miazga with his sixth Finger Bowl appearance (2000, 2002, 2009-10, 2014, 20017). Goff will be looking for a record-setting fourth FB title after winning in 2009-10 and 2014. The only other Finks owners with three titles are Mike Wilcox and Simo. ... Quags hopes to become the fifth Finks owner to win multiple FB titles. His Hurricanes beat the Sodor Rail-Layers 47-42 to win in 2007. ... Goff has tied Simo with nine playoff wins to lead all Finks owners. ... Quags' previous Finger Bowl appearance was a 31-24 loss to the Eggers in 2015.

Projected starters: Quags -- Rivers, Hunt, Ingram, Gronkowski, Gordon, Gano. Serkus -- Brady, E. Elliott, D. Murray, Baldwin, D. Bryant, Walsh.

The pick: Quags 35, Serkus 32.

Week 16: Quags-Eggers semifinal thriller, Part 1

From Quags: "I have the Hurricanes hanging on to a 40-39 win. I couldn't even watch the 2nd half of the Eagles-Raiders game.

The Hurricanes led 40-21 going into Xmas with Rivers (8), Hunt (9), Ingram (6), Gronkowski (6) and Gano (11) scoring for them. The HNE had points from Hill (5) and Gostkowski (16).

Then came Xmas and the anticipation began. Roethlinsberger (9) and Bell (6) each had piled up points. Big Ben was at 226 yards and Bell at 69 yards in the 4th quarter. Bur Tomlin rested his stars,keeping them from gaining any of the needed yards.

HNE still had Ertz and needed either a TD or 100-yd performance for the win. Ertz put the pressure on with 6 receptions for 71 yards at the half. However, Ertz caught just 2 balls for 10 yards in the 2nd half and failed to score as the HNE comeback fell just a bit short."

From Miazga: "Great Finks win, Dick!

I hemmed and hawed over Fitzgerald vs Ertz for the second receiver spot until about an hour before kickoff Sunday. The difference there was 8 points, but Fitzgerald had done nothing the last two weeks so the call probably was right plus Ertz had 8 TDs going into the game

I was at a Christmas party during the Steelers game and wasn’t watching (my rule is no watching if a Finks game is on the line) but wondered why Bell had stalled during garbage time, his yards bonus would have been huge.

I don’t know how I made the playoffs this year or went 12-3. This was one of my worst drafted teams in some time plus didn’t have Beckham Jr for a majority of the year. Was happy to have the year I did.

If Act won (and with Gurley I’m assuming so) you have the two best Finks teams in the league going next week. 

Quags has done a great  job with roster management. 

Good luck next week."

Week 16: Quags-Eggers semifinal thriller, Part 2

I didn't watch Monday Night's Philadelphia Eagles game against the Oakland Raiders, but I followed the game on the internet. My favorite current sports app is CBS Sports. Here is the boxscore from the game. 

When I went to bed, Quags led 40-36 and Eggers owner Mike Miazga's last active player, TE Ertz PHI, had 73 yards into the fourth quarter. When I woke up, I checked the boxscore to see Ertz finish with 81 yards receiving for three Finks League bonus points. Without an Ertz TD or 100+ receiving, the win would go Quags' way.

In an absolute nail-biter, Quags won 40-39.

Week 16: Semifinal boxscores

SERKUS 45, GAGA 33

Gaga (33)
QB Manning NYG 5
RB Powell NYJ 11
RB Coleman ATL 6
WR Hopkins HOU 6
WR D. Thomas DEN zero
PK Dawson AZ 5

Serkus (45)
QB Brady NE 9
RB E. Elliott DAL 3
RB Gurley LAR 24
WR D. Bryant DAL zero
WR Baldwin SEA 6
PK Walsh SEA  3

QUAGS 40, EGGERS 39

Quags (40)
QB Rivers LAC 8
RB Hunt KC 9
RB Ingram NO 6
TE Gronkowski NE 6
WR Gordon CLE zero
PK Gano CAR 11

Eggers (39)
QB Roethlisberger PIT 9
RB Bell PIT 6
RB Kamara NO zero
WR Hill KC 5
TE Ertz PHI 3
PK Gostkowski NE 16

