Week 17: Finger Bowl 29 preview

Hurricane Quags (11-5) at Boom Town Blue Jays (13-2-1) 

at Morrison Stadium, Omaha, Neb.

Playoff records: Jays' Anthony Quagliano 5-0; Quags 6-11

Head to head: Quags 49, Jays 38 (week 1)

The skinny: The first Finger Bowl family showdown in Finks League history will take place between father Dick Quagliano and his son Anthony, who owns the Jays. Mike Miazga's wife, Kristin Herigodt, joined the Finks League in 2008 and won the Finger Bowl in her first season but that husband-wife team has never met in a Finger Bowl. In Finks League's first few seasons, Dah Commish never faced his brother Mike in any Finger Bowl final.... D.Q. will attempt to win his first Finks League championship since 2007. WR Moss NE was named Finger Bowl MVP in that season. The Canes beat the Sodor Rail-Layers 47-42 in that first title game for D.Q. His son, A.Q., still has not lost a playoff matchup and has won titles in 2018 and 2019. A.Q. makes his third Finger Bowl appearance in the last five years. ... D.Q.'s previous Finger Bowl appearance were second place finishes in 2015 and 2017. Both the Jays and Quags claimed division titles this season.

Projected starters: Quags -- Fields, A. Jones, Ekeler, J. Jefferson, Kelce, Butker; Jays -- Hurts, McCaffrey, Walker, Hopkins, AJ Brown, Carlson.

The pick: Quags 45, Jays 32.

Semis: Canes overwhelm Eggers

 

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- Too many scoreless performances sunk the Ham N Eggers as the division champion Hurricane Quags won 39-12 in the Week 16 semifinals. 

RB Ekeler LAC scored 12 points on two rushing TDs and WR J. Jefferson MIN added 11 to lead Quags (11-5). The leading scorer for the Eggers (12-3-1) was K Tucker BAL with nine points. 

EGGERS (12)

QB Herbert LAC 3

RB Jacobs LV zero

RB L. Murray DEN zero

WR Adams LV zero

WR C. Watson GB zero

K Tucker BAL 9

QUAGS (39) 

QB Fields CHI 3

RB A. Jones GB zero

RB Ekeler LAC 12

WR J. Jefferson MIN 11

TE Kelce KC 5

K Butker KC 8

Semis: Jays hold off underdog Tractors

OMAHA, Neb. -- K Bass BUF's missed 38-yard field goal for the Moline Tractors helped make the difference as the division champion Boom Town Blue Jays held on for a 32-31 victory in the Week 16 semifinals.

Both teams left points on the bench, but QB Tagovailoa MIA scored 10 points to lead the Jays (13-2-1). RB Henry TEN led the Tractors (7-9) with 11 points. 

TRACTORS (31)

QB Purdy SF 9

RB Henry TEN 11

RB B. Robinson WAS zero

WR Ty. Hill MIA 5

WR Aiyuk SF 3

K Bass BUF 3

JAYS (32)

QB Tagovailoa MIA 10

RB McCaffrey SF 6

RB Walker SEA 5

WR Hopkins AZ zero

WR A.J. Brown PHI 5

K Carlson  LV 6

Week 16: Semifinals

 Moline Tractors (7-8) at Boom Town Blue Jays (12-2-1)

at Morrison Stadium, Omaha, Neb. 

Playoff records: Dah Commish 7-4; A. Quagliano 4-0

Head to head: Jays 66, Tractors 56 (week 8); Jays 50, Tractors 42 (week 9)

The skinny: The Jays won the tiebreaker to win the Boselli Division over the Eggers by division tiebreaker. The Jays finished 6-1-1 while the Eggers went 5-2-1. The division title came down to the winner of the Week 15 matchup between the two teams, won 56-16 by the Jays. ... The Jays' 12 wins tied the league record for wins in a season, along with this year's Eggers edition. ... Dah Commish will make his first playoff appearance since 2015.... The Tractors make an unlikely playoff appearance despite having the sixth best record in the league. The Tractors started the season 4-0 only to lose seven of their last nine games and lost both starting QBs to injury in Week 14. 

Projected starters: Tractors -- Purdy, Henry, B. Robinson, Ty. Hill, Aiyuk, Bass; Jays -- Hurts, McCaffrey, Pacheco, AJ Brown, Andrews, Carlson.

The pick: Jays 42, Tractors 25.

Ham N Eggers (12-2-1) at Hurricane Quags (10-5)

at Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Fla.

Playoff records: Miazga 9-11-1; Quags 5-11

Head to head: Eggers 33, Quags 14 (week 3)

The skinny: This semifinal features a matchup of consecutive playoff teams. The 2021 runner-up Eggers had a chance to set a new league record of 13 wins in a season, but lost its regular season finale. Miazga's 2017 Eggers also won 12 games. ... The Eggers won eight consecutive games before their Week 15 loss. ... The Eggers make their record-tying 12th playoff appearance, tying owner Stan Goff. ... Quags finished fourth in 2021. The Canes seek their first postseason win since 2017. Quags makes his fifth playoff appearance in eight years. 

Projected starters: Eggers -- Herbert, Jacobs, Z. Knight, Adams, C. Watson, Tucker; Quags -- Fields, A. Jones, Ekeler, J. Jefferson, Kelce, Butker.

The pick: Eggers 45, Quags 40.

"Coach Prime" on 60 Minutes

 Thought this might be of interest to fellow Finks League owners. This link does not last. CBS pushes its 60 Minutes links later on to its Paramount+ service.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/deion-sanders-jackson-state-university-hbcu-60-minutes-2022-10-16/

Monday's drawing of Finks divisions

 

Anna, my official picker of the slips for the Finks League divisions, is a year older and now a freshman at Hinsdale South. Here she is hours before her rained out cross-country debut already in her uniform. She is joined on the couch by one of our two dogs, Sugarbelle. 

Simo featured in Sun-Times

 

So Saturday's Sun-Times includes a regular feature on sports gambling written by someone I've never heard of out in Las Vegas. I still keeps tabs on Finks League Hall of Famer Matt Simo, who seems to be doing very well out in Sin City running some kind of proxy NFL football gambling outfit there. I can't figure out what he does. I sent an email to the writer with Matt's contact information, and in just one week my Saturday surprise was seeing a two-page spread on our former Finks Leaguer. 

I've know Matt since the late 1980s when myself and Bill Stone were a two-man sports department at the late Wheaton Daily Journal. Matt was a Glenbard West student who worked part-time as a six-pointer, answered phones and did occasional stories for us. Yes, both Matt and I are proud graduates of Glenbard West, your new home of the Class 4A state champion boys basketball team and the returning home for the state boys volleyball champion. 

Here is the story from the Sun-Times.