The spoiler…the man (or woman) who goes out in the final week and takes someone else’s playoff hopes, their playoff dreams, and crushes them like like Tim Burton crushes all my favorite child movies with awful remakes. Over the 13 year history of this league, it’s happen seven times. Seven times a team had a chance to go to the playoffs, needing only a win in the final weekend to clinch a spot, but couldn’t do it. To be a legit knockout, the team had to be a legit shot to get in. If you needed a win and had to outscore another team by 2,000 to win a tiebreaker, that’s not counted as a knockout. There is no king of the knockout. Bob has the most knockouts (meaning he kept a team from going to the playoffs). He’s done it twice over the last three years. His 2011 knockout was the only one where he not only knocked a team out of the playoffs, but with the win, he put himself into the playoffs. That was against me. I’ve been knocked out the most (twice, 2007 & 2011). Anyhow, below is a brief summary of all the league’s knockouts.
2000 SEASON
TIM KNOCKED OUT MATT (WILLIAMS) FROM THE PLAYOFFS Heading into week fourteen, four teams were 6-7 (Chris, David, Matt W. and Jimmy), while Stephanie was 5-8. Those five teams were fighting for three playoff spots. Now back in 2000, the first tiebreaker was actually head-to-head, so if Chris won, Stephanie was done even if she won because she was 0-3 against Jimmy, David and Matt. Anyhow, Chris ended up winning his final game, thus he finished 7-7 and was in. This left Jimmy, David and Matt fighting for two spots. Head-to-head, Matt beat David twice, but lost to Jimmy, who beat David, thus if all three finished with the same record, it would come down to points, which favored Jimmy, who dominated the other two in points. In the end, all three ended up losing their final three. Total points became the tiebreaker and Matt was the lowest scoring team of the three. He was done. This one was extremely painful because the guy he lost to, Tim, he was 1-12 heading into their match up.
2001 SEASON
NO KNOCKOUTS Heading into the final week, (5-8) Eric was facing his father, trailing (6-7) Rick by one game. However, since Eric lost to Rick in their only meeting, he would lose the head-to-head tiebreaker even if he won and Rick lost. There was a chance if (6-7) Brian lost as well, then the head-to-head tiebreaker would be out and it would be total points. However, Eric didn’t overtake Rick in points and this is a list of teams who literally kept teams from getting to the playoffs, I can’t put Don beating Eric as a knockout.
2002 SEASON
NO KNOCKOUTS In one of the most balance season’s ever, heading into the final week, only two teams had officially clinched a playoff spot, eight teams were still fighting over six playoff spots. However, ignoring head-to-head tiebreakers, four teams (Robio, Justin, Masterson and Griff) had scored so many more points than the other four, there was really zero ways for them to miss the playoffs). This left (7-6) Don and David and (6-7) Eric and Rich B. Of that group, David was the high score, beating out Don by just 46, Burrier by 318 and Eric by 481 points. The beauty for Eric and Burrier was that Don and David were facing off, so one of them was going to fall to 7-7. They would just need to win and then pass the loser in points. Well, Don beat David, 1181-1141. Burrier failed to take care of business, losing to Justin. This left Eric. He ended up beat 8-5 Rick in a nailbiter, 1,336-1,314. While Eric did make up some points on David (187 points), he came up 294 points short. Anyhow, we can’t award Justin a knockout over Burrier, because even if Burrier won, he wouldn’t have gotten into the playoffs.
2003 SEASON
ROBIO KNOCKED BOB OUT OF THE PLAYOFFS Obviously 2003 is famous for Rich Calderon’s amazing week fourteen rally. A quick reminder. First, Rich needed to rally from a 1-5 start. Check. Then in the final week he needed to win. Check. He needed Bob to lose to Robio. Check. Then he needed Eric to win. Check. He also needed Jeff to upset Burrier (to force a total points tiebreaker). Check. Anyhow, like I said above, four teams were technically alive for a single playoff spot. For Bob, it was simple, if he beat me, he was in. Done. If he lost, as long as Eric lost, he was still in no matter what Rich and Jeff did. What Bob wanted to avoid was a total point tiebreaker with Calderon. Sadly for Bob, he got crushed by me, 2,014-1,185. Stunningly, Eric, Calderon and Jeff all won too. This eliminated any head-to-head tiebreaker. The final playoff spot went to Rich, who had outscored Bob by almost 3,000 points.
2004 SEASON
NO KNOCKOUTS It was a competitive final week, with six teams competing for four playoff spots. David, Don, Rob M and Colby were all 6-7, while Molly and Eric were 5-8. Head-to-head was still the top tiebreaker. First, if any of the 6-7 teams won, they were in. Second, the easiest path for Molly would be to win, have David, Don and Colby all win, with both Eric and Masterson losing. In this scenario, Molly would get in while Masterson would be out due to head-to-head tiebreaker. For Eric, he needed Colby and Don to win, he needed Molly to lose and then he needed either Masterson or David to lose. Well, Don won, but David, Masterson and Colby all lost. This meant total points would be the tiebreaker. Eric lost, while Molly won, but she trailed all the other 6-8 teams in points, thus miss the playoffs.
