As my wife will tell you, I’m a little rough out of the gate, but a strong finisher. Others are just the opposite. Here is a list of those opposites, the best starters in league history and how they finished up. As you will see, starting hot has been pretty meaningless if mugs are what you are chasing, Despite the fact 32 of 34 teams that have started 3-0 did make the playoffs, only two teams that have started 3-0 or better have won it all. My 2012 squad that started the season 5-0 did, as did Matt’s 4-0 team in 2017.
Other fun facts…
Only two teams that have started 4-0 or better have reached the title game.
Ten teams that started 4-0 or better lost in the quarterfinals
Eight teams have started 4-0 and lost in week five. Those teams are 1-7 in the quarterfinals
Rich Calderon was the only person who did not appear on this document. He had never started a season 3-0 until this year. Also, since Mike did it this season, every team now has started 3-0 once in their career.
Last year we had just one 3-0 team. That was Marc and he ended up earning the top seed with 10 wins. Of all 34 teams that started 3-0, only five ended up as the top seed. Weirdly enough, teams that started 3-0 typically struggled from that point on. Overall, they are just 176-172 after that three game winning streak to open a season. Like I said, only two missed the playoffs. They would be Burrier in 2008 and Colby the following season. Yet, the teams that did make the playoffs are just 23-30 in the postseason. 16 of them lost in the quarterfinals, including six 4-0 teams and four 5-0 teams.
9-0 STARTERS
DAVID, 2007 Finished: 11-2, lost in semifinals He did drop two of his final four, but became the first team to suffer just two loses in the regular season (record until 2011). He won his division and took the top seed. However, he was upset by #7 Calderon in the semis.
8-0 STARTERS
BOB, 2015 Finished: 11-2, lost in semifinals Dating back to 2014, Bob’s winning streak actually reached 11, before falling to Griff in week nine. Yet, by season’s end, despite earning the top seed and earning the scoring title, averaging over 1,500 points per game, thanks to the loss of Le’Veon Bell, Bob was not favorite and couldn’t escape the semifinals, losing to Colby.
5-0 STARTERS
ROB M, 2017 Finished: 7-6, lost in the quarterfinals Masterson became the first person to start back-to-back seasons 5-0. However, like the previous season, winning became a challenge after that. He would would three of four, before securing a weekly high score in against Neatock in week ten. That would prove to be his peak. Rob would drop his final three games, finish 7-6 (4-seed), before falling in the quarterfinals to Jeff.
ROB M, 2016 Finished: 8-5, lost in the quarterfinals Not-so-fun fact…teams that start the year 5-0 are just 16-27. None have managed to finished the final eight (or nine games) with a winning record. Rob was no exception. After his 5-0 start, he dropped two straight, but in weeks eight he appeared to stop the bleeding with a pair of victories over both Rich’s (Burrier & Calderon). Yet, three straight loses, including a couple to non-playoff teams, kind of made you forget about that 5-0 start. Anyhow, he finished the regular season with a victory over Griff, but as the 4-seed, couldn’t get past Bob in the quarterfinals.
ROBIO, 2012 Finished: 7-6, Won Championship After best start in my long career, I struggled in the second half of the season, dropping six of my final seven games, barely sneaking into the playoffs. However, I got hot and became the first person to start a season 3-0 or better and win the championship.
ERIC, 2012 Finished: 9-4, lost in title game Started off hot, winning first five and seven of eight, but dropped three of five down the stretch. He earned his first scoring title and the third seed. He, along with me above, became the first pair of 5-0 teams to reach the finals.
ERIC, 2007 Finished: 8-5, lost in quarterfinals Struggled hard after solid start. He would drop five of his final eight games, including his final three in the regular season and to #5 Matt (the eventual champ) in the quarterfinals.