Week 16: Semifinal previews

BRADY GAGA (8-7) at SERKUS ACT (12-3)
at Baraboo West High School, Baraboo, Wis. (Home of Circus World Museum)

Playoff records: Gaga owner Sean King (0-0); Serkus owner Stan Goff (8-8)

Head to head: Serkus 47, Gaga 19 (Week 10)

The skinny: King makes his Finks League postseason debut in his third season... Gaga enters the playoffs short-handed with the loss of WR A. Brown PIT, one of the NFL's top receivers, due to an injury... Goff won his fifth division title after winning the Tomlinson Division by a points tiebreaker over Quags... Goff's playoff wins ranks second behind Matt Simo (nine wins). He also has appeared in the second most postseason games behind Mike Miazga (17).

Projected starters: Gaga -- Taylor, Mixon, Powell, Hopkins, D. Thomas, Dawson. Serkus -- Brady, E. Elliott, Gurley, Baldwin, D. Bryant, Zuerlein.

The pick: Serkus 45, Gaga 30.

HURRICANE QUAGS (12-3) at HAM N EGGERS (12-3)
At Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh



Playoff records: Quags (4-6); Eggers owner Mike Miazga (7-9-1)

Head to head: Quags 56, Eggers 44 (Week 3); Eggers 41, Quags 20 (Week 9)

The skinny: With three record-setting 12-win teams in the league this season, this semifinal is a first for a Finks postseason. ... The Eggers went on a record 10-game win streak after losing to Quags in Week 3. The Eggers lost their last two in the regular season. ... The Eggers won the Warner Division by four games. Miazga is making his seventh consecutive playoff appearance.

Projected starters: Quags -- Rivers, Hunt, Ingram, Gronkowski, Gordon, Gano. Eggers -- Roethlisberger, Bell, Kamara, Hill, Ertz, Gostkowski.

The pick: Eggers 50, Quags 45.

Week 15: Playoff races down to final week

The original QB Finks PIT

Coming into the final weekend of the regular season, the only known thing is that the Ham N Eggers have clinched the Warner Division title. Who the Eggers will face in the playoffs and much more will be determined after Monday Night Football.

The Eggers (12-2) have already equaled a Finks League record for wins in a season and could own the record by itself with a victory against Brady Gaga (7-7).

The Tomlinson Division champion will be determined after Week 15. Hurricane Quags and Serkus Act are tied with 11-3 records. The two teams split their season series and Serkus has the advantage over Quags in the tiebreaker (points scored in the season). Entering Week 15, Serkus leads 644-569. Both teams are in the playoffs. The division runner-up will play the Eggers in the semifinals. Quags seeks his first division title since 2008 while Serkus last won a division title in 2014 while going on to win Finger Bowl 21 with a 54-30 victory over the Eggers. 

In Week 15, Quags meets defending Finger Bowl champion Just a Fantasy (7-7) while Serkus plays the Portsmouth Spartans (5-9).

The other key playoff race determines the runner-up in the Warner Division between Fantasy and Gaga. The Warner runner-up will meet the Tomlinson Division champion (Quags or Serkus) in the Week 16 semifinals. In the event of a tied record, Gaga owns the series advantage with two wins over Fantasy, 25-20 in Week 1 and 64-42 in Week 11.

Fantasy must win and needs a Gaga loss to advance,

Week 14: Eggers quietly setting records

While the Eggers have run away to clinch the Warner Division championship, veteran owner Mike Miazga's HNEs won their 10th consecutive game with a 62-49 victory over the Jays in Week 13.

The Eggers have broken one of the Finks League's oldest records when former owner Mike Wilcox won nine consecutive games in 1995 with his Kansas City Kings in our second season. During the streak, the Eggers have been an offensive juggernaut by scoring over 50 points in their last three matches. The Eggers appear to be peaking at just the right time with back-to-back 60-point plus efforts.

HNE could break one more major record in Week 14 with another win. With a 12-1 record, the Eggers have tied six other teams with a 12-win season in Finks regular season play. No team has ever won 13 games in a Finks season. This season's 12 wins is a Ham N Eggers' franchise record for a regular season. Miazga has previously won a career-high 10 games in 1998 and 2015.

The only loss for the Eggers this season was in Week 3, a 56-44 defeat to Quags.