2005 SEASON
GRIFF KNOCKED ERIC OUT OF THE PLAYOFFS Heading into week thirteen, there were four playoff spots left and seven teams looking to occupy those spots. Molly was the top dog as the only 7-5 team. Next was Robio, David and Eric, who were all 6-6. Behind them were 5-7 Calderon and Masterson. The problem for Eric was heading into the week he was in 9th place, outside the playoffs looking in, because he trailed everyone except Masterson in total points…by a lot. He needed to win and he would need one of the other 6-6 teams (Robio, David, Colby) to lose. Well, everyone else did there part. I lost to Bob, David lost to Matt and Colby lost to Burrier. In fact, of the seven teams fighting for a playoff spot, everyone but Calderon lost…including Eric. All he needed to do was win, but Griff beat him easily, 1,625-929, thus ending Eric’s playoff dreams.
2007 SEASON
MASTERSON KNOCKED ROBIO OUT OF THE PLAYOFFS Heading into the final week, there were four teams fighting for the last two playoff spots. Calderon and Burrier were both 6-6, while Molly and myself were 5-7. The four teams were fighting for the last three playoff spots. Now Molly dominated the foursome in total points, so if she won, she was in. However, the two Rich’s both trailed me in total points. I led Calderon by 322 and I crushed Burrier in total points by 2,030 points. Clearly if Burrier lost and I won, I was going to get in and he was going to miss out. If Calderon lost and I won, then it would come down to total points. Well, Molly won a low scoring game over Eric, 885-851. However, Calderon fell to David, 1,532-1,182, while Burrier was crushed by Griff, 1,508-898. This meant all I had to do was beat a Masterson team that had already been eliminated from the playoffs. Well, Rob played the ultimate spoiler, crushing me, 1,684-742. Rob’s score was the week’s high, my was the week’s low. I was out of it, while Molly, Calderon and Burrier took seeds 6-7-8. Rich C would end up making it all the way to the title game, falling to Matt.
2008 SEASON
CALDERON KNOCKS BURRIER OUT OF THE PLAYOFFS Heading into the final weekend of 2008, it was a classic battle of musical chairs. There were six teams battling for five playoff spots. Any team could finish as high as the fourth seed if things went right or miss the playoffs if things went wrong. Prior to the weekend, David was 7-5, but last in points. Robio, Colby, Don, Eric and Burrier were all 6-6. Now Colby and Don shared a division, so one of them had to win the division. Of all the 6-6 teams, Burrier was outside looking in because he was last in points. Rich was facing division winner Calderon, but all he needed was a win and just one of the 6-6 teams or David to lose. Well, while Robio, Colby and Don all won their games, David and Eric did their part by losing, but Burrier got crushed by Calderon, 1,394-794. Burrier was the one left without a chair.
2009 SEASON
BOB KNOCKS COLBY OUT OF THE PLAYOFFS Heading into week thirteen, Colby and Calderon each sat at 6-6, one win ahead of both Eric and Molly, with just two playoff spots left to fight for. Between Colby and Calderon, Rich was pretty safe, win or lose. He had a 1,087 point lead over Eric, a 1,824 point lead over Colby and a 1,901 point lead over Molly. This left Colby fighting for his life. While he led Molly in points by 77, he trailed Eric by 737 points. If Colby lost and Eric won, Colby was in big trouble. If Eric lost and Molly won, then it would come down total points.
Well, Molly scored well and kept it close, but in the end, Calderon took care of Molly, 1,529-1,415. Because even if she won, she didn’t score enough points to get past Colby, I don’t count Calderon’s win as a knockout. Anyhow, this meant it came down to Colby and Eric. Well, the latter took down a struggling Jeff in a low scoring affair, 1170-1,057. Meanwhile, Colby couldn’t get past division winning Bob, who scored the most points that week, 1,664-1,168. Bob technically eliminated Colby from the post-season, with a big assist from Eric.
2010 SEASON
NO KNOCKOUTS For the first time since 2004, there was no final week knockout. Technically, 4-8 Jeff was just one game back of 5-7 Burrier for the final playoff spot, but Rich led Jeff in total points by 2,861 points, so there was no way for Jeff to win the tiebreaker even if Rich lost and he won. In the end, they both lost and Burrier became the only 5-8 team to make the playoffs.
2011 SEASON
BOB KNOCKS ROBIO OUT OF THE PLAYOFFS Heading into week thirteen, six teams were competing for the final four playoff spots. Four of those teams could be considered hot heading down the home stretch. Colby had rallied from a 2-6 start and had won four straight to get him in the fifth seed, Don moved into the sixth seed after taking four in a row prior to losing to Bob in week twelve. Matt had won only three of five, but had broken 1,400 in four of his last six and was the top scorer of the six teams fighting for a playoff spot. Meanwhile, Bob managed to go 3-3 after a 2-4 start. He was outside looking in. I was the lone team fighting for a playoff spot (I was the current 7 seed) who was also struggling to win. I had started 6-2, but had dropped four straight thanks to a string of injuries. Jeff was also technically fighting for a playoff spot, but he needed to win and then needed both Bob and Matt to fall (Matt ended up winning, so it didn’t matter if Jeff won, so he doesn’t appear here as a knockout victim).
Anyhow, for Colby, Don and myself, it was simple, win and you’re in. For Bob though, he had the rare chance to win a game (against me) and by doing so, get into the playoffs, knocking out the team he would replace. Well, Colby won, but Don lost. However, Don survived because Bob beat me and he was about to maintain his total point lead by 640 points. The win put Bob into the playoffs and sent me packing.
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