DAVID, 2003 Finished: 8-6, lost in quarterfinals Dropped six of his final nine games, falling to #5 Griff in the quarterfinals
JUSTIN H, 2000 Finished: 8-6, lost in quarterfinals He was 7-1 at one point, before dropping five in a row. He won in week 14 to stay above .500, but lost in the quarterfinals to #4 Griff.
4-0 STARTERS
MATT, 2017 Finished: 9-4, Won Championship With the league’s best backfield (maybe ever), Matt cruised to a 4-0 start. He dominated most games, scoring over 1,500 in seven games and securing six weekly high scores. However, there were the hiccups. Matt would lose four times that year, scoring only 1264, 1065, 1195 and 1102 in those defeats. Oddly enough, three of those opponents scored the weekly high, so nine of Matt’s 13 games featured a week’s highest scorer. Anyhow, after winning his final two to earn the two-seed and finish as the top scorer, Matt dominated in the playoffs. He became the first team to go back-t0-back 2,000 in the quarterfinals and finals, before crushing 1-seed Bob in the finals, 1,537-1,119.
ROBIO, 2016 Finished: 6-7, lost in the semifinals Let’s talk about my wild ride, which proved to be arguable the wakiest season ever. I went 4-0 to open the year, which was impressive for a guy who had won a total of six games the previous two years. Yet, in week five, I lost to Rob M, the other 4-0 team. That’s when things went very south. I would end up dropping six straight games, averaging a horrid 1,195 points. At 4-6 and sinking, how could I make it to the postseason? Yet, in week eleven I stunned the league, by beating 9-1 Jeff, then followed that up with a victory over Neatock. The six wins was all I needed to secure a six-seed. In the post, I beat Don for the second straight week, before falling to the top seed, Jeff in the semifinals.
ROB M, 2014 Finished: 7-6, lost in quarterfinals Second person in this league (David in 2008-09) to start a season with at least three straight wins in back-to-back years (he started 3-0 in 2013). However, Rob would eventually drop five of six in the second half of the season, sneaking into the playoffs as the six seed, before falling to Matt in the quarterfinals.
GRIFF, 2010 Finished: 9-4, lost in quarterfinals It wasn’t a tragic finish, as Griff went 5-4 down the stretch, only losing two in a row once all season. However, he failed to show up in the quarters, losing to #4 Bob (the eventual champ).
JEFF, 2009 Finished: 8-5, lost in quarterfinals He started 5-0 and was sitting pretty at 7-1, but Jeff ended up dropping four of his final six, including his last two. He had no shot against the top seed Matt and eventual champ in the quarterfinals.
DAVID, 2008 Finished: 7-6, lost in quarterfinals Sat at 6-2, but struggled down the stretch, dropping four of his last five, before losing to #3 Colby in the quarterfinals.
JIMMY, 2001 Finished: 7-7, lost in quarterfinals After solid 4-0 start, he dropped six of seven, before rallying. Only person to win division at .500, lost in quarters to #6 David.
BRIAN, 2000 Finished: 10-4, lost in quarterfinals Sat at 7-1, but finished the season losing three of six, before falling to #6 Chris in the quarterfinals.
3-0 STARTERS
MARC, 2018 Finished: 10-3, lost in the semifinals After securing just three wins in his first season in Robioland, it took Marc only three games to earn three wins in his sophomore campaign. The wins would keep on coming, as Pattini would only taste defeat three times all year, never losing two in a row. With a 10-3 record, he brought home a top seed and scored 2,088 in the quarterfinals. However, the magical ride ended in the semifinals, when Marc fell to eventual champ, Matt.
JEFF, 2016 Finished: 11-2, lost in the title game Jeff’s hot start continued throughout the entire year. He sat at the top of the standings all season long and the only two teams he lost during the regular season, also appeared on this list from the 2016 season; 4-0 (Robio) and 5-0 (Masterson). Anyhow, Greenblatt ended up earning the top seed, finishing second in scoring, before falling to Calderon in the title game.