In Week 14, the Eggers face Fantasy (6-7) in a must-win for defending Finger Bowl champ Jeff Newton to keep his playoff hopes alive.

Week 12: Serkus vs. Quags Showdown

In what could be a preview of the Finger Bowl, the second meeting between Serkus Act and Hurricane Quags was just enjoyable as the first meeting.

Serkus had a one-point lead and the win entering Monday Night Football and tacked on an additional six points on a WR Baldwin SEA touchdown.

But the biggest fluke was the battle between PKs, Quags' Tavecchio OAK and Serkus' Zuerlein LAR. Make that lack of a battle. Their kickers combined for one point in the match courtesy of the Rams' Legatron. 

Quags: "hate to say this, but I would have been better off having Barth as my kicker yesterday."

Serkus owner Stan Goff: "I really do not recall a Finks matchup EVER where the two teams' kickers combine for one point.

And the Rams and Raiders each have two potent offenses....

Crazy."

The match's high scorer was Serkus QB Brady NE (16 pts).

CLINCHERS: With Week 12 wins, the Eggers (10-1) and Serkus (9-2) clinched playoff berths and lead each of their divisions, Serkus by one game and the Eggers by a wide margin. 

Week 12: When your only bad football team is in Finks League

RT Ramczyk NO

Every fall, I have three favorite football teams to root for : The New Orleans Saints, Wisconsin Badgers and My Finks League Leatherheads.

Well, I'm settling just fine with two out of three this season. I've been thinking quite a lot lately about starting Saints right tackle Ryan Ramczyk, who was drafted out of Wisconsin and has started all 10 games this season for the current NFC South leaders. Ramczyk started off at left tackle when Terron Armistead was injured and then he shifted to the right side when Zach Strief went down.

The Saints have won eight in a row after their thrilling OT win against Washington and the Badgers are having their best regular season in school history. Bucky needs wins against the rival Gophers and probably Ohio State to reach the CFP semifinals.

I can't recall enjoying Monday mornings any better when I've seen Bucky and the Who Dats win nearly every weekend.

Of course, this year's Portsmouth Spartans in Finks League have lacked any magic on my part. Call it Dah Commish errors when I gave up too soon on RB Ingram NO, who was just dreadful as long as RB A. Peterson NO was around. My biggest auction bust was WR Cooper OAK, who got me so excited when I was entering Week 1. WR Diggs MIN dropped off due to a mid-season injury. All of my Spartans RBs (Miller HOU, Crowell CLE, Montgomery GB, J. Allen BAL, Stewart CAR, Collins BAL, Darkwa NYG, McKinnon MIN) have stunk.

The only thing keeping me around .500 has been QB Stafford DET and pick a PK.

There is still plenty of football to be played, but how terrific would be a Saints trip to the NFC championship game and a Bucky appearance in a playoff bowl that matters? Despite my Finks League failures, football has been fun to watch again.

Week 8: Jinxed

Distillers PK Butker KC

Dah Blog put the jinx on Hurricane Quags after Week 7 with a post about the Quags' potential record-breaking winning streak. With seven wins to start the season, the Canes needed two wins to tie former owner Mike Wilcox's record of nine consecutive league wins.

But the Distillers beat Quags 58-43 in Week 8. The Distillers picked up PK Butker KC in Week 8 to add to a roster of three PKs. Distillers owner Dan Cassidy was forced to start Butker due to byes for his other kickers (Crosby GB and Succop TEN).

Butker, who was only added to the KC roster in Week 4, kicked five field goals of 42, 51, 43, 32 and 25 yards on Monday night against DEN. That single performance turned the Distillers from a possible loser to an upset winner. Butker's Player of the Week 25 points is the second greatest POW total of the season behind RB Hunt KC's 26 points in the opening week for Quags.

Butker is 18-for-19 on field goals this season and perfect on all 11 of his extra-point attempts. 

Butker's 25 points also eclipsed another great Week 8 performance. The Brawlers won their second game of the season with a 53-46 win over the Jays behind QB Watson HOU's 21 points.

Hurricane Quags bearing down

Don't look now, but Quags is 7-0 and is two more wins away from tying former Finks League owner Mike Wilcox for most consecutive wins in league history.

Wilcox (pictured right) won nine consecutive games with his Kansas City Kings in 1995. No league records are kept for wins to begin a season, so we are not sure when those wins came for the Kings. The record has stood since the second season of Finks League.

That 1995 season was the only one for the Kings. Hall of Famer Wilcox moved to St. Louis the following season and became the Spirits for several years. Of course, Wilcox won the first Finks League title in 1994 as the Cooperstown Strikers.

In 1995, the Finks League grew to 10 teams from its four-team 1994 inaugural season. Mike Miazga and Stan Goff, along with Dah Commish, remain the only present owners from 1995.

But just because you win nine in a row, that's no guarantee toward winning a Finger Bowl championship. Wilcox's Kings lost the semifinals in 1995 to the eventual champion Stone Blue Bombers.

That's Finks League.

Week 7: QB Follies

QB Palmer AZ

Just when you think you've got everything figured out in Finks League, imagine the past few weeks for Brady Gaga owner Sean King.

"I am the QB grim reaper," King shared in an email.

That feeling comes just a few days after Week 7 completed when recent King pickup, QB Palmer AZ, suffered a likely season-ending broken bone in his left arm. King lost elite QB A. Rodgers GB to another season-ending injury in Week 6.

To top it off, Gaga lost back-to-back matches to division-leading Quags by a 57-37 score in Week 6 and a 27-6 score in Week 7. Perhaps the only good news for Gaga is that they don't have to play undefeated Hurricane Quags anymore.

Finks first: Jake Elliott

Usually it's all business when playing Finks League football, but Week 5 became a first in the history of Dah Commish teams in the league.

Playing with my heart, Dah Commish picked up free-agent PK Elliott PHI, a former Lyons standout athlete I used to cover as a sports writer for Pioneer Press/The Doings before taking a buyout last year. Elliott was a state-qualifying tennis player, who doubled as a PK for LT. He only kicked his junior and senior years when he was discovered in a homecoming kicking stunt by football coach Kurt Weinberg.

I was there in the LT press box when Elliott kicked a game-winning, 52-yard field goal against OPRF. Elliott broke Stephen Gostkowski's records at Memphis, drafted by the Bengals and then was cut by Cincy before the season opener over PK Bullock. The reaction of Elliott's parents in Week 3 to his 61-yard game-winner against NYG has gone viral.



Here are a couple of my stories written about Elliott while I was with The Doings:

Elliott picks Memphis

Elliott sets records for Memphis

Week 2 review: A missed PAT

Quags beat Serkus 46-45 in the feature matchup of Week 2, but Canes owner Dick Quagliano had to break the bad news to Serkus boss Stan Goff.

"My loss was even tougher than I thought as Dick just informed me the Blair Walsh Project hit the uprights on a PAT or else we would have tied," Goff reported via email. 

Serkus PK Walsh SEA missed the point-after in the fourth quarter by hitting the right upright after a QB Wilson TD pass. It was Walsh's only PAT attempt of the game after earlier making field goals of 27 and 25 yards.

The crusher prevented a tie for the Tomlinson Division rivals. There was only one tie in Finks League action in 2016. 

Finks Auction 2017

Thanks for getting in your bid sheets on Saturday. We have kicked off our 24th Finks season with another auction, the same method used to disperse players from our inaugural season of 1994.

As I've written before, the first Finks auction was held by using a silent-bid process since two of our original four owners, Matt Simo and Mike Wilcox, did not live in Chicagoland in order to hold a live draft. This was before the internet became popular. At that time, I was in a baseball league that would sometimes hold live drafts via telephone for out-of-town owners. That was always a dreadful experience to be in a draft room with someone needing to make a phone call during every round only to start each conversation with a list of who was selected.

I wanted to avoid that, so the silent-bid auction was born. I think it works.

In 2017, Anthony Quagliano is our only out-of-town owner since he is attending grad school at the University of Delaware. We could still hold a live draft, but I like the idea of waiting until Labor Day weekend and after Preseason Week 4 to select players. A live draft would have to be held earlier, given our different schedules. I like the auction. It's me and sheets of paper.

My wife is in a fantasy league through work and her live draft is tonight over Yahoo.com. That could be a two-hour process.

Here's some news and notes regarding Finks Auction 2017:

"Wow, two Bryants": Serkus picked them both up, getting Dez from Dallas and Martavis from Pittsburgh.

Three's enough: Two Finks owners reached out to their favorite NFL teams for new players, picking up three each during the auction. Goff won bids for Prescott, Elliott and D. Bryant from Dallas and Bucs fan Herigodt picked up Winston, Martin and Evans.

Don't read too much into Dah Commish getting three Lions (Stafford, Tate and Prater), other than his Finks moniker this season -- Portsmouth Spartans -- was the original team from Ohio that would become the Detroit Lions in the 1930s. Bears fan Cassidy won bids for three Saints, Brees, Peterson and M. Thomas.

Top bids: Here are your auction champs, by position. QB: Rodgers GB, $33.00 (won by Gaga); RB: D. Johnson AZ, $41.45 (Jays); WR: A. Brown PIT, $31.00 (Gaga); PK: Gostkowski NE, $6.03 (Eggers).

Lotto fever: With so many owners throwing penny bids at players, there were five tiebreaking lottery selections made among Finks owners. QB Luck IND proved to be the most popular with three teams -- Cats, Jays and Gaga -- seeking to own Luck as a backup. The Jays won.

Other players selected by a blind draw with penny bids were WR Hopkins HOU (won by Gaga), QB Cutler MIA (Quags), RB Fournette JAX (Cats) and RB Abdullah DET (Jays).

Welcome to Finks League 2017

My 11-year-old son, A.G., took the honors this year of pulling names out of a hat to decide division affiliations. In honor of new Pro Football Hall of Famers, the division names are from a couple of new inductees: LaDainian Tomlinson and Kurt Warner.

If you have any suggestions or new ideas for the website, please contact Dah Commish. 

Not a Fantasy: Newton wins first Finger Bowl

PITTSBURGH -- Shrewd pickups and a rare quarterback start for his backup gave Just a Fantasy owner Jeff Newton his first Finger Bowl championship in Week 17 with a record-setting rout over defending champion Ham N Eggers at Three Rivers Stadium.

Newton started backup QB A. Smith KC over Prescott DAL as Smith scored a game-high 17 points to nab MVP honors for Fantasy, a 51-16 winner over the Eggers. Fantasy's 35-point margin of victory in Finger Bowl 23 set a new championship record, topping the 28 points Mike Wilcox scored over Bill Stone in Finger Bowl 1 in a pairing of Hall of Fame owners.

For the victory, Newton will earn $378.75 for the title in his 14th season. He was the longest tenured owner without a Finger Bowl championship after placing second in 2006 and 2004.

Fantasy placed second in the Duerson Division after a pair of losses to the Eggers in the regular season by an average of 30 points. Fantasy (10-6-1) also was powered by 16 points by PK Hauschka SEA, a Week 15 free agent pickup for Newton after Hauschka was released by the Duluth Eskimos midway through the season.

Fantasy started QB Prescott DAL in the second half of the season after picking up Prescott in Week 9. Fantasy released QB Bradford MIN to find a spot for Prescott.

Newton will gain possession of the Abe Gibron Trophy for the following year.

The Eggers win $126.25 as the runner-up and placed second for the fifth time in six years.

In the third-place match, the Brawlers defeated the Distillers 46-32.

Week 17 boxscore: Finger Bowl 23

Just a Fantasy 51, Ham N Eggers 16

Fantasy (51)

A. Smith KC 17
J. Rodgers TB 3
Blount NE 6
Evans TB 6
Meredith CHI 3
Hauschka SEA 16

Eggers (16)

Cousins WAS 8
D. Johnson AZ zero
Beckham JR. NYG zero
Kelce KC zero
Bryant ATL 8

Week 17 Boxscore: Third place

Dublin Brawlers 46, Lockport Distillers

Brawlers (46)

Brady NE 15
Freeman ATL 9
McCoy BUF zero
Adams GB 13
T. Williams SD zero
Prater DET 9

Distllers (32)

Brees NO 15
Rawls SEA 6
D. Murray TEN zero
S. Smith Sr. BAL zero
Garcon WAS 3
Crosby GB 8