ERIC, 2015 Finished: 9-4, lost in the quarters This was the third time Eric had started a season 3-0. However, the two other times he managed to reach 5-0. He managed to win six of his final ten, earning a career high nine wins and the regular season, finishing third in the standings for the second time in his career. Yet, he couldn’t escape the quarterfinals, losing to 6-seed Colby.
Matt, 2015 Finished: 8-5, lost in the semis This was Neatock’s second career 3-0 start and his first since 2010. He didn’t dominate down the stretch, going 5-5, losing three times to teams ranked below him. Yet, he earned the five seed and managed to upset Masterson in round one, before falling to eventual champ Griff in the semis.
MOLLY, 2014 Finished: 7-6, lost in semis Her first 3-0 start since 2006 faded quickly as she dropped her next four to fall below .500 (thanks to Adrian Peterson’s suspension). However, she rallied to win four of her final six. As a five-seed, she ended up winning just her second postseason game since 2002 by upsetting Burrier, before falling to Matt in the sem is.
ROB M, 2013 Finished: 8-5, lost in semis Was a solid 6-2, before dropping three of his last five. He earned the #3 seed, finishing second in scoring. He took care of business in the quarters (over Molly), before falling to #2 Calderon in the semis.
RICH B, 2011 Finished: 7-6, lost in title game Rich would improve to 6-1 at one point in the season, but suddenly got cold, losing his next four. A week twelve win kept him in the post-season and even another loss in week thirteen didn’t keep him from winning a division (in our final year w/divisions). Despite his struggles, he became the first person on this list to reach the title game, falling to #7 Bob.
MATT, 2010 Finished: 9-4, lost in quarterfinals After his trio of wins, Matt would drop four of his next six, but rallied to end the season on a four-game winning streak. He won his division and earned the #3 seed, but was upset by #6 Colby in the quarters.
COLBY, 2009 Finished: 6-7, missed playoffs After rolling to his 3-0 start, Colby would drop four straight and six of seven. He managed to win a pair late, but a week thirteen loss to Bob ended his playoff dreams. Colby became just the second 3-0 team (and second straight no less) to miss the post-season.
RICH B, 2008 Finished: 6-7, missed playoffs Burrier sat at 5-1, but would lose six of his final seven games, thus becoming the first 3-0 team to ever miss the playoffs. He became the second 5-1 team to miss the post-season, but the first since the 13-game era.
MOLLY, 2006 Finished: 10-3, lost in quarterfinals She never lost two in a row, won her division and earned a scoring title. However, she was upset by #7 Don (the eventual champ) in the quarterfinals
ROBIO, 2005 Finished: 6-7, lost in semis After opening with three straight wins, I dropped five of my next six. I became first 3-0 team to finish below .500, but I squeezed in the playoffs splitting final four games. I upset #3 Burrier in the quarters, before falling to #7 Colby in the semis.
DON, 2004 Finished: 7-7, lost in quarterfinals He was 4-1, before dropping four straight. He wrapped up the season splitting his final four. Lost to #4 Calderon in quarterfinals. That’s a lot of four’s.
ROB M, 2003 Finished: 7-7, lost in semifinals He would lose his next three after 3-0 start and finish 4-4 down the stretch. He upset #2 Molly in the quarterfinals, before falling to #5 Griff the following week.
DON, 2002 Finished: 8-6, lost in quarterfinals Struggled late, dropping four of five before salvaging final game. Won division and earned two seed, but was upset by #7 Masteron in quarters.
GRIFF, 2002 Finished: 8-6, lost in semifinals After starting 3-0, Griff dropped his next six before recovering to win final five, becoming only team with a 6-game losing streak to make playoffs. He lost to #3 Robio (the eventual champ) in the semifinals.
RICK, 2000 Finished: 11-3, lost in semifinals He finished strong, losing just three times all year. He earned both the scoring title and top seed, but was upset by #4 Griff in the semis.